Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and device. In the application, a first terminal device receives first information and second information. The first information is used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged. If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. A subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is one of the at least two subgroups. The first terminal device determines whether to receive a paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or determines whether to listen to a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the second information. The scheme provided by the application can make full use of limited bit signaling resources for grouping indication, and reduce resource waste.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0002] The terminal device in the radio resource control (RRC) idle state or the RRC inactive state mainly performs the following processes: listening to the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and radio resource management (RRM) measurement.

[0003] Specifically, the network device configures a paging discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle for the terminal device, and the terminal device only needs to listen to the paging PDCCH at a paging occasion (PO) (also referred to as a paging moment) in a paging DRX cycle, and can enter a sleep state and stop listening to the paging PDCCH at other times.

[0004] If there is a terminal device that is paged among the terminal devices listening to the same PO, the network device will send a paging downlink control information (DCI) at the PO, and the paging DCI will schedule a paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The paging PDSCH carries the identity (ID) of the terminal device that is paged. If the terminal device matches its own ID in the received PDSCH, it confirms that it is paged; if the terminal device does not match its own ID in the paging PDSCH, it confirms that it is not paged. These terminal devices that do not match their own ID in the paging PDSCH are paging false alarms. It can be seen that the terminal devices that produce paging false alarms do not need to receive and decode the PDSCH, resulting in power waste.

[0005] To solve the above power waste problem, the terminal devices listening to the same PO are further grouped, that is, sub-grouping. For example, it is indicated in the paging DCI whether one or more sub-groups of the terminal devices listening to the PO are paged, so that the terminal devices in the terminal device sub-group that are not paged can directly enter a sleep state and stop receiving and decoding the paging PDSCH, thereby saving power.

[0006] However, when the terminal device corresponding to a certain feature value is not paged, the corresponding bit cannot be used to group-indicate the terminal devices corresponding to other feature values, resulting in waste of bit resources; moreover, for the terminal device corresponding to a certain feature value, the proportion of the number of terminal devices paged at different time instants to the total number of terminal devices corresponding to the feature value is constantly changing, and therefore, the fixed allocation of bits is not suitable for group indication at some time instants. SUMMARY

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and device, which can make full use of limited bit signaling resources for group indication and reduce resource waste.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a first terminal device receiving first information and second information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged;

[0009] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs being one of the at least two subgroups, and the first terminal device determining whether to receive a paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or determining whether to monitor a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the second information.

[0010] The scheme provided by the present application can make full use of signaling resources included in the second information and reduce resource waste, because the content indicated by the second information is related to the content indicated by the first information, for example, in the case where the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, so that the first terminal device can determine whether to receive a paging PDSCH or determine whether to monitor a paging PDCCH according to the content indicated by the second information, and in the case where the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information can not be used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged, at this time, the second information can be reserved or used to indicate other functions, and therefore, the signaling resources included in the second information can be more fully utilized, and resource waste can be reduced.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups are paged and the second information is not effective, and the first terminal device determines not to receive the PDSCH or determines not to monitor the PDCCH.

[0012] In the scheme provided in the application, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups divided from the first terminal device group are paged and invalid, so that the first terminal device can determine not to receive the paging PDSCH or determine not to listen to the paging PDCCH. Therefore, when the first information and the second information are carried by different channels / signals, the first terminal device can only receive the first information and not receive the second information, so as to reduce the waste of power consumption. Alternatively, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group included in the second information is set to a specific state, so as to improve the reliability of PDCCH transmission. Alternatively, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group included in the second information is reserved, which can be used to indicate other functions in the future, so as to avoid the waste of bit signaling resources and improve the utilization rate of signaling resources.

[0013] With reference to the first aspect, in some possible design, the first information is further used to indicate whether a second terminal device group to which a second terminal device belongs is paged.

[0014] With reference to the first aspect, in some possible design, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group; if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; and if the first information indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information field is used to indicate whether N subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0015] With reference to the first aspect, in some possible design, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group;

[0016] if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0017] if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

[0018] The scheme provided in the application is that when the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field included in the second information are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. Since M2 is greater than M1, the number of subgroups into which the paged terminal device group is divided is increased, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the first terminal device receives third information, the third information being used to indicate grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, the grouping indication priorities being used to determine terminal device groups that are preferentially indicated by the second information;

[0020] The first terminal device determines, according to the second information, whether to receive a paging PDSCH or whether to monitor a paging PDCCH, including:

[0021] The first terminal device determines, according to the second information and the third information, whether to receive the PDSCH or whether to monitor the paging PDCCH.

[0022] The scheme provided in the application can indicate the grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group through the third information or a protocol, so that the terminal device group with a high grouping indication priority is preferentially indicated, and the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device with a high grouping indication priority is preferentially reduced. In particular, for the terminal device group that is more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect can be achieved, so that the use efficiency of the signaling resources can be improved.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are predefined by a protocol.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, if the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group,

[0025] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or

[0026] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0027] The scheme provided in the application is that, if the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged when the first terminal device group is paged; and if the first terminal device is not paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged when the second terminal device group is paged. Thus, the first terminal device group can be preferentially indicated by grouping, and in particular, for the terminal device group more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise can be achieved between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the first information includes a Pth field corresponding to the first terminal device group and a Qth field corresponding to the second terminal device group, P and Q are positive integers, P is less than Q,

[0029] If the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged.

[0030] If the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0031] The scheme provided in the application is that, if the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; and if the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. Thus, the first terminal device group corresponding to the Pth field can be preferentially indicated by grouping, and in particular, for the terminal device group more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise can be achieved between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0032] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the first terminal device receives fourth information, and if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group.

[0033] The first terminal device determines whether to receive a paging PDSCH or determines whether to monitor a paging PDCCH according to the second information, including:

[0034] The first terminal device determines whether to receive the paging PDSCH or determines whether to monitor the paging PDCCH according to the second information and the fourth information.

[0035] The scheme provided in the application can be used for the network device to send fourth information used for indicating information fields corresponding to terminal device groups, and the number of groups of terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly determined through dynamic indication of the information fields corresponding to the terminal device groups by the fourth information, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible design, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged,

[0037] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the first state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used for indicating whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used for indicating whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0038] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used for indicating whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

[0039] In the scheme provided in the application, if the information field included in the fourth information is in the second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used for indicating whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. Through dynamic indication of the information fields corresponding to the terminal device groups by the fourth information, the number of groups of terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly increased, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0040] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible design, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged,

[0041] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the third state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used for indicating whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information is used for indicating whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0042] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the fourth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M2 is greater than M1; or

[0043] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the second terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged, where N2 is greater than N1.

[0044] In the scheme provided in the present application, in the case where the information field included in the fourth information is in the fourth state or the fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group or the second terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged or whether N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. By dynamically indicating the information field corresponding to the terminal device group through the fourth information, the number of grouped terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly increased, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0045] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged,

[0046] the first information field and the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or

[0047] the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M2 is less than M3; or

[0048] the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M1 is less than M2; or

[0049] the fourth information is used to indicate any one of the following cases:

[0050] the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups are paged; or

[0051] the first information field is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups are paged.

[0052] The scheme provided in the application can dynamically indicate whether at least two subgroups of the paged first terminal device group are paged, can flexibly increase the number of grouped terminal device groups that are paged, can reduce the false alarm probability of terminal device paging, and further can reduce the waste of terminal device power consumption.

[0053] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that neither the first terminal device group nor the second terminal device group is paged,

[0054] At least one of the first information field, the second information field, and the information field included in the fourth information is reserved or set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions.

[0055] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, the third information is carried in first downlink control information (DCI), or in a first medium access control control element (MAC CE), or in radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0056] The fourth information is carried in second DCI or second MAC CE.

[0057] In combination with the first aspect, in some possible designs, a paging early indication channel / signal carries the first information, a paging PDCCH carries the second information, the paging early indication channel / signal is before the paging PDCCH in the time domain, or the paging early indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH are located in the same time slot or the same subframe; or,

[0058] The paging early indication channel / signal carries part of information included in the first information and the second information, and the paging PDCCH carries information other than the part of information in the second information.

[0059] The scheme provided in the application carries first information through a paging early indication channel / signal (such as PEI) and carries second information through a paging PDCCH, so that the first terminal device can determine whether the terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged according to the indication of the first information in the PEI, to determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH. When the first terminal device determines not to listen to the paging PDCCH, the first terminal device can not have to listen to the paging PDCCH and return to a deep sleep state, thereby further saving power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, the PEI only includes the first information, which can save signaling overhead of the PEI, help to reduce block error rate of the PEI, and improve reliability of the PEI. Alternatively, the paging early indication channel / signal carries part of the first information and the second information, so that the terminal device corresponding to the part of the information domain can determine whether the terminal device subgroup to which the terminal device belongs is paged, to determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH. In this way, for a terminal device that is more sensitive to power consumption, the terminal device can know whether the terminal device is paged as early as possible while reducing false alarm probability of the terminal device. When the terminal device determines that the terminal device is not paged, the terminal device can return to a deep sleep state as early as possible, thereby further saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0060] With reference to the first aspect, in some possible designs, the first terminal device group includes terminal devices with the same feature, the second terminal device group includes terminal devices with the same feature, and the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group include terminal devices with different features. The features include at least one of the following:

[0061] A type of the terminal device, a sensitivity of the terminal device to power consumption, and a probability of the terminal device being paged.

[0062] With reference to the first aspect, in some possible designs, the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging PDCCH at the same paging occasion PO, and / or,

[0063] The first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging early indication channel / signal.

[0064] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a network device sending first information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which a first terminal device belongs is paged;

[0065] The network device sends second information, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information being used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged.

[0066] The scheme provided in the application, since the content indicated by the second information is related to the content indicated by the first information, for example, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, so that after the first terminal device receives the first information and the second information, it can determine whether to receive the paging PDSCH or determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH according to the content indicated by the second information, and in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information can not be used to indicate whether at least two subgroups divided by the first terminal device group are paged, at this time, the second information can be reserved or used to indicate other functions, so that the signaling resource included in the second information can be more fully utilized, and the waste of signaling resources can be reduced.

[0067] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups are paged and the second information is not effective.

[0068] The scheme provided in the application, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups divided by the first terminal device group are paged and is not effective, so that after the first terminal device receives the first information and the second information, it can determine not to receive the paging PDSCH or determine not to listen to the paging PDCCH, and the waste of power consumption can be reduced.

[0069] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the first information is also used to indicate whether a second terminal device group to which a second terminal device belongs is paged.

[0070] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group; if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; and if the first information indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information field is used to indicate whether N subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0071] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group;

[0072] if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0073] if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

[0074] The scheme provided in the application is that, when the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field included in the second information are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. Since the M2 is greater than the M1, the number of subgroups of the paged terminal device group is increased, which can reduce the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device, and further, can reduce the waste of power consumption of the terminal device.

[0075] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the network device sends third information, and the third information is used to indicate grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, and the grouping indication priorities are used to determine terminal device groups that are preferentially indicated by the second information.

[0076] The scheme provided in the application is that the network device can indicate or predefine, by the third information, the grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, so that the terminal device group with a high grouping indication priority is preferentially indicated by grouping, and the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device with a high grouping indication priority is preferentially reduced. In particular, for the terminal device group that is more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise between limited signaling resources and energy saving effect of the terminal device can be achieved, so that the use efficiency of the signaling resources can be improved.

[0077] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are predefined by a protocol.

[0078] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, if the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group,

[0079] if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged;

[0080] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0081] The scheme provided in the present application is that if the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group, when the first terminal device group is paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; and when the first terminal device is not paged, if the second terminal device group is paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. Thus, the first terminal device group can be preferentially indicated by grouping, and especially for terminal device groups that are more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise can be achieved between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0082] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the first information includes a Pth field corresponding to the first terminal device group and a Qth field corresponding to the second terminal device group, P and Q are positive integers, P is less than Q,

[0083] If the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged;

[0084] If the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0085] The scheme provided in the present application is that if the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; and if the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. Thus, the first terminal device group corresponding to the Pth field can be preferentially indicated by grouping, and especially for terminal device groups that are more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise can be achieved between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0086] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the method further includes:

[0087] The network device sends fourth information, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group.

[0088] The scheme provided in the application can be used for the network device to send fourth information used for indicating information fields corresponding to terminal device groups, and the number of groups of terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly determined through dynamic indication of the information fields corresponding to the terminal device groups by the fourth information, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0089] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged,

[0090] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the first state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used for indicating whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used for indicating whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0091] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used for indicating whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M2 is greater than M1.

[0092] In the scheme provided in the application, if the information field included in the fourth information is in the second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used for indicating whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. The network device can flexibly increase the number of groups of terminal device groups that are paged through dynamic indication of the information fields corresponding to the terminal device groups by the fourth information, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0093] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged,

[0094] if the information field included in the fourth information is in the third state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used for indicating whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information is used for indicating whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0095] if the fourth information includes a fourth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M2 is greater than M1; or

[0096] if the fourth information includes a fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the second terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged, where N2 is greater than N1.

[0097] In the scheme provided in the present application, in the case where the information field included in the fourth information is in the fourth state or the fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group or the second terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged or whether N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. The network device dynamically indicates the information field corresponding to the terminal device group through the fourth information, which can flexibly increase the number of grouped terminal device groups that are paged, can reduce the false alarm probability of terminal device paging, and further can reduce the waste of terminal device power consumption.

[0098] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged,

[0099] the first information field and the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or

[0100] the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M2 is less than M3; or

[0101] the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M1 is less than M2; or

[0102] the fourth information is used to indicate any one of the following cases:

[0103] the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups are paged; or

[0104] the first information field is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups are paged.

[0105] In the scheme provided in the application, in the case that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field, the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information can dynamically indicate whether at least two subgroups of the paged first terminal device group are paged, the number of the grouped terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly increased, the false alarm probability of the terminal device paging can be reduced, and further, the waste of the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0106] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that neither the first terminal device group nor the second terminal device group is paged,

[0107] At least one of the first information field, the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information is reserved or set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions.

[0108] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, the third information is carried in a first downlink control information (DCI), or a first medium access control control element (MAC CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0109] The fourth information is carried in a second DCI or a second MAC CE.

[0110] In combination with the second aspect, in some possible designs, a paging early indication channel / signal carries the first information, a paging PDCCH carries the second information, the paging early indication channel / signal is before the paging PDCCH in the time domain, or the paging early indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH are located in the same time slot or the same subframe; or,

[0111] The paging early indication channel / signal carries part of the information included in the second information, and the paging PDCCH carries the information in the second information other than the part of the information.

[0112] The scheme provided in the application carries first information through a paging early indication channel / signal (such as PEI) and carries second information through a paging PDCCH, so that the first terminal device can determine whether the terminal device group in which the first terminal device is located is paged according to the indication of the first information in the PEI after receiving the PEI, to determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH. When the first terminal device determines not to listen to the paging PDCCH, the first terminal device can not have to listen to the paging PDCCH and return to a deep sleep state, thereby further saving power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, the PEI only includes the first information, which can save signaling overhead of the PEI, help to reduce block error rate of the PEI, and improve reliability of the PEI. Alternatively, the paging early indication channel / signal carries part of the first information and the second information, so that the terminal device corresponding to the part of the information domain can determine whether the terminal device sub-group in which the terminal device is located is paged, to determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH. In this way, for a terminal device that is more sensitive to power consumption, the terminal device can know whether the terminal device is paged as early as possible while reducing a false alarm probability of the terminal device. When the terminal device determines that the terminal device is not paged, the terminal device can return to a deep sleep state as early as possible, thereby further saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0113] With reference to the second aspect, in some possible designs, the first terminal device group includes terminal devices with the same feature, the second terminal device group includes terminal devices with the same feature, and the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group include terminal devices with different features. The features include at least one of the following:

[0114] A type of the terminal device, a sensitivity of the terminal device to power consumption, and a paging probability of the terminal device.

[0115] With reference to the second aspect, in some possible designs, the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging PDCCH at the same paging occasion PO, and / or,

[0116] The first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging early indication channel / signal.

[0117] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. Benefits of the communication apparatus can be referred to the description of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. The communication apparatus has functions to implement the behaviors of the method embodiments of the first aspect. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible design, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver module configured to transmit first information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which a first terminal device belongs is paged. The transceiver module is further configured to transmit second information, the second information being used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged. These modules can perform the corresponding functions in the method examples of the first aspect described above, and details are not described here again.

[0118] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. Benefits of the communication apparatus can be referred to the description of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here. The communication apparatus has functions to implement the behaviors of the method embodiments of the second aspect. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above. In one possible design, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver module configured to receive first information and second information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which a first terminal device belongs is paged. The communication apparatus further includes a processing module configured to store instructions, the second information being used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, and configured to determine whether to receive a paging PDSCH or to monitor a paging PDCCH according to the second information. These modules can perform the corresponding functions in the method examples of the second aspect described above, and details are not described here again.

[0119] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be a terminal device in the method embodiments described above, or a chip arranged in a terminal device. The communication apparatus includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs or instructions. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor executes the computer programs or instructions, the communication apparatus performs the method performed by the terminal device in the method embodiments described above.

[0120] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be a network device in the method embodiments, or a chip set in the network device. The communication apparatus includes a communication interface, a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs or instructions. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor executes the computer programs or instructions, the communication apparatus performs the method performed by the network device in the method embodiments.

[0121] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program codes. When the computer program codes are run, the method performed by the terminal device in the aspects is performed.

[0122] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer program codes. When the computer program codes are run, the method performed by the network device in the aspects is performed.

[0123] In a ninth aspect, a chip system is provided. The chip system includes a processor configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the methods in the aspects. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory configured to store program instructions and / or data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0124] In a tenth aspect, a chip system is provided. The chip system includes a processor configured to implement the functions of the network device in the methods in the aspects. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory configured to store program instructions and / or data. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0125] In an eleventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is run, the method performed by the terminal device in the aspects is implemented.

[0126] In a twelfth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is run, the method performed by the network device in the aspects is implemented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0127] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0128] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a terminal device listening to a paging PDCCH at a paging occasion of the terminal device.

[0129] Figure 3 A diagram of bits allocated to terminal devices with the same characteristic is provided for the present application.

[0130] Figure 4 A diagram of the proportion of the number of terminal devices with a certain characteristic value in the total number of terminal devices for the number of terminal devices being paged at different time instants for the characteristic of device type is provided for the present application.

[0131] Figure 5 A flow diagram of a communication method provided for an embodiment of the present application.

[0132] Figure 6 A diagram of a terminal device listening to a paging PDCCH at a paging occasion provided for an embodiment of the present application.

[0133] Figure 7 A schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided for an embodiment of the present application.

[0134] Figure 8 A schematic structural diagram of another communication apparatus provided for an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0135] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0136] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: long term evolution (LTE) systems (including LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD)), 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems or new radio (NR) communication systems, and future mobile communication systems, etc.

[0137] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the wireless communication system 100 can include one or more network devices, for example, a network device 10 as shown in Figure 1 . The wireless communication system 100 can also include one or more terminal devices, for example, a terminal device 20, a terminal device 30, a terminal device 40, etc. as shown in Figure 1 .

[0138] It should be understood that Figure 1Just a schematic diagram, other network devices can also be included in the communication system, such as a core network device and a wireless relay device (also referred to as a wireless backhaul device) can also be included in the Figure 1 Embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of network devices and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

[0139] In the mobile communication system 100, the terminal device 20, the terminal device 30, and the terminal device 40 in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a terminal, a terminal device, a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, and can also be a wireless terminal applied in scenarios such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self driving, remote medical, smart grid, transportation safety, smart city, and smart home, etc. The foregoing terminal devices and chips applicable to the foregoing terminal devices are collectively referred to as terminal devices in the present application. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

[0140] The network device 10 in the embodiments of the present application can be a device for communicating with a terminal device. The network device can be a base station, an evolved node B (eNB), a home base station, an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP), a transmission and reception point (TRP), or a gNB in an NR system, or a component or part of a device constituting a base station, such as a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a baseband unit (BBU). It should be understood that the specific technology and specific device form of the network device are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the present application, the network device can refer to the network device itself or a chip applied in the network device to complete the wireless communication processing function.

[0141] It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device or the network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), a memory (also referred to as a main memory), and the like. The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through a process, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a windows operating system. The application layer includes a browser, a contact list, word processing software, instant messaging software, and the like. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, as long as the execution subject can communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running a program in which the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is recorded. For example, the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or the network device that can call and execute a program.

[0142] In addition, various aspects or features of the disclosure can be realized using one or more of a variety of approaches. For example, the functions described in this disclosure can be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the software can be executed in a processor, which can include one or more general purpose central processing units (CPUs), application-specific processing units, logic arrays, or any other arrangement of logic for executing instructions in machine-readable media. Examples of machine-readable media include any storage media, alterable media, communication media, or any other media capable of storing instructions in a manner that causes one or more processors to perform various aspects of the disclosure.

[0143] In addition, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable storage media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" can include, without limitation, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instruction(s) and / or data.

[0144] It should be understood that the division of modes, cases, categories, and embodiments in the embodiments of the disclosure is only for the convenience of description, and the features in various modes, categories, cases, and embodiments can be combined without contradiction.

[0145] It should also be understood that "first", "second", and "third" in the embodiments of the disclosure are only for distinction and should not constitute any limitation on the disclosure. For example, "first information" and "second information" in the embodiments of the disclosure represent information transmitted between network devices and terminal devices.

[0146] It should also be understood that in various embodiments of the disclosure, the size of the serial number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the disclosure.

[0147] It should also be noted that in the embodiments of the disclosure, "predefined" and the like can be realized by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other ways that can be used to indicate related information in devices (such as terminal devices and network devices). The disclosure does not limit the specific implementation manner thereof, for example, the rules pre-set in the embodiments of the disclosure, the pre-set constants, and the like.

[0148] It also needs to be explained that "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. The technical solutions provided in the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0149] In the following embodiments, without loss of generality, taking a base station as a network device, taking the communication process of a sidelink between at least two terminal devices and the communication process of an uplink between a terminal device and a base station as examples, the communication method of the present application will be specifically introduced. The terminal device can be any terminal device in a wireless communication system which has a wireless connection relationship with one or more network devices. It can be understood that any terminal device in the wireless communication system can implement wireless communication based on the same technical solutions. The present application does not limit this.

[0150] As shown in the above Figure 1 The terminal device can be in an RRC active state, an RRC inactive state or an RRC idle state. The terminal device in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state mainly performs the following processes: listening to a paging PDCCH and RRM measurement.

[0151] Specifically, the network device configures a terminal device with a paging discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The terminal device only needs to listen to a paging PDCCH at a paging occasion (PO) in a paging DRX cycle, and can enter a sleep state and not listen to the paging PDCCH at other times.

[0152] The process of the terminal device listening to the paging PDCCH includes that the terminal device listens to the paging PDCCH at its own PO. Here, the PDCCH used to carry the paging DCI is referred to as the paging PDCCH. If the paging DCI carried by the paging PDCCH indicates that there is a paging message, the terminal device will receive and parse the corresponding PDSCH. The PDSCH scheduled by the paging PDCCH can be referred to as the paging PDSCH. The paging PDSCH carries the paging message, and part of the paging message, such as short messages, is also included in the paging DCI. If the terminal device does not blind detect the DCI in the paging PDCCH, or blind detects the paging DCI but the paging DCI indicates that there is no PDSCH scheduled, the terminal device considers that there is no paging message, and thus enters a sleep state until the next paging occasion after a paging DRX cycle, and the terminal device wakes up to listen to the paging PDCCH.

[0153] The PO (or the PO of the terminal device itself or corresponding to the terminal device) listened to by the terminal device is related to the ID of the terminal device, and therefore different terminal devices may listen to different POs or may listen to the same PO. The ID of the terminal device can also be referred to as UE_ID. In a specific implementation, the terminal device can calculate its corresponding PO according to the information semi-statically configured by the network device and the formula predefined in the protocol, that is, calculate the time domain position at which the terminal device listens to the paging PDCCH.

[0154] As shown in Figure 2 , a schematic diagram in which the terminal device listens to the paging PDCCH at its paging occasion.

[0155] Referring to Figure 2 , a terminal device listens to the paging PDCCH at the PO calculated by the terminal device itself in a DRX cycle, Figure 2 In the figure, the DRX cycle = 1.28s, one paging frame includes 2 POs, and the terminal devices 1-10 listen to the paging PDCCH at PO1. After one cycle, the terminal devices 1-10 listen to the paging PDCCH at PO3.

[0156] The information semi-statically configured by the network device includes:

[0157] • a paging DRX cycle T;

[0158] • the number N of paging frames included in each paging DRX cycle T (note that N is not directly configured, but is derived through the configuration information);

[0159] • the number Ns of paging occasions in each paging frame;

[0160] • a paging frame offset PF_offset used to calculate the paging frame.

[0161] As described above, the PO listened to by the terminal device can be related to the ID of the terminal device. In NR, the ID of the terminal device is related to the fifth generation system architecture evolution temporary mobile user identifier (5G SAE-temporary mobile subscription identifier, 5G-S-TMSI), wherein SAE represents system architecture evolution (system architecture evolution). If the terminal device does not have 5G-S-TMSI, the ID of the terminal device = 0, otherwise, the ID of the terminal device = 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024.

[0162] The frame number (SFN) of the radio frame in which the terminal device listens to the paging PDCCH can be determined by formula (1):

[0163] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N) (1)

[0164] Wherein, SFN represents the frame number of the radio frame that the terminal device listens to for paging PDCCH, PF_offset represents the paging frame offset used by the terminal device for calculation, T represents the paging DRX period, (SFN+PF_offset)mod T represents the remainder of (SFN+PF_offset) divided by T, N represents the number of paging frames included in each paging DRX period T, div represents the division operation, T div N represents the value obtained by dividing T by N, UE_ID represents the ID of the terminal device, and (UE_ID mod N) represents the remainder of the ID of the terminal device divided by N.

[0165] After calculating the paging frame (frame number: SFN) used for listening to the paging PDCCH, if a PF includes only one PO, the terminal device can listen to this one PO. If a paging frame includes multiple POs, the terminal device determines to listen to the (i_s+1)th PO, where i_s is determined by equation (2):

[0166] i_s = floor(UE_ID / N) mod Ns(2)

[0167] Wherein, UE_ID / N represents the value obtained by dividing UE_ID by N, floor(UE_ID / N) represents rounding down UE_ID / N, and Ns represents the number of paging opportunities in each paging frame.

[0168] According to equations (1) and (2) above, the terminal device determines the PO to be monitored based on its own UE_ID. Therefore, different terminal devices may be mapped to the same or different POs.

[0169] For example, for terminal devices with the same paging DRX cycle, according to formula (1), the same terminal devices will be mapped to the same paging frame. A paging frame includes Ns POs. Therefore, if multiple terminal devices mapped to the same paging frame calculate the same i_s, then these multiple terminal devices will be mapped to the same PO. Figure 2 UE1 to UE10, these 10 terminal devices all listen to PO1.

[0170] If there is a terminal device being paged among the terminal devices monitoring the same PO, the network device will send a paging DCI in the PO, and the paging DCI will schedule a paging PDSCH. The paging PDSCH will carry the ID of the terminal device being paged. If the terminal device matches its own ID in the received PDSCH, it confirms that it is paged; if the terminal device does not match its own ID in the paging PDSCH, it confirms that it is not paged. These terminal devices that do not match their own ID in the paging PDSCH are paging false alarms. It can be seen that the terminal devices that produce paging false alarms do not need to receive and decode the PDSCH, resulting in power waste.

[0171] To solve the problem of power waste, a main method at present is to further group the terminal devices monitoring the same PO, that is, sub-grouping. For example, it is indicated in the paging DCI whether one or more sub-groups of the terminal devices monitoring the PO are paged, so that the terminal devices in the sub-group of terminal devices not being paged can directly enter a sleep state and do not continue to receive and decode the paging PDSCH, thereby saving power consumption.

[0172] One sub-grouping method is to calculate according to UE_ID. For example, the terminal devices monitoring the same PO are further divided into M sub-groups, and the sub-group ID of the terminal device is determined by formula (3):

[0173] Sub-group ID = UE_ID mod M (3)

[0174] wherein Sub-group ID represents the sub-group ID of the terminal device, M represents the number of sub-groups into which the terminal devices monitoring the same PO are divided, and UE_ID mod M represents the ID of the terminal device modulo M.

[0175] However, the sub-grouping method based on UE_ID will divide terminal devices with different power consumption sensitivities (PCSs) / device types / page probabilities into the same sub-group, and cannot distinguish whether the power consumption sensitive terminal device is woken up, which is not conducive to saving power consumption of the power consumption sensitive terminal device.

[0176] The present application considers grouping terminal devices listening to the same PO based on one or more features, such that terminal devices with the same feature value are grouped into the same group, and terminal devices with the same feature value are further grouped into multiple subgroups. The features can be one of the following: PCS, device type, or paging probability. Different terminal devices can have different feature values for a certain feature. For example, for the feature of paging probability, the paging probability of terminal device 1 is equal to P1, the paging probability of terminal device 2 is equal to P2, the paging probability of terminal device 3 is equal to P1, and P1 is not equal to P2. Then, terminal device 1 and terminal device 3 are considered to have the same feature value, and terminal device 2 and terminal device 1 have different feature values. For example, for the feature of device type, the device type of terminal device 1 is NR eMBB UE, the device type of terminal device 2 is NR RedCap UE, and so on.

[0177] The present application is also applicable to terminal devices listening to the same PO having the same feature value for a certain feature, first grouping terminal devices listening to the same PO into multiple groups, and then further grouping each group into multiple subgroups.

[0178] As shown in FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of bits allocated to terminal devices having the same feature provided by the present application is shown. Referring to FIG. 1, for terminal devices listening to the same PO, based on device type, they are divided into device type 1 and device type 2, and are further divided into M1 subgroups and M2 subgroups, respectively. At the same time, Q1 bits are fixedly allocated to device type 1, for indicating the terminal device subgroup that is paged in the corresponding M1 subgroups. Q2 bits are fixedly allocated to device type 2, for indicating the terminal device subgroup that is paged in the corresponding M2 subgroups. Figure 3 Figure 3 For terminal devices listening to the same PO, based on device type, they are divided into device type 1 and device type 2, and are further divided into M1 subgroups and M2 subgroups, respectively. At the same time, Q1 bits are fixedly allocated to device type 1, for indicating the terminal device subgroup that is paged in the corresponding M1 subgroups. Q2 bits are fixedly allocated to device type 2, for indicating the terminal device subgroup that is paged in the corresponding M2 subgroups.

[0179] However, when terminal devices corresponding to a certain feature value are not paged, the corresponding bits cannot be used to group indicate terminal devices corresponding to other feature values, resulting in waste of bit resources; and for terminal devices corresponding to a certain feature value, the proportion of the number of terminal devices paged at different times in the total number of terminal devices corresponding to the feature value is constantly changing, so the fixed allocation of bits is not suitable for grouping indication at some times.

[0180] As shown in FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of the proportion of the number of terminal devices paged at different times in the total number of terminal devices having a certain feature value for the feature of device type provided by the present application is shown. Device type has feature value 1 and feature value 2, that is, two device types of device type 1 and device type 2 are considered. Figure 4 wherein,

[0181] Figure 4 ​​(a) in the figure is a schematic diagram showing the proportion of the number of terminal devices paged at time 1 to the total number of terminal devices corresponding to a certain characteristic value. Figure 4 (b) in the figure is a schematic diagram showing the proportion of the number of terminal devices paged at time 2 to the total number of terminal devices corresponding to a certain characteristic value; Figure 4 (c) in the figure is a schematic diagram showing the proportion of the number of terminal devices paged at time 3 to the total number of terminal devices corresponding to a certain characteristic value.

[0182] refer to Figure 4 In (a) at time 1, there is no paged terminal device in device type 1. At this time, the bit resources allocated to device type 1 cannot be used to group and indicate terminal devices corresponding to other feature values, resulting in a waste of the bit resources.

[0183] refer to Figure 4 In (b) at time 2, the proportion of paged terminal devices in both device type 1 and device type 2 is relatively small. At this time, it is necessary to group terminal devices of both device types to reduce the false alarm probability of paging for terminal devices under each device type.

[0184] refer to Figure 4 In (c), at time 3, most of the terminal devices in device type 1 are paged. Obviously, the Q1 bits allocated to device type 1 at this time are inappropriate. This is because the number of false alarms is basically the same whether the device is grouped or not. Therefore, even if Q1 bits are used to group the terminal devices in device type 1, the number of false alarms will not be reduced, resulting in a waste of resources.

[0185] This application provides a communication method that can make full use of limited bit signaling resources for packet indication and reduce resource waste.

[0186] like Figure 5 The diagram shown is a flowchart of a communication method 500 provided in an embodiment of this application. This method 500 can be executed by a network device and a terminal device, or it can be executed by a chip in the network device and a chip in the terminal device. The communication method 500 may include:

[0187] 510, The network device sends first information, which is used to indicate whether the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs has been paged.

[0188] 520, the network device sends a second message, wherein if the first message indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second message is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged.

[0189] wherein the steps 510-520 can be performed by the network device 10 in Figure 1 .

[0190] 530, the first terminal device receives the first information and the second information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged.

[0191] 540, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, a subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs being one of the at least two subgroups, the first terminal device determining whether to receive a paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or determining whether to monitor a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the second information.

[0192] wherein the steps 530-540 can be performed by any one of the terminal devices 20-40 in Figure 1 .

[0193] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can send two information to the first terminal device, and the content indicated by the second information can be determined according to the content indicated by the first information. For example, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, the second information is used to indicate the case that at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. Correspondingly, after receiving the first information and the second information, the first terminal device can determine whether to receive a PDSCH or determine whether to monitor a PDCCH according to the content indicated by the second information. Wherein, the PDSCH that the first terminal device determines whether to receive is a PDSCH used to carry a paging message, and the PDCCH that the first terminal device determines whether to monitor is a PDCCH used to carry a paging DCI, that is, a PDCCH used to schedule the PDSCH.

[0194] It should be noted that the at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided. Of course, the M subgroups, the M1 subgroups, the M2 subgroups or the M3 subgroups included in the first terminal device group in the following can also be understood as M subgroups, M1 subgroups, M2 subgroups or M3 subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided respectively; and the N subgroups, the N1 subgroups, the N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group in the following can also be understood as N subgroups, N1 subgroups, N2 subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided respectively.

[0195] Exemplarily, it is assumed that the first terminal device group is divided into two subgroups, namely, subgroup 1 and subgroup 2, and the first terminal device belongs to subgroup 1. If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, and the second information indicates that subgroup 1 is paged, the first terminal device can determine that the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, and determine to receive the paging PDSCH or determine to monitor the paging PDCCH. If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, and the second information indicates that subgroup 1 is not paged, the first terminal device can determine that the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is not paged, and determine not to receive the paging PDSCH or determine not to monitor the paging PDCCH.

[0196] The scheme provided in the application can be used to determine whether the first terminal device receives the paging PDSCH or monitors the paging PDCCH according to the content indicated by the second information, and the second information can be reserved or used to indicate other functions when the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, so that the signaling resources included in the second information can be more fully utilized, and the waste of signaling resources can be reduced.

[0197] Optionally, in some embodiments, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups are paged, and the second information is not effective, and the first terminal device determines not to receive the PDSCH or determines not to monitor the PDCCH.

[0198] In the embodiments of the application, if the first information sent by the network device to the first terminal device indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the function of the second information is also applicable to indicating whether the at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, but the second information is not effective. After receiving the first information and the second information, the first terminal device can determine not to receive the PDSCH or determine not to monitor the PDCCH.

[0199] It should be noted that the "invalid" in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as: in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, no matter the content indicated by the second information, the first terminal device can determine not to receive the PDSCH or determine not to monitor the PDCCH according to the first information only. The first terminal device can ignore the second information, the network device can determine and send the second information according to that at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are not paged, or the network device can not determine and send the second information according to that at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are not paged, for example, the second information can be set to any bit state according to the network device implementation.

[0200] Exemplarily, it is assumed that the first terminal device group includes two subgroups, subgroup 1 and subgroup 2, and the first terminal device belongs to subgroup 1. If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the first terminal device can determine that the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is not paged, and determine not to receive the paging PDSCH or determine not to monitor the paging PDCCH. The second information is used to indicate that subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 are not paged, but the second information is invalid.

[0201] It can be understood that the second information can include one or more information fields, when the second information includes multiple information fields, the invalidation of the second information means that the information field used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged is invalid, and does not affect other information fields, that is, other functions indicated by the second information still take effect.

[0202] In addition, in some embodiments, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group in the second information is set to a specific state or is reserved, and the first terminal device determines not to receive the PDSCH or determines not to monitor the PDCCH.

[0203] In the embodiments of the present application, if the first information sent by the network device to the first terminal device indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group in the second information is set to a specific state or is reserved. After receiving the first information and the second information, the first terminal device can determine not to receive the PDSCH or determine not to monitor the PDCCH.

[0204] It should be noted that the "set to a specific state or reserved" in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as: in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group included in the second information is not used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged, but is "set to a specific state or reserved". The "specific state" can be predefined by a protocol. The purpose of setting an information field to a specific state is to improve the reliability of PDCCH transmission and reduce the bit error rate. The UE can determine whether the parsed DCI is a false alarm DCI according to the information field. For example, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, but after parsing, the information field included in the second information is not the specific state, the UE can consider that the parsed DCI is a false alarm DCI, which is a false information. The information field "reserved" means that the information field currently does not carry any function and can be used to indicate other functions in the future.

[0205] The scheme provided in the present application is that, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information indicates whether the at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged and invalid, so that the first terminal device can determine not to receive the paging PDSCH or determine not to monitor the paging PDCCH. Therefore, when the first information and the second information are carried by different channels / signals, the first terminal device can only receive the first information and not receive the second information, so as to reduce the waste of power consumption. Alternatively, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group included in the second information is set to a specific state, so as to improve the reliability of PDCCH transmission. Alternatively, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group included in the second information is reserved, so as to be used to indicate other functions in the future, thereby avoiding the waste of bit signaling resources and improving the utilization rate of signaling resources.

[0206] It is pointed out above that the first information can be used to indicate whether the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged. In actual scenarios, the first information can also indicate whether other terminal device groups are paged. For details, please refer to the following.

[0207] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first information is also used to indicate whether a second terminal device group to which a second terminal device belongs is paged.

[0208] In the embodiments of the present application, the characteristics of the terminal devices included in the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group can be different. The characteristics of the terminal devices included in the first terminal device group are the same, and the characteristics of the terminal devices included in the second terminal device group are the same. In addition, in some embodiments, the characteristics of the terminal devices included in the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group can also be the same, which is not limited.

[0209] It can be understood that the features of the two terminal devices are the same or different, which is for one or some features of the terminal device, and does not mean that all features of the terminal device are the same or different.

[0210] The features in the embodiments of the application can include the type of terminal device, the power consumption sensitivity (PCS) of the terminal device, and the paging probability of the terminal device.

[0211] (1) Type of terminal device

[0212] Exemplarily, the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) studies reduced capability UE (RedCap UE), and in addition, the NR UE also includes enhanced mobile broadband UE (eMBB UE) and ultra reliable low latency communication UE (URLLC UE). It should be noted that in some embodiments, the NR UE other than the RedCap UE can be referred to as the NR normal / legacy UE, or the normal UE includes the eMBB UE, or includes the URLLC UE, or includes the eMBB and URLLC UE, without limitation.

[0213] Among them, compared with the normal / legacy UE, the RedCap UE has higher requirements for battery life. That is, the RedCap UE is more sensitive to power consumption.

[0214] The RedCap UE mainly includes three devices, wearables, industrial wireless sensors and video surveillance devices. The requirements of these three devices for battery life are shown in Table 1.

[0215] Table 1

[0216]

[0217] The application considers the terminal device type feature, taking RedCap UEs and normal UEs as examples, and the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs and the second terminal device group to which the second terminal device belongs can be a RedCap UE group and a normal UE group. That is, the first terminal device group can be a RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group can be a normal UE group; or the first terminal device group can be a normal UE group and the second terminal device group can be a RedCap UE group.

[0218] It can be understood that the RedCap UE group in the embodiments of the application can be a group formed by RedCap UEs, and the normal UE group can be a group formed by normal UEs.

[0219] (2) Sensitivity of terminal device to power consumption

[0220] Exemplarily, terminal devices sensitive to power consumption can be divided into a group, which can be referred to as a power consumption sensitive group; terminal devices not sensitive to power consumption can be divided into a group, which can be referred to as a power consumption insensitive group. The first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are respectively the power consumption sensitive group and the power consumption insensitive group. That is, the first terminal device group can be a power consumption sensitive group and the second terminal device group can be a power consumption insensitive group; or the first terminal device group can be a power consumption insensitive group and the second terminal device group can be a power consumption sensitive group.

[0221] Exemplarily, the sensitivity of terminal devices to power consumption can be divided into multiple levels, such as PCS level 1 and PCS level 2, and the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are respectively the terminal device groups corresponding to PCS level 1 and PCS level 2. That is, the first terminal device group can be a terminal device group corresponding to PCS level 1 and the second terminal device group can be a terminal device group corresponding to PCS level 2; or the first terminal device group can be a terminal device group corresponding to PCS level 2 and the second terminal device group can be a terminal device group corresponding to PCS level 1.

[0222] It should be noted that the above division of the level of sensitivity of terminal devices to power consumption is only for illustration, and in some embodiments, it can also be divided into 3 or 4 or other number of levels, without limitation.

[0223] (3) Paging probability of terminal device

[0224] Exemplarily, terminal devices with the same or similar paging probabilities can be divided into a group, such as terminal devices (such as mobile phones and the like) with a paging probability of P1 are divided into a subgroup 1, and terminal devices (such as industrial wireless sensors) with a paging probability of P2 are divided into a subgroup 2. Then the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 respectively. That is: the first terminal device group can be subgroup 1 and the second terminal device group can be subgroup 2; or, the first terminal device group can be subgroup 2 and the second terminal device group can be subgroup 1.

[0225] The above illustrates that the first information can be used to indicate whether the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, and can also be used to indicate whether the second terminal device group to which the second terminal device belongs is paged. In this case, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group and / or the second terminal device group are paged. The following introduces various implementation manners including the first information and the second information.

[0226] Manner one:

[0227] The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group;

[0228] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0229] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

[0230] The embodiments of the present application take the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as RedCap UE group and normal UE group respectively as an example, assuming that the first terminal device group is the RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group is the normal UE group.

[0231] Manner one case one:

[0232] If the first information indicates that both the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group are paged, the first information field corresponding to the RedCap UE group is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged, and the second information field corresponding to the normal UE group is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0233] For example, if the first information indicates that both the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group are paged, and assuming that both the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group include 10 subgroups, the first information field is used to indicate whether 10 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether 10 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0234] Case two of the first mode:

[0235] If the first information indicates that the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the first information field corresponding to the RedCap UE group and the second information field corresponding to the normal UE group indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0236] For example, if the first information indicates that the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field can indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged. In this case, since the number of bits included in the first information field and the second information field is generally more than the number of bits included in the first information field, in other words, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can include is greater than the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group includes in the above-mentioned case one of the first mode. For example, in the above-mentioned case one of the first mode, the RedCap UE group includes 10 subgroups, then in this case two, the RedCap UE group can include 20 subgroups, and the first information field and the second information field can indicate whether 20 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0237] It should be understood that the above-mentioned values are only for illustration, and other values can also be used, and the present application should not be particularly limited.

[0238] The scheme provided in the application is that when the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field included in the second information are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. Since M2 is greater than M1, the number of subgroups into which the paged terminal device group is divided is increased, the false alarm probability of paging of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0239] Optionally, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are not paged, the first information field and the second information field can be set to a specific state or be reserved or be used to indicate other functions.

[0240] In the embodiments of the application, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are not paged, the first information field and the second information field can be set to a specific state or be reserved or be used to indicate other functions; or one of the first information field and the second information field is set to a specific state and the other is reserved; or one is set to a specific state and the other is used to indicate other functions; or one is reserved and the other is used to indicate other functions.

[0241] In some embodiments, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group.

[0242] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether the M subgroups are paged.

[0243] If the first information indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information field is used to indicate whether the N subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0244] For example, taking the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as RedCap UE group and normal UE group respectively, if the first information indicates that the RedCap UE group is paged, assuming that the RedCap UE group includes 10 subgroups, the first information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged; if the first information indicates that the normal UE group is paged, assuming that the normal UE group includes 10 subgroups, the second information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0245] It should be understood that if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, regardless of whether the second terminal device group is indicated to be paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether the M subgroups are paged; if the first information indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, regardless of whether the first terminal device group is indicated to be paged, the second information field is used to indicate whether the N subgroups are paged.

[0246] It should be understood that the information field included in the first information and the information field included in the second information can be pre-configured by the network device or pre-defined by the protocol, such as the number of bits of the information field, and the correspondence between each information field and different terminal device groups or subgroups.

[0247] The number of terminal device groups indicated by the first information is only an example, and can also be used to indicate more than 3 terminal device groups, for example, 4 or 5 terminal device groups, without limitation.

[0248] Method two:

[0249] The communication method 500 can further include:

[0250] The network device sends third information to the first terminal device, the third information being used to indicate the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, the grouping indication priority being used to determine the terminal device group that is preferentially indicated by the second information.

[0251] The first terminal device receives the third information.

[0252] The step 540, in which the first terminal device determines whether to receive the paging PDSCH or to listen to the paging PDCCH according to the second information, includes that the first terminal device determines whether to receive the PDSCH or to listen to the paging PDCCH according to the second information and the third information.

[0253] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can send third information to the first terminal device, the third information being used to indicate the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, and the first terminal device can determine whether to receive the paging PDSCH or to listen to the paging PDCCH according to the third information and the second information.

[0254] Optionally, in some embodiments, the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group is pre-defined by the protocol. For example, the protocol pre-defines that the grouping indication priority of the RedCap UE group is higher than that of the Normal UE group.

[0255] In an embodiment of the present application, the third information is used to indicate the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, which can also be referred to as: the third information is used to configure the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, without limitation.

[0256] For example, the third information can be carried in RRC signaling and configured semi-statically by the network device. Alternatively, the third information can be carried in the first DCI or the first MAC CE and indicated dynamically by the network device.

[0257] When the third information is carried in the first DCI, it can be located in the same DCI or different DCIs as the first information and / or the second information.

[0258] The scheme provided in the present application can indicate or predefine the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group through the third information, so that the terminal device group with high grouping indication priority is preferentially indicated by grouping, thereby preferentially reducing the paging false alarm probability of the terminal device with high grouping indication priority. In particular, for the terminal device group that is more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise can be achieved between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0259] Case 1 of Mode 2:

[0260] If the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group,

[0261] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or,

[0262] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0263] The present application still takes the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as examples of RedCap UE group and normal UE group, respectively. For example, the second information is carried by DCI, and the second information includes one information field (exemplarily, the one information field can include 4 bits), the number of bits of the information field and the bit position of the information field in the DCI can be semi-statically configured by the network device.

[0264] If the first information indicates that the RedCap UE group is paged, since the grouping indication priority of the RedCap UE group is higher than that of the normal UE group, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged. In this case, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged regardless of whether the normal UE group is paged.

[0265] If the first information indicates that the RedCap UE group is not paged, and the normal UE group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged. Since the grouping indication priority of the RedCap UE group is higher than that of the normal UE group, in the case that the RedCap UE group is not paged, if the normal UE group is paged, the second information can be used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0266] The scheme provided in the present application is that, if the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device, when the first terminal device group is paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; and when the first terminal device is not paged, if the second terminal device group is paged, the second information indicates whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. Thus, the first terminal device group can be preferentially indicated by grouping, and in particular for terminal device groups that are more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effects can be achieved, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0267] Case two of mode two:

[0268] As described above, the second information includes one information field. In some embodiments, the second information can also include two information fields, referred to as a first information field and a second information field (exemplarily, the first information field and the second information field can each include two bits), corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, respectively. The first information field and the second information field can be semi-statically configured by the network device.

[0269] If the third information indicates or the protocol predefines that the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group, then:

[0270] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged; or,

[0271] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged.

[0272] If the third information indicates or the protocol predefines that the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is equal to the second terminal device group, then:

[0273] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the first terminal device group are both paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0274] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged, or the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged; or,

[0275] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged, or the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged.

[0276] Therefore, according to the grouping indication priority, it can be determined which second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of which terminal device group are paged.

[0277] Optionally, when the third information and the second information are located in the same DCI, the third information takes effect immediately, i.e., acting on the second information in the same DCI.

[0278] Optionally, when the third information and the second information are carried by different signaling, the third information takes effect on the second information in the subsequent DCI, and the effective time is until the terminal device receives the next third information. During the effective time of the third information, the terminal device determines the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group according to the current third information.

[0279] In some embodiments, the first information can also be used to indicate whether the first terminal device group, the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group are paged, and accordingly, the second information can indicate whether the subgroups included in the three terminal device groups are paged according to the content indicated by the first information.

[0280] For example, if the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group, and the grouping indication priority of the second terminal device group is higher than that of the third terminal device group.

[0281] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the first information field, the second information field and the third information field included in the second information are used to indicate whether the subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. The first information field is the information field corresponding to the first terminal device, the second information field is the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group, and the third information field is the information field corresponding to the third terminal device group.

[0282] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged, the first information field, the second information field and the third information field are used to indicate whether the subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the third information field is reserved or set to a specific state.

[0283] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are not paged and the third terminal device group is paged, the first information field, the second information field and the third information field are used to indicate whether the subgroups included in the third terminal device group are paged.

[0284] The number of terminal device groups indicated by the first information is only exemplary, and can also be used to indicate more than three terminal device groups, for example, four or five terminal device groups, without limitation.

[0285] Method three:

[0286] The protocol or the network device semi-statically configures the information field included in the first information and the fields corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group in the information field included in the first information. The protocol or the network device semi-statically configures a certain order, and indicates that the terminal device group indicated to be paged in front is preferentially grouped indicated, and the terminal device group indicated to be paged in back is not grouped indicated, and the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups divided from the terminal device group indicated to be paged in front are paged. For example, the order is the order of the fields from left to right (or from right to left) in the DCI. For example, the order is as follows according to the order of the fields from left to right in the DCI.

[0287] The first information includes a Pth field corresponding to the first terminal device group and a Qth field corresponding to the second terminal device group, P and Q are positive integers, and P is less than Q. It should be understood that if P is less than Q, it is considered that in the DCI, the Pth field is in front of the Qth field, and if Q is less than P, it is considered that in the DCI, the Qth field is in front of the Pth field. Here, P is less than Q is taken as an example.

[0288] If the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged; or,

[0289] If the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0290] The Pth field and / or the Qth field in the embodiments of the present application can include 1 bit or multiple bits, etc., which are not limited.

[0291] Suppose that the Pth field and the Qth field each include 1 bit, if the Pth field is a target state (such as the Pth field is set to “1”), it can be considered that the first terminal device group is paged. In this case, no matter what state the Qth field is in, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0292] If the Pth field is a non-target state (such as the Pth field is set to “0”) and the Qth field is a target state (such as the Qth field is set to “1”), it can be considered that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged, and the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0293] Similarly, suppose that the Pth field and the Qth field each include 2 bits, if the Pth field is a target state (such as the Pth field is set to “00”), it can be considered that the first terminal device group is paged. In this case, no matter what state the Qth field is in, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0294] If the Pth field is a non-target state (such as the Pth field is set to “01” or “10” or “11”) and the Qth field is a target state (such as the Qth field is set to “00”), it can be considered that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged, and the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0295] It should be understood that the target state and the non-target state described above can be predefined by a protocol or semi-statically configured by a network device.

[0296] It should also be understood that the target state and / or the non-target state described above can include one state value or multiple state values, without limitation.

[0297] For example, assuming that the Pth field and the Qth field each include 2 bits, the target state includes 3 state values, which are "01", "10" and "11", and the non-target state includes 1 state value, which is "00".

[0298] For another example, assuming that the Pth field includes 1 bit and the Qth field includes 2 bits, the target state corresponding to the Pth field is "1", the non-target state corresponding to the Pth field is "0", the target state corresponding to the Qth field includes 3 state values, which are "01", "10" and "11", and the non-target state corresponding to the Qth field includes 1 state value, which is "00".

[0299] Optionally, if the Pth field and the Qth field are both in the non-target state, the information domain included in the second information can be set to a specific state or reserved or used to indicate other functions.

[0300] The scheme provided in the present application can be used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged if the Pth field is in the target state, and can be used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged if the Pth field is in the non-target state and the Qth field is in the target state. Thus, the first terminal device group corresponding to the Pth field can be preferentially indicated by grouping, and in particular, for the terminal device group that is more sensitive to power consumption, a better compromise between limited signaling resources and terminal device energy saving effect can be achieved, thereby improving the use efficiency of signaling resources.

[0301] In some embodiments, the first information can also be used to indicate whether the first terminal device group, the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group are paged, and accordingly, the second information can indicate whether the subgroups included in the three terminal device groups are paged according to the state of the field included in the first information.

[0302] For example, the Pth field included in the first information corresponds to the first terminal device group, the Qth field corresponds to the second terminal device group, and the Rth field corresponds to the third terminal device, where P, Q and R are positive integers, P is less than Q, and Q is less than R.

[0303] If the Pth field is in the target state, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged.

[0304] If the Pth field is in the non-target state and the Qth field is in the target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0305] If the Pth field and the Qth field are in the non-target state and the Rth field is in the target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the third terminal device group are paged.

[0306] It is assumed that the Pth field and the Qth field each include one bit. If the Pth field is in the target state (for example, the Pth field is set to "1"), it can be considered that the first terminal device group is paged. In this case, regardless of the state of the Qth field and the Rth field, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged.

[0307] If the Pth field is in the non-target state (for example, the Pth field is set to "0") and the Qth field is in the target state (for example, the Qth field is set to "1"), it can be considered that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged. Regardless of the state of the Qth field, the second information can be used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

[0308] If the Pth field and the Qth field are in the non-target state (for example, the Pth field and the Qth field are set to "0") and the Rth field is in the target state (for example, the Rth field is set to "1"), it can be considered that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are not paged and the third terminal device group is paged. The second information can be used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the third terminal device group are paged.

[0309] Method four:

[0310] The communication method 500 can further include:

[0311] The network device sends fourth information. If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group.

[0312] The first terminal device receives the fourth information.

[0313] The step 540, in which the first terminal device determines whether to receive a paging PDSCH or determines whether to monitor a paging PDCCH according to the second information, includes that the first terminal device determines whether to receive the paging PDSCH or determines whether to monitor the paging PDCCH according to the second information and the fourth information.

[0314] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can send fourth information used for indicating information fields corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group respectively to the first terminal device. In the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information can be used for indicating the information fields corresponding to them respectively. The first terminal device can determine whether to receive the paging PDSCH or determine whether to monitor the paging PDCCH according to the fourth information and the second information.

[0315] It should be understood that the second information can include one or more information fields, and the fourth information is used for indicating the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group from the information fields included in the second information.

[0316] According to the indication of the fourth information, the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group is used for indicating whether at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged, and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group is used for indicating whether at least two subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0317] The information fields included in the second information can be semi-statically configured by the network device in advance or predefined by a protocol in advance.

[0318] Exemplarily, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information can be used for indicating the information fields corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group. For example, if the information fields included in the second information have a total of 20 bits, the fourth information can indicate that the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group has 10 bits and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group also has 10 bits; or the fourth information can indicate that the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group has 15 bits and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group has 5 bits; or the fourth information can indicate that the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group has 20 bits and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group has 0 bit; and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0319] It should be understood that when the information field corresponding to one terminal device group has 0 bit, it means that the information field corresponding to the terminal device group is not included in the second information, and when the first information indicates that the terminal device group is paged, the second information is not used for the grouping indication of the terminal device group, i.e., is not used for indicating whether at least two subgroups into which the terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0320] The scheme provided in the application can be used for the network device to send fourth information used for indicating information fields corresponding to terminal device groups, and the information fields corresponding to the terminal device groups are dynamically indicated through the fourth information, so that the number of groups of the terminal devices that are paged can be flexibly determined, the false alarm probability of the terminal devices in paging can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal devices can be reduced.

[0321] Case 1 of mode four:

[0322] Example 1:

[0323] The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged,

[0324] If the information field included in the fourth information is in a first state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0325] If the information field included in the fourth information is in a second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

[0326] The information field included in the fourth information in the embodiments of the application can include a first state and a second state, and in different states, the information fields corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are different, and further, the number of subgroups included in the terminal device group indicated by the information field included in the second information is different.

[0327] The application still takes the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as examples of RedCap UE groups and normal UE groups, assuming that the first terminal device group is a RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group is a normal UE group.

[0328] If the information field included in the fourth information is in a first state (for example, the state of the information field included in the fourth information is "0"), the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the RedCap UE group, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged, and the second information field corresponds to the normal UE group, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0329] Exemplarily, if the state of the information field included in the fourth information is “0”, assuming that according to the first information field and the second information field, both the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group include 10 subgroups, the first information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0330] If the information field included in the fourth information is in the second state (for example, the state of the information field included in the fourth information is “1”), the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the RedCap UE group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0331] Exemplarily, if the state of the information field included in the fourth information is “1”, the first information field and the second information field can indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can include is greater than the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can include indicated by the first information field described above. For example, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can include indicated by the first information field described above is 10, and in this case, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can include indicated by the first information field and the second information field is 20, and therefore, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether 20 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0332] It should be understood that the above numerical values are only illustrative, and in some embodiments, other numerical values can also be used, and the present application should not be particularly limited.

[0333] It should also be understood that the number of bits of the information field included in the fourth information can be semi-statically configured by the network device or predefined by the protocol, and the first state and the second state can be predefined by the protocol or semi-statically configured by the network device.

[0334] It should be understood that the first state and / or the second state can include one state value or multiple state values, without limitation.

[0335] For example, the information field included in the fourth information has one bit, and the bit set to “1” represents the first state, and the bit set to “0” represents the second state.

[0336] For another example, the information field included in the fourth information has two bits, and the two bits set to “00” represent the first state, and the two bits set to “01” represent the second state; or the two bits set to “00” represent the first state, and the two bits set to “01”, “10” or “11” represent the second state.

[0337] In the scheme provided in the present application, in the case where the information domain included in the fourth information is in the second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information domain and the second information domain correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information domain and the second information domain are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. By dynamically indicating the information domain corresponding to the terminal device group through the fourth information, the number of grouped terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly increased, the false alarm probability of terminal device paging can be reduced, and further, the waste of terminal device power consumption can be reduced.

[0338] Example II:

[0339] The second information includes a first information domain and a second information domain, and if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged,

[0340] If the information domain included in the fourth information is in the third state, the fourth information indicates that the first information domain corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information domain corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information domain is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information is used to indicate whether the N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or,

[0341] If the information domain included in the fourth information is in the fourth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information domain and the second information domain correspond to the first terminal device group, the first information domain and the second information domain are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1; or,

[0342] If the information domain included in the fourth information is in the fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information domain and the second information domain correspond to the second terminal device group, the first information domain and the second information domain are used to indicate whether the N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged, and the N2 is greater than the N1.

[0343] The information domain included in the fourth information in the embodiments of the present application can include the third state, the fourth state or the fifth state, and in different states, the information domains corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are different, and further, the information domain included in the second information is used to indicate the number of subgroups included in the terminal device group.

[0344] The embodiments of the present application still take the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as examples of RedCap UE groups and normal UE groups, assuming that the first terminal device group is a RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group is a normal UE group.

[0345] If the state of the information field included in the fourth information is the third state (e.g., the state of the information field included in the third information is "00"), the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the RedCap UE group, the first information field being used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged, and the second information field corresponds to the normal UE group, the second information field being used to indicate whether the N1 subgroups into which the normal UE group is divided are paged.

[0346] For example, if the state of the information field included in the fourth information is "00", assuming that, according to the first information field and the second information field, both the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group are divided into 10 subgroups, the first information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups into which the normal UE group is divided are paged.

[0347] If the state of the information field included in the fourth information is the fourth state (e.g., the state of the information field included in the fourth information is "01"), the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the RedCap UE group, the first information field and the second information field being used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged.

[0348] For example, if the state of the information field included in the fourth information is "01", the first information field and the second information field can indicate whether the M2 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided is greater than the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided indicated by the first information field only. For example, if the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided indicated by the first information field only is 10, in this case, the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided indicated by the first information field and the second information field is 20, and thus the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the 20 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged.

[0349] If the state of the information field included in the fourth information is the fifth state (e.g., the state of the information field included in the fourth information is "10"), the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the normal UE group, the first information field and the second information field being used to indicate whether the N2 subgroups into which the normal UE group is divided are paged.

[0350] For example, if the state of the information field included in the fourth information is "10", the first information field and the second information field can indicate whether the N2 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups that the normal UE group can include is greater than the number of subgroups that the normal UE group can include indicated by the second information field. For example, if the number of subgroups that the normal UE group can include indicated by the second information field is 10, in this case, the number of subgroups that the normal UE group can include indicated by the first information field and the second information field is 20, and therefore, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the 20 subgroups included in the normal UE group are paged.

[0351] It should be understood that the above values are only illustrative, and in some embodiments, other values can also be used, and the present application should not be particularly limited.

[0352] It should be understood that the number of bits of the information field included in the fourth information can be semi-statically configured by the network device or predefined by the protocol; and the third state, the fourth state and the fifth state can be predefined by the protocol or semi-statically configured by the network device.

[0353] It should be understood that any one of the third state, the fourth state and the fifth state can include one state value or multiple state values, which is not limited.

[0354] For example, the information field included in the fourth information has two bits, and the two bits set to "11" represent the third state, set to "10" represent the fourth state, and set to "01" represent the fifth state. Alternatively, the two bits set to "00" are reserved or used to indicate other functions.

[0355] The scheme provided in the present application, in the case that the information field included in the fourth information is in the fourth state or the fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group or the second terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged or to indicate whether the N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged. By dynamically indicating the information field corresponding to the terminal device group through the fourth information, the number of grouped terminal device groups that are paged can be flexibly increased, the false alarm probability of terminal device paging can be reduced, and further, the waste of terminal device power consumption can be reduced.

[0356] Example Three:

[0357] In the embodiments of the present application, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate the allocation ratio of the number of bits corresponding to the information field included in the second information between the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group.

[0358] The second information includes an information field with N bits, in the case that the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate a proportion coefficient, denoted as a, then a*N bits of the N bits correspond to the first terminal device group, and (N-a)*N bits correspond to the second terminal device group. Optionally, the first a*N bits from the left (or from the right) of the N bits correspond to the first terminal device group, and the other (N-a)*N bits correspond to the second terminal device group.

[0359] Optionally, the value range of a is pre-defined by a protocol or pre-configured semi-statically by a network device.

[0360] Optionally, the value range of a is a decimal between 0 and 1, for example, 2 / 3, 1 / 2, 1 / 4, 1 / 6, etc.

[0361] Optionally, the value range of a includes 0 and / or 1. When a=0, it means that 0 bits correspond to the first terminal device group, i.e., the first terminal device group is not indicated by grouping, and all the N bits of the second information are used to indicate whether the second terminal device group is divided into at least two subgroups and whether the at least two subgroups are paged. When a=1, it means that 0 bits correspond to the second terminal device group, i.e., the second terminal device group is not indicated by grouping, and all the N bits of the second information are used to indicate whether the first terminal device group is divided into at least two subgroups and whether the at least two subgroups are paged.

[0362] As another implementation manner, the proportion coefficient a is a positive number or a positive integer greater than 1, then N / a bits of the N bits correspond to the first terminal device group, and the other N-N / a bits correspond to the second terminal device group. Optionally, the first N / a bits from the left (or from the right) of the N bits correspond to the first terminal device group, and the other N-N / a bits correspond to the second terminal device group.

[0363] Optionally, the value range of a includes 1. When a=1, it means that 0 bits correspond to the second terminal device group, i.e., the second terminal device group is not indicated by grouping, and all the N bits of the second information are used to indicate whether the first terminal device group is divided into at least two subgroups and whether the at least two subgroups are paged.

[0364] It should be understood that, no matter which implementation manner, the value calculated by a*N or N / a is an integer.

[0365] For example, the second information includes an information field with 10 bits, i.e., N=10, and the value range of a includes: [1, 4 / 5, 2 / 5, 0].

[0366] The second information includes bits corresponding to the first terminal device group in an information field, and the bits are used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged.

[0367] The fourth information in the embodiments of the present application can dynamically indicate a proportion coefficient a, and the number of bits corresponding to the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group is different under different proportion coefficients, and thus the number of subgroups of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group is different.

[0368] The scheme provided in the present application can dynamically indicate the number of bits corresponding to the terminal device group in the information field of the second information through the fourth information, can flexibly increase the number of grouped terminal device groups that are paged, can reduce the false alarm probability of terminal device paging, and further can reduce the waste of terminal device power consumption.

[0369] The number of terminal device groups indicated by the first information is only exemplary, and can be used to indicate more than 3 terminal device groups, for example, 4 or 5 terminal device groups, without limitation.

[0370] Case two of mode four:

[0371] Example one:

[0372] The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged,

[0373] The first information field and the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or,

[0374] The first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is less than the M3; or,

[0375] The first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M1 is less than the M2; or,

[0376] The fourth information is used to indicate any one of the following cases: the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups are paged; or, the first information field is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups are paged.

[0377] The embodiments of the present application still take the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as examples of the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group respectively, and assume that the first terminal device group is the RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group is the normal UE group.

[0378] If the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the information fields included in the second information (i.e., the first information field and the second information field) and the fourth information are used to indicate whether the M3 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0379] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the first information field, the second information field, and the information field included in the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the M3 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can include is greater than the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group includes indicated by the first information field and the second information field or only the first information field. For example, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group includes indicated by the first information field and the second information field is 20, and in this case, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group includes indicated by the first information field, the second information field, and the information field included in the fourth information can be 22 (assuming that the information field included in the fourth information has 2 bits), so the first information field, the second information field, and the information field included in the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the 22 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0380] If the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the information fields included in the second information (i.e., the first information field and the second information field) are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0381] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field can be used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can comprise is greater than the number of subgroups indicated by the first information field. For example, if the number of subgroups indicated by the first information field is 10, then in this case, the number of subgroups that the RedCap UE group can comprise is 20, and thus the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the 20 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged. The information field comprised by the fourth information can be set to a specific state or be reserved or be used to indicate other functions, which is not limited.

[0382] If the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the first information field comprised by the second information is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0383] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the first information field can be used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged. For example, at this time, the RedCap UE group can comprise 10 subgroups, and thus the first information field is used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged. The information field comprised by the second information field and / or the fourth information can be set to a specific state or be reserved or be used to indicate other functions, which is not limited.

[0384] If the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the fourth information is used to indicate any one of the following cases:

[0385] The first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups are paged; or,

[0386] The first information field is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups are paged.

[0387] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged, which is indicated by the first information field and the second information field. For example, at this time, the RedCap UE group can comprise 20 subgroups, and thus the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the 20 subgroups comprised by the RedCap UE group are paged, which is indicated by the first information field and the second information field.

[0388] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged according to the first information field. For example, at this time, the RedCap UE group can include 10 subgroups, and the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the 10 subgroups included in the RedCap UE group are paged according to the first information field.

[0389] The scheme provided in the present application can dynamically indicate whether at least two subgroups of the paged first terminal device group are paged according to the first information field and the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information in the case that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, can flexibly increase the number of groups of the paged terminal device group, can reduce the false alarm probability of the terminal device, and further can reduce the waste of power consumption of the terminal device.

[0390] It should be understood that if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged, the embodiments are similar to those described above, and will not be described again.

[0391] Example II:

[0392] The second information includes an information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged,

[0393] The information field included in the second information and the information field included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged; or,

[0394] The information field included in the second information is used to indicate whether M2 subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is less than the M3.

[0395] The embodiments of the present application still take the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group as an example, assuming that the first terminal device group is the RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group is the normal UE group.

[0396] If the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the information field included in the second information and the information field included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups of the RedCap UE group are paged.

[0397] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the information field included in the second information and the information field included in the fourth information can indicate whether the M3 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided is greater than the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided indicated by the part of the bits (i.e., a*N or N / a bits) in the information field included in the second information. For example, if the part of the bits in the information field included in the second information indicates that the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided is 15 (for example, assuming that a*N or N / a is equal to 15), in this case, the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided indicated by the information field included in the second information and the information field included in the fourth information can be 22 (for example, assuming that the information field included in the fourth information has 2 bits), and therefore, the information field included in the second information and the information field included in the fourth information can be used to indicate whether the 22 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged.

[0398] If the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the information field included in the second information is used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged.

[0399] Exemplarily, if the RedCap UE group is paged and the normal UE group is not paged, the information field included in the second information can indicate whether the M2 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged. In this case, the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided is greater than the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided indicated by the part of the bits (i.e., a*N or N / a bits) in the information field included in the second information. For example, if the part of the bits in the information field included in the second information indicates that the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided is 15 (for example, assuming that a*N or N / a is equal to 15), in this case, the number of subgroups into which the RedCap UE group can be divided indicated by the information field included in the second information is 20, and therefore, the information field included in the second information is used to indicate whether the 20 subgroups into which the RedCap UE group is divided are paged. The information field included in the fourth information can be set to a specific state or be reserved or be used to indicate other functions, which is not limited.

[0400] In the case that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the information field included in the second information and the information field included in the fourth information can dynamically indicate whether the at least two subgroups into which the paged first terminal device group is divided are paged, the number of groups of the paged terminal device group can be flexibly increased, the false alarm probability of the terminal device can be reduced, and further, the waste of power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0401] It should be understood that if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged, the embodiments are similar to those described above, and will not be described again.

[0402] Case three of mode four:

[0403] The second information includes one information field or two information fields, for example, a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are not paged,

[0404] At least one of the information field included in the second information or the information field included in the fourth information is reserved or set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions.

[0405] The embodiments of the present application still take the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group as RedCap UE group and normal UE group respectively as an example, assuming that the first terminal device group is RedCap UE group and the second terminal device group is normal UE group. The following takes the second information including the first information field and the second information field as an example.

[0406] If the first information indicates that the RedCap UE group and the normal UE group are not paged, at least one of the first information field, the second information field, and the information field included in the fourth information is reserved or set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions.

[0407] For example, the first information field and the second information field are reserved, the information field included in the fourth information is set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions; or the first information field and the information field included in the fourth information are reserved, the second information field is set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions; or the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information are reserved, the first information field is set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions; without limitation.

[0408] It should be understood that the specific state can be predefined by a protocol or semi-statically configured by a network device.

[0409] In some embodiments, the fourth information can also be used to indicate information fields corresponding to the first terminal device group, the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group.

[0410] For example, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group, the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group are paged, the first information field, the second information field and the third information field included in the second information are used to indicate whether the subgroups of the first terminal device group, the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group are paged, wherein the information field used to indicate the subgroups of the first terminal device group, the information field used to indicate the subgroups of the second terminal device group and the information field used to indicate the subgroups of the third terminal device group included in the second information can be dynamically indicated by the fourth information.

[0411] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are paged, and the third terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the third information field included in the second information can be used to indicate whether the subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field can be used to indicate whether the subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged, wherein the information field used to indicate the subgroups of the first terminal device group and the information field used to indicate the subgroups of the second terminal device group included in the second information can be dynamically indicated by the fourth information.

[0412] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, and the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group are not paged, the first information field, the second information field and the third information field included in the second information can be used to indicate whether the subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged, wherein the information field used to indicate the subgroups of the first terminal device group included in the second information can be dynamically indicated by the fourth information.

[0413] The number of terminal device groups indicated by the first information is only an example, and can also be used to indicate more than three terminal device groups, for example, four or five terminal device groups, etc., without limitation.

[0414] Optionally, in some embodiments, the third information is carried in the first DCI, or in the first media access control control element (MAC CE), or in the RRC signaling.

[0415] The fourth information is carried in the second DCI, or in the second MAC CE.

[0416] The third information in the embodiments of the present application can be carried in RRC signaling and configured semi-statically by the network device. Alternatively, the third information can be carried in the first DCI or the first MAC CE and indicated dynamically by the network device.

[0417] When the third information is carried in the first DCI, the third information can be located in the same DCI as the first information and / or the second information or different DCIs. Similarly, when the fourth information is carried in the second DCI, the fourth information can be located in the same DCI as the first information and / or the second information or different DCIs, without limitation.

[0418] Optionally, when the fourth information and the second information are located in the same second DCI, the fourth information takes effect immediately, that is, acts on the second information in the same second DCI, and indicates the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group from the information field included in the second information.

[0419] Optionally, when the fourth information and the second information are carried by different signaling, the fourth information takes effect on the second information in the subsequent second DCI, and the time of taking effect is until the terminal device receives the next fourth information, and then the terminal device determines the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group in the information field included in the second information according to the newly received fourth information. During the taking effect time of the fourth information, the terminal device determines the information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and the information field corresponding to the second terminal device group in the information field included in the second information according to the current fourth information.

[0420] As mentioned above, the terminal device performs RRM measurement in addition to monitoring paging PDCCH in the RRC_idle state or the RRC_inactive state.

[0421] Generally, the terminal device wakes up from the sleep state to monitor paging PDCCH and perform RRM measurement. Before this, since the terminal device has been sleeping for a long time, the terminal device generally performs automatic gain control (AGC) adjustment and time / frequency synchronization. In a multi-beam scenario, the terminal device can also perform beam selection. Therefore, the power consumption of the terminal device in the RRC_idle state or the RRC_inactive state mainly includes the following items:

[0422] (a) AGC adjustment, time / frequency tracking

[0423] (b) monitoring paging PDCCH

[0424] (c) RRM measurement

[0425] (d) Multi-beam monitoring for beam selection

[0426] For the above four power consumptions of the terminal device in the RRC idle or RRC inactive state, please refer to the following.

[0427] (a) AGC adjustment, time-frequency synchronization

[0428] After the terminal device wakes up from a long deep sleep state, it needs to perform AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization. The terminal device can achieve AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization by receiving a reference signal. In NR, in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the terminal device can perform AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization based on a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal. The period of the SSB signal in NR is large, generally 20 ms. The minimum can be 5 ms, and the maximum can be 160 ms.

[0429] For example, the terminal device may need 2 to 3 SSBs to complete AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization at a low signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), while it may only need 1 SSB to achieve AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization at a high SINR, or at a high SINR, the terminal device's time-frequency error and AGC offset are small, within the tolerance range, and it can no longer receive SSB to perform AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization. After waking up, the terminal device can directly receive data in PO to monitor whether there is a paging DCI.

[0430] Among them, high SINR indicates that the received power of the useful signal is relatively high relative to the noise power and interference power, which means that the signal is good. Low SINR indicates that the received power of the useful signal is relatively low relative to the noise power and interference power, which means that the signal is poor.

[0431] Since the terminal device generally needs 1 to 3 SSBs to complete AGC adjustment and time-frequency synchronization, the terminal device needs to wake up a long time in advance before PO, and maintain light sleep or deep sleep between SSBs and between SSB and PO. It can be seen that the terminal device needs to wake up multiple times (which involves multiple state switches), and maintain a long wake-up / light sleep state, which will make the terminal device consume a lot of power consumption.

[0432] (b) Listen to paging PDCCH

[0433] The paging PDCCH is used to receive short messages and paging messages, and the paging messages are carried by the paging PDSCH. The paging PDCCH carries the paging DCI, and the paging DCI can schedule the paging PDSCH. The short message is located in the paging DCI.

[0434] If a terminal device is paged on a PO, the paging DCI indicates that there is a paging message, that is, the paging DCI schedules a paging PDSCH, otherwise, the paging PDCCH has no scheduling information of the PDSCH.

[0435] If a terminal device is paged, the information of the terminal device, such as the ID of the terminal device, is carried in the paging PDSCH. After decoding the PDSCH, if the ID carried in the paging PDSCH matches the ID of the terminal device, it indicates that the terminal device is paged, otherwise, the terminal device is not actually paged, and other terminal devices listening to the PO are paged.

[0436] (c) RRM measurement

[0437] The purpose of mobility RRM measurement is to enable terminal devices in RRC_idle state and RRC_inactive state to perform cell selection / reselection, and to enable terminal devices in RRC_connected state to perform cell handover.

[0438] Currently, the reference signals used for RRM measurement mainly include two types: SSB signals and channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) signals. The SSB signal is a cell-level signal, and therefore can be used by terminal devices in RRC_idle state / RRC_inactive state / connected state. The CSI-RS signal can only be used by terminal devices in RRC_connected state.

[0439] When a terminal device is in RRC_connected state, the base station can configure certain CSI-RS resources for mobility RRM measurement through RRC signaling. The specific signal used for RRM measurement can be configured by RRC signaling. When the terminal device is in RRC_idle state and RRC_inactive state, only SSB signals can be used for RRM measurement.

[0440] When the terminal device performs RRM measurement based on the SSB signal, if the network device configures the terminal device with SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC), the terminal device can perform RRM measurement within the SMTC window time; if the terminal device is not configured with SMTC, the terminal device assumes that the period of the SSB can be 5 ms, and the terminal device can perform RRM measurement within the 5 ms.

[0441] (d) beam selection

[0442] In the multi-beam scenario of NR, a synchronization signal burst set (SS burst set) can contain multiple SSBs, that is, the SSBs are transmitted in the form of beam sweeping, and the paging PDCCH is also transmitted in the form of beam sweeping, that is, a PO is composed of multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions, and the kth PDCCH monitoring occasion corresponds to the kth actually transmitted SSB.

[0443] The terminal device can consider that the paging DCI is repeatedly transmitted in multiple beams, and the selection of which beam to receive the paging DCI can be implemented by the terminal device. Generally, the terminal device will perform beam selection based on a reference signal (such as an SSB) before monitoring the paging PDCCH, and then monitor the paging PDCCH on the beam corresponding to the selected beam. If the terminal device does not select a suitable beam in advance, the terminal device will monitor the paging PDCCH on multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions (i.e., multiple beams) in order to ensure that no paging DCI is missed. It can be seen that beam selection and / or monitoring the paging PDCCH on multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions will consume a large power consumption of the terminal device.

[0444] Therefore, the present application can carry the above-mentioned first information and second information through different channels / signals, which will be described in detail below.

[0445] Optionally, in some embodiments, the paging advance indication channel / signal carries the first information, the paging PDCCH carries the second information, the paging advance indication channel / signal is located before the paging PDCCH in the time domain, or the paging advance indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH are located in the same slot or subframe; or, the paging advance indication channel / signal carries part of the information included in the first information and the second information, and the paging PDCCH carries information other than the part of information in the second information.

[0446] In this application embodiment, the paging early indication channel / signal is used to carry paging early indication (PEI). The paging early indication channel / signal can also be called a wake-up signal (WUS), and is not limited thereto.

[0447] Taking PEI as an example, such as Figure 6 The diagram shown is a schematic diagram of a terminal device listening to the paging PDCCH during paging, according to an embodiment of this application.

[0448] refer to Figure 6 As shown in (a), before listening to the paging PDCCH, the terminal device can wake up from deep sleep to receive the SSB, perform AGC adjustment, and / or time-frequency synchronization. If the time interval between the SSB and PO is short, the UE may switch to a light sleep state within that time interval and then listen to the paging PDCCH when paging occurs. The power consumed by the terminal device in deep sleep is less than that in light sleep.

[0449] refer to Figure 6 As shown in (b), after the introduction of PEI, the terminal device can receive PEI before listening to PO. If PEI indicates that the terminal device has not been paged, the terminal device can directly enter a deep sleep state to save power consumption.

[0450] As described above, the advance paging indication channel / signal can be used to carry the PEI, and the paging PDCCH can carry the paging DCI. Therefore, in this embodiment, the PEI may include first information, and the paging DCI may include second information. Since the PEI is located before the paging PDCCH in the time domain, after receiving the PEI, the first terminal device can determine whether its own first terminal device group has been paged, and thus determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH.

[0451] For example, if the first information in the PEI indicates that the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs has not been paged, the first terminal device can determine that it will not listen to the paging PDCCH, thereby returning to a deep sleep state to save power.

[0452] If the first information in the PEI indicates that the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, the first terminal device determines to monitor the paging PDCCH which carries the paging DCI, and the first terminal device finds the second information in the received paging DCI, and determines whether the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is paged according to the indication of the second information. If the second information indicates that the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, the first terminal device receives the paging PDSCH scheduled by the paging DCI, otherwise, the first terminal device can not receive the paging PDSCH scheduled by the paging DCI, and thus enters a sleep state. It should be understood that according to the above embodiment description, in some embodiments, the second information is not used for the grouping indication of the first terminal device group, and thus the first terminal device can only determine that the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, and then receives the paging PDSCH scheduled by the paging DCI.

[0453] It should be understood that the terminal device monitors the paging PDCCH periodically in the paging DRX cycle, and after the PEI is introduced, the terminal device also periodically monitors the paging advance indication channel / signal, and the period of the paging advance indication channel / signal can be an integer multiple of the paging DRX cycle, for example, equal to 1 paging DRX cycle.

[0454] For one terminal device, a second paging advance indication channel / signal exists after a paging advance indication channel / signal monitored by the terminal device, and the PO of the terminal device exists between the two paging advance indication channel / signals, and the terminal device monitors the paging PDCCH in the PO of the terminal device.

[0455] The paging advance indication channel / signal is in the time domain before the paging PDCCH, wherein the paging PDCCH means the paging PDCCH from after the paging advance indication channel / signal to before the next paging advance indication channel / signal after the paging advance indication channel / signal, and it should be understood that the paging PDCCH is the paging PDCCH to be monitored by the terminal device.

[0456] Therefore, if the first information in the PEI indicates that the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, the first terminal device determines that the paging PDCCH to be monitored is located after the PEI and before the next paging advance indication channel / signal after the PEI, and the paging PDCCH is the PDCCH to be monitored by the first terminal device in the PO of the first terminal device.

[0457] Optionally, the paging advance indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH are located in the same time slot or subframe.

[0458] Exemplarily, the monitoring occasion of the paging early indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH is the same, i.e., the terminal device monitors the paging early indication channel / signal at the PO of the paging PDCCH.

[0459] The scheme provided in the present application carries the first information through the paging early indication channel / signal (such as PEI) and carries the second information through the paging PDCCH, so that the first terminal device can determine whether the terminal device group in which the first terminal device is located is paged according to the indication of the first information in the PEI, to determine whether to monitor the paging PDCCH. When the first terminal device determines not to monitor the paging PDCCH, the first terminal device can not have to monitor the paging PDCCH and return to the deep sleep state, thereby further saving the power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, the PEI only includes the first information, which can save the signaling overhead of the PEI, help to reduce the block error rate (BLER) of the PEI, and improve the reliability of the PEI.

[0460] In some embodiments, the PEI can include the first information, and in addition, the PEI also includes part of the second information, and the paging DCI includes the information in the second information other than the part of the information.

[0461] Exemplarily, as described in the above embodiments, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field has Q1 bits, and the second information field has Q2 bits. The PEI includes the first information and the Q1 bits of the first information field, and the paging DCI includes the Q2 bits of the second information field.

[0462] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the first terminal device group is divided are paged. At the same time, if the first information indicates that the second terminal device group is also paged, the second information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups into which the second terminal device group is divided are paged.

[0463] In this way, the first terminal device can determine whether the subgroup in which the first terminal device is located is paged without receiving the paging DCI, can determine in advance whether to monitor the paging PDCCH, and helps to save the power consumption of the first terminal device.

[0464] Considering that RedCap UEs have higher requirements for battery endurance, the earlier the RedCap UE knows whether it is paged, the more beneficial it is for the RedCap UE to save power consumption. Because, once the RedCap UE knows that it is not paged, it can enter the sleep state in advance to save power consumption. Therefore, exemplarily, the first terminal device group can be a RedCap UE group, and the second terminal device group can be a Normal UE group.

[0465] Optionally, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged; or, the second information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged; or, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged.

[0466] Of course, the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to a plurality of two terminal device groups. For example, the first information can be used to indicate whether the first terminal device group, the second terminal device group and the third terminal device group are paged, and the second information can be used to indicate whether the subgroups included in the three terminal device groups are paged.

[0467] If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups of the second terminal device group are paged. In the case where the PEI includes the first information, the first terminal device and the second terminal device do not need to receive the paging DCI to determine whether the subgroup to which they belong is paged, and can determine in advance whether to listen to the paging PDCCH, which helps to save power consumption.

[0468] The scheme provided by the present application can make the terminal device corresponding to the partial information field determine in advance whether the terminal device subgroup to which it belongs is paged, to determine whether to listen to the paging PDCCH, by using the PEI to carry the first information and the second information. In this way, for a terminal device which is more sensitive to power consumption, it can be determined whether it is paged as early as possible while reducing the false alarm probability of paging. When the terminal device determines that it is not paged, it can return to a deep sleep state as early as possible, thereby further saving the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0469] In some embodiments, the PEI can include the first information and the second information. In this case, the first terminal device determines whether to listen to the paging PDCCH according to the second information.

[0470] In this way, any terminal device can determine whether the terminal device group or the terminal device subgroup to which it belongs is paged according to the first information and the second information in the received PEI. If it is determined that the terminal device group or the terminal device subgroup to which it belongs is not paged, it can avoid listening to the paging PDCCH and return to a sleep state as early as possible to save power consumption.

[0471] In other embodiments, the paging DCI includes the first information and the second information. In this case, the first terminal device determines whether to receive the paging PDSCH based on the second information.

[0472] For example, the short message indicator field in the paging DCI corresponds to the first terminal device group and is used to indicate whether the first terminal device group has been paged. One bit in the reserved bits of the paging DCI is used to indicate whether the second terminal device group has been paged. That is, the first information includes the short message indicator field and the one bit. For example, taking the Normal UE group and the RedCap UE group as examples, the short message indicator field corresponds to the Normal UE group, and the one bit corresponds to the RedCap UE group. When the short message indicator field is set to status "01" or "11", it indicates that the Normal UE group has been paged; when the short message indicator field is set to "00" or "10", it indicates that the Normal UE group has not been paged. When the one bit is set to "1", it indicates that the RedCap UE group has been paged; when the one bit is set to "0", it indicates that the RedCap UE group has been paged. Optionally, two or more bits in the reserved bits of the paging DCI, excluding the aforementioned one bit, may be used to carry the second information.

[0473] As mentioned above, the paging DCI is used to schedule the paging PDSCH. If a terminal device determines that its terminal device group or subgroup has not been paged, it can avoid receiving or parsing the paging PDSCH and return to sleep mode as soon as possible to save power. If a terminal device determines that its terminal device group or subgroup has been paged, then the terminal device needs to receive the paging PDSCH.

[0474] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging PDCCH at the same PO, and / or the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging advance indication channel / signal.

[0475] For example, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are of the same device type, and they share the same paging advance indication channel / signal resources and the same paging PDCCH resources. That is, the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging advance indication channel / signal. When it is necessary to listen to the paging PDCCH (for example, if the first information indicates that the terminal device group or subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, and the terminal device group or subgroup to which the second terminal device belongs is also paged), the first terminal device and the second terminal device will listen to the paging PDCCH at the same or different POs.

[0476] Exemplarily, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are of different device types, the first terminal device and the second terminal device share the same paging early indication channel / signal resource, and share the same paging PDCCH resource. That is, the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging early indication channel / signal, and when it is necessary to listen to the paging PDCCH (for example, if the first information indicates that the terminal device group or subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, and the terminal device group or subgroup to which the second terminal device belongs is also paged), the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the paging PDCCH in the same PO.

[0477] Exemplarily, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are of different device types, the first terminal device and the second terminal device share the same paging early indication channel / signal resource, but do not share the paging PDCCH resource. That is, the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging early indication channel / signal, and when it is necessary to listen to the paging PDCCH (for example, if the first information indicates that the terminal device group or subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is paged, and the terminal device group or subgroup to which the second terminal device belongs is also paged), the first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the paging PDCCH in different POs.

[0478] Exemplarily, the first terminal device and the second terminal device are of different device types, the first terminal device and the second terminal device do not share the paging early indication channel / signal resource, but share the same paging PDCCH resource. For example, the first terminal device listens to the paging early indication channel / signal and also listens to the paging PDCCH, and the second terminal device only listens to the paging PDCCH.

[0479] It should be understood that in this application, if a terminal device group or subgroup is indicated to be paged, it means that at least one terminal device in the terminal device group or subgroup is paged. If a terminal device group or subgroup is indicated not to be paged, all terminal devices in the terminal device group or subgroup are not paged.

[0480] In this application, one information or one information field indicating whether at least two subgroups are paged or indicating whether M subgroups are paged includes various implementation manners, and the specific implementation manner can be semi-statically configured by a network device or predefined by a protocol, which is not limited.

[0481] Exemplarily, assuming that there are M subgroups, and the information field for indicating whether the M subgroups are paged has Q bits. There are the following implementation manners:

[0482] Implementation manner one: Q is equal to M.

[0483] That is, the number of bits Q included in the information field used to indicate whether the M subgroups are paged is equal to the number M of subgroups. In this way, each bit can correspond to a subgroup, used to indicate whether the corresponding subgroup is paged.

[0484] For example, the second information includes an information field with 4 bits, and the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. The second information can indicate whether 4 subgroups are paged. Then, the terminal devices included in the first terminal device group are divided into 4 subgroups.

[0485] For example, the first terminal device group includes 20 UEs. In some division manners, the 20 UEs are divided into subgroup 1 to subgroup 4, and each subgroup includes 5 UEs. Alternatively, according to different division manners, the 20 UEs are only divided into subgroup 1 and subgroup 2, each subgroup includes 10 UEs, and subgroup 3 and subgroup 4 do not include any terminal device.

[0486] Implementation manner two: Q is less than M.

[0487] Whether the M subgroups are paged includes 2 M M power) cases, for example, only subgroup 1 of the M subgroups is paged, which is called 1 case, and subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 of the M subgroups are paged, and the other subgroups are not paged, which is called another 1 case. However, some cases are not indicated separately, for example, for Y cases, any one of the Y cases corresponds to the same state included in Q bits. In this way, Q bits less than M can be used to indicate whether the M subgroups are paged. For example, the probability of some cases is relatively low, for example, the probability of 2 subgroups or more than 2 subgroups of the M subgroups being paged is relatively low, so if such a case occurs, it does not need to be indicated separately.

[0488] For example, Q=3, and the 3 bits are used to indicate whether 4 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged. The meanings of the bit states included in the Q bits are shown in Table 2.

[0489] Table 2

[0490]

[0491] In this manner, a smaller number of bits can be used to indicate whether a larger number of subgroups are paged, and the bit signaling overhead can be saved.

[0492] In this application, how different terminal devices are divided into multiple terminal device groups includes multiple implementation manners, and the specific implementation manner can be semi-statically configured by a network device or predefined by a protocol, which is not limited.

[0493] Exemplarily, according to one or more features, the terminal devices are divided into a plurality of terminal device groups.

[0494] The one or more features can be semi-statically configured by the network device or predefined by a protocol.

[0495] Exemplarily, the UEs monitoring the same PO are divided into the same terminal device group.

[0496] It should be understood that different UEs monitoring the same PO can have different feature values for a certain feature. For example, a RedCap UE and a Normal UE monitor the same PO and are divided into the same terminal device group.

[0497] Specifically, adjacent R POs are associated with a PEI indication, and the first information included in the PEI is used to indicate whether the terminal devices monitoring the R POs are paged. The R POs can be located in the same paging frame or in multiple paging frames. Among the R POs, the terminal devices monitoring the same PO belong to the same terminal device group, and the terminal devices monitoring different POs belong to different terminal device groups. The first information is used to indicate whether the R terminal device groups are paged. As an example, for one of the terminal device groups, if the first information indicates that the terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the terminal device group are paged. The second information can be located in the PEI or in the paging DCI monitored by the terminal devices included in the terminal device group in their own PO.

[0498] The R is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0499] In this application, how a terminal device group is divided into at least two subgroups includes various implementation manners, and the specific implementation manner can be semi-statically configured by the network device or predefined by a protocol, which is not limited.

[0500] Exemplarily, for a terminal device, the network device configures the subgroup ID through Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling or RRC signaling.

[0501] Exemplarily, the network device configures or the protocol predefines the number M of subgroups included in a terminal device group, and then calculates the subgroup ID to which the terminal device belongs according to the ID of the terminal device and the number of subgroups. For example, the subgroup ID to which the terminal device belongs can be calculated according to formula (3) as described above.

[0502] Figure 7 And Figure 8A possible structural diagram of a communication apparatus is provided in the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus can implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be the terminal device 20 or the terminal device 30 or the terminal device 40 as shown in Figure 1 , can also be the network device 10 as shown in Figure 1 , and can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal device or an access network device.

[0503] Figure 7 FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 900 provided in the embodiments of the present application. The apparatus 900 can include a transceiver module 910 and a processing module 920.

[0504] When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, the transceiver module 910 is configured to send first information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which a first terminal device belongs is paged. The transceiver module 910 is further configured to send second information, the second information being used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged. Figure 5 When the communication apparatus 900 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, the transceiver module 910 is configured to receive first information and second information, the first information being used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged. The processing module 920 is further configured to determine whether to receive a paging PDSCH or to determine whether to monitor a paging PDCCH according to the second information, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged.

[0505] Figure 5

[0506] For more detailed description of the transceiver module 910 and the processing module 920, reference can be made to the related description in the above-mentioned method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0507] As shown in FIG. 10, the communication apparatus 1000 includes a processor 1010 and an interface circuit 1020. The processor 1010 and the interface circuit 1020 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1020 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1000 can further include a memory 1030, which is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1010 or to store input data required by the processor 1010 to execute instructions or to store data generated after the processor 1010 executes instructions. Figure 8 ​​​

[0508] When the communication apparatus 1000 is used to implement the method in the method embodiments, the processor 1010 is configured to perform the functions of the processing module 920, and the interface circuit 1020 is configured to perform the functions of the transceiver module 910.

[0509] When the communication apparatus is a chip applied to a terminal device, the terminal device chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments. The terminal device chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, and the information is sent by a network device to the terminal device. Alternatively, the terminal device chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0510] When the communication apparatus is a chip applied to a network device, the network device chip implements the functions of the network device in the method embodiments. The network device chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by a terminal device to the network device. Alternatively, the network device chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device, and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device.

[0511] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0512] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in an access network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the access network device or the terminal device.

[0513] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted by the computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD); or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid state disk (SSD).

[0514] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and no logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0515] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character " / " indicates that the associated objects before and after are in a "division" relationship.

[0516] It can be understood that various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only distinguished for the convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: Comprising: The first terminal device receives first information and second information, the first information is used to indicate whether a first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged; If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, the subgroup to which the first terminal device belongs is one of the at least two subgroups, and the first terminal device determines whether to receive a paging physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or determines whether to listen to a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) according to the second information; The terminal devices included in the first terminal device group have the same characteristics, and the characteristics include at least one of: Sensitivity of the terminal device to power consumption, and paging probability of the terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups are paged, and the second information is not effective, and the first terminal device determines not to receive the PDSCH or determines not to listen to the PDCCH.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first information is also used to indicate whether a second terminal device group to which a second terminal device belongs is paged.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group; If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, The method further comprises: The first terminal device receives third information, the third information is used to indicate grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, and the grouping indication priorities are used to determine a terminal device group that is preferentially indicated by second information; The first terminal device determines whether to receive a paging PDSCH or determines whether to listen to a paging PDCCH according to the second information, comprising: The first terminal device determines whether to receive the PDSCH or determines whether to listen to the paging PDCCH according to the second information and the third information.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein: The grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are predefined by a protocol.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, If the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group, If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; Or, If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and the second terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein: a Pth field included in the first information corresponds to the first terminal device group, and a Qth field corresponds to the second terminal device group, P and Q are positive integers, and P is less than Q, if the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; if the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein, The method further comprises: the first terminal device receives fourth information, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group; the first terminal device determines whether to receive a paging PDSCH or determines whether to monitor a paging PDCCH according to the second information, comprising: the first terminal device determines whether to receive the paging PDSCH or determines whether to monitor the paging PDCCH according to the second information and the fourth information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, if the information field included in the fourth information is in a first state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or if the information field included in the fourth information is in a second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, M2 is greater than M1.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein, The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, if the fourth information includes information fields in a third state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or, if the fourth information includes information fields in a fourth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1; or, if the fourth information includes information fields in a fifth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the second terminal device group, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged, and the N2 is greater than the N1.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field, the second information field, and information fields included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is less than the M3; or, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M1 is less than the M2; or, the fourth information is used to indicate any one of the following cases: the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether the M2 subgroups are paged; or the first information field is used to indicate whether the M1 subgroups are paged.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that neither the first terminal device group nor the second terminal device group is paged, at least one of the first information field, the second information field, and information fields included in the fourth information is reserved or set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions.

14. The method of claim 5, wherein, the third information is carried in a first downlink control information (DCI), or a first medium access control control element (MAC CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

15. The method of any one of claims 9-11, wherein, the fourth information is carried in a second DCI or a second MAC CE.

16. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, a paging early indication channel / signal carries the first information, and a paging PDCCH carries the second information, the paging early indication channel / signal is in the time domain before the paging PDCCH, or the paging early indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH are located in the same time slot or the same subframe; or, ​ The paging early indication channel / signal carries part of the first information and the second information, and the paging PDCCH carries information other than the part of the second information.

17. The method of claim 3, wherein, The second terminal device group comprises terminal devices with the same feature, and the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group comprise terminal devices with different features.

18. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging PDCCH at the same paging occasion PO, and / or, The first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging early indication channel / signal.

19. A method of communication, comprising: Comprise: The network device sends first information, which is used to indicate whether the first terminal device group to which the first terminal device belongs is paged; The network device sends second information, which is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged; The first terminal device group comprises terminal devices with the same feature, and the feature comprises at least one of the following: Sensitivity of terminal device to power consumption, paging probability of terminal device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged, the second information is used to indicate whether the at least two subgroups are paged and the second information is not effective.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein, The first information is also used to indicate whether the second terminal device group to which the second terminal device belongs is paged.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein The second information comprises a first information field and a second information field, the first information field is an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group, and the second information field is an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group; If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the M2 is greater than the M1.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein, The method further comprises: The network device sends third information, which is used to indicate grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group, and the grouping indication priorities are used to determine terminal device groups that are preferentially grouped and indicated.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein The grouping indication priorities of the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are predefined by a protocol.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein, If the grouping indication priority of the first terminal device group is higher than that of the second terminal device group, If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; If the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is not paged and indicates that the second terminal device group is paged, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein, the first information includes a Pth field corresponding to the first terminal device group and a Qth field corresponding to the second terminal device group, P and Q are positive integers, P is less than Q, if the Pth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; if the Pth field is a non-target state and the Qth field is a target state, the second information is used to indicate whether at least two subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein, The method further comprises: the network device sends fourth information, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, the fourth information is used to indicate an information field corresponding to the first terminal device group and an information field corresponding to the second terminal device group.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, if the information field included in the fourth information is in a first state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or, if the information field included in the fourth information is in a second state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, M2 is greater than M1.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein, the second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group are both paged, if the information field included in the fourth information is in a third state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field corresponds to the first terminal device group and the second information field corresponds to the second terminal device group, the first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, and the second information field is used to indicate whether N1 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged; or, if the information field included in the fourth information is in a fourth state, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the first terminal device group, the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, M2 is greater than M1; or, If the fourth information includes a fifth state in an information field, the fourth information indicates that the first information field and the second information field correspond to the second terminal device group, and the first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether N2 subgroups included in the second terminal device group are paged, where N2 is greater than N1.

30. The method of any one of claims 27-29, wherein, The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that the first terminal device group is paged and the second terminal device group is not paged, The first information field and the second information field and the information field included in the fourth information are used to indicate whether M3 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged; or, The first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M2 is less than M3; or, The first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups included in the first terminal device group are paged, where M1 is less than M2; or, The fourth information is used to indicate any of the following cases: The first information field and the second information field are used to indicate whether M2 subgroups are paged; or, The first information field is used to indicate whether M1 subgroups are paged.

31. The method of any one of claims 27-29, wherein, The second information includes a first information field and a second information field, if the first information indicates that neither the first terminal device group nor the second terminal device group is paged, At least one of the first information field, the second information field, and the information field included in the fourth information is reserved or set to a specific state or used to indicate other functions.

32. The method of claim 23, wherein, The third information is carried in a first downlink control information (DCI), or a first medium access control control element (MAC CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

33. The method of any one of claims 27-29, wherein, The fourth information is carried in a second DCI or a second MAC CE.

34. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein, A paging early indication channel / signal carries the first information, and a paging PDCCH carries the second information, where the paging early indication channel / signal is in the time domain before the paging PDCCH, or the paging early indication channel / signal and the paging PDCCH are located in the same time slot or the same subframe; Or, The paging early indication channel / signal carries part of the information included in the first information and the second information, and the paging PDCCH carries information other than the part of information in the second information.

35. The method of claim 21, wherein, The terminal devices included in the second terminal device group have the same characteristics, and the terminal devices included in the first terminal device group and the second terminal device group have different characteristics.

36. The method of claim 21, wherein, The first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging PDCCH at the same paging occasion (PO), and / or, The first terminal device and the second terminal device listen to the same paging early indication channel / signal.

37. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor and a communication interface for receiving signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmitting signals to the processor or sending signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, the processor being configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 18 or 19 to 36 by means of logic circuitry or by executing code instructions.

38. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program which, when executed, implements the method of any one of claims 1 to 18 or 19 to 36.

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