Communication method, device and equipment

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, apparatus and device. The method includes: receiving a first message from a network device, the first message including configuration information of at least one first reference signal; receiving a second message from the network device, the second message is used to indicate the available state of at least one second reference signal, at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and at least one first reference signal includes at least one second reference signal; according to the configuration information and the second message, receiving a reference signal of the at least one second reference signal whose availability is in an available state from the network device. Thereby, the power consumption consumed by performing AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. for terminal devices in RRC idle state or RRC inactive state is saved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In the new radio (NR) technology, a terminal device (or user equipment (UE)) in the radio resource control idle (RRC_IDLE) or RRC inactive (RRC_INACTIVE) state mainly completes two tasks: monitoring paging messages and radio resource management (RRM) measurements.

[0003] Currently, the power consumption of terminal equipment for monitoring paging messages and performing RRM measurements is relatively large. Therefore, how to reduce the power consumption caused by monitoring paging messages and performing RRM measurements is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus and equipment to solve the problem of large power consumption caused by terminal equipment monitoring paging messages and performing RRM measurements in the prior art. It can not only save the power consumption consumed by performing AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management for terminal equipment in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, which is beneficial to improving the processing performance of the terminal equipment, but also make the terminal equipment do not need to re-acquire the configuration information of the reference signal in the RRC connection state when the availability of the reference signal changes, which can reduce the configuration signaling overhead of the RRC idle state / inactive state.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, comprising: receiving a first message from a network device, the first message including configuration information of at least one first reference signal; receiving a second message from the network device, the second message being used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, the at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the at least one first reference signal including at least one second reference signal; and receiving, from the network device, a reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal according to the configuration information and the second message.

[0006] Through the communication method provided in the first aspect, a terminal device receives a first message from a network device, the first message including configuration information of at least one first reference signal, so that the terminal device can clearly determine the configured reference signal based on the configuration information of at least one first reference signal. The terminal device receives a second message from the network device, the second message is used to indicate the available status of at least one second reference signal, and the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. The second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB at the SSB granularity or the beam / beam direction granularity corresponding to the SSB, that is, to more finely indicate the availability of the reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the terminal device can clearly indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB. Thus, the terminal device can receive a reference signal with availability in available state in at least one second reference signal from the network device according to the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, which is beneficial for the terminal device to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal with availability in available state, and solves the problem of unnecessary operation and power consumption of the terminal device due to the reference signal not being sent all the time and the variable availability of the reference signal in different beams / beam directions, saves the power consumption consumed for AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc., improves the processing performance of the terminal device, and at the same time, it also makes it unnecessary for the terminal device to re-acquire the configuration information of the reference signal when the availability of the reference signal changes, thereby reducing the configuration signaling overhead of the RRC idle state / inactive state.

[0007] Furthermore, the at least one second reference signal mentioned above can be a reference signal already existing in the NR system, and will not increase the always on signal, thereby avoiding the addition of the always on signal in the NR system and satisfying the design principle of reducing the always on signal of the NR system.

[0008] Furthermore, since the terminal device can also know the various paging times PO of the terminal device in advance, the terminal device can receive the reference signal that is closest to the monitored paging message and has an available availability from the network device according to the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB and the various paging times of the monitored paging message, thereby further reducing the wake-up time of the terminal device and saving power consumption of unnecessary operations of the terminal device.

[0009] In a possible design of the first aspect, the method also includes: receiving first information from a network device, the first information being used to determine a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB, or determining a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and an SSB index corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the network device, with the help of the "bridge" role of the SSB, can configure a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the correspondence between the information bit in the second message and the SSB / SSB index and the QCL relationship between the SSB and at least one second reference signal, so that the network device indicates the availability of at least one second reference signal through at least one information bit in the second message, so that the terminal device determines the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the first information, and further determines the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB.

[0010] In a possible design of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving a third message from a network device, the third message being used to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal, so that the terminal device can determine the availability of the at least one second reference signal according to the default availability of the at least one second reference signal when the information bit indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal is not received. Thus, the network device can configure the default availability of the at least one second reference signal based on the third message, so that the terminal device determines the availability of the at least one second reference signal based on the third message.

[0011] In a possible design of the first aspect, the method also includes: in a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal, determining the availability of at least one second reference signal according to the information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in the second message received last time; or, in a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal, determining the availability of at least one second reference signal according to the default availability of at least one second reference signal; or, in a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an unavailable state; or, in a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an available state; or, in a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an available state; or, in a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal, determining that there is at least one reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal.

[0012] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, comprising: sending a first message to a terminal device, the first message including configuration information of at least one first reference signal; sending a second message to the terminal device, the second message being used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, the at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the at least one first reference signal including at least one second reference signal; sending a reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal to the terminal device.

[0013] Through the communication method provided by the second aspect, the network device sends a first message to the terminal device, and the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal, so that the terminal device can clearly determine the configured reference signal based on the configuration information of at least one first reference signal. The network device sends a second message to the terminal device, and the second message is used to indicate the available status of at least one second reference signal, and at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. The second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal that has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB at the SSB granularity or the beam / beam direction granularity corresponding to the SSB, that is, to more finely indicate the availability of the reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the terminal device can clearly indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB. Thus, the network device sends a reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can receive the reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal from the network device according to the availability of the at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, which is beneficial for the terminal device to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal whose availability is in an available state, solves the problem of unnecessary operation and power consumption of the terminal device due to the reference signal not being sent all the time and the variable availability of the reference signal in different beams / beam directions, saves the power consumption consumed for AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc., improves the processing performance of the terminal device, and also makes it possible for the terminal device to not re-acquire the configuration information of the reference signal when the availability of the reference signal changes, thereby reducing the configuration signaling overhead of the RRC idle state / inactive state.

[0014] Furthermore, the at least one second reference signal mentioned above can be a reference signal already existing in the NR system, and will not increase the always on signal, thereby avoiding the addition of the always on signal in the NR system and satisfying the design principle of reducing the always on signal of the NR system.

[0015] Furthermore, since the terminal device can know the various paging times PO of the terminal device in advance, the terminal device can receive the reference signal that is closest to the monitored paging message and is in an available state in the reference signal from the network device according to the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB and the various paging times of the monitored paging message, thereby further reducing the wake-up time of the terminal device and saving the power consumption of unnecessary operations of the terminal device.

[0016] In a possible design of the second aspect, the method also includes: sending first information to a terminal device, the first information being used to determine a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB, or determining a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and an SSB index corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the network device, with the help of the "bridge" role of the SSB, can configure a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the correspondence between the information bit in the second message and the SSB / SSB index and the QCL relationship between the SSB and at least one second reference signal, so that the network device indicates the availability of at least one second reference signal through at least one information bit in the second message, so that the terminal device determines the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the first information, and further determines the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB.

[0017] In a possible design of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending a third message to a terminal device, the third message being used to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal, so that the terminal device can determine the availability of the at least one second reference signal according to the default availability of the at least one second reference signal when the information bit indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal is not received. Thus, the network device can configure the default availability of the at least one second reference signal based on the third message, so that the terminal device determines the availability of the at least one second reference signal based on the third message.

[0018] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the configuration information includes: second information, the second information is used to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one SSB, and / or determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one reference signal other than at least one SSB, at least one reference signal other than at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB, so that the terminal device can determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one SSB based on the second information, so as to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal through the correspondence between the SSB described in the aforementioned content and at least one information bit in the second message.

[0019] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, when the bit map in the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, the second message is SIB1 or other SIB of the system message; or, the second message is downlink control information DCI carried by the physical downlink control channel PDCCH or information carried by the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

[0020] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the number of bit maps in the second message is n, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, n and N are positive integers, the bit map is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the bit map includes at least one information bit, providing multiple possible implementations of the bit map in the second message.

[0021] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, when the second message is a paging DCI carried by a PDCCH, the first bitmap in the second message is the same at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging moment PO, making the design simple and convenient. The terminal device only needs to obtain the first bitmap at at least one PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a paging moment PO. The availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with all SSBs can be determined through the first bitmap obtained at one of the PDCCH monitoring opportunities. Alternatively, the first bitmap in the second message is different at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging moment PO, so as to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with different SSBs through different first bitmaps, which can reduce the number of bits of the first bitmap and save the overhead of instruction signaling.

[0022] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, when the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, the number of bits of the first bit map in the second message in different POs is the same, and thus the correspondence between the first bit map in the second message in different POs and at least one second reference signal is the same, which facilitates simple design.

[0023] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, when the terminal device is in a radio resource control RRC idle state or a radio resource control RRC inactive state, the type of at least one second reference signal includes: at least one of a tracking reference signal TRS, a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS, a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, or a secondary synchronization signal SSS.

[0024] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type according to the function and type of at least one second reference signal so as to save configuration signaling; or, the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type is predefined so as to save configuration signaling.

[0025] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong according to the function and type of at least one second reference signal, so as to save configuration signaling; or, the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong is predefined, so as to save configuration signaling.

[0026] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the second message includes: a first bit map and a second bit map, the information bits in the first bit map correspond to a first function of at least one second reference signal, and the information bits in the second bit map correspond to a second function of at least one second reference signal.

[0027] In this application, it is fully considered that the network device uses the "bridge" function of SSB to build a corresponding relationship between the second message and at least one second reference signal. Therefore, the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set can affect the number of information bits in the second message.

[0028] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the number of bits in the first bit map in the second message is less than or equal to the number of synchronization signals / physical broadcast channel blocks SSB sent in a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block set.

[0029] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first bit map includes: at least one information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the information domain field is determined based on information associated with determining the number of SSBs.

[0030] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first bit map includes: a first information domain field and a second information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the first information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the first value, and the number of bits of the second information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the second value; or, the first bit map includes an information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the first bit map is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the first value, or, the number of bits of the first bit map is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the second value.

[0031] In the present application, since the number of reserved bits of the paging DCI is limited, and the number of bits of the first bit map may be greater than the number of reserved bits of the paging DCI, or may be less than or equal to the number of reserved bits of the paging DCI, the present application can set the number of bits of the first bit map in combination with the specific situation of the paging DCI so that the first bit map can be carried by the paging DCI.

[0032] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the second message is used to indicate that the availability of at least one second reference signal is effective within a first duration.

[0033] In a possible design of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first duration includes: at least one paging discontinuous reception DRX cycle; or, one or more time windows in a periodic time window configured or predefined by the network device; or, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period before the next PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO and the PO where the second message is located are separated by a duration of a DRX cycle; or, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period after the next PO of the PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO and the PO where the second message is located are separated by a duration of a DRX cycle; or, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period after the PO where the second message is located.

[0034] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. When the device is a terminal device, the device may include an interface unit, which may be a transceiver. The terminal device may also include a processing unit, which may be a processor. The terminal device may also include a storage unit, which may be a memory; the storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit executes the instructions stored in the storage unit, so that the terminal device performs the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect. When the device is a chip in a terminal device, the device may include an interface unit, which may be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The terminal device may also include a processing unit, which may be a processor; the terminal device may also include a storage unit, which may be a memory; the storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit executes the instructions stored in the storage unit, so that the chip in the terminal device performs the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect. The storage unit may be a storage unit in the chip (for example, a register, a cache, etc.), or a storage unit located outside the chip in the terminal device (for example, a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.).

[0035] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a network device or a chip in a network device. When the device is a network device, the device may include an interface unit, which may be a transceiver. The device may also include a processing unit, which may be a processor. The network device may also include a storage unit, which may be a memory; the storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit executes the instructions stored in the storage unit, so that the network device performs the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect. When the device is a chip in a network device, the device may include an interface unit, which may be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The device may also include a processing unit, which may be a processor. The network device may also include a storage unit, which may be a memory; the storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit executes the instructions stored in the storage unit, so that the chip in the network device performs the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect. The storage unit may be a storage unit in the chip (for example, a register, a cache, etc.), or a storage unit located outside the chip in the network device (for example, a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.).

[0036] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a readable storage medium, which stores execution instructions. When at least one processor of a terminal device executes the execution instruction, the terminal device executes the communication method in the first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect.

[0037] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a readable storage medium, in which execution instructions are stored. When at least one processor of a network device executes the execution instruction, the network device executes the communication method in the second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect.

[0038] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a program product, the program product comprising an execution instruction, the execution instruction being stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of a terminal device can read the execution instruction from the readable storage medium, and at least one processor executes the execution instruction so that the terminal device implements the communication method in the first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect.

[0039] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a program product, the program product comprising an execution instruction, the execution instruction being stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of a network device can read the execution instruction from the readable storage medium, and at least one processor executes the execution instruction so that the network device implements the communication method in the second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system;

[0041] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a time when an SSB occurs and a paging time PO in a paging DRX cycle;

[0042] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a network device sending a CSI-RS and an SSB to a terminal device;

[0043] Figure 4 A signaling flow chart of a communication method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a reference signal including a CSI-RS and an SSB provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the relationship between the first information bit, SSB and reference signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a bit map in a second message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a bit map in a second message provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a reference signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a reference signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Fig.15 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Fig.16 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Fig.17 A schematic diagram of a first duration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Fig.18 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Fig.19 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Fig. 20 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Fig.21 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Fig. 22 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Fig.23 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Fig.24 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Fig.25 A schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Fig.26A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c alone can represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, or a, b, and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0067] The present application can be applied to wireless communication systems. It should be noted that the wireless communication systems mentioned in the present application include but are not limited to: Narrow Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) systems (e.g., new radio systems), and next generation wireless communication systems.

[0068] The communication devices involved in this application mainly include network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0069] Network equipment: can be a base station, or an access point, or an access network device, or can refer to a device in the access network that communicates with a terminal device through one or more sectors on the air interface. The network equipment can be used to convert received air frames to and from IP packets, as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The network equipment can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network equipment can be an evolved base station (eNB or eNodeB) in Long Term Evolution (LTE), or a relay station, or a transmit / receive point (Tx / Rx Point, TRP), or a base station in a 5G network, such as a gNB, etc., or a next-generation network, which is not limited here.

[0070] Terminal equipment: It can be a wireless terminal or a wired terminal. A wireless terminal can be a device that provides voice and / or other business data connectivity to users, a handheld device with wireless connection function, or other processing equipment connected to a wireless modem. A wireless terminal can communicate with one or more core networks via RAN. A wireless terminal can be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal. For example, it can be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device that exchanges language and / or data with a wireless access network. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and other devices. A wireless terminal may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, or a user device or user equipment, without limitation herein.

[0071] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture, such as Figure 1 As shown, the communication system of the present application may include at least one network device and at least one terminal device, and the network device and the terminal device communicate with each other.

[0072] Typically, a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state mainly completes two tasks: monitoring paging messages and performing RRM measurements.

[0073] On the one hand, in order to monitor the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the terminal device generally performs operations such as time / frequency tracking, automatic gain control (AGC tuning) or beam selection.

[0074] In order to monitor paging messages, the network device will configure a discontinuous reception cycle (DRX cycle) for the terminal device. Usually, within a paging DRX cycle, the terminal device can monitor paging messages at a paging occasion (PO), and can enter a sleep state and not monitor paging messages at other times. The paging occasion PO of the terminal device is determined by the identification (ID) of the terminal device. Usually, different terminal devices may have different paging occasions PO for monitoring paging messages.

[0075] For a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, since the terminal device has entered a sleep state, the network device can broadcast a reference signal to the terminal device (the reference signal is usually a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB)), so that the terminal device can make AGC adjustments and time-frequency synchronization based on the SSB, so as to wake up at the paging time PO corresponding to the terminal device to listen to the paging message. For example, the terminal device can make AGC adjustments, time-frequency synchronization and other operations based on the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) in the SSB.

[0076] In addition, in the multi-beam scenario of NR, the network device sends a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block set (SS burst set) to the terminal device in the form of beam-sweeping, such as periodically sending an SS burstset, and the network device also sends a paging message to the terminal device in the form of beam scanning.

[0077] That is, the network device repeatedly sends SSB / paging messages to the terminal device in multiple beams / beam directions, where the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB is consistent with the beam / beam direction corresponding to the paging message. In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device can monitor the paging message on the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the paging message corresponds to the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO.

[0078] In summary, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB corresponds to the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO. An SS burst set includes multiple SSBs, and multiple SSBs in an SS burst set have different SSB indexes. A paging moment PO consists of multiple physical downlink control channel monitoring opportunities (PDCCH monitoring occasions), that is, the kth PDCCH monitoring occasion corresponds to the kth actually transmitted SSB in an SS burst set, k is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the total number of PDCCH monitoring occasions, and k is a positive integer. In addition, in the beam scanning method, the number of beams or the beam direction is usually fixed, so the SSB corresponding to a beam is the same as the SSB corresponding to the beam direction of the beam.

[0079] Before monitoring the paging message, the terminal device can generally make a beam selection based on the reference signal (ie, SSB), and then monitor the paging message on the PDCCH monitoring occasion corresponding to the selected beam / beam direction. If the terminal device does not select a suitable beam / beam direction in advance, then in order to ensure that the paging message is not missed, the terminal device may monitor the paging message on multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions corresponding to multiple beams / beam directions. In this way, AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization, beam selection, and monitoring of paging messages on multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions will consume a large amount of power consumption of the terminal device.

[0080] On the other hand, the purpose of mobility RRM measurement is to enable terminal devices in RRC idle state or RRC inactive state to perform cell selection / cell reselection, and to enable terminal devices in RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED) to perform cell switching, so that the terminal devices can maintain good connection performance while moving.

[0081] Currently, there are two main reference signals used for RRM measurement: SSB and CSI-RS. Among them, SSB is a cell-level signal, so the terminal device can use it in RRC idle state, RRC inactive state or RRC connected state. CSI-RS can only be used by terminal devices in RRC connected state.

[0082] When the terminal device is in an RRC connected state, the network device usually configures CSI-RS for RRM measurement through RRC signaling, and the terminal device in the RRC connected state specifically uses SSB and / or CSI-RS which is usually configured by RRC signaling.

[0083] Moreover, after the terminal device enters the RRC connected state from the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the network device configures additional reference signals according to the data transmission service requirements. For example, for the terminal device in the RRC connected state, the network device can configure a tracking reference signal (TRS) for the terminal device to perform time-frequency tracking, and can also configure a CSI-RS for the terminal device to perform channel state information (CSI) measurement, CSI reporting, beam measurement (such as layer one reference signal receiving power (L1-RSRP) measurement), L1-RSRP reporting, etc., and can also configure a mobile CSI-RS (CSI-RS for mobility) for the terminal device to perform RRM measurement, RRM measurement reporting (such as reporting RSRP / reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) / signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR)).

[0084] When the terminal device is in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the terminal device can currently only perform RRM measurements based on SSB, where the terminal device performs AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, beam selection, and RRM measurement based on SSB, and SSB is sent periodically, with a certain period interval between the times when SSB appears, making SSB relatively sparse. Generally, in the NR system, the period range of SSB includes: any one of 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms or 160ms.

[0085] Moreover, when the terminal device performs RRM measurement based on SSB, if the network device configures the SSB measurement time configuration (SS / PBCH block measurement time configuration window duration, SMTC) for the terminal device, the terminal device only performs RRM measurement within the SMTC window time window (SMTC window duration); if the network device does not configure SMTC for the terminal device, the terminal device assumes that the SSB period is 5ms.

[0086] Based on the above, the terminal device will consume a lot of power to monitor paging messages and perform RRM measurements for the following reasons:

[0087] 1. Since the paging time PO when the terminal device monitors the paging message is related to the identification ID of the terminal device, and SSB is a cell-level broadcast signal, SSB has a certain periodic interval and is relatively sparse. Therefore, it may happen that the SSB time (or SMTC time window) and the paging time PO when the terminal device monitors the paging message within the paging DRX cycle cannot be aligned. Then, in order to make AGC adjustments, time-frequency synchronization or beam selection based on SSB in advance, the terminal device will wake up (wake-up) in advance when SSB appears, resulting in the terminal device in the RRC idle state / inactive state not only needing to wake up when monitoring the paging message at the paging time PO, but also needing to wake up when performing AGC adjustments, time-frequency synchronization or beam selection based on SSB when SSB appears (or within the SMTC time window). As a result, either the terminal device needs to wake up twice or more, or the terminal device maintains a longer wake-up time between the above two processes, which is not conducive to saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0088] 2. Since the SSB cycle is relatively large, if the interval between the time when the SSB occurs and the paging time PO is relatively large, then at the paging time PO of the terminal device, the beam / beam direction (i.e., PDCCH monitoring occasions) selected by the terminal device based on the SSB may change significantly due to reasons such as movement and rotation of the terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device still needs to scan and monitor the paging message on multiple beams / beam directions (i.e., multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions) at the paging time PO in order to meet the measurement accuracy requirements, which causes the terminal device to maintain a longer wake-up time and is not conducive to saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0089] 3. The terminal device may need SSBs in multiple SS burst sets or SSBs in multiple SMTC time windows to perform AGC adjustment, time-frequency tracking or RRM measurement, especially in poor channel conditions or in high frequency bands (such as the FR2 band in the 5G network specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) protocol, where the frequency range of the FR2 band is 24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz, commonly known as millimeter wave (mmWave)) The length of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol is short. When the channel conditions are poor or the OFDM symbol length is short in the high frequency band (such as FR2 band), due to the sparse SSB, one SSB may not be sufficient to complete the preprocessing process (such as AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, etc.), resulting in the terminal device in the RRC idle state or RRC inactive state to monitor the paging message and perform mobility RRM measurement in multiple SMTC time windows of the SSB or using multiple SS burst sets. This requires the terminal device to maintain an awake state (or a light sleep state) in multiple SMTC time windows or when multiple SS burst sets appear, resulting in an increase in the number of wake-up times or an increase in the wake-up duration, which is also not conducive to saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0090] Next, combine Figure 2 , the specific reasons why the terminal equipment consumes large power consumption in the above content are explained with examples.

[0091] like Figure 2 As shown, the period of SSB is 20ms, one of every two frames is a paging frame (PF), and the time when SSB appears is not aligned with the paging time PO. The paging time of the terminal device is at PO1. In order to monitor the paging message at PO1, the terminal device needs to wake up in advance when SSB appears before PO1. Therefore, the terminal device can make AGC adjustments, time-frequency tracking, beam selection or RRM measurements based on SSB. When the channel conditions are poor or the length of OFDM symbols in high frequency bands (such as FR2 bands) is short, AGC adjustments may require multiple SSBs, resulting in the terminal device being unable to complete an RRM measurement for all SSBs in one SS burstset, so the terminal device may continue to make RRM measurements based on SSB in an SS burstset after PO1.

[0092] It can be seen that the terminal device needs to wake up multiple times, or maintain a long wake-up time, resulting in higher power consumption of the terminal device.

[0093] For reasons such as those mentioned above, a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC activated state requires a lot of power consumption to monitor paging messages and RRM measurements based on SSB. In order to solve the above problems, in a conventional feasible method, the network device configures more reference signals (reference signals) for the terminal device to provide more opportunities for the terminal device, so as to reduce the wake-up time of the terminal device and save the power consumption of the terminal device. Optionally, since there are terminal devices in an RRC idle state, an RRC inactive state, and an RRC connected state in a cell at the same time. In addition, the network device configures reference signals other than SSB (such as TRS / CSI-RS) for the terminal device in the RRC connected state. Therefore, if the reference signal configured for the terminal device in the RRC connected state can be configured to the terminal device in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the terminal device in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state can use the reference signal to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / beam selection / RRM measurement to save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0094] Those skilled in the art can understand that in the NR system, in order to save air interface resources and reduce the power consumption of network equipment, the design principle of the NR system is to minimize the sending frequency of the "always on" reference signal, and usually only maintain the sending of a small number of reference signals. At present, SSB is the only "always on" signal in the NR system, and the period of the network device sending SSB to the terminal device can be configured, and SSB is not necessarily sent in every frame. Since the reference signal configured for the terminal device in the RRC connected state is a reference signal that already exists in the cell, the network device does not specifically configure additional reference signals for the terminal device in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and also avoids adding "always on" reference signals in the NR system.

[0095] However, the reference signal of the RRC connection state configured by the network device for a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may also be configured for multiple terminal devices in an RRC connection state. And, in general, for different terminal devices in an RRC connection state, the network device configures reference signals mutually independently, that is, the network device configures reference signals specifically for different terminal devices. And when the reference signal is no longer needed (such as the terminal device related to the reference signal is not in an RRC connection state), the network device can release the reference signal and no longer send the reference signal to the terminal device, thereby saving power consumption of the network device. In addition, in a multi-beam system (such as the FR2 frequency band), due to the mobility of the terminal device (such as the user moving, or the terminal device being blocked / flipped, etc.), different data services of different terminal devices, different connected-discontinuous reception (C-DRX) cycles, and different times when different terminal devices leave the connected state, the network device will send reference signals to different beams / beam directions at different times, and stop sending reference signals in beams / beam directions where reference signals do not need to be sent, thereby saving power consumption of the network device.

[0096] Next, combine Figure 3 , an example is given to illustrate the specific sending situation of the reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device in the RRC connected state in the above content.

[0097] like Figure 3 As shown, an SS burst set includes 4 SSBs actually transmitted, indexed as SSB0, SSB1, SSB2 and SSB3. A paging time PO includes 4 PDCCH monitoring occasions (corresponding to 4 beams / beam directions), and each PDCCH monitoring occasion corresponds to an SSB actually transmitted. Figure 3 In the , CSI-RS is a reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device in the RRC connection state. A CSI-RS resource set includes 4 CSI-RS, indexed as CSI-RS0, CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3. Each of these 4 CSI-RS has a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship with one of the 4 SSBs.

[0098] exist Figure 3In the reference signal before the first paging time PO1, the CSI-RS having a QCL relationship with SSB3 is not available. The network device sends reference signals CSI-RS0, CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 to the terminal device, and stops sending reference signal CSI-RS3 to the terminal device.

[0099] exist Figure 3 In the reference signal before the second paging time PO2, the CSI-RS having a QCL relationship with SSB0 is not available. The network device sends reference signals CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3 to the terminal device, and stops sending reference signal CSI-RS0 to the terminal device.

[0100] It can be seen that the availability of the reference signal configured in the RRC connected state is not always available, and the availability of the reference signal in different beams / beam directions will also change.

[0101] It should be noted that Figure 3 In the example, the first paging time PO1 is located in paging DRX cycle 1, and the second paging time PO2 is located in paging DRX cycle 2. Paging DRX cycle 1 and paging DRX cycle 2 are adjacent paging DRX cycles, but not the same paging DRX cycle. Each paging DRX cycle may include multiple paging times PO, and at each paging time PO one or more terminal devices will monitor the paging PDCCH.

[0102] Therefore, taking the above problems into full consideration, the present application provides a communication method, apparatus and device, which can more finely indicate the availability of the reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the terminal device can receive the reference signal in the available state in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB from the reference signal, so that the terminal device can perform AGC adjustment, time-frequency tracking, beam selection or RRM measurement based on the available reference signal, etc., solves the problem of unnecessary operation and power consumption of the terminal device due to the reference signal not being sent all the time and the variable availability of the reference signal in different beams / beam directions, and saves the power consumption consumed for monitoring paging messages and performing RRM measurements. Thereby improving the processing performance of the terminal device. Furthermore, the above reference signal can be an existing reference signal, avoiding the addition of an always on signal in the NR system, and meeting the design principle of reducing the always on signal of the NR system. For example, the above reference signal can be a reference signal resource that has been configured for a terminal device in an RRC connected state. The above reference signal can also be a newly added reference signal, such as a reference signal resource additionally configured for a terminal device in an RRC idle state / inactive state. In addition, since the terminal device can also obtain information about each paging time PO of the terminal device, the terminal device can receive from the reference signal a reference signal whose availability in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB is in an available state and is closest to the monitored paging message, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption by the terminal device and improving the processing capability of the terminal device.

[0103] Next, combine Figure 4 , the specific implementation process of the communication method of the present application is described in detail.

[0104] Figure 4 A signaling flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is as follows: Figure 4 As shown, the communication method of the present application may include:

[0105] S101. A network device sends a first message to a terminal device, where the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal.

[0106] In the present application, the network device may configure one or more first reference signals for the terminal device. Among them, at least one first reference signal may include at least one second reference signal, or may include at least one second reference signal and at least one other reference signal, which is not limited in the present application. The terminal device may implement at least one of AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization, beam management, or RRM measurement based on at least one second reference signal.

[0107] The at least one first reference signal may specifically include a reference signal that already exists in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, or may include a reference signal that already exists in the RRC connected state, or may include signals in the aforementioned two cases, or may not be a reference signal that already exists in the system, but may be a reference signal that is additionally configured by the network device for a terminal device that is in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state. This application does not limit this.

[0108] Optionally, in order to avoid violating the design principle of reducing always on signals of the NR system, the network device can use the reference signal already existing in the NR system as the first reference signal configured for the terminal device. Thus, the terminal device obtains the configuration information of the first reference signal, which can avoid the increase of always on signals.

[0109] The present application does not limit the type of at least one second reference signal. Optionally, when the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, the type of the second reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device may include at least one of: TRS, CSI-RS, SSB or a secondary synchronization signal (Secondary Synchronization Signal, SSS).

[0110] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device may have multiple functions. For example:

[0111] 1. Time-frequency tracking: TRS is a type of CSI-RS and is used by terminal devices to perform time-frequency tracking.

[0112] 2. CSI calculation: In the RRC connected state, the network device can configure CSI-RS for channel quality measurement. For example, the terminal device can receive CSI-RS and then measure: channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) or layer indicator (L1), and then the terminal device reports the measurement results to the network device.

[0113] 3. Beam management: CSI-RS can be used for beam management. In the RRC connected state, the reference signal used for beam management, the network device can configure whether the terminal device reports the measurement results. The network device can configure the terminal device to report L1-RSRP, so the terminal device can receive the reference signal and calculate L1-RSRP; the network device can also configure the reporting amount to NULL, which means that the terminal device does not need to report the beam measurement results.

[0114] 4. RRM measurement: CSI-RS can be used for mobility RRM measurement. For example, in the RRC connected state, the network device configures the CSI-RS for RRM measurement for the terminal device through the configuration information element CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility.

[0115] Based on the above content, the reference signals configured for terminal devices in the RRC connected state in the prior art may have different functions. In the present application, the second reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state may also have one or more functions, which is not limited in the present application. Optionally, the functions of the second reference signal may include: at least one of time-frequency tracking, beam management, radio resource management RRM measurement, automatic gain control AGC adjustment, channel state information CSI calculation, or layer 1 reference signal received power L1-RSRP calculation.

[0116] For example, the types of second reference signals configured for a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may include, but are not limited to, TRS for time-frequency tracking or AGC adjustment and CSI-RS for RRM measurement. In addition, although the terminal device does not need to report CSI measurement results and L1-RSRP measurement results in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the reference signals used for CSI measurement / reporting and L1-RSRP measurement / reporting can also be used by the terminal device to perform other functions, such as AGC adjustment, time-frequency tracking, beam selection, etc. In addition, although the terminal device does not report CSI / L1-RSRP in the RRC idle state / inactive state, the terminal device can cache the calculated CSI / L1-RSRP and other results, and report the cached results to the network device after entering the RRC connected state, or in one implementation, in the RRC idle state / inactive state, the network device can also configure the terminal device to report the measured CSI / L1-RSRP, which helps to improve the data transmission performance between the network device and the terminal device. Therefore, the types of second reference signals configured for a terminal device in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state may also include: a reference signal used for CSI / L1-RSRP calculation and / or reporting.

[0117] Since there are multiple types and / or functions of reference signals, and multiple functions are implemented in monitoring paging messages and performing RRM measurements, the second reference signal that the network device may configure for the terminal device includes multiple configurations. Therefore, in this application, the network device may use multiple methods to obtain the configuration information of the second reference signal. Among them, this application does not limit the specific implementation form of the configuration information of the second reference signal.

[0118] Optionally, the terminal device may send a request message to the network device, where the request message is used to request the network device to configure a certain function or a certain type of second reference signal for the terminal device. For example, the terminal device may send a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling bearer request message to the network device in the RRC idle state / RRC inactive state. For another example, before the terminal device falls back from the RRC connected state to the idle state / inactive state, it may send a request message to the network device in the RRC connected state.

[0119] In the present application, the network device may configure the second reference signal with different functions for the terminal device through different information elements (IE). For example, the network device configures the second reference signal for time-frequency tracking for the terminal device through the non-zero power (NZP)-CSI-RS-ResourceSet IE, or the network device configures the second reference signal for RRM measurement for the terminal device through the CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility IE.

[0120] Below, the specific implementation process of the network device configuring the reference signal for time-frequency tracking / beam management and the second reference signal for RRM measurement for the terminal device is described in detail. It can be understood that the network device generally configures the second reference signal for time-frequency tracking / beam management and RRM measurement for the terminal device through different IEs. However, according to different terminal device implementation capabilities, based on the second reference signal of a function, the terminal device may implement other functions in addition to the function configured by the second reference signal. For example, the terminal device may also perform AGC adjustment / beam selection based on the second reference signal for RRM measurement.

[0121] When the network device configures a second reference signal for time-frequency tracking / beam management for a terminal device, the specific implementation form of the configuration information of the second reference signal is illustrated in combination with two feasible embodiments.

[0122] In a feasible embodiment, the network device can configure multiple second reference signals, then the configuration information of the second reference signal may include: multiple second reference signal configuration information elements, each second reference signal configuration information element may include but is not limited to: the number of the second reference signal, the time-frequency resource unit mapping mode of the second reference signal, the power control offset of the second reference signal, the scrambling code number of the second reference signal, the time domain period and period offset of the second reference signal, the transmission configuration indicator state (TCI state) of the second reference signal, that is, indicating the QCL source reference signal of the second reference signal (QCL source reference signal) and the QCL type between the second reference signal and the QCL source reference signal and other parameters.

[0123] In another feasible embodiment, the network device may also set multiple reference signal resource sets, each reference signal resource set may be associated with one or more second reference signals, wherein the functions and types of all the second reference signals in each reference resource set are the same, or the functions of all the second reference signals in each reference resource set are the same, or the types of all the second reference signals in each reference signal resource set are the same, and the present application does not limit this.

[0124] Then, the configuration information of the second reference signal may include: configuration information of multiple reference signal resource sets, configuration information of each reference signal resource set, that is, the configuration information of the second reference signal in each reference signal resource set, which may specifically include but is not limited to: the number of the reference signal resource set, the number of the second reference signal, the function of the second reference signal (for example, the repetition parameter represents the beam management function, the time-frequency tracking signal information (trs-Info) parameter represents the time-frequency tracking function), etc.

[0125] For example, if the trs-Info parameter is configured to true, the configuration information element of the reference signal resource set may indicate that the second reference signal associated with the reference signal resource set is TRS, which is used for time-frequency tracking. If the repetition parameter is configured to on, it means that all resources associated with the reference signal resource set are sent through the same downlink spatial domain transmission filter in the network device, and all reference signals associated with the reference signal resource set are sent through the same number of ports, then the configuration information element of the reference signal resource set may indicate that the second reference signal associated with the reference signal resource set is used for beam management, so that the terminal device can perform beam selection. If a reference signal resource set does not include the trs-Info parameter and the repetition parameter, in the RRC connected state, the function of the configuration information element of the reference signal resource set is determined by the reporting configuration associated with the reference signal resource set. When the reporting configuration is channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) or layer indicator (LI), the configuration information element of the reference signal resource set may indicate that the second reference signal associated with the reference signal resource set is used to calculate the CSI. When the reporting amount is configured as L1-RSRP (L1-RSRP is a beam-level measurement result), the configuration information element of the reference signal resource set may indicate that the second reference signal associated with the reference signal resource set is used for beam management.

[0126] Since the terminal device does not need to report CSI in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the network device does not need to configure the configuration information on how to report for the terminal device in the RRC idle state / RRC inactive state. In the prior art, in the RRC connected state, the functions of some reference signals need to be determined based on the parameters in the reporting configuration information associated with the reference signal. Therefore, in the present application, the network device can add additional parameters in the configuration information of the second reference signal to indicate the function of the second reference signal.

[0127] For example, one or more parameters are added in addition to the trs-Info parameter and the repetition parameter to represent a certain function. For example, a new parameter (e.g., L1-RSRP) is added to represent the beam management / beam selection function. Or, as another example, the terminal device determines the function of the second reference signal based on the configuration information of the second reference signal and the protocol predefined rules. For example, the protocol predefines the function of the second reference signal when the trs-Info parameter and the repetition parameter are defaulted.

[0128] In addition, in the present application, the network device may configure a reference signal resource set to associate a second reference signal of a function, or may configure multiple reference signal resource sets to associate a second reference signal of the same function. The second reference signal of any function may be one or more types of reference signals.

[0129] Based on the above content, in the RRC idle state / inactive state, since the number of bits that can be carried by the configuration instructions of the network device is limited, in order to ensure that the functions and types of the second reference signals configured by the terminal device are complete, the network device can limit the number of second reference signals.

[0130] Optionally, the network device may configure the maximum number of second reference signals of the same function and the same type through configuration information according to the function and type of the reference signal, or may configure the maximum number of all second reference signals through configuration information, or may configure the maximum number of second reference signals of the same function through configuration information, or may configure the maximum number of second reference signals of the same type through configuration information, or may configure the number of second reference signals by combining at least two of the above methods. Thus, configuration instructions of the network device are saved.

[0131] In addition to the above implementation, the network device may also determine the number of second reference signals through protocol provisions instead of configuring the number of second reference signals through configuration information. Among all the second reference signals, optionally, the maximum number of second reference signals of the same function and the same type is predefined, or the maximum number of all second reference signals is predefined, or the maximum number of second reference signals of the same function is predefined, or the maximum number of second reference signals of the same type is predefined, or the maximum number of at least two of the above methods are predefined, and the present application does not require the above method to configure the number of second reference signals. Thus, the configuration instructions of the network device are saved. In addition, the number of second reference signals may also be determined jointly by the network device and the protocol provisions.

[0132] For the sake of convenience, taking the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function as Y, where Y is a positive integer as an example, the following gives an example of the specific implementation process of the maximum number Y of second reference signals.

[0133] For example, for the second reference signals of a certain type or function, Y is equal to the maximum number A of SSB candidates within an SS burst set in the frequency range where the current serving cell is located. For the carrier frequency f, for the FR1 frequency band, when f ≤ 3 GHz, y = A = 4; when f > 3 GHz (i.e., 3 GHz < f ≤ 6 GHz), y = A = 8; for the FR2 frequency band, when f > 6 GHz, Y = A = 64. Alternatively, Y is equal to the number of SSBs actually transmitted by the current serving cell within an SS burst set. Among them, the serving cell is the cell where the terminal device camps when it is in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state.

[0134] For another example, for the second reference signals used for time-frequency tracking, Y is equal to B1 times the maximum number A of SSB candidates within an SS burst set in the frequency range where the current serving cell is located, or Y is equal to B2 times the number of SSBs actually transmitted by the current serving cell within an SS burst set, where the multiples B1 and B2 are positive integers, such as B1 = 2 or 4, B2 = 2 or 4.

[0135] Among them, when the network device configures the second reference signals for the terminal device in the form of a reference signal resource set, in this application, the number of second reference signals can be limited, or the number of reference signal resource sets to which the second reference signals belong (or are associated) can be limited, or both the number of second reference signals and the number of reference signal resource sets to which the second reference signals belong can be limited.

[0136] Among them, the process of limiting the number of second reference signals can be referred to the foregoing content and will not be elaborated here. Next, the specific implementation method of limiting the number of reference signal resource sets to which the second reference signals belong will be described.

[0137] Optionally, the network device may configure the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which the second reference signal of the same function and the same type belongs through configuration information according to the function and type of the second reference signal. In addition, in addition to the above implementation, the network device may not configure the number of reference signal resource sets through configuration information, but determine the number of reference signal resource sets to which the second reference signal belongs through protocol provisions. Optionally, the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which the second reference signal of the same function and the same type belongs is predefined. Thus, configuration instructions for the network device are saved. In addition, the number of reference signal resource sets may also be determined jointly by the network device and the protocol provisions.

[0138] For ease of explanation, taking the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function belong is Z, where Z is a positive integer, as an example, the specific implementation process of the maximum number Z of reference signal resource sets with different functions is illustrated below.

[0139] For example, for the second reference signal used for non-time-frequency tracking, the network device configures only one reference signal resource set for the second reference signal with the same function. At this time, Z=1 to simplify the configuration.

[0140] For another example, for the second reference signal used for beam management, the network device only configures one reference signal resource set so that one reference signal resource set can include all second reference signals with the same function, saving configuration signaling overhead.

[0141] For another example, for the second reference signal used for time-frequency tracking, the network equipment configuration or protocol stipulates that the value of Z is less than or equal to the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set, or less than or equal to the maximum number of SSB candidates in an SS burst set in the frequency range of the current service cell, so as to save configuration instructions.

[0142] In summary, whether limiting the number of second reference signals and / or reference signal resource sets through configuration information or in a manner specified by the protocol, configuration signaling of network devices can be saved, which is beneficial to improving the processing rate of network devices and saving air interface resources.

[0143] When the network device configures the second reference signal for the terminal device to perform RRM measurement, the network device can implement the configuration in a variety of ways. In conjunction with the following feasible embodiments, the specific implementation form of the configuration information of the second reference signal is illustrated by way of example.

[0144] In a feasible embodiment, the second reference signal used for RRM measurement is generally configured by one or more information elements (IE). For example, when the second reference signal is CSI-RS, the information element is the information element CSI-RS-Resource-Mobility. In addition, different second reference signals in the same cell can be associated with the same reference signal resource set, that is, associated with the same information element, and different reference signal resource sets are distinguished by cell numbers (cell ID / Physical cellID). The second reference signals in different cells can be associated with the same configuration mobility information element (ConfigMobility IE). And the different second reference signals configured by the same configuration mobility information element have the same subcarrier spacing, and the associated different cells have the same SSB frequency.

[0145] It should be noted that, in addition to the above method, the network device may also use other methods to configure the second reference signal for the terminal device to obtain the configuration information of the second reference signal, and the present application is not limited to the above implementation method.

[0146] In addition, if at least one first reference signal also includes other reference signals, the network device can also implement the configuration of other reference signals. The specific process can refer to the implementation process of the prior art, which is not repeated here. Thus, the network device can obtain the configuration information of at least one first reference signal.

[0147] In the present application, after the network device determines the configuration information of at least one first reference signal, it can send the configuration information of at least one first reference signal to the terminal device through a first message, so that the terminal device can timely and accurately know the configuration status such as the type and function of the second reference signal in at least one first reference signal based on the configuration information of at least one first reference signal.

[0148] The first message may be a system information (System Information, SI), or may be other messages except SI, such as a paging physical downlink shared channel (Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH) scheduled by a paging PDCCH, and this application does not limit this.

[0149] Those skilled in the art will understand that SI may include a master information block (MIB) and remaining minimum system information (RMSI) (i.e., system information block type 1 (SIB1)), and other system information (OSI, i.e., other SIBs except SIB1, such as SIB2-SIBn, n>2, and n is a positive integer).

[0150] In the case where the first message is SI, for the convenience of configuration, the network device may carry the configuration information of at least one first reference signal through SIB1, or may carry the configuration information of at least one first reference signal through OSI, such as one or more of the existing SIB2 to SIB9, or a newly added system message block. The network device may also carry the configuration information of at least one first reference signal in both SIB1 and OSI, which is not limited in this application.

[0151] In the present application, the network device may send configuration information of at least one first reference signal to the terminal device in a broadcasting manner, or may send configuration information of at least one first reference signal to the terminal device according to a request message sent from the terminal device, the request message being used to request configuration information of at least one first reference signal or configuration information of at least one second reference signal or request a first message. In addition, when the configuration information of at least one first reference signal changes or the configuration information of at least one second reference signal changes or other information in the first message changes, the network device may also send configuration information of at least one first reference signal to the terminal device or send a first message including configuration information of at least one second reference signal. Alternatively, the network device periodically sends the first message to the terminal device according to the sending period of the first message or the sending period of the configuration information of at least one first reference signal or the sending period of the configuration information of at least one second reference signal. The present application does not limit the specific manner in which the network device sends the first message to the terminal device.

[0152] S102. The network device sends a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0153] Those skilled in the art can understand that in the scenario of NR multi-beam / multi-beam direction, the network device sends multiple SS burst sets (such as periodically sending SS burst sets) to the terminal device in the form of beam scanning, wherein each of the multiple SS burst sets includes multiple SSBs. In addition, the network device also sends a paging message to the terminal device in the form of beam scanning. That is, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the sent SSB and the paging message is usually consistent, and one SSB / a paging message corresponds to the same beam / beam direction. In addition, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the paging message corresponds to the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO. That is, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB corresponds to the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO.

[0154] In actual application, the availability of the reference signal may change, and it is not always available, and at any time, the availability of the reference signal in at least one beam / beam direction may also change. Take the CSI-RS configured by the terminal device in the RRC connected state as an example. Although CSI-RS has the advantages of higher frequency domain bandwidth and higher measurement accuracy than SSB, and CSI-RS is an existing resource configured by the cell for the terminal device in the RRC connected state, those skilled in the art can understand that CSI-RS is not always sent. For example, if a terminal device in the RRC connected state is configured with discontinuous reception (Connected-DRX, C-DRX) in the connected state, and the C-DRX cycle is greater than 80ms, the network device may only send the CSI-RS used for RRM measurement to the terminal device during the active period (Active time) in the C-DRX cycle, and can selectively send the CSI-RS to the terminal device during the inactive period (non-active time) in the C-DRX cycle or choose not to send the CSI-RS resource to the terminal device. In this way, when the network device stops sending CSI-RS to the terminal device, the terminal device in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state still performs RRM measurements at the corresponding time-frequency position, such as measuring the reference signal received power (RSRP), resulting in inaccurate RRM measurement results. In this way, the terminal device performs unnecessary measurement processes, which consumes unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device.

[0155] Based on the above content, the network device can send a second message to the terminal device. The second message can indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. Specifically, in the present application, the network device can indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB through a second message, that is, indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in a beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB. That is, with the aid of the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB, the second message can indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal at the granularity of the beam / beam direction, which is conducive to more finely indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in at least one beam / beam direction, and avoiding the problem of unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device due to unnecessary operations.

[0156] The present application does not limit the specific implementation form of the second message. Optionally, the present application uses at least one information bit (also referred to as bit) in the second message to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal. The present application does not limit the specific carrying method of at least one information bit in the second message.

[0157] Optionally, at least one information bit in the second message can be carried in SIB1 or other SIBs of the system message SI, where the other SIB can be an existing OSI or a newly added system message block, or can be carried in downlink control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI) carried by PDCCH or information carried by PDSCH, where the DCI carried by PDCCH or the information carried by PDSCH can be information already existing in the NR system, such as paging DCI carried by paging PDCCH, paging information carried by paging PDSCH, and can also carry newly added information in the NR system, such as PDCCH newly introduced in RRC idle state / inactive state, for example, wake-up (Wakeup) PDCCH (for example, the PDCCH is used to indicate whether there is paging information of the terminal device), etc. This application is not limited to this.

[0158] Optionally, the second message is SIB1 or other SIBs of the system message SI, where the other SIBs may be existing OSIs or newly added system message blocks, or downlink control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI) carried by PDCCH or information carried by PDSCH, where the DCI carried by PDCCH or the information carried by PDSCH may be information already existing in the NR system, such as paging DCI carried by paging PDCCH, paging information carried by paging PDSCH, or may carry newly added information in the NR system, such as PDCCH newly introduced in RRC idle state / inactive state, for example, wake-up PDCCH (for example, the PDCCH is used to indicate whether there is paging information of the terminal device), etc. This application does not limit this.

[0159] The availability of at least one second reference signal may include: an available state or an unavailable state.

[0160] The available state means: indicating that the network device will (or may) send a reference signal on the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal configured for the terminal device. The terminal device can assume that the network device will send a reference signal on the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal configured for the terminal device, and the terminal device can receive the reference signal.

[0161] The unavailable state means that the network device does not (or may not) send a reference signal on the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal configured for the terminal device. The terminal device cannot assume that the network device sends a reference signal on the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal configured for the terminal device.

[0162] S103. The network device sends a reference signal whose availability is in an available state among at least one second reference signal to the terminal device.

[0163] In the present application, the network device may determine the availability of any second reference signal. It is understandable that, for any second reference signal indicated by the second message, if the network device indicates that the second reference signal is available, the network device will send the second reference signal. If the network device indicates that the second reference signal is unavailable, whether the network device still sends the second reference signal is not limited in the present application.

[0164] That is to say, in the present application, the network device may send a reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal to the terminal device, or may send a reference signal whose availability is in an available state and a reference signal whose availability is in an unavailable state in at least one second reference signal to the terminal device, and the present application does not limit this.

[0165] In addition, if the network device only indicates the availability of some reference signals in at least one configured second reference signal through a second message, then for the remaining reference signals whose availability is not indicated, the availability of the remaining reference signals in at least one second reference signal can be predefined through the network device configuration or protocol.

[0166] S104. The terminal device receives, according to the configuration information and the second message, a reference signal whose availability is in an available state among at least one second reference signal from the network device.

[0167] In the present application, the network device sends at least one second reference signal to the terminal device on the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal configured for the terminal device. For example, when the at least one second reference signal includes an SSB, the network device may send at least one SSB with availability in an available state to the terminal device, and the at least one SSB with availability in an available state is distributed in at least one beam / beam direction, so that the terminal device can receive the SSB from at least one beam / beam direction. At least one SSB with availability in an available state may also be sent in the form of an SS burst set, that is, each SS burst set includes the at least one SSB with availability in an available state. For another example, when the at least one second reference signal includes a CSI-RS, the network device may send at least one CSI-RS with availability in an available state to the terminal device (such as periodically sending a CSI-RS reference signal), and the at least one CSI-RS reference signal with availability in an available state is distributed in at least one beam / beam direction, so that the terminal device can receive the CSI-RS from at least one beam / beam direction. For example, when at least one second reference signal includes SSB and CSI-RS, the network device can send at least one SSB and at least one CSI-RS reference signal to the terminal device in the above two ways, which are not elaborated here, so that the terminal device can receive SSB and CSI-RS from at least one beam / beam direction.

[0168] Since the configuration information of at least one first reference signal can indicate the configuration of at least one second reference signal configured for the terminal device, therefore, in the present application, the terminal device can determine the type and function of at least one second reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device based on the configuration information of at least one first reference signal. And since the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB, therefore, in the present application, the terminal device can determine the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB based on the second message. Thus, the terminal device can receive the reference signal of the at least one second reference signal whose availability is in the available state in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB from the network device according to the configuration information and the second message, so as to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal whose availability is in the available state, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption by the terminal device.

[0169] In addition, further, since the terminal device has learned the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, and the terminal device can also learn the various paging times PO of the terminal device, the terminal device can receive from the network device, on the reference signal resource corresponding to the reference signal configured for the terminal device, a reference signal in the second reference signal that is in an available state in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB and is closest to the monitored paging message, so as to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal with available availability. Therefore, it is not only beneficial for the terminal device to make an appropriate selection of the reference signal, but also does not receive the reference signal with unavailable availability in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB. At the same time, it can also choose to receive the reference signal closest to the monitored paging message, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device and improving the processing capability of the terminal device.

[0170] It should be noted that the reference signal closest to the monitored paging message can be understood as, among at least one second reference signal with availability in available state, one or more second reference signals located before and / or after the paging time PO that are closest to the paging time PO; or, it can be understood that, compared with the SSB already existing in the system, if there are one or more second reference signals with availability in available state that are closer to the paging time PO, the terminal device only needs to receive the second reference signal that is closer to the paging time PO, thereby avoiding receiving the SSB farther away, reducing the wake-up time of the terminal device, and saving power consumption. If there is no second reference signal with availability in available state that is closer to the paging time PO, the terminal device still needs to receive the SSB that is closer to the paging time PO.

[0171] In a specific embodiment, taking at least one second reference signal including a CSI-RS as an example, assuming that the network device follows Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, SS burst set and CSI-RS reference signal resource set are respectively sent to the terminal device at different times (such as periodically sending SS burst set and CSI-RS), and SSB is the reference signal broadcast in the cell. Each SSburst set includes four SSBs, indexed as SSB0, SSB1, SSB2 and SSB3. Each CSI-RS reference signal resource set includes four CSI-RSs, indexed as CSI-RS0, CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3.

[0172] In the present application, the terminal device can determine the configuration information of at least one first reference signal and the second message. Figure 5 In the at least one second reference signal before the first paging time PO1, the second reference signal includes CSI-RS, and CSI-RS0 having a QCL relationship with SSB0 is available, CSI-RS1 having a QCL relationship with SSB1 is available, CSI-RS2 having a QCL relationship with SSB2 is available, and CSI-RS3 having a QCL relationship with SSB3 is unavailable.

[0173] exist Figure 5 Before the first paging moment PO1, the terminal device determines that the CSI-RS in the CSI-RS reference signal resource set sent by the network device is closer to the first paging moment PO1 than the SSB in the SS burst set sent by the network device. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the CSI-RS in the CSI-RS reference signal resource set without receiving the SSB in the SS burstset, and the terminal device can receive at least one of CSI-RS0, CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2 in the CSI-RS reference signal resource set without receiving CSI-RS3, so that the terminal device can perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on at least one of CSI-RS0, CSI-RS1 and CSI-RS2.

[0174] exist Figure 5Before the second paging moment PO2, the terminal device determines that the SSB in the SS burst set sent by the network device is closer to the second paging moment PO2 than the CSI-RS in the CSI-RS reference signal resource set sent by the network device. Therefore, the terminal device can receive the SSB in the SS burst set but will not receive the CSI-RS in the CSI-RS reference signal resource set, and the terminal device can receive SSB0, SSB1, SSB2 and SSB3 in the SS burst set, so that the terminal device can perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on at least one of SSB0, SSB1, SSB2 and SSB3.

[0175] It should be noted that Figure 5 It can be considered that the first paging time PO1 and the second paging time PO2 belong to the same paging DRX cycle, and the first paging time PO1 and the second paging time PO2 are adjacent paging times PO, and the terminal devices monitoring the paging PDCCH at the first paging time PO1 and the second paging time PO2 are different.

[0176] In the present application, by indicating whether the reference signal is available with the granularity of the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, a more refined indication of the availability of the reference signal can be achieved, so that the terminal device can perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal whose availability is indicated by the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device. Further, the terminal device can use the reference signal configured for the terminal device in the RRC connection state to avoid the increase of the always on signal. Further, since the terminal device can also know the various paging times PO of the terminal device, the terminal device can perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal that is closest to the monitored paging message and whose availability is in the available state in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, thereby further reducing unnecessary power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, when the availability of the reference signal changes, the terminal device does not need to re-acquire the configuration information of the reference signal, but only needs to know the availability of at least one second reference signal that has been configured according to the second message, which can reduce the reference signal configuration signaling overhead in the RRC idle state / inactive state.

[0177] The communication method provided by the present application sends a first message to a terminal device through a network device, wherein the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal, so that the terminal device can clearly determine the configured at least one second reference signal based on the configuration information of the at least one first reference signal. The network device can send a second message to the terminal device, and the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. The second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB at the SSB granularity or the beam / beam direction granularity corresponding to the SSB, that is, to more finely indicate the availability of the reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the terminal device can clearly determine the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB. The network device sends a reference signal whose availability is in an available state in at least one second reference signal to the terminal device. The terminal device can receive a reference signal with availability in an available state in at least one second reference signal from a network device according to the availability of at least one second reference signal in a beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB, which is beneficial for the terminal device to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc. based on the reference signal with availability in an available state, and solves the problem of unnecessary operation and power consumption of the terminal device due to the reference signal not being sent all the time and the variable availability of the reference signal in different beams / beam directions, saves the power consumption consumed for AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / RRM measurement / beam management, etc., improves the processing performance of the terminal device, and also makes it possible for the terminal device to not need to re-acquire the configuration information of the reference signal when the availability of the reference signal changes, thereby reducing the configuration signaling overhead of the RRC idle state / inactive state.

[0178] Furthermore, at least one second reference signal configured by the network device for the terminal device may be a reference signal already existing in the NR system, and does not increase the always on signal, thereby avoiding the addition of the always on signal in the NR system and satisfying the design principle of reducing the always on signal of the NR system.

[0179] Furthermore, based on the availability of at least one second reference signal in a beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB and the paging times of the monitored paging messages, the terminal device can receive from the network device a reference signal in the second reference signal that is closest to the monitored paging message and is in an available state, thereby further reducing the wake-up time of the terminal device and saving power consumption of unnecessary operations of the terminal device.

[0180] Based on the above description, it is precisely because in the multi-beam / beam direction scenario of the NR system (such as the FR2 frequency band), when the terminal device is in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the SSB and paging messages are sent in the form of beam scanning. That is, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB and the paging message are usually consistent, and one SSB / one paging message corresponds to one beam / beam direction. And the beam / beam direction corresponding to the paging message corresponds to the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO, therefore, the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB corresponds to the PDCCH monitoring occasion in a paging moment PO.

[0181] In addition, in the existing protocol, the terminal device can assume that the demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) of the paging PDCCH and the paging PDSCH and the associated SSB have a QCL relationship, and are QCL for the following parameters: delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay or spatial Rx parameters.

[0182] Therefore, in the RRC idle state or RRC inactive state, if the terminal device wants to use the reference signal (or reference signal resource) configured by the network device to perform AGC adjustment / time-frequency tracking / beam selection / RRM measurement and other operations, the reference signal (or reference signal resource) should have a QCL relationship with the SSB.

[0183] In the present application, in addition to the above-mentioned basic configuration of at least one second reference signal in the configuration information, the network device can also configure the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and the SSB in the configuration information, so that the terminal device can determine at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB based on the configuration information, and then with the help of the description of the beam / beam direction corresponding to the aforementioned SSB, the terminal device can determine the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB based on the second message.

[0184] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in the NR system, a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship may be configured between different reference signals, or between different reference signal resources, or between different antenna ports. If two antenna ports have a QCL relationship, it indicates that the large-scale channel fading parameters calculated from one port can infer the large-scale channel fading parameters experienced by the other port, wherein the large-scale channel fading parameters include at least one of the following parameters: delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, or spatial Rx parameters.

[0185] In addition, the QCL relationship can usually be configured through the TCI state. The TCI state can associate 1 or 2 reference signals other than the reference signal as QCL source reference signals, and configure the QCL type between the current reference signal antenna port and the source reference signal. Currently, the NR protocol supports the configuration of 4 QCL types, namely QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeB, QCL-TypeC, and QCL-TypeD.

[0186] It should be noted that the two reference signals (or reference signal resources) mentioned in this application have a QCL relationship, or are QCL, which can indicate that the QCL relationship between the two reference signals (or reference signal resources) is one or more of QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeB, QCL-TypeC or QCL-TypeD.

[0187] Optionally, the QCL relationship mentioned in the present application may also be a QCL relationship in a broader sense. For example, the QCL relationship between two reference signals does not necessarily mean that the two reference signals must have one or more QCL types of QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeB, QCL-TypeC or QCL-TypeD. For example, there is a QCL-TypeD type between reference signal 1 and reference signal 2, and there is a QCL-TypeD type between reference signal 2 and reference signal 3. There is no one or more QCL types of QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeB, QCL-TypeC or QCL-TypeD between reference signal 1 and reference signal 3, but reference signal 1 and reference signal 3 can be considered to have a QCL relationship.

[0188] Among them, the terminal device can determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and the SSB in a variety of ways. Optionally, the configuration information sent by the network device may include: second information, wherein the second information can configure the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and the SSB by configuring the TCI state of at least one second reference signal, for example, using a QCL source reference signal (source reference signal) for representation, or other parameters in the configuration information for representation, which is not limited in this application.

[0189] The second information is used to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one SSB, or the second information is used to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one reference signal other than at least one SSB, and at least one reference signal other than at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB, or the second information is used to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one SSB and to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one reference signal other than at least one SSB, and at least one reference signal other than at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0190] That is to say, the second information can be used to determine whether there is a QCL relationship between two reference signals. The two reference signals refer to at least one second reference signal and SSB. The second information can be used to directly determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and SSB, or to indirectly determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and SSB by using other reference signals other than SSB to determine whether there is a QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and other reference signals, and whether there is a QCL relationship between other reference signals and SSB. The QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and SSB can also be determined by a combination of the above two methods. The present application does not limit the specific representation of the second information.

[0191] For example, in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the network device may configure the QCL source reference signal of at least one second reference signal to be SSB. When at least one second reference signal is associated with only one QCL source reference signal, the QCL source reference signal is SSB. When at least one second reference signal is associated with two QCL source reference signals, at least one of the QCL source reference signals is SSB.

[0192] For another example, at least one second reference signal includes reference signal 2, and the QCL source reference signal of reference signal 2 does not include SSB but is reference signal 1, and the QCL source reference signal associated with reference signal 1 is SSB, then reference signal 2 and reference signal 1 have a certain QCL type, and reference signal 1 and SSB have a certain QCL type, that is, the QCL relationship between reference signal 2 and SSB having a certain QCL type with reference signal 1 can be determined. Moreover, in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, if the terminal device receives the above configuration information, then when the terminal device determines that reference signal 1 is available, or monitors reference signal 1 on the reference signal resource of reference signal 1 (e.g., judging that the signal strength, SNR or RSRP and other parameters of reference signal 1 are greater than a certain threshold), the terminal device can receive reference signal 2; otherwise, the terminal device is usually not required to receive reference signal 2, and the terminal device does not receive reference signal 2.

[0193] In addition, for at least one second reference signal used for RRM measurement, such as a reference signal (or reference signal resource) configured by CSI-RS-Resource-Mobility signaling, the network device may configure at least one second reference signal (or reference signal resource) to be associated with an SSB, and configure whether there is a QCL-Type D relationship between the CSI-RS and the associated SSB.

[0194] In the following, the specific implementation process of the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and SSB for RRM measurement is described in combination with three feasible implementation methods.

[0195] In a feasible implementation, in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, for at least one second reference signal for RRM measurement configured by the network device to the terminal device, all reference signals in the same cell are either configured with associated SSBs or are not configured with associated SSBs.

[0196] When all second reference signals in the same cell (referred to as the first cell) are not configured with associated SSBs, in method 1, the network device may optionally configure a cell number (referred to as the second cell). When the network device is not configured with the second cell number, the protocol specifies a default number for the second cell. For example, the second cell is by default the first cell, or the service cell in which the terminal device currently resides. In method 2, there is no parameter for configuring the second cell number, and the second cell described below is the first cell. Then the number of all second reference signals configured in the first cell is equal to the number of SSBs actually sent in an SSburst set in the second cell, and all second reference signals configured in the first cell correspond one-to-one with the SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set in the second cell according to the SSB index from small to large (or from large to small) according to the second reference signal number, that is, they have a QCL relationship.

[0197] The specific type of the QCL relationship may be at least one of Type A, Type B, Type C or Type D, for example, the QCL relationship is Type D. The first cell and the second cell may be the same cell (having the same physical layer cell number) or different cells, which is not limited in this application.

[0198] When all second reference signals in the same cell (referred to as the first cell) are configured with associated SSBs, the network device will also configure the cell number where the associated SSB is located. Optionally, the associated SSB is an SSB actually sent in an SS burst set in the first cell, that is, the cell where the associated SSB is located is also the first cell.

[0199] In addition, since the types of the second reference signals in a reference signal resource are the same, the second information can also be described as being used to determine whether the two reference signal resources have a QCL relationship. The specific implementation process can be found in the above content and will not be repeated here.

[0200] It should be noted that, in the present application, the second information may be configured through a network device, may be defined by a protocol, or may be pre-stored in a terminal device, and the present application does not limit this. When the second information is defined by a protocol or pre-stored in a terminal device, the terminal device may directly determine the second information. When the second information is configured through a network device, the terminal device may receive the second information from the network device.

[0201] Therefore, based on the second information, the terminal device can determine whether at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with the SSB, so as to determine the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB through the correspondence between the SSB and the beam / beam direction described in the above content.

[0202] Based on the foregoing description, before the terminal device receives the reference signal whose availability is in the available state in at least one second reference signal from the network device according to the configuration information and the second message in S104, it is necessary to know the correspondence between the second message and the at least one second reference signal. Optionally, the network device may send first information to the terminal device, and the first information is used to determine that at least one information bit in the second message has a correspondence with at least one SSB, or the first information is used to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the SSB index (index) corresponding to at least one SSB, so that the network device can configure the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the correspondence between the information bit in the second message and the SSB / SSB index (index) and the QCL relationship between the SSB and at least one second reference signal by means of the "bridge" role of the SSB, so that the network device indicates the availability of at least one second reference signal through at least one information bit in the second message, so that the terminal device determines the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the first information, and then determines the availability of at least one second reference signal corresponding to the at least one information bit according to the second message.

[0203] The first information may be set in the configuration information of at least one first reference signal in the first message, or may be set in other information in the first message except the configuration information of at least one first reference signal, or may be set in other messages except the first message, which is not limited in this application. The specific implementation form of the first information is not limited in this application.

[0204] For example, the first information can be used to determine an SSB / an SSB index (index) corresponding to each information bit, which is simple in design; or, the first information can be used to determine multiple SSBs / multiple SSB indexes (index) corresponding to each information bit, saving the signaling overhead of the second message, so as to configure a corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB.

[0205] In addition, the present application does not limit the specific implementation form of the information bit determined by the first information, the specific implementation form of the SSB, and the specific implementation form of the SSB index corresponding to the SSB. The SSB index mentioned in the present application can be found in the following content and will not be repeated here.

[0206] It should be noted that, in the present application, the first information may be configured through a network device, may be defined by a protocol, or may be pre-stored in a terminal device, and the present application does not limit this. When the first information is defined by a protocol or pre-stored in a terminal device, the terminal device may directly determine the first information. When the first information is configured through a network device, the terminal device may receive the first information from the network device.

[0207] Therefore, based on the first information and the QCL relationship between the SSB and at least one second reference signal, the terminal device can determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal, so that the terminal device can determine the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB.

[0208] like Figure 6 As shown, the first information is used to determine that the first information bit in the second message corresponds to the i actually sent SSBs, and there are q+r+1 second reference signals that have a QCL relationship with the i actually sent SSBs (i.e., SSB 1 to SSBi). Then, the first information bit corresponds to the q+r+1 second reference signals that have a QCL relationship with the i actually sent SSBs, so that the first information bit can indicate the availability of the q+r+1 second reference signals.

[0209] Among them, i and j are positive integers, q and r are natural numbers, and the number of bits of the first information bit is greater than or equal to 1.

[0210] In addition, in the present application, the network device may also send third information to the terminal device, and the third information is used to configure a corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal. Thus, the terminal device can determine the corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the third information without relying on the "bridge" function of the SSB, so that the network device indicates the availability of at least one second reference signal based on at least one information bit in the second message, and the terminal device determines the availability of at least one second reference signal based on the third information.

[0211] It should be noted that, in the present application, the third information may be configured through a network device, may be defined by a protocol, or may be pre-stored in a terminal device, and the present application does not limit this. When the third information is defined by a protocol or pre-stored in a terminal device, the terminal device may directly determine the third information. When the third information is configured through a network device, the terminal device may receive the third information from the network device.

[0212] Therefore, the terminal device can determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal based on the third information, so that the terminal device can determine the availability of the at least one second reference signal.

[0213] Based on the foregoing description, due to various subjective and objective factors, the terminal device may not receive the information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB, for example, the network device does not send the second message to the terminal device, or the network device sends the second message to the terminal device but the terminal device does not receive the second message, or the network device sends the second message to the terminal device but the terminal device receives it incorrectly and does not receive the second message, or the network device sends the second message to the terminal device but the second message received by the terminal device does not include the information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. The present application does not limit this method.

[0214] For example, the second message may be a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH. The terminal device detects the paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, and the paging DCI refers to the DCI scrambled by the Paging-Radio Network Temporary Identity (P-RNTI) of the terminal device, indicating the resource location of the paging message sent by the network device to the terminal device. Among them, the information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB is not received in the paging DCI, that is, the paging DCI does not include the information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. Alternatively, the terminal device fails to detect the paging DCI when the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the paging PDCCH fails.

[0215] In order to avoid the above situation, the network device may send a third message to the terminal device, and the third message is used to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal. Among them, the network device can configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal according to the actual situation. For example, the default availability can be that the availability of all second reference signals in each beam / beam direction is unavailable, or that the availability of all second reference signals in each beam / beam direction is available, or that the availability of all second reference signals in at least one beam / beam direction is unavailable, or that the availability of all second reference signals in at least one beam / beam direction is available, or that the availability of at least one second reference signal for all second reference signals is unavailable, or that the availability of at least one second reference signal for all second reference signals is available, and the present application does not limit this.

[0216] As an implementation manner, the third message includes configuration information of default availability of second reference signals for different functions or different types.

[0217] It should be noted that, in the present application, the third message may be configured by a network device, may be defined by a protocol, or may be pre-stored in a terminal device, and the present application does not limit this. When the third message is defined by a protocol or pre-stored in a terminal device, the terminal device may directly determine the third message. When the third message is configured by a network device, the terminal device may receive the third message from the network device.

[0218] Thus, the network device can configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal based on the third message, so that when the terminal device does not receive the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB, it can determine the availability of at least one second reference signal based on the third message. In addition, in addition to using the third message to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal, the first message can also be used to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal in the present application, and the present application does not limit this.

[0219] In addition, when the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB is not received, the terminal device may also use other multiple methods to determine the availability of at least one second reference signal.

[0220] Optionally, the terminal device may determine the availability of at least one second reference signal based on the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB in the second message received last time. The second message received last time refers to: a second message successfully received from a network device by a terminal device before the time when the second message is received this time and closest to the time when the second message is received this time. The terminal device did not receive the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB at the time when the second message was received this time.

[0221] Optionally, the terminal device may determine that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an unavailable state.

[0222] Optionally, the terminal device may determine that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an available state.

[0223] Optionally, the terminal device may determine that the availability of at least one reference signal in the at least one second reference signal is in an available state.

[0224] In summary, the terminal device can determine the availability of at least one second reference signal according to the actual situation and the above method. The specific method can be determined by the network device configuration or the protocol predefined method. It should be noted that the present application is not limited to the above implementation method.

[0225] Based on the foregoing description, since the second reference signal may include multiple types and / or functions, and different second reference signals may have a QCL relationship with different SSBs (or SSB indexes), in the present application, at least one information bit in the second message may be represented in the form of a bit map, and the number of bit maps in the second message is n, n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, n and N are positive integers, and the bit map is used to indicate the availability of a reference signal that has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0226] Among them, the number N can be configured through a network device, can be defined by a protocol, can be implicitly determined according to the function / type of the second reference signal and the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal, or can be pre-stored in the terminal device, and this application does not limit this. The number n can also be configured through a network device, can be defined by a protocol, can be pre-stored in the terminal device, can be implicitly determined according to the function / type of the reference signal and the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one second reference signal, and this application does not limit this.

[0227] In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, the first bitmap in the second message can be the same at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging time PO, so that the design is simple and convenient. The terminal device only needs to obtain the first bitmap at at least one PDCCH monitoring opportunity in a paging time PO. Through the first bitmap obtained at any PDCCH monitoring opportunity, the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB can be fully determined. Alternatively, the first bitmap in the second message can be different at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging time PO. For example, the number of SSBs and / or the index of SSBs corresponding to the first bitmap at different PDCCH monitoring opportunities in any paging time PO are different, so that the available status of reference signals having a QCL relationship with different SSBs can be indicated by different first bitmaps. In this way, the first bitmap does not need to correspond to all SSB indexes, which can save the number of bits of the first bitmap and the overhead of instruction signaling. The first bit map described here may be different at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging time PO. The number of bits in the first bit map may be the same, but different first bit maps may correspond to different reference signals, or different first bit maps may correspond to different reference signals and different first bit maps may have different numbers of bits.

[0228] For example, in a cell, an SS burst set sends 4 SSBs, indexed as SSB0, SSB1, SSB2 and SSB3. The network device configures the second reference signals of 4 CSI-RSs, indexed as CSI-RS0, CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2 and CSI-RS3. CSI-RS0 has a QCL relationship with SSB0, CSI-RS1 has a QCL relationship with SSB1, CSI-RS2 has a QCL relationship with SSB2, and CSI-RS3 has a QCL relationship with SSB3. The first bitmap contains 4 bits, which correspond to 4 SSBs respectively, and then correspond to 4 CSI-RSs having QCL relationships with these 4 SSBs respectively. The first bitmap sent by the network device at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging time PO contains 4 bits, and has the same correspondence with the 4 CSI-RSs.

[0229] In the second method as above, the first bitmap contains 3 bits. The first bitmap sent by the network device at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging time PO contains 3 bits: the 3 bits contained in the first bitmap sent at the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity correspond to SSB3, SSB0, and SSB1, respectively, and then correspond to the 3 CSI-RSs with QCL relationship of these 3 SSBs; the 3 bits contained in the first bitmap sent at the second PDCCH monitoring opportunity correspond to SSB0, SSB1, and SSB2, respectively, and then correspond to these 3 CSI-RSs with QCL relationship. The three SSBs correspond to the three CSI-RSs with QCL relationship respectively; the three bits contained in the first bitmap sent at the third PDCCH monitoring opportunity correspond to SSB1, SSB2, and SSB3 respectively, and then correspond to the three CSI-RSs with QCL relationship respectively for these three SSBs; the three bits contained in the first bitmap sent at the fourth PDCCH monitoring opportunity correspond to SSB2, SSB3, and SSB0 respectively, and then correspond to the three CSI-RSs with QCL relationship respectively for these three SSBs.

[0230] From the above, it can be seen that the second method as above can save bit overhead.

[0231] It should be noted that, in the present application, whether the first bit map in the second message is the same at each PDCCH monitoring opportunity in any paging time PO can be configured based on actual conditions and is not limited here.

[0232] In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message at different paging times PO can be the same, and thus the correspondence between the first bitmap and at least one second reference signal is also the same, which is convenient for simple design. Among them, the first bitmap can be one or more bitmaps, and the first bitmap can include one or more information bits, which is not limited in this application.

[0233] It should be noted that in the present application, whether the number of bits in the first bit map in the second message in different paging times PO is the same can be configured based on actual conditions and is not limited here.

[0234] Based on the foregoing description, the second message may include multiple implementation forms. Optionally, the second message may include: a first bitmap and a second bitmap, the information bits in the first bitmap corresponding to the first function of at least one second reference signal, and the information bits in the second bitmap corresponding to the second function of at least one second reference signal.

[0235] Among them, the first bitmap may be one or more bitmaps, the second bitmap may be one or more bitmaps, and the information bits in the first bitmap correspond to the first type of at least one second reference signal, and the information bits in the second bitmap correspond to the second type of at least one second reference signal, and the first type and the second type may be any type of the second reference signal, and the specific content is referred to the above description and will not be repeated here. And the first type and the second type may be the same or different, and this application does not limit this.

[0236] In addition, the first function may include one or more functions, the second function may include one or more functions, and the functions in the first function may be completely the same as those in the second function, or may be partially the same. This application does not limit the above contents.

[0237] Based on the above description, any bitmap includes one or more information bits. In the following, the corresponding relationship between the function of at least one second reference signal and the bitmap is described in combination with several feasible implementations.

[0238] In a feasible implementation, at least one second reference signal of the same function is mapped (i.e. corresponds) to the same bitmap, and at least one second reference signal of different functions is mapped to different bitmaps. In this case, one information bit corresponds to at least one second reference signal of one function.

[0239] like Figure 7 As shown, the second message includes bits Figure 1 , bit Figure 2 and bits Figure 3 Among them, the bit Figure 1 Including K1 bits, bit Figure 1 Corresponding to at least one second reference signal TRS for time-frequency tracking. Figure 2 Including K2 bits, bit Figure 2 Corresponding to at least one second reference signal used for beam management (for example, used by the terminal device to calculate L1-RSRP). Figure 3 Including K3 bits, bit Figure 3 Corresponding to at least one second reference signal CSI-RS used for RRM measurement.

[0240] Among them, K1, K2, K3 are respectively greater than or equal to 0, and when the network device is not configured with at least one second reference signal corresponding to the bitmap, the number of bits in the bitmap is 0. For ease of explanation, Figure 7 In this example, K1=2, K2=1, K3=3, and one grid represents one information bit.

[0241] Optionally, different bitmaps corresponding to different reference signal functions have different numbers of bits. In this way, the mapping relationship between each bitmap and SSB is different. If the network device configures the mapping relationship between the bitmap and SSB (i.e., the first information), the network device needs to separately configure the corresponding relationship between each bitmap and SSB.

[0242] Optionally, the number of bits of different bitmaps corresponding to different reference signal functions is equal. For example, in the above example, K1=K2=K3. The mapping relationship between each bitmap and SSB is the same, and then the network device only needs to configure the mapping relationship between any one of the bitmaps and SSB to configure the mapping relationship between all bitmaps and SSB. There is no need to separately configure the corresponding relationship between each bitmap and SSB, saving configuration signaling overhead.

[0243] The reference signal function refers to the function of the second reference signal. For details, please refer to the above description and will not be repeated here.

[0244] Optionally, the network device configuration or protocol stipulates that, regardless of the single beam / beam direction scenario or the multi-beam / beam direction scenario, 1 bit is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal of a reference signal function. For example, in the above example, K1=K2=K3=1.

[0245] In another feasible implementation, at least one second reference signal of different reference signal functions is mapped to the same bitmap. In this case, one information bit corresponds to one or more second reference signals of different reference signal functions at the same time.

[0246] like Figure 8 As shown, the second message includes bits Figure 1 , bit Figure 1 It includes K information bits, bit Figure 1 Each information bit in the second reference signal corresponds to one or more reference signal functions. Wherein, K is greater than or equal to 0. For ease of explanation, Figure 8 In this case, K = 6, and one grid represents one information bit. Figure 1 Any bit in the data corresponds to the second reference signal of all reference signal functions that have a QCL relationship with the SSB corresponding to the bit.

[0247] In addition, the second message may also include a third bit map, a fourth bit map, etc. The present application does not limit the number of bit maps in the second message.

[0248] In another feasible implementation, for the second reference signal of any function, the number of second reference signals (or second reference signal resources) configured by the network device is greater than or equal to the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set.

[0249] For example, assume that the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set is S. For at least one second reference signal of the same function, the number of second reference signals configured by the network device is N. For SSB index (index) k (1≤k≤S) (the SSB is called the kth SSB actually sent), the network device configures at least one second reference signal and SSBindex k to be QCL. Therefore, N≥S. ​​Considering that the network device uses the "bridge" role of SSB to build a corresponding relationship between the second message and at least one second reference signal. Therefore, the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set can affect the number of information bits in the second message. Optionally, the number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message can be less than or equal to the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set. Among them, the network device can send SSBs to the terminal device in a beam scanning manner, and the network device can periodically send SS burst sets to the terminal device, and each SS burstset includes one or more SSBs.

[0250] It should be noted that the number of each bit map, such as the second bit map and the third bit map in the second message, may be less than or equal to the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set.

[0251] In the present application, the first bitmap may include: at least one information domain field. The present application does not limit the number of information bits in the information domain field and the position in the first bitmap.

[0252] Optionally, the number of bits of at least one information domain field is determined based on information associated with determining the number of SSBs, taking into account the impact of the number of SSBs. The information associated with determining the number of SSBs may include multiple identification forms, such as the inOneGroup field and the groupPresence field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst. Below, the specific implementation of the first bitmap is described in combination with several feasible implementation methods.

[0253] In a feasible implementation, the number of bits of the information domain field in the first bitmap can be determined based on the inOneGroup domain (including 8 bits) and the groupPresence domain (including 8 bits).

[0254] Optionally, the first bit map may include: a first information domain field and a second information domain field; wherein, the number of bits in the first information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the first value, and the number of bits in the second information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the second value, then, the number of bits in the first bit map is ≤16.

[0255] When the first value is 1, the SSB index corresponding to the kth information bit in the first order of the first information domain field includes one or more of the following indexes: m-1, m+7, m+15, m+23, m+31, m+39, m+47 and m+55. The SSB index mentioned here refers to the SSB index of the candidate SSB defined by the protocol.

[0256] Among them, the kth information bit of the first information domain field in the first order corresponds to the second information bit whose kth information bit in the first order in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst is equal to 1, and the second information bit is the mth information bit in the first order in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst, and k and m are positive integers.

[0257] When the second value is 1, the SSB index corresponding to the g-th information bit in the second order of the second information domain field includes one or more of the following indexes: 8(p-1), 8(p-1)+1, 8(p-1)+2, 8(p-1)+3, 8(p-1)+4, 8(p-1)+5, 8(p-1)+6 and 8(p-1)+7. The SSB index mentioned here refers to the SSB index of the candidate SSB defined by the protocol.

[0258] Among them, the g-th information bit in the second order of the second information domain field corresponds to the third information bit whose g-th information bit in the second order in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst is equal to 1, and the third information bit is the p-th information bit in the second order in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst, and p and g are positive integers.

[0259] The first value may be 0 or 1. The second value may be 0 or 1. The first value and the second value may be the same or different. The first sequence may be from high to low or from low to high. The second sequence may be from high to low or from low to high. The first sequence and the second sequence may be the same or different. The present application does not limit the foregoing contents.

[0260] Thus, 8 candidate SSB indexes can be determined by one of the information bits in the second information domain field, and 8 candidate SSB indexes can also be determined by one of the information bits in the first information domain field. At least one of the 16 candidate SSB indexes is the same, and this same SSB index is the determined SSB index. In this way, an actually transmitted SSB index can be uniquely determined by one of the information bits in the second information domain field and one of the information bits in the first information domain field, and then at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with the SSB corresponds to these two bits.

[0261] For example, when the values ​​of one information bit in the second information domain field and one information bit in the first information domain field are both 1, the availability of at least one second reference signal (or reference signal resource) corresponding to all of the two bits is in an available state, or the availability of at least one second reference signal (or reference signal resource) corresponding to the two bits is in an available state.

[0262] Based on the above description, the SSB index determined by the gth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) of the second information field and the kth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) of the first information field is: 8(p-1)+m-1. It is assumed that the gth bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) of the second information field corresponds to the pth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the groupPresence field, and the kth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) of the first information field corresponds to the mth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the inOneGroup field.

[0263] In another feasible implementation, the first bitmap may include an information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the first value, or the number of bits in the information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the second value. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the aforementioned description, which will not be repeated here. Then, the number of bits in the first bitmap is ≤8.

[0264] For example, the kth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) in the first bitmap corresponds to the kth information bit equal to 1 from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the inOneGroup field. Assuming that the kth information bit equal to 1 from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the inOneGroup field is the mth bit in the inOneGroup field, the kth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) in the first bitmap corresponds to the mth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the inOneGroup field. Therefore, the SSB candidate index corresponding to the kth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) in the first bitmap includes one or more of the following indexes: m-1, m+7, m+15, m+23, m+31, m+39, m+47, and m+55.

[0265] Which of the 8 SSBs corresponding to the kth information bit in the first bitmap from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) is the SSB actually sent is indicated according to the groupPresence field. Therefore, the SSB index of the SSB actually sent corresponding to the kth information bit in the first bitmap can be determined through the first bitmap and the groupPresence field, and the kth information bit in the first bitmap corresponds to the second reference signal that is in a QCL relationship with the determined SSB corresponding to the kth information bit.

[0266] In another feasible implementation, the SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set are divided into M groups according to the order of the SSB indexes actually sent from low to high or from high to low, each group contains one or more SSB indexes, and the M groups of SSB indexes correspond to the M bits of the first bitmap, where M can be configured by the network device or specified by the protocol. For example, the maximum value of M can be 8 or 12. In addition, the SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set can be divided into M groups evenly, for example, each group contains the same number of SSB indexes, or unevenly. The specific division method can be a network configuration or a protocol specification.

[0267] For example, similar to the groupPresence domain, the first bitmap includes 1 information domain field, and the number of bits in the information domain field is equal to the number of bits equal to 1 in the groupPresence domain, then the number of bits in the first bitmap is ≤ 8. The information domain field, i.e., the gth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) in the first bitmap corresponds to the gth information bit equal to 1 from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the groupPresence domain, assuming that the gth information bit equal to 1 from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the groupPresence domain is the pth bit in the groupPresence domain, then the gth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) in the first bitmap corresponds to the pth information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit in the groupPresence domain. Therefore, the SSB candidate index corresponding to the g-th information bit from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) in the first bit map includes one or more of the following indexes: 8(p-1), 8(p-1)+1, 8(p-1)+2, 8(p-1)+3, 8(p-1)+4, 8(p-1)+5, 8(p-1)+6 and 8(p-1)+7.

[0268] Which of the 8 SSBs corresponding to the g-th information bit in the first bitmap from the highest bit to the lowest bit (or from the lowest bit to the highest bit) are the SSBs actually sent is indicated according to the inOneGroup field. Therefore, the SSB index of the SSB actually sent corresponding to the g-th information bit in the first bitmap can be determined through the first bitmap and the inOneGroup field, and the g-th information bit in the first bitmap corresponds to the second reference signal that is in a QCL relationship with the determined SSB corresponding to the g-th information bit.

[0269] Based on the above description, the meaning of the first bitmap may include multiple implementations. In the following, multiple feasible implementations are used to illustrate the specific meaning of the first bitmap.

[0270] In a feasible implementation, if one of the fourth information bits in the first bitmap is set to 1 (or set to 0), it indicates that at least one of the second reference signals corresponding to the fourth information bit is available. The terminal device can detect whether the network device sends the second reference signal by detecting (such as detecting parameters such as signal strength, SNR or RSRP) at the time-frequency position corresponding to the second reference signal.

[0271] In another feasible implementation, if one of the fourth information bits in the first bitmap is set to 0 (or set to 1), it indicates that the availability of the second reference signal corresponding to the fourth information bit is all in an unavailable state or partially in an available state. If the terminal device receives an information bit set to 0 from the network device, the terminal device cannot assume that the availability of the second reference signal corresponding to the fourth information bit is in an available state.

[0272] In another feasible implementation, if one of the fourth information bits in the first bitmap is set to 1 (or set to 0), it indicates that the availability of all second reference signals corresponding to the fourth information bit is all in an available state. If the terminal device receives one information bit set to 1 from the network device, the terminal device can assume (may assume) that the availability of the second reference signal corresponding to the fourth information bit is in an available state.

[0273] In another feasible implementation, if one of the fourth information bits in the first bitmap is set to 0 (or set to 1), it indicates that the availability of the second reference signal corresponding to the fourth information bit is all in an unavailable state or partially in an available state. If the terminal device receives one information bit set to 0 from the network device, the terminal device cannot assume that the availability of the second reference signal corresponding to the fourth information bit is in an available state.

[0274] Based on the above description, considering that the second reference signal is a QCL source reference signal with SSB as a direct or indirect source, when the number of second reference signals is greater than the number of SSBs, one SSB is a QCL source reference signal of multiple second reference signals, or multiple second reference signals have a QCL relationship with the same SSB. Considering that the information bits in the second message are mapped to SSBs, the present application can realize that one information bit corresponds to multiple second reference signals associated with one SSB, which can save signaling overhead.

[0275] like Fig. 9As shown, when the second reference signal includes CSI-RS, before the first paging time PO1, the second reference signal having a QCL relationship with SSB0 includes CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1, at which time, the availability of CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1 are both in an available state, and the beams / beam directions corresponding to CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1 do not overlap. Before the second paging time PO2, the second reference signal having a QCL relationship with SSB0 includes CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1, at which time, the availability of CSI-RS0 is in an unavailable state, the availability of CSI-RS1 is in an available state, and the beams / beam directions corresponding to CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1 do not overlap.

[0276] like Fig.10 As shown, when the second reference signal includes CSI-RS, before the first paging time PO1, the second reference signal having a QCL relationship with SSB0 includes CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1, at which time, the availability of CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1 are both in an available state, and the beams / beam directions corresponding to CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1 overlap. Before the second paging time PO2, the second reference signal having a QCL relationship with SSB0 includes CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1, at which time, the availability of CSI-RS0 is in an unavailable state, the availability of CSI-RS1 is in an available state, and the beams / beam directions corresponding to CSI-RS0 and CSI-RS1 overlap.

[0277] In addition, as a possible implementation method, if the availability of at least one reference signal among multiple second reference signals associated with one SSB is in an available state, the corresponding information bit in the first bit map indicates that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an available state.

[0278] Based on the foregoing description, the second message can be used to indicate that the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB is effective within a first time period, or in other words, the information bit used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB is effective within the first time period, so that the terminal device determines the availability of at least one reference signal according to the indication of the second message within the first time period.

[0279] Among them, the present application does not limit the specific representation form of the first duration. Optionally, the first duration may include: at least one paging DRX cycle, wherein the interval between two adjacent paging moments PO of the same terminal device is a paging DRX cycle; or, one or more time windows in the periodic time window configured or predefined by the network device; or, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI or a paging PDSCH carried by the PDCCH, a time period before the next PO of the paging moment PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO is one DRX cycle long from the PO where the second message is located; or, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI or a paging PDSCH carried by the PDCCH, a time period after the next PO of the PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO is one DRX cycle long from the PO where the second message is located; or, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI or a paging PDSCH carried by the PDCCH, a time period after the PO where the second message is located.

[0280] Among them, the next paging time PO refers to the next paging time PO that is closest to the terminal device and still belongs to the terminal device after the terminal device completes monitoring the paging message at the paging time PO, that is, the paging time PO where the second message is located and the next PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located are separated by 1 paging DRX cycle. In addition, the unit of the first duration can be an absolute time, such as seconds (s), milliseconds (ms), etc., or the number of frames, or the number of subframes, or the number of time slots, or multiples of the paging DRX cycle, etc.

[0281] It should be noted that, in the present application, the first duration may be configured through a network device, may be defined by a protocol, or may be pre-stored in a terminal device, and the present application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0282] Next, combine Figure 11-Figure 17 , an example is given to illustrate the specific representation of the first duration. For the sake of explanation, Figure 11-Figure 17 In the example, the first duration is indicated by t1 and the second message is indicated by A.

[0283] For example, Fig.11 As shown, the information bit in the second message indicating the availability of the second reference signal is effective within a time period (i.e., the first time period) after the second message. Optionally, the start time of the time period (i.e., the first time period) after the second message is the end time of the second message.

[0284] For example, Fig.12As shown, the network device configures or predefines the time window of the period, and the information bit in the second message used to indicate the availability of the second reference signal is effective within the time window where the second message is located. Optionally, the information bit in the second message used to indicate the availability of the second reference signal is effective within the time window where the second message is located and after the second message; or is effective within the entire time window where the second message is located. For ease of explanation, Fig.12 In the example, the time window is indicated by T. It is to be understood that the present application includes but is not limited to the time when the terminal device receives the second message within a time window. For example, the terminal device may receive the second message containing the information bit indicating the availability of the second reference signal at any time within a time window T.

[0285] For example, Fig.13 As shown, the network device configures or predefines the time window of the period, and the available second information bit for indicating the second reference signal in the second message is effective in the next time window of the time window where the second message is located. For ease of explanation, Fig.13 In the example, the time window is indicated by T. It is to be understood that the present application includes but is not limited to the time when the terminal device receives the second message within a time window. For example, the terminal device may receive the second message containing the information bit indicating the availability of the second reference signal at any time within a time window T.

[0286] For example, Fig.14 As shown, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the information bit in the second message for indicating the availability of the second reference signal is effective in a time period after the paging time PO where the second message is located and before the next paging time PO after the paging time PO where the second message is located. The paging time PO where the second message is located and the next paging time PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located are separated by 1 paging DRX cycle.

[0287] For example, Fig.15 As shown, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the information bit in the second message for indicating the availability of the second reference signal is effective in a time period before the next paging time PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located. The paging time PO where the second message is located and the next paging time PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located are separated by 1 paging DRX cycle.

[0288] For example, Fig.16As shown, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the information bit in the second message for indicating the availability of the second reference signal is effective within a time period after the next paging time PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located. The paging time PO where the second message is located and the next paging time PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located are separated by 1 paging DRX cycle.

[0289] For example, Fig.17 As shown, in the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the information bit in the second message for indicating the availability of the second reference signal is effective in a time period after the paging time PO where the second message is located and including the next paging time PO after the paging time PO where the second message is located. The paging time PO where the second message is located and the next paging time PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located are separated by 1 paging DRX cycle.

[0290] Optionally, the above time period (i.e., the first time length) is determined based on one or more SSBs (or one or more SS burst sets) closest to the paging time PO. For example, a time period before the paging time PO (i.e., the first time length) is a time period between the SSB closest to the paging time PO before the paging time PO and the paging time PO; a time period after the paging time PO (i.e., the first time length) is a time period between the SSB closest to the paging time PO after the paging time PO and the paging time PO; a time period including the paging time PO (i.e., the first time length) is a time period between the SSB closest to the paging time PO before the paging time PO and the SSB closest to the paging time PO after the paging time PO.

[0291] It can be understood that the indication information in the second message for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB has an effective time, and the first duration is its effective time. After the first duration, the previous indication information is no longer effective, and the network device needs to resend the indication information for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB, and the terminal device needs to re-receive the indication information to determine the availability of at least one second reference signal in a subsequent time period.

[0292] In the present application, after the indication information received by the terminal device for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB becomes invalid, for example, after the first time period for which the indication information is effective ends, a situation may occur in which the information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB is not received (for details, please refer to the aforementioned content and will not be repeated here). Therefore, four feasible implementation methods are adopted below to describe the specific implementation process of the terminal device continuing to use the at least one second reference signal configured by the network device under the above circumstances.

[0293] In a feasible implementation, after the first time period during which the indication information indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in the second message is effective, if the above situation occurs, the terminal device determines the availability of at least one second reference signal within a period of time thereafter (i.e., the first time period thereafter) according to the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB in the second message received last time, until the terminal device receives the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB again.

[0294] Therefore, the above method saves the indication signaling overhead. In addition, when the availability of at least one second reference signal does not change, the network device does not need to send a second message, or does not need to send an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. Only when the availability of some or all of the second reference signals changes, the network device sends an information bit (or sends a second message) for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB. For example, when the availability of a second reference signal having a QCL relationship with a certain SSB index changes from an available state to an unavailable state, the network device sends an information bit for indicating that the availability of the second reference signal is in an unavailable state through a second message.

[0295] In another feasible implementation, after the first time period during which the indication information indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in the second message is effective expires, if the above situation occurs, the terminal device assumes that the availability of at least one second reference signal is unavailable for a period of time thereafter until the terminal device receives again the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0296] In another feasible implementation, after the first duration of time during which the indication information indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in the second message takes effect, if the above situation occurs, the terminal device assumes that the availability of at least one second reference signal is all available for a period of time thereafter, until the terminal device receives again the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0297] In another feasible implementation, after the first duration of time during which the indication information indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in the second message is effective expires, if the above situation occurs, the terminal device determines the availability of at least one second reference signal based on the default availability of at least one second reference signal within a period of time thereafter until the terminal device again receives the information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0298] It can be understood that at least one information bit in the second message described in the present application corresponds to at least one SSB, and it can also be understood that at least one information bit corresponds to at least one SSB index, or at least one information bit corresponds to at least one SSB corresponding to at least one SSB index.

[0299] Among them, the SSB index described in the present application can be an SSB index defined in the existing protocol, that is, the SSB index represents the index corresponding to all candidate SSBs in an SS burst set, or is an index renamed according to the number of SSBs actually sent in an SS burst set.

[0300] For example, the maximum number of candidate SSBs in an SS burst set is 4, and the indexes of the 4 candidate SSBs are SSB0, SSB 1, SSB 2, and SSB 3. The above indexes are the indexes defined by the protocol. Assuming that in a cell, the network device only broadcasts and sends the SSB corresponding to SSB 0 and SSB 2 defined by the protocol, for a total of 2 SSBs, then when determining the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB, the terminal device can determine it according to the SSB corresponding to SSB 0 and the SSB corresponding to SSB 2 defined by the protocol. Alternatively, the terminal device can determine the SSB indexes of the two actually sent SSBs renamed in a certain order. For example, the network device can rename the indexes of the two actually sent SSBs to SSB0 and SSB1, then when determining the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB, the terminal device can determine it according to the SSB corresponding to the renamed SSB 0 and the SSB corresponding to SSB 1.

[0301] Among them, whether according to the SSB index defined in the protocol or according to the renamed SSB index, the actually sent SSB corresponding to at least one information bit in the determined second message is the same.

[0302] It can be understood that in the prior art, in the RRC connected state, for the semi-persistent reference signal resources configured by the network device, the network device activates or deactivates by sending a medium access control element (MAC CE), and one MAC CE is used to activate / deactivate a reference signal resource set. In the embodiment of the present application, the availability of at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB is indicated by at least one information bit or one or more bitmaps in the second message, which has the following advantages:

[0303] (1) The availability of the reference signal can be indicated at a finer granularity in the beam / beam direction corresponding to the SSB, so that the terminal device can clearly understand the availability of at least one second reference signal in the beam / beam direction corresponding to at least one SSB;

[0304] (2) With the help of the "bridge" role of SSB, at least one information bit (for example, in the form of a bit map) is corresponded to at least one SSB (or SSB index), and then corresponds to at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one SSB (or SSB index). It is possible to use a smaller number of bits to indicate the availability of all configured second reference signals, which can save indication signaling overhead compared with MAC CE activation / deactivation in the RRC connection state.

[0305] Exemplarily, the present application also provides a communication device. Fig.18 The communication device 10 of the present application is used to implement the operation corresponding to the terminal device or the chip in the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments, such as Fig.18 As shown, the communication device 10 may include: a first receiving module 11 , a second receiving module 12 and a third receiving module 13 .

[0306] A first receiving module 11 is configured to receive a first message from a network device, where the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal;

[0307] A second receiving module 12 is used to receive a second message from a network device, where the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, where the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and where the at least one first reference signal includes the at least one second reference signal;

[0308] The third receiving module 13 is configured to receive, from the network device according to the configuration information and the second message, a reference signal with availability being in an available state among at least one second reference signal.

[0309] Fig.19 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Fig.19 As shown, the communication device 10 of the present application is Fig.18 On the basis of the structure shown, further, it may include: a fourth receiving module 14.

[0310] The fourth receiving module 14 is used to receive first information from the network device, where the first information is used to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB, or to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and an SSB index corresponding to at least one SSB.

[0311] Fig. 20 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Fig. 20 As shown, the communication device 10 of the present application is Fig.18 On the basis of the structure shown, further, it may include: a fifth receiving module 15.

[0312] The fifth receiving module 11 is configured to receive a third message from a network device, where the third message is used to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal.

[0313] Fig.21 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Fig.21 As shown, the communication device 10 of the present application is Fig.18 On the basis of the structure shown, further, it can also include: a determination module 16.

[0314] A determination module 16 is configured to determine the availability of at least one second reference signal according to an information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal in a second message received last time when the second receiving module 12 does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal; or

[0315] The determining module 16 is configured to determine that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is in an available state according to the default availability of the at least one second reference signal when the second receiving module 12 does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal; or

[0316] a determination module 16 configured to determine that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an unavailable state when the second receiving module 12 does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal; or,

[0317] A determination module 16 is configured to determine that the availability of at least one second reference signal is in an available state when the second receiving module 12 does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of at least one second reference signal; or,

[0318] The determination module 16 is used to determine that there is at least one reference signal whose availability is in an available state in the at least one second reference signal when the second receiving module 12 does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal.

[0319] In some embodiments, the configuration information includes: second information, the second information is used to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one SSB, and / or determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one other reference signal other than at least one SSB, and at least one other reference signal other than at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0320] In some embodiments, when the bit map in the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, the second message is SIB1 or other SIB of the system message; or, the second message is downlink control information DCI carried by the physical downlink control channel PDCCH or information carried by the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

[0321] In some embodiments, the number of bitmaps in the second message is n, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, n and N are positive integers, the bitmap is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the bitmap includes at least one information bit.

[0322] In some embodiments, when the second message is a paging DCI carried by a PDCCH, the first bitmap in the second message is the same or different at each PDCCH monitoring occasion in any paging time instant PO.

[0323] In some embodiments, when the second message is a paging DCI carried by a PDCCH, the number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message in different POs is the same.

[0324] In some embodiments, when the terminal device is in a radio resource control RRC idle state or a radio resource control RRC inactive state, the type of at least one second reference signal includes: at least one of a tracking reference signal TRS, a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS, a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, or a secondary synchronization signal SSS.

[0325] In some embodiments, the configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type according to the function and type of at least one second reference signal; or, the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type is predefined.

[0326] In some embodiments, the configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong according to the function and type of at least one second reference signal; or, the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong is predefined.

[0327] In some embodiments, the second message includes: a first bitmap and a second bitmap, the information bits in the first bitmap correspond to a first function of at least one second reference signal, and the information bits in the second bitmap correspond to a second function of at least one second reference signal.

[0328] In some embodiments, the number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message is less than or equal to the number of synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel blocks SSB sent in a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block set.

[0329] In some embodiments, the first bitmap includes: at least one information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the information domain field is determined based on information associated with determining the number of SSBs.

[0330] In some embodiments, the first bitmap includes: a first information domain field and a second information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the first value, and the number of bits in the second information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the second value; or, the first bitmap includes an information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first bitmap is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the first value, or, the number of bits in the first bitmap is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the second value.

[0331] In some embodiments, the second message is used to indicate that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is valid for a first duration.

[0332] In some embodiments, the first duration includes: at least one paging discontinuous reception DRX cycle; or, one or more time windows in a periodic time window configured or predefined by a network device; or, in a case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period before the next PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO is separated from the PO where the second message is located by the duration of a DRX cycle; or, in a case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period after the next PO of the PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO is separated from the PO where the second message is located by the duration of a DRX cycle; or, in a case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period after the PO where the second message is located.

[0333] The communication device of the present application can be used to execute Figure 1-Figure 17 The technical solution of the terminal device or the chip in the terminal device in the method embodiment shown has similar implementation principles and technical effects, and the operations implemented by each module can be further referred to the relevant description of the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here. The modules here can also be replaced by components or circuits.

[0334] Exemplarily, the present application also provides a communication device. Fig. 22The communication device 20 of the present application is used to implement the operation corresponding to the network device or the chip in the network device in any of the above method embodiments, such as Fig. 22 As shown, the communication device 20 may include: a first sending module 21, a second sending module 22 and a third sending module 23.

[0335] A first sending module 21, configured to send a first message to a terminal device, where the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal;

[0336] A second sending module 22 is used to send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, where the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the at least one first reference signal includes the at least one second reference signal;

[0337] The third sending module 23 is used to send at least one second reference signal to the terminal device.

[0338] Fig.23 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Fig.23 As shown, the communication device 20 of the present application is Fig. 22 On the basis of the structure shown, further, it may include: a fourth sending module 24.

[0339] The fourth sending module 24 is used to send first information to the terminal device, where the first information is used to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and at least one SSB, or to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and an SSB index corresponding to at least one SSB.

[0340] Fig.24 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Fig.24 As shown, the communication device 20 of the present application is Fig. 22 On the basis of the structure shown, further, it may include: a fifth sending module 25.

[0341] The fifth sending module 25 is used to send a third message to the terminal device, where the third message is used to configure the default availability of at least one second reference signal.

[0342] In some embodiments, the configuration information includes: second information, the second information is used to determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one SSB, and / or determine the QCL relationship between at least one second reference signal and at least one other reference signal other than at least one SSB, and at least one other reference signal other than at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with at least one SSB.

[0343] In some embodiments, when the bit map in the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, the second message is SIB1 or other SIB of the system message; or, the second message is downlink control information DCI carried by the physical downlink control channel PDCCH or information carried by the physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

[0344] In some embodiments, the number of bitmaps in the second message is n, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, n and N are positive integers, the bitmap is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the bitmap includes at least one information bit.

[0345] In some embodiments, when the second message is a paging DCI carried by a PDCCH, the first bitmap in the second message is the same or different at each PDCCH monitoring occasion in any paging time instant PO.

[0346] In some embodiments, when the second message is a paging DCI carried by a PDCCH, the number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message in different POs is the same.

[0347] In some embodiments, when the terminal device is in a radio resource control RRC idle state or a radio resource control RRC inactive state, the type of at least one second reference signal includes: at least one of a tracking reference signal TRS, a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS, a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, or a secondary synchronization signal SSS.

[0348] In some embodiments, the configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type according to the function and type of at least one second reference signal; or, the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type is predefined.

[0349] In some embodiments, the configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong according to the function and type of at least one second reference signal; or, the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong is predefined.

[0350] In some embodiments, the second message includes: a first bitmap and a second bitmap, the information bits in the first bitmap correspond to a first function of at least one second reference signal, and the information bits in the second bitmap correspond to a second function of at least one second reference signal.

[0351] In some embodiments, the number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message is less than or equal to the number of synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel blocks SSB sent in a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block set.

[0352] In some embodiments, the first bitmap includes: at least one information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the information domain field is determined based on information associated with determining the number of SSBs.

[0353] In some embodiments, the first bitmap includes: a first information domain field and a second information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the first value, and the number of bits in the second information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the second value; or, the first bitmap includes an information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first bitmap is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the first value, or, the number of bits in the first bitmap is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst equal to the second value.

[0354] In some embodiments, the second message is used to indicate that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is valid for a first duration.

[0355] In some embodiments, the first duration includes: at least one paging discontinuous reception DRX cycle; or, one or more time windows in a periodic time window configured or predefined by a network device; or, in a case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period before the next PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO and the PO where the second message is located are separated by a DRX cycle duration; or, in a case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period after the next PO of the PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO and the PO where the second message is located are separated by a DRX cycle duration; or, in a case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, a time period after the PO where the second message is located.

[0356] The communication device of the present application can be used to execute Figure 1-Figure 17 The technical solution of the network device or the chip in the network device in the method embodiment shown has similar implementation principles and technical effects, and the operations implemented by each module can be further referred to the relevant description of the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here. The modules here can also be replaced by components or circuits.

[0357] The present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in each embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0358] Fig.25 A schematic diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may include:

[0359] The memory 31 is used to store program instructions, and the memory 31 may be a flash memory.

[0360] The processor 32 is used to call and execute the program instructions in the memory 31 to implement Figure 1-Figure 17 The communication method of the present invention corresponds to each step of the terminal device or the chip in the terminal device. For details, please refer to the relevant description in the previous method embodiment.

[0361] A communication interface 33, i.e., an input / output interface, may also be included. The communication interface 33 may include an independent output interface and an input interface, or may be an integrated interface integrating input and output. The output interface is used to output data, and the input interface is used to obtain input data. The output data is a general term for the output in the above method embodiment, and the input data is a general term for the input in the above method embodiment.

[0362] The terminal device can be used to execute the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the corresponding terminal device or the chip in the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0363] Fig.26 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in one embodiment of the present application, the network device 40 comprises: a memory 41 for storing program instructions, and the memory 41 may be a flash memory.

[0364] The processor 42 is used to call and execute the program instructions in the memory 41 to implement Figure 1-Figure 17 The communication method of the network device or the chip in the network device corresponds to each step. For details, please refer to the relevant description in the previous method embodiment.

[0365] A communication interface 43, i.e., an input / output interface, may also be included. The communication interface 43 may include an independent output interface and an input interface, or may be an integrated interface integrating input and output. The output interface is used to output data, and the input interface is used to obtain input data. The output data is a general term for the output in the above method embodiment, and the input data is a general term for the input in the above method embodiment.

[0366] The network device may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the corresponding network device or the chip in the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0367] The present application also provides a readable storage medium, in which execution instructions are stored. When at least one processor of a terminal device executes the execution instruction, the terminal device executes the communication method in the above method embodiment.

[0368] The present application also provides a readable storage medium, in which execution instructions are stored. When at least one processor of a network device executes the execution instruction, the network device executes the communication method in the above method embodiment.

[0369] The present application also provides a program product, which includes an execution instruction, which is stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of a terminal device can read the execution instruction from the readable storage medium, and at least one processor executes the execution instruction so that the terminal device implements the communication method in the above method embodiment.

[0370] The present application also provides a program product, which includes an execution instruction, which is stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of the network device can read the execution instruction from the readable storage medium, and at least one processor executes the execution instruction so that the network device implements the communication method in the above method embodiment.

[0371] The present application also provides a chip, which is connected to a memory, or the chip is integrated with a memory. When the software program stored in the memory is executed, the communication method in the above method embodiment is implemented.

[0372] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in the above embodiments, the embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, the embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server, or data center. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving a first message from a network device, wherein the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal; receiving a second message from the network device, the second message being used to indicate availability of at least one second reference signal, the at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, the at least one first reference signal including the at least one second reference signal; receiving, from the network device, a reference signal of the at least one second reference signal whose availability is in an available state according to the configuration information and the second message; The method further comprises: Third information is received from the network device, where the third information is used to configure a corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one second reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Receive first information from the network device, where the first information is used to determine a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one SSB, or to determine a correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and an SSB index corresponding to the at least one SSB.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: determining the availability of the at least one second reference signal according to an information bit indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal in a second message received last time, when the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal; or determining the availability of the at least one second reference signal according to the default availability of the at least one second reference signal when the second message is not received or the second message does not include the information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal; or In a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is in an unavailable state; or, In a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is in an available state; or, In a case where the second message is not received or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal, it is determined that there is at least one reference signal whose availability is in an available state among the at least one second reference signal.

4. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first message to a terminal device, where the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal; Sending a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, where the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the at least one first reference signal includes the at least one second reference signal; Sending a reference signal whose availability is in an available state among the at least one second reference signal to the terminal device; The method further comprises: Send third information to the terminal device, where the third information is used to configure a corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one second reference signal.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending first information to the terminal device, wherein the first information is used to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one SSB, or to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and an SSB index corresponding to the at least one SSB.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, characterized in that: The configuration information includes: second information, wherein the second information is used to determine a QCL relationship between the at least one second reference signal and the at least one SSB, and / or determine a QCL relationship between the at least one second reference signal and at least one other reference signal other than the at least one SSB, wherein the at least one other reference signal other than the at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with the at least one SSB.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, characterized in that: In case a bitmap in the second message is used to indicate the availability of the at least one second reference signal, The second message is SIB1 or other SIB of the system message; or, The second message is downlink control information DCI carried by a physical downlink control channel PDCCH or information carried by a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, characterized in that: The number of bitmaps in the second message is n, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, and n and N are positive integers. The bitmap is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the bitmap includes at least one information bit.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the first bit map in the second message is the same or different at each PDCCH monitoring occasion in any paging time PO.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, the number of bits of the first bit map in the second message in different POs is the same.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-10, characterized in that: When the terminal device is in a radio resource control RRC idle state or a radio resource control RRC inactive state, the type of the at least one second reference signal includes: At least one of a tracking reference signal TRS, a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS, a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, or a secondary synchronization signal SSS.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-10, characterized in that: The configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type according to the function and type of the at least one second reference signal; or the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type is predefined.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-10, characterized in that: The configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong according to the function and type of the at least one second reference signal; or, the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong is predefined.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-10, characterized in that: The second message includes: a first bitmap and a second bitmap, wherein information bits in the first bitmap correspond to a first function of at least one second reference signal, and information bits in the second bitmap correspond to a second function of at least one second reference signal.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-10, characterized in that: The number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message is less than or equal to the number of synchronization signals / physical broadcast channel blocks SSB sent in a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block set.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first bitmap includes: at least one information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the information domain field is determined based on information associated with determining the number of SSBs.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first bitmap includes: a first information domain field and a second information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the first value, and the number of bits in the second information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the second value; or, The first bit map includes an information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first bit map is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst, which is equal to the first value, or the number of bits in the first bit map is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst, which is equal to the second value.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 4-5, 9-10, 16-17, characterized in that: The second message is used to indicate that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is effective within a first duration.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The first duration includes: At least one paging discontinuous reception DRX cycle; or, One or more time windows in a network device configured or predefined periodic time window; or, In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, a time period before the next PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located, wherein the distance between the next PO and the PO where the second message is located is the duration of a DRX cycle; or In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, a time period after the next PO of the PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO and the PO where the second message is located are separated by a DRX cycle duration; or In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, it is a time period located after the PO where the second message is located.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Interface unit; The interface unit is configured to receive a first message from a network device, wherein the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal; The interface unit is further configured to receive a second message from the network device, wherein the second message is used to indicate availability of at least one second reference signal, the at least one second reference signal having a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the at least one first reference signal including the at least one second reference signal; The interface unit is configured to receive, from the network device, a reference signal of the at least one second reference signal whose availability is in an available state according to the configuration information and the second message; The interface unit is further used to receive third information from the network device, where the third information is used to configure a corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one second reference signal.

21. The device according to claim 20, characterized in that The interface unit is also used to receive first information from the network device, and the first information is used to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one SSB, or to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the SSB index corresponding to the at least one SSB.

22. The device according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The device further comprises: a processing unit; The processing unit is further configured to determine the availability of the at least one second reference signal according to an information bit indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal in a second message received last time, when the interface unit does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal; or determining the availability of the at least one second reference signal according to a default availability of the at least one second reference signal when the interface unit does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal; or In a case where the interface unit does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is in an unavailable state; or, In a case where the interface unit does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal, determining that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is in an available state; or, When the interface unit does not receive the second message or the second message does not include an information bit for indicating the availability of the at least one second reference signal, it is determined that there is at least one reference signal whose availability is in an available state among the at least one second reference signal.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Interface unit; The interface unit is configured to send a first message to a terminal device, wherein the first message includes configuration information of at least one first reference signal; The interface unit is further used to send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, where the at least one second reference signal has a QCL relationship with at least one synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the at least one first reference signal includes the at least one second reference signal; The interface unit is further configured to send a reference signal in the at least one second reference signal having an availability status to the terminal device; The interface unit is further used to send third information to the terminal device, where the third information is used to configure a corresponding relationship between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one second reference signal.

24. The device according to claim 23, characterized in that The interface unit is also used to send first information to the terminal device, and the first information is used to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the at least one SSB, or to determine the correspondence between at least one information bit in the second message and the SSB index corresponding to the at least one SSB.

25. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, characterized in that The configuration information includes: second information, wherein the second information is used to determine a QCL relationship between the at least one second reference signal and the at least one SSB, and / or determine a QCL relationship between the at least one second reference signal and at least one other reference signal other than the at least one SSB, wherein the at least one other reference signal other than the at least one SSB has a QCL relationship with the at least one SSB.

26. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, characterized in that In case a bitmap in the second message is used to indicate the availability of the at least one second reference signal, The second message is SIB1 or other SIB of the system message; or, The second message is downlink control information DCI carried by a physical downlink control channel PDCCH or information carried by a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH.

27. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, characterized in that The number of bitmaps in the second message is n, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than N, and n and N are positive integers. The bitmap is used to indicate the availability of at least one second reference signal, and the bitmap includes at least one information bit.

28. The device according to claim 27, characterized in that In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, the first bit map in the second message is the same or different at each PDCCH monitoring occasion in any paging time PO.

29. The device according to claim 28, characterized in that In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by PDCCH, the number of bits of the first bit map in the second message in different POs is the same.

30. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, 28-29, characterized in that: When the terminal device is in a radio resource control RRC idle state or a radio resource control RRC inactive state, the type of the at least one second reference signal includes: At least one of a tracking reference signal TRS, a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS, a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, or a secondary synchronization signal SSS.

31. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, 28-29, characterized in that: The configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type according to the function and type of the at least one second reference signal; or the maximum number of second reference signals with the same function and the same type is predefined.

32. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, 28-29, characterized in that The configuration information is used to configure the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong according to the function and type of the at least one second reference signal; or, the maximum number of reference signal resource sets to which second reference signals with the same function and the same type belong is predefined.

33. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, 28-29, characterized in that The second message includes: a first bitmap and a second bitmap, wherein information bits in the first bitmap correspond to a first function of at least one second reference signal, and information bits in the second bitmap correspond to a second function of at least one second reference signal.

34. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, 28-29, characterized in that The number of bits of the first bitmap in the second message is less than or equal to the number of synchronization signals / physical broadcast channel blocks SSB sent in a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block set.

35. The device according to claim 34, characterized in that The first bitmap includes: at least one information domain field; wherein the number of bits of the information domain field is determined based on information associated with determining the number of SSBs.

36. The device according to claim 35, characterized in that The first bitmap includes: a first information domain field and a second information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the first value, and the number of bits in the second information domain field is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence domain of the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst that is equal to the second value; or, The first bit map includes an information domain field; wherein the number of bits in the first bit map is equal to the number of bits in the inOneGroup field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst, which is equal to the first value, or the number of bits in the first bit map is equal to the number of bits in the groupPresence field in the SSB configuration parameter ssb-PositionsInBurst, which is equal to the second value.

37. The device according to any one of claims 20-21, 23-24, 28-29, 35-36, characterized in that The second message is used to indicate that the availability of the at least one second reference signal is effective within a first duration.

38. The device according to claim 37, characterized in that The first duration includes: At least one paging discontinuous reception DRX cycle; or, One or more time windows in a network device configured or predefined periodic time window; or, In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, a time period before the next PO of the paging time PO where the second message is located, wherein the distance between the next PO and the PO where the second message is located is the duration of a DRX cycle; or In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, a time period after the next PO of the PO where the second message is located, wherein the next PO and the PO where the second message is located are separated by a DRX cycle duration; or In the case where the second message is a paging DCI carried by the PDCCH, it is a time period located after the PO where the second message is located.

39. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: include: The computer-readable storage medium stores execution instructions, and when at least one processor of the terminal device executes the execution instructions, the terminal device executes the communication method described in any one of claims 1-3 and 6-19; or, the computer-readable storage medium stores execution instructions, and when at least one processor of the network device executes the execution instructions, the network device executes the communication method described in any one of claims 4-5 and 6-19.

40. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Memory and processor; The memory is used to store program instructions; The processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory to implement the communication method described in any one of claims 1-3 and 6-19, or the processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory to implement the communication method described in any one of claims 4-5 and 6-19.

41. A program product, characterized in that The program product includes execution instructions, which are stored in a readable storage medium. When at least one processor of a terminal device executes the execution instructions, the terminal device executes the communication method described in any one of claims 1-3 and 6-19; or, when at least one processor of a network device executes the execution instructions, the network device executes the communication method described in any one of claims 4-5 and 6-19.

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