Method, terminal device and network device for physical uplink control channel transmission

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a physical uplink control channel transmission method, a terminal device and a network device, in the case that the network device does not configure a dedicated PUCCH for the terminal device, repeatedly transmitting the PUCCH, improving the success rate of information transmission in the communication process, and improving the transmission efficiency of the communication, which can effectively solve the problem of low transmission efficiency of the communication in the coverage enhancement scenario.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202110265678.2, filed on March 11, 2021, entitled "A Method for Determining the Number of PUCCH Repetitions", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a method for physical uplink control channel transmission, a terminal device and a network device. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a communication system, due to the cost constraints of terminal devices, the power upper limit of terminal devices is relatively low compared to the power upper limit of network devices, so the coverage of uplink transmission is generally lower than that of downlink transmission. Therefore, there are some coverage-limited scenarios in uplink transmission, which leads to the fact that the signal strength of transmission cannot meet the communication needs, affecting the transmission efficiency of the communication process.

[0004] In addition, regarding the transmission of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) of uplink transmission, in some scenarios where the network device does not configure a dedicated PUCCH through high-layer signaling (e.g., random access process), the current technology does not provide a specific solution for some coverage-limited scenarios, thus to some extent affecting the transmission efficiency of the communication process. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a method for physical uplink control channel transmission, a terminal device and a network device. In the case where the network device does not configure a dedicated PUCCH for the terminal device, the present application proposes to repeatedly transmit the PUCCH, thereby improving the success rate of information transmission in the communication process and improving the transmission efficiency of communication. This can effectively solve the problem of low transmission efficiency of communication in the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0006] In a first aspect, a method for physical uplink control channel transmission is provided, comprising:

[0007] receiving a first message;

[0008] In the case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the first PUCCH is repeatedly transmitted with a repetition number N, the dedicated PUCCH is configured by the network device to the terminal device through high-layer signaling, and N is an integer greater than 1; wherein

[0009] The first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information, the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information is information related to channel quality determined based on the first message; or the first PUCCH is determined according to the first message.

[0010] In some embodiments, the first message and the first PUCCH are a message and a PUCCH in a random access process. For example, the first message is a fourth message (Msg4) in a random access process, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for Msg4, that is, the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives Msg4.

[0011] In other embodiments, the first message and the first PUCCH are a message and a PUCCH in an RRC signaling configuration process. For example, the first message is RRC signaling, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the RRC signaling. The feedback information can be feedback information sent by the physical layer of the terminal device, which is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling, or alternatively, the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) used to carry the RRC signaling.

[0012] In other embodiments, the first message and the first PUCCH are a message and a PUCCH in a channel measurement process. For example, the first message can be a channel measurement request, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information related to channel quality determined based on the channel measurement request. The feedback information can include CSI measurement results or transmit beams.

[0013] In other embodiments, the first message can be indication information indicating a transmission resource occupied by a PUCCH used to carry SR, and the first PUCCH is determined based on the indication information, that is, the transmission resource occupied by the first PUCCH is obtained based on the indication information.

[0014] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided by the embodiments of the present application can be used by the terminal device to repeatedly transmit a first PUCCH related to a first message N times in the case that the network device does not configure a dedicated PUCCH for the terminal device. In this way, the success rate of the first PUCCH transmission can be improved, the transmission efficiency of communication can be improved, and the problem of low transmission efficiency of communication in a coverage enhancement scenario can be effectively solved.

[0015] Optionally, the first message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to determine the repetition number N.

[0016] Optionally, the first indication information comprises a first index, the first index is used for indicating the repetition number N, and the first index is also used for indicating a first modulation and coding strategy (MCS), the first MCS is used for demodulating at least part of the content of the first message.

[0017] The method for physical uplink control channel transmission provided in the embodiments of the present application associates the first MCS with the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, and simultaneously indicates the repetition number N of the first PUCCH by using the first index used for indicating the first MCS, that is, multiplexes the first index used for indicating the first MCS, which not only completely meets the indication of the existing MCS, but also reduces the number of bits additionally increased due to the separate indication of the repetition number N, thereby reducing the signaling overhead.

[0018] Optionally, the first index is an index in an MCS table, and the maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5.

[0019] The first index is any index in an MCS table.

[0020] The method for physical uplink control channel transmission provided in the embodiments of the present application uses the first index as any index in an MCS table, and when the maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5, it means that, compared with the case that the maximum number of bits occupied by the index in the MCS table in the prior art is at least equal to 5, the MCS table in the embodiments of the present application is equivalent to deleting a part of the MCS indicated by the index with a large value and retaining a part of the MCS indicated by the index with a small value. First, by deleting the MCS in the MCS table, the number of bits occupied can be reduced, and resource waste can be reduced. Second, since a high-performance MCS can not be needed in the coverage enhancement scenario, the deleted MCS in the MCS table basically has no influence on the communication transmission in the coverage enhancement scenario, and the communication transmission in the coverage enhancement scenario can be completely met.

[0021] Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a first part of bits in a modulation and coding strategy (MCS) field of a downlink control information (DCI); and

[0022] The MCS field further comprises a second part of bits, the second part of bits is used for carrying MCS information used for indicating a first MCS, the first MCS is used for demodulating at least part of the content of the first message; wherein

[0023] The first indication information comprises a first index used for indicating the repetition number N, and the MCS information comprises a second index used for indicating the first MCS, the second index is an index in an MCS table, and the maximum number of bits occupied by the second index is less than 5.

[0024] The second index is any index in an MCS table.

[0025] Therefore, the method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided in the embodiments of the present application uses a second index of any index in the MCS table, and the maximum number of bits occupied is less than 5, which means that, compared with the existing MCS table in which the maximum number of bits occupied is 5, a part of MCSs indicated by indexes with large values are deleted from the MCS table of the embodiments, and a part of MCSs indicated by indexes with small values are retained. First, by deleting MCSs in the MCS table, the number of bits occupied can be reduced, and resource waste can be reduced. Second, since high-performance MCSs can not be needed in the coverage enhancement scenario, the deleted MCSs in the MCS table have little effect on communication transmission in the coverage enhancement scenario, and can fully meet the communication transmission in the coverage enhancement scenario. Third, on this basis, the number of repetitions N of the first PUCCH can be additionally indicated in the existing MCS field, and the effect of reducing resource waste can be further achieved by multiplexing the existing MCS field.

[0026] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate a first value, and the first value is related to the number of repetitions N.

[0027] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided in the embodiments of the present application associates the first value with the number of repetitions N of the first PUCCH, so that the terminal device can obtain the number of repetitions N according to the first value indicated by the first indication information, which can effectively reduce the number of bits to some extent and reduce signaling overhead compared with the case where the first indication information includes N.

[0028] Optionally, the first value and the number of repetitions N satisfy any of the following relationships: N=2^x; or, N=2+x; where x is the first value.

[0029] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate a total number of symbols occupied by repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, and the number of repetitions N is related to the total number of symbols and a number of symbols occupied by single transmission of the first PUCCH.

[0030] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided in the embodiments of the present application associates the number of repetitions N of the first PUCCH with a total number of symbols occupied by repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, so that the terminal device can obtain the number of repetitions N according to the total number of symbols indicated by the network device, which can modify the number of symbols occupied by single transmission of the PUCCH in the existing standard PUCCH resource to the total number of symbols, and has little change to the existing PUCCH resource and is easy to implement.

[0031] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate the number of repetitions N.

[0032] Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a system message.

[0033] Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a DCI.

[0034] Optionally, the first message is a fourth message of a random access procedure; and,

[0035] The repetition number N is related to a repetition number M of repeatedly sending a third message in the random access procedure by the terminal device, and M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0036] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided by the embodiments of the present application can associate the repetition number M of the third message in the random access procedure with the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, so that the repetition number N can be determined according to the repetition number M. Compared with a mode of determining the repetition number N through signaling, the method can effectively save the overhead caused by transmitting signaling.

[0037] Optionally, the repetition number N is equal to the repetition number M; or,

[0038] The repetition number N is related to the repetition number M and a preset value.

[0039] Optionally, the repetition number M is a repetition number of initially transmitting the third message; or,

[0040] The repetition number M is a repetition number of retransmitting the third message; or,

[0041] The repetition number M is a sum of a repetition number of initially transmitting the third message and a repetition number of retransmitting the third message.

[0042] Optionally, capability information is transmitted, and the capability information is used to indicate that the terminal device supports or is in a coverage enhancement scenario.

[0043] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided by the embodiments of the present application can enable the network device to determine whether the terminal device needs coverage enhancement through the terminal device transmitting capability information to the network device. If the terminal device needs coverage enhancement, the network device can transmit the first indication information used to determine the repetition number N. If the terminal device does not need coverage enhancement, the network device can not transmit the first indication information. In this way, unnecessary signaling overhead can be reduced. In the case where the terminal device itself determines the repetition number N, the network device can also know that the terminal device will probably repeatedly send the first PUCCH based on the capability information, so as to identify the repeatedly sent first PUCCH.

[0044] Optionally, the capability information includes at least one of the following contents:

[0045] A preamble sequence corresponding to a coverage enhancement scenario in the first message in the random access procedure; or,

[0046] a format of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) corresponding to coverage enhancement in a third message in the random access procedure, or uplink control information corresponding to coverage enhancement in the third message; or

[0047] a repetition number M of repeating sending the third message in the random access procedure, M being a positive integer greater than 1.

[0048] Optionally, in the N times of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, N-1 times of transmission of the first PUCCH occupy resources offset by m1 frequency domain units relative to resources occupied by the first time of transmission, the N-1 times of transmission being transmission after the first time of transmission, and m1 being a positive integer greater than 0.

[0049] The method for physical uplink control channel transmission provided in the embodiments of the present application separates the resources occupied by the N-1 times of transmission of the first PUCCH from the resources occupied by the first time of transmission in the frequency domain, not only providing resources for the scenario of repeatedly transmitting PUCCH, but also reducing the conflict between the resources occupied by repeatedly transmitting PUCCH and the resources occupied by the existing one-time transmission PUCCH.

[0050] Optionally, the resources occupied by the N times of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m2 frequency domain units relative to a reference frequency domain unit, and m2 is a positive integer greater than 0.

[0051] The method for physical uplink control channel transmission provided in the embodiments of the present application separates the resources occupied by the N times of transmission of the first PUCCH from the reference frequency domain unit, thereby providing resources for the scenario of repeatedly transmitting PUCCH.

[0052] In a second aspect, a method for physical uplink control channel transmission is provided, comprising:

[0053] sending a first message;

[0054] in a case where a terminal device is not configured with a dedicated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), repeatedly receiving a first PUCCH for N times, the dedicated PUCCH being configured to the terminal device by a network device through high layer signaling, N being an integer greater than 1; wherein

[0055] the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information being information related to channel quality determined based on the first message; or the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message.

[0056] Optionally, the first message comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to determine the repetition number N.

[0057] Optionally, the first indication information comprises a first index, the first index is used for indicating the repetition number N, and the first index is also used for indicating a first modulation and coding strategy (MCS), the first MCS is used for demodulating at least part of content of the first message.

[0058] Optionally, the first index is an index in a MCS table, and a maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5.

[0059] Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a first part of bits in a MCS field of a downlink control information (DCI); and,

[0060] The MCS field further comprises a second part of bits, the second part of bits is used for carrying MCS information used for indicating a first MCS, the first MCS is used for demodulating at least part of content of the first message; wherein,

[0061] The first indication information comprises a first index used for indicating the repetition number N, the MCS information comprises a second index used for indicating the first MCS, the second index is an index in a MCS table, and a maximum number of bits occupied by the second index is less than 5.

[0062] Optionally, the first indication information is used for indicating a first value, the first value is related to the repetition number N.

[0063] Optionally, the first value and the repetition number N satisfy any one of the following relationships: N=2^x; or, N=2+x; wherein, x is the first value.

[0064] Optionally, the first indication information is used for indicating a total number of symbols occupied by repeatedly transmitting the first PUCCH, and the repetition number N is related to the total number of symbols and a number of symbols occupied by single-time transmission of the first PUCCH.

[0065] Optionally, the first indication information is used for indicating the repetition number N.

[0066] Optionally, the first indication information is carried in a DCI.

[0067] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0068] transmitting a system message, the system message comprises second indication information used for indicating the repetition number N.

[0069] Optionally, the first message is a fourth message of a random access procedure; and,

[0070] The repetition number N is related to a repetition number M of repeatedly sending the third message in the random access procedure by the terminal device, and M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0071] Optionally, the repetition number N is equal to the repetition number M; or,

[0072] The repetition number N is related to the repetition number M and a preset value.

[0073] Optionally, the repetition number M is a repetition number of initially sending the third message; or,

[0074] The repetition number M is a repetition number of re-sending the third message; or,

[0075] The repetition number M is a sum of a repetition number of initially sending the third message and a repetition number of re-sending the third message.

[0076] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0077] Receiving capability information, the capability information being used to indicate that the terminal device supports or is in a coverage enhancement scenario.

[0078] Optionally, the capability information comprises at least one of the following:

[0079] A preamble sequence corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario in the first message in the random access procedure; or,

[0080] A format of a demodulation reference signal DMRS corresponding to the coverage enhancement in the third message in the random access procedure, or uplink control information corresponding to the coverage enhancement in the third message; or,

[0081] A repetition number M of repeatedly sending the third message in the random access procedure, M being a positive integer greater than 1.

[0082] Optionally, in the N times of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, resources occupied by N-1 times of transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m1 frequency domain units relative to resources occupied by the first time of transmission, the N-1 times of transmission being transmission after the first time of transmission, and m1 being a positive integer greater than 0.

[0083] Optionally, resources occupied by the N times of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m2 frequency domain units relative to a reference frequency domain unit, and m2 is a positive integer greater than 0.

[0084] In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, and the device is configured to execute the method provided in the first aspect. Specifically, the device can comprise modules for executing any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0085] In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided, which is configured to perform the method provided in the second aspect. Specifically, the device can include modules for performing any of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

[0086] In a fifth aspect, a terminal device is provided, which includes a processor. The processor is coupled with a memory and is configured to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect. Optionally, the device further includes the memory. Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled with the communication interface.

[0087] In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided, which includes a processor. The processor is coupled with a memory and is configured to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect. Optionally, the device further includes the memory. Optionally, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled with the communication interface.

[0088] In a seventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a device, the device implements the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0089] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes instructions. When the instructions are executed by a computer, the device implements the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0090] In a ninth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory. The input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected through internal connection paths. The processor is configured to execute code in the memory. When the code is executed, the processor is configured to execute the method in any of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect or the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0091] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0092] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a random access procedure provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0093] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a method of physical uplink control channel transmission provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0094] Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0095] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0097] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a 5th Generation (5G) system, a New Radio (NR), or a future 6th Generation (6G) system, etc.

[0098] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes one or more network devices (for the convenience of description, network device 10 and network device 20 are shown in the figure), and one or more terminal devices in communication with the one or more network devices. Figure 1 Terminal device 11 and terminal device 12 shown in the figure are in communication with network device 10, and terminal device 21 and terminal device 22 shown in the figure are in communication with network device 20.

[0099] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application is a device with wireless transceiving function, which can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water surface (such as ships, etc.); and can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, 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 wireless terminal in smart home, a wearable terminal device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios. The terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), an access terminal device, a vehicle-mounted terminal, an industrial control terminal, a UE unit, a UE station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal device, a mobile device, a UE terminal device, a terminal device, a wireless communication device, a UE agent or a UE apparatus, etc. The terminal device can also be fixed or mobile.

[0100] The network device in the embodiments of the present application can be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and is any device having a wireless transceiving function. The network device includes, but is not limited to, an evolved Node B (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB) in LTE, a base station (gNodeB or gNB) or a transmission receiving point (TRP) in NR, an access node in a WiFi system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, and the like. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, a relay station, or a balloon station, and the like. The plurality of base stations can support a network of the same technology mentioned above, or support a network of different technologies mentioned above. The base station can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited TRPs. The network device can also be a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a CU, and / or a DU. The network device can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, and the like. Hereinafter, the network device is taken as an example of a base station for description. The plurality of network devices can be the same type of base station, or different types of base stations. The base station can communicate with the terminal device, or communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. The terminal device can communicate with a plurality of base stations of different technologies, for example, the terminal device can communicate with a base station supporting an LTE network, and can also communicate with a base station supporting a 5G network, and can also support dual connectivity with the base station of the LTE network and the base station of the 5G network.

[0101] As described in the background, due to the limited coverage range of uplink transmission, the coverage strength of the signal cannot meet the communication requirements, affecting the transmission efficiency of the communication process, and in the case where the network device does not configure a dedicated physical uplink control channel (dedicated PUCCH) for the terminal device, the current technology does not give a specific solution. Therefore, in the case where the limited coverage range of uplink transmission leads to low transmission efficiency, coverage enhancement (CE) needs to be performed on the uplink transmission communication to improve the transmission efficiency.

[0102] For ease of description, the scenario in which coverage enhancement needs to be performed in the embodiments of the present application is collectively referred to as a coverage enhancement scenario.

[0103] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), in the case where a network device does not configure a dedicated PUCCH for a terminal device, the method proposes repeatedly transmitting the PUCCH, thereby improving the success rate of information transmission in a communication process, and improving the transmission efficiency of the communication, which can effectively solve the problem of low transmission efficiency of the communication in a coverage enhancement scenario.

[0104] It should be understood that, alternatively, since the PUCCH carries information, repeatedly transmitting the PUCCH can also be understood as repeatedly transmitting the information carried on the PUCCH. The following explanation about repeatedly transmitting the PUCCH is the same as this, and for the sake of brevity, will not be repeated hereinafter.

[0105] The dedicated PUCCH refers to a PUCCH configured by a network device for a terminal device through radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The following briefly describes the process of configuring the RRC signaling by the network device.

[0106] After the terminal device accesses the network through a random access process, the network device configures RRC signaling and sends the RRC signaling to the terminal device, wherein the RRC signaling is configured with a dedicated PUCCH resource. If the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling at the physical layer, the terminal device sends a feedback information to the network device to inform the network device that the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling at the physical layer; if the terminal device does not successfully receive the RRC signaling at the physical layer, the terminal device can also send a feedback information to the network device to inform the network device that the terminal device does not successfully receive the RRC signaling at the physical layer, and the network device will repeatedly send the RRC signaling according to a preset number of times until the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling at the physical layer. After the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling at the physical layer, the terminal device continues to deliver the RRC signaling from the physical layer to the RRC layer, and after the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling at the RRC layer, the terminal device sends another feedback information to the network device through the RRC layer to inform the network device that the terminal device completes the configuration of the RRC signaling at the RRC layer. In this way, the successful configuration of the RRC signaling means that the network device completes the configuration of the dedicated PUCCH resource. Subsequently, when a certain terminal device needs to transmit information using the PUCCH, the network device can schedule a dedicated PUCCH in the dedicated PUCCH resource in the RRC signaling for the terminal device through a physical downlink control channel (DCI).

[0107] It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, only after the terminal device sends feedback information indicating that the terminal device completes the configuration of the RRC signaling at the RRC layer to the network device, can it be considered that the network device completes the configuration of the dedicated PUCCH, that is, it is considered that the network device configures the dedicated PUCCH for the terminal device.

[0108] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are related to the scenario in which the terminal device is not configured with the dedicated PUCCH, that is, related to various scenarios before the network device successfully configures the RRC signaling, including but not limited to: a random access (RA) process, an RRC signaling configuration process, a channel measurement process, etc. Next, the scenarios that the embodiments of the present application can be related to are described.

[0109] I. Random access process

[0110] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of the random access process provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0111] In S210, the network device broadcasts a system message in a cell. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the system message.

[0112] The system message includes information indicating time-frequency resources occupied by the terminal device when sending a first message (message 1, Msg1).

[0113] Exemplarily, the system message further includes information of a cell bandwidth in uplink transmission and downlink transmission, information of a slot configuration in uplink transmission and downlink transmission, etc.

[0114] In S220, the terminal device sends a first message (message 1, Msg1). Correspondingly, the network device receives Msg1.

[0115] Msg1 includes a random access preamble sequence, which is used to inform the network device that there is a random access request, and can also enable the network device to estimate the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device, and calibrate the uplink transmission time of the terminal device based on the transmission delay.

[0116] The terminal device sends Msg1 on the time-frequency resources indicated by the system message.

[0117] In S230, the network device sends a second message (message 2, Msg2). Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg2.

[0118] Msg2 is a response message of Msg1, and Msg2 can also be referred to as a random access response message. Msg2 is carried in a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH).

[0119] Exemplarily, Msg2 can include the following contents:

[0120] An index value of a random access preamble sequence detected by the network device, to indicate that Msg2 is valid for which random access;

[0121] A scheduling indication to indicate the resources used by the terminal device to send a third message in the random access process;

[0122] A temporary identifier for further communication between the terminal device and the network device. Exemplarily, the temporary identifier can be a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI). After completing S250, the temporary identifier can become a unique identifier, referred to as a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI).

[0123] If the network device detects multiple attempts of random access (from different terminal devices), the response messages for multiple terminal devices can be integrated in one Msg2, and an identifier dedicated to random access response, i.e., a random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI), is used to indicate that the terminal device receives its own response message in Msg2. The terminal device can determine whether it has successfully received its own response message by the RA-RNTI in Msg2 and the index of the preamble sequence, and if it has received its own response message, it continues subsequent processing.

[0124] In S240, the terminal device sends a third message (message 3, Msg3 for short). Correspondingly, the network device receives Msg3.

[0125] In non-contention-based random access, the preamble sequence is dedicated to a certain terminal device, so there is no conflict. Therefore, only contention-based random access performs S240 and S250 of the random access process.

[0126] Based on different trigger events of random access, the contents in Msg3 are different.

[0127] 1. If the terminal device is in initial access state, Msg3 is an RRC connection request transmitted on common control channel (CCCH), and Msg3 includes at least non-access stratum (NAS) UE identity information.

[0128] 2. If the terminal device is in RRC connection re-establishment state, Msg3 is an RRC connection re-establishment request transmitted on CCCH, and Msg3 does not include any NAS message.

[0129] 3. If the terminal device is in handover state, Msg3 is an encrypted and integrity protected RRC handover confirm transmitted on dedicated control channel (DCCH), and Msg3 includes C-RNTI of the terminal device and, if possible, needs to carry buffer status report (BSR).

[0130] 4. For other trigger events, Msg3 includes at least C-RNTI.

[0131] In the above various cases, no matter what the specific content included in Msg3 is, it at least includes an identity for uniquely identifying the terminal device for subsequent collision resolution. Specifically:

[0132] For a terminal device in RRC_CONNECTED state, its unique identity is C-RNTI;

[0133] For a terminal device in non-RRC_CONNECTED state, the terminal device uses a unique identity (serving-temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-TMSI) or a random number) from the core network as its identity. At this time, the network device needs to communicate with the core network first to respond to Msg3;

[0134] When the terminal device is in RRC_CONNECTED state but uplink is not synchronized, the terminal device also has its own C-RNTI.

[0135] In addition, uplink transmission usually uses terminal device specific information, such as C-RNTI, to scramble data of the UL-SCH. However, at this time, the collision has not been resolved, and scrambling cannot be based on C-RNTI, but only on TC-RNTI. That is, Msg3 is only scrambled using TC-RNTI.

[0136] In S250, the terminal device sends a fourth message (message 4, Msg4 for short). Correspondingly, the network device receives Msg4.

[0137] As introduced in S240, the terminal device carries its own unique identifier in Msg3: C-RNTI or a UE identifier (S-TMSI or a random number) from the core network. In the collision resolution mechanism, the network device carries the unique identifier in Msg4 to specify the winning terminal device. The other terminal devices that do not win in the collision resolution will reinitiate random access.

[0138] If the terminal device is in an RRC_CONNECTED state, the terminal device has a unique identifier C-RNTI in the cell. In S250, if the terminal device wins in the collision resolution, the network device uses this C-RNTI to scramble a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The terminal device receives the PDCCH scrambled by this C-RNTI and knows that it has successfully accessed.

[0139] If the terminal device is not originally in an RRC_CONNECTED state, the terminal device does not have a C-RNTI in the cell, and its unique identifier is a UE identifier (S-TMSI or a random number) from the core network. In S250, if the terminal device wins in the collision resolution, the network device sends Msg3 back to the terminal device through a UE contention resolution identity MAC control element. The terminal device compares Msg3 and Msg4 and finds that they match, and knows that it has successfully accessed.

[0140] In S260, the terminal device sends feedback information, which is used to indicate that the terminal device has successfully received Msg4.

[0141] It should be understood that only the terminal device that wins in the collision resolution of S250 sends the feedback information, that is, the terminal device sends the feedback information after receiving its own unique identifier in Msg4.

[0142] Exemplarily, the feedback information can be an acknowledge (ACK).

[0143] In this scenario, if the terminal device is in an enhanced coverage scenario, the PUCCH can be repeatedly transmitted, and the PUCCH can be used to carry feedback information.

[0144] II. RRC signaling configuration

[0145] The description of each process in this scenario can refer to the RRC signaling configuration process introduced in the description of the dedicated PUCCH above, which will not be repeated here.

[0146] In this scenario, if the terminal device is in an enhanced coverage scenario, the PUCCH can be repeatedly transmitted, and the PUCCH can be used to carry feedback information, which is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the content sent by the network device. The content can be any possible content sent by the network device to the terminal device before the RRC signaling configuration is completed.

[0147] In some embodiments, the content is RRC signaling, and the feedback information carried in the PUCCH can be feedback information sent by the physical layer of the terminal device, which is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling.

[0148] In an example, if the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling, the feedback information can be an ACK.

[0149] In another example, if the terminal device does not successfully receive the RRC signaling, the feedback information can be a negative acknowledgement (NACK).

[0150] III. Channel measurement

[0151] Before the RRC signaling configuration is completed, the network device can perform downlink scheduling according to the channel condition to select the configuration and related parameters of the downlink transmission.

[0152] The network device sends a channel measurement request to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to perform channel measurement.

[0153] Exemplarily, the channel measurement request can include parameters for channel measurement, for example, the parameters can include a measurement period, a measurement time in the period, and the like.

[0154] The terminal device measures the channel state under different transmission beams according to the channel measurement request to obtain channel state information (CSI) including different transmission beams.

[0155] In some embodiments, the terminal device sends the CSI measurement result including the CSI of different transmission beams to the network device, so that the network device determines the transmission beam corresponding to the CSI with good channel quality.

[0156] In some other embodiments, the terminal device determines the transmission beam corresponding to the CSI with good channel quality based on the CSI of different transmission beams, and sends the transmission beam to the network device.

[0157] In this scenario, if the terminal device is in an enhanced coverage scenario, the PUCCH for carrying the feedback information including the CSI measurement result or the transmission beam can be repeatedly transmitted.

[0158] Four, resource indication

[0159] Before the RRC signaling configuration is completed, the network device can indicate some transmission resources occupied by the PUCCH through information, and the terminal device transmits the PUCCH based on the indicated transmission resources. Exemplarily, the transmission resources include time-frequency resources.

[0160] In the uplink scheduling request (SR) process, if the terminal device needs to transmit uplink data, the terminal device needs to send the PUCCH for carrying the SR to the network device to inform the network device that it needs to transmit uplink data, and the network device allocates transmission resources for the terminal device according to the SR.

[0161] Before the terminal device sends the PUCCH for carrying the SR, the network device can send an indication information to the terminal device, the indication information being used to indicate the transmission resources occupied by the PUCCH for carrying the SR, and the terminal device sends the PUCCH for carrying the SR on the transmission resources indicated by the indication information according to the indication information.

[0162] In this scenario, if the terminal device is in an enhanced coverage scenario, the PUCCH for carrying the SR can be repeatedly transmitted, and the transmission resources occupied by the PUCCH are determined based on the indication information.

[0163] The following describes the method 300 of transmitting the physical uplink control channel in the embodiments of the present application. Figure 3 The method 300 of transmitting the physical uplink control channel in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail.

[0164] Figure 3 The method 300 of transmitting the physical uplink control channel in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail.

[0165] In S310, the network device sends a first message. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message.

[0166] In S320, the first PUCCH is repeatedly transmitted with a repetition number N in a case that the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated PUCCH, the dedicated PUCCH is a PUCCH configured to the terminal device by high layer signaling, and N is an integer greater than 1, wherein the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information, the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information is information related to channel quality determined based on the first information; or the first PUCCH is determined according to the first message.

[0167] As mentioned above, the first message and the first PUCCH are both involved in a scenario that the network device does not configure the terminal device with a dedicated PUCCH. The specific description of the dedicated PUCCH can be referred to the related description above, and will not be repeated here.

[0168] In the following, the first message and the first PUCCH in various possible scenarios are introduced.

[0169] In some embodiments, the first message and the first PUCCH are a message and a PUCCH in a random access procedure. For example, the first message is a fourth message (Msg4) in the random access procedure, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the Msg4, i.e., the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4. The specific description of the fourth message (Msg4) in the random access procedure and the feedback information can be referred to the related description above, and will not be repeated here.

[0170] In other embodiments, the first message and the first PUCCH are a message and a PUCCH in a RRC signaling configuration procedure. For example, the first message is RRC signaling, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the RRC signaling. The feedback information can be feedback information sent by a physical layer of the terminal device, and the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the RRC signaling, or alternatively, the feedback information is used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) used to carry the RRC signaling. The specific description of the RRC signaling in the RRC signaling configuration procedure and the feedback information can be referred to the related description above, and will not be repeated here.

[0171] In some embodiments, the first message and the first PUCCH are a message and a PUCCH in a channel measurement procedure. For example, the first message can be a channel measurement request, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information related to channel quality determined based on the channel measurement request, which can include CSI measurement results or transmit beams. For specific descriptions of the channel measurement request and the feedback information in the channel measurement procedure, please refer to the relevant descriptions above.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first message can be indication information indicating a transmission resource occupied by a PUCCH used to carry an SR, and the first PUCCH is determined based on the indication information, i.e., the transmission resource occupied by the first PUCCH is obtained based on the indication information. For specific descriptions of the indication information and the first PUCCH, please refer to the descriptions of both in the resource indication procedure above.

[0173] It should be noted that the repetition number N of the first PUCCH has three possible interpretations. The repetition number N is the repetition number of the initial transmission of the first PUCCH; or, the repetition number N is the repetition number of the retransmission of the first PUCCH; or, the repetition number N is the sum of the repetition number of the initial transmission of the first PUCCH and the repetition number of the retransmission of the first PUCCH. For example, assuming that the repetition number of the initial transmission of the first PUCCH is 2 and the repetition number of the retransmission of the first PUCCH is 3, then the repetition number N can be 2, 3 or 5.

[0174] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided by the embodiments of the present application can be used by a terminal device to repeatedly transmit a first PUCCH related to a first message with a repetition number N in the case where a network device does not configure a dedicated PUCCH for the terminal device. In this way, the success rate of the transmission of the first PUCCH can be improved, the transmission efficiency of communication can be improved, and the problem of low transmission efficiency of communication in a coverage enhancement scenario can be effectively solved.

[0175] In the embodiments of the present application, the repetition number N of the repeatedly transmitted PUCCH can be determined in two ways (i.e., way 1 and way 2). Hereinafter, the two ways are described in detail.

[0176] Way 1

[0177] In this way 1, the network device can send indication information used to determine the repetition number N. That is, the network device sends first indication information used to determine the repetition number N. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information and determines the repetition number N based on the first indication information.

[0178] In some embodiments, the first indication information is used to indicate the repetition number N.

[0179] In an example, the first indication information can include the repetition number N. The terminal device can directly determine the repetition number N.

[0180] In another example, the first indication information can include an index for indicating the repetition number N, for example, the index can be the index in various cases in the following manner 1-1 and manner 1-2. The terminal device determines the repetition number N according to the index.

[0181] In some other embodiments, the first indication information can include content related to the repetition number N, for example, the content can be the value in the following manner 1-3 or the total number of symbols occupied by the repeated PUCCH in the following manner 1-4. The terminal device can determine the repetition number N according to the content.

[0182] In some embodiments, the first indication information can be carried in the DCI. Exemplarily, the first indication information can be carried in a field in the DCI, which can be a new field or can be multiplexed with an existing field (for example, the MCS field, which can be referred to the description of the MCS field in the following manner 1-1).

[0183] In some other embodiments, the first indication information is carried in the system message. Exemplarily, the system message can be a system information block (SIB).

[0184] In some embodiments, the first indication information is included in the first message. Exemplarily, when the first indication information is carried in the DCI and the first message includes the first indication information, the first message can include the DCI carrying the first indication information. For example, when the first message is the fourth message (Msg4) in the random access procedure, the DCI including the first indication information is included in the Msg4.

[0185] In the following, the first indication information in the specific manners in the manner 1 is specifically described.

[0186] Manner 1-1

[0187] In this manner, the repetition number N is related to the modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

[0188] In some embodiments, the first indication information included in the first message includes a first index, and the first index is used for indicating the repetition number N and is also used for indicating a first MCS, and the first MCS is used for demodulating at least part of the content of the first message. That is, the first index can indicate the repetition number N and the first MCS at the same time.

[0189] In the embodiment where the first message is Msg4, the first indication information can be carried in a DCI in Msg4, the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for Msg4, and the first MCS is used to demodulate a data part in Msg4.

[0190] In an implementation, the network device can configure a plurality of MCSs and a plurality of repetition times through a system message, the plurality of MCSs correspond to the plurality of repetition times, one MCS corresponds to one repetition time, and one index is used to indicate the MCS and the corresponding repetition time simultaneously. Subsequently, the network device determines that the terminal device can use a first index to indicate a first MCS and a corresponding repetition time N, the first index can be sent through the first indication information, and the terminal device determines the first MCS and the repetition time N of the first PUCCH based on the first index and the relationship between the MCS, the repetition time, and the index in the received system message.

[0191] It should be understood that the repetition time N is any one of the plurality of repetition times configured by the network device, and the first MCS is any one of the plurality of MCSs configured by the network device.

[0192] Exemplarily, the relationship between the MCS, the repetition time of the PUCCH, and the index can be represented by an MCS table.

[0193] Table 1 is an example of the MCS table provided by the embodiment of the application. Referring to Table 1, the first column in Table 1 represents the MCS index, the second column represents the modulation order, the third column represents the code rate, and the fourth column is the repetition time of the PUCCH. One modulation order and one code rate represent one MCS. As can be seen, one MCS index not only indicates the modulation order and the code rate of one MCS, but also indicates the repetition time N of the PUCCH. For example, the index 2 in the first column of Table 1 represents 2, the corresponding modulation order is 2, the code rate is 193, and the repetition time of the PUCCH is 2. The first index of the first indication information can be any MCS index in Table 1.

[0194] It should be understood that, compared with the existing MCS table, the MCS table of Table 1 adds a column representing the repetition time of the PUCCH, and the existing MCS index is multiplexed to make the MCS index indicate the MCS and the repetition time of the PUCCH simultaneously.

[0195] Table 1

[0196]

[0197]

[0198] The method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel provided in the embodiments of the present application associates the MCS with the repetition number of the PUCCH, indicates the repetition number of the PUCCH through an index (for example, a first index) used for indicating the MCS, that is, multiplexes the index used for indicating the MCS, can not only completely satisfy the indication of the existing MCS, but also reduce the number of bits additionally increased due to the separate indication of the repetition number N, and reduces the signaling overhead.

[0199] When the terminal device is in a coverage enhancement scenario and needs to repeatedly transmit the PUCCH, the MCS with a high code rate and a high modulation order can not be needed in the transmission process. Therefore, the modulation order and the code rate of the MCS can be appropriately adjusted, and the MCS with a low modulation order and a low code rate is used. In this way, a part of bits can be saved, and the saved bits are used to indicate the repetition number of the PUCCH, thereby reducing unnecessary resource waste.

[0200] Table 2 is another example of the MCS table provided in the embodiments of the present application. Referring to Table 2, the modulation orders of Table 2 are all 2, and the code rates are also greatly reduced. Since the MCS with a low modulation order and a low code rate occupies a small number of bits, compared with the MCS with a high code rate and a high modulation order included in Table 1, the number of bits is reduced. For example, the maximum modulation order of Table 1 is 6, and 3 bits are needed to indicate, the modulation order of Table 2 is 2, and only 1 bit is needed to indicate, therefore, 2 bits are saved, and the saved 2 bits can be used to indicate the repetition number of the PUCCH.

[0201] Table 2

[0202]

[0203]

[0204] In some other embodiments, the first message includes first indication information, the first indication information includes a first index, the first index is used for indicating the repetition number N, and the first index is also used for indicating a first MCS, the first MCS is used for demodulating at least part of the content of the first message; wherein the first index is an index in an MCS table, and the maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5. That is, the first index can indicate the repetition number N and the first MCS at the same time, and specific descriptions can be referred to the related descriptions above.

[0205] The first index is any MCS index in the MCS table, and when the maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5, it means that, compared with the case that the maximum number of bits occupied by the index in the MCS table in the prior art is at least 5, the MCS table in the embodiments of the present application is equivalent to reducing a part of the MCS indicated by the index with a large value, and retaining a part of the MCS indicated by the index with a small value.

[0206] In fact, when the terminal device is in a coverage enhancement scenario and needs to repeatedly transmit the PUCCH, a high-code rate and a high-modulation order MCS can not be needed in the transmission process, some high-code rate and high-modulation order MCSs (represented by indexes with large values) can be deleted from the MCS table, and a part of low-code rate and low-modulation order MCSs (represented by indexes with small values) can be reserved. In this way, the additional resource overhead can be reduced.

[0207] Table 3 is another example of the MCS table provided in the embodiments of the present application. Referring to Table 3, compared with Table 1, only indexes 0-15 in Table 1 are reserved in Table 3, and the maximum number of bits occupied is 4, which is less than 5 bits occupied by indexes 0-31 in Table 1.

[0208] Table 3

[0209]

[0210]

[0211] The method for transmitting the physical uplink control channel provided in the embodiments of the present application takes a first index as any one of the MCS indexes in the MCS table. When the maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5, it means that, compared with the case that the maximum number of bits occupied by the index in the MCS table in the prior art is at least equal to 5, the MCS table in the embodiments of the present application is equivalent to deleting a part of MCSs indicated by indexes with large values and reserving a part of MCSs indicated by indexes with small values. First, by deleting the MCSs in the MCS table, the number of bits occupied can be reduced, and resource waste can be reduced. Second, since a high-performance MCS can not be needed in the coverage enhancement scenario, the deleted MCSs in the MCS table have little effect on the communication transmission in the coverage enhancement scenario, and can completely meet the communication transmission in the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0212] Exemplarily, in the random access scenario, the first message is Msg4, the Msg4 includes the DCI, the DCI includes the first indication information, the first index in the first indication information indicates the first MCS and the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, the first MCS is used to demodulate the data part in the Msg4, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the Msg4, and the feedback information is used to indicate that the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4.

[0213] In the implementation, the network device sends the Msg4 to the terminal device.

[0214] The terminal device receives the Msg4, demodulates the data part in the Msg4 according to the first MCS indicated by the first indication information of the DCI in the Msg4, and determines the repetition number N of the first PUCCH according to the first indication information.

[0215] The terminal device adopts a repetition number N, and repeatedly transmits a first PUCCH carrying feedback information for Msg4.

[0216] Exemplarily, the network device can configure the content of the above Table 1 to Table 3 through a system message.

[0217] As described above, when the terminal device is in a coverage enhancement scenario and needs to repeatedly transmit a PUCCH, a MCS with a high code rate and a high modulation order can not be needed in the transmission process, and some MCSs with a high code rate and a high modulation order (indicated by an index with a large value) can be deleted from the existing MCS table, and a part of MCSs with a low code rate and a low modulation order (indicated by an index with a small value) are retained. In this way, since a part of MCSs are deleted, a part of bits are saved, and the number of bits occupied by the index for indicating the MCS naturally decreases. Then, the number of bits reserved in the MCS field in the existing DCI for indicating the MCS is more than the number of bits actually occupied in the indication process. Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary resource waste, the number of excess bits in the MCS field can be used to indicate the repetition number of the PUCCH.

[0218] Therefore, in some other embodiments, the first indication information is included in the first message, the first indication information is carried in a first part of bits in a MCS field of DCI; and the MCS field further includes a second part of bits, the second part of bits being used to carry MCS information for indicating a first MCS, the first MCS being used to demodulate at least part of content of the first message, wherein the first indication information includes a first index for indicating the repetition number N, the MCS information includes a second index for indicating the first MCS, the second index being an index in a MCS table, and a maximum number of bits occupied by the second index is less than 5.

[0219] In this embodiment, the MCS field in the DCI includes a first part of bits and a second part of bits, the first part of bits being used to carry a first index for indicating the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, and the second part of bits being used to carry a second index for indicating the first MCS. The second index is any index in a MCS table, and a maximum number of bits occupied by the second index is less than 5, which means that, compared with the case that a maximum number of bits occupied by an index in a MCS table in the prior art is at least equal to 5, a part of MCSs indicated by indexes with large values are deleted from the MCS table in this embodiment, and a part of MCSs indicated by indexes with small values are retained. In this way, by deleting the MCSs in the MCS table, the number of bits occupied can be reduced, and on this basis, the repetition number of the PUCCH can be additionally indicated in the existing MCS field, and the effect of reducing resource waste can be further achieved by multiplexing the existing MCS field.

[0220] Table 4 is another example of the MCS table provided in the embodiments of the present application. Referring to Table 4, the MCS table does not include the number of repetitions of the PUCCH, and only includes the MCS indicated by the index 0-7 in the MCS table, which is 24 less than the existing index 0-31 indicating the MCS, thereby saving a large number of bits.

[0221] In addition, since the index in the existing MCS table is 0-31, the MCS field in the existing DCI includes at least 5 bits. For example, in the embodiments, the second part of bits in the MCS field for carrying the second index indicating the first MCS can occupy 3 bits, and the remaining 2 bits are used as the first part of bits for carrying the index indicating the number of repetitions N.

[0222] Table 4

[0223]

[0224] It should be understood that in the embodiments, the network device can configure the number of repetitions of the PUCCH in any possible way, and one index indicates one number of repetitions. For example, the network device can configure the correspondence between the number of repetitions of the PUCCH and the index, and send the correspondence to the terminal device. Subsequently, the terminal device can determine the number of repetitions N indicated by the first index in the MCS field based on the first index in the MCS field and the correspondence.

[0225] It should also be understood that the correspondence between the number of repetitions of the PUCCH and the index can be represented by a table, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0226] It should be noted that the field adjacent to the MCS field in the DCI can be a new data indication field, and the first part of bits and the second part of bits can also be understood as two subfields, and either of the two subfields can be adjacent to the new data indication field.

[0227] Exemplarily, in a random access scenario, the first message is Msg4, the Msg4 includes the DCI, the DCI includes the MCS field, the MCS field includes the first part of bits and the second part of bits, the first part of bits is used to carry the first indication information, the first indication information includes the first index used to indicate the number of repetitions N of the first PUCCH, and the second part of bits is used to carry the MCS information, the MCS information includes the second index used to indicate the first MCS, the first MCS is used to demodulate the data part in the Msg4, and the first PUCCH is used to carry the feedback information for the Msg4, the feedback information is used to indicate that the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4.

[0228] In the implementation, the network device sends the Msg4 to the terminal device.

[0229] The terminal device receives the Msg4, demodulates the data part in the Msg4 according to the first MCS indicated by the MCS information of the DCI, and determines the repetition number N of the first PUCCH according to the first indication information in the DCI.

[0230] The terminal device transmits the first PUCCH carrying the feedback information for the Msg4 repeatedly for the repetition number N.

[0231] Exemplarily, the network device can configure the content of the above Table 4 through a system message.

[0232] Mode 1-2

[0233] In this mode, the first indication information is used to indicate the repetition number N, and the first indication information is carried in the DCI.

[0234] In some embodiments, the first indication information is not only used to indicate the repetition number N, but also can be used to indicate other parameters of the first PUCCH.

[0235] Exemplarily, the other parameters of the first PUCCH include at least one of the following parameters: PUCCH format (PUCCH format), first symbol (first symbol) occupied by the PUCCH (for short, first symbol), number of symbols (number of symbols) occupied by the PUCCH (for short, number of symbols), physical resource block (physical resource block, PRB) offset (PRB offset), and set of initial CS indexes. Among them, the time-frequency resource occupied by the PUCCH can be determined by the first symbol, the number of symbols, and the PRB offset. In addition, the number of symbols here represents the number of symbols occupied by the PUCCH in a single transmission.

[0236] In this embodiment, the existing PUCCH resource can be associated with the repetition number of the PUCCH proposed in the embodiments of the application, and a new PUCCH resource is defined. The new PUCCH resource includes the repetition number of the PUCCH proposed in the embodiments of the application and the existing PUCCH resource. Subsequently, by indicating the repetition number N of the first PUCCH through the first indication information, other parameters of the first PUCCH can also be indicated. Among them, the other parameters of the first PUCCH are the parameters in the existing PUCCH resource.

[0237] For the existing PUCCH resource, it needs to be noted that, before the network device configures a dedicated PUCCH for the terminal device, in order to realize the transmission of the PUCCH, in the prior art, the network device can configure a set of PUCCH resources (existing PUCCH resources) suitable for a specific cell, and the terminal device performs uplink transmission based on these PUCCH resources. Among them, these PUCCH resources are sent to the terminal device through a system message. It should be understood that the prior art defaults to transmitting a PUCCH once.

[0238] For the convenience of description, the above-described existing PUCCH resource can be collectively referred to as an old PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource in the embodiment of the present application that is different from the old PUCCH resource can be collectively referred to as a new PUCCH resource. The resource in the embodiment that includes the old PUCCH resource and the number of repetitions of the PUCCH can be denoted as a first new PUCCH resource. It should be understood that the new PUCCH resource can be a PUCCH resource configured by the network device for the terminal device in the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0239] In addition, compared with the dedicated PUCCH, the old PUCCH resource and the new PUCCH resource in the embodiment of the present application can also be understood as a common PUCCH resource (pucch-resource common), which is a PUCCH resource suitable for a terminal device in a specific cell. In order to further distinguish, the old PUCCH resource can be collectively referred to as a common PUCCH resource 1 (pucch-resource common1), and the new PUCCH resource can be collectively referred to as a common PUCCH resource 2 (pucch-resource common2), and the first new PUCCH resource is denoted as an example of the common PUCCH resource 2 (pucch-resource common2).

[0240] In the implementation, the network device can configure the first new PUCCH resource (an example of the pucch-resource common2) through a system message, and use an index to indicate the PUCCH in the first new PUCCH resource, that is, the index is used to indicate various parameters of the PUCCH in the first new PUCCH resource. Exemplarily, the index can be used to indicate the PUCCH format, the first symbol, the number of symbols, the PRB offset, the cyclic shift index set, and the number of repetitions of the PUCCH.

[0241] Subsequently, the network device sends an index (denoted as a third index) through the first indication information, and the terminal device determines the number of repetitions N and other parameters of the first PUCCH based on the relationship between the third index and the received first new PUCCH resource and index in the system message.

[0242] That is, in this way, the first indication information includes a third index, which is used to indicate the repetition number N and is also used to indicate other parameters of the first PUCCH.

[0243] Exemplarily, the relationship between the first new PUCCH resource and the index can be represented by a table.

[0244] Table 5 is a first new PUCCH resource (an example of pucch-resource common2) provided by an embodiment of the present application. It is emphasized again that the first column in Table 5 represents the index, the second column represents the PUCCH format, the third column represents the first symbol, the fourth column represents the number of symbols, which represents the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission PUCCH, the fifth column represents the PRB offset, the sixth column represents the cyclic shift index set, and the seventh column represents the repetition number of the PUCCH. Taking the index 2 as an example, the corresponding PUCCH format is format 0, the first symbol is 12, the number of symbols is 2, the PRB offset is 3, the cyclic shift index set is {0, 4, 8}, and the repetition number of the PUCCH is 4.

[0245] Table 5

[0246]

[0247]

[0248] Exemplarily, in a random access scenario, the first message is Msg4, the Msg4 includes DCI, the DCI includes the first indication information, the first indication information includes a third index used to indicate the repetition number N and other parameters of the first PUCCH, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the Msg4, the feedback information being used to indicate that the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4.

[0249] In the implementation, the network device sends the Msg4 to the terminal device.

[0250] The terminal device receives the Msg4 and determines the other parameters and the repetition number N of the first PUCCH according to the first indication information of the DCI.

[0251] The terminal device repeatedly transmits the first PUCCH carrying the feedback information for the Msg4 by using the repetition number N and the other parameters.

[0252] Exemplarily, the network device can configure the content of Table 5 through a system message.

[0253] Mode 1-3

[0254] In this way, the repetition number of the PUCCH is related to the total number of symbols occupied by the repeatedly transmitted PUCCH. In this way, the terminal device can determine the repetition number of the PUCCH according to the total number of symbols.

[0255] In some embodiments, the first message comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a total number of symbols occupied by the repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, the repetition number N being related to the total number of symbols and a number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH.

[0256] In this way, the terminal device can determine the total number of symbols according to the first indication information, and determine the repetition number N based on a relationship between the total number of symbols, the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH, and the repetition number N.

[0257] Exemplarily, the relationship between the total number of symbols, the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH, and the repetition number N can be predefined by a system or a protocol.

[0258] In an example, the quotient of the total number of symbols and the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH is the repetition number N. For example, assuming that the total number of symbols is 8 and the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH is 2, then the repetition number N = 8 / 2 = 4.

[0259] Exemplarily, the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH can be predefined by a system or a protocol, or can be indicated by the network device through signaling, and the embodiments of the present application do not make any limitation.

[0260] Exemplarily, the first indication information can comprise an index (denoted as a fourth index), the fourth index being used to indicate the total number of symbols occupied by the first PUCCH.

[0261] In implementation, the network device can configure PUCCH resources through a system message, and indicate the PUCCH in the PUCCH resources by using an index. Subsequently, the network device sends the fourth index through the first indication information, and the terminal device determines the total number of symbols based on the fourth index and the PUCCH resources in the received system message, and determines the repetition number N based on a relationship between the total number of symbols, the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH, and the repetition number.

[0262] The PUCCH in the PUCCH resources can comprise at least one of the following parameters: a PUCCH format, a first symbol (referred to as a first symbol) occupied by the PUCCH, a total number of symbols (referred to as a symbol number) occupied by the PUCCH, a PRB offset, and a cyclic shift index set.

[0263] In an example, the number of symbols occupied by a single transmission of a PUCCH can be obtained by the index of the first symbol. For example, a time slot includes 14 symbols, which can be indicated by indexes 0-13. Assuming that the index of the first symbol is 12, and the last symbol in a time slot is the end symbol of the PUCCH by default, it can be determined that the symbols occupied by a single transmission of a PUCCH are the symbols with indexes 12 and 13, i.e., the number of symbols occupied by a single transmission of a PUCCH is 2.

[0264] It should be understood that the PUCCH resource of this embodiment can be understood as a PUCCH resource obtained by modifying the existing PUCCH resource, i.e., the number of symbols occupied by a single transmission of the PUCCH in the existing PUCCH resource is modified to the total number of symbols, and the remaining parameters can remain unchanged.

[0265] For ease of description, the old PUCCH resource and the new PUCCH resource in mode 1-2 are followed, and the new PUCCH resource including the old PUCCH resource and the total number of symbols in this embodiment can be denoted as a second new PUCCH resource. For further distinction, the second new PUCCH resource is denoted as another example of a common PUCCH resource 2 (pucch-resource common2).

[0266] Table 6 is a second new PUCCH resource (another example of pucch-resource common2) provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to Table 6, the number of symbols is the total number of symbols occupied by a single transmission of a PUCCH, and the remaining parameters can be the same as those of the old PUCCH resource. Taking the first PUCCH with an index of 2 as an example, the corresponding total number of symbols is 8, and the first symbol is 12. It can be determined that the number of symbols occupied by a single transmission of the first PUCCH is 2, and the repetition number N = 8 / 2 = 4.

[0267] Table 6

[0268]

[0269] Exemplarily, in a random access scenario, the first message is Msg4, the Msg4 includes a DCI, the DCI includes first indication information, the first indication information includes information for indicating a total number of symbols occupied by repeated transmission of a first PUCCH, a repetition number N of the first PUCCH is related to the total number of symbols and a number of symbols occupied by a single transmission of the first PUCCH, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the Msg4. The feedback information is used to indicate that the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4.

[0270] In an implementation, the network device sends the Msg4 to the terminal device.

[0271] The terminal device receives the Msg4, determines the total number of symbols occupied by the repeated transmission of the first PUCCH according to the first indication information of the DCI, and determines the repetition number N according to the total number of symbols, the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, and the relationship between the total number of symbols and the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the first PUCCH.

[0272] The terminal device adopts the repetition number N to repeatedly transmit the first PUCCH carrying the feedback information for the Msg4.

[0273] Exemplarily, the network device can configure the content of the above Table 6 through a system message.

[0274] The method for transmitting the physical uplink control channel provided by the embodiments of the present application associates the repetition number N of the first PUCCH with the total number of symbols occupied by the repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, and the terminal device can obtain the repetition number N through the total number of symbols indicated by the network device. This way can modify the number of symbols occupied by the single transmission of the PUCCH in the existing standard PUCCH resource to the total number of symbols, and the modification to the existing PUCCH resource is small and easy to implement.

[0275] Mode 1-4

[0276] In this mode, the repetition number of the PUCCH is related to a value, and the terminal device can determine the repetition number of the PUCCH according to the value.

[0277] In some embodiments, the first indication information is included in the first message, and the first indication information is used to indicate a first value related to the repetition number N. That is, there is an association relationship between the first value and the repetition number N, and the terminal device can determine the repetition number N based on the first value and the relationship between the first value and the repetition number N.

[0278] Exemplarily, the first indication information can be carried in the DCI.

[0279] Exemplarily, the relationship between the first value and the repetition number N can be predefined by the system or protocol.

[0280] Exemplarily, the first value is smaller than the repetition number N. In this way, compared with the case where the first indication information includes N, the number of bits can be effectively reduced to reduce the signaling overhead.

[0281] In an example, the first value and the repetition number N satisfy the relationship: N = 2^x, where x is the first value. For example, x = 3, then N = 2^3 = 8.

[0282] In another example, the first value and the repetition number N satisfy the relationship: N = 2 + x, where x is the first value. For example, x = 3, then N = 2 + 3 = 5.

[0283] It should be understood that the above-mentioned relationship between the first value and the repetition number N is only illustrative, and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application. Any other relationship between the first value and the repetition number N is applicable to the embodiments of the present application and within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0284] For example, in a random access scenario, the first message is Msg4, the DCI is included in the Msg4, the first indication information is included in the DCI, the first indication information is used to indicate the first value, the first value is related to the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, the first PUCCH is used to carry the feedback information for the Msg4, and the feedback information is used to indicate that the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4.

[0285] In an implementation, the network device sends the Msg4 to the terminal device.

[0286] The terminal device receives the Msg4, and determines the repetition number N of the first PUCCH according to the relationship between the first value indicated by the first indication information of the DCI and the repetition number N of the first PUCCH.

[0287] The terminal device repeatedly transmits the first PUCCH carrying the feedback information for the Msg4 with the repetition number N.

[0288] The method for transmitting the physical uplink control channel provided by the embodiments of the present application can associate the first value with the repetition number N of the first PUCCH, so that the terminal device can obtain the repetition number N according to the first value in the first indication information, which can effectively reduce the number of bits to a certain extent, thereby reducing the signaling overhead, compared with the case where the first indication information includes N.

[0289] Mode 1-5

[0290] In this mode, the repetition number of the PUCCH can be indicated by a system message.

[0291] That is, in some embodiments, the first indication information is used to indicate the repetition number N, and the first indication information is carried in a system message. Alternatively, before the network device sends the first message, the method further includes: the network device sends a system message, and the system message includes the first indication information used to indicate the repetition number N.

[0292] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the system message and determines the repetition number N based on the system message. For example, in the embodiment where the network device sends the first indication information through the system message, the network device can configure a fixed value of the repetition number for the terminal device, and when the terminal device needs to repeatedly transmit the PUCCH, the fixed value of the repetition number of the PUCCH is used regardless of the type of information carried by the PUCCH.

[0293] In an example, the system message indicates the number of repetitions N by the first indication information in a manner combined with the above-mentioned manner 1-2, i.e., the number of repetitions of the PUCCH is related to the existing PUCCH resource, and the number of repetitions and other parameters of the PUCCH are indicated by the index. For example, the value of the number of repetitions of the PUCCH in Table 5 can be set as a fixed value, and thus the first indication information includes an index (denoted as a fifth index), which is used to indicate the number of repetitions N and other parameters of the PUCCH.

[0294] Exemplarily, in a random access scenario, the first indication information is included in the system message, the first indication information is used to indicate the number of repetitions N of the first PUCCH, the first message is Msg4, and the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the Msg4, the feedback information being used to indicate that the terminal device successfully receives the Msg4.

[0295] In an implementation, the network device sends a system message to the terminal device;

[0296] The terminal device determines the number of repetitions N of the first PUCCH according to the first indication information in the system message;

[0297] The terminal device sends Msg1 to the network device, the network device sends Msg2 to the terminal device, the terminal device sends Msg3 to the network device, and the network device sends Msg4 to the terminal device;

[0298] The terminal device repeatedly transmits the first PUCCH carrying the feedback information for the Msg4 with the number of repetitions N.

[0299] Each of the above-mentioned manners 1 is that the network device makes the terminal device determine the number of repetitions N by the first indication information. In fact, when the terminal device does not need to be in a coverage enhancement scenario, the terminal device can use the existing one-time transmission PUCCH, and the network device does not need to indicate the number of repetitions, so that unnecessary signaling overhead can be effectively reduced.

[0300] Therefore, in order to reduce the signaling overhead, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0301] The terminal device sends capability information, the capability information being used to indicate that the terminal device supports or is in a coverage enhancement scenario.

[0302] After receiving the capability information, the network device can determine whether to send content related to the number of repetitions N to the terminal device.

[0303] In an example, the capability information is used to indicate that the terminal device supports the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0304] In one case, the network device considers that the terminal device needs coverage enhancement as soon as the capability information is received, and then sends the information related to the repetition number N.

[0305] In another case, the network device receives the capability information, and further determines whether the terminal device needs coverage enhancement according to the signal strength of the uplink signal. For example, even if the terminal device supports the coverage enhancement scenario, the signal strength of the uplink signal is not poor, and then the network device considers that the terminal device does not need coverage enhancement for the time being, and will not send the first indication information related to the repetition number N. For another example, the terminal device supports the coverage enhancement scenario, and the signal strength of the uplink signal is also not good, and then the network device considers that the terminal device needs coverage enhancement, and will send the first indication information related to the repetition number N.

[0306] In another example, the capability information is used to indicate that the terminal device is in the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0307] In this example, the network device receives the capability information, and sends the first indication information related to the repetition number N.

[0308] Exemplarily, the terminal device can determine whether it is in the coverage enhancement scenario based on the channel quality, interference, noise, cell location and the like, and send the capability information in the coverage enhancement scenario. For example, if the terminal device is at the edge of the cell, the terminal device is probably in the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0309] Exemplarily, the terminal device can determine whether it is in the coverage enhancement scenario according to the strength of the received signal. For example, if the strength of the received signal of the terminal device is lower than a threshold value, the terminal device can determine that it is in the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0310] In the random access process, the capability information can include at least one of the following contents, and the network device determines whether to send the first indication information related to the repetition number N based on the content in the capability information.

[0311] 1. The preamble sequence corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario in the first message in the random access process. That is, the preamble sequence corresponds to the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0312] It should be understood that the preamble sequence of the random access process can also be referred to as the random access preamble sequence, and the two descriptions can be replaced with each other.

[0313] In implementations, each cell has multiple (e.g., 64) preamble sequences available for selection by the terminal device, where a portion of the multiple preamble sequences correspond to the enhanced coverage scenario, and another portion of the multiple preamble sequences are irrelevant to the coverage enhancement scenario. If the terminal device determines that it supports or is in the coverage enhancement scenario, it selects a preamble sequence from the portion of the preamble sequences corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario to send to the network device.

[0314] 2. A format of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in a third message in the random access procedure corresponding to the coverage enhancement, or uplink control information in the third message corresponding to the coverage enhancement. That is, the DMRS corresponds to the coverage enhancement scenario, or the uplink control information corresponds to the coverage enhancement scenario, for example, a format of the uplink control information corresponds to the coverage enhancement scenario.

[0315] For the DMRS, in implementations, a portion of the multiple DMRSs correspond to the enhanced coverage scenario, and another portion of the multiple DMRSs are irrelevant to the coverage enhancement scenario. If the terminal device determines that it supports or is in the coverage enhancement scenario, it selects a DMRS from the portion of the DMRSs corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario to send to the network device.

[0316] Similarly, for the format of the uplink control information, in implementations, a portion of the multiple formats of the uplink control information correspond to the enhanced coverage scenario, and another portion of the multiple formats are irrelevant to the coverage enhancement scenario. If the terminal device determines that it supports or is in the coverage enhancement scenario, it selects a format from the portion of the formats corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario as the format of the uplink control information, and sends the uplink control information in the format corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario to the network device.

[0317] 3. A repetition number M of repeating the third message in the random access procedure, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0318] Method 2

[0319] In this method, the network device does not need to indicate the repetition number N of the PUCCH to the terminal device through the first indication information, and the terminal device can determine the repetition number N of the PUCCH by itself.

[0320] In some embodiments, the first message is a fourth message (Msg4) in the random access procedure; and the repetition number N is related to a repetition number M of repeating the third message (Msg3) by the terminal device in the random access procedure, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0321] That is, the repetition number N of the first PUCCH is related to the repetition number M of the third message (Msg3), and the terminal device can determine the repetition number N of the first PUCCH to be sent according to the repetition number M of the third message (Msg3) sent by the terminal device.

[0322] In some embodiments, the relationship between the repetition number N and the repetition number M can be predefined by the system or protocol.

[0323] In an example, the repetition number N is equal to the repetition number M.

[0324] In another example, the repetition number N is related to the repetition number M and a preset value. For example, the preset value can be predefined by the system or protocol.

[0325] For example, the repetition number N, the repetition number M and the preset value can satisfy any of the following relationships, where n is the preset value, for example, n = 2: N = M / n; or, or, or, N = M-n.

[0326] It should be understood that the above example relationship between the repetition number N and the repetition number M is only illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application. Any other relationship between the repetition number N and the repetition number M can be applied to the embodiments of the present application and is within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0327] Regarding the repetition number M of the third message (Msg3), there are three possible interpretations in the embodiments of the present application: the repetition number M is the repetition number of the initial transmission of the third message; or, the repetition number M is the repetition number of the retransmission of the third message; or, the repetition number M is the sum of the repetition number of the initial transmission of the third message and the repetition number of the retransmission of the third message.

[0328] In this way, the terminal device can also send capability information to the network device to enable the network device to know that the terminal device is likely to repeatedly send the first PUCCH, so as to identify the repeatedly sent first PUCCH.

[0329] The embodiments of the present application are all related to repeatedly transmitted PUCCH. In order to reduce the conflict between the resources occupied by the repeatedly transmitted PUCCH and the resources occupied by the existing once-transmitted PUCCH in the scene, the resources occupied by the repeatedly transmitted PUCCH can be further divided.

[0330] In some embodiments, in the N times of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, the resources occupied by N-1 times of transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m1 frequency domain units relative to the resources occupied by the first transmission, the N-1 times of transmission are transmissions after the first transmission, and m1 is a positive integer greater than 0.

[0331] In this embodiment, the resource occupied by the first transmission of the first PUCCH can be the resource occupied by the existing first transmission PUCCH, and the resource occupied by the first transmission of the N-1th transmission of the first PUCCH is redefined by the present embodiment, which is offset by m1 frequency domain units relative to the resource occupied by the first transmission of the first PUCCH. For example, taking Table 5 as an example, the PRB offset in Table 5 can represent the frequency domain unit occupied by the existing first transmission PUCCH. If the first PUCCH is the PUCCH indicated by index "2", the repetition number of the first PUCCH is 4, the PRB offset of the resource occupied by the first transmission of the first PUCCH is "3", and the resources occupied by the remaining 3 transmissions of the first PUCCH are offset by m1 frequency domain units relative to the resource with the PRB offset of "3".

[0332] In some other embodiments, the resources occupied by the N times of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m2 frequency domain units relative to the reference frequency domain unit, and m2 is a positive integer greater than 0.

[0333] In an example, the reference frequency domain unit can be the frequency domain unit in the case of the existing first transmission of the first PUCCH, and the reference frequency domain unit is represented by PRB offset. For example, continuing to take Table 5 as an example, if the first PUCCH is the PUCCH indicated by index "2", the PRB offset of the resource occupied by the first transmission of the first PUCCH is "3", and in the case of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, the repetition number N is 4, then the resources occupied by the 4 times of transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m2 frequency domain units relative to the frequency domain unit with the PRB offset of "3".

[0334] In another example, the reference frequency domain unit can be the smallest numbered frequency domain unit in the system configured frequency domain resource. For example, if the smallest numbered frequency domain unit in the frequency domain resource is the frequency domain unit numbered "0", and in the case of repeated transmission of the first PUCCH, the repetition number N is 4, then the resources occupied by the 4 times of transmission of the first PUCCH are offset by m2 frequency domain units relative to the frequency domain unit numbered "0".

[0335] The above, in combination with Figures 1 to 3 , details the method of physical uplink control channel transmission provided by the present embodiment, and the following will be described in detail Figures 4 to 5 the apparatus provided by the present embodiment.

[0336] Figure 4 The apparatus 400 provided by the present embodiment is shown, which can be a terminal device or a network device, or a chip in a terminal device or a network device. The apparatus 400 includes a communication unit 410.

[0337] In a possible implementation, the apparatus 400 is configured to perform the procedures and steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above method 300.

[0338] The communication unit 410 is configured to receive the first message.

[0339] The communication unit 410 is further configured to, in a case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configured by the network device to the terminal device through high-layer signaling, repeatedly transmit the first PUCCH with a repetition number N, N being an integer greater than 1.

[0340] The first PUCCH is configured to carry feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information being information related to channel quality determined based on the first message, or the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message.

[0341] The communication unit 410 is configured to perform the procedures and steps corresponding to the terminal device in steps S310 and S320 in the method 300.

[0342] In another possible implementation, the apparatus 400 is configured to perform the procedures and steps corresponding to the network device in the above method 300.

[0343] The communication unit 410 is configured to send the first message.

[0344] The communication unit 410 is further configured to, in a case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configured by the network device to the terminal device through high-layer signaling, repeatedly receive the first PUCCH with a repetition number N, N being an integer greater than 1.

[0345] The first PUCCH is configured to carry feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information being information related to channel quality determined based on the first message, or the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message.

[0346] The communication unit 410 is configured to perform the procedures and steps corresponding to the network device in steps S310 and S320 in the method 300.

[0347] It should be understood that the specific processes of each unit performing the corresponding steps in each method described above have been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for brevity, will not be described here.

[0348] It should be understood that the apparatus 400 herein is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (for example, a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combination of logic circuitry and / or other suitable components that support the described functions.

[0349] The apparatus 400 of each of the above solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the access network device or the core network device in the above methods; the function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the communication unit can be replaced by a transmitter and a receiver, and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor, which respectively performs the transceiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment. In addition, the communication unit in the apparatus 400 can also be composed of a sending unit and a receiving unit, for performing operations related to receiving, the function of the communication unit can be understood as the receiving operation performed by the receiving unit, and for performing operations related to sending, the function of the communication unit can be understood as the sending operation performed by the sending unit. In the embodiments of the present application, Figure 4 The apparatus in the above embodiments can also be a chip or a chip system, for example, a system on chip (SoC). Correspondingly, the transceiving unit can be a transceiving circuit of the chip, which is not limited here.

[0350] Figure 5 An apparatus 500 provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. It should be understood that the apparatus 500 can be embodied as the terminal device or the network device in the above embodiments, and can be used to perform the steps and / or processes corresponding to the terminal device or the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0351] The apparatus 500 includes a processor 510, a transceiver 520, and a memory 530. The processor 510, the transceiver 520, and the memory 530 communicate with each other through an internal connection path. The processor 510 can implement the function of the processing unit 420 in various possible implementation manners of the apparatus 400, and the transceiver 520 can implement the function of the communication unit 410 in various possible implementation manners of the apparatus 400. The memory 530 is used to store instructions, and the processor 510 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 530, or in other words, the processor 510 can invoke these stored instructions to implement the function of the processor 520 in the apparatus 400 to control the transceiver 520 to send and / or receive signals.

[0352] Optionally, the memory 530 can include read-only memory and random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory can also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory can also store device type information. The processor 510 can be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 510 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 510 is used to perform the various steps and / or processes of the method embodiments corresponding to the access network device or the core network device described above.

[0353] In a possible implementation, the apparatus 500 is configured to perform the various processes and steps of the terminal device in the method 300 described above.

[0354] The processor 510 controls the transceiver 520 to perform the following steps:

[0355] receiving a first message;

[0356] In a case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), repeatedly transmitting a first PUCCH with a repetition number N, the dedicated PUCCH being configured to the terminal device by a higher layer signaling of a network device, N being an integer greater than 1; wherein,

[0357] The first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information being information related to channel quality determined based on the first message, or the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message.

[0358] In another possible implementation, the apparatus 500 is configured to perform the various processes and steps of the network device in the method 300 described above.

[0359] The processor 510 controls the transceiver 520 to perform the following steps:

[0360] transmitting a first message;

[0361] In a case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), repeatedly receiving a first PUCCH with a repetition number N, the dedicated PUCCH being configured to the terminal device by a higher layer signaling of a network device, N being an integer greater than 1; wherein,

[0362] The first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information, the feedback information being used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, or the feedback information being information related to channel quality determined based on the first message, or the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message.

[0363] It should be understood that the specific process of each device performing the corresponding steps in each of the above methods has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0364] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the processor of the above-mentioned device can be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0365] In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or the instruction in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware processor execution completion, or executed by hardware and software units in the processor. The software unit can be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor executes the instructions in the memory, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0366] The embodiments of the present application give a method for determining the number of PUCCH repetitions, aiming at the PUCCH reply of Msg4.

[0367] Embodiment one: configure a new PUCCH resource table, obtain that the UE supports coverage enhancement features through Msg1 or Msg3, use the new table, which carries the number of repetitions; further, in order to avoid the conflict between repeated PUCCH resources and legacy PUCCH resources, a new offset value can be configured.

[0368] Embodiment two: the number of PUCCH repetitions is determined according to the number of Msg3 repetitions; such as the same as the number of Msg3 repetitions, or the number of Msg3 repetitions / 2, etc.

[0369] Embodiment three: obtain that the UE supports coverage enhancement features through Msg1 or Msg3, schedule PDSCH by using a new type of DCI (carrying the number of repetitions), and indicate the number of retransmissions; specifically, the number of retransmissions is calculated according to a preset manner, such as 2^n or the specific value of the field, etc.; or, a new type of DCI is used for detection, without detecting the previous DCI format, so as to avoid blind detection.

[0370] Embodiment 4: Reducing MCS provides redundancy space, indicating the number of repetitions; one possibility is to provide redundancy space, and one possibility is to provide redundant bits, both of which can be used to indicate the number of repetitions.

[0371] Embodiment 1: Configure a new PUCCH resource table

[0372] Core idea: Configure a new PUCCH table, which carries the number of PUCCH repetitions or the number of symbols after repetition.

[0373] Step 1: Optionally, the UE informs the gNB of support / need for coverage enhancement features through Msg1 or Msg3, etc. The ways of informing are as follows. For example: preamble resource grouping (i.e. UEs supporting / need for coverage enhancement access on a group of preamble resources, UEs not supporting / need for coverage enhancement access on another group of preamble resources), DMRS configuration format of Msg3 / uplink control information carried on Msg3, number of Msg3 repetition transmissions, etc.

[0374] Step 2: After indicating coverage enhancement to the gNB, when indicating the PUCCH of Msg4, the indication method of the number of repetitions can be further divided into the following two methods:

[0375] Method 1: Multiplexing the existing table, adding an additional indication of the number of repetitions N for coverage enhancement UEs in SIB information; for UEs that need coverage enhancement, such as UEs with at least 2 times of Msg3 repetition transmission, use the number of repetitions N to transmit PUCCH; for UEs that support coverage enhancement and have no Msg3 repetition, do not perform PUCCH repetition transmission, thereby saving resources.

[0376] Method 2: When the gNB sends the DCI scheduling Msg4, the corresponding PUCCH resource table is a new table; one possibility is to indicate a pucch-ResourceCommon2 for CE UEs alone and configure the table corresponding to this parameter, such as Table 5 (indicating the number of repetitions) and Table 6 (indicating the number of symbols after repetition); one possibility is to multiplex other parameters of the original pucch-ResourceCommon and only configure a column of repetition times at the end of the original table. When in the CE scenario, the number of PUCCH repetitions is obtained according to the configured column of repetition times. Specifically, when in use, only UEs that need coverage enhancement (Msg3 repetition UEs) can repeat the transmission of PUCCH.

[0377] Further, since part of the original table content is reused, in order to reduce the conflict between the PUCCH repetition scenario and the resources used by the original UE, the resources used for transmission can be further distinguished: for method 1, the initial transmission resource is unchanged, and the retransmission resource is increased by offset bias, which can be configured in SIB information, so that the retransmission and the PUCCH initial transmission of other UEs are staggered; for method 2, the offset bias can be configured in the table, so that the resource of the repeated transmission is different from the PUCCH initial transmission of other UEs.

[0378] Technical effects of the embodiment one:

[0379] The scheme proposed in the embodiment of the present application gives a method for determining the number of PUCCH repetitions for replying Msg4.

[0380] The improvement of the embodiment one over the prior art:

[0381] The scheme proposed in the embodiment of the present application gives a method for determining the number of PUCCH repetitions, that is, indicating the number of repetitions or the number of symbols after repetition in the system message.

[0382] Embodiment two: the number of PUCCH repetitions is determined according to the number of Msg3 repetitions

[0383] Core idea: if Msg3 has been repeatedly transmitted, the PUCCH for replying Msg4 needs to be enhanced with high probability, so the number of PUCCH repetitions for replying Msg4 can be determined according to the number of Msg3 repetitions or whether it is repeated.

[0384] The number of PUCCH repetitions for replying Msg4 is determined according to the number of Msg3 repetitions. If Msg3 has been repeatedly transmitted, it means that the base station already knows that the UE supports coverage enhancement, so the number of repetitions can be implicitly obtained by the base station and the UE through the following methods. The specific determination method can be one of the following.

[0385] Method 1: the number of repetitions = the number of Msg3 repetitions; it can be seen that if Msg3 is transmitted only once, the obtained PUCCH is also transmitted only once, which is compatible with the prior art; if Msg3 is repeated twice or four times, the PUCCH is also repeated twice or four times.

[0386] Method 2: the number of repetitions = Msg3 repetition number / n or or Optionally, n = 2.

[0387] Method 3: the number of repetitions = Msg3 repetition number - k, k is a preconfigured value, and optionally k = 2.

[0388] The number of repetitions of Msg3 in the above methods 1-3 can be replaced by "the number of repetitions of Msg3 retransmission" or "the total number of Msg3 transmissions (i.e. the sum of the number of repetitions of the first transmission and the number of retransmissions)"

[0389] In addition to determining the number of repetitions of retransmission, the frequency domain resources, code domain resources, etc. used for repeated transmission are the same as the frequency domain and code domain resource positions of the first transmission; in order to not conflict with the PUCCH resources of the prior art, the frequency domain resources used for repetition are increased by one PRB offset.

[0390] Technical effects of the second embodiment:

[0391] The scheme proposed in the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining the number of PUCCH repetitions for replying to Msg4.

[0392] Improvements of the second embodiment over the prior art / other embodiments:

[0393] The number of repetitions of PUCCH is determined by the number of repetitions of Msg3, which implicitly determines the number of repetitions, avoids additional configuration signaling or dynamic signaling, and reduces the overhead.

[0394] Embodiment three: the UE supports the coverage enhancement feature through Msg1 or Msg3, uses a new type of DCI (carrying the number of repetitions) to schedule PDSCH, and indicates the number of retransmissions.

[0395] Core idea: since there is no RRC configuration, the number of repetitions is determined only by the field carried by the DCI.

[0396] Step 1: Optionally, the UE informs the gNB of the support / need for the coverage enhancement feature through Msg1 or Msg3, etc. The informing methods are as follows. For example: preamble resource grouping (i.e. UEs supporting / need coverage enhancement access on one group of preamble resources, UEs not supporting / need coverage enhancement access on another group of preamble resources), DMRS configuration format of Msg3 / uplink control information carried on Msg3, number of Msg3 repetition transmissions, etc.; (same as Step 1 of Embodiment 1)

[0397] Step 2: The base station indicates the number of PUCCH repetitions through information DCI, adding a new field; since there is no RRC configuration information, the number of repetitions needs to be directly obtained from the value x of the new field.

[0398] For example, the number of repetitions = 2^x; i.e. when x = 3, the number of repetitions is 2^3 = 8 times.

[0399] For example, the number of repetitions = 2+x; where "2" is only a preconfigured value; i.e. when x = 3, the number of repetitions is 5 times.

[0400] Step3: UE transmits PUCCH according to the indicated repetition number; the resource used for repetition transmission (frequency domain resource, code domain resource) is the same as the initial transmission; in order to not conflict with the PUCCH resource of the prior art, the frequency domain resource used for repetition is increased by one PRB offset.

[0401] The difference from the existing Option2: in the current Option2 discussion, the value array of the repetition number is configured by RRC, and the value of the new field is used to determine the array; since the PUCCH of Msg4 does not have RRC configuration information, the repetition number can only be directly obtained.

[0402] Technical effects of embodiment three:

[0403] The scheme proposed in the embodiments of the application provides a determination method of the repetition number of the PUCCH for replying Msg4.

[0404] Improvements of embodiment three over the prior art / other embodiments:

[0405] The repetition number is directly determined by the field of DCI.

[0406] Embodiment four: Reducing MCS to provide redundancy space and indicating the repetition number

[0407] Core idea: For UEs that need to be covered and enhanced, the original high-rate part of the MCS is no longer applicable, thereby reducing the MCS table to provide redundancy space to carry the repetition number.

[0408] Step1: Define the MCS table of the CE scenario, and indicate the PUCCH resource used when DCI schedules Msg4;

[0409] One possibility is to provide redundancy space in the manner of Table 2, that is, a new row of PUCCH repetition is added, and each row of MCS index carries the repetition number; another possibility is to reduce the number of rows of MCS to provide redundancy bits, as shown in Table 3 and Table 4, and the original 32 rows are reduced to 16 rows or 8 rows, so that the original 5-bit MCS indication only occupies 4 bits or 3 bits for MCS indication, and the saved 1 bit or 2 bits can be used to indicate the repetition number.

[0410] Step2: The newly defined MCS table is used only for UEs that need to be covered and enhanced or UEs that support coverage enhancement, otherwise the MCS indication information is interpreted according to the prior art.

[0411] For example, when Msg3 is repeatedly transmitted, the UE needs to be covered and enhanced and supports coverage enhancement, and the new MCS table is referred to for interpretation.

[0412] For example, the UE informs the gNB of support for coverage enhancement features through Msg1 or Msg3, etc., and the UE can also use a new MCS table.

[0413] Technical effects of embodiment four:

[0414] The scheme proposed in the embodiments of the present application provides a determination method for determining the number of PUCCH repetitions for replying to Msg4.

[0415] Improvements of embodiment four over prior art / other embodiments:

[0416] The method of dynamically indicating the number of PUCCH repetitions is achieved by reducing the MCS table to provide space indication of the number of repetitions.

[0417] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the field of communication.

[0418] It should also be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, "predefined" can be achieved by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables or other ways that can be used to indicate relevant information in devices (such as stations and access points), and the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner thereof. For example, the predefinition can refer to the definition in the protocol.

[0419] It should also be noted that "at least one" refers to one or more than one; "at least one of A and B" is similar to "A and / or B", which describes the association relationship of the associated objects, and indicates that there can be three relationships, for example, at least one of A and B, which can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone.

[0420] Those skilled in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are realized in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0421] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0422] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely schematic. The division of the units is merely logical function division. There can be other division manners in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0423] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purposes of the embodiments.

[0424] In addition, each functional unit in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can be a physically independent unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0425] If the functions are realized in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0426] The above is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device, characterized in that, The method comprises: sending capability information, the capability information indicating that a terminal device repeatedly transmits a fourth message in a random access process corresponding to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH); receiving a first message, the first message being the fourth message in the random access process; in a case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated PUCCH, repeatedly transmitting a first PUCCH with a repetition number N, the dedicated PUCCH being configured to the terminal device by a network device through high-layer signaling, N being an integer greater than 1; wherein the first PUCCH carries feedback information for the fourth message, the feedback information indicating whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, and time-frequency resources occupied by the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message; the first message comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to determine the repetition number N.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication information comprises a first index, the first index indicating the repetition number N, and the first index further indicating a first modulation and coding strategy (MCS), the first MCS being used to demodulate at least part of the content of the first message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The first index is an index in an MCS table, and a maximum number of bits occupied by the first index is less than 5.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first indication information is carried in a first part of bits in a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field of a downlink control information (DCI); and the MCS field further comprises a second part of bits, the second part of bits carrying MCS information used to indicate a first MCS, the first MCS being used to demodulate at least part of the content of the first message; wherein the first indication information comprises a first index used to indicate the repetition number N, and the MCS information comprises a second index used to indicate the first MCS, the second index being an index in an MCS table, and a maximum number of bits occupied by the second index being less than 5.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first indication information indicates a first value, the first value being related to the repetition number N.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The first value and the repetition number N satisfy any of the following relationships: N = 2^x; or, N = 2+x; wherein x is the first value.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first indication information indicates a total number of symbols occupied by repeatedly transmitting the first PUCCH, and the repetition number N is related to the total number of symbols and a number of symbols occupied by transmitting the first PUCCH once.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first indication information indicates the repetition number N.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first indication information is carried in a system message.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The first indication information is carried in a DCI.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the repetition number N is related to a repetition number M of repeatedly sending a third message by the terminal device in the random access process, M being a positive integer greater than 1.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the repetition number N is equal to the repetition number M; or the repetition number N is related to the repetition number M and a preset value.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein The repetition number M is a repetition number of initial transmission of the third message; or The repetition number M is a repetition number of retransmission of the third message; or The repetition number M is a sum of a repetition number of initial transmission of the third message and a repetition number of retransmission of the third message.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The capability information is further used for indicating that the terminal device supports or is in a coverage enhancement scenario.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The capability information comprises at least one of the following: a preamble sequence corresponding to the coverage enhancement scenario in a first message in a random access procedure; or a format of a demodulation reference signal DMRS corresponding to the coverage enhancement in a third message in the random access procedure, or uplink control information corresponding to the coverage enhancement in the third message; or a repetition number M of repeated transmission of the third message in the random access procedure, M being a positive integer greater than 1.

16. A communication method applied to a network device or a chip in the network device, comprising: The method comprises: receiving capability information from a terminal device, the capability information indicating that the terminal device repeatedly transmits a physical uplink control channel PUCCH corresponding to a fourth message in a random access procedure; sending a first message, the first message being the fourth message in the random access procedure; in a case where the terminal device is not configured with a dedicated PUCCH, receiving a first PUCCH repeatedly N times, the dedicated PUCCH being configured to the terminal device by high-layer signaling, N being an integer greater than 1; wherein the first PUCCH is used to carry feedback information for the fourth message, the feedback information being used to indicate whether the terminal device successfully receives the first message, and a time-frequency resource occupied by the first PUCCH being determined according to the first message; the first message comprises first indication information, the first indication information being used to determine the repetition number N.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first indication information comprises a first index, the first index being used to indicate the repetition number N, and the first index being further used to indicate a first modulation and coding strategy MCS, the first MCS being used to demodulate at least part of the first message.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein, the first indication information is carried in a first part of bits in a modulation and coding strategy MCS field of a downlink control information DCI; and the MCS field further comprises a second part of bits, the second part of bits being used to carry MCS information used to indicate a first MCS, the first MCS being used to demodulate at least part of the first message; wherein the first indication information comprises a first index used to indicate the repetition number N, and the MCS information comprises a second index used to indicate the first MCS, the second index being an index in an MCS table, a maximum number of bits occupied by the second index being less than 5.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein, the first indication information is used to indicate a first value, the first value being related to the repetition number N.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein, the first indication information is used to indicate a total number of symbols occupied by repeatedly transmitting the first PUCCH, the repetition number N being related to the total number of symbols and a number of symbols occupied by single transmission of the first PUCCH.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein, The first indication information is used to indicate the repetition number N.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, The first indication information is carried in a system message.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein, The repetition number N is related to a repetition number M of repeatedly sending a third message in the random access procedure by the terminal device, and M is a positive integer greater than 1.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein, The repetition number N is equal to the repetition number M; or The repetition number N is related to the repetition number M and a preset value.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein, The repetition number M is a repetition number of initially sending the third message; or The repetition number M is a repetition number of re-sending the third message; or The repetition number M is a sum of a repetition number of initially sending the third message and a repetition number of re-sending the third message.

26. The method of any one of claims 16-24, wherein, The capability information is further used to indicate that the terminal device supports or is in a coverage enhancement scenario.

27. An apparatus comprising: comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; a processor coupled to the memory; and wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the processor, cause performance of the method of any of claims 1 to 15.

28. An apparatus comprising: comprising: a memory storing computer instructions; a processor coupled to the memory; and wherein the computer instructions, when executed by the processor, cause performance of the method of any of claims 16 to 26.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, a memory storing computer instructions; and wherein the computer instructions, when executed, cause performance of the method of any of claims 1 to 15 or the method of any of claims 16 to 26.

30. A computer program product, characterised in that, a memory storing computer instructions; and wherein the computer instructions, when executed, cause performance of the method of any of claims 1 to 15 or the method of any of claims 16 to 26. a memory storing computer instructions; and wherein the computer instructions, when executed, cause performance of the method of any of claims 1 to 15 or the method of any of claims 16 to 26.

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