Communication method, apparatus, and readable storage medium

By sending a set of configuration information in the 5G communication system and adjusting the frequency domain information according to the auxiliary information of the terminal device, the problems of power consumption and resource waste of the terminal device are solved, and more efficient resource utilization and power consumption management are achieved.

CN115245013BActive Publication Date: 2026-08-04HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
View PDF 2 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
Filing Date
2020-03-30
Publication Date
2026-08-04

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

In 5G communication systems, network devices use the same transmission configuration to transmit information to different terminal devices, which leads to the waste of time and frequency resources and increased power consumption of terminal devices. This is especially evident in IoT scenarios where the number of terminal devices is large and their capabilities are reduced.

Method used

Network devices send a set of configuration information, including transmission configuration information and frequency domain information, and determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information of the terminal device to match the actual needs of the terminal device, adjust the transmission method, and avoid resource waste and increased power consumption.

Benefits of technology

By matching the actual needs of terminal devices, the consumption of time and frequency resources and the power consumption of terminal devices are reduced, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency and device performance.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CN115245013B_ABST
    Figure CN115245013B_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, device and readable storage medium, the method comprising: a network device sends a configuration information set to a terminal device, and receives auxiliary information from the terminal device, and determines target frequency domain information from the frequency domain information according to the auxiliary information. Further, the network device can send a first message to the terminal device according to the target frequency domain information. Wherein the configuration information set can indicate the association relationship between at least one group of transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The method can avoid the problems of waste of time-frequency resources and / or increase of power consumption of the terminal device.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to communication technology, and more particularly to a communication method, apparatus, and readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Fifth-generation (5G) communication systems support configurable bandwidth parts (BWPs), allowing network devices to flexibly adjust bandwidth based on the service data of terminal devices to save power consumption. BWPs include initial BWPs and dedicated BWPs. When a terminal device is in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or inactive state, the network device configures the initial BWP via system messages for initial access. When the terminal device is in the RRC connected state, the network device configures one or more dedicated BWPs for it. 5G communication systems will introduce terminal devices with reduced capabilities, complexity, and power consumption; these can be called lightweight or reduced-capability terminal devices and can be applied in scenarios such as the Internet of Things (IoT). In IoT scenarios, the number of terminal devices is large, and each device can communicate on a relatively small bandwidth.

[0003] If network devices use the same transmission configuration to transmit information to terminal devices with different service needs, it may cause a mismatch between the transmission configuration and the actual needs of the terminal devices, resulting in a waste of time and frequency resources and / or an increase in the power consumption of the terminal devices. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, and readable storage medium to address the problems of wasted time and frequency resources and / or increased power consumption of terminal devices.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be applied to a network device, the method comprising:

[0006] A set of configuration information is sent to the terminal device. This set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information, wherein the transmission configuration information is associated with the frequency domain information. Auxiliary information is received from the terminal device, which is used to determine target frequency domain information from the aforementioned frequency domain information. A first message is sent to the terminal device based on the target frequency domain information.

[0007] In this method, the network device can obtain the actual transmission configuration required by the terminal device based on the auxiliary information of the terminal device. Based on the auxiliary information, the network device can determine the target frequency domain information associated with the auxiliary information, and send a first message to the terminal device according to the target frequency domain information and the transmission configuration associated with the target frequency domain information. This makes the transmission method of the first message match the actual needs of the terminal device, thereby avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and / or the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0008] As one possible design, the above method also includes:

[0009] The auxiliary information is received from the terminal device; or, a second message is received from the core network device, the second message including the auxiliary information is received; or, a third message is received from the target network device, the third message including the auxiliary information is received.

[0010] In the above method, the terminal device can transmit auxiliary information to the core network device through the network device. The core network device then includes the auxiliary information in the second message, enabling the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set. The network device then sends the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, according to the terminal device's requirements. This reduces the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device can send the auxiliary information to the network device, which saves and sends the auxiliary information to the core network device. The core network device then includes the auxiliary information in the second message, enabling the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set. The network device then sends the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, according to the terminal device's requirements. This also reduces the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device sends auxiliary information to the target network device outside the network device, and the target network device sends the auxiliary information to the network device. This allows the target network device and the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the configuration information set, and send the first message to the terminal device in the RRC inactive state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, as required by the terminal device. This can reduce the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0011] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be applied to a terminal device, the method comprising:

[0012] A set of configuration information is received from a first network device. This set includes at least one configuration piece of information, comprising transmission configuration information and frequency domain information, wherein the transmission configuration information is associated with the aforementioned frequency domain information. Target frequency domain information is determined based on the set of configuration information and auxiliary information. A first message is received from the first network device based on the target frequency domain information.

[0013] In this method, the terminal device can determine the target frequency domain information associated with the auxiliary information and the set of configuration information sent by the first network device, and receive the first message from the first network device according to the target frequency domain information and the transmission configuration associated with the target frequency domain information. This makes the transmission method of the first message match the actual needs of the terminal device, thereby avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and / or the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0014] In one possible design, the above method also includes:

[0015] Send auxiliary information to the first network device or the second network device; or send a fourth message to the core network device, the fourth message including the aforementioned auxiliary information.

[0016] In the above method, the terminal device can transmit auxiliary information to the core network device through the network device. The core network device then includes the auxiliary information in the second message, enabling the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set. The network device then sends the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, according to the terminal device's requirements. This reduces the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device can send the auxiliary information to the network device, which saves and sends the auxiliary information to the core network device. The core network device then includes the auxiliary information in the second message, enabling the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set. The network device then sends the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, according to the terminal device's requirements. This also reduces the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device sends auxiliary information to the first network device, and the first network device sends auxiliary information to the second network device. This allows the first network device and the second network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the configuration information set, and to send the first message to the terminal device in the RRC inactive state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, as required by the terminal device. This can reduce the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0017] In the first and second aspects described above, as one possible design, the transmission configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0018] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, threshold for number of repeated transmissions, level of number of repeated transmissions, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, DRX cycle threshold, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

[0019] By utilizing transmission configuration information involving repeated transmissions, terminal devices can select frequency domain information associated with their required repeated transmission configuration according to the needs of repeated transmission. This allows them to transmit information with network devices at the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by the frequency domain information, based on their required transmission configuration. This enables terminal devices to transmit information according to their actual required repeated transmission configuration, avoiding network devices from using the same repeated transmission configuration for different terminal devices within the cell. This improves resource utilization efficiency and reduces the power consumption of both network devices and terminal devices.

[0020] By utilizing transmission configuration information related to DRX cycles, terminal devices can select frequency domain information associated with their required DRX cycle configuration according to the needs of the DRX cycle. This allows them to transmit information with network devices at the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by the frequency domain information, thereby enabling terminal devices to transmit information according to their actual required DRX cycle configuration. This avoids different terminal devices in the cell using the same DRX cycle and reduces the power consumption of terminal devices that require longer DRX cycles.

[0021] By utilizing transmission configuration information related to the paging cycle, the terminal device can select frequency domain information associated with its required paging cycle configuration according to the needs of the paging cycle. This allows the terminal device to transmit information with the network device according to its required transmission configuration information at the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the frequency domain information. This enables the terminal device to transmit information according to its actual required paging cycle configuration, resulting in resource waste and / or increased power consumption.

[0022] In the first and second aspects mentioned above, as one possible design, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0023] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be applied to core network equipment, the method comprising:

[0024] The system receives auxiliary information from a terminal device, which is used to determine target frequency domain information. This target frequency domain information is used to send a first message and a second message to a first network device, the second message including the aforementioned auxiliary information.

[0025] In this method, the terminal device sends auxiliary information to the core network device, which in turn sends the auxiliary information to the network device. Based on the auxiliary information, the network device can determine the target frequency domain information associated with the auxiliary information, and send a first message to the terminal device according to the target frequency domain information and the transmission configuration associated with the target frequency domain information. This makes the transmission method of the first message match the actual needs of the terminal device, thereby avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and / or the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0026] As one possible design, the method also includes:

[0027] Receive auxiliary information from the first network device or the second network device; or receive a fourth message from the terminal device, the fourth message including the aforementioned auxiliary information.

[0028] In the above method, the terminal device can transmit auxiliary information to the core network device through the network device. The core network device then includes the auxiliary information in the second message, enabling the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set. The network device then sends the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, according to the terminal device's requirements. This reduces the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device can send the auxiliary information to the network device, which saves and sends the auxiliary information to the core network device. The core network device then includes the auxiliary information in the second message, enabling the network device to determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set. The network device then sends the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information, according to the terminal device's requirements. This also reduces the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0029] In the first, second, and third aspects described above, as one possible design, the aforementioned auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0030] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0031] By sending auxiliary information, the terminal device can inform the network device of its actual transmission configuration preferences. Based on the auxiliary information, the network device can transmit information to the terminal device at the associated frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations, thereby meeting the actual needs of the terminal device and avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and / or the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0032] In the first, second, and third aspects described above, as one possible design, the frequency domain information includes at least one of the following:

[0033] Carrier information, BWP information, narrowband information.

[0034] When the aforementioned frequency domain information includes one of the aforementioned information, the method of this application can be applied in scenarios where such information is used.

[0035] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0036] The processing unit is configured to send a set of configuration information to a terminal device through the communication unit. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The transmission configuration information is associated with the frequency domain information.

[0037] The communication unit is used to receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, and the auxiliary information is used to determine the target frequency domain information from the frequency domain information.

[0038] The processing unit is further configured to send a first message to the terminal device through the communication unit based on the target frequency domain information.

[0039] As one possible design, the transmission configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0040] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, threshold for number of repeated transmissions, level of number of repeated transmissions, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, DRX cycle threshold, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

[0041] As one possible design, the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0042] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0043] As one possible design, the communication unit is also used for:

[0044] The auxiliary information is received from the terminal device; or, a second message is received from the core network device, the second message including the auxiliary information; or, a third message is received from the target network device, the third message including the auxiliary information.

[0045] As one possible design, the frequency domain information includes at least one of the following:

[0046] Carrier information, BWP information, narrowband information.

[0047] As one possible design, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0048] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0049] The communication unit is configured to receive a set of configuration information from a first network device. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The transmission configuration information is associated with the frequency domain information.

[0050] The processing unit is configured to determine target frequency domain information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information; and to receive a first message from the first network device through the communication unit based on the target frequency domain information.

[0051] As one possible design, the transmission configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0052] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, threshold for number of repeated transmissions, level of number of repeated transmissions, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, DRX cycle threshold, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

[0053] As one possible design, the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0054] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0055] As one possible design, the processing unit is also used for:

[0056] The auxiliary information is sent to the first network device or the second network device through the communication unit; or, a fourth message, including the auxiliary information, is sent to the core network device through the communication unit.

[0057] As one possible design, the frequency domain information includes at least one of the following:

[0058] Carrier information, partial bandwidth BWP information, narrowband information.

[0059] As one possible design, the communication device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0060] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0061] The communication unit is used to receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, the auxiliary information is used to determine target frequency domain information, and the target frequency domain information is used to send a first message.

[0062] The processing unit is used to send a second message to the first network device through the communication unit, the second message including the auxiliary information.

[0063] As one possible design, the communication unit is also used for:

[0064] The auxiliary information is received from the first network device or the second network device; or, a fourth message is received from the terminal device, the fourth message including the auxiliary information.

[0065] As one possible design, the auxiliary information includes at least any one of the following:

[0066] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0067] As one possible design, the frequency domain information includes at least any of the following:

[0068] Carrier information, BWP information, narrowband information.

[0069] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a processor and a communication interface.

[0070] The communication interface is used to enable the communication device to connect and communicate with peripherals.

[0071] The processor is used to implement the method described in the first aspect above.

[0072] As one possible design, the communication device described above also includes a memory.

[0073] The memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor executes the computer programs stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method described in the first aspect above.

[0074] As one possible design, the communication device described above also includes a transceiver.

[0075] The transceiver is used for sending and receiving messages.

[0076] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a processor and a communication interface.

[0077] The communication interface is used to enable the communication device to connect and communicate with peripherals.

[0078] The processor is used to implement the method described in the second aspect above.

[0079] As one possible design, the communication device described above also includes a memory.

[0080] The memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor executes the computer programs stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method described in the second aspect above.

[0081] As one possible design, the communication device described above also includes a transceiver.

[0082] The transceiver is used for sending and receiving messages.

[0083] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a processor and a communication interface.

[0084] The communication interface is used to enable the communication device to connect and communicate with peripherals.

[0085] The processor is used to implement the method described in the third aspect above.

[0086] As one possible design, the communication device described above also includes a memory.

[0087] The memory is used to store computer programs, and the processor executes the computer programs stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method described in the third aspect above.

[0088] As one possible design, the communication device described above also includes a transceiver.

[0089] The transceiver is used for sending and receiving messages.

[0090] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed, implements the methods described in the first, second, or third aspects above.

[0091] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application provide a chip, including a processor and an interface.

[0092] The processor is used to read instructions for the information processing method described in the first, second, or third aspect above.

[0093] In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, the computer program product including computer program code, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the first, second, or third aspects above.

[0094] In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system including the communication device described in the seventh aspect, the communication device described in the eighth aspect, and the communication device described in the ninth aspect. Attached Figure Description

[0095] Figure 1 Example diagrams showing the use of an initial BWP and a dedicated BWP for terminal devices;

[0096] Figure 2 Example of a DRX cycle;

[0097] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the mobile communication system used in the embodiments of this application;

[0098] Figure 4 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0099] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the interaction between network devices and terminal devices;

[0100] Figure 6 This is another interaction flowchart between network devices and terminal devices;

[0101] Figure 7 This is another interaction flowchart between network devices and terminal devices;

[0102] Figure 8 A module structure diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0103] Figure 9 A module structure diagram of another communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0104] Figure 10 A module structure diagram of another communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0105] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0106] Figure 1 Example diagrams for using the initial BWP and dedicated BWP for terminal devices, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the terminal device accesses the network device via an initial BWP when in RRC idle and RRC inactive states. After entering RRC connected state, the network device configures three dedicated BWPs for the terminal device: BWP1, BWP2, and BWP3. At time t1, the network device activates BWP1 for the terminal device; at time t2, the network device activates BWP2; and at time t3, the network device activates BWP3. At any given time, the terminal device has only one active dedicated BWP.

[0107] In 5G communication systems, the initial BWP can be 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, or 20MHz. IoT scenarios involve a large number of terminal devices, which may simultaneously connect to the network. As a possible design, for terminal devices in the RRC idle or RRC inactive state, the network device uses these initial BWPs to transmit information with each terminal device according to the same transmission configuration. In this approach, the transmission configuration used by the network device may not match the actual needs of the terminal devices, leading to a waste of time and frequency resources and / or increased power consumption of the terminal devices.

[0108] For example, in IoT scenarios, the reduced capabilities and complexity of terminal devices lead to a decrease in uplink and downlink coverage. For instance, a normal terminal device can communicate normally at the cell edge, but a Red-Cap terminal device, due to the reduction in its receiving and transmitting antennas and power consumption, may be unable to communicate properly at the cell edge. Therefore, a repetition mechanism is needed for terminal devices at the cell edge. This involves network devices or terminal devices repeatedly transmitting the same signal, message, signaling, or data to expand uplink and downlink coverage. However, since different terminal devices may have different locations or movement states (e.g., some at the cell edge, others at the cell center, some moving, others stationary), applying a repetition mechanism to all would increase the consumption of time and frequency resources. For example, when a network device sends a paging message to a stationary terminal device located at the center of the cell, it does not need to apply repeated transmission. However, when sending a paging message to a stationary terminal device located at the edge of the cell, repeated transmission is required. In the method described above, the network device does not distinguish between these two types of terminal devices. To ensure that both types of terminal devices can be paged, the network device applies repeated transmission to all terminal devices within the cell. For the network device, this repeated transmission method may result in a waste of time and frequency resources. For the sake of simplicity, repeated transmission refers to increasing the reception success rate of the receiving end by repeatedly sending the same message, which will not be elaborated further in the following embodiments. It should be noted that this application does not limit the type of terminal device performing repeated transmission, nor does it limit the location of the terminal device performing repeated transmission.

[0109] For example, to reduce power consumption of terminal devices, 5G communication systems support the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism. When a terminal device is not configured with DRX, and there is no uplink or downlink data transmission between the terminal device and the network device, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In this state, because downlink data transmission from the network device is unpredictable, the terminal device needs to continuously listen for paging messages that the network device may send. Most of the time, the network device will not page the terminal device, which leads to power consumption when the terminal device is listening for paging messages. When the terminal device is configured with DRX, the terminal device can periodically wake up to listen for paging messages. Figure 2 An example of a DRX cycle, such as Figure 2 As shown, the wake-up cycle of the terminal device is the DRX cycle, the wake-up duration is Dur, the terminal device listens for paging messages during the Dur time, and the duration during which the terminal device does not listen for paging messages is Opp.

[0110] Currently, DRX configuration can be done in two ways. One is that network devices configure the DRX period via broadcast messages, including rf32, rf64, rf128, and rf256, where rf stands for radio frame, and a radio frame is 10ms long. Different network devices can broadcast different DRX periods. The other method is that the core network configures a dedicated DRX period for the terminal device, which also includes the above values. As a possible design, if the terminal device is configured with a dedicated DRX period, the terminal device uses the smaller of the dedicated DRX period and the broadcast DRX period. This design prevents terminal devices with high power consumption requirements from being configured with a larger DRX period, increasing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0111] Considering the waste of time and frequency resources and / or increased power consumption of terminal devices caused by network devices transmitting information with terminal devices based on the same transmission configuration in the above design, the embodiments of this application select a method for information transmission that matches the actual needs of the terminal device based on the auxiliary information of the terminal device, thereby avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0112] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the mobile communication system used in the embodiments of this application. Figure 3 As shown, the mobile communication system includes core network equipment 210, network equipment 220, and at least one terminal device (such as...). Figure 3The terminal devices 230 and 240 are listed in the diagram. The terminal devices connect wirelessly to the network devices, and the network devices connect wirelessly or via wired connection to the core network devices. The core network devices and network devices can be independent physical devices, or the core network devices' functions and the network devices' logical functions can be integrated onto the same physical device. Alternatively, a single physical device can integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the network device's functions. The terminal devices can be fixed in location or mobile. Figure 3 This is just an illustration; the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless repeaters and wireless backhaul devices. Figure 3 Not shown in the diagram. The embodiments of this application do not limit the number of core network devices, network devices, and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

[0113] A network device is an access device that allows a terminal device to access the mobile communication system wirelessly. It can be a Node B, an evolved Node B, an access node in a 5G mobile communication system, an access node in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or specific device form used in the network device.

[0114] Terminal equipment can also be called a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. Terminal equipment can include mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, virtual reality (VR) terminal equipment, augmented reality (AR) terminal equipment, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, and so on.

[0115] Network devices and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the network devices and terminal devices.

[0116] For example, the embodiments of this application can be applied to IoT scenarios in 5G communication systems, or to enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) scenarios or narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) scenarios in 4G communication systems. Similar to IoT scenarios in 5G communication systems, in eMTC and NB-IoT scenarios, there are a large number of terminal devices with low terminal capabilities, low complexity, and low power consumption that need to access network devices.

[0117] Before describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application will be explained first.

[0118] 1. RRC idle state

[0119] In RRC idle mode, there is no logical connection at the RRC layer between the terminal device and the network device. The terminal device cannot transmit uplink or downlink data and signaling with the network device; it can only receive paging messages and system information sent by the network device. Simultaneously, there is also no logical connection at the RRC layer between the terminal device and the core network in RRC idle mode, and neither the core network nor the network device stores the terminal device's context. When paging of the terminal device is required, the paging message is initiated by the core network.

[0120] 2. RRC inactive state

[0121] In RRC inactive state, there is no logical connection at the RRC layer between the terminal device and the network device. The terminal device cannot transmit uplink or downlink data and signaling with the network device; it can only receive paging messages and system information sent by the network device. Simultaneously, in RRC inactive state, there is a logical connection at the RRC layer between the terminal device and the core network, and both the network device and the core network maintain the terminal device's context. When paging of the terminal device is required, the core network sends the paging-related data to the network device, which then initiates the paging message.

[0122] 3. DRX

[0123] DRX can be divided into idle DRX (I-DRX) and connected DRX (C-DRX). I-DRX means that the terminal device does not need to continuously listen for paging messages, which can reduce the power consumption of the terminal device. C-DRX means that the terminal device does not need to continuously listen for control information scheduling uplink / downlink data, which can also reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0124] Example 1

[0125] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application, wherein the execution subject of the method is the aforementioned network device. Figure 4 As shown, the method includes:

[0126] S401. Send a set of configuration information to the terminal device. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The transmission configuration information is associated with the frequency domain information.

[0127] Specifically, the network device sends a set of configuration information to the terminal device to indicate the correspondence between transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The configuration information set includes at least one set of configuration information, each set including transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. In other words, the configuration information set can indicate one or more sets of correspondences between transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. This correspondence indicates that different frequency domain information corresponds to different transmission configurations, allowing the terminal device to determine the corresponding frequency domain information based on its preferred transmission configuration. The meanings of the transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information are detailed below.

[0128] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the above-mentioned set of configuration information and determines the correspondence between the transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information based on the set of configuration information.

[0129] Specifically, the transmission configuration information and frequency domain information in the at least one configuration information can be in one-to-one correspondence. For example, the above-mentioned set of configuration information is a list as shown in Table 1 below. Each row in the list represents a configuration information, the left column of each row represents the transmission configuration information, and the right column represents the frequency domain information. Transmission configuration information and frequency domain information located in the same row are associated. For example, transmission configuration information 1 is associated with frequency domain information 1.

[0130] Table 1

[0131] Transmit configuration information Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information 1 Frequency domain information 1 Transmit configuration information 2 Frequency domain information 2

[0132] The aforementioned transmission configuration information pertains to the transmission configuration between network devices and terminal devices, and may indicate, for example, whether to perform repeated transmissions. The aforementioned frequency domain information may indicate frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations. The transmission configuration information is associated with the frequency domain information, meaning that the transmission configuration indicated by the transmission configuration information applies to the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the associated frequency domain information. For example, the aforementioned transmission configuration information 1 indicates repeated transmission, and the frequency domain information associated with transmission configuration information 1 is frequency domain information 1. This association indicates that repeated transmission applies to the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by frequency domain information 1.

[0133] In one possible implementation, the network device sends a system message to the terminal device, the system message including the configuration information set.

[0134] In one possible implementation, the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information can be at least one of the following:

[0135] (1) BWP;

[0136] (2) Initial BWP;

[0137] (3) Narrowband information;

[0138] (4) Carrier information.

[0139] In one possible implementation, the above-mentioned transmission configuration information may include at least one of the following:

[0140] Indicator of whether to repeat transmission, number of repeat transmissions, threshold for number of repeat transmissions, level of number of repeat transmissions, coverage enhancement level (CEL), discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, DRX cycle threshold, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

[0141] It is worth noting that the relationship between transmission configuration information and frequency domain information in the above items may be explicit, such as the relationship indicated by a list as shown in the example above; or it may be implicit. When the relationship is implicit, a certain frequency domain information in the list shown in Table 1 above may not be directly associated with a transmission configuration information.

[0142] The following sections will explain each of the above items.

[0143] (1) Indicator of whether to repeat transmission

[0144] In one possible implementation, the transmission configuration information can be used to instruct the application of repeated transmissions. Accordingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with the transmission configuration information, indicating that repeated transmissions are applied for information transmission at the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the frequency domain information.

[0145] In another possible implementation, the transmission configuration information can be used to indicate that duplicate transmissions should not be applied. Accordingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with the transmission configuration information, indicating that duplicate transmissions should not be applied for information transmission on the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the frequency domain information.

[0146] Optionally, the network device may explicitly represent the association between transmission configuration information and frequency domain information in the above configuration information set, or it may represent the association between transmission configuration information and frequency domain information in a partially implicit manner.

[0147] In one example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information items (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration items (repeated transmission indicator rep-enabled and non-repeated transmission indicator rep-disabled). Freq1 is associated with rep-enabled, indicating that repeated transmission is applied to the frequency domain resource or location indicated by freq1. Freq2 is associated with rep-disabled, indicating that repeated transmission is not applied to the frequency domain resource or location indicated by freq2. Freq3 is associated with the rep-enabled transmission configuration item, indicating that repeated transmission is applied to the frequency domain resource or location indicated by freq3. In this example, the association between the transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information is represented explicitly in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0148] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 rep-enabled freq2 rep-disabled freq3 rep-enabled

[0149] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information items (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and one transmission configuration item (repeated transmission indicator rep-enabled). Freq1 and freq3 are associated with rep-enabled, indicating that repeated transmissions are applied to the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1 and freq3. Meanwhile, freq2 does not have an explicitly configured associated transmission configuration item, indicating that repeated transmissions are not applied to the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2. In this example, the association between freq2 and the transmission configuration information is given implicitly.

[0150] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 rep-enabled freq2 freq3 rep-enabled

[0151] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information items (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and one transmission configuration item (non-repeating transmission indication rep-disabled). Freq1 and freq3 are associated with rep-disabled, indicating that repeating transmissions should not be applied to the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1 and freq3. Meanwhile, freq2, whose associated transmission configuration information is not explicitly configured, indicates that repeating transmissions should be applied to the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2. In this example, the association between freq2 and the transmission configuration information is given implicitly.

[0152] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 rep-disabled freq2 freq3 rep-disabled

[0153] (2) Number of repetitions

[0154] The transmission configuration information can be used to indicate the number of repeated transmissions. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with the transmission configuration information, indicating that the number of repeated transmissions on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information is the number indicated by the transmission configuration information.

[0155] In one example, each frequency domain information in the configuration information set can be explicitly associated with a number of repetitions, indicating that the terminal device requiring that number of repetitions uses the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the associated frequency domain information.

[0156] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information items (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and three transmission configuration items (repeated transmission counts rep0 and rep1). Freq1 is associated with the repeated transmission count rep0, indicating that the terminal device requiring repeated transmissions of rep0 uses the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by freq1. Freq3 is associated with the repeated transmission count rep3, indicating that the terminal device requiring repeated transmissions of rep1 uses the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by freq3. Terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions of other counts use the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by freq2. In this example, freq1 and freq3 correspond one-to-one with rep0 and rep1, explicitly showing the association between frequency domain information and transmission configuration information, while freq2 is implicitly associated with the transmission configuration information.

[0157] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 rep0 freq2 freq3 rep1

[0158] (3) Threshold for number of repeated transmissions

[0159] This transmission configuration information can be used to indicate a threshold for the number of repeated transmissions, which characterizes the range of transmission counts. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with this transmission configuration information, indicating that the number of repeated transmissions at the frequency domain resource or location indicated by that frequency domain information falls within the range characterized by the repeated transmission count threshold.

[0160] Optionally, the threshold for the number of repeated transmissions can be the upper limit of the interval being represented, and / or the lower limit of the interval being represented.

[0161] In one example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information values ​​(freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration values ​​(repeated transmission number thresholds threshold0 and threshold1). Freq1 is associated with the threshold value threshold0, indicating that terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions less than or equal to threshold0 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1. Freq2 is associated with the threshold value threshold12, indicating that terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions between threshold0 and threshold2 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2. Furthermore, freq3 does not have any explicitly associated transmission configuration information, indicating that terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions greater than or equal to threshold1 use the frequency domain resources indicated by freq3.

[0162] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 threshold0 freq2 threshold1 freq3

[0163] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration information (repeated transmission number thresholds threshold0 and threshold1). Not each of freq1, freq2, and freq3 corresponds to a specific repeated transmission number threshold; rather, all three frequency domain information are associated with the two repeated transmission number thresholds threshold0 and threshold1. Specifically, terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions less than or equal to threshold0 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1; terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions between threshold0 and threshold1 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2; and terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions greater than or equal to threshold1 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq3.

[0164] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1, freq2, freq3 threshold0, threshold1

[0165] (4) Repeat transmission count level

[0166] This transmission configuration information can be used to indicate the level of repeated transmissions, which characterizes the level or grade to which the transmissions belong. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with this transmission configuration information, indicating that terminal devices requiring repeated transmissions to belong to that level or grade should use the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by that frequency domain information.

[0167] Optionally, each repeat transmission count level can correspond to a repeat transmission count, or a range of repeat transmission counts, or whether repeat transmission is required.

[0168] In one example, each frequency domain information in the configuration information set can be explicitly associated with a repetition count level, indicating that terminal devices with a repetition count of that level need to use the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the associated frequency domain information.

[0169] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information entries (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration entries (repeated transmission counts equal to repl-0 and repl-1). Freq1 is associated with the repeated transmission count level repl-0, indicating that terminal devices requiring a repeated transmission count of repl-0 need to use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1. Freq3 is associated with the repeated transmission count level repl-1, indicating that terminal devices requiring a repeated transmission count of repl-3 need to use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq3. Terminal devices requiring repeated transmission counts of other levels need to use the frequency domain resources indicated by freq2. In this example, freq2 is implicitly associated with the transmission configuration information.

[0170] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 repl-0

[0171] freq2 freq3 repl-1

[0172] (5) Coverage Enhancement Level

[0173] Coverage enhancement level is used to identify the degree of coverage enhancement. Different coverage enhancement levels can counteract different signal attenuation levels. Therefore, network devices and terminal devices can select the appropriate number of retransmissions based on the coverage enhancement level of the terminal device. Thus, coverage enhancement level can be used to indicate whether retransmission is needed, the number of retransmissions, or a range of retransmissions.

[0174] The coverage enhancement level is used as transmission configuration information. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with the transmission configuration information, indicating that the terminal device at the coverage enhancement level uses the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the frequency domain information, and transmits information on the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations in accordance with the repetitive transmission mode indicated by the coverage enhancement level.

[0175] In one example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information entries (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transport configuration entries (coverage enhancement levels cel0 and cel1). Freq1 is associated with the coverage enhancement level cel0, indicating that terminal devices at cel0 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1. Freq3 is associated with the coverage enhancement level cel1, indicating that terminal devices at cel1 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq3. Terminal devices at other coverage enhancement levels use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2. In this example, freq2 is implicitly associated with the transport configuration information.

[0176] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 cel0 freq2 freq3 cel1

[0177] The above information refers to transmission configuration information related to repeated transmission. Using one or more of this information, the terminal device can select the frequency domain information associated with its required repeated transmission configuration according to the needs of repeated transmission. This allows the terminal device to transmit information with the network device at the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information, thereby enabling the terminal device to transmit information according to its actual required repeated transmission configuration. This avoids the network device using the same repeated transmission configuration for different terminal devices in the cell, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency and reducing the power consumption of the network device and the terminal device.

[0178] For example, in a cell served by a network device, there are two terminal devices, terminal device 1 and terminal device 2. Terminal device 1 is located at the center of the cell, and terminal device 2 is located at the edge of the cell. The network device can send a paging message to terminal device 1 in a non-repeating manner on the frequency domain resources associated with transmission configuration information that does not need to be retransmitted, while simultaneously sending a paging message to terminal device 2 in a repeating manner on the frequency domain resources associated with transmission configuration information that needs to be retransmitted. This avoids excessive consumption of time and frequency resources caused by repeating to both terminal device 1 and terminal device 2.

[0179] In addition to the transmission configuration information involving repeated transmissions mentioned above, the transmission configuration information also includes the following information related to the DRX cycle:

[0180] (6) DRX cycle

[0181] The transmission configuration information can be used to indicate the DRX cycle. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with the transmission configuration information, indicating that the terminal device that needs to use the DRX cycle uses the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information.

[0182] In one example, each frequency domain information in the configuration information set can be explicitly associated with a DRX cycle, indicating that the terminal device that needs to use the DRX cycle uses the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the associated frequency domain information.

[0183] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information entries (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration entries (DRX cycles drx-cycle0 and drx-cycle1). Freq1 is associated with the DRX cycle drx-cycle0, indicating that the terminal device using drx-cycle0 uses the frequency domain resources or frequency domain location indicated by freq1. Freq3 is associated with the DRX cycle drx-cycle1, indicating that the terminal device using drx-cycle1 uses the frequency domain resources or frequency domain location indicated by freq3. Terminal devices that need to use other DRX cycles use the frequency domain resources indicated by freq2. In this example, freq2 is implicitly associated with the transmission configuration information.

[0184] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 drx-cycle0 freq2 freq3 drx-cycle1

[0185] (7) DRX cycle threshold

[0186] This transmission configuration information can be used to indicate a threshold for DRX periods, which characterizes an interval of DRX periods. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with this transmission configuration information, indicating the DRX periods within the interval of DRX periods characterized by that threshold at the frequency domain resource or location indicated by the frequency domain information.

[0187] Optionally, the DRX period threshold can be the upper limit of the represented interval and / or the lower limit of the represented interval.

[0188] In one example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information entries (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration entries (DRX period thresholds drx-threshold0 and drx-threshold1). Freq1 is associated with the threshold value drx-threshold0, indicating that terminal devices requiring a DRX period less than or equal to threshold0 will use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1. Freq2 is associated with the threshold value drx-threshold1, indicating that terminal devices requiring a DRX period between drx-threshold0 and drx-threshold1 will use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2. Furthermore, freq3 has no explicitly associated transmission configuration information, indicating that terminal devices requiring a DRX period greater than or equal to threshold1 will use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq3.

[0189] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 drx-threshold0 freq2 drx-threshold1 freq3

[0190] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration information (DRX cycle thresholds drx-threshold0 and drx-threshold1). Not each of freq1, freq2, and freq3 corresponds to a specific DRX cycle threshold; rather, all three frequency domain information are associated with the two DRX cycle thresholds drx-threshold0 and drx-threshold1. Specifically, terminal devices requiring a DRX cycle less than or equal to drx-threshold0 use the frequency domain resources or location indicated by freq1; terminal devices requiring a DRX cycle between drx-threshold0 and drx-threshold1 use the frequency domain resources or location indicated by freq2; and terminal devices requiring a DRX cycle greater than or equal to drx-threshold1 use the frequency domain resources or location indicated by freq3.

[0191] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1, freq2, freq3 drx-threshold0, drx-threshold1

[0192] The two pieces of information mentioned above are transmission configuration information related to the DRX cycle. Using one or more of these pieces of information, the terminal device can select the frequency domain information associated with its required DRX cycle configuration according to the needs of the DRX cycle, so as to transmit information with the network device at the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information according to its required transmission configuration information. This enables the terminal device to transmit information according to its actual required DRX cycle configuration, avoids different terminal devices in the cell from using the same DRX cycle, and reduces the power consumption of terminal devices that require a longer DRX cycle.

[0193] For example, if a terminal device has high power consumption requirements, the network device can transmit information to the terminal device on the frequency domain resources associated with a longer DRX period, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0194] In addition to the transmission configuration information mentioned above, the transmission configuration information also includes the following information related to the paging cycle:

[0195] (8) Paging cycle

[0196] The transmission configuration information can be used to indicate the paging cycle. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with the transmission configuration information, indicating that the terminal device that needs to use the paging cycle uses the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information.

[0197] In one example, each frequency domain information in the configuration information set can be explicitly associated with a paging cycle, indicating that the terminal device that needs to use the paging cycle uses the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the associated frequency domain information.

[0198] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information entries (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transport configuration entries (paging cycles paging-cycle0 and paging-cycle1). Freq1 is associated with the paging cycle paging-cycle0, indicating that terminal devices using paging-cycle0 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1. Freq3 is associated with the paging cycle paging-cycle1, indicating that terminal devices using paging-cycle1 use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq3. Terminal devices requiring other paging cycles use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq2. In this example, freq2 is implicitly associated with the transport configuration information.

[0199] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 paging-cycle0 freq2 freq3 paging-cycle1

[0200] (9) Paging cycle threshold

[0201] This transmission configuration information can be used to indicate a threshold for the paging cycle, which characterizes the interval of the paging cycle. Correspondingly, a certain frequency domain information is associated with this transmission configuration information, indicating a paging cycle within the interval of the paging cycle characterized by the threshold at the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the frequency domain information.

[0202] Optionally, the paging cycle threshold can be the upper limit of the represented interval and / or the lower limit of the represented interval.

[0203] In one example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information entries (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration entries (paging period thresholds pc-threshold0 and pc-threshold1). Freq1 is associated with the pc-threshold0 threshold, indicating that terminal devices with paging periods less than or equal to pc-threshold0 will use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq1. Freq2 is associated with the pc-threshold1 threshold, indicating that terminal devices with paging periods between pc-threshold0 and pc-threshold1 will use the frequency domain resources indicated by freq2. Furthermore, freq3 has no explicitly associated transmission configuration information, indicating that terminal devices with paging periods greater than or equal to pc-threshold1 will use the frequency domain resources or locations indicated by freq3.

[0204] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1 paging-cycle0 freq2 paging-cycle1

[0205] freq3

[0206] In another example, as shown in the table below, the configuration information set includes three frequency domain information (freq1, freq2, and freq3) and two transmission configuration information (paging cycle thresholds pc-threshold0 and pc-threshold1). Not each of freq1, freq2, and freq3 corresponds to a specific paging cycle threshold; rather, all three frequency domain information are associated with the two paging cycle thresholds pc-threshold0 and pc-threshold1. Specifically, terminal devices requiring a paging cycle less than or equal to pc-threshold0 use the frequency domain resources or location indicated by freq1; terminal devices requiring a paging cycle between pc-threshold0 and pc-threshold1 use the frequency domain resources or location indicated by freq2; and terminal devices requiring a paging cycle greater than or equal to pc-threshold1 use the frequency domain resources or location indicated by freq3.

[0207] Frequency domain information Transmit configuration information freq1, freq2, freq3 pc-threshold0, pc-threshold1

[0208] The two pieces of information mentioned above are transmission configuration information related to the paging cycle. Using one or more of these pieces of information, the terminal device can select the frequency domain information associated with its required paging cycle configuration according to the needs of the paging cycle, so as to transmit information with the network device at the frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations indicated by the frequency domain information according to its required transmission configuration information. This allows the terminal device to transmit information according to its actual required paging cycle configuration, resulting in resource waste and / or increased power consumption.

[0209] In one possible implementation, the terminal device is in an RRC connected state, an RRC inactive state, or an RRC idle state.

[0210] S402. Receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, which is used to determine the target frequency domain information from the aforementioned frequency domain information. Optionally, the auxiliary information may indicate the transmission configuration of the terminal device, or it may also be referred to as transmission configuration preference.

[0211] Optionally, the auxiliary information received by the network device can instruct the terminal device on the transmission configuration. Based on the auxiliary information and the aforementioned set of configuration information, the network device can determine the target frequency domain information for the terminal device from the aforementioned frequency domain information.

[0212] The network device determines the target frequency domain information based on the configuration information set and the auxiliary information. Specifically, the auxiliary information may indicate the transmission configuration of the terminal device, and the network device can determine the target frequency domain information corresponding to the auxiliary information based on the correlation between the transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information in the configuration information set.

[0213] In this application, the target frequency domain information is included in the configuration information set or the frequency domain information.

[0214] As an optional implementation, the above-mentioned auxiliary information may include at least one of the following:

[0215] (1) An indication that repeated transmission is required;

[0216] (2) Instructions that do not require repeated transmission;

[0217] (3) Number of repeated transmissions;

[0218] (4) Repeat transmission count level;

[0219] (5) Coverage enhancement level;

[0220] (6) DRX cycle;

[0221] (7) Paging cycle.

[0222] For example, the aforementioned auxiliary information, "repeated transmission is required," indicates that the terminal device needs to apply repeated transmission. This "repeated transmission is required" could mean that the terminal device suggests the network device to apply repeated transmission, or it could be requesting the network device to apply repeated transmission. Further details will not be elaborated upon below.

[0223] After receiving the aforementioned auxiliary information, the network device searches for frequency domain information associated with the transmission configuration indicated by the auxiliary information from the aforementioned configuration information set, and uses the frequency domain information as the target frequency domain information.

[0224] Taking the auxiliary information including the number of repeated transmissions as an example, the terminal device sends a number of repeated transmissions to the network device, indicating that the terminal device expects to repeatedly transmit information with that number of repeated transmissions. Assuming that the transmission configuration information included in the configuration information set is in the form of (2) above, that is, the transmission configuration information is the number of repeated transmissions, and each frequency domain information in the configuration information set can be explicitly associated with a number of repeated transmissions, then after receiving the number of repeated transmissions from the terminal device, the network device searches for the number of repeated transmissions in the configuration information set, and takes the frequency domain information associated with the number of repeated transmissions as the target frequency domain information. Then, the network device transmits information according to the number of repeated transmissions at the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information.

[0225] By sending auxiliary information, the terminal device can indicate its transmission configuration preferences to the network device. In turn, the network device can transmit information to the terminal device at the associated frequency domain resources or frequency domain locations, thereby meeting the actual needs of the terminal device and avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and / or the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0226] S403. Send the first message to the terminal device based on the target frequency domain information mentioned above.

[0227] Optionally, the first message sent by the network device to the terminal device based on the aforementioned target frequency domain information may be a message for paging the terminal device or a message for sending data to the terminal device.

[0228] In one possible implementation, the first message mentioned above can be a paging message.

[0229] In one possible implementation, the first message mentioned above includes downlink data.

[0230] In one possible implementation, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0231] After the network device sends the aforementioned configuration information set to the terminal device, the terminal device can retrieve the target frequency domain information from the configuration information set based on the configuration information set and its auxiliary information. Then, the terminal device listens for the first message on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information. Simultaneously, the network device sends the first message on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information, and the terminal device can then receive the first message. Furthermore, the network device sends the first message on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information according to the transmission configuration indicated by the auxiliary information. For example, if the auxiliary information indicates that repeated transmission is required, the network device repeatedly transmits the first message on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information.

[0232] In this embodiment, the network device can obtain the actual transmission configuration required by the terminal device based on the auxiliary information of the terminal device. Based on the auxiliary information, the network device can determine the target frequency domain information associated with the auxiliary information, and send a first message to the terminal device according to the target frequency domain information and the transmission configuration associated with the target frequency domain information. This makes the transmission method of the first message match the actual needs of the terminal device, thereby avoiding the waste of time and frequency resources and / or the increase in power consumption of the terminal device.

[0233] Example 2

[0234] The above explains the transmission configuration information in the configuration information set and the auxiliary information sent by the terminal device. The following section, using a specific communication process, explains the process of information transmission between network devices and terminal devices based on the transmission configuration set and auxiliary information.

[0235] The following describes the process by which a terminal device begins transmitting information (e.g., receiving the first message) from the RRC idle state.

[0236] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the interaction between network devices and terminal devices, such as Figure 5 As shown, an interaction process between a network device and a terminal device when the terminal device starts transmitting information (e.g., receiving the first message) from the RRC idle state includes:

[0237] S501, The network device sends a set of configuration information to the terminal device.

[0238] Optionally, as mentioned above, the network device can send the aforementioned configuration information set to the terminal device via system messages. The configuration information set can be found in the relevant description in step S401, and will not be repeated here.

[0239] In one possible implementation, the terminal device is in RRC connected state or RRC idle state.

[0240] S502, The terminal device determines the target frequency information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information.

[0241] The auxiliary information can indicate the transmission configuration preferences of the terminal device. This auxiliary information may include at least one of the aforementioned indications of whether to repeat transmission, the number of repeat transmissions, the repeat transmission count level, the coverage enhancement level, the DRX cycle, and the paging cycle. For details, please refer to step S402, which will not be repeated here.

[0242] Taking the auxiliary information including the number of repeated transmissions as an example, the terminal device can determine the appropriate number of repeated transmissions based on its current location in the cell, its capabilities, and other information. Assuming the transmission configuration information included in the configuration information set is in the form described in (2) above, i.e., the transmission configuration information is the number of repeated transmissions, and each frequency domain information in the configuration information set can be explicitly associated with a single repeated transmission number, the terminal device can search for that repeated transmission number in the configuration information set based on the appropriate number of repeated transmissions, and use the frequency domain information associated with that repeated transmission number as the target frequency domain information. The terminal device can then receive messages on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information.

[0243] In one possible implementation, the terminal device can be in RRC connected state or RRC idle state during this step.

[0244] S503. The terminal device sends a fourth message to the core network device, which includes auxiliary information of the terminal device.

[0245] Optionally, the terminal device may send a fourth message to the network device, which will then forward the fourth message to the core network device.

[0246] In one possible implementation, during this step, the terminal device is in RRC connected state.

[0247] S504. The core network device sends a second message to the network device, which includes auxiliary information of the terminal device.

[0248] Optionally, the second message can be a paging message. When the core network device paging a terminal device, it sends a paging message to the network device, and at the same time, the paging message carries auxiliary information of the terminal device.

[0249] Optionally, step S503 can be performed before step S501.

[0250] S505, the network device determines the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and configuration information set in the second message.

[0251] The method by which network devices determine target frequency domain information can be the same as the method by which terminal devices determine target frequency domain information in step S502 above. The specific process can be referred to the description of step S502 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0252] S506. The network device sends the first message to the terminal device based on the target frequency domain information.

[0253] In one possible implementation, the first message may be a paging message.

[0254] In one possible implementation, the first message may contain downlink data.

[0255] In one possible implementation, during this step, the terminal device is in the RRC idle state.

[0256] In the above steps, the terminal device and the network device each use the same method to determine the same frequency domain information from the configuration information set, namely the target frequency domain information mentioned above. The network device sends a first message according to the transmission configuration associated with the auxiliary information of the terminal device on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message according to the transmission configuration associated with the auxiliary information of the terminal device on the frequency domain resource or frequency domain location indicated by the target frequency domain information.

[0257] In the above process, the auxiliary information of the terminal device is transmitted to the core network device through the network device. The core network device includes the auxiliary information in the second message. For the terminal device in the RRC idle state, the network device can determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set, and send the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information according to the needs of the terminal device. This can reduce the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0258] Example 3

[0259] Figure 6 Another interaction flowchart between network devices and terminal devices, such as Figure 6 As shown, another interaction process between the network device and the terminal device when the terminal device starts transmitting information (e.g., receiving the first message) from the RRC idle state includes:

[0260] S601, The network device sends a set of configuration information to the terminal device.

[0261] S602. The terminal device determines the target frequency information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information.

[0262] The processing procedures for steps S601 and S602 are the same as those for steps S501 and S502 described above, and can be referred to the descriptions of steps S501 and S502, which will not be repeated here.

[0263] S603, The terminal device sends auxiliary information of the terminal device to the network device.

[0264] After receiving auxiliary information from a terminal device, the network device can save that auxiliary information.

[0265] In one possible implementation, during this step, the terminal device is in RRC connected state.

[0266] S604. Network devices send auxiliary information of terminal devices to core network devices.

[0267] In steps S603 and S604, after the terminal device sends the auxiliary information to the network device, the network device saves it and sends it to the core network device.

[0268] S605, The core network device sends a second message to the network device, which includes auxiliary information of the terminal device.

[0269] Optionally, steps S603 and S604 can be performed before step S601.

[0270] S606. The network device determines the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and configuration information set in the second message.

[0271] S607. The network device sends the first message to the terminal device based on the target frequency domain information.

[0272] In one possible implementation, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state during this step.

[0273] The processing steps S605-S607 can be referred to the description of steps S504-S506, and will not be repeated here.

[0274] In the above process, the terminal device sends auxiliary information to the network device, the network device saves the auxiliary information and sends it to the core network device, and the core network device includes the auxiliary information in the second message. For the terminal device in the RRC idle state, the network device can determine the target frequency domain information based on the auxiliary information and the transmission configuration set, and send the first message to the terminal device in the RRC idle state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information according to the requirements of the terminal device, thereby reducing the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0275] Example 4

[0276] The above describes the processing procedure when a terminal device starts transmitting information (e.g., receiving the first message) from the RRC idle state. Figure 5 and Figure 6 The network device in the following embodiment refers to the first network device. The following describes the processing procedure when the terminal device starts transmitting information (e.g., receiving a first message) from the RRC inactive state.

[0277] Figure 7 This is another type of interaction flowchart between network devices and terminal devices, such as... Figure 7 As shown, another interaction process between the network device and the terminal device when the terminal device starts transmitting information (e.g., receiving the first message) from the RRC inactive state includes:

[0278] S701, The terminal device sends auxiliary information of the terminal device to the first network device.

[0279] See step S603 for details, where the network device in step S603 can be replaced by the first network device in step S701.

[0280] S702, the first network device sends a third message to the second network device, the third message including auxiliary information of the terminal device.

[0281] Optionally, when the first network device receives data to be sent to the terminal device from the core network device, such as downlink data of the terminal device, the first network device may send a third message containing auxiliary information to the second network device.

[0282] In this step, the first network device is the target network device that sends the third message to the second network device.

[0283] S703, the second network device sends a set of configuration information to the terminal device.

[0284] Optionally, the first network device mentioned above may refer to the anchor network device that stores the context information of the terminal device, and the second network device may refer to a network device other than the first network device. For example, the second network device may be the network device where the current serving cell of the terminal device is located.

[0285] In one possible implementation, steps S703 and / or S704 may be performed before step S701.

[0286] S704. The terminal device determines the target frequency information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information.

[0287] The processing procedure for this step is the same as that for step S502 above. Please refer to the description of step S502, which will not be repeated here.

[0288] S705, the second network device determines the target frequency domain information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information.

[0289] The specific execution process is the same as step S505, and can be referred to the aforementioned step S505, so it will not be repeated here. Among them, the network device in step S505 can be replaced by the second network device in step S705.

[0290] S706. The second network device sends the first message to the terminal device based on the target frequency domain information.

[0291] The specific execution process of step S706 is the same as that of step S506, and can be referred to the aforementioned step S506, which will not be repeated here. The network device in step S506 can be replaced by the second network device in step S706.

[0292] Optionally, the first network device can be an anchor network device for the terminal device, or a network device that releases the terminal device to an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state, or a network device that stores the context information of the terminal device. The second network device can be the network device currently serving the terminal device.

[0293] In the above process, the terminal device sends auxiliary information to the first network device, and the first network device sends auxiliary information to the second network device. For the terminal device in the RRC inactive state, the first network device and the second network device can determine the target frequency domain information according to the auxiliary information and the configuration information set, and send the first message to the terminal device in the RRC inactive state on the frequency domain resources indicated by the target frequency domain information according to the requirements of the terminal device, thereby reducing the consumption of time and frequency resources or the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0294] In this application, the meanings of auxiliary information, configuration information sets, and frequency domain information in the various embodiments can be referenced to each other to avoid redundancy.

[0295] Figure 8 This is a module structure diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The device can be the aforementioned network device, or it can be a device that enables the network device to perform the functions of the network device in the method provided in this embodiment of the application. For example, the device can be a component or chip system within the network device. Figure 8 As shown, the device includes a communication unit 801 and a processing unit 802.

[0296] The processing unit 802 is configured to send a set of configuration information to a terminal device via the communication unit 801. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The transmission configuration information is associated with the frequency domain information.

[0297] The communication unit 801 is used to receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, the auxiliary information being used to determine target frequency domain information from the frequency domain information.

[0298] The processing unit 802 is further configured to send a first message to the terminal device through the communication unit 801 based on the target frequency domain information.

[0299] In one optional implementation, the transmission configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0300] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, threshold for number of repeated transmissions, level of number of repeated transmissions, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, DRX cycle threshold, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

[0301] In one optional implementation, the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0302] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0303] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 801 is further configured to:

[0304] The auxiliary information is received from the terminal device; or, a second message is received from the core network device, the second message including the auxiliary information; or, a third message is received from the target network device, the third message including the auxiliary information.

[0305] In one optional implementation, the frequency domain information includes at least one of the following:

[0306] Carrier information, BWP information, narrowband information.

[0307] In one optional implementation, the terminal device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0308] Figure 9 This is a module structure diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This device can be the aforementioned terminal device, or it can be a device that enables the terminal device to perform the functions of the terminal device in the method provided in this embodiment of the application. For example, the device can be a component or chip system within the terminal device. Figure 9 As shown, the device includes a communication unit 901 and a processing unit 902.

[0309] The communication unit 901 is configured to receive a set of configuration information from a first network device, the set of configuration information including at least one set of configuration information, the configuration information including transmission configuration information and frequency domain information, the transmission configuration information being associated with the frequency domain information.

[0310] The processing unit 902 is configured to determine target frequency domain information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information; and to receive a first message from the first network device via the communication unit 901 based on the target frequency domain information.

[0311] In one optional implementation, the transmission configuration information includes at least one of the following:

[0312] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, threshold for number of repeated transmissions, level of number of repeated transmissions, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, DRX cycle threshold, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

[0313] In one optional implementation, the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0314] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0315] In an optional implementation, the processing unit 902 is further configured to:

[0316] The auxiliary information is sent to the first network device or the second network device through the communication unit; or, a fourth message, including the auxiliary information, is sent to the core network device through the communication unit.

[0317] In one optional implementation, the frequency domain information includes at least one of the following:

[0318] Carrier information, BWP information, narrowband information.

[0319] In one alternative implementation, the communication device is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0320] Figure 10 This is a module structure diagram of another communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. This device can be the aforementioned core network device, or it can be a device that enables the core network device to perform the functions of the core network device in the method provided in the embodiments of this application. For example, the device can be a device or chip system within the core network device. Figure 10 As shown, the device includes a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002.

[0321] The communication unit 1001 is used to receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, the auxiliary information being used to determine target frequency domain information, and the target frequency domain information being used to send a first message.

[0322] The processing unit 1002 is used to send a second message to the first network device through the communication unit 1001, the second message including the auxiliary information.

[0323] In an optional implementation, the communication unit 1001 is further configured to:

[0324] The auxiliary information is received from the first network device or the second network device; or, a fourth message is received from the terminal device, the fourth message including the auxiliary information.

[0325] In one optional implementation, the auxiliary information includes at least any one of the following:

[0326] Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

[0327] In one optional implementation, the frequency domain information includes at least any one of the following:

[0328] Carrier information, BWP information, narrowband information.

[0329] The communication device provided in this application embodiment can execute the method steps in the above method embodiment. Its implementation principle and technical effect are similar, and will not be described again here.

[0330] It should be noted that the division of the various modules in the above device is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a single physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Furthermore, these modules can be implemented entirely in software via processing element calls; they can be fully implemented in hardware; or some modules can be implemented by processing element calls to software, while others are implemented in hardware. For example, a determination module can be a separate processing element, or it can be integrated into a chip within the above device. Alternatively, it can be stored as program code in the memory of the above device, and its function can be called and executed by a processing element of the device. The implementation of other modules is similar. Moreover, these modules can be fully or partially integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element mentioned here can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method or each of the above modules can be completed through integrated logic circuits in the hardware of the processor element or through software instructions.

[0331] For example, these modules can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). As another example, when a module is implemented using processing element scheduler code, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor capable of calling program code. Furthermore, these modules can be integrated together to implement a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0332] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved entirely or partially through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented entirely or partially 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, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state disk (SSD)).

[0333] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device can be the network device, terminal device, or core network device described in the foregoing embodiments. Figure 11 As shown, the communication device 1100 may include a processor 111 (e.g., a CPU). Optionally, it may also include a memory 112 and / or a transceiver 113; the transceiver 113 is coupled to the processor 111, and the processor 111 controls the transmission and reception operations of the transceiver 113. The memory 112 may store various instructions for performing various processing functions and implementing the method steps executed by the network device, terminal device, or core network device in the embodiments of this application.

[0334] Optionally, the communication device involved in this application embodiment may further include: a power supply 114, a system bus 115, and a communication interface 116. The transceiver 113 may be integrated into the transceiver of the communication device, or it may be a separate transceiver antenna on the communication device. The system bus 115 is used to realize communication connections between components. The aforementioned communication interface 116 is used to realize communication between the communication device and other peripherals.

[0335] In this embodiment, the processor 111 is coupled to the memory 112 to read and execute instructions in the memory 112, thereby implementing the method steps performed by the network device, terminal device, or core network device in the above method embodiment. The transceiver 113 is coupled to the processor 111, and the processor 111 controls the transceiver 113 to send and receive messages. Its implementation principle and technical effect are similar, and will not be described again here.

[0336] Should Figure 11 The system bus mentioned can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The system bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The communication interface is used to enable communication between the database access device and other devices (e.g., clients, read-write libraries, and read-only libraries). Memory may include RAM and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device.

[0337] Should Figure 11 The processor mentioned can be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; it can also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components.

[0338] Optionally, embodiments of this application also provide a readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the above-described actions. Figures 4 to 7 The method of the illustrated embodiment.

[0339] Optionally, embodiments of this application also provide a chip for executing instructions, the chip being used to execute the above-mentioned instructions. Figures 4 to 7 The method of the illustrated embodiment.

[0340] This application also provides a program product, which includes a computer program stored in a storage medium. At least one processor can read the computer program from the storage medium, and the at least one processor can perform the above-described actions when executing the computer program. Figures 4 to 7 The method of the illustrated embodiment.

[0341] In the embodiments of this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship; in formulas, the character " / " indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in a "division" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0342] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0343] It is understood that, in the embodiments of the present invention, the order of the above-mentioned process numbers does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0344] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: A set of configuration information is sent to a terminal device in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state or RRC inactive state via system messages. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information are associated through a mapping relationship, which indicates that different transmission configuration requirements correspond to different frequency domain resource allocations. The transmission configuration information includes the number of repeated transmissions and the DRX period threshold. Receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, the auxiliary information indicating the transmission configuration requirements of the terminal device, and used to determine target frequency domain information from the configuration information set; A first message is sent to the terminal device based on the target frequency domain information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transmission configuration information also includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, threshold for repeated transmission count, coverage enhancement level, repeated transmission count level, discontinuous reception DRX cycle, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, Also includes: Receive a second message from the core network equipment, the second message including the auxiliary information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The frequency domain information is carrier information.

6. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applicable to terminal devices or chips of said terminal devices, including: The terminal device receives a set of configuration information sent by a first network device through a system message. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The terminal device is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state. The transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information are associated through a mapping relationship. The mapping relationship indicates that different transmission configuration requirements correspond to different frequency domain resource allocations. The transmission configuration information includes the number of repeated transmissions and the DRX period threshold. The target frequency domain information is determined based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information, wherein the auxiliary information indicates the transmission configuration requirements of the terminal device; Receive a first message from the first network device based on the target frequency domain information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The transmission configuration information also includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, threshold for repeated transmission count, coverage enhancement level, repeated transmission count level, discontinuous reception DRX cycle, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, Also includes: Send the auxiliary information to the first network device or the second network device; or, A fourth message is sent to the core network equipment, the fourth message including the auxiliary information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, The frequency domain information is carrier information.

11. A communications device, characterized by include: Communication unit and processing unit; The processing unit is configured to send a set of configuration information to a terminal device in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state or RRC inactive state via system messages through the communication unit. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information are associated through a mapping relationship, which indicates that different transmission configuration requirements correspond to different frequency domain resource allocations. The transmission configuration information includes the number of repeated transmissions and the DRX period threshold. The communication unit is used to receive auxiliary information from the terminal device, the auxiliary information indicating the transmission configuration requirements of the terminal device, and to determine target frequency domain information from the configuration information set; The processing unit is further configured to send a first message to the terminal device through the communication unit based on the target frequency domain information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, The transmission configuration information also includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, threshold for repeated transmission count, coverage enhancement level, repeated transmission count level, discontinuous reception DRX cycle, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, The auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

14. The apparatus of any one of claims 11-13, wherein, The communication unit is also configured to receive a second message from the core network equipment, the second message including the auxiliary information.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 11-13, wherein, The frequency domain information is carrier information.

16. A communications device, characterized by include: Communication unit and processing unit; The communication unit is configured to receive a set of configuration information sent by the first network device through system messages. The set of configuration information includes at least one set of configuration information, which includes transmission configuration information and frequency domain information. The terminal device is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state. The transmission configuration information and the frequency domain information are associated through a mapping relationship. The mapping relationship indicates that different transmission configuration requirements correspond to different frequency domain resource allocations. The transmission configuration information includes the number of repeated transmissions and the DRX period threshold. The processing unit is configured to determine target frequency domain information based on the configuration information set and auxiliary information, wherein the auxiliary information indicates the transmission configuration requirements of the terminal device; and Based on the target frequency domain information, the first message from the first network device is received through the communication unit.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein, The transmission configuration information also includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, threshold for repeated transmission count, coverage enhancement level, repeated transmission count level, discontinuous reception DRX cycle, paging cycle, and paging cycle threshold.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein, The auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: Indicator for repeated transmission, number of repeated transmissions, repeated transmission level, coverage enhancement level, DRX cycle, paging cycle.

19. The apparatus of any of claims 16-18, wherein, The processing unit is also used for: The auxiliary information is sent to the first network device or the second network device via the communication unit; or... The fourth message, which includes the auxiliary information, is sent to the core network equipment through the communication unit.

20. The apparatus of any one of claims 16-18, wherein, The frequency domain information is carrier information.

21. A communications device, characterized by include: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is configured to realize connection communication between the communication device and an external device; the processor is configured to realize the method of any one of claims 1-5 and any one of claims 6-10.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, which, when executed, realizes the method of any one of claims 1-5 and any one of claims 6-10.

23. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program, when executed by a processor, realizes the method of any one of claims 1-5 and any one of claims 6-10.