Communication Method, Device and Computer Storage Medium

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, apparatus, and computer storage medium. The communication method includes: when the PDCCH carrying DCI is the first candidate PDCCH or the second candidate PDCCH, where the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, and the first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH belong to a candidate PDCCH group for PDCCH retransmission, determining a reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, or using the second candidate PDCCH as the reference PDCCH, so that the network device and the terminal have the same understanding of the candidate reference PDCCH, improving communication reliability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, and computer storage medium. Background Art

[0002] To improve the reception performance of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the PDCCH repetition transmission technology can be adopted. The network device transmits the same downlink control information (DCI) on multiple candidate PDCCHs (PDCCH candidates).

[0003] When the candidate PDCCHs used for repeating the transmission of DCI and the candidate PDCCHs used for independently transmitting DCI correspond to the same time-frequency resources, if the terminal receives a DCI on this resource, the terminal may not be able to distinguish on which of the above candidate PDCCHs the DCI is carried, thus affecting the normal communication between the terminal and the network device. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal or by a communication device for the terminal, such as a chip.

[0005] The method includes: receiving configuration information of a first set of candidate PDCCHs and a second set of candidate PDCCHs; receiving a first DCI, where the first DCI is carried on a first candidate PDCCH in the first set of candidate PDCCHs or on a second candidate PDCCH in the second set of candidate PDCCHs, where the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH correspond to the same resources, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a group of candidate PDCCHs, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the group of candidate PDCCHs are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third set of candidate PDCCHs; determining a reference candidate PDCCH according to the group of candidate PDCCHs, or using the second candidate PDCCH as the reference PDCCH, where the time-domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission.

[0006] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, whether the network device sends the first DCI through the first candidate PDCCH or through the second candidate PDCCH, the terminal determines the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH set. This implementation does not limit the sending behavior of the network device.

[0007] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the receiving the first DCI includes: receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set, correspondingly, the network device sends the first DCI through the first candidate PDCCH; or receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set, correspondingly, the network device sends the first DCI through the second candidate PDCCH. In this implementation, it is restricted that the network device can only send the first DCI through the first candidate PDCCH or through the second candidate PDCCH to keep consistent with the understanding of the reference candidate PDCCH on the terminal side.

[0008] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving the configuration information of the third candidate PDCCH set, where the first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set have an association relationship.

[0009] Optionally, the association relationship is configured by the network device through high-layer signaling. For example, the identification information of the third candidate PDCCH set is added to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set.

[0010] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a communication device for the network device, such as a chip.

[0011] The method includes: sending configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set, where the first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, and the second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH. Among them, the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same. The first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; determining a reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, or using the second candidate PDCCH as the reference PDCCH, where the time domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission; sending a first DCI, where the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH or carried on the second candidate PDCCH.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the network device may send the first DCI through any one of the first candidate PDCCH or the second candidate PDCCH. In this implementation manner, the sending behavior of the network device is not restricted.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the sending the first DCI includes: sending the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set; or sending the first DCI according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set. In this implementation manner, the network device can only send the first DCI through the first candidate PDCCH or through the second candidate PDCCH to keep the understanding of the reference candidate PDCCH consistent with the terminal side.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH have the same scrambling sequence and the same payload size of the carried DCI. Optionally, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH also correspond to the same control resource set (CORESET). In this implementation manner, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH meet the condition of being counted as one candidate PDCCH to be monitored.

[0015] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the candidate PDCCH group includes one or more pairs of candidate PDCCHs, and each pair of candidate PDCCHs is used to transmit the same DCI. The first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH belong to a pair of candidate PDCCHs.

[0016] Optionally, determining the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group includes: using the first candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH, or using the third candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the time domain position of the first candidate PDCCH precedes the time domain position of the second candidate PDCCH. When the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the time domain position of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), the reference candidate PDCCH is the first candidate PDCCH.

[0018] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the time domain position of the first candidate PDCCH precedes the time domain position of the second candidate PDCCH. When the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the counter downlink assignment indicator (C-DAI) or the total downlink assignment indicator (T-DAI), the reference candidate PDCCH is the first candidate PDCCH.

[0019] By using the communication method provided in the above first aspect or second aspect, determining the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group or the second candidate PDCCH solves the problem that the terminal cannot distinguish whether the PDCCH listened to in the overlapping resources is an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH, enabling the terminal and the network device to have a consistent understanding of the determination method of the reference point involved in the PDCCH listened to on the overlapping resources and improving communication reliability.

[0020] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal or by a communication device for the terminal, such as a chip.

[0021] The method includes: receiving configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set, where resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set overlap, the first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI; the second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are located in overlapping resources, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; monitoring candidate PDCCHs on resources in the first candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the second candidate PDCCH set, and monitoring candidate PDCCHs on resources in the second candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the first candidate PDCCH set.

[0022] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a communication device for the network device, such as a chip.

[0023] The method includes: sending configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set, where resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set overlap, the first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI; the second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are located in overlapping resources, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; sending a first DCI, where the first DCI is carried on a candidate PDCCH on resources in the first candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the second candidate PDCCH set, or the first DCI is carried on a candidate PDCCH on resources in the second candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the first candidate PDCCH set.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the resource overlap between the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set includes: the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set completely overlap, and the frequency-domain resources partially overlap; or the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set partially overlap, and the frequency-domain resources partially overlap or completely overlap.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set satisfy one or more of the following conditions: the payload sizes of the DCIs corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same, the scrambling codes corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same, or the formats of the DCIs corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same.

[0026] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, have the same scrambling code sequence, and the payload sizes of the DCIs carried are the same. Optionally, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH also correspond to the same CORESET. In this implementation manner, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH satisfy the condition of being counted as one candidate PDCCH to be monitored.

[0027] By using the communication method provided in the above third aspect or fourth aspect, the terminal does not monitor the candidate PDCCH on the overlapping resources, solving the problem that the terminal cannot distinguish whether the PDCCH monitored on the overlapping resources is an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH, enabling the network device and the terminal to have a consistent understanding of the determination method of the reference points involved in the PDCCH monitored on the overlapping resources, and improving communication reliability.

[0028] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal or by a communication device for the terminal, such as a chip.

[0029] The method includes: receiving configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and a second candidate PDCCH set; receiving a first DCI, where the first DCI includes a first indication for indicating that the first DCI is carried on a first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set or a second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, where the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH correspond to the same resources, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; determining a reference candidate PDCCH according to the first DCI.

[0030] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a communication device for the network device, such as a chip.

[0031] The method includes: sending configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set; sending a first DCI, where the first DCI includes a first indication for indicating that the first DCI is carried on a first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set or a second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, where the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH correspond to the same resources, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set.

[0032] By using the communication method provided in the above fifth aspect or sixth aspect, by explicitly notifying the terminal in the downlink control information that the PDCCH sent on the overlapping resources is a repeated transmission PDCCH or an independent transmission PDCCH through the indication information, the terminal and the network device have the same understanding of the PDCCH monitored on the overlapping resources, improving communication reliability.

[0033] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including units, modules, or means for performing the steps of each of the above first aspect, third aspect, or fifth aspect.

[0034] In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including units, modules, or means for performing the steps of each of the above second aspect, fourth aspect, or sixth aspect.

[0035] In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface circuit. The processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the methods provided in the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect above. The processor includes one or more.

[0036] In a tenth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface circuit. The processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the methods provided in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect above. The processor includes one or more.

[0037] In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including a processor for calling a program stored in a memory to execute the methods provided in the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect above. The memory may be located inside the device or outside the device. And the processor may be one or more processors.

[0038] In a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, including a processor for calling a program stored in a memory to execute the methods provided in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect above. The memory may be located inside the device or outside the device. And the processor may be one or more processors.

[0039] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program. When the program is called by a processor, the methods provided in the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect above are executed.

[0040] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program. When the program is called by a processor, the methods provided in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect above are executed.

[0041] In addition, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, including the computer program provided in the thirteenth aspect or the fourteenth aspect above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a downlink time-frequency resource provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of associated candidate PDCCHs and an associated search space set provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of PDCCH resource overlap provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 5 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of determining C-DAI and T-DAI provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of a scenario for determining a candidate reference PDCCH provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a scenario for determining a candidate reference PDCCH provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 9 It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of resource overlap of a search space set provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0052] Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of resource overlap of a search space set provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0053] Figure 12 It is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 13 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 14 It is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 15 It is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0057] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0058] Such as Figure 1As shown, the communication system 100 includes a network device 110 and a terminal 120. The terminal 120 communicates with the network device 110 via electromagnetic waves. When the terminal 120 sends information, the wireless communication module of the terminal 120 can obtain the information bits sent to the network device 110 through the wireless channel. These information bits are, for example, the information bits generated by the processing module of the terminal, received from other devices, or stored in the storage module of the terminal. Specifically, the terminal 120 can act as an entity that sends uplink data and send an uplink channel to the network device 110. The uplink channel can carry uplink data. The terminal 20 can also receive downlink data directly sent by the network device 110 or forwarded by network nodes such as relay devices.

[0059] It should be understood that Figure 1 Exemplarily, a network device and a terminal are shown. Optionally, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices, and the coverage range of each network device may include other numbers of terminals. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0060] In addition to the point-to-point transmission between the network device and the terminal as Figure 1 shown, the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to scenarios such as multi-hop / relay transmission between the network device and the terminal, dual connectivity (DC) or multi-connectivity of multiple network devices and terminals. The present application does not make special limitations on this.

[0061] In the present application, the terminal 120 can be various devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users. For example, it can be a handheld device with a wireless connection function or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal 120 can communicate with the core network via an access network, such as a radio access network (RAN), and exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. The terminal 120 can also be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile, remote station, access point (AP), remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, or user device, etc. For example, it can include a mobile phone (or a "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device, a smart wearable device, a drone device, etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip applied to the above devices can also be referred to as a terminal.

[0062] In this application, the network device 110 may be an access network device, which can be used to connect the terminal 110 to an access network such as the RAN. The network device 110 may be a base station defined by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). For example, it may be a base station device in the LTE system, that is, an evolved NodeB (eNB / eNodeB); it may also be an access network side device in the 5G new radio (NR) system, including a gNB, a transmission reception point (TRP), or it may be a central unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). Among them, the CU may also be called a control unit. The protocol layer of the base station is split using the CU-DU structure. The functions of some protocol layers are centrally controlled by the CU, and the functions of the remaining part or all protocol layers are distributed in the DU, and the DU is centrally controlled by the CU. In addition, when the eNB is connected to the 5G Core network (5GC), the LTE eNB may also be called an eLTE eNB. Specifically, the eLTE eNB is an LTE base station device evolved from the LTE eNB and can be directly connected to the 5G CN. The eLTE eNB also belongs to the base station device in NR. The network device 110 may also be an access point (AP) or an access controller (AC), or other network devices capable of communicating with the terminal and the core network. For example, relay devices, in-vehicle devices, smart wearable devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the type of the network device.

[0063] The related technologies of the PDCCH are introduced below.

[0064] Taking the NR system as an example, in the frequency domain, it is divided into independent subcarriers. The subcarrier spacing (SCS) can be determined according to the subcarrier spacing configuration μ. For example, when μ = 0, the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, and when μ = 1, the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz. The unit of the uplink / downlink frequency domain resource may be a resource block (RB), and each RB consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. See Figure 2 As shown, it is the downlink time-frequency resource grid. Figure 2 in Indicates the number of RBs for one downlink scheduling. Each element on the resource grid is called a resource element (RE), and the RE is the smallest physical resource, corresponding to a subcarrier within a symbol. The time-frequency resource grid for the uplink is similar to that of the downlink. In the NR system, a time slot consists of 12 or 14 symbols in time, and each symbol can be indicated by an index. The symbol described in this application refers to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0065] CORESET is used to transmit PDCCH. The PDCCH is transmitted within the CORESET range, using some or all of the time-frequency resources in the CORESET. CORESET can be understood as a set of time-frequency resources. Specifically, a CORESET contains search spaces at different aggregation levels, can include multiple consecutive or non-consecutive RBs in the frequency domain, can include 1 or several consecutive symbols in the time domain, and these symbols can be located at any position within the time slot. CORESET can be configured by high-layer signaling such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0066] The control-channel element (CCE) is the basic resource unit carrying the PDCCH, and the resource carrying a PDCCH consists of one or more CCEs. Each CCE in the CORESET will have a corresponding index number. A given PDCCH can be carried by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs. For the number of CCEs carrying a PDCCH, it can be determined by the DCI payload size and the required coding rate. Among them, the number of CCEs carrying the PDCCH is also called the aggregation level (AL). The network-side device can adjust the aggregation level of the PDCCH according to the actual transmission status of the wireless channel to achieve link adaptive transmission. One CCE consists of 6 resource-element groups (REGs), and one REG occupies one OFDM symbol in the time domain and one RB in the frequency domain.

[0067] DCI is transmitted through PDCCH, or in other words, DCI is carried in PDCCH. DCI can indicate downlink allocation information, such as modulation and coding scheme, resource allocation, and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information related to the downlink shared channel; DCI can also indicate uplink scheduling authorization information, such as modulation and coding scheme, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel, etc.

[0068] A search space is a set of PDCCH candidates at an aggregation level. A PDCCH candidate can be regarded as the time-frequency position where the PDCCH may appear, and each PDCCH candidate has corresponding time-frequency resources. The network device can select one or more PDCCH candidates to send DCI, which can also be understood as sending the PDCCH. The network device can configure a search space or search spaces at different aggregation levels for the terminal through higher-layer signaling. These search spaces can be called a search space set (SS set). That is to say, a search space set can include one search space or search spaces at different aggregation levels. Since the terminal does not know in advance which or which PDCCH candidates the network device will send DCI on, but the terminal knows the positions of these PDCCH candidates according to the configuration information, the terminal will monitor the PDCCH candidates in the search space, including detecting all PDCCH candidates in the search space and attempting to decode them. If the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) passes, it is considered that the terminal has received the PDCCH sent by the network device and obtained the DCI carried by the PDCCH. The terminal can continue the subsequent uplink and downlink data transmission process according to the DCI carried by the PDCCH. The above behavior of the terminal attempting to decode each PDCCH candidate to determine whether the corresponding DCI is received can also be called blind detection (BD). The duration of the terminal's PDCCH blind detection for a search space set can be called the PDCCH monitoring occasion (PDCCH MO). A PDCCH MO can be included in a slot or a time span. Specifically, a PDCCH MO can be jointly determined by the starting symbol of monitoring a search space set and the CORESET bound to this search space set. For example, the starting symbol of the terminal device monitoring a search space set is the first symbol in a slot, and this search space set is bound to a CORESET with a length of 3 symbols. Therefore, the PDCCH MO for monitoring this search space set is the first 3 symbols of the slot where it is located, that is, the first symbol, the second symbol, and the third symbol. The number of slots between PDCCH MOs can be called the monitoring period. Optionally, the minimum unit of the monitoring period is 1 slot.

[0069] The "monitoring" described in this application can also be understood as "attempting to decode". "Monitoring the PDCCH" can also be understood as "attempting to decode the PDCCH", and "detecting the PDCCH" can be understood as "successfully decoding the PDCCH". In addition, the meaning of "monitoring the PDCCH" described in this application is the same as the meaning of "monitoring candidate PDCCH", which will not be elaborated further hereinafter.

[0070] To improve the reception performance of the PDCCH, the network device can adopt the method of repeatedly transmitting the PDCCH. There are various ways to repeatedly transmit the PDCCH. Multiple PDCCHs carrying the same DCI can be transmitted at different times, different frequencies, or through different beams, or multiple PDCCHs carrying the same DCI can be simultaneously sent to a terminal by multiple transmission points. For example, repeating the transmission of the PDCCH twice means that the same DCI is repeatedly transmitted twice. The following definitions can be made for the repeated transmission of the PDCCH: multiple PDCCHs use the same AL to transmit the same DCI, and the encoded bits carried in these multiple PDCCHs are also the same. In this application, the "repeated transmission of the PDCCH" is also referred to as "PDCCH repetition" or "PDCCH repeated transmission", and the "PDCCH for repeatedly transmitting DCI" can also be called the "repeatedly transmitted PDCCH". Corresponding to the PDCCH repeated transmission, there is also a PDCCH for independently transmitting DCI, that is, the PDCCH carrying a certain DCI is only sent from the network device to the terminal once when scheduling the initial data transmission. In this application, the "PDCCH for independently transmitting DCI" can also be called the "individual PDCCH" or "independently transmitted PDCCH". The candidate PDCCH that can be used as an individual PDCCH can be called the "individual PDCCH candidate" or "candidate PDCCH for independently transmitting DCI", and the SS set including the individual PDCCH candidate can be called the individual SS set. The individual PDCCH does not need to be repeatedly transmitted or soft combined with other PDCCHs.

[0071] All candidate PDCCHs within a set of search spaces can be defined for PDCCH repeated transmission and not be used as independent PDCCHs. Different sets of search spaces can be configured with a linkage for PDCCH repeated transmission, and the linkage can be indicated by the network device to the terminal through indication information, such as adding the identifier of another associated search space set in the configuration information of a search space set. The existence of a linkage between two sets of search spaces means that the candidate PDCCHs in one set of search spaces correspond one-to-one with the candidate PDCCHs in the other set of search spaces and are used for PDCCH repeated transmission. Specifically, a candidate PDCCH within a set of search spaces can be associated with a corresponding candidate PDCCH in another set of search spaces and be used to transmit the same DCI. The corresponding candidate PDCCH can be a candidate PDCCH in a search space at the same aggregation level in different sets of search spaces. Optionally, the sequence numbers of the corresponding candidate PDCCHs are the same, or there is a preset other association relationship between the sequence numbers of the corresponding candidate PDCCHs, such as a predefined offset between the sequence numbers of the candidate PDCCHs. In addition, in this application, the associated candidate PDCCHs used for PDCCH repeated transmission are referred to as linked PDCCH candidate(s), and the set of search spaces containing the associated candidate PDCCHs used for PDCCH repeated transmission is referred to as linked SS set(s).

[0072] For example, two associated candidate PDCCHs can be used for PDCCH retransmission. These two candidate PDCCHs can be referred to as a pair of linked PDCCH candidates or a pair of linked PDCCH candidates. The SS sets to which these two candidate PDCCHs belong respectively can be referred to as a pair of linked SS sets or a pair of linked SS sets. The number of PDCCH candidates included in a pair of linked SS sets is the same, and the PDCCH candidates are in one-to-one correspondence. A pair of linked SS sets can include one or more pairs of linked PDCCH candidates. Each pair of linked PDCCH candidates is respectively used to transmit a DCI. The DCIs transmitted by different pairs of linked PDCCH candidates can be the same or different. For example, the network device selects a pair of linked PDCCH candidates to transmit DCI #1 and selects another pair of linked PDCCH candidates to transmit DCI #2; for another example, during the first transmission of DCI #1, the network device selects a pair of linked PDCCH candidates to transmit DCI #1, and during the second transmission of DCI #1, the network device selects another pair of linked PDCCH candidates to transmit DCI #1. It can be understood that the present application does not limit the number of candidate PDCCHs used for retransmitting DCI. The above linked PDCCH candidates are not limited to only two. There can be more than two linked PDCCH candidates to transmit the same DCI. Correspondingly, more than two linked PDCCH candidates belong to more than two linked SS sets.

[0073] Take Figure 3 as an example to illustrate the linked PDCCH candidate(s) and the linked SS set(s). Figure 3The SS set#i and SS set#j described in are linked SS sets to each other, and the association relationship between SS set#i and SS set#j is configured by the network device. The candidate PDCCHs for PDCCH repeated transmission are respectively 2 candidate PDCCHs in SS set#i and SS set#j. Assume that SS set#i includes a search space with aggregation level 8 (AL8) and a search space with AL16, and the corresponding numbers of candidate PDCCHs are 2 and 1 respectively. SS set#j includes a search space with AL8 and a search space with AL16, and the corresponding numbers of candidate PDCCHs are 2 and 1 respectively. The candidate PDCCHs in each search space can be numbered respectively according to the mapping relationship predefined by the protocol. For example, the 2 candidate PDCCHs in the SS with AL8 in SS set#i are respectively marked as PDCCH candidate#1A and PDCCH candidate#2A through the mapping relationship predefined by the protocol. The PDCCHs in other search spaces in the figure are numbered similarly and will not be elaborated. For AL8, PDCCH candidate#1A in SS set#i and PDCCH candidate#1B in SS set#j are used together for PDCCH repeated transmission, and PDCCH candidate#2A in SS set#i and PDCCH candidate#2B in SS set#j are used together for PDCCH repeated transmission. For AL16, PDCCH candidate#1A in SS set#i and PDCCH candidate#1B in SS set#j are used together for PDCCH repeated transmission. It should be noted that the candidate PDCCHs in set#i and SS set#j are all used for PDCCH repeated transmission. If the network device sends an independent PDCCH to the terminal, it can be achieved by configuring other SS sets, such as configuring SS set#k.

[0074] Since the periods of the two SS sets may be different, there may be PDCCH candidates with overlapping resources (overlapped) within the listening period for the individual SS set and the linked SS set. That is to say, there is a scenario where the resources corresponding to the individual PDCCH candidate and the linked PDCCH candidate are the same, namely, the resources are completely overlapped. If the terminal monitors a PDCCH on the overlapping resources, it may not be able to distinguish whether the PDCCH is an individual PDCCH candidate or a linked PDCCH candidate. As Figure 4As shown in the figure, SS set#1 and SS set#3 are a pair of SS sets for PDCCH repeated transmission. PDCCH candidate#1 in SS set#1 and PDCCH candidate#3 in SS set#2 are a pair of linked PDCCH candidates. SS set#2 contains one or more individual PDCCH candidates including PDCCH candidate#3. PDCCH candidate#1 and PDCCH candidate#2 are located in the same resource. The monitoring occasion where SS set#3 is located is earlier than the monitoring occasions where SS set#1 and SS set#2 are located. Assume that the terminal does not monitor a PDCCH within SS set#3, but monitors a PDCCH on the resources of SS set#1 and SS set#2 (i.e., the PDCCH decoding is successful). At this time, the terminal cannot determine whether the PDCCH is located in PDCCH candidate#1 or PDCCH candidate#2. That is to say, the terminal cannot determine whether the PDCCH is an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH. For example, assume that the interference of the resources of SS set#3 is strong, resulting in the terminal failing to decode SS set#3, and the terminal monitors a PDCCH on the overlapping resources of SS set #1 and SS set#2. If the terminal attempts to merge and decode the resources of the monitored PDCCH with the resources of SS set#3, since there is strong interference in SS set#3, it may cause the merged decoding to fail. The terminal will mistakenly think that the PDCCH is an independently transmitted PDCCH, which is inconsistent with the understanding that the network device actually sends a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH, resulting in the failure of PDCCH-related data transmission.

[0075] Since the terminal cannot determine whether the monitored PDCCH is an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH on the above overlapping resources, it cannot determine whether to determine the reference PDCCH candidate based on the individual PDCCH candidate or the linked PDCCH candidate. Among them, the reference PDCCH candidate can also be called a reference point or a reference PDCCH, and can be used to determine the resources for uplink and downlink information transmission or some parameters in the uplink and downlink transmission processes. Specifically, if the terminal monitors an individual PDCCH, this individual PDCCH can be used as a reference point; however, for PDCCH repeated transmission, the same DCI is sent on two linked PDCCH candidates, and the terminal may only monitor the PDCCH on the first PDCCH candidate, or may only monitor the PDCCH on the second PDCCH candidate, or the terminal may monitor the PDCCH on both PDCCH candidates, and it is necessary to determine whether to use the earlier PDCCH candidate or the later PDCCH candidate as the reference point.

[0076] Therefore, the present application provides a communication method, which can be used to determine the reference PDCCH candidate when the resources corresponding to the individual PDCCH candidate and the linked PDCCH candidate are the same as above, and keep the consistent understanding between the terminal and the network device regarding the reference PDCCH candidate.

[0077] Unless otherwise specified, the resources described in the embodiments of the present application refer to resources including time domain resources and frequency domain resources, and can be used to carry data or signaling in the uplink communication process or the downlink communication process. Among them, the time domain resources and the frequency domain resources can be combined into "time-frequency resources".

[0078] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0079] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean determining B only according to A, and B can also be determined according to A and / or other information.

[0080] In the embodiments of the present application, "a plurality of" refers to two or more.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions such as first and second are only for indicating and distinguishing the described objects, without an order, and do not particularly limit the number of the described objects in the embodiments of the present application, and cannot constitute any limitation to the embodiments of the present application.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, "transmission" (transmit / transmission), unless otherwise specified, refers to two-way transmission, including the actions of sending and / or receiving. Specifically, "transmission" in the embodiments of the present application includes the sending of information, the receiving of information, or the sending and receiving of information. Or rather, the information transmission here includes uplink and / or downlink information transmission. The information may include data and / or signaling, etc. The uplink information transmission includes uplink data and / or uplink signaling transmission, and the downlink information transmission includes downlink data and / or downlink signaling transmission.

[0083] Please refer to Figure 5 , which is a schematic flow diagram of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. It can be understood that in the following-described communication method, the terminal and the network device are used as the execution entities, but the present application does not limit the type of the execution entity. For example, the following-described communication method can also be executed by a communication device for the terminal and a communication device for the network device, and the communication device can be a chip or other device including some functions of the terminal or the network device.

[0084] As Figure 5 shown, the method includes:

[0085] S501: The network device sends the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set to the terminal.

[0086] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set.

[0087] Optionally, the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set can be sent together or separately, and the present application does not make a special limitation thereto.

[0088] The first candidate PDCCH set includes one or more candidate PDCCHs; the second candidate PDCCH set includes one or more candidate PDCCHs. The first candidate PDCCH set is used for PDCCH repeated transmission.

[0089] The first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set may be two search spaces or two search space sets, and the two search space sets may correspond to the same or different CORESETs.

[0090] One or more candidate PDCCHs in the first candidate PDCCH set and one or more other candidate PDCCHs form a candidate PDCCH group. Two candidate PDCCHs in the candidate PDCCH group for transmitting the same DCI may be referred to as a pair of candidate PDCCHs, that is, the aforementioned pair of linked PDCCH candidates. It can be understood that the candidate PDCCH group may include one or more pairs of candidate PDCCHs, and the candidate PDCCHs within each pair of candidate PDCCHs are in a one-to-one correspondence relationship. Each pair of candidate PDCCHs may be used to transmit the same DCI. For a detailed description of linked PDCCH candidates, reference may be made to the foregoing relevant content and will not be elaborated here.

[0091] The second candidate PDCCH set may include one or more candidate PDCCHs for independently transmitting DCI. For example, the candidate PDCCH set is an individual SS set. For a detailed description, reference may be made to the foregoing relevant content and will not be elaborated here. It can also be said that the second candidate PDCCH set is not configured for PDCCH repeated transmission.

[0092] Optionally, the method further includes S501a: The network device sends configuration information of a third candidate PDCCH set to the terminal, and the first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set have an association relationship.

[0093] The third candidate PDCCH set is also a search space or a search space set and is used for PDCCH repeated transmission. The association relationship between the first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set may be configured by the base station through high-layer signaling. For example, the identification information of the third candidate PDCCH set may be included in the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set to reflect the association relationship between the two.

[0094] The third candidate PDCCH set includes one or more candidate PDCCHs. The number of candidate PDCCHs in the third candidate PDCCH set is the same as and in one-to-one correspondence with the candidate PDCCHs in the first candidate PDCCH set, forming one or more pairs of candidate PDCCHs for transmitting the same DCI. That is to say, the third candidate PDCCH set and the first candidate PDCCH set can form a pair of linked SS sets. For a detailed description of the linked SS set, reference can be made to the foregoing relevant content and will not be elaborated here.

[0095] Optionally, the configuration information of the third candidate PDCCH set can be sent together with the configuration information of the first / second candidate PDCCH set or sent separately. This application does not make any special limitations on this.

[0096] Optionally, the resources corresponding to the third candidate PDCCH set and the first candidate PDCCH set may be completely non-overlapping, that is, the frequency-domain resources do not overlap and the time-domain resources do not overlap; or they may be partially overlapping. For example, the time-domain resources completely overlap and the frequency-domain resources do not overlap, or the frequency-domain resources completely overlap and the time-domain resources do not overlap.

[0097] Optionally, the configuration information may indicate the time-frequency resource positions where the PDCCH carrying the DCI may appear. Specifically, the configuration information may include: CORESET configuration information, and / or search space set configuration information. Among them, the CORESET configuration information can be used to indicate the CORESET corresponding to the candidate PDCCH set, and the search space set configuration information may include the configuration of the above candidate PDCCH set. The candidate PDCCH set here may be the first candidate PDCCH set, the second candidate PDCCH set, or the third candidate PDCCH set mentioned above.

[0098] Specifically, the CORESET configuration information may include one or more of the following: the identifier or index of the CORESET, the frequency-domain position of the CORESET, the duration of the CORESET, the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the CORESET, the initialization value of the scrambling sequence of the DMRS, the mapping type from CCE to REG, the precoding granularity, the transmission configuration indicator (TCI), and the scrambling identifier. The search space set configuration information may include one or more of the following: the search space set identifier, the identifier of the CORESET associated with the search space set, the listening period and the time slot offset within the listening period, the listening time-domain position, the aggregation level of the candidate PDCCH and the corresponding number, and the DCI format.

[0099] After the terminal receives the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set, it can respectively determine the resource positions of the candidate PDCCHs in the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set according to the configuration information.

[0100] S502: The network device sends a first DCI to the terminal, and the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH or carried on the second candidate PDCCH, where the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same.

[0101] In the embodiments of the present application, the use or the information included in the first DCI is not particularly limited. For example, the first DCI can be used to schedule downlink data transmission or uplink data transmission.

[0102] Among them, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to the first candidate PDCCH set, and the second candidate PDCCH belongs to the second candidate PDCCH set. The fact that the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same may mean that the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH use the same CCE set. Specifically, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH may have the same aggregation level and the same CCE time-frequency position.

[0103] The first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH in the third candidate PDCCH set belong to the candidate PDCCH group and are used to transmit the same DCI. For example, when the network device adopts PDCCH retransmission, the first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH are used to transmit the foregoing first DCI. The first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH form a pair of candidate PDCCHs for PDCCH retransmission, that is, the foregoing pair of linked PDCCH candidate. It can be understood that the present application does not limit that only the first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH are used to transmit the same DCI, and there may be one or more other candidate PDCCHs that are linked PDCCH candidate with the first candidate PDCCH / third candidate PDCCH and are used to transmit the same DCI.

[0104] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first DCI.

[0105] Specifically, the terminal monitors one or more candidate PDCCH sets configured by the network device for the terminal, for example, including the first candidate PDCCH set, the second candidate PDCCH set, and the third candidate PDCCH set. The terminal respectively performs processing such as decoding and CRC check on each candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set, each candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, and each candidate PDCCH in the third candidate PDCCH set according to the configuration information corresponding to each candidate PDCCH set. When the CRC check is successful, it can be considered that the terminal has received the first DCI.

[0106] For ease of description, Figures 5 - 8 In the illustrated embodiments, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH refer to two candidate PDCCHs that respectively belong to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set and have the same resources, rather than other candidate PDCCHs in the first candidate PDCCH set or the second candidate PDCCH set.

[0107] In the embodiments of the present application, the first candidate PDCCH, the second candidate PDCCH, and the third candidate PDCCH may specifically be PDCCH candidate#1, PDCCH candidate#2, and PDCCH candidate#3 respectively, and the first candidate PDCCH set, the second candidate PDCCH set, and the third candidate PDCCH set may specifically be SS set#1, SS set#2, and SS set#3 respectively.

[0108] Assume that {PDCCH candidate#1, PDCCH candidate#3} is used to transmit DCI#1. If the terminal decodes for {PDCCH candidate#1, PDCCH candidate#3}, there are the following several processing methods:

[0109] Method 1: Only decode the combined information of PDCCH candidate#1 and PDCCH candidate#3. When the combined information is decoded correctly, the UE considers that it has successfully received DCI#1.

[0110] Method 2: Decode PDCCH candidate#1 and decode PDCCH candidate#3. As long as one of them is decoded correctly, the UE considers that it has successfully received DCI#1.

[0111] Method 3: Decode PDCCH candidate #1, decode PDCCH candidate #3, and decode the combined information of PDCCH candidate #1 and PDCCH candidate #3. As long as one of the three decodes correctly, the UE considers that it has successfully received DCI #1.

[0112] In the embodiment of the present application, the fact that the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same means that: the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are all overlapped and the frequency-domain resources are all overlapped. That is to say, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are located on completely overlapping resources.

[0113] In addition, in addition to the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH that may carry the first DCI being all overlapped, the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set may also correspond to other overlapping resources, and the present application does not limit whether the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are all overlapped or partially overlapped.

[0114] Optionally, in addition to corresponding to the same resources (using the same CCE set), the above first candidate PDCCH and second candidate PDCCH also satisfy the following conditions: having the same scrambling sequence; and the payload sizes of the downlink control information carried being the same. Optionally, the conditions further include: the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are respectively associated with the same CORESET, or correspond to different CORESETs but have the same scrambling code, or correspond to different CORESETs but have the same quasi-co-location characteristics. When the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same and satisfy the above-listed conditions, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH can be counted as 1 PDCCH candidate to be monitored. Or rather, these two candidate PDCCHs satisfy the counting rule for the number of blind detections once, which can reduce the complexity and power consumption of the blind detection by the terminal.

[0115] S503: The terminal determines a reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, or uses the second candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH, where the time-domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission.

[0116] It can be understood that the network device and the terminal determine the reference candidate PDCCH in the same way, including: determining the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, or using the second candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH.

[0117] It should be noted that the order of execution of the steps for the network device to determine the reference candidate PDCCH and the step for the network device to send the first DCI to the terminal in this application is not limited.

[0118] The following will take the terminal side as an example to introduce the specific determination method of the reference candidate PDCCH, and the network device side will not be elaborated.

[0119] After the terminal obtains the first DCI, in order to perform subsequent downlink data transmission or uplink data transmission, it will determine the reference candidate PDCCH, that is, determine the reference point. The reference candidate PDCCH can be used as a reference point for downlink information transmission or uplink information transmission. If the terminal determines the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, for different communication processes, different candidate PDCCHs in the candidate PDCCH group can be used as reference points.

[0120] For example, in the downlink data transmission process, when determining the time domain position of the PDSCH according to the scheduling offset K0, the candidate PDCCH with a later time domain position in a pair of candidate PDCCHs (such as the first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH) in the candidate PDCCH group that includes the first candidate PDCCH can be used as the reference point, where K0 indicates whether the terminal receives the PDSCH in the same time slot as the PDCCH scheduling the PDSCH or across time slots, K0 = 0 indicates an offset of 0 time slots, that is, in the same time slot; K0 = 1 indicates an offset of 1 time slot, that is, there is a difference of 1 time slot between the scheduled PDSCH and this PDCCH.

[0121] For another example, in the downlink data transmission process, when determining the C-DAI or T-DAI, the candidate PDCCH with an earlier time domain position in a pair of candidate PDCCHs that includes the first candidate PDCCH can be used as the reference point. Among them, C-DAI and T-DAI are used to determine the position of the HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH in the codebook. As Figure 6As shown in the figure, assume that {PDCCH candidate #1, PDCCH candidate #3} carries {DCI1A, DCI1B}, DCI1A and DCI1B are the same DCI, both used to schedule PDSCH1. PDCCH candidate #1 is located in the earlier PDCCH MO #1, and PDCCH candidate #3 is located in the later PDCCH MO #2. DCI1A and DCI2 are transmitted in PDCCH MO #1, DCI2 schedules PDSCH2, the cell identifier (CC0) corresponding to DCI1 is less than the cell identifier (CC1) corresponding to DCI2. In addition, DCI4 is transmitted in PDCCH MO #3, and DCI4 is used to schedule PDSCH3. Using PDCCH candidate #1 as a reference point to determine the C-DAI and T-DAI corresponding to PDSCH1, including: according to the total number of DCIs transmitted in PDCCH MO #1, it is obtained that T-DAI = 2; and DCI1 is the earliest DCI in PDCCH MO #1, so C-DAI = 1. For the C-DAI and T-DAI of DCI1B on PDCCH candidate #3, the C-DAI and T-DAI values determined by PDCCH candidate #1 can be used, that is, C-DAI = 1, T-DAI = 2. In addition, the C-DAI and T-DAI values corresponding to DCI2 can be determined as (2, 2), and the C-DAI and T-DAI values corresponding to DCI4 can be determined as (3, 3), which will not be elaborated here.

[0122] For another example, during the uplink data transmission process, when determining the processing time Z of the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), the candidate PDCCH with a later time domain position in a pair of candidate PDCCHs including the first candidate PDCCH can be used as a reference point. Among them, the processing time Z of the CSI-RS is used to limit that the network device schedules the PUSCH for CSI reporting not earlier than Z symbols. The terminal processes the DCI, receives and processes the CSI-RS, and prepares the uplink data within these Z symbols. The starting position of these Z symbols can be determined by the time domain position of the candidate PDCCH with a later time domain position. For example, starting from the next symbol after the end symbol of the candidate PDCCH with a later time domain position, count Z symbols backward.

[0123] For another example, during the process of transmitting uplink control information, when determining the resource location of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the reference point is the candidate PDCCH with the smallest corresponding control resource set identifier (ID) or the smallest corresponding SS set ID among a pair of candidate PDCCHs including the first candidate PDCCH. Specifically, if the candidate PDCCH set is an SS set, when the number of resources in the PUCCH resource set is greater than 8, the number of available PUCCH resources is restricted to no more than 8, and the candidate PDCCH with the smallest corresponding CORESET ID or the smallest SS set ID and the protocol-predefined mapping relationship are used together to determine the location of the resources in the PUCCH set. In addition to using the reference candidate PDCCH to determine the resources for uplink or downlink information transmission, the reference candidate PDCCH can also be used in some other communication processes, such as determining whether the DCI scheduling uplink data transmission is legal. Specifically, the reference candidate PDCCH can be used to determine the processing time of N2 symbols for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). If the terminal receives the DCI scheduling uplink data transmission, it will start counting N2 symbols from the next symbol after the end symbol of this DCI. If the terminal finds that the starting symbol of the uplink data transmission scheduled by this DCI is within N2 symbols, it means that this DCI is illegal, and the terminal will ignore this DCI and not process it. If a candidate PDCCH group is used, the end symbol of this DCI can be determined by the time domain position of the candidate PDCCH with the latest time domain position among a pair of candidate PDCCHs including the first candidate PDCCH. That is to say, the starting symbol of N2 symbols can be determined by the time domain position of this candidate PDCCH. For example, starting from the next symbol after the end symbol of the candidate PDCCH with the latest time domain position, count N2 symbols backward.

[0124] It can be understood that the candidate PDCCH with an earlier or later time domain position can have different judgment methods in different scenarios. If the candidate PDCCHs used for PDCCH repeated transmission are all within one time slot, the time domain position can be determined by the size of the starting symbol index of the candidate PDCCH. For example, the candidate PDCCH with the smallest starting symbol index is the candidate PDCCH with an earlier time domain position. If the candidate PDCCHs used for PDCCH repeated transmission are in different time slots, the time domain position can be determined by the size of the time slot number. For example, the candidate PDCCH in the time slot with the smallest time slot number is the candidate PDCCH with an earlier time domain position.

[0125] Still taking the candidate PDCCH set including {PDCCH candidate#1, PDCCH candidate#3} as an example, the starting symbol index of PDCCH candidate#1 is less than that of PDCCH candidate#3. The SS set#1 where PDCCH candidate#1 is located corresponds to CORESET#2, and the SS set#3 where PDCCH candidate#3 is located corresponds to CORESET#1. Moreover, the resources corresponding to PDCCH candidate#1 are the same as those corresponding to PDCCH candidate#2 for independent transmission DCI (for convenience of description, labels such as #1 and #2 represent identifiers or indexes). When determining the time domain position of the above PDSCH, the processing time N2 of the PUSCH, or the processing time Z of the CSI-RS, PDCCH candidate#3 can be used as a reference point. When determining C-DAI or T-DAI, PDCCH candidate#1 can be used as a reference point. When used to determine the resource position of the PUCCH, if the CORESET ID is used as the judgment basis, PDCCH candidate#3 is determined as the reference point; if the SS set ID is used as the judgment basis, PDCCH candidate#1 is determined as the reference point.

[0126] By using the communication method provided in this application, the reference candidate PDCCH is determined according to the candidate PDCCH group for retransmission or the candidate PDCCH for independent transmission, which solves the problem that the terminal cannot distinguish whether the PDCCH listened to on the overlapping resources is the PDCCH for independent transmission or the PDCCH for retransmission, enabling the terminal and the network device to have the same understanding of the determination method of the reference point involved in the PDCCH listened to by the terminal on the overlapping resources and improving communication reliability.

[0127] Optionally, in an embodiment of this application, whether the first DCI is carried by the first candidate PDCCH or the second candidate PDCCH, the terminal determines the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group. That is to say, whether the first DCI received by the terminal is carried by the candidate PDCCH for independent transmission or the candidate PDCCH for retransmission, the terminal determines the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group. For the sending end, the network device can perform both PDCCH retransmission and PDCCH independent transmission on the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH.

[0128] Take Figure 7 as an example to illustrate the determination process of the reference point (reference candidate PDCCH) in this embodiment. AsFigure 7 As shown, the resources corresponding to SS set#1 and SS set#2 overlap, and PDCCH candidate#1 in SS set#1 and PDCCH candidate#2 in SS set#2 are located in the overlapping resources. Among them, SS set#1 and SS set#3 are used for PDCCH repeated transmission, and PDCCH candidate#1 and PDCCH candidate#3 in SS set#3 are linked PDCCH candidates with each other. The network device configures the association relationship between these two SS sets through RRC parameters. And the PDCCH candidate in SS set#2 is used for independent DCI transmission. When the terminal detects a PDCCH on the overlapping resources, regardless of whether the detected PDCCH is PDCCH candidate#1 or PDCCH candidate#2, the terminal will determine the reference point according to the linked PDCCH candidate, that is, PDCCH candidate#1 and PDCCH candidate#3. For example, even if the network device actually sends DCI on PDCCH candidate#2, when the terminal detects a PDCCH on the overlapping resources, the terminal can determine the relevant reference point based on the linked PDCCH candidate. For example, assuming K0 = 1, when calculating the transmission time domain position of the PDSCH, the later PDCCH candidate among PDCCH candidate#1 and PDCCH candidate#3 is used as the basis, and it is offset by 1 time slot starting from the next symbol after the end symbol of PDCCH candidate#1 to obtain the time domain position of the PDSCH. The network device will also determine the time domain position for sending the PDSCH with PDCCH candidate#1 as the reference point according to the same understanding as the terminal.

[0129] Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, regardless of whether the first DCI is carried by the first candidate PDCCH or the second candidate PDCCH, the terminal will use the second candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH. That is to say, regardless of whether the first DCI received by the terminal is carried by the candidate PDCCH for independent transmission or the candidate PDCCH for repeated transmission, the terminal determines the reference point based on the candidate PDCCH for independent transmission. As Figure 8 shown, the terminal determines the time domain position of the PDSCH with PDCCH candidate#2 as the reference point, which will not be elaborated here.

[0130] By adopting the above two implementation manners, the scheduling flexibility of the network device is improved, and it is not restricted that the network device can only send independently transmitted PDCCHs or only send repeatedly transmitted PDCCHs on overlapping resources. In addition, since there is no restriction on whether the PDCCH sent by the network device is a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH or an independently transmitted PDCCH, the above two implementation manners do not limit the decoding manner of the reference candidate PDCCH for the terminal.

[0131] Optionally, in an implementation manner of this application, the receiving of the first DCI includes: receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set; or receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set.

[0132] Specifically, the above receiving of the first DCI includes determining the format of the DCI carried by the first candidate PDCCH or the second candidate PDCCH, as well as the domain information of the DCI and the payload size of the DCI corresponding to the format of the DCI. Receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set includes: only listening to each candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set, and not listening to the candidate PDCCHs in the second candidate PDCCH set. Specifically, the terminal assumes that the first DCI is only transmitted through the first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set. Therefore, the terminal only attempts to decode within the range of the first candidate PDCCH set. Correspondingly, in order to keep the understanding of the terminal and the network device consistent, the network device only transmits the first DCI on the first candidate PDCCH using the configuration information (such as the DCI format) of the first candidate PDCCH set, and does not use the second candidate PDCCH to transmit the first DCI. Similarly, determining the first DCI using the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set includes: only listening to the second candidate PDCCH set, and not listening to the first candidate PDCCH set, which will not be elaborated. It can be understood that in this implementation manner, the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are respectively search space sets.

[0133] In this embodiment, the receiving behavior of the terminal on overlapping resources is predefined. The terminal may assume that the PDCCH received on the overlapping resources is a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH or an independently transmitted PDCCH. Correspondingly, the network device only transmits a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH or only transmits an independently transmitted PDCCH on this resource. Whether the PDCCH actually monitored by the terminal is an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH is determined according to a predefined rule. Correspondingly, the determination of the reference candidate PDCCH is also determined according to the following predefined rule: when determining the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set, the terminal determines the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group; when determining the first PDCCH according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set, the terminal uses the second candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH. The determination process of the reference candidate PDCCH can refer to the relevant content in the foregoing embodiment and will not be elaborated here.

[0134] This embodiment affects the monitoring behavior of the terminal. Specifically, the terminal assumes that the first DCI received is carried on the first candidate PDCCH, that is, the terminal assumes that the first DCI is repeatedly transmitted. If the terminal does not monitor the first DCI on the first candidate PDCCH located on the overlapping resources, since the terminal knows that the network device will perform PDCCH repeated transmission on this overlapping resource, the terminal may soft combine and decode another candidate PDCCH associated with the first candidate PDCCH to improve the reliability of the PDCCH using the combining gain, or the terminal assumes to monitor the candidate PDCCH according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set. If the terminal assumes that the first DCI received is carried on the second candidate PDCCH, that is, the terminal assumes that the first DCI is independently transmitted, then when the terminal does not monitor the DCI on the overlapping resources, since the terminal knows that the network device will perform PDCCH independent transmission on the overlapping resources, other candidate PDCCHs will not be used for soft combining and decoding.

[0135] By adopting this embodiment, the problem that the terminal cannot distinguish whether the monitored PDCCH on the overlapping resources is a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH or an independently transmitted PDCCH is solved by increasing the scheduling restriction of the network device, so that the terminal and the network device have the same understanding of the determination method of the reference point involved in the PDCCH monitored on the overlapping resources, improving the communication reliability.

[0136] Please refer to Figure 9 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. Figure 9In the illustrated embodiment, the terminal does not monitor the candidate PDCCHs in the overlapping part of the two candidate PDCCH sets, thereby avoiding the problem of being unable to determine whether the monitored PDCCH is an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH.

[0137] As Figure 9 shown, the method includes:

[0138] S901: The network device sends the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set to the terminal, where the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set overlap.

[0139] Correspondingly, the terminal receives the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set. For the description of the specific content of the configuration information, reference may be made to the relevant introduction in the foregoing embodiment, which will not be elaborated here.

[0140] The first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI; the second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are located in overlapping resources, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set.

[0141] The first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set each include at least one candidate PDCCH. In this application, the candidate PDCCH set in the first candidate PDCCH set located in the above overlapping resources is referred to as the first candidate PDCCH; the candidate PDCCH set in the second candidate PDCCH set located in the above overlapping resources is referred to as the second candidate PDCCH. It can be understood that there may be one or more first candidate PDCCHs and second candidate PDCCHs on the above overlapping resources.

[0142] Optionally, the method further includes S901a: The network device sends the configuration information of the third candidate PDCCH set to the terminal, and the first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set have an association relationship.

[0143] The first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set can be a linked search space set (linked SS set) for PDCCH repeated transmission. The first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH form a pair of linked PDCCH candidates. For the detailed descriptions of the foregoing candidate PDCCH groups, linked SS sets, and linked PDCCH candidates, etc., reference can be made to the relevant content of the foregoing embodiments shown, for example, Figures 5 - 8 and will not be elaborated here.

[0144] Optionally, in an embodiment, the terminal may determine the overlapping situation of the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set according to the configuration information.

[0145] Optionally, the resource overlap between the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set includes: the time-domain / frequency-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set partially overlap. For example, the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set completely overlap, and the frequency-domain resources partially overlap; or, the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set partially overlap, and the frequency-domain resources partially overlap or completely overlap. There may be one or more first candidate PDCCHs and second candidate PDCCHs on the overlapping resources.

[0146] Optionally, in addition to the above description of the overlapping situation of the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set, some restrictive conditions can be added to the relationship between these two candidate PDCCH sets, including: the payload sizes of the DCIs corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same; or, the scrambling codes corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same; or, the DCI formats corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same, etc. Any one or more of these conditions. That is, in addition to the corresponding resource overlap, these two candidate PDCCH sets also satisfy one or more of the above conditions, and the terminal executes S902.

[0147] Optionally, the network device may configure, through high-layer signaling such as RRC signaling, that the DCI formats listened for by the terminal in the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same, for example, both are DCI format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2, and / or, the payload sizes of the listened DCIs are the same.

[0148] Optionally, in addition to the resource overlap between the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set, when the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH on the overlapping resources also satisfy the conditions that the corresponding resources are the same, have the same scrambling sequence, and the payload sizes of the carried DCI are the same, the terminal executes S902. The descriptions of the above conditions can refer to the relevant content mentioned above and will not be elaborated here.

[0149] S902: The terminal monitors the candidate PDCCH on the resources in the first candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the second candidate PDCCH set, and monitors the candidate PDCCH on the resources in the second candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the first candidate PDCCH set.

[0150] Specifically, the terminal does not monitor the candidate PDCCH on the overlapping resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set, but only monitors the candidate PDCCH on the resources other than the overlapping resources, including the other candidate PDCCHs in the first candidate PDCCH set except the first candidate PDCCH, and the other candidate PDCCHs in the second candidate PDCCH set except the second candidate PDCCH.

[0151] In this embodiment, the method may further include S903: The terminal determines a reference candidate PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitored on the resources other than the overlapping resources.

[0152] The network device may send DCI through the candidate PDCCH on the non-overlapping resources in the first candidate PDCCH set, or send DCI through the candidate PDCCH on the non-overlapping resources in the second candidate PDCCH set. The terminal monitors all candidate PDCCHs on the resources other than the overlapping resources, and obtains the DCI sent by the network device from the monitored PDCCHs.

[0153] If the actually monitored PDCCH by the terminal is the candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set, the terminal may use the pair of linked PDCCH candidates where the candidate PDCCH is located to determine the reference candidate PDCCH; if the actually monitored PDCCH by the terminal is the candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, the terminal may use the candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH. The detailed description of the reference candidate PDCCH can refer to the relevant content in the foregoing embodiments and will not be elaborated here. Correspondingly, the network device may determine the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH actually carrying DCI, and the implementation manner is similar to that on the terminal side and will not be elaborated.

[0154] Optionally, in another embodiment, if the terminal determines that the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set overlap, the terminal may not monitor the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set, so as to avoid monitoring a PDCCH in the overlapping resource area and being unable to determine whether the PDCCH belongs to a PDCCH for retransmission or an independently transmitted PDCCH. That is to say, S902 may be replaced by S902', where S902' includes: the terminal does not monitor the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set.

[0155] As Figure 10 shown, SS set#1 includes candidate PDCCHs for independently transmitting DCI. SS set#1 and SS set#3 are linked SS sets with each other. SS set#2 includes candidate PDCCHs for independently transmitting DCI. The resources of SS set#1 and SS set2 completely overlap. Assuming that a predefined UE does not monitor linked SS sets, the terminal will not monitor SS set#1 and SS set#3 and only monitor SS set#2. If the UE monitors a PDCCH on the overlapping resources, the monitored PDCCH is a PDCCH for independent transmission.

[0156] As Figure 11 shown, SS set#2 includes candidate PDCCHs for independently transmitting DCI. SS set#1 and SS set#3 are linked SS sets with each other. The resources of SS set#1 and SS set2 partially overlap. Then the terminal may not monitor the candidate PDCCHs on this part of the overlapping resources, while the resources corresponding to other candidate PDCCH candidates in SS set#1 and SS set#2 do not overlap, and the terminal normally monitors them.

[0157] By using the communication method provided in this application, the terminal does not monitor the candidate PDCCHs on the overlapping resources, solves the problem that the terminal cannot distinguish whether the monitored PDCCH on the overlapping resources is a PDCCH for independent transmission or a PDCCH for retransmission, and enables the network device and the terminal to have a consistent understanding of the determination method of the reference points involved in the PDCCH monitored on the overlapping resources, improving communication reliability.

[0158] Please refer to Figure 12 , which is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. As Figure 12 shown, the method includes:

[0159] S1201: The terminal receives the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set from the network device.

[0160] S1202: The terminal receives a first DCI from the network device. The first DCI contains first indication information, which indicates that the first DCI is carried on a first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set or a second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set. Herein, the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same. The first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI. The third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set.

[0161] S1203: The terminal determines a reference candidate PDCCH according to the first DCI.

[0162] Optionally, the method further includes S1201a: The terminal receives the configuration information of a third candidate PDCCH set from the network device.

[0163] For the detailed descriptions of the above first candidate PDCCH set, second candidate PDCCH set, and third candidate PDCCH set, reference may be made to the relevant content in the foregoing other embodiments, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0164] Optionally, a 1-bit field is added to the first DCI to determine whether the first DCI is carried on an independently transmitted PDCCH or a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH. For example, this bit field is 1 bit. When this bit field is "0", it indicates an independently transmitted PDCCH, and if it is "1", it indicates a repeatedly transmitted PDCCH.

[0165] After the terminal determines that the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH or the second candidate PDCCH according to the first indication information, it can determine the reference candidate PDCCH based on the candidate PDCCH group or the independent PDCCH. For the detailed description of the reference candidate PDCCH, reference may be made to the relevant content in other embodiments, which will not be elaborated herein. Correspondingly, the network device can determine the reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH actually carrying the first DCI, and the implementation manner is similar to that on the terminal side, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0166] By using the communication method provided in this application, the terminal is explicitly notified by including indication information in the DCI that the PDCCH transmitted on the overlapping resources is a repeated transmission PDCCH or an independent transmission PDCCH, so that the terminal and the network device have the same understanding of the PDCCH monitored on the overlapping resources, improving communication reliability.

[0167] The embodiments of this application also provide a communication device for implementing any of the above methods. For example, a communication device is provided that includes units (or means) for implementing each step performed by the terminal device or the network device in any of the above methods. For example, please refer to Figure 13 , which is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of this application. The communication device can be a module for a terminal or a network device, such as a chip; or the communication device is a terminal or a network device, as Figure 13 shown, the communication device 1300 includes a transceiver unit 1310 and a processing unit 1320.

[0168] When the communication device is used for a terminal, in one embodiment, the transceiver unit 1310 can be used to receive the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set; and receive a first DCI, where the first DCI is carried on a first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set or carried on a second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, where the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; the processing unit 1320 can be used to determine a reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, or use the second candidate PDCCH as the reference PDCCH, where the time domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission.

[0169] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH have the same scrambling sequence and the same payload size of the carried DCI.

[0170] Optionally, in one embodiment, the candidate PDCCH group includes one or more pairs of candidate PDCCHs, each pair of candidate PDCCHs is used to transmit the same DCI, and the first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH belong to a pair of candidate PDCCHs.

[0171] Optionally, in one embodiment, the processing unit 1320 is specifically configured to: use the first candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH, or use the third candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH.

[0172] Optionally, in one embodiment, the receiving unit 1310 is specifically configured to: receive the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set; or receive the first DCI according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set.

[0173] When the communication device is used as a terminal, in one embodiment, the transceiver unit 1310 is configured to receive the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set. The resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set overlap. The first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI. The second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are located in overlapping resources, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set. The processing unit 1320 is configured to monitor the candidate PDCCH on the resources in the first candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the second candidate PDCCH set, and monitor the candidate PDCCH on the resources in the second candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the first candidate PDCCH set.

[0174] Optionally, in one embodiment, the overlap of the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set includes: the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set completely overlap, and the frequency-domain resources partially overlap; or the time-domain resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set partially overlap, and the frequency-domain resources partially overlap or completely overlap.

[0175] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set satisfy one or more of the following conditions: the payload sizes of the DCIs corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same, the scrambling codes corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same, or the formats of the DCIs corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set are the same.

[0176] Optionally, in one embodiment, the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, have the same scrambling sequence, and the payload sizes of the downlink control information carried are the same.

[0177] When the communication device is used as a terminal, in one embodiment, the receiving unit 1310 is configured to receive the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set; and receive a first DCI, where the first DCI includes a first indication, and the first indication is used to indicate that the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set, or carried on the second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, where the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; the processing unit 1320 is configured to determine a reference candidate PDCCH according to the first DCI.

[0178] When the communication device is used as a network device, in one embodiment, the transceiver unit 1310 may be configured to send the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set, the first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH, where the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set, and send a first DCI, where the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH, or carried on the second candidate PDCCH; the processing unit 1320 is configured to determine a reference candidate PDCCH according to the candidate PDCCH group, or use the second candidate PDCCH as the reference PDCCH, where the time domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission.

[0179] When the communication device is used as a network device, in one embodiment, the transceiver unit 1310 is configured to send configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set. Resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH set and the second candidate PDCCH set overlap. The first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI. The second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH, the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are located in overlapping resources, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set. The transceiver unit 1320 is further configured to send a first DCI, where the first DCI is carried on a candidate PDCCH in resources of the first candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the second candidate PDCCH set, or the first DCI is carried on a candidate PDCCH in resources of the second candidate PDCCH set that do not overlap with the first candidate PDCCH set.

[0180] When the communication device is used as a network device, in one embodiment, the transceiver unit 1310 is configured to send configuration information of a first candidate PDCCH set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set. The transceiver unit 1310 is further configured to send a first DCI, where the first DCI includes a first indication for indicating that the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set or carried on the second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set. Here, resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same. The first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set. The above description of the communication device on the network device side can refer to the description of the communication device on the terminal side, and more detailed descriptions of the above transceiver unit 1310 and processing unit 1320 can be obtained directly from the relevant descriptions in the Figures 5 - 12 method embodiments shown, and details are not described herein again.

[0181] It should be understood that the division of units in the above device is only a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a physical entity, or physically separated. And the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element; they can also all be implemented in hardware; or some units can be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element, and some units can be implemented in hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or can be integrated in a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program and called and executed by a certain processing element of the device to perform the functions of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together or can be independently implemented. The processing element mentioned here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each of the above units can be implemented through the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor element or in the form of software called by the processing element.

[0182] In an implementation manner of the present application, in terms of hardware implementation, the functions of the processing unit 1320 can be executed by one or more processors, and the functions of the transceiver (transmitter / receiver) and / or communication interface can be executed by the transceiver unit 1310. Among them, the processing unit 1320 can be embedded in the processor of the network device / terminal in hardware form or be independent of it, or can be stored in the memory of the network device / terminal in software form, so as to facilitate the processor to call and execute the operations corresponding to each of the above function units.

[0183] In an implementation manner of the present application, the units in any of the above communication devices can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method. For example: one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more microprocessors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. Again, when the units in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processors that can call programs. Again, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC). These integrated circuits can be integrated together to form a chip.

[0184] The above unit for receiving and transmitting information (e.g., the transceiver unit 1310) can be an interface circuit of a communication device for receiving signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving unit is the interface circuit of the chip for receiving signals from other chips or devices. The above unit for transmitting (e.g., the transmitting unit or the communication unit) is an interface circuit of the device for transmitting signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the transmitting unit is the interface circuit of the chip for transmitting signals to other chips or devices.

[0185] Please refer to Figure 14 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The network device can be a base station for performing the steps executed by the network device in the communication method provided by the above method embodiment. As Figure 14 shown, the network device includes: an antenna 1410, a radio frequency device 1420, and a baseband device 1430. The antenna 1410 is connected to the radio frequency device 1420. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 1420 receives the information sent by the terminal through the antenna 1410 and sends the information sent by the terminal to the baseband device 1430 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 1430 processes the information of the terminal and sends it to the radio frequency device 1420. After processing the information of the terminal, the radio frequency device 1420 sends it to the terminal through the antenna 1410.

[0186] The baseband device 1430 may include one or more processing elements 1431, for example, including a main control CPU and other integrated circuits. Also, for example, when the base station adopts a CU-DU architecture, the functions of the baseband device 1430 can be implemented by the CU and / or DU. In addition, the baseband device 1430 may further include a storage element 1432 and an interface 1433. The storage element 1432 is used to store programs and data; the interface 1433 is used to interact with the radio frequency device 1420, and this interface is, for example, a common public radio interface (CPRI). The above devices for the network device may be located in the baseband device 1430. For example, the above devices for the network device may be chips on the baseband device 1430. This chip includes at least one processing element and an interface circuit, where the processing element is used to execute each step performed by the network device in any of the communication methods provided in the above method embodiments, and the interface circuit is used to communicate with other devices. In one implementation, the units for the network device to implement each step in the above method may be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler. For example, the device for the network device includes a processing element and a storage element, and the processing element calls the program stored in the storage element to execute the communication method provided in the above method embodiments. The storage element may be an on-chip storage element, that is, a storage element on the same chip as the processing element, or an off-chip storage element, that is, a storage element on a different chip from the processing element.

[0187] Please refer to Figure 15 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided in an embodiment of this application. This terminal is used to implement the steps performed by the terminal in the communication method provided in the above method embodiments. As Figure 15 shown, this terminal includes: an antenna 1510, a radio frequency device 1520, and a signal processing part 1530. The antenna 1510 is connected to the radio frequency device 1520. In the downlink direction, the radio frequency device 1520 receives the information sent by the network device through the antenna 1510 and sends the information sent by the network device to the signal processing part 1530 for processing. In the uplink direction, the signal processing part 1530 processes the information of the terminal and sends it to the radio frequency device 1520. After the radio frequency device 1520 processes the information of the terminal, it is sent to the network device through the antenna 1510.

[0188] The signal processing part 1530 is used to implement the processing of each communication protocol layer of the data. The signal processing part 1530 may be a subsystem of this terminal, then this terminal may further include other subsystems, such as a central processing subsystem, which is used to implement the processing of the terminal operating system and the application layer; again, for example, a peripheral subsystem is used to implement the connection with other devices. The signal processing part 1530 may be a separately provided chip. Optionally, the above devices may be located in the signal processing part 1530.

[0189] The signal processing section 1530 may include one or more processing elements 1531. For example, it includes a main control CPU and other integrated circuits. In addition, the signal processing section 1530 may also include a storage element 1532 and an interface circuit 1533. The storage element 1532 is used to store data and programs. The program for executing the methods performed by the terminal in the above methods may or may not be stored in the storage element 1532. For example, it may be stored in a memory outside the signal processing section 1530, and when in use, the signal processing section 1530 loads the program into the cache for use. The interface circuit 1533 is used to communicate with the device. The above device may be located in the signal processing section 1530, and the signal processing section 1530 may be implemented by a chip, which includes at least one processing element and an interface circuit. The processing element is used to execute the steps performed by the terminal in any of the communication methods provided in the above method embodiments, and the interface circuit is used to communicate with other devices. In one implementation, the units for implementing the various steps in the above methods may be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduling program. For example, the device includes a processing element and a storage element, and the processing element calls the program stored in the storage element to execute any of the communication methods provided in the above method embodiments. The storage element may be a storage element on the same chip as the processing element, that is, an on-chip storage element.

[0190] In another implementation, the program for executing the methods performed by the above terminal or network device may be in a storage element on a different chip from the processing element, that is, an off-chip storage element. At this time, the processing element calls or loads the program from the off-chip storage element onto the on-chip storage element to call and execute any of the communication methods in the above method embodiments.

[0191] In yet another implementation, the communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application may include at least one processing element and an interface circuit. The at least one processing element is used to execute any of the communication methods provided in the above method embodiments. The processing element may execute some or all of the steps performed by the terminal or network device in a first way: that is, by calling the program stored in the storage element; or in a second way: that is, by combining the integrated logic circuit in the processor element with instructions to execute some or all of the steps performed by the terminal or network device; of course, it may also combine the first way and the second way to execute some or all of the steps performed by the terminal or network device. It can be understood that the interface circuit may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing the instructions executed by the above one processing element or storing the input data required for the processing element to run the instructions or storing the data generated after the processing element runs the instructions.

[0192] Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that all or part of the steps of implementing the above method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions. The aforementioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it performs the steps including those of the above method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes various media such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0193] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal and / or the network device can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are only examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or various deformations of the operations can also be executed. In addition, the various steps can be executed in different orders presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be executed.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, including: receiving configuration information of a first candidate physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) set and configuration information of a second candidate PDCCH set; receiving first downlink control information (DCI), where the first DCI is carried on a first candidate PDCCH in the first candidate PDCCH set or carried on a second candidate PDCCH in the second candidate PDCCH set, where resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same, the first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same DCI, and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; using the first candidate PDCCH as a reference candidate PDCCH, or using the third candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH, or using the second candidate PDCCH as a reference PDCCH, where a time domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH have the same scrambling sequence and carry the same DCI payload size.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The receiving the first DCI includes: receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set; or receiving the first DCI according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The candidate PDCCH group includes one or more pairs of candidate PDCCHs, each pair of candidate PDCCHs is used to transmit the same DCI, and the first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH belong to a pair of candidate PDCCHs.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When a time domain position of the first candidate PDCCH precedes a time domain position of the third candidate PDCCH and the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine a time domain position of a physical downlink data shared channel (PDSCH), the reference candidate PDCCH is the third candidate PDCCH.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, When a time domain position of the first candidate PDCCH precedes a time domain position of the third candidate PDCCH and the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine a count downlink allocation indicator (C-DAI) or a total downlink allocation indicator (T-DAI), the reference candidate PDCCH is the first candidate PDCCH.

7. According to the method described in any one of claims 1-2, 5-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: receiving configuration information of the third candidate PDCCH set, where the first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set have an association relationship.

8. A communication method, characterized in that, including: Send the configuration information of the first candidate physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) set and the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set. The first candidate PDCCH set includes a first candidate PDCCH, and the second candidate PDCCH set includes a second candidate PDCCH. Wherein, the resources corresponding to the first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH are the same. The first candidate PDCCH belongs to a candidate PDCCH group, and the first candidate PDCCH and a third candidate PDCCH in the candidate PDCCH group are used to transmit the same downlink control information (DCI), and the third candidate PDCCH belongs to a third candidate PDCCH set; Use the first candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH, or use the third candidate PDCCH as the reference candidate PDCCH, or use the second candidate PDCCH as the reference PDCCH. Wherein, the time domain position of the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the resources for uplink information transmission or downlink information transmission; Send a first downlink control information (DCI), and the first DCI is carried on the first candidate PDCCH or carried on the second candidate PDCCH.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The first candidate PDCCH and the second candidate PDCCH have the same scrambling sequence and carry the same DCI payload size.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The sending of the first DCI includes: Send the first DCI according to the configuration information of the first candidate PDCCH set; or Send the first DCI according to the configuration information of the second candidate PDCCH set.

11. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The candidate PDCCH group includes one or more pairs of candidate PDCCHs, and each pair of candidate PDCCHs is used to transmit the same DCI. The first candidate PDCCH and the third candidate PDCCH belong to a pair of candidate PDCCHs.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein When the time domain position of the first candidate PDCCH precedes the time domain position of the third candidate PDCCH, and the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the time domain position of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), the reference candidate PDCCH is the first candidate PDCCH.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein When the time domain position of the first candidate PDCCH precedes the time domain position of the third candidate PDCCH, and the reference candidate PDCCH is used to determine the count-downlink allocation indicator (C-DAI) or the total downlink allocation indicator (T-DAI), the reference candidate PDCCH is the first candidate PDCCH.

14. According to the method described in any one of claims 8-9, 12-13, characterized in that, The method further includes: sending the configuration information of the third candidate PDCCH set, and the first candidate PDCCH set and the third candidate PDCCH set have an associated relationship.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes units or modules for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-7.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes units or modules for performing the method according to any one of claims 8-14.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes at least one processing element and an interface circuit. The at least one processing element is used to execute a computer program stored in a memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1-7.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising at least one processing element and interface circuitry, the at least one processing element being configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory to cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 8-14.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, the computer program causing a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-14.

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