A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and device are used to improve the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring of a terminal device, so as to save the power consumption of the terminal device. Through the method, under a dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, the terminal device can further not monitor PDCCH in part of monitoring occasions corresponding to an SS set in a monitoring state, so as to improve the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring of the terminal device, and overcome the problem of power consumption waste caused by misalignment of monitoring occasions corresponding to different SS sets.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] In communication systems, the power consumption of terminal devices is a crucial aspect of user experience. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) also considers optimizing the power consumption of terminal devices as an important task to improve user experience.

[0003] One of the functions of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is to carry scheduling information for uplink / downlink data. Therefore, terminal devices can periodically listen to the PDCCH to determine if scheduling is available. If the terminal device detects scheduling information on the PDCCH, it can receive downlink data from the network device via the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or send uplink data to the network device via the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). However, if there is no service transmission between the network device and the terminal device, and the network device does not send scheduling information, the terminal device still needs to listen to the PDCCH, resulting in wasted power consumption.

[0004] In communication systems, the PDCCH monitoring occasion can be determined by configuring parameters of a search space set (SS set). Typically, network devices can configure at least one SS set for a downlink (DL) bandwidth portion (BWP). Terminal devices can determine the PDCCH monitoring occasion based on the parameter configuration of these SS sets.

[0005] If the PDCCH listening time is relatively dense (e.g., the PDCCH period in the SS set is one time slot), then the terminal device needs to listen to the PDCCH frequently (e.g., the terminal device listens to the PDCCH in every slot). Once there is data to be transmitted, the network device can quickly schedule it to the terminal device. Therefore, dense PDCCH listening time is beneficial to reducing service scheduling latency, but it also leads to the terminal device listening to the PDCCH frequently, which also increases the power consumption of the terminal device. If the PDCCH listening time is relatively sparse (e.g., the PDCCH period value in the SS set is relatively large), then the terminal device can listen to the PDCCH once every few time slots, which can reduce the power consumption of the terminal device, but will increase the service scheduling latency.

[0006] Therefore, how terminal devices can flexibly monitor PDCCH to save power consumption is a problem that urgently needs to be solved by technical personnel in the field of communications. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to improve the flexibility of terminal devices in PDCCH monitoring, thereby saving power consumption of terminal devices.

[0008] Firstly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method based on a dynamic SS set group switching mechanism. This method is applied in a terminal device. Optionally, the method can be executed by the terminal device itself, or by components such as chips, processors, or chip systems within the terminal device. The following description uses the execution of the method by a terminal device as an example to illustrate the method in detail. The method includes the following steps:

[0009] The terminal device determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set in the first SS set group where the first serving cell activates the BWP; wherein, the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set are used by the terminal device to perform PDCCH listening; when the first listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the first listening range, it is determined that the PDCCH is not listened to at the first listening opportunity; when the second listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the first listening range, the PDCCH is listened to at the second listening opportunity; wherein, the first listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set, and the second listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set.

[0010] With this method, under the dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, the terminal device can further not listen to the PDCCH at certain listening times corresponding to the SS set that is in the listening state, so as to improve the flexibility of the terminal device in PDCCH listening and overcome the problem of power consumption waste caused by the misalignment of listening times corresponding to different SS sets.

[0011] In one possible design, the terminal device can determine the first monitoring range based on the monitoring timing corresponding to the reference SS set.

[0012] Through this design, the terminal device can determine the first monitoring range, and thus determine whether to monitor the PDCCH at the monitoring time by judging whether the monitoring time corresponding to the first SS set is within the first monitoring range.

[0013] In one possible design, the reference SS set is configured for network devices.

[0014] In one possible design, when the first SS set group contains multiple SS sets, the multiple SS sets include the first SS set; the reference SS set is determined according to the configuration parameters corresponding to the multiple SS sets, and the configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in time slot, duration, and SS set index.

[0015] Optionally, the reference SS set can be a virtual SS set determined based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the plurality of SS sets; or it can be an SS set selected from the plurality of SS sets.

[0016] For example, when the reference SS set is a virtual SS set, the configuration parameters of the reference SS set may meet at least one of the following conditions: the PDCCH listening period of the reference SS set is greater than or equal to the maximum value among the PDCCH listening periods of multiple SS sets in the first SS set group; the number of symbols in the PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot of the reference SS set is less than or equal to the minimum number of symbols in the PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot of multiple SS sets in the first SS set group; the duration of the reference SS set is less than or equal to the minimum duration among the multiple SS sets in the first SS set group.

[0017] For example, when the reference SS set is an SS set selected from the first SS set group, the reference SS set may meet at least one of the following conditions:

[0018] The PDCCH monitoring period is the longest in the first SS set group;

[0019] The number of symbols in the PDCCH monitoring pattern within the time slot is the smallest in the first SS set group;

[0020] The duration is the shortest in the first SS set group.

[0021] The SS set index is either the smallest or the largest in the first SS set group.

[0022] In one possible design, when the first serving cell belongs to a first serving cell group, the reference SSset is determined based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the SSset of the active BWP in the listening state of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell group. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot, duration, and SSset index. The specific determination process can be referred to the above design and will not be repeated here.

[0023] In one possible design, when the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SSset is all SSsets in the listening state of the active BWP of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell.

[0024] In one possible design, when the first serving cell belongs to a first serving cell group, the reference SSset is determined based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the SSset of the active BWP in the listening state of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot, duration, and SSset index. The specific determination process can be referred to the above design and will not be repeated here.

[0025] The above design features can improve the flexibility of the communication system in determining the reference SS set.

[0026] In one possible design, the reference serving cell is configured for network equipment.

[0027] In one possible design, the reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group, the parameters including at least one of the following: the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the active BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell; or the parameters including at least one of the following: the SCS of the active BWP and the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell.

[0028] In one possible design, the reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active and inactive serving cells in the first serving cell group, the parameters including at least one of the following: the active BWP and the SCS of the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell.

[0029] The above design features can improve the flexibility of communication systems in determining reference serving cells.

[0030] In one possible design, the first listening range is:

[0031] The reference SS set corresponds to the symbol where the listening timing is located; or

[0032] The time slot in which the listening timing corresponds to the reference SS set; or

[0033] The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set number of symbols; or

[0034] The time slot where the listening opportunity corresponding to the reference SS set is located, and the adjacent second set number of time slots; or

[0035] The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set duration; or

[0036] The reference SS set corresponds to the time slot in which the listening opportunity occurs and the adjacent second set duration.

[0037] This design improves the flexibility in determining the first monitoring range.

[0038] In one possible design, when the first serving cell belongs to a first serving cell group, and the first serving cell group also includes a second serving cell, the terminal device may further perform the following steps:

[0039] The terminal device determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set in the second SS set group where the second serving cell activates BWP; the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set are used by the terminal device to perform PDCCH listening; when the third listening opportunity corresponding to the second SS set is outside the first listening range, it is determined that PDCCH is not listened to at the third listening opportunity; when the fourth listening opportunity corresponding to the second SS set is within the first listening range, PDCCH is listened to at the fourth listening opportunity; wherein, the third listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set, and the fourth listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set.

[0040] Through this design, the terminal device can perform partial listening to the PDCCH of each serving cell in the first serving cell group, thereby overcoming the problem of power consumption waste caused by the misalignment of listening times corresponding to different SS sets of different serving cells in the same serving cell group.

[0041] In one possible design, the terminal device receives a first instruction from the network device, the first instruction indicating not to listen to the PDCCH at the first listening time, and the terminal device can perform the above method according to the first instruction.

[0042] With this design, the terminal device can, at the instruction of the network device, not listen to the PDCCH during certain listening times.

[0043] In one possible design, the terminal device can also receive a second instruction from the network device, and perform PDCCH monitoring based on the third SS set group according to the second instruction. In this way, the terminal device can switch SS set groups according to the second instruction from the network device.

[0044] Wherein, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell is the serving cell where the DCI is located; or

[0045] The second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell is the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; or

[0046] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the DCI is located; or

[0047] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; or

[0048] The second indication includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell; or

[0049] The second instruction includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell group; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell group.

[0050] In one possible design, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS); or, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS) or a Type 3-PDCCH public search space set (CSS).

[0051] In one possible design, the non-monitoring PDCCH is: a PDCCH scrambled with the dedicated wireless network temporary identifier RNTI of the terminal device.

[0052] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method based on skipping the PDCCH listening mechanism. This method is applied in a terminal device. Optionally, the method can be executed by the terminal device itself, or by components such as chips, processors, or chip systems within the terminal device. The following description uses the execution of the method by a terminal device as an example to illustrate the method in detail. The method includes the following steps:

[0053] The terminal device determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set; receives a first indication from the network device, the first indication being used to instruct the terminal device to skip the periodic time window of PDCCH listening; determines the starting position of the periodic time window according to the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located; when the first listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the periodic time window, determines not to listen to PDCCH on the first listening opportunity; when the second listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the periodic time window, listens to PDCCH on the second listening opportunity; wherein, the first listening opportunity and the second listening opportunity are included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set.

[0054] With this method, under the PDCCH-based skip PDCCH listening mechanism, the terminal device can periodically skip PDCCH listening according to a periodic time window, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal device in PDCCH listening, overcoming the problem of power consumption waste caused by misalignment of listening times corresponding to different SS sets, and also reducing signaling overhead.

[0055] In one possible design, the first indication is also used to indicate the duration of the periodic time window.

[0056] With this design, the terminal device can obtain the effective quantity from the first instruction, and after completing the periodic skipping of PDCCH listening within the periodic time window of the effective quantity, it can automatically end the periodic skipping of PDCCH listening and resume normal PDCCH listening.

[0057] In one possible design, the terminal device may also receive a second indication from the network device, the second indication indicating that the periodic time window has expired; or the terminal device may also receive a third indication from the network device, the third indication indicating the duration of the periodic time window.

[0058] With this design, the terminal device can, upon instruction from the network device, terminate the periodic skipping of PDCCH listening and resume normal PDCCH listening when the termination condition is met.

[0059] In one possible design, the first instruction is further used to indicate a serving cell or serving cell group that skips PDCCH listening; or the first instruction is further used to indicate an active BWP that skips PDCCH listening.

[0060] In one possible design, the starting position of the periodic time window is offset from the position of the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located by a set duration. This set duration, i.e., the effective time of the first indication, can be configured by the network device.

[0061] In one possible design, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS); or, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS) or a Type3-PDCCH public search space set (CSS).

[0062] In one possible design, the non-monitoring PDCCH is: a PDCCH scrambled with the dedicated wireless network temporary identifier RNTI of the terminal device.

[0063] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device applied to a terminal device, the device comprising:

[0064] The communication unit is used to receive and transmit signals;

[0065] The processing unit is configured to determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set in the first SS set group where the first serving cell activates the BWP; wherein, the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set are used by the terminal device to perform PDCCH listening; when the first listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the first listening range, it is determined that the PDCCH is not listened to at the first listening opportunity; when the second listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the first listening range, the PDCCH is listened to through the communication unit at the second listening opportunity; wherein, the first listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set, and the second listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set.

[0066] In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to:

[0067] The first monitoring range is determined based on the monitoring timing corresponding to the reference SS set.

[0068] In one possible design, the reference SS set is configured for network devices.

[0069] In one possible design, when the first SS set group contains multiple SS sets, the multiple SS sets include the first SS set; the reference SS set is determined based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the multiple SS sets, and the configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern within a time slot, duration, and SS set index; or

[0070] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SS set is determined based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the SS set of the active BWP in the listening state of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell group. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot, duration, and SS set index; or

[0071] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SS set is all SS sets of the active BWP in the listening state of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell; or

[0072] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SS set is determined according to the configuration parameters corresponding to the SS set of the active BWP of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group that is in the listening state. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in the time slot, duration, and SS set index.

[0073] In one possible design, the reference serving cell is configured for network equipment.

[0074] In one possible design, the reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group, the parameters including at least one of the following: the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the active BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell; or the parameters including at least one of the following: the SCS of the active BWP and the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell; or

[0075] The reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active and inactive serving cells in the first serving cell group, and the parameters include at least one of the following: the active BWP and the SCS of the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell.

[0076] In one possible design, the first listening range is:

[0077] The reference SS set corresponds to the symbol where the listening timing is located; or

[0078] The time slot in which the listening timing corresponds to the reference SS set; or

[0079] The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set number of symbols; or

[0080] The time slot where the listening opportunity corresponding to the reference SS set is located, and the adjacent second set number of time slots; or

[0081] The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set duration; or

[0082] The reference SS set corresponds to the time slot in which the listening opportunity occurs and the adjacent second set duration.

[0083] In one possible design, when the first serving cell belongs to a first serving cell group, and the first serving cell group also includes a second serving cell, the processing unit is further configured to:

[0084] The system determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set in the second SS set group where the second serving cell activates BWP; the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set are used by the terminal device to listen to PDCCH; when the third listening opportunity corresponding to the second SS set is outside the first listening range, it is determined that PDCCH is not listened to at the third listening opportunity; when the fourth listening opportunity corresponding to the second SS set is within the first listening range, PDCCH is listened to through the communication unit at the fourth listening opportunity; wherein, the third listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set, and the fourth listening opportunity is included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set.

[0085] In one possible design, the processing unit is further used for:

[0086] The communication unit receives a first indication from the network device, the first indication being used to indicate that the PDCCH should not be monitored during the first monitoring period.

[0087] In one possible design, the processing unit is further used for:

[0088] The communication unit receives a second instruction from the network device, and performs PDCCH monitoring based on the third SS set group according to the second instruction.

[0089] Wherein, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell is the serving cell where the DCI is located; or

[0090] The second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell is the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; or

[0091] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the DCI is located; or

[0092] When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; or

[0093] The second indication includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell; or

[0094] The second instruction includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell group; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell group.

[0095] In one possible design, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS); or, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS) or a Type3-PDCCH public search space set (CSS).

[0096] In one possible design, the non-monitoring PDCCH is: a PDCCH scrambled with the dedicated wireless network temporary identifier RNTI of the terminal device.

[0097] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device applied to a terminal device, the device comprising:

[0098] The communication unit is used to receive and transmit signals;

[0099] A processing unit is configured to determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to a first SS set; receive a first indication from a network device via a communication unit, the first indication being used to instruct the terminal device to skip a periodic time window for PDCCH listening; determine the starting position of the periodic time window based on the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located; determine that PDCCH is not listened to on the first listening opportunity when the first listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the periodic time window; and listen to PDCCH via the communication unit on the second listening opportunity when the second listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the periodic time window; wherein the first listening opportunity and the second listening opportunity are included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set.

[0100] In one possible design, the first indication is also used to indicate the duration of the periodic time window.

[0101] In one possible design, the processing unit is further configured to:

[0102] The communication unit receives a second indication from the network device, the second indication indicating that the periodic time window has failed; or the communication unit receives a third indication from the network device, the third indication indicating the duration of the periodic time window.

[0103] In one possible design, the first instruction is further used to indicate a serving cell or serving cell group that skips PDCCH listening; or the first instruction is further used to indicate an active BWP that skips PDCCH listening.

[0104] In one possible design, the starting position of the periodic time window is offset from the position of the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located by a set time interval.

[0105] In one possible design, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS); or, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS) or a Type3-PDCCH public search space set (CSS).

[0106] In one possible design, the non-monitoring PDCCH is: a PDCCH scrambled with the dedicated wireless network temporary identifier RNTI of the terminal device.

[0107] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a terminal device including at least one processing element and at least one storage element, wherein the at least one storage element is used to store programs and data, and the at least one processing element is used to execute the methods provided in any of the foregoing aspects of this application.

[0108] Sixthly, embodiments of this application also provide a communication system, including a terminal device for performing the methods provided in any aspect of this application, and a network device.

[0109] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method provided in any of the above aspects.

[0110] Eighthly, embodiments of this application also provide a computer storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method provided in any of the above aspects.

[0111] Ninthly, embodiments of this application also provide a chip for reading a computer program stored in a memory and executing the method provided in any of the above aspects.

[0112] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a chip system including a processor for supporting a computer device in implementing the methods provided in any of the foregoing aspects. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing programs and data necessary for the computer device. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices. Attached Figure Description

[0113] Figure 1A This application provides a schematic diagram illustrating the listening timing corresponding to an SS set in an embodiment of the present application.

[0114] Figure 1B This application provides a schematic diagram illustrating the listening timing corresponding to an SS set in an embodiment of the present application.

[0115] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a communication system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0116] Figure 3A A schematic diagram of a DRX cycle provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0117] Figure 3B This application provides a schematic diagram illustrating the behavior of a terminal device during the DRX process.

[0118] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a WUS mechanism based on PDCCH provided in this application embodiment;

[0119] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a secondary cell hibernation mechanism provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0120] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a PDCCH-based skipping PDCCH listening mechanism provided in this application embodiment;

[0121] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a dynamic SS set group switching mechanism provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0122] Figure 8 This application provides a schematic diagram of a dynamic SS set group handover mechanism in a multi-carrier scenario.

[0123] Figure 9 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0124] Figure 10 A flowchart for determining the effective time of a network device is provided as an embodiment of this application;

[0125] Figure 11A schematic diagram illustrating the method for determining the first monitoring range provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0126] Figure 12 A schematic diagram illustrating a method for skipping PDCCH monitoring, provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0127] Figure 13 Another schematic diagram of skipping PDCCH monitoring provided in this application embodiment;

[0128] Figure 14 A flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0129] Figure 15 A schematic diagram illustrating a method for skipping PDCCH monitoring, provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0130] Figure 16 A schematic diagram illustrating a method for skipping PDCCH monitoring, provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0131] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0132] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0133] This application provides a communication method and apparatus to improve the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring in terminal devices, thereby saving power consumption. The method and apparatus are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles by which the method and apparatus solve the problem are similar, their implementations can be mutually referenced, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0134] The following explanations of some terms used in this application are provided to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0135] 1) Network devices are devices in a communication system that connect terminal devices to a wireless network. These network devices, acting as nodes in a radio access network, can also be called base stations or radio access network (RAN) nodes (or devices).

[0136] Currently, some examples of network equipment include: gNB, transmission reception point (TRP), evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), access point (AP), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved Node B, or home Node B, HNB), or base band unit (BBU), Enterprise LTE Discrete Spectrum Aggregation (eLTE-DSA) base station, etc.

[0137] In another network architecture, the network equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes. This architecture separates the protocol layers of the eNB in ​​a long term evolution (LTE) system, with some protocol layer functions centrally controlled by the CU, and the remaining part or all of the protocol layer functions distributed in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU.

[0138] 2) Terminal equipment is a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users. Terminal equipment can also be called user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc.

[0139] For example, the terminal equipment can be a handheld device with wireless connectivity, various vehicle-mounted devices, roadside units, etc. Currently, examples of terminal devices include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, handheld computers, mobile internet devices (MIDs), point-of-sale (POS) terminals, wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, various smart meters (smart water meters, smart electricity meters, smart gas meters), eLTE-DSA UEs, devices with integrated access and backhaul (IAB) capabilities, electronic control units (ECUs), in-vehicle computers, in-vehicle cruise control systems, and telematics boxes (T-BOXs).

[0140] 3) The bandwidth part (BWP) is a continuous segment of frequency domain resources within the carrier of a cell managed by the network device. For example, a BWP can contain K consecutive subcarriers or M consecutive resource blocks (RBs), where K and M are both integers greater than 0.

[0141] BWP can also be referred to as bandwidth resource, bandwidth region, frequency domain resource portion, partial frequency domain resource, or other names, and this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0142] In this embodiment, a cell can also be called a serving cell. A cell can have at least one uplink carrier and one downlink carrier, or only downlink carriers, or only uplink carriers. For example, a cell may have one downlink carrier and two uplink carriers, which can be a normal carrier and a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier, respectively. One or more downlink BWPs can be configured on a downlink carrier, and multiple one or more uplink BWPs can be configured on an uplink carrier. At least one downlink BWP on the downlink active carrier and at least one uplink BWP on the uplink active carrier are active.

[0143] The following explains the different states of BWP.

[0144] A BWP in an active state is simply called an active BWP. Terminal devices and network devices communicate and transmit data through the frequency domain resources contained in the active BWP. Optionally, one or more BWPs can be configured on a single carrier. The parameter sets (numerology) of different BWPs (which may include subcarrier spacing (SCS), CP length, etc.) can be the same or different. When multiple BWPs are configured on a carrier, only one active BWP can be on that carrier at a time, and the active BWP can be switched via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or a timer.

[0145] Dormant BWP: Terminal devices can perform channel state information (CSI) measurements and automatic gain control (AGC) on a dormant BWP, and can also perform beam management. However, the terminal device does not listen to the PDCCH on a dormant BWP, nor does it listen to the PDCCH specific to the dormant BWP. The terminal device does not receive the DL-SCH (Downlink Shared Channel) on a dormant BWP, nor does it report CSI. The terminal device also does not report aperiodic CSI specific to the dormant BWP. On the UL active BWP in the serving cell where the dormant BWP resides, the terminal device does not need to send sounding reference signal (SRS), uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), random access channel (RACH), or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). Dormant BWPs are defined for secondary cells (SCells). Each SCell can be configured with one dormant BWP or none, and a dormant BWP can only be configured among these BWPs if at least one BWP is configured to listen to the PDCCH on the SCell. Optionally, the network device can configure a dormant BWP via RRC messages, for example, by sending an RRC message containing the default PDCCH configuration information element (PDCCH-config IE).

[0146] It's important to note that a sleeping BWP and the DRX opportunity time in C-DRX are different concepts. As described above, a sleeping BWP is a state of a BWP. The terminal device does not listen to the PDCCH on a sleeping BWP, but it can still perform CSI measurements and AGC, etc. The C-DRX DRX opportunity time, on the other hand, indicates the state of the terminal device over a period of time. During the DRX opportunity time, the terminal device is in a sleep state (dormant state) and does not listen to the PDCCH on any BWP.

[0147] 4). Search space set (hereinafter abbreviated as SS set), which is configured by the network device, and the terminal device performs PDCCH monitoring based on the SS set on the downlink active BWP. Specifically, the PDCCH monitoring opportunity (hereinafter abbreviated as the monitoring opportunity) of the terminal device is determined by the SS set. For a DL BWP, the terminal device can be configured with at least one SS set, and the configuration information of each SS set includes at least one of the following configuration parameters:

[0148] a. SS set index, which is used to identify the SS set.

[0149] b. The index of the control resource set (CORESET) associated with this SS set.

[0150] Among them, CORESET represents a time-frequency resource set for carrying PDCCH. A CORESET consists of several consecutive or non-consecutive RBs in the frequency domain and consists of 1 to 3 consecutive symbols in the time domain.

[0151] c. PDCCH monitoring period Ks and offset Os. The value units of Ks and Os can be slots.

[0152] d. The PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot, or the PDCCH monitoring symbol within a slot, which is used to indicate the starting symbol of the CORESET within a slot. The CORESET can have multiple starting symbols within a slot.

[0153] e. Duration Ts, which is used to indicate the number of consecutive slots in which this SS set exists, where Ts < Ks. The default value of Ts is 1 slot.

[0154] f. Aggregation level and the number of PDCCH candidates corresponding to each aggregation level.

[0155] h. SS set type indication, which is used to indicate whether this SS set is a common search space set (CSS set) (abbreviated as CSS) or a UE-specific search space set (USS set) (abbreviated as USS).

[0156] If the SS set type is CSS, the network device will also indicate the DCI format to be listened to at the PDCCH candidate position, such as DCI format 0_0 / DCI format 1_0, DCI format 2_0, DCIformat2_1, ..., or DCI format 2_6.

[0157] If the SS set type is USS, the network device will also be configured to listen to the DCI format at the PDCCH candidate position, such as DCI format 0_0 / DCI format 1_0, DCI format 0_1 / DCI format 1_1, DCI format 0_2 / DCI format 1_2, DCI format 3_1 / DCI format 3_1, etc.

[0158] g. Bitmap, indicating the index of one or more RB sets.

[0159] The terminal device can determine the listening timing corresponding to an SS set based on its PDCCH listening period, offset, PDCCH listening pattern within a time slot, and duration. For example... Figure 1A and Figure 1B The diagram shows the listening timing corresponding to the two SS sets. In the two diagrams above, CORESET represents the first three symbols of a time slot. Figure 1A The duration of the SS set is one time slot. Figure 1B The duration of the SS set is 2 time slots.

[0160] It should be noted that this is an example. Figure 1A and Figure 1B The PDCCH listening time is the first 3 symbols of the time slot. However, in practice, by configuring the PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot of the SSset, the PDCCH listening time can be any symbol in a time slot, such as the symbol in the middle of the time slot or the symbol at the end of the time slot.

[0161] It should be noted that since a network device can configure multiple SS sets for a single DL BWP, a terminal device on that DL BWP can listen to the PDCCH based on all of these SS sets, or it can listen to the PDCCH based on only a portion of these SS sets, without needing to listen to the PDCCH based on another portion of these SS sets. For ease of description, this application refers to the SS set on which the terminal device listens to the PDCCH as the SS set in a listening state, and the SS set on which the terminal device does not listen to the PDCCH as the SS set in a non-listening state.

[0162] The listening state can also be called the active state or the effective state, etc.; the non-listening state can also be called the inactive state, the dormant state, the invalid state, etc., and this application does not limit it.

[0163] 5) Time Slot. In this application, the time slot refers to the concept of a time slot in a 5G communication system. The absolute length of the time slot is related to the SCS of the corresponding BWP. As explained in point 3) above regarding BWPs, multiple BWPs can be configured on a carrier. When the SCSs of different BWPs are different, the lengths of the time slots on these BWPs are also different.

[0164] 6) "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship.

[0165] It should be noted that "multiple" in this application refers to two or more. "At least one" refers to one or more.

[0166] In addition, it should be understood that in the description of this application, the words "first" and "second" are used only for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0167] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0168] Figure 2 The structure of a communication system to which the method provided in the embodiments of this application is applicable is shown. See also... Figure 2 As shown, the communication system includes network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0169] The network device is an entity on the network side that can receive and transmit wireless signals. It is responsible for providing wireless access-related services to terminal devices within its coverage area, and implementing physical layer functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, Quality of Service (QoS) management, wireless access control, and mobility management functions.

[0170] The terminal device is an entity on the user side capable of receiving and transmitting wireless signals, and can access the network through the network access device. The terminal device can be various devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to the user, such as in-vehicle devices, smartphones, etc. The terminal device and the network device are connected via a Uu interface to enable communication between them.

[0171] It should be noted that in a single-carrier scenario, Figure 2 In a network device, a cell is managed by a network device that has one downlink carrier (i.e., DL carrier) in the communication system. In a multi-carrier scenario (where the communication system supports carrier aggregation (CA) technology), Figure 2 Network devices can manage multiple cells, each with its own DL carrier. Among these cells, the cell operating on the primary carrier (primary frequency point), establishing RRC connections with terminal devices, and providing security input and higher-layer signaling to terminal devices is called the primary cell (PCell); the cell operating on the secondary carrier (secondary frequency point), used to improve additional radio resources, is called the secondary cell (SCell).

[0172] When a terminal device initially connects to a network device, the network device allocates one or more DL BWPs on the DL carrier based on the terminal device's bandwidth capacity and the DL carrier's bandwidth. When the network device allocates multiple DL BWPs to a terminal device, the terminal device and the network device can perform downlink transmission (PDCCH, PDSCH, etc.) through the DL active BWP among the multiple DL BWPs.

[0173] It should be noted that, in the solutions provided in this application, unless otherwise stated, the carrier, BWP, and active BWP described in the following embodiments may refer to DL carrier, DL BWP, and DL active BWP, respectively. Furthermore, since the PDCCH is transmitted via DL active BWP, DL active BWP may be abbreviated as BWP in the following text.

[0174] It should also be pointed out that, such as Figure 2The communication system shown is an example and does not limit the communication systems to which the methods provided in this application are applicable. In summary, this application can also be applied to various types and standards of communication systems, such as: 5G communication systems, 6G communication systems, and other future communication systems, including vehicle-to-everything (V2X), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-everything (V2V), machine-type communications (MTC), the internet of things (IoT), and machine-to-machine (M2M), etc. This application does not limit these applications.

[0175] exist Figure 2 In the communication system shown, the resources used for data transmission between network devices and terminal devices are generally scheduled by the network device through the PDCCH. The control information transmitted on the PDCCH is called DCI, and one of its main functions is to carry scheduling information for uplink / downlink data. Therefore, after a terminal device connects to the network device, it can continuously listen to the PDCCH to determine if scheduling is available. If the terminal device detects scheduling information on the PDCCH, it can receive downlink data sent by the network device through the PDSCH or send uplink data to the network device through the PUSCH, based on the scheduling information.

[0176] However, in many cases, network devices do not continuously send scheduling information to terminal devices, but the terminal devices periodically listen to the PDCCH to determine whether scheduling is available. When there is no service transmission between the network device and the terminal device, the network device will not send scheduling information, and the terminal device's unnecessary PDCCH listening during this period will lead to unnecessary power consumption. Therefore, in order to save power consumption of terminal devices, one approach is to minimize unnecessary PDCCH listening by the terminal devices.

[0177] The following sections describe the various schemes for adjusting the PDCCH listening timing provided in this application.

[0178] Option 1: Connected Mode Discontinuous Reception (C-DRX) Mechanism

[0179] In the C-DRX mechanism, terminal devices can periodically turn on the receiver to listen to the PDCCH according to the DRX cycle configured by the network device. (See also...) Figure 3A As shown. Figure 3A As shown, the DRX cycle includes two time periods: active time and DRX opportunity time (also called sleep period or non-active time). The terminal device listens to the PDCCH during the active time, while it can be in a sleep state during the DRX opportunity time and does not listen to the PDCCH.

[0180] It should be noted that the C-DRX mechanism is primarily used to control the listening of PDCCHs scrambled with C-RNTI, CI-RNTI, CS-RNTI, INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, and AI-RNTI. PDCCHs scrambled with other RNTIs (e.g., SI-RNTI, RA-RNTI, MsgB-RNTI, TC-RNTI, P-RNTI) are not subject to the C-DRX mechanism. That is, during inactive periods, the PDCCHs not listened to are those scrambled with C-RNTI, CI-RNTI, CS-RNTI, INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, and AI-RNTI.

[0181] When the C-DRX mechanism is introduced into a communication system, the network device configures the DRX period, the duration of the on Duration Timer, the duration of the Inactivity Timer, the duration of the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Round Trip Time (RTT) Timer (HARQ-RTT-Timer), and the duration of the Retransmission Timer, etc., to the UE via RRC signaling. These parameters are shown in Table 1. The UE can listen to the PDCCH during the drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, and drx-RetransmissionTimerUL runtimes; these times are collectively referred to as the activation time.

[0182] The activation time also includes: the period during which the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer (used for conflict resolution during random access) or msgB-ResponseWindow (used for 2-step random access conflict resolution) is running; the waiting period after the UE sends a scheduling request (SR) on the PUCCH; and the period during which the UE has successfully received a random access response (RAR) indicating a new transmission but has not yet received a PDCCH. The terminal device listens for the PDCCH during the above activation time.

[0183] Table 1 C-DRX Configuration Parameters

[0184]

[0185] Taking DL as an example, the behavior of the terminal device during C-DRX can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 3B As shown:

[0186] During the DRX cycle's on-duration timer, the terminal device listens for the PDCCH. If no PDCCH is detected during the on-duration timer, the terminal device enters the DRX opportunity time after the on-duration timer ends. At this time, the terminal device enters a sleep state and does not listen for the PDCCH. If the terminal device detects that the PDCCH is scheduling a new PDSCH, it starts or restarts the inactivity timer. That is, whenever the UE has initial data scheduled, the inactivity timer is started (or restarted). During the inactivity timer, the terminal device will remain in the active state until the timer expires. The terminal device listens for the PDCCH during the inactivity timer. The terminal device receives the PDSCH according to the scheduling information of the received PDCCH and feeds back a HARQ response (e.g., ACK / NACK) based on the PDSCH reception result. If the terminal device does not receive the PDSCH correctly (i.e., the HARQ response is NACK), it starts the HARQ RTT timer for that HARQ process. After the HARQ RTT timer finishes running, it starts the retransmission timer for that HARQ process. The terminal device listens for the PDCCH during the retransmission timer's operation. When the UE detects a PDCCH indicating a PDSCH retransmission, the terminal device terminates the retransmission timer, even if the retransmission timer has not yet expired. The retransmission timer represents the maximum time the terminal device expects to receive the scheduled downlink retransmission of the PDCCH.

[0187] In the C-DRX mechanism, network devices can also send a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling to the terminal device during the execution of an inactivity timer to prematurely terminate the remaining inactivity timer. Upon receiving the MAC CE signaling, the terminal device ends the remaining inactivity timer, saving power. Terminating the inactivity timer with MAC CE signaling can be considered as putting the terminal device into a long-term sleep state, thus increasing scheduling latency.

[0188] Option 2: PDCCH-based wake-up signal mechanism

[0189] To further conserve UE power, a wake-up signal (WUS) is introduced on top of the C-DRX mechanism. This means that before the DRX on-duration timer starts, the network device sends a WUS notification to the terminal device to indicate whether it wants to start the on-duration timer. Figure 4 As shown.

[0190] Before the on-duration timer starts, the terminal device listens for WUS based on PDCCH. When a WUS indicating wake-up is detected, the terminal device starts the on-duration timer and performs normal operations within the on-duration timer, including listening to PDCCH. When the terminal device detects a WUS indicating no wake-up, the terminal device will not start the on-duration timer, meaning that the terminal device will not listen to PDCCH for a period of time, thereby saving power.

[0191] For example, a PDCCH-based WUS can be carried using a DCI format 2_6, which can be scrambled with the terminal device's power-saving radio network temporary identifier (PS-RNTI). Multiple WUSs can be carried in a DCI format 2_6, each occupying one field (at least 1 bit). A WUS can indicate whether one or more terminal devices are awake. In other words, multiple terminal devices can reuse the same WUS.

[0192] Option 3: Cell dormancy mechanism

[0193] The Dormancy mechanism only applies to SCell. For PCell, the terminal device still needs to listen to the PDCCH during the PDCCH listening time.

[0194] The switching between dormancy and non-dormancy behavior of a SCell is achieved through BWP handover. When a SCell is indicated as dormancy, the downlink active BWP on that SCell switches to a dormant BWP. As explained above, the terminal device does not need to listen to the PDCCH on a dormant BWP, nor does it need to listen to the PDCCH used for scheduling the PDSCH on a dormant BWP during cross-carrier scheduling.

[0195] The switching between sleep and non-sleep states of SCell can be indicated by DCI, with three indication methods:

[0196] Method 1: The SCell is in a dormant or non-dormant state by using the SCell dormancy indication field in DCI format 0_1 ​​or DCI format 1_1. This DCI can also schedule data simultaneously.

[0197] Optionally, the secondary cell sleep indication field may contain multiple fields, each corresponding to a SCell or SCell group, and each field may occupy 1 bit. Different values ​​of each field are used for different states of the SCell or SCell group corresponding to that field.

[0198] For example, a network device can configure up to 5 SCell groups using the parameter `SCell-groups-for-dormancy-within-active-time`. Correspondingly, the secondary cell dormancy indicator field in the DCI can have up to 5 bits, with each bit corresponding to one SCell group. When a bit in the secondary cell dormancy indicator field is "0", the active BWP of each active SCell in the corresponding SCell group switches to a dormant BWP. When the bit is "1", if the terminal device is operating on a non-dormant BWP on the active SCell in the corresponding SCell group, the UE continues to operate on that non-dormant BWP; if the UE is currently on a dormant BWP, the UE switches to the first non-dormant BWP.

[0199] See Figure 5As shown, in a scenario where a network device is configured with one PCell and four SCells, the network device can divide the four SCells into two SCell groups: SCell group 1 and SCell group 2. The network device can send a DCI carrying a secondary cell sleep indication field to the terminal device through the PCell. The secondary cell sleep indication field in this DCI has 2 bits, each corresponding to one SCell group. When the 2 bits in the sleep indication field are "10", the SCells in SCell group 1 are in a non-sleep state. For active SCells in SCell group 1, the terminal device will normally listen to the PDCCH and transmit data. The SCells in SCell group 2 are in a sleep state. For active SCells in SCell group 2, the terminal device will operate on a sleep BWP and will not need to listen to the PDCCH.

[0200] Method 2: Indicate whether the SCell is in a dormant or non-dormant state through a specific field in the DCI of DCI format 1_1. In this case, the DCI cannot schedule data simultaneously.

[0201] For example, when all bits of the frequency domain resource assignment field in the DCI of DCI format 1_1 are set to 0 (when resource allocation is Type 0) or 1 (when resource allocation is Type 1) or set to 0 or 1 (when dynamically switching resource allocation modes), the following fields in the DCI indicate the status of the SCell:

[0202] The modulation and coding scheme of transport block 1 field;

[0203] New data indicator of transport block 1 field;

[0204] The field for the redundancy version of transport block 1;

[0205] HARQ process number field;

[0206] Antenna port(s) domain;

[0207] DMRS sequence initialization field.

[0208] Each bit in the above field can correspond to a SCell, which indicates whether the corresponding SCell is in a sleep state or a non-sleep state.

[0209] Method 3: Indicate whether the SCell is in a dormant or non-dormant state through the SCell dormancy indication field in the DCI of DCI format 2_6. The indication method is basically similar to Method 1 above, except that the DCI of DCI format 2_6 is a group common DCI, which can be sent by network devices to multiple terminal devices, and this DCI does not carry data scheduling information.

[0210] Option 4: PDCCH based PDCCH skipping mechanism

[0211] The core method of this mechanism is that the network device sends a skipPDCCH monitoring signal to the terminal device via PDCCH. This skipPDCCH monitoring signal instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCH for a set time window to save power. See [link / reference] Figure 6 As shown. The time window for not listening to the PDCCH can be several time slots, a few milliseconds, or the duration of the remaining inactive timer. This mechanism allows the terminal device to sleep for a short period of time afterward, achieving both power saving and minimizing the impact on scheduling latency.

[0212] Optionally, in this mechanism, the network device can configure multiple values ​​for the time window of not listening to PDCCH to the terminal device via RRC signaling, and then indicate one of the values ​​of the time window of not listening to PDCCH in the above-mentioned skip PDCCH signaling.

[0213] Option 5: Dynamic search space set group switching mechanism

[0214] As mentioned earlier, a network device can configure multiple SS sets for a single BWP. In this mechanism, the network device can group these SS sets into multiple SS set groups. The same SS set can be assigned to different SS set groups. A terminal device can listen to the PDCCH based on SS sets within a subset of these SS set groups. For ease of description, these subsets of SS set groups are referred to as SS set groups in a listening state. The terminal device can switch SS set groups based on indications sent by the network device or according to predefined rules. For example, if the terminal device is currently listening to the PDCCH based on SS sets in SS set group 0, and upon receiving an indication from the network device, the terminal device stops listening to the PDCCH based on SS sets in SS set group 0 and starts listening to the PDCCH based on SS sets in SS set group 1.

[0215] It should also be noted that Type3-PDCCH CSS and USS support dynamic SS set group switching.

[0216] Network devices can send SS set packet information to terminal devices. For example, a parameter can be introduced into the SS set configuration parameters to identify which SS set group or SS set groups the SS set belongs to. Figure 7 As shown, the terminal device can divide SS set 1-SS set 4 into two SS set groups based on this SS set grouping information. For example... Figure 7 As shown, the terminal device can first listen to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0; and then listen to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1 in the next time period.

[0217] In this way, network devices can group SS sets based on the sparsity of their corresponding listening times. When a terminal device listens to the PDCCH in a sparsely populated SS set group, it can reduce the number of times it activates its receiver to listen to the PDCCH, increasing its sleep opportunities and thus saving power. Conversely, when a terminal device is transmitting data, it listens to the PDCCH in a more densely populated SS set group. This allows for more frequent PDCCH listening, giving the network device more scheduling opportunities and reducing service scheduling latency. For example, in... Figure 7 In this study, SS set 1 and SS set 2, which have sparser monitoring opportunities, are assigned to SS set group 0, while SS set 3 and SS set 4, which have more frequent monitoring opportunities, are assigned to SS set group 1.

[0218] In existing technologies, this mechanism is used for unlicensed spectrum. In this mechanism, the dynamic switching of the search space set can be achieved in, but is not limited to, the following ways:

[0219] Method 1: Indicated by the SS set group switching flag field in DCI format 2_0, i.e., the SS set group switching condition is receiving an instruction indicating SS set group switching. Optionally, the SS set group switching flag field may contain at least one field, each field corresponding to at least one terminal device; the value of each field is used to indicate whether the terminal device corresponding to the field is performing SS set group switching, or the value of each field is used to indicate the SS set group used by the PDCCH for the terminal device corresponding to the field (SS set group in listening state) (for example, the value of each field is used to indicate the identifier of the SS set group in listening state).

[0220] For example, the SS set group switching flag field contains at least one bit, each bit being used to indicate at least one terminal device to switch SS set groups, meaning multiple terminal devices can reuse the same bit. When the bit is 0, the terminal device corresponding to that bit listens to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0 and stops listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1. Therefore, it can be described that the SS set in SS set group 0 is in a listening state. When the bit is 1, the terminal device listens to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1 and stops listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0. Therefore, it can be described that the SS set in SS set group 1 is in a listening state.

[0221] Method 2: Switching via timer, where the SS set group switching condition is the expiration of a timer set for the SS set group. When the terminal device starts listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1, a timer is started simultaneously. The timer duration can be configured by the network device via RRC signaling. The timer counts once every time slot (e.g., the timer duration is decremented by 1). When the timer expires, the terminal device switches to SS set group 0, meaning the terminal device starts listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0 and stops listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1.

[0222] Method 3: When the SS set in SS set group 1 is in listening mode, that is, while the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1, if the channel occupancy duration (COD) ends, the terminal device switches to SS set group 0 (i.e., the terminal device starts listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0 and stops listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 1). In other words, the SS set group switching condition is the end of the channel occupancy duration.

[0223] Method 4: When the terminal device is listening to the PDCCH based on the SS set in SS set group 0, and detects a DCI of any DCI format, the terminal device switches the SS set group it is listening to from SS set group 0 to SS set group 1. That is, the terminal device starts listening to the PDCCH based on the SS set in SS set group 1 and stops listening to the PDCCH based on the SS set in SS set group 0. In other words, the SS set group switching condition is that a PDCCH is detected based on the SS set in one of the SS set groups.

[0224] It should be noted that in multi-carrier scenarios, network devices can group multiple serving cells, meaning they can divide multiple serving cells into multiple serving cell groups. A serving cell group can contain one or more serving cells. Each serving cell's BWP (Browser Window) SS set can be divided into multiple SS set groups using this method. When a terminal device switches SS set groups, it can switch the active BWPs of the serving cells within the same serving cell group together. See also... Figure 8 As shown, serving cells 1 to 3 belong to the same serving cell group. When switching SS set groups, the terminal device can simultaneously switch the active BWP of serving cells 1 to 3.

[0225] Based on the above description of BWP, SS set, and the aforementioned dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, and... Figure 7 It is known that the parameters of different SS sets within the same SS set group of a BWP (such as the PDCCH monitoring period Ks and offset Os used to determine the monitoring timing, the PDCCH monitoring pattern within the time slot, the duration Ts, etc.) may not be the same, or even completely different. This results in different monitoring timings corresponding to different SS sets within the same SS set group, which are staggered in time. Therefore, even if the monitoring timings corresponding to a single SS set are relatively sparse (e.g., ...), the monitoring timings may differ. Figure 7 In the SS set group 0), the terminal device still needs to frequently turn on the receiver and other RF devices to listen to the PDCCH according to the listening time of each SS set, which will reduce power consumption and gain.

[0226] Furthermore, in multi-carrier scenarios, terminal devices can simultaneously monitor the PDCCH based on SS sets of active BWPs in multiple serving cells. Besides the misalignment in monitoring timing caused by different SS set parameters, the SCS of BWPs on different carriers are also different (resulting in different time slots for BWPs on different carriers), which further leads to misalignment in monitoring timing between carriers. Especially in intra-carrier aggregation (intra-CA) scenarios, terminal devices may share the same RF components across different carriers. Terminal devices can frequently activate receivers and other RF components to monitor the PDCCH on different serving cells, further reducing power saving gains.

[0227] To address the aforementioned issues, improve the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring in terminal devices, reduce unnecessary PDCCH monitoring, and thus save power consumption, this application provides a communication method. It should be noted that this method is implemented based on the aforementioned dynamic SS set group switching mechanism. This method can be applied to... Figure 2 The communication system shown below. See below. Figure 9 The flowchart shown illustrates the method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0228] The communication method in a single-carrier scenario is described below. In the following embodiments, the serving cell of the terminal device is taken as the first serving cell as an example. The network device can configure multiple BWPs on the carrier corresponding to the first serving cell (hereinafter referred to as the first carrier). In the following description, the BWP configured on the first carrier will be referred to as the first BWP.

[0229] S901: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device. This configuration information may include, but is not limited to, the following: SS set configuration information and SS set group information.

[0230] Optionally, the configuration information may be carried in one or more RRC signaling messages.

[0231] The configuration information of the SS set includes configuration parameters for multiple SS sets configured for each first BWP. These SS set configuration parameters include the SS set index, PDCCH listening period, duration, and other configuration parameters. The parameters corresponding to the SS set can be found in the previous description and will not be repeated here.

[0232] For each first BWP, the SS set grouping information is used to group multiple SS sets within that first BWP. It should be noted that type 3-PDCCH CSS and / or USS can participate in the grouping.

[0233] In one example, a new parameter is introduced for the SS set, which can be referred to as the grouping parameter. The grouping parameter of any SS set is used to identify which SS set group or SS set groups the SS set belongs to. Therefore, for a first BWP, the SS set grouping information is the grouping parameter of multiple SS sets within the first BWP.

[0234] In another example, the SS set grouping information for the first BWP can include a list of SS set group members for that first BWP. Each SS set group member list contains the SS set index belonging to that SS set group.

[0235] In one implementation, the configuration information may further include an effective time P. The effective time P indicates that after the SS set group handover conditions are met and the effective time has elapsed, the user switches to another SS set group. The effective time P can be counted in milliseconds, seconds, frames, subframes, time slots, or symbols, etc. Optionally, the network device can configure a corresponding effective time P for a first BWP, or configure an effective time P for a serving cell.

[0236] Optionally, the network device may determine the effective time P in, but is not limited to, the following two methods: Figure 10 As shown.

[0237] Method 1

[0238] S1001: Before executing S901, the terminal device sends the minimum effective time value P_min to the network device.

[0239] S1002: The network device determines the effective time P based on the received minimum effective time P_min, wherein the effective time P is greater than or equal to the minimum effective time P_min.

[0240] Method 2

[0241] S1003: Before executing S901, the terminal device sends its capability information to the network device. Different capability information corresponds to different minimum effective times, as shown in Table 2. It should be noted that Table 2 is only an example and does not impose any limitations on the minimum effective time.

[0242] Table 2 Minimum effective time for different capability information

[0243]

[0244] In Table 2, the unit for the minimum effective time is symbols, and μ represents the subcarrier spacing. .

[0245] S1004: The network device can determine the effective time P based on the received capability information of the terminal device. Specifically, the network device first determines a minimum effective time P_min based on the capability information of the terminal device, and then determines the effective time based on the minimum effective time P_min, wherein the effective time P is greater than or equal to the minimum effective time P_min.

[0246] In another implementation, the configuration information may further include a timer for SS set group handover. The timer's counting unit can be a time slot, a second, or a millisecond, etc. For example, when the timer's counting unit is a time slot, the terminal device can count based on the time slot corresponding to a reference BWP (incrementing or decrementing), or based on the time slot corresponding to the currently active BWP. The reference BWP can be the BWP with the smallest SCS among multiple BWPs of the first serving cell. Optionally, the network device can configure a corresponding timer for each first BWP, or configure one timer for each serving cell.

[0247] In some other embodiments, the configuration information may also include a first indication. This first indication instructs the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring, i.e., not to monitor the PDCCH during certain monitoring periods (or not to monitor the PDCCH during monitoring periods outside the first monitoring range) to save power. In one embodiment, the first indication may be 0 or 1; for example, "0" indicates not monitoring the PDCCH during certain monitoring periods (or not to monitor the PDCCH during monitoring periods outside the first monitoring range), and "1" indicates monitoring the PDCCH according to the monitoring period of the SS set in the SS set group, according to existing technology. In another embodiment, when the first indication exists, it indicates not monitoring the PDCCH during certain monitoring periods (or not to monitor the PDCCH during monitoring periods outside the first monitoring range); when the first indication does not exist, it indicates monitoring the PDCCH according to the monitoring period of the SS set in the SS set group, according to existing technology. The reverse is also true.

[0248] It should be noted that the configuration information in S901 can be configured in the same information element (IE) or in multiple IEs, and this application does not limit this.

[0249] S902: The terminal device determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set in the first SS set group of the first serving cell's activated BWP. The activated BWP is included in multiple first BWPs configured in the first serving cell.

[0250] Optionally, the terminal device can determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set based on the configuration parameters of the first SS set in the configuration information received in S901. (See also...) Figure 1A or Figure 1B As shown. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: listening period Ks and offset Os, PDCCH listening pattern within the time slot, and duration Ts.

[0251] S903: The terminal device determines the first monitoring range.

[0252] It should be noted that this application does not limit the execution order of S902 and S903. The terminal device may execute S902 first and then S903, or execute S903 first and then S902, or the execution times of the two steps may overlap.

[0253] Optionally, the terminal device may determine the first monitoring range in, but is not limited to, the following ways.

[0254] Method 1: The terminal device determines the first monitoring range based on the monitoring timing corresponding to the reference SS set.

[0255] The first monitoring range may be determined, but is not limited to, by any of the following methods:

[0256] Method 1: Refer to the symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set. Figure 11 As shown in (a) of the diagram.

[0257] Method 2: The time slot where the listening timing corresponding to the reference SS set is located, see [link / reference]. Figure 11 As shown in (b) of the diagram.

[0258] Method 3: The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set number of symbols, see [link / reference]. Figure 11 As shown in (c) in the figure.

[0259] Method 4: The time slot where the listening opportunity corresponding to the reference SS set is located, and the adjacent second set number of time slots, see [reference]. Figure 11 As shown in (d) in the figure.

[0260] Method 5: Refer to the symbol where the listening timing corresponding to the reference SS set is located and the adjacent first set duration. Figure 11 As shown in (e) in the diagram.

[0261] Method Six: The time slot where the listening opportunity corresponding to the reference SS set is located and the adjacent second set duration, see [link / reference]. Figure 11 As shown in (f) in the figure.

[0262] The first set quantity, the second set quantity, the first set duration, or the second set duration can be predefined or configured by the network device; this application does not limit this. Furthermore, the adjacent symbol or time slot can be left-adjacent or right-adjacent; this application also does not limit this. Additionally, while the above determination method is based on the symbol or time slot where the listening time corresponding to the reference SS set is located, the scheme provided in this application is also applicable to determining the first listening range based on the subframe or radio frame where the listening time corresponding to the reference SS set is located. The power saving effect and implementation flexibility differ for the above different determination methods. For example, determination method one has the best power saving effect, but the implementation complexity of the terminal device is also higher. Determination methods three to six have slightly worse power saving effects than determination method one, but the implementation complexity of the terminal device is reduced.

[0263] In Method 1, the reference SS set can be determined and configured by the network device for the terminal device; or it can be determined by the terminal device according to the rules specified by the protocol or standard, or the rules agreed upon with the network device. This application does not limit this.

[0264] Optionally, when the network device configures a reference SS set to the terminal device, the network device can implement this in two ways: Method 1: Introduce a new parameter (which can be called a reference SS set flag parameter) to indicate whether the SS set is a reference SS set. Method 2: The network device sends first information to the terminal device, which indicates the reference SS set. For example, the first information may contain an SS set index that serves as the reference SS set, or it may contain configuration parameters for the reference SS set.

[0265] Optionally, the terminal device or the network device may determine the reference SS set in the following ways:

[0266] When the first SS set group contains multiple SS sets, the first SS set is included in the multiple SS sets; the terminal device or the network device determines the reference SS set according to the configuration parameters corresponding to the multiple SS sets. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern within a time slot, duration, and SS set index.

[0267] In this embodiment of the application, the terminal device or the network device may determine a virtual SS set as the reference SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the plurality of SS sets; or select one SS set from the plurality of SS sets as the reference SS set.

[0268] Since the first monitoring range is determined based on the monitoring timing corresponding to the reference SS set, and considering the need to save power consumption of the terminal device, the monitoring timing corresponding to the reference SS set can be sparser than the monitoring timing corresponding to some or all of the SS sets in the first SS set group.

[0269] Therefore, in order to save power consumption of terminal devices, when the reference SS set is a virtual SS set, the parameters of the reference SS set can meet at least one of the following conditions:

[0270] The PDCCH monitoring period of the reference SS set is greater than or equal to the maximum value among the PDCCH monitoring periods of multiple SS sets in the first SS set group;

[0271] The number of symbols starting with CORESET in the PDCCH monitoring pattern within the time slot of the reference SS set is less than or equal to the minimum value among the number of symbols starting with CORESET in the PDCCH monitoring patterns within the time slot of multiple SS sets in the first SS set group;

[0272] The duration of the reference SS set is less than or equal to the minimum duration among the multiple SS sets in the first SS set group.

[0273] Similarly, in order to save power consumption of terminal devices, when the reference SS set is an SS set selected from the first SS set group, the reference SS set can meet at least one of the following conditions:

[0274] The PDCCH monitoring period is the longest in the first SS set group;

[0275] In the first SS set group, the number of CORESET start symbols in the PDCCH monitoring pattern within the time slot is the smallest;

[0276] The duration is the shortest in the first SS set group.

[0277] Of course, the terminal device or the network device can also use other parameters to select the reference SS set from the first SS set group. For example, the SS set with the smallest or largest SS set index in the first SS set group can be selected as the reference SS set.

[0278] Method 2: The first monitoring range is determined by the network device and configured to the terminal device via RRC signaling. Optionally, the network device can use the method described in Method 1 for the terminal device to determine the first monitoring range. Therefore, the similarities can be referred to each other, and will not be repeated here.

[0279] Method 3: The first monitoring range is as specified by the protocol or standard.

[0280] S904: The terminal device performs PDCCH monitoring based on the SS set in the first SS set group and the first monitoring range. Continuing with the first SS set as an example, this step specifically includes: when the first monitoring opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the first monitoring range, the terminal device determines not to monitor the PDCCH at the first monitoring opportunity; when the second monitoring opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the first monitoring range, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH at the second monitoring opportunity; wherein, the first monitoring opportunity is included in multiple monitoring opportunities corresponding to the first SS set, and the second monitoring opportunity is included in multiple monitoring opportunities corresponding to the first SS set.

[0281] See Figure 12 As shown, when the terminal device listens to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0, that is, when SS set group 0 is in listening state, SS set 1 in SS set group 0 is the reference SS set, and the first listening range is the time slot where the listening opportunity of SS set 1 is located. Therefore, during the PDCCH listening process of the terminal device according to SS set group 0, refer to... Figure 12As shown, the terminal device listens to the PDCCH at the listening time corresponding to SS set 1; for SS set 2, when the listening time corresponding to SS set 2 is in the same time slot as the listening time corresponding to SS set 1, the terminal device listens to the PDCCH according to the listening time corresponding to SS set 2, otherwise the terminal device does not listen to the PDCCH, as shown by the listening time marked "X" in the figure.

[0282] In this embodiment, when the SS set group switching condition is met (in the case of a configured effective time P, the SS set group switching condition is met and the effective time P has elapsed), the terminal device can switch the second SS set group to the listening state and perform PDCCH listening based on the second SS set group. The SS set group switching condition can refer to the SS set group switching condition involved in the switching method designed in the above dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, and will not be repeated here.

[0283] With the method provided in this application embodiment, under the dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, the terminal device can further not listen to the PDCCH at some listening times corresponding to the SS set that is in the listening state, so as to improve the flexibility of the terminal device in PDCCH listening and overcome the problem of power consumption waste caused by the misalignment of listening times corresponding to different SS sets.

[0284] The following describes the communication method in a multi-carrier scenario. In the following embodiments, the terminal device has multiple serving cells, including a first serving cell and a second serving cell. For ease of description, the carrier corresponding to the first serving cell is referred to as the first carrier, and the BWP on the first carrier is referred to as the first BWP; the carrier corresponding to the second serving cell is referred to as the second carrier, and the BWP on the second carrier is referred to as the second BWP.

[0285] S901: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device. This configuration information may include, but is not limited to, the following: SS set configuration information and SS set group information.

[0286] The SS set configuration information includes parameters corresponding to multiple SS sets configured for each BWP of each serving cell. The parameters for any SS set can be found in the description above and will not be repeated here.

[0287] SS set grouping information is used to group multiple SS sets for each BWP of each serving cell. The SS set grouping information for any single serving cell can be found in the description of SS set grouping information in a single-carrier scenario, and will not be repeated here.

[0288] It is important to note that in cross-carrier scheduling scenarios (i.e., DCI scheduling of the PDSCH / PUSCH of the serving cell 2 on the serving cell 1), SS sets with the same index in the primary scheduling cell (i.e., the serving cell 1) and the associated scheduled cell (i.e., the serving cell 2) should have the same SS set group identifier (i.e., the same SS set group ID). For example, if an SS set index in the serving cell 1 is 0, and an SS set index in the serving cell 2 is also 0, then SS set 0 in the serving cell 1 belongs to SS set group 0, and SS set 0 in the serving cell 2 also belongs to SS set group 0. This is because the terminal device on the serving cell 1 listens for scheduling of the serving cell 2 on the PDCCH based on the SS set. In this system, the PDCCH aggregation level and PDCCH candidates are determined by the parameters corresponding to the SS set of the serving cell Cell 2. Other parameters (such as PDCCH listening period, offset, duration, and PDCCH listening pattern within a time slot) are determined by the parameters corresponding to the SS set of the serving cell Cell 1. In other words, the PDCCH listening timing is still determined based on the SS set of the serving cell Cell 1. Therefore, the SS set indices of the dominant cell (serving cell Cell 1) and the associated modulated cell (serving cell Cell 2) must be the same for cross-carrier scheduling to be possible. If the SS sets with the same index on the dominant cell and the modulated cell are configured in different SS set groups (e.g., SS set 0 on serving cell Cell 1 belongs to SS set group 0, while SS set 0 on serving cell Cell 2 belongs to SS set group 1), then when the terminal device listens to SS set group 0, the network device cannot achieve cross-carrier scheduling.

[0289] In one embodiment, the configuration information may further include serving cell grouping information, which is used to group multiple serving cells of the terminal device. PCells among the multiple serving cells may also participate in the grouping and may belong to the same serving cell group as SCells; this application does not limit this.

[0290] In one example, the serving cell grouping information may include a serving cell group identifier corresponding to the serving cell, used to indicate the serving cell group to which the serving cell belongs. In another example, the serving cell grouping information may include a list of members for each serving cell group. The first serving cell group member list may contain identifiers of all serving cells belonging to the first serving cell group.

[0291] It should be noted that when the network device is not configured with serving cell group information, one serving cell of the terminal device can be regarded as a serving cell group. In this case, the solution provided in the embodiments of this application is still applicable.

[0292] In one implementation, the configuration information may further include an effective time P. Optionally, the network device may configure an effective time P for each serving cell group, or for each serving cell, or for each BWP of each serving cell.

[0293] The counting method, function, and determination method of the effective time can be referred to the description in the single-carrier scenario above, and will not be repeated here.

[0294] In another implementation, the configuration information may also include a timer for SS set group handover. Optionally, similar to the aforementioned effective time P, the network device may configure a timer for each serving cell group, or a timer for each serving cell, or a timer for each BWP of each serving cell.

[0295] The timer's counting unit can be a time slot, a second, or a millisecond, etc. For example, when the timer's counting unit is a time slot, during SS set group handover for the active BWP of the first serving cell in the first serving cell group, the terminal device can count based on the time slot corresponding to a reference BWP, or based on the time slot corresponding to the active BWP. The reference BWP can be the BWP with the smallest SCS among multiple BWPs of the first serving cell, or the BWP with the smallest SCS among multiple BWPs of all serving cells in the first serving cell group.

[0296] In some other embodiments, the configuration information may also include a first indication. The first indication is used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH listening, that is, not to listen to PDCCH during certain listening times (or not to listen to PDCCH during listening times outside the first listening range) in order to save power consumption.

[0297] In this embodiment, after S901, the terminal device can execute steps S902-S903 for each serving cell group. The following description uses a first serving cell group, which includes a first serving cell and a second serving cell, as an example. Other serving cells may also be included in the first serving cell group.

[0298] S902: The terminal device determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SSset in the first SSset group of the first serving cell activating BWP, and determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SSset in the second SSset group of the second serving cell activating BWP.

[0299] The terminal device can determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the first SS set; and determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the second SS set.

[0300] S903: The terminal device determines the first monitoring range.

[0301] It should be noted that this application does not limit the execution order of S902 and S903. The terminal device may execute S902 first and then S903, or execute S903 first and then S902, or the execution times of the two steps may overlap.

[0302] The terminal device may determine the first monitoring range in, but is not limited to, the following ways.

[0303] Method 1: The terminal device determines the first monitoring range based on the monitoring timing corresponding to the reference SS set. The method for determining the first monitoring range can continue to refer to the method used in single-carrier scenarios, for example... Figure 11 As shown.

[0304] In this method one, the reference SS set can be determined by the terminal device, or determined by the network device and configured to the terminal device through RRC signaling, or specified by a protocol or standard. This application does not limit this.

[0305] Optionally, the terminal device or the network device may determine the reference SS set in the following ways:

[0306] Method A: The terminal device or the network device determines the reference SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the SS set (hereinafter referred to as the first candidate SS set) in the listening state of the active BWP of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell group. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in the time slot, duration, and SS set index.

[0307] Method B: The terminal device or the network device uses all SS sets in the listening state of the active BWP of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell as the reference SS set.

[0308] Method C: The terminal device or the network device determines the reference SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the SS set (hereinafter referred to as the second candidate SS set) in the listening state of the active BWP of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in the time slot, duration, and SS set index.

[0309] The process of determining the reference SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the first candidate SS set in Method A, and the process of determining the reference SS set based on the parameters corresponding to the second candidate SS set in Method C, are the same as the process of determining the reference SS set based on the configuration parameters corresponding to multiple SS sets in the first SS set group in the single-carrier scenario. Therefore, they can be referenced from each other and will not be described in detail here.

[0310] Furthermore, the reference serving cell in methods A and B described above can be configured by the network device through various methods such as RRC signaling. For example, a new parameter (which can be called a reference serving cell flag parameter) can be introduced to indicate whether the serving cell is a reference serving cell. Another example is that the network device sends second information to the terminal device, which indicates the parameter serving cell; for instance, the second information may include a serving cell index or identifier as a reference cell.

[0311] The reference cell in methods A and B above can be determined by the terminal device in the first serving cell group in the following ways:

[0312] Method a: The reference serving cell is determined based on the parameters of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group, the parameters including at least one of the following: the SCS of the active BWP of the serving cell, the index of the serving cell; or the parameters including at least one of the following: the SCS of the active BWP and inactive BWP (e.g., all BWPs) of the serving cell, the index of the serving cell.

[0313] For example, the reference serving cell can serve at least one of the following conditions:

[0314] Among the active serving cells in the first serving cell group, the active BWP of the reference serving cell has the largest SCS.

[0315] Among the active serving cells in the first serving cell group, the reference serving cell has the largest BWP SCS.

[0316] In the active serving cells of the first serving cell group, the index of the reference serving cell is either the largest or the smallest.

[0317] Method b: The reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active and inactive serving cells in the first serving cell group, and the parameters include at least one of the following: the active BWP and the SCS of the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell.

[0318] For example, the reference serving cell can serve at least one of the following conditions:

[0319] Among all serving cells in the first serving cell group, the reference serving cell has the largest BWP SCS.

[0320] Among all serving cells in the first serving cell group, the index of the reference serving cell is either the largest or the smallest.

[0321] Method 2: The first monitoring range is determined by the network device and configured to the terminal device via RRC signaling. Optionally, the network device can use the method described in Method 1 for the terminal device to determine the first monitoring range. Therefore, the similarities can be referred to each other, and will not be repeated here.

[0322] Method 3: The first monitoring range is as specified by the protocol or standard.

[0323] S903: The terminal device performs PDCCH monitoring based on the SS set in the first SS set group and the first monitoring range; and performs PDCCH monitoring based on the SS set in the second SS set group and the first monitoring range.

[0324] The terminal device performs PDCCH monitoring based on the SS set in the first SS set group and the first monitoring range. The specific process can be referred to the description in S903 in the single carrier scenario, and will not be repeated here.

[0325] Continuing with the example of the second SS set in the second SS set group, the terminal device performs PDCCH monitoring based on the SS set in the second SS set group and the first monitoring range, including: when the third monitoring opportunity corresponding to the second SS set is outside the first monitoring range, the terminal device determines not to monitor the PDCCH at the third monitoring opportunity; when the fourth monitoring opportunity corresponding to the second SS set is within the first monitoring range, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH at the fourth monitoring opportunity; wherein, the third monitoring opportunity is included in multiple monitoring opportunities corresponding to the second SS set, and the fourth monitoring opportunity is included in multiple monitoring opportunities corresponding to the second SS set.

[0326] See Figure 13 As shown, a certain serving cell group contains 3 serving cells, and each serving cell has two SS set groups for its active BWP. The terminal device listens to the PDCCH according to the SS set group in each serving cell. Assume that serving cell 1 is the reference serving cell, and the SS set in the listening state of the active BWP of the reference serving cell is the reference SS set, and the first listening range is the time slot where the listening time corresponding to the reference SS set is located. Then, for serving cell 1, the terminal device listens to the PDCCH according to the SS set in SS set group 0 of the active BWP of serving cell 1. For serving cell 2, if the PDCCH listening time corresponding to the SS set in SS set group 0 of the active BWP of serving cell 2 (referred to as listening time 2) is in the same time slot as the listening time corresponding to the SS set in SS set group 1 of the active BWP of serving cell 1 (referred to as listening time 1), then the terminal device can listen to the PDCCH at listening time 2; otherwise, it does not need to listen to the PDCCH, as shown by the listening time marked "X" in the figure. For serving cell 3, it is the same as serving cell 2, and will not be described again.

[0327] In this embodiment, when the SS set group handover conditions are met (in the case of a configured effective time P, the handover conditions are met and the effective time P has elapsed), the terminal device can switch the third SS set group of the first serving cell that has activated BWP to the listening state, and perform PDCCH listening based on the third SS set group.

[0328] The SS set group switching conditions include those involved in the switching methods designed in the above dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, which will not be elaborated here.

[0329] In addition, the SS set group handover conditions may also include: receiving a second instruction from the network device, and according to the second instruction, performing PDCCH monitoring on the third SS set group of the active BWP of the first serving cell, thereby realizing the SS set group handover on the active BWP of the first serving cell.

[0330] In one embodiment, the second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell is the serving cell (i.e., the main cell) where the DCI is located.

[0331] In another embodiment, the second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell is the serving cell (i.e., the cell being scheduled) where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located.

[0332] In another embodiment, the second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the DCI is located.

[0333] In another embodiment, the second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located.

[0334] In another embodiment, the second indication includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell.

[0335] In another embodiment, the second indication includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell group; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch the SSset group on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell group.

[0336] The above implementation methods can improve the flexibility of network devices in instructing switching of SS set groups.

[0337] For example, the network device may use a DCI format specific to the terminal device to indicate SSset group switching, such as DCI format 0_1 ​​or DCI format 1_1.

[0338] Example 1: Add 1 bit to the DCI to indicate the handover of the SS set group of the primary cell. For example, a value of "0" indicates that the primary cell is listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set of SS set group 0, and a value of "1" indicates that the primary cell is listening to the PDCCH according to the SS set of SS set group 1. Another example is that the value of this bit indicates the handover of the SS set group of the modulated cell.

[0339] Note that if the serving cell's BWP has more than two SS set groups, a field with more bits can be added to the DCI so that different values ​​of the field can be traversed across all SS set groups.

[0340] Example 2: In multi-carrier scenarios, to more flexibly indicate which serving cells can undergo SS set group handover, more bits can be used for indication. For example, multiple fields can be added to the DCI, each corresponding to a serving cell, to indicate the SS set group handover of that serving cell. Then, N serving cells would correspond to N fields. This indication signaling overhead is relatively large.

[0341] Example 3: In order to reduce the signaling overhead of DCI, several fields are added to DCI, each field corresponding to a serving cell group, which is used to indicate the SS set group handover of the serving cells in the serving cell group.

[0342] Similar to Example 1, in Examples 2 and 3, when the BWP has two SS set groups, a field can contain 1 bit; while when the BWP has more than two SS set groups, a field can contain multiple bits.

[0343] Example 4: If a terminal device has both Scell ​​dormancy capability and SS set group handover capability, the network device can use RRC signaling to indicate whether the Scell ​​dormancy indication field in the DCI of DCI format 0-1 / 1-1 is used for SS set group handover or Scell ​​dormancy. When the network device configures the Scell ​​dormancy indication field in this DCI for SS set group handover, the terminal device can switch SS set groups according to the value of the Scell ​​dormancy indication field in this DCI.

[0344] Example 5: If a terminal device has both Scell ​​hibernation and SS set group handover capabilities, the network device can use RRC signaling to indicate whether at least one of the following in the DCI is used for SS set group handover or Scell ​​hibernation when all bits in the frequency domain resource assignment field of the DCI in DCI format 1_1 are set to 0 (when resource allocation mode is Type 0) or 1 (when resource allocation mode is Type 1), or set to 0 or 1 (when dynamically switching resource allocation mode):

[0345] The modulation and coding scheme of transport block 1 field;

[0346] New data indicator of transport block 1 field;

[0347] The field for the redundancy version of transport block 1;

[0348] HARQ process number field;

[0349] Antenna port(s) domain;

[0350] DMRS sequence initialization field.

[0351] When a network device configures the aforementioned fields in the DCI for SS set group handover, the terminal device can switch SS set groups according to the value of the secondary cell hibernation indication field in the DCI.

[0352] With the method provided in this application embodiment, under the dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, the terminal device can further not listen to the PDCCH at some listening times corresponding to the SS set that is in the listening state, so as to improve the flexibility of the terminal device in PDCCH listening and overcome the problem of power consumption waste caused by the misalignment of listening times corresponding to different SS sets.

[0353] Based on the above description of the PDCCH skipping mechanism in Scheme 4, and Figure 6It is known that the time window for not listening to the PDCCH in this mechanism is short, and this time window is "one-shot," meaning that after the time window ends, the terminal device resumes normal PDCCH listening. When the terminal device has no service transmission for a long period, the network device can send multiple skip PDCCH listening signaling messages to the terminal device; otherwise, the terminal device will still frequently listen to the PDCCH after a short time, causing unnecessary power consumption. Therefore, this mechanism can lead to higher signaling overhead in the communication system or cause unnecessary power consumption in the terminal device.

[0354] To address the aforementioned issues and improve the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring in terminal devices, thereby saving power consumption of critical equipment, this application also provides another communication method. It should be noted that this method is based on the aforementioned PDCCH skipping mechanism. This method can be applied to, for example... Figure 2 The communication system shown below. See below. Figure 14 The flowchart shown illustrates the method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0355] S1401: The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device. This configuration information may include, but is not limited to, configuration information for the SS set.

[0356] The configuration information can be carried in one or more RRC signaling messages.

[0357] The configuration information for the SS set in single-carrier and multi-carrier scenarios can be found in the respective references. Figure 9 The description of S901 in the illustrated embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0358] Of course, in multi-carrier scenarios, the configuration information may also include serving cell grouping information, so that the terminal device can group multiple serving cells, including PCell. The serving cell grouping information can refer to the description of serving cell grouping information in the previous embodiment, and multiple serving cells can also be grouped in other ways; this application does not limit this.

[0359] The terminal device can then perform subsequent steps based on the listening time corresponding to the SS set of the activated BWP in the serving cell. For ease of description, the subsequent steps will be illustrated using the listening time of the first SS set of the activated BWP in the first serving cell as an example.

[0360] S1402: The terminal device determines multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set. The terminal device can determine the listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set based on the configuration parameters of the first SS set. For details, please refer to... Figure 1A or Figure 1B As shown, it will not be elaborated further here.

[0361] S1403: The terminal device receives a first indication from the network device, the first indication being used to instruct the terminal device to skip the periodic time window of PDCCH listening.

[0362] In this embodiment of the application, skipping PDCCH monitoring can also be described as not monitoring PDCCH or stopping PDCCH monitoring.

[0363] The first indication can be a skip PDCCH monitoring signal carried by the PDCCH. It should be noted that in a multi-carrier scenario, the first indication can indicate the target serving cell or target serving cell group for skipping PDCCH monitoring; or it can indicate the activation of the BWP for skipping PDCCH monitoring. Of course, the network device can also send other indications to indicate the target serving cell, target serving cell group for skipping PDCCH monitoring, or to activate the BWP; this application does not limit this.

[0364] Optionally, when the communication system introduces a DRX mechanism, the first indication may specifically instruct the terminal device to skip the periodic time window of PDCCH listening during the DRX activity time. The DRX activity time is described above.

[0365] The periodic time window specifically refers to the periodicity of the time window during which the PDCCH listening is stopped (also known as the skipped PDCCH listening time window). In other words, after receiving the first instruction from the network device, the terminal device periodically stops listening to the PDCCH within the skipped PDCCH listening time window.

[0366] In one implementation, the first instruction may carry information about the periodic time window; or the information about the periodic time window may be pre-agreed upon by the network device and the terminal device.

[0367] In another implementation, the configuration information sent by the network device in S1401 further includes information on at least one candidate periodic time window, or the network device and the terminal device pre-agree on information on at least one candidate periodic time window; then the first indication includes indication information of the periodic time window, and the terminal device can determine the information of the periodic time window from the information of the at least one candidate periodic time window according to the indication information of the periodic time window.

[0368] For example, information from any periodic time window is used to represent a periodic pattern. This periodic pattern comprises two parts: a skipped PDCCH duration and a PDCCH monitoring duration, see [reference]. Figure 15 As shown. In the above embodiments, the information of the periodic time window may include the duration of the skipped PDCCH listening time window, the number of periods of the periodic time window (or the duration of the periodic window), and the period of the skipped PDCCH listening time window.

[0369] The skipped PDCCH listening time window in the periodic pattern is the periodic time window.

[0370] It should be noted that in a periodic pattern, skipping the PDCCH listening time window and the PDCCH listening time window are deployed alternately. Furthermore, in a periodic pattern, the number of skipped PDCCH listening time windows and the number of PDCCH listening time windows can both be one or more; this application does not limit this.

[0371] Optionally, the counting unit for skipping the PDCCH listening time window can be milliseconds, seconds, frames, subframes, time slots, symbols, etc. Similarly, the counting unit for the PDCCH listening time window can also be milliseconds, seconds, frames, subframes, time slots, symbols, etc. Figure 15 Taking time slots as an example, the counting unit in China is time slot.

[0372] S1404: The terminal device determines the starting position of the periodic time window according to the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located.

[0373] Specifically, the symbol or time slot containing the first indication is offset from the starting position of the periodic time window by a set duration. In other words, the set duration is the time required for the first indication to take effect, or simply the effective duration of the first indication. The starting position of the periodic time window is the symbol or time slot containing the first indication offset by the set duration.

[0374] Optionally, the effective duration can be X symbols or time slots, where X is greater than or equal to 1.

[0375] Optionally, the set duration can be carried in the first indication, or in the information carrying the first indication (e.g., DCI), or in the configuration information in S1401; this application does not limit this. When the set duration is determined by the network device, the specific process can be referred to... Figure 10 As shown, it will not be elaborated further here.

[0376] Optionally, if the DCI carrying the first indication also schedules a PDSCH, the effective duration can be the slot offset value of the HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH, and the starting position of the periodic time window is the slot where the HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH is located; if the DCI carrying the first indication also schedules a PUSCH, the effective duration can be the slot offset value of the PUSCH, and the starting position of the periodic time window is the slot where the PUSCH is located.

[0377] S1405: The terminal device performs periodic skipping of PDCCH listening based on the first SS set and the periodic time window, see reference. Figure 15 As shown, the specific steps include:

[0378] When the first listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the periodic time window, it is determined that the PDCCH will not be listened to on the first listening opportunity; when the second listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the periodic time window, the PDCCH will be listened to on the second listening opportunity; wherein, the first listening opportunity and the second listening opportunity are included in the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set.

[0379] like Figure 15 As shown, when the terminal device receives the first instruction, it does not listen to the PDCCH during the skipped PDCCH listening time window. After the skipped PDCCH listening time window ends, the terminal device resumes listening to the PDCCH for a duration of one PDCCH listening time window (two time slots in the figure). Then the terminal device re-enters the skipped PDCCH listening time window, thus eliminating the need for the network device to send the first instruction (skip PDCCH listening signaling) again after each skipped PDCCH listening time window.

[0380] In multi-carrier scenarios, such as Figure 16 As shown, when the terminal device receives the first instruction, it does not listen to the PDCCH during the PDCCH skipped duration on the active serving cell of the target serving cell group. After the PDCCH skipped duration ends, the terminal device resumes listening to the PDCCH for a duration of one PDCCH listening duration (e.g., one time slot as shown in the figure). Then it skips the PDCCH listening duration again, thus eliminating the need for the network device to send the first instruction again after each PDCCH listening duration is skipped.

[0381] It should be noted that in multi-carrier scenarios, since the SCS size of different serving cells is different, the absolute time length of the time slots corresponding to different serving cells is different. Therefore, skipping the PDCCH listening time window (optionally also including the PDCCH listening time window) can be defined as the absolute time length (i.e., the counting unit is seconds, milliseconds, etc.), or defined as the number of time slots corresponding to the reference serving cell, or the number of time slots corresponding to the reference SCS.

[0382] The method for determining the reference service cell can be found by referring to... Figure 9 The method provided in the illustrated embodiment. The reference SCS may be the minimum SCS among all BWPs configured in all serving cells (or active serving cells) within the target serving cell group, or the minimum SCS among the active BWPs of all serving cells (or active serving cells) within the target serving cell group.

[0383] S1406: After the set conditions are met, the terminal device ends the periodic skipping of PDCCH monitoring, and then the terminal device resumes normal PDCCH monitoring.

[0384] In one implementation, the setting condition is that the terminal device receives a second indication from the network device, the second indication indicating that the periodic time window has expired (i.e., indicating that the terminal device ignores or terminates the periodic time window). Optionally, the terminal device may receive the second indication from the network device within the periodic time window during the execution of S1405.

[0385] For example, the network device may use DCI to carry the second instruction. The DCI format may be a terminal device-specific DCI format, such as DCI format 0-0 / 0-1 / 0-2 or DCI format 1-0 / 1-1 / 1-2. The DCI format may also be a group-common DCI format, such as DCI format 2-6.

[0386] In another implementation, when the first indication is also used to indicate the duration of the periodic time window, or when the terminal device also receives a third indication, and the third indication is used to indicate the duration of the periodic time window, the setting condition is: the starting position of the periodic time window after receiving the first indication has elapsed for the duration. That is, the terminal device completes skipping PDCCH listening within the periodic time window of the duration.

[0387] Optionally, in this embodiment, the terminal device may also receive a fourth indication from the network device, the fourth indication being used to instruct the terminal device to skip a single-shot ("one-shot") time window of PDCCH eavesdropping. The fourth indication may be skip PDCCH eavesdropping signaling carried over the PDCCH.

[0388] Specifically, the configuration information sent by the network device in S1401 also includes information on at least one candidate "one-shot" time window, or the network device and the terminal device pre-agree on information on at least one candidate "one-shot" time window; then the first instruction includes indication information for the "one-shot" time window, and the terminal device can determine the information of the "one-shot" time window from the information of the at least one candidate "one-shot" time window according to the indication information of the "one-shot" time window. Upon receiving the fourth instruction, the terminal device will stop listening to the PDCCH within the "one-shot" time window, and will not periodically stop listening to the PDCCH.

[0389] The method provided in this application embodiment allows the terminal device to periodically skip PDCCH listening under the skip PDCCH listening mechanism, thereby improving the flexibility of PDCCH listening by the terminal device, overcoming the power consumption waste caused by the misalignment of listening times corresponding to different SS sets, and reducing signaling overhead.

[0390] It should be noted that the various solutions in the embodiments of this application can be applied to some types of SS sets, such as only for USS, or applicable to USS and Type3-PDCCH CSS.

[0391] Furthermore, in the scheme provided in this application embodiment, the non-monitored PDCCH can be a PDCCH scrambled with a dedicated radio cell temporary identifier (RNTI) of the terminal device. The dedicated RNTI may include at least one of the following: cell-RNTI (C-RNTI), modulation and coding scheme C-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), semi-persistent CSI-RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), sidelink RNTI (SL-RNTI), and sidelink configured scheduling RNTI (SL-CS-RNTI).

[0392] Since the aforementioned dedicated RNTIs, except for SP-CSI-RNTI, are mainly used for scheduling user data and are all used for unicast transmission (i.e., service transmission), by not listening to the PDCCH scrambled with these RNTIs, the terminal device can stop listening to the PDCCH when there is no service transmission, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device without affecting service scheduling latency. SP-CSI-RNTI is used to trigger semi-persistent CSI reporting, which is also achieved by scheduling PUSCH for semi-persistent CSI reporting.

[0393] Based on the communication methods and examples provided in the above embodiments, this application also provides a communication device, which is applied to, for example... Figure 2 The terminal device in the communication system shown has the functionality to implement the method provided in the above embodiments. (See also...) Figure 17 As shown, the communication device 1700 includes a communication unit 1701 and a processing unit 1702.

[0394] The communication unit 1701 is used to receive and transmit signals, and may include radio frequency devices such as receivers and transmitters, as well as an antenna. In this embodiment, the communication unit 1701 is used to monitor the PDCCH, receive configuration information, signaling, instructions, etc. sent by network devices, and can also receive and transmit service data.

[0395] When the communication device 1700 is used to implement Figure 9 When the communication method provided in the illustrated embodiment is used, the processing unit 1702 is specifically used to execute S902-S904. When the communication device 1700 is used to implement... Figure 14 In the communication method provided by the illustrated embodiment, the processing unit 1702 is specifically used to execute S1402 and S1404-S1406. The specific functions of the processing unit 1702 described above can be found in the detailed descriptions of the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0396] It should be noted that the module division in the above embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, exist as separate physical entities, or have two or more units integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0397] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the computer software product stored in a storage medium includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0398] Based on the same technical concept, this application also provides a terminal device, which is applied to, for example... Figure 2 The communication system shown can implement the communication method provided in the above embodiments, and has the following characteristics: Figure 17 The function of the communication device 1700 shown. See also... Figure 18 As shown, the communication device 1800 includes a transceiver 1801, a processor 1802, and a memory 1803. The transceiver 1801, the processor 1802, and the memory 1803 are interconnected.

[0399] Optionally, the transceiver 1801, the processor 1802, and the memory 1803 are interconnected via a bus 1804. The bus 1804 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 18 The bus is represented by a single thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0400] The transceiver 1801 is used to receive and transmit signals to enable communication and interaction with other devices. The transceiver 1801 may include radio frequency devices such as a receiver and transmitter, as well as an antenna. In this embodiment, the transceiver 1801 is used to monitor the PDCCH, receive configuration information, signaling, instructions, etc., sent by network devices, and can also receive and transmit service data.

[0401] When the terminal device 1800 is used to implement Figure 9 When the communication method provided in the illustrated embodiment is used, the processor 1802 is specifically used to execute S902-S904. When the terminal device 1800 is used to implement... Figure 14 In the communication method provided by the illustrated embodiment, the processor 1802 is specifically used to execute S1402, and S1404-S1406. The specific functions of the processor 1802 described above can be found in the detailed descriptions in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0402] The memory 1803 is used to store program instructions and data. Specifically, the program instructions may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. The memory 1803 may include random access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. The processor 1802 executes the program instructions stored in the memory 1803 and uses the data stored in the memory 1803 to implement the above functions, thereby realizing the communication method provided in the above embodiments.

[0403] It is understood that this application Figure 18The memory 1803 can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache.

[0404] Based on the above embodiments, this application provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device is used to implement... Figure 9 or Figure 14 The communication method shown.

[0405] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the communication method provided in the above embodiments.

[0406] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method provided in the above embodiments.

[0407] The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to, a computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0408] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a chip for reading computer programs stored in a memory and implementing the communication method provided in the above embodiments.

[0409] Based on the above embodiments, this application provides a chip system including a processor for supporting a computer device in implementing the functions involved in the terminal device or network device in the above embodiments. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary programs and data of the computer device. This chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete components.

[0410] In summary, this application provides a communication method and apparatus to improve the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring in terminal devices, thereby saving power consumption. Through this method, under a dynamic SS set group switching mechanism, the terminal device can further refrain from monitoring the PDCCH during certain monitoring times corresponding to an SS set that is in a monitoring state, thus improving the flexibility of PDCCH monitoring and overcoming the power consumption waste caused by misalignment of monitoring times corresponding to different SS sets.

[0411] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0412] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0413] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0414] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a terminal device, characterized in that, include: Determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set in the first SS set group of the first serving cell activating BWP; wherein, the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the first SS set are used by the terminal device to perform PDCCH listening; When the first listening time corresponding to the first SS set is outside the first listening range, it is determined that the PDCCH will not be listened to at the first listening time. When the second listening time corresponding to the first SS set is within the first listening range, listen to the PDCCH at the second listening time. The first listening range is determined based on the listening timing corresponding to the reference SS set; the first listening timing is included in multiple listening timings corresponding to the first SS set, and the second listening timing is included in multiple listening timings corresponding to the first SS set.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The reference SS set is configured for network devices.

3. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, When the first SS set group contains multiple SS sets, the multiple SS sets include the first SS set; the reference SS set is determined according to the configuration parameters corresponding to the multiple SS sets, and the configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in time slot, duration, and SS set index; or When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SS set is determined according to the configuration parameters corresponding to the SS set of the active BWP in the first serving cell group that is in the listening state. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in the time slot, duration, and SS set index. or When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SS set is all SS sets of the active BWP of the reference serving cell in the first serving cell that are in the listening state; or When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the reference SS set is determined according to the configuration parameters corresponding to the SS set of the active BWP of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group that is in the listening state. The configuration parameters include at least one of the following: PDCCH listening period, PDCCH listening pattern in the time slot, duration, and SS set index.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The reference serving cell is configured by the network equipment.

5. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active serving cell in the first serving cell group, wherein the parameters include at least one of the following: the subcarrier spacing (SCS) of the active BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell; or the parameters include at least one of the following: the SCS of the active BWP and the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell; or The reference serving cell is determined based on parameters of the active and inactive serving cells in the first serving cell group, and the parameters include at least one of the following: the active BWP and the SCS of the inactive BWP of the serving cell, and the index of the serving cell.

6. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first monitoring range is: The reference SS set corresponds to the symbol where the listening timing is located; or The time slot in which the listening timing corresponds to the reference SS set; or The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set number of symbols; or The time slot where the listening opportunity corresponding to the reference SS set is located, and the adjacent second set number of time slots; or The symbol corresponding to the listening timing of the reference SS set and the adjacent first set duration; or The reference SS set corresponds to the time slot in which the listening opportunity occurs and the adjacent second set duration.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, When the first serving cell belongs to a first serving cell group, and the first serving cell group also includes a second serving cell, the method further includes: Determine multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set in the second SS set group where the second serving cell activates BWP; the multiple listening opportunities corresponding to the second SS set are used by the terminal device to perform PDCCH listening. When the third listening time corresponding to the second SS set is outside the first listening range, it is determined that the PDCCH will not be listened to at the third listening time. When the fourth listening time corresponding to the second SS set is within the first listening range, listen to the PDCCH at the fourth listening time. The third listening time is included in the multiple listening times corresponding to the second SS set, and the fourth listening time is included in the multiple listening times corresponding to the second SS set.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a first instruction from the network device, the first instruction being used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH listening.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a second instruction from the network device, and perform PDCCH monitoring based on the third SS set group according to the second instruction; Wherein, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SSset groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell is the serving cell where the DCI is located; or The second instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second instruction, and the first serving cell is the serving cell where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; or When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the DCI is located; or When the first serving cell belongs to the first serving cell group, the second indication is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set group on the active BWP of the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; the DCI carries the second indication, and the first serving cell group is the serving cell group where the PDSCH or PUSCH scheduled by the DCI is located; or The second indication includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell; or The second instruction includes at least one field, each field corresponding to a serving cell group; each field is used to instruct the terminal device to switch SS set groups on the active BWP of the corresponding serving cell group.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS); or, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS) or a Type 3-PDCCH public search space set (CSS).

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The non-monitored PDCCH is: the PDCCH scrambled by the dedicated wireless network temporary identifier (RNTI) of the terminal device.

12. A communication method applied to a terminal device, characterized in that, include: Determine the multiple listening times corresponding to the first SS set; Receive a first indication from a network device, the first indication being used to instruct the terminal device to skip the periodic time window of PDCCH listening; The starting position of the periodic time window is determined according to the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located; When the first listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is within the periodic time window, it is determined that the PDCCH will not be listened to during the first listening opportunity. When the second listening opportunity corresponding to the first SS set is outside the periodic time window, the PDCCH is listened to at the second listening opportunity; The first listening time and the second listening time are included in the multiple listening times corresponding to the first SS set.

13. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The first indication is also used to indicate the duration of the periodic time window.

14. The method as described in claim 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive a second indication from the network device, the second indication indicating that the periodic time window has failed; or Receive a third indication from the network device, the third indication being used to indicate the duration of the periodic time window.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The first instruction is also used to indicate the serving cell or serving cell group to skip PDCCH monitoring; or The first instruction is also used to instruct the activation of the BWP to skip PDCCH listening.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The starting position of the periodic time window is offset from the position of the symbol or time slot where the first indication is located by a set time interval.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS); or, the first SS set is a user-specific search space set (USS) or a Type 3-PDCCH public search space set (CSS).

18. The method according to any one of claims 12-14, characterized in that, The non-monitored PDCCH is: the PDCCH scrambled by the dedicated wireless network temporary identifier (RNTI) of the terminal device.

19. A communication device, applied to a terminal equipment, characterized in that, include: The communication unit is used to receive and transmit signals; A processing unit is configured to execute the method described in any one of claims 1-18 via the communication unit.

20. A terminal device, characterized in that, include: A transceiver is used to receive and send signals; Memory, used to store computer programs; A processor for executing a computer program stored in the memory, and implementing the method of any one of claims 1-18 via the transceiver.

21. A computer storage medium, characterized in that, The computer storage medium stores a computer program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-18.

22. A computer program product stored in a computer storage medium, characterized in that, When the computer program product is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-18.

23. A chip system, characterized in that, The chip system includes a memory and a processor, the processor being configured to read a computer program stored in the memory and execute the method as described in any one of claims 1-18.

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