A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The application relates to the communication technical field, and discloses a communication method and device. The method comprises the following steps: a terminal device acquires configuration information of multicast service, receives first indication information from an access network device, the first indication information indicates a mode of the terminal device acquiring configuration update information of the multicast service, the mode is a first mode (i.e. acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a public message) or a second mode (i.e. acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a special message); the terminal device involved herein can be a terminal device in a connected state. In this way, the terminal device in the connected state can determine which mode of the first mode and the second mode is used to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the first indication information, thereby avoiding simultaneously using the first mode and the second mode to acquire repeated configuration update information, effectively avoiding unnecessary receiving behavior, and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and particularly relates to a communication method and device. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a wireless communication system, a multicast transmission technology is a transmission technology in which one sender transmits data and multiple receivers receive the data; for example, an access network device transmits data and multiple terminal devices receive the data. One possible multicast transmission technology is a single cell point to multipoint (SC-PTM) technology.

[0003] When data of a multicast service is transmitted by using a multicast transmission technology (such as the SC-PTM technology), a terminal device needs to first acquire configuration information of the multicast service, and then receives data of the multicast service based on the configuration information of the multicast service. In a specific implementation, the configuration information of the multicast service can be updated, and therefore, how the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service still needs to be further researched. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and device, which are used to avoid unnecessary receiving behavior of a terminal device in a connected state when the terminal device acquires configuration update information of a multicast service, and thereby reduce power consumption.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device. In the case of being applied to a terminal device, in the method, the terminal device acquires configuration information of a multicast service, and the configuration information is used by the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service; the terminal device receives first indication information from an access network device, and the first indication information indicates a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service; wherein the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

[0006] In this way, the terminal device in the connected state can determine which of the first manner and the second manner is used to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the first indication information sent by the access network device, so as to avoid using the first manner and the second manner to acquire repeated configuration update information at the same time, which can effectively avoid unnecessary receiving behavior, and thereby reduce power consumption of the terminal device.

[0007] In a possible design, the acquiring the configuration information of the multicast service includes: receiving a first radio resource control (RRC) message from the access network device, where the first RRC message includes the configuration information of the multicast service; or receiving a common message from the access network device, where the common message includes the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0008] In a possible design, the first indication information is carried in a second RRC message, or a MAC CE, or a DCI.

[0009] In a possible design, the first indication information includes an index of a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0010] In a possible design, before the receiving the first indication information from the access network device, the method further includes: receiving a third RRC message from the access network device, where the third RRC message includes an index of the first manner and an index of the second manner.

[0011] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving second indication information from the access network device, where the second indication information indicates a validity time of the first indication information.

[0012] In this way, different terminal devices can all start to acquire configuration update information of the multicast service in the manner indicated by the first indication information at the validity time of the first indication information, so as to ensure consistency between the terminal device side and the access network device side in understanding the manner of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0013] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to an access network device or a chip in the access network device. In the case of being applied to the access network device, in the method, the access network device sends configuration information of a multicast service, where the configuration information is used for a terminal device to receive data of the multicast service; and sends first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information indicates a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service; and the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

[0014] In a possible design, the sending the configuration information of the multicast service includes: sending a first RRC message to the terminal device, where the first RRC message includes the configuration information of the multicast service; or sending a common message, where the common message includes the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0015] In a possible design, the first indication information is carried in a second RRC message, or a MAC CE, or a DCI.

[0016] In a possible design, the first indication information includes an index of a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0017] In a possible design, before the first indication information is sent to the terminal device, the method further includes: sending, to the terminal device, a third RRC message, where the third RRC message includes the index of the first manner and the index of the second manner.

[0018] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending, to the terminal device, second indication information, where the second indication information indicates a validity time of the first indication information.

[0019] It should be noted that the method described in the second aspect corresponds to the method described in the first aspect, and the beneficial effects of the related technical features in the method described in the second aspect can be referred to the description of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0020] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device. In the case of being applied to a terminal device, in the method, the terminal device acquires configuration information of a multicast service, where the configuration information is used for the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service; and according to a radio resource control (RRC) state in which the terminal device is located, a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service is determined, where the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

[0021] In this way, for a terminal device in a connected state, the terminal device can determine which of the first manner and the second manner is used to acquire configuration update information of a multicast service according to an RRC state in which the terminal device is located, so as to avoid using the first manner and the second manner to acquire repeated configuration update information at the same time, which can effectively avoid unnecessary receiving behavior, and further reduce power consumption of the terminal device.

[0022] In a possible design, the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service is determined according to an RRC state in which the terminal device is located, including: when the terminal device is in an idle state or an inactive state, determining that the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service is the first manner; or when the terminal device is in a connected state, determining that the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service is the second manner.

[0023] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving configuration information of a common message and third indication information from an access network device, where the third indication information indicates that the configuration information of the common message is used by terminal devices in an idle state or an inactive state to receive the common message; determining the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner includes: determining, according to the third indication information, the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner; and determining the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner includes: determining, according to the third indication information, the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner.

[0024] In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving configuration information of the common message and fourth indication information from an access network device, where the configuration information of the common message includes modification notification information of the common message, and the fourth indication information indicates that the modification notification information of the common message is used by terminal devices in an idle state or an inactive state to receive the modification notification of the common message; determining the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner includes: determining, according to the fourth indication information, the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner; and determining the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner includes: determining, according to the fourth indication information, the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner.

[0025] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to an access network device or a chip in the access network device. In the method, the access network device determines third indication information, and transmits configuration information of a common message and the third indication information. The third indication information indicates that the configuration information of the common message is used for idle-state or inactive-state terminal devices to receive the common message. Alternatively, in the method, the access network device determines fourth indication information, and transmits configuration information of a common message and the fourth indication information. The configuration information of the common message includes modification notification information of the common message, and the fourth indication information indicates that the modification notification information of the common message is used for idle-state or inactive-state terminal devices to receive the modification notification of the common message.

[0026] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be a terminal device or a chip arranged in a terminal device. The communication apparatus has the functions of the first aspect or the third aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the steps in the first aspect or the third aspect. The functions or units or means can be implemented by software or hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware.

[0027] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a communication unit. The communication unit can be configured to transceive signals to implement communication between the communication apparatus and another apparatus. For example, the communication unit is configured to receive configuration information from a terminal device. The processing unit can be configured to perform some internal operations of the communication apparatus. The processing unit and the communication unit can perform functions corresponding to the operations in the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0028] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor, and can include a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to transceive signals. The processor executes program instructions to complete the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect. The communication apparatus can further include one or more memories. The memory is configured to be coupled to the processor. The memory can store necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions in the first aspect or the third aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus can implement the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0029] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor, which can be configured to be coupled with a memory. The memory can store computer programs or instructions necessary for implementing the functions of the first aspect or the third aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus can implement the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0030] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses through the interface circuit, and perform the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0031] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, which can be an access network device or a chip arranged in an access network device. The communication apparatus has the functions of the second aspect or the fourth aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the second aspect or the fourth aspect, and the modules or units or means can be implemented in software, or implemented in hardware, or implemented in a combination of software and hardware.

[0032] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit and a communication unit, where the communication unit can be configured to receive and send signals, so as to implement communication between the communication apparatus and other apparatuses, for example, the communication unit is configured to receive configuration information from a terminal device; the processing unit can be configured to perform some internal operations of the communication apparatus. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0033] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor, which can be configured to be coupled with a memory. The memory can store computer programs or instructions necessary for implementing the functions of the second aspect or the fourth aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus can implement the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0034] In a possible design, the communication apparatus includes a processor, which can be configured to be coupled with a memory. The memory can store computer programs or instructions necessary for implementing the functions of the second aspect or the fourth aspect. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication apparatus can implement the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0035] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses through the interface circuit, and perform the method in any possible design or implementation manner of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0036] It can be understood that, in the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the processor can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, and the processor can be implemented by reading software code stored in a memory. In addition, the processor can be one or more, and the memory can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be arranged separately from the processor. In a specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or the memory and the processor can be arranged on different chips respectively, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of the memory and the arrangement manner of the memory and the processor.

[0037] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, which includes the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect and the communication apparatus in the sixth aspect.

[0038] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer readable instructions, and when a computer reads and executes the computer readable instructions, the computer executes the method in any possible design of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0039] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, and when a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes the method in any possible design of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0040] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor coupled with a memory, and the processor is configured to read and execute a software program stored in the memory, to implement the method in any possible design of any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect.

[0041] These and other aspects of the present application will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 A network architecture diagram suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 Another network architecture diagram suitable for the embodiments of the present application;

[0044] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of yet another network architecture applicable to the embodiments of this application;

[0045] Figure 4 Schematic diagrams of SC-MCCH and SC-MTCH provided for embodiments of this application;

[0046] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in Embodiment 1 of this application;

[0047] Figure 6a A schematic diagram of the repetition period and modification period of SC-MCCH provided for embodiments of this application;

[0048] Figure 6b A schematic diagram illustrating the correspondence between different bits in the bitmap and multicast services provided in this application embodiment;

[0049] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in Embodiment 2 of this application.

[0050] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in Embodiment 3 of this application;

[0051] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating the communication method provided in Embodiment 4 of this application.

[0052] Figure 10 The following are possible exemplary block diagrams of the apparatus involved in the embodiments of this application;

[0053] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0054] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an access network device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0055] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0056] First, some terms used in the embodiments of this application will be explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0057] (1) Terminal device: can be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving access network device scheduling and indication information, the wireless terminal device can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device can communicate with one or more core networks or the Internet through a radio access network (RAN), and the terminal device can be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or called "cellular" phone, mobile phone), computer and data card, for example, can be portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the radio access network. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets (Pads), computers with wireless transceiver functions, etc. The wireless terminal device can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, access point (AP), remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, subscriber station (SS), customer premises equipment (CPE), terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device can also be a wearable device and a next-generation communication system, such as a terminal device in a 5G communication system or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc.

[0058] (2) Access network device: can be a device in a wireless network, for example, the access network device can be a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that accesses the terminal device to the wireless network, which can also be referred to as a base station. At present, some examples of RAN devices are: a new generation base station (gNodeB) in a 5G communication system, a transmission reception point (TRP), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a NodeB (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (for example, a home evolved NodeB, or a home NodeB, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), or a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access point (AP), etc. In addition, in one network structure, the access network device can include a centralized unit (CU) node, or a distributed unit (DU) node, or a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node. Furthermore, in other possible cases, the access network device can be other apparatuses that provide wireless communication functions for terminal devices. Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the access network device. For the convenience of description, the apparatus that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices in the embodiments of the present application is referred to as an access network device.

[0059] (3) The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of this application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, sequence, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0060] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 1 As shown, terminal devices can access a wireless network to obtain services from an external network (such as the Internet) or communicate with other devices, such as other terminal devices. This wireless network includes a RAN and a core network (CN). The RAN is used to connect terminal devices (such as terminal device 1301 or terminal device 1302) to the wireless network, while the CN is used to manage the terminal devices and provide a gateway for communication with the external network.

[0061] The RAN may include one or more RAN devices, such as RAN device 1101 and RAN device 1102.

[0062] A CN can include one or more CN devices, such as CN device 120. When Figure 1 When the network architecture shown is applicable to a 5G communication system, the CN device 120 may include an AMF entity, an SMF entity, a UPF entity, etc.

[0063] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of devices in the communication system shown is for illustrative purposes only. This application embodiment is not limited to this. In actual applications, the communication system may include more terminal devices, more RAN devices, and other devices.

[0064] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of yet another network architecture to which embodiments of this application apply. For example... Figure 2As shown, the network architecture includes a CN device, a RAN device and a terminal device. Among them, the RAN device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device, wherein the baseband device can be implemented by one node, or can be implemented by multiple nodes, and the radio frequency device can be independently implemented by pulling away from the baseband device, or can be integrated in the baseband device, or part of the function is independently integrated, and part of the function is integrated in the baseband device. For example, in the LTE communication system, the RAN device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device, wherein the radio frequency device can be arranged remotely relative to the baseband device, for example, the remote radio unit (RRU) is a remote wireless unit arranged relative to the BBU.

[0065] The communication between the RAN device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure, for example, the control plane protocol layer structure can include the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer and the physical layer, etc. The user plane protocol layer structure can include the functions of the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the physical layer, etc. In one possible implementation, the PDCP layer can further include the service data adaptation (SDAP) layer.

[0066] The RAN device can implement the functions of the RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC protocol layers by one node, or can implement the functions of these protocol layers by multiple nodes. For example, in one evolution structure, the RAN device can include a CU and a DU, and multiple DUs can be centrally controlled by one CU. As shown, Figure 2 As shown, the CU and the DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network, for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above protocol layers are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below PDCP, such as RLC layer and MAC layer, etc. are set in the DU.

[0067] The protocol layer division is only an example, and other protocol layer divisions are also possible, such as division at the RLC layer, with the functions of the RLC layer and the protocol layers above the RLC layer being arranged in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer being arranged in the DU; or division in a certain protocol layer, such as arranging part of the functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer in the CU, and arranging the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer in the DU. In addition, other divisions are also possible, such as division by delay, with the functions that need to meet a delay requirement in terms of processing time being arranged in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement being arranged in the CU.

[0068] In addition, the radio frequency device can be independently integrated, not placed in the DU, or integrated in the DU, or partially remote and partially integrated in the DU, without any limitation here.

[0069] Figure 3 Another network architecture applicable to embodiments of the present application is shown in the schematic diagram. Relative to the network architecture shown in Figure 2 , Figure 3 In the network architecture shown in , the control plane (CP) and the user plane (UP) of the CU can also be separated and implemented by different entities, namely, a control plane (control plane, CP) CU entity (CU-CP entity) and a user plane (user plane, UP) CU entity (CU-UP entity).

[0070] In the above network architecture, the signaling generated by the CU can be transmitted to the terminal device through the DU, or the signaling generated by the terminal device can be transmitted to the CU through the DU. The DU can directly transmit the signaling to the terminal device or the CU through protocol layer encapsulation without parsing the signaling. In the following embodiments, if the transmission of such signaling between the DU and the terminal device is involved, the transmission or reception of the signaling by the DU includes such a scenario. For example, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer will eventually be processed as the signaling of the PHY layer transmitted to the terminal device, or converted from the received PHY layer signaling. In this architecture, the signaling of the RRC or PDCP layer can also be considered as being transmitted by the DU, or transmitted by the DU and the radio frequency device.

[0071] The above Figure 1 , Figure 2 or Figure 3The illustrated network architecture can be applied to various radio access technology (RAT) communication systems, such as 4G (or Long Term Evolution, LTE) communication systems, 5G (or New Radio, NR) communication systems, or transitional systems between LTE and 5G communication systems (also known as 4.5G communication systems), and of course, future communication systems. The network architecture and service scenarios described in this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that with the evolution of communication network architectures and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0072] The apparatus in the following embodiments of this application, depending on the function it performs, can be located in a terminal device or an access network device. When the above CU-DU structure is adopted, the access network device can be a CU, or a DU, or a RAN device including a CU and a DU.

[0073] The relevant technical features involved in the embodiments of this application will be explained below. It should be noted that these explanations are for the purpose of making the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0074] I. Working Status of Terminal Equipment

[0075] The operating states of a terminal device can include Radio Resource Control (RRC) Idle (RRC_IDLE) state, RRC Inactive state, and RRC Connected (RRC_CONNECTED) state. The RRC Idle state can be simply referred to as the Idle state, the RRC Inactive state as the Inactive state, and the RRC Connected state as the Connected state. These three operating states are explained below.

[0076] Idle State: After a terminal device connects to the access network device through the initial random access procedure, the access network device can store the terminal device's device parameters. If the terminal device does not communicate with the access network device for an extended period, the access network device will delete the stored device parameters. The terminal device is then in the idle state. In the idle state, the terminal device does not have an RRC connection, but can perform cell selection and reselection, listen to the paging channel, and perform tracking area update (TAU). If a terminal device in the idle state needs to communicate with the access network device, it must initiate another random access procedure.

[0077] Connected state: after a terminal device accesses an access network device through an initial random access process, the device parameters of the terminal device can be stored in the access network device, during which the terminal device can communicate with the access network device, and at this time, the terminal device is in the connected state. When in the connected state, the terminal device can transmit and receive dedicated data, and according to the activity of the terminal device, the terminal device can save air interface resources and power through discontinuous reception (DRX).

[0078] Inactive state: the terminal device in the inactive state is disconnected from the RRC connection with the access network device, and does not need to continuously listen to the downlink data, thereby achieving the same power saving effect as the idle state, but the terminal device in the inactive state and the access network device both save the context information of the terminal device, and when the terminal device needs to enter the connected state, the access network device can configure the terminal device in the inactive state to enter the connected state based on the saved context information.

[0079] II. Multicast transmission technology

[0080] The multicast transmission technology is a transmission technology in which a sender transmits data, and multiple receivers receive the data. A service transmitted through the multicast transmission technology can be referred to as a multicast service, for example, an access network device transmits data of a multicast service, and multiple terminal devices receive the data of the multicast service. One possible multicast transmission technology is SC-PTM technology. In the SC-PTM technology, two logical channels are introduced, including a single cell MBMS point-to-multipoint control channel (SC-MCCH) and a single cell multicast transport channel (SC-MTCH), both of which are mapped to a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH). For example, the SC-MCCH is used to transmit control signaling of the multicast service, and the SC-MTCH is used to transmit data of the multicast service. Figure 4As shown, the SC-MCCH is used to transmit control information, including the identification of the multicast service and the configuration information of the SC-MTCH (such as the group-radio network temporary identity (G-RNTI) associated with the multicast service, the time information for receiving the SC-MTCH). The SC-MTCH is used to transmit multicast service data, and each multicast service can correspond to one SC-MTCH, such as multicast service 1 corresponding to SC-MTCH 1 and multicast service 2 corresponding to SC-MTCH 2. Further, the terminal can receive the data of the multicast service in the SC-MTCH according to the configuration information of the SC-MCCH and the corresponding scheduling information.

[0081] Specifically, the SC-MTCH in the SC-PTM technology can be mapped to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Unlike the PDSCH carrying unicast service data, the PDSCH carrying multicast service data can be referred to as a multicast PDSCH. The access network device can pre-configure an association relationship between a multicast service and a G-RNTI, and each multicast service can be associated with one G-RNTI.

[0082] For multicast transmission, the access network device can send a downlink control information (DCI) carried on a PDCCH to a plurality of terminal devices interested in a multicast service, the DCI being used to schedule a multicast PDSCH carrying the multicast service, and the DCI being scrambled by a G-RNTI associated with the multicast service; accordingly, after the plurality of terminal devices detect the DCI according to the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service, the terminal devices can receive the multicast PDSCH according to the scheduling information included in the DCI.

[0083] For unicast transmission, the access network device can send a DCI to a terminal device, the DCI being used to schedule a unicast PDSCH carrying a service (which can be a unicast service), and the DCI being scrambled by a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI); accordingly, after the terminal device detects the DCI according to the C-RNTI, the terminal device can receive the unicast PDSCH according to the scheduling information included in the DCI.

[0084] According to the description of the related technical features above, in order to receive the data of the multicast service, the terminal device needs to acquire the configuration information of the multicast service (for example, the configuration information of the multicast service can include the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service) first, and then receives the DCI sent by the access network device for scheduling the multicast PDSCH according to the G-RNTI, so as to receive the data of the multicast service. Exemplarily, if the configuration information of the multicast service does not update, the terminal device can always receive the data of the multicast service based on the acquired configuration information of the multicast service. However, in specific implementation, the configuration information of the multicast service can be updated, therefore, the terminal device needs to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service, and update the configuration information of the multicast service according to the configuration update information of the multicast service, and then receive the data of the multicast service according to the updated configuration information.

[0085] As to how the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service, one possible implementation is to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a dedicated message. The dedicated message can be a unicast message, or can also be a multicast message, or can also be other possible message dedicated to one or a group of terminal devices, which is not limited specifically. The unicast message can be a message (which can be carried on a unicast PDSCH) scheduled by a DCI scrambled by a C-RNTI, or can also be other possible message dedicated to a certain terminal device (such as an RRC message); the multicast message can be a message (which can be carried on a multicast PDSCH) scheduled by a DCI scrambled by a multicast RNTI (such as a G-RNTI), or can also be other possible message dedicated to a group of terminal devices (which can include one or more terminal devices).

[0086] But the above way of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the dedicated message is applicable to the terminal device in the connected state, and for the terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state, there are two possible ideas, one of which is that the terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state can first enter the connected state, and then acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the dedicated message. When there are a large number of terminal devices in the idle state or the inactive state in the network, each terminal device performs RRC connection with the access network device, and the access network device needs to send the configuration update information of the multicast service for each terminal device, thereby causing a large signaling overhead. The other possible idea is to introduce a common message, which can carry the configuration update information of the multicast service, and then the terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the common message. The common message can be a message shared by multiple terminal devices, i.e., multiple terminal devices can receive the message, such as the common message can also be understood as a broadcast message. Exemplarily, the common message can be carried on a common channel, which can be a multicast control channel (multicast control channel, MCCH) or an SC-MCCH, or other possible channels shared by multiple terminal devices, which is not limited.

[0087] When the common message is introduced, the terminal device in the connected state can also receive the common message, so the terminal device in the connected state can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the dedicated message, or by receiving the common message. That is, the terminal device in the connected state may acquire repeated configuration update information through the two ways, thereby causing the terminal device in the connected state to perform unnecessary receiving behavior when acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service, resulting in a large power consumption of the terminal device.

[0088] Therefore, the present application will study the related implementation of the terminal device acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service after introducing the common message. Exemplarily, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can include two possible schemes, which are scheme one and scheme two.

[0089] In the first scheme, the terminal device can acquire configuration information of the multicast service, and receive first indication information from the access network device, for example, the first indication information can indicate a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service; the manner indicated by the first indication information can be a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a dedicated message; the terminal device involved here can be a terminal device in a connected state. In this way, the terminal device in the connected state can determine which of the first manner and the second manner to use to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the first indication information sent by the access network device, thereby avoiding using the first manner and the second manner simultaneously to acquire redundant configuration update information, which can effectively avoid unnecessary receiving behavior and thus reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0090] In the second scheme, the terminal device can acquire configuration information of the multicast service, and determine a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service according to an RRC state in which the terminal device is located; the manner in which the terminal device determines to acquire the configuration update information can be the first manner or the second manner; the terminal device involved here can be a terminal device in a connected state, or can also be a terminal device in an idle state or an inactive state. In this way, for the terminal device in the connected state, the terminal device can determine which of the first manner and the second manner to use to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the RRC state in which the terminal device is located, thereby avoiding using the first manner and the second manner simultaneously to acquire redundant configuration update information, which can effectively avoid unnecessary receiving behavior and thus reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0091] The technical schemes provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with Embodiments 1 to 4.

[0092] In the following introduction process, the method is applied to the system architecture as shown in the Figure 1 The method can be executed by two communication devices, for example, a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device can be an access network device or a communication device capable of supporting the access network device to implement the functions required by the method, and of course can also be other communication devices, such as a chip or a chip system. The second communication device can be a terminal device or a communication device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the functions required by the method, and of course can also be other communication devices, such as a chip or a chip system. For ease of introduction, in the following, the method is taken as an example executed by the access network device and the terminal device, that is, the first communication device is taken as the access network device and the second communication device is taken as the terminal device. If the present embodiment is applied to the Figure 1The system architecture shown, the communication method described below for performing Figure 5 、 Figure 7 、 Figure 8 or Figure 9 The access network device of the embodiment shown can be Figure 1 RAN device 1101 or RAN device 1102 shown below, the terminal device described below for performing Figure 5 、 Figure 7 、 Figure 8 or Figure 9 The terminal device of the embodiment shown can be Figure 1 Terminal device 1301 or terminal device 1302.

[0093] Embodiment one

[0094] In embodiment one, a possible implementation of the communication method will be described based on the above scheme one. It should be noted that the terminal device in embodiment one can refer to the terminal device in the connected state.

[0095] Figure 5 The flowchart corresponding to the communication method provided by embodiment one of the present application. As Figure 5 shown, the method can include:

[0096] S501, the access network device sends the configuration information of the public message, and the configuration information of the public message can be used for the terminal device to receive the public message.

[0097] Correspondingly, in S502, the terminal device can receive the configuration information of the public message from the access network device.

[0098] Here, the access network device can broadcast the configuration information of the public message through the system message (such as system information block (SIB) 20), and correspondingly, the terminal device can obtain the configuration information of the public message by receiving the system message. As described above, the public message can be carried on the public channel, therefore, the configuration information of the public message can also be understood as the configuration information of the public channel.

[0099] Considering that the content included in the public message may be updated (or said modified), therefore, the configuration information of the public message is used for the terminal device to receive the public message, which can also be understood as the configuration information of the public message is used for the terminal device to receive the public message before updating and the public message after updating. For example, the public message before updating carries the configuration information of the multicast service, and the public message after updating carries the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0100] Exemplarily, the configuration information of the common message can comprise time domain position configuration information, frequency domain position configuration information of the common message, and optionally, modification notification information of the common message.

[0101] The time domain position configuration information of the common message can comprise at least one of the following: repetition period (RP) of the common message, offset, transmission time of the common message, transmission starting position of the common message, and modification period (MP) of the common message. The repetition period (RP) of the common message and the offset are used to determine the boundary of periodic occurrence, and the common message occurs on each system frame satisfying system frame number (SFN) mod repetition period = offset. For example, the repetition period of the common message is 16 (i.e. 16 system frames), and the offset is 1 (i.e. offset by 1 system frame), and the system frame number of the system frame where the common message occurs is 1, 17, 33, 49, …, and so on. The transmission time of the common message represents the duration of the transmission of the common message, for example, the transmission time of the common message is 3 (i.e. the transmission lasts for 3 subframes), and the transmission starting position of the common message is 4 (i.e. the transmission starting position is the 4th subframe in the system frame), and the subframe where the common message occurs is the 4th to 6th subframe in the system frame.

[0102] The frequency domain position configuration information of the common message can comprise at least one of the following: BWP configuration information (such as the BWP where the frequency domain resource occupied by the common message is located), frequency domain starting position (such as which physical resource block (PRB) the frequency domain resource occupied by the common message is located), subcarrier spacing, and so on.

[0103] The modification notification information of the common message can be used for the terminal device to receive the modification notification of the common message, for example, the modification notification is carried in the DCI, and the modification notification information can comprise the scrambling code (such as single cell-notification RNTI (SC-N-RNTI), or other possible RNTI) used to scramble the DCI. When the configuration information of the common message does not comprise the modification notification information, the scrambling code used to scramble the DCI can be SC-N-RNTI by default.

[0104] The modification period, repetition period and modification notification of the common message will be described in detail below. Figure 6a

[0105] As Figure 6a ​As shown, the access network device sends the same content of the common message in a repetition period of a modification period, and if the content of the common message needs to be updated, the access network device can start sending the updated common message from the boundary of the modification period. Wherein, the access network device can also send a modification notification of the common message from the boundary of the modification period, and the modification notification is carried in the DCI scrambled by the SC-N-RNTI. When the terminal device receives the modification notification of the common message, it can receive the updated common message, that is, the modification notification of the common message and the updated common message can be sent in the same modification period.

[0106] S503, the access network device sends the configuration information of the multicast service, and the configuration information of the multicast service is used for the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service.

[0107] Correspondingly, in S504, the terminal device can obtain the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0108] In an example, the configuration information of the multicast service in S503 and S504 can be initial configuration information of the multicast service. In this case, the configuration information of the multicast service can include an identifier of the multicast service and a G-RNTI associated with the multicast service. The identifier of the multicast service can be information used to identify the multicast service, for example, the identifier of the multicast service can include an internet protocol (IP) and / or a port number of the multicast service. The identifier of the multicast service can be sent by the application server to the core network device, and then sent by the core network device to the access network device. The configuration information of the multicast service can further include at least one of the following: bandwidth part (BWP) information corresponding to the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service, a PDSCH scrambling sequence of the multicast service, a DRX parameter of the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service, a demodulation reference signal, and a rate matching reference signal. The BWP information corresponding to the G-RNTI includes at least one of the following: bandwidth, frequency location, subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic prefix (CP) length, control resource set (COREST) related configuration information, and PDSCH related configuration information. The COREST information is used to indicate the time-frequency resource of the PDCCH scrambled by the G-RNTI. The PDSCH scrambling sequence of the multicast service is used for the terminal device to descramble the PDSCH of the multicast service using the PDSCH scrambling sequence. The DRX parameter of the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service is used for the terminal device to perform G-RNTI detection using the DRX parameter. The demodulation reference signal is used for the terminal device to perform PDSCH demodulation of the G-RNTI scheduling using the demodulation reference signal. The rate matching reference signal is used for the terminal device to exclude the position corresponding to the demodulation reference signal when receiving the PDSCH scheduled by the G-RNTI.

[0109] In addition, when the configuration information of the multicast service is the initial configuration information of the multicast service, the access network device can use various ways to send the configuration information of the multicast service, for example, the access network device can send a dedicated message (such as a first RRC message) to the terminal device, and the first RRC message includes the configuration information of the multicast service that the terminal device is interested in. Accordingly, the terminal device can receive the first RRC message and obtain the configuration information of the multicast service. For another example, the access network device can send a common message to the terminal device, and the common message carries the configuration information of the multicast service. Accordingly, the terminal device can receive the common message and obtain the configuration information of the multicast service. In the embodiments of the present application, the way in which the terminal device obtains the initial configuration information of the multicast service is not limited.

[0110] S505, the access network device sends first indication information to the terminal device.

[0111] Correspondingly, in S506, the terminal device can receive the first indication information from the access network device, and further determine a manner of acquiring configuration update information of the multicast service according to the first indication information.

[0112] Here, the configuration update information of the multicast service is used to update the configuration information of the multicast service. For example, part of the configuration information of the multicast service is updated, and the configuration update information of the multicast service can include the updated part of the information. For example, the configuration information of the multicast service includes the identifier of the multicast service, the G-RNTI (such as G-RNTI_1) associated with the multicast service, the BWP information corresponding to the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service, the PDSCH scrambling sequence of the multicast service, and the DRX parameter of the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service; and the configuration update information of the multicast service includes the identifier of the multicast service and the G-RNTI (such as G-RNTI_2) associated with the multicast service, and does not include the BWP information corresponding to the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service, the PDSCH scrambling sequence of the multicast service, and the DRX parameter of the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service; that is, the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service is updated from G-RNTI_1 to G-RNTI_2, and other configuration information of the multicast service is not updated.

[0113] The first indication information is described in detail below in combination with two possible cases (i.e., case 1 and case 2).

[0114] I. Case 1

[0115] In case 1, the first indication information can indicate a manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service. The manner indicated by the first indication information can be a first manner or a second manner, the first manner being acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a common message, and the second manner being acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a dedicated message. It can be understood that the first indication information indicates the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service, which can also be described as the first indication information indicating the manner in which the terminal device updates the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0116] It can be understood that the access network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device multiple times according to specific needs to change the way in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service. For example, the access network device first sends the first indication information 1 to the terminal device to indicate that the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second way, and after a period of time, if the access network device determines that there are more terminal devices that obtain the configuration update information by receiving the dedicated message, the access network device can send the first indication information 2 to the terminal device to indicate that the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first way.

[0117] For case 1, two possible implementation manners are described below in combination with implementation manner 1 and implementation manner 2.

[0118] (1) Implementation manner 1: The access network device sends a second RRC message to the terminal device, and the second RRC message includes the first indication information, that is, the first indication information is carried in the second RRC message. For example, if the terminal device obtains the configuration information of the multicast service by receiving the first RRC message in S503, the first RRC message and the second RRC message can be the same RRC message, that is, the configuration information of the multicast service and the first indication information can be carried in the same message; or the first RRC message and the second RRC message can also be different RRC messages, that is, the configuration information of the multicast service and the first indication information can be carried in different messages.

[0119] In this implementation manner, the specific implementation of the first indication information indicating the way in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service can be various. For example, the first indication information can indicate whether the configuration update information of the multicast service is obtained by receiving the common message, when the first indication information indicates that the configuration update information of the multicast service is obtained by receiving the common message, the terminal device can determine that the way in which the configuration update information of the multicast service is obtained is the first way; when the first indication information indicates that the configuration update information of the multicast service is not obtained by receiving the common message, the terminal device can determine that the way in which the configuration update information of the multicast service is obtained is the second way. For example, the first indication information can include 1 bit, when the value of the bit is 1, it indicates that the configuration update information of the multicast service is obtained by receiving the common message, and when the value of the bit is 0, it indicates that the configuration update information of the multicast service is not obtained by receiving the common message.

[0120] For example, the first indication information can indicate the first mode or the second mode through a bitmap, where a correspondence between different bits in the bitmap and the mode of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by the terminal device can be preset. For example, the first indication information includes two bits, the first bit corresponds to the first mode, and the second bit corresponds to the second mode. When the value of a certain bit is "1", it indicates that the mode corresponding to the bit is used to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service. For example, the values of the two bits are "10" (i.e., the value of the first bit is "1", and the value of the second bit is "0"), which indicates that the configuration update information of the multicast service is acquired by receiving the common message. The values of the two bits are "01", which indicates that the configuration update information of the multicast service is acquired by receiving the dedicated message.

[0121] (2) Implementation 2: Before the access network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, the access network device can first send a third RRC message to the terminal device. The third RRC message is used to configure the mode of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by the terminal device, which includes the first mode and the second mode, and configure the index of the first mode and the index of the second mode. For example, the index of the first mode is 0, and the index of the second mode is 1. Further, the access network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information can include the index of the mode of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service by the terminal device. For example, when the first indication information includes the index of the first mode, it indicates that the first indication information indicates that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the common channel. When the first indication information includes the index of the second mode, it indicates that the first indication information indicates that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the dedicated signaling.

[0122] In this implementation, the first indication information can be carried in a plurality of possible messages, such as RRC messages or MAC CEs or DCIs or other possible messages, which are not limited in detail.

[0123] It should be noted that the above implementation manner 1 and implementation manner 2 are described by taking two manners (i.e., the first manner and the second manner) of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as an example. In other possible embodiments, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service can be divided more finely, for example, can be divided into three manners such as a unicast manner, a multicast manner, and a broadcast manner. Among them, the unicast manner refers to that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a unicast message, the multicast manner refers to that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a multicast message, and the broadcast manner refers to that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving a broadcast message (or a common message). In this case, the specific implementation of the first indication information indicating the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service can be adaptively referred to the above implementation manner 1 and implementation manner 2.

[0124] Specifically, as a possible implementation, the first indication information can include multiple bits, and then different manners are indicated by different values of the multiple bits. For example, the first indication information can include 2 bits, when the value of the 2 bits is “00”, the indicated manner is the unicast manner, when the value of the 2 bits is “01”, the indicated manner is the multicast manner, and when the value of the 2 bits is “10”, the indicated manner is the broadcast manner. As above, only as an example, the number of bits used and the manner corresponding to different values are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0125] As another possible implementation, the first indication information can indicate different manners by a bit map, wherein the correspondence between different bits in the bit map and the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service can be pre-set, for example, the first indication information includes 3 bits, the first bit of the 3 bits corresponds to the unicast manner, the second bit corresponds to the multicast manner, and the third bit corresponds to the broadcast manner; when the value of a certain bit is “1”, it means that the manner corresponding to the bit is used to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service. For example, the value of the 3 bits is “100” (i.e., the value of the first bit of the 3 bits is “1”, and the values of the second bit and the third bit are “0”), which means that the configuration update information of the multicast service is acquired by receiving a unicast message; the value of the 3 bits is “010”, which means that the configuration update information of the multicast service is acquired by receiving a multicast message; and the value of the 3 bits is “001”, which means that the configuration update information of the multicast service is acquired by receiving a broadcast message.

[0126] II. Case 2

[0127] In the case 2, the first indication information can indicate switching of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service, such as the first indication information indicating that the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is switched from the first manner to the second manner, or from the second manner to the first manner.

[0128] Exemplarily, before the access network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, the access network device can send a fourth RRC message to the terminal device, the fourth RRC message being used to configure the terminal device to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first manner and the second manner, and to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service in an initial manner. The initial manner can be the first manner or the second manner. Subsequently, the access network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device to switch the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service. The first indication information can be information carried in a message, such as the message being an RRC message or a MAC CE or a DCI, without limitation; or the first indication information can also be understood as a message, such as the first indication information being a DCI in a preset format, the DCI in the preset format being a DCI in a format that is specifically configured by the access network device for the terminal device to indicate switching of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0129] It can be understood that the access network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device multiple times to switch the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service according to specific needs. For example, the terminal device currently acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the initial manner (taking the initial manner as the first manner as an example), and after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device can update the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service from the first manner to the second manner; subsequently, if the terminal device receives the first indication information again, the terminal device can update the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service from the second manner to the first manner, and so on.

[0130] In the embodiments of the present application, considering that the terminal device can be interested in multiple multicast services, therefore, taking the case 1 as an example, the first indication information indicating the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service can mean that the first indication information indicates the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multiple multicast services. For example, the first indication information indicates the first manner, and the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multiple multicast services is the first manner.

[0131] In other possible embodiments, when the terminal device is interested in multiple multicast services, the first indication information can also indicate a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of one or more multicast services in which the terminal device is interested. In this case, the access network device can also indicate the multicast service corresponding to the first indication information when sending the first indication information. Exemplarily, the access network device can indicate the multicast service corresponding to the first indication information in an explicit manner or an implicit manner.

[0132] (1) Explicit manner

[0133] The explicit manner can mean that the access network device can send the identifier of the multicast service corresponding to the first indication information or other possible information to the terminal device when sending the first indication information to the terminal device. The possible implementation of the explicit manner is described below in combination with Examples 1 to 3.

[0134] Example 1: The access network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device for each multicast service in which the terminal device is interested. For example, the multicast services in which the terminal device is interested include multicast service 1, multicast service 2, and multicast service 3. The access network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device for the three multicast services respectively. Specifically, the access network device can send the first indication information 1 and the identifier of the corresponding multicast service 1, the first indication information 2 and the identifier of the corresponding multicast service 2, and the first indication information 3 and the identifier of the corresponding multicast service 3 to the terminal device, as shown in Table 1. The manner indicated by the first indication information 1, the first indication information 2, and the first indication information 3 can be the same or different. The manner indicated by the first indication information 1, the first indication information 2, or the first indication information 3 can be the first manner or the second manner described above, or can be a unicast manner, a multicast manner, or a broadcast manner, which is not limited.

[0135] Table 1: Exemplary information sent by the access network device to the terminal device

[0136]

[0137]

[0138] In this way, after receiving the information shown in Table 1, the terminal device can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service 1 in the manner indicated by the first indication information 1, acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service 2 in the manner indicated by the first indication information 2, and acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service 3 in the manner indicated by the first indication information 3.

[0139] Example 2: Considering that the access network device can indicate the terminal device to acquire the configuration update information of some multicast services in the same way, in order to save bit overhead, the access network device can also send the identification list of the multicast service corresponding to the first indication information to the terminal device when sending the first indication information. For example, the multicast services of interest to the terminal device include multicast service 1, multicast service 2, multicast service 3 and multicast service 4, the access network device can send the first indication information 1 and the identification list of the corresponding multicast service, the first indication information 2 and the identification list of the corresponding multicast service to the terminal device, see Table 2.

[0140] Table 2: Information that the access network device can send to the terminal device

[0141] First indication information List of identities of corresponding multicast services First indication information 1 Identity of multicast service 1, identity of multicast service 2 First indication information 2 Identity of multicast service 3, identity of multicast service 4

[0142] In this way, after receiving the information shown in Table 2, the terminal device can acquire the configuration update information of multicast service 1 and the configuration information of multicast service 2 in the way indicated by the first indication information 1, and acquire the configuration information of multicast service 3 and the configuration update information of multicast service 4 in the way indicated by the first indication information 2.

[0143] Example 3: The multicast service described in the embodiments of the present application can be a general concept, and in specific implementation, the multicast service can also be divided into more fine-grained types, such as the first type of multicast service and the second type of multicast service. In this way, the access network device can also send the type of multicast service to which the first indication information applies to the terminal device when sending the first indication information. For example, the multicast services of interest to the terminal device include multicast service 1, multicast service 2, multicast service 3 and multicast service 4, among which multicast service 1 and multicast service 2 are the first type of multicast service, and multicast service 3 and multicast service 4 are the second type of multicast service. The access network device can send the first indication information 1 and the type of multicast service corresponding to the first indication information 1, the first indication information 2 and the type of multicast service corresponding to the first indication information 2 to the terminal device, see Table 3.

[0144] Table 3: Information that the access network device can send to the terminal device

[0145] First indication information Type of corresponding multicast service First indication information 1 First type First indication information 2 Second type

[0146] In this way, after receiving the information shown in Table 3, the terminal device can acquire the configuration update information of the first type of multicast service (i.e. multicast service 1 and multicast service 2) in the way indicated by the first indication information 1, and acquire the configuration update information of the second type of multicast service (i.e. multicast service 3 and multicast service 4) in the way indicated by the first indication information 2.

[0147] In addition, the embodiments of the present application are described by taking multicast services (such as services transmitted by SC-PTM technology) as an example, and for other possible services (such as broadcast services), the access network device can also indicate the way for the terminal device to acquire the configuration update information of the broadcast service by the first indication information. For example, the multicast services interested by the terminal device include multicast service 1 and multicast service 2, and the terminal device also needs to receive broadcast service 1 and broadcast service 2, then the access network device can send the terminal device first indication information 1 and the service type (such as multicast service) corresponding to the first indication information 1, first indication information 2 and the service type (such as broadcast service) corresponding to the first indication information 2, see Table 4.

[0148] Table 4: Information sent by the access network device to the terminal device

[0149] First indication information Type of corresponding service First indication information 1 Multicast service First indication information 2 Broadcast service

[0150] In this way, after the terminal device receives the information shown in Table 4, the terminal device can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service (i.e. multicast service 1 and multicast service 2) in the way indicated by the first indication information 1, and acquire the configuration update information of the broadcast service (i.e. broadcast service 1 and broadcast service 2) in the way indicated by the first indication information 2.

[0151] (2) Implicit way

[0152] Different from the explicit way, the implicit way can mean that when the access network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, the access network device implicitly indicates the multicast service corresponding to the first indication information, and does not need to additionally send the identifier of the multicast service corresponding to the first indication information or other possible information.

[0153] As a possible implementation, a bit map can be used to carry the first indication information corresponding to different multicast services, and the correspondence between different bits in the bit map and multicast services can be pre-configured by the access network device, or be a certain rule jointly followed by the terminal device and the access network device. For example, see Table 5. Figure 6bAs shown, the first indication information includes n bits, the multicast services of interest to the terminal device include multicast service 1, multicast service 2, and multicast service 3, and the bitmap sent by the access network device to the terminal device can include 3n bits, where the first to nth bits of the 3n bits correspond to the multicast service 1, are used to carry the first indication information 1 corresponding to the multicast service 1, the nth+1 to 2nth bits correspond to the multicast service 2, are used to carry the first indication information 2 corresponding to the multicast service 2, the 2nth+1 to 3nth bits correspond to the multicast service 3, and are used to carry the first indication information 3 corresponding to the multicast service 3. n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. That is, the access network device sends the terminal device the first indication information 1, the first indication information 2, and the first indication information 3, and implicitly indicates the multicast services corresponding to the first indication information 1, the first indication information 2, and the first indication information 3, respectively.

[0154] In addition, if the correspondence between different bits in the bitmap and multicast services is a certain rule jointly followed by the terminal device and the access network device, the rule can be that the identities of the multicast services are arranged in a certain rule, such as in ascending order of the identities or in descending order of the identities; or the rule can also be that the multicast services are arranged in the order in which the access network device configures the multicast services through the RRC message. For example, if the order in which the multicast services are configured in the RRC message is multicast service 2, multicast service 1, and multicast service 3, then the bitmap corresponds to multicast service 2, multicast service 1, and multicast service 3 from left to right.

[0155] It can be understood that the above describes one possible example of the implicit manner, and in the above example, the correspondence between different bits in the bitmap and multicast services can also be replaced by the correspondence between different bits in the bitmap and the types of multicast services (such as the first type and the second type described above), which is not limited in particular.

[0156] S507, the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the first indication information.

[0157] Specifically, taking case 1 as an example, if the first indication information sent by the access network device in the above S505 indicates the first mode, when the configuration information of the multicast service needs to be updated subsequently, the access network device can send the configuration update information of the multicast service through a common message, and then the terminal device can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the common message. If the first indication information sent by the access network device in the above S505 indicates the second mode, when the configuration information of the multicast service needs to be updated subsequently, the access network device can send the configuration update information of the multicast service through a dedicated message, and then the terminal device can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the dedicated message.

[0158] As a possible implementation, before acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service, the terminal device can send a request message to the access network device, where the request message is used to request the configuration update information of the multicast service. In an example, the terminal device can query whether the configuration information of the multicast service is acquired according to a preset period, and if it is determined that the configuration update information of the multicast service is not acquired within a preset period (for example, preset period 1), the terminal device can send a request message to the access network device; if it is determined that the configuration update information of the multicast service is acquired within the preset period 1, the terminal device can no longer send a request message to the access network device. Wherein, the length of the preset period can be set according to actual needs, and the specific limitation is not made. Exemplarily, the request message can include time range information, in this case, the configuration update information requested by the request message is the configuration update information updated within the time range indicated by the time range information, for example, in the above example, the time range indicated by the time range information can be preset period 1.

[0159] Correspondingly, after receiving the request message, if it is determined that the configuration information of the multicast service is updated within the preset period 1, the access network device can send a response message 1 to the terminal device, where the response message 1 is used to indicate that the configuration information of the multicast service is updated within the preset period 1; further, the access network device can send the configuration update information of the multicast service to the terminal device according to the manner indicated by the first indication information. If it is determined that the configuration information of the multicast service is not updated within the preset period 1, the access network device can send a response message 2 to the terminal device, where the response message 2 is used to indicate that the configuration information of the multicast service is not updated within the preset period 1. In this way, since the access network device can send a response message to the request message sent by the terminal device, the terminal device can know whether it needs to receive the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the response message, which can effectively avoid unnecessary monitoring and reduce power consumption. Alternatively, after receiving the request message, if it is determined that the configuration information of the multicast service is updated within the preset period 1, the access network device can send the configuration update information of the multicast service to the terminal device according to the manner indicated by the first indication information, without sending the response message 1. If it is determined that the configuration information of the multicast service is not updated within the preset period 1, the access network device can no longer respond.

[0160] In addition, the terminal device can send the request message in various manners. For example, the request message can be an RRC message, or the request message can be a message for a random access procedure (e.g., a random access request). When the request message is a random access request message, the request message can include a random access preamble, and the request message can be carried on a random access resource. For example, the access network device can preconfigure a random access preamble and / or a random access resource for the terminal device to request the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0161] For example, after S507, the terminal device can update the configuration information (i.e., the initial configuration information) of the multicast service according to the configuration update information of the multicast service. For example, in the example described above, the terminal device can replace the original G-RNTI_1 with the G-RNTI_2 associated with the multicast service after obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0162] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, there can be multiple terminal devices (which can be terminal devices in a connected state) interested in the multicast service, and thus multiple terminal devices can need to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service. Therefore, the access network device can send the first indication information to multiple terminal devices respectively. In this case, the time at which the terminal devices receive the first indication information can be different (e.g., some terminal devices are far away from the access network device, and some terminal devices are close to the access network device. The terminal devices far away from the access network device can take a longer time to receive the first indication information than the terminal devices close to the access network device), which can cause the terminal devices and the access network device to have different understandings of the manner of obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service. To solve this problem, in addition to sending the first indication information to the terminal devices, the access network device can also send second indication information to the terminal devices. The second indication information can be used to indicate the effective time of the first indication information. For example, in case 1, the effective time of the first indication information can be understood as the time at which the terminal devices start to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service in the manner indicated by the first indication information. The first indication information and the second indication information can be carried in the same message or in different messages, and the specific implementation is not limited. In this way, the terminal devices can all start to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service in the manner indicated by the first indication information at the effective time of the first indication information, so as to ensure that the terminal devices and the access network device have the same understanding of the manner of obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0163] In this way, the terminal device in the connected state can determine which of the first manner and the second manner is used to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the first indication information sent by the access network device, so as to avoid using the first manner and the second manner at the same time to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service, thereby effectively avoiding unnecessary receiving behavior, and further reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0164] In addition, considering that the requirements of different multicast services may be different, for some multicast services, the reliability requirement may be high, and accordingly, a feedback mechanism needs to be provided for such services, or when the terminal device receiving such services moves, enhanced service continuity guarantee needs to be provided; and for some multicast services, the requirement for receiving performance indicators (such as reliability) may not be high, and accordingly, only normal multicast receiving service needs to be provided for such services. Therefore, in the above solution one, the access network device can flexibly indicate different update manners for different terminal devices in the connected state, such as the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 (the requirements of the multicast services interested by the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 are different), the access network device can indicate that the terminal device 1 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first manner, and the terminal device 2 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second manner, thereby achieving the effect of differentiated update manners and improving the flexibility of the regulation of the access network device.

[0165] Embodiment Two

[0166] In embodiment two, a possible implementation of the communication method based on the above solution two will be described.

[0167] Figure 7 A flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiment two of the present application is shown in FIG. 7. Figure 7 As shown in FIG. 7, the method can include the following steps.

[0168] S701, the access network device sends configuration information of a common message and third indication information, and the third indication information indicates that the configuration information of the common message is used for the idle state or the non-activated state terminal device to receive the common message.

[0169] Here, the third indication information indicates that the configuration information of the common message is used for the idle state or the non-activated state terminal device to receive the common message, which can also be described as the third indication information indicating that the configuration information of the common message is applicable to the idle state or the non-activated state terminal device.

[0170] In consideration of the fact that the content included in the common message can be updated, the third indication information indicates that the configuration information of the common message is used by the terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state to receive the common message, and can also be understood as the third indication information indicating that the configuration information of the common message is used by the terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state to receive the common message before the update and the common message after the update. For example, the common message before the update carries the configuration information of the multicast service, and the common message after the update carries the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0171] Exemplarily, the access network device can use various manners to send the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information. For example, the access network device can send the configuration information of the common channel and the third indication information through a system message, that is, the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information can be carried in the same message. In other possible embodiments, the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information can also be carried in different messages, which are not limited in particular. The content included in the configuration information of the common message can be referred to the description in Embodiment 1, which is not described here again.

[0172] Correspondingly, in S702, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 can receive the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information. The terminal device 1 can be a terminal device in the idle state or the inactive state, and the terminal device 2 can be a terminal device in the connected state.

[0173] Here, after receiving the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information, the terminal device 1 can determine that the configuration information of the common message can be used to receive the common message according to the third indication information. After receiving the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information, the terminal device 2 can determine that the configuration information of the common message cannot be used to receive the common message according to the third indication information, and then can ignore the configuration information of the common message.

[0174] In S703, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 obtain the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0175] Here, the terminal device 1 can receive the common message according to the configuration information of the common message, and the common message includes the configuration information of the multicast service. The terminal device 2 can receive the RRC message from the access network device, and the RRC message includes the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0176] In S704, the terminal device 1 determines that the first manner is used to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the RRC state and the third indication information.

[0177] In S705, the terminal device 2 determines that the second manner is used to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the RRC state and the third indication information.

[0178] S706, the terminal device 1 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first mode.

[0179] Exemplarily, the terminal device 1 can listen to the modification notification of the common message according to the configuration information of the common message at the time domain position and the frequency domain position indicated by the configuration information, and after listening to the modification notification of the common message, the terminal device 1 can receive the updated common message, and the updated common message includes the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0180] Further, after the terminal device 1 receives the configuration update information of the multicast service, the terminal device 1 can update (or replace) the original configuration information using the configuration update information; for example, the configuration update information includes BWP information (such as BWP information 2) associated with the multicast service, and the original configuration information includes BWP information (such as BWP information 1) associated with the multicast service, and the terminal device can update the BWP information associated with the multicast service from BWP information 1 to BWP information 2. Subsequently, the terminal device can use the new configuration information (such as BWP information 2) to receive the data of the multicast service, and no longer use the original configuration information (such as BWP information 1) to receive the data of the multicast service.

[0181] S707, the terminal device 2 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode.

[0182] Exemplarily, the terminal device 2 can receive a unicast message (such as a message scheduled by a DCI scrambled by a C-RNTI) from the access network device, and the unicast message includes the configuration update information of the multicast service, and then the terminal device 2 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service; or the terminal device 2 can receive a multicast message (such as a message scheduled by a DCI scrambled by a multicast RNTI) from the access network device, and the multicast message includes the configuration update information of the multicast service, and then the terminal device 2 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service. Further, after the terminal device 2 receives the configuration update information of the multicast service, the terminal device 2 can update (or replace) the original configuration information using the configuration update information, and subsequently can use the updated configuration information to receive the data of the multicast service.

[0183] It should be noted that: as a possible implementation, when the terminal device 2 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode, that is, acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the unicast message or acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the multicast message, it can depend on the access network device. For example, if the access network device determines that there are multiple terminal devices (in the connected state) that need to receive the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode, the access network device can send a multicast message to these multiple terminal devices (including terminal device 2), the multicast message includes the configuration update information of the multicast service, and then the access network device can no longer send a unicast message to each of the multiple terminal devices. In this case, the multiple terminal devices can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the multicast message. For another example, if the access network device determines that there is only terminal device 2 that needs to receive the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode (in the connected state), the access network device can send a unicast message to terminal device 2, the unicast message includes the configuration update information of the multicast service. In this case, terminal device 2 can acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service by receiving the unicast message.

[0184] In the above manner, the terminal device in the connected state can determine to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode according to the third indication information sent by the access network device, and no longer acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service through the common message, thereby effectively avoiding unnecessary receiving behavior and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0185] Embodiment Three

[0186] In embodiment three, a possible implementation of the communication method based on the above scheme two will be described.

[0187] Figure 8 The flowchart corresponding to the communication method provided in embodiment four of the present application is shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the method can include the following steps. Figure 8

[0188] S801, the access network device sends the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information, the configuration information of the common message can include the modification notification information of the common message, and the fourth indication information indicates that the modification notification information of the common message is used for the idle state or the non-activated state terminal device to receive the modification notification of the common message. The configuration information of the common message can also include other possible information, such as the time domain position configuration information and the frequency domain position configuration information of the common message. For details, please refer to the description in embodiment one, which will not be repeated here.

[0189] ​The fourth indication information indicates that the modification notification information of the common message is used for the idle state or inactive state terminal device to receive the modification notification of the common message, and can also be described as the fourth indication information indicating that the modification notification information of the common message is applicable to the idle state or inactive state terminal device.

[0190] Exemplarily, the access network device can send the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information in multiple ways. For example, the access network device can send the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information through a system message, that is, the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information can be carried in the same message. In other possible embodiments, the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information can also be carried in different messages, which are not limited in particular.

[0191] Correspondingly, in S802, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 can receive the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information. The terminal device 1 can be an idle state or inactive state terminal device, and the terminal device 2 can be a connected state terminal device.

[0192] Here, after the terminal device 1 receives the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information, it can determine that the modification notification information of the common message can be used to receive the modification notification of the common message according to the fourth indication information, and then can receive the updated common message. After the terminal device 2 receives the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information, it can determine that the modification notification information of the common message cannot be used to receive the modification notification of the common message according to the fourth indication information, and cannot receive the updated common message, and then can ignore the modification notification information of the common message.

[0193] It should be noted that for the common message before the update, the connected state, idle state or inactive state terminal device can receive the common message before the update according to the configuration information of the common message.

[0194] S803, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 obtain the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0195] Here, for the terminal device 1, the terminal device 1 can receive the common message according to the configuration information of the common message, and the common message includes the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0196] For the terminal device 2, the terminal device 2 can receive the common message (here it can be the common message before the modification) according to the configuration information of the common message, and the common message includes the configuration information of the multicast service. Alternatively, the terminal device 2 can also receive the RRC message from the access network device, and the RRC message includes the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0197] S804, the terminal device 1 determines, according to the RRC state and the fourth indication information, that the manner of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service is the first manner.

[0198] S805, the terminal device 2 determines, according to the RRC state and the fourth indication information, that the manner of acquiring the configuration update information of the multicast service is the second manner.

[0199] S806, the terminal device 1 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first manner.

[0200] S807, the terminal device 2 acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second manner.

[0201] Here, the specific implementation of S806 and S807 can refer to S706 and S707 in the foregoing, and will not be described here.

[0202] In the above manner, the terminal device in the connected state can determine to acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second manner according to the fourth indication information sent by the access network device, and no longer acquire the configuration update information of the multicast service through the common message, thereby effectively avoiding unnecessary receiving behavior and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0203] Embodiment Four

[0204] In embodiment four, a possible implementation of the communication method based on the above scheme two will be described.

[0205] Figure 9 The communication method provided in embodiment four of the present application corresponds to a flowchart. As shown in the figure, the method can include: Figure 9

[0206] S901, the access network device sends configuration information of the common message.

[0207] Correspondingly, in S902, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 can receive the configuration information of the common message. The terminal device 1 can be a terminal device in an idle state or an inactive state, and the terminal device 2 can be a terminal device in a connected state.

[0208] S903, the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 acquire configuration information of the multicast service.

[0209] Here, for the terminal device 1, the terminal device 1 can receive a common message (here, it can be a common message before update) according to the configuration information of the common message, and the common message includes configuration information of the multicast service.

[0210] ​For the terminal device 2, the terminal device 2 can receive the common message (here, the common message before the update) according to the configuration information of the common message, and the common message includes the configuration information of the multicast service. Alternatively, the terminal device 2 can also receive the RRC message from the access network device, and the RRC message includes the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0211] S904, the terminal device 1 determines, according to the RRC state in which the terminal device 1 is located, that the manner of obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service is the first manner.

[0212] Here, the terminal device 1 determines that the terminal device 1 is in the idle state or the inactive state, and then it can be determined that the manner of obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service is the first manner.

[0213] S905, the terminal device 2 determines, according to the RRC state in which the terminal device 2 is located, that the manner of obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service is the second manner.

[0214] Here, the terminal device 2 determines that the terminal device 2 is in the connected state, and then it can be determined that the manner of obtaining the configuration update information of the multicast service is the second manner.

[0215] S906, the terminal device 1 adopts the first manner to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0216] S907, the terminal device 2 adopts the second manner to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0217] Here, the specific implementation of S906 and S907 can refer to S706 and S707 described above, and will not be described here.

[0218] In the above manner, the terminal device in the connected state can determine to adopt the second manner to obtain the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the current state in which the terminal device is located, and the terminal device no longer obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service through the common message, thereby effectively avoiding unnecessary receiving behavior and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. Moreover, this manner can effectively regulate the behavior of the terminal device according to the state in which the terminal device is located, without the need for the access network device to additionally send indication information (i.e., the change on the access network device side is small), thereby effectively saving the signaling overhead and achieving simplicity and convenience.

[0219] For the above embodiment one to embodiment four, it needs to be explained that:

[0220] (1) The above mainly describes the differences between embodiment one and embodiment four, and other contents except for the differences can be mutually referred between embodiment one and embodiment four.

[0221] (2) The step numbers of each flowchart described in Embodiments 1-4 are only an example of the execution flow, and do not constitute a limitation on the execution sequence of the steps. There is no strict execution sequence between the steps in the embodiments of the present application that have no time sequence dependency with each other. In addition, not all the steps shown in each flowchart are necessarily executed. Some steps can be added or deleted based on each flowchart as needed.

[0222] The above describes the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application mainly from the perspective of device interaction. It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the access network device or the terminal device can include the hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0223] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional units of the access network device or the terminal device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional unit.

[0224] In the case of using an integrated unit, Figure 10 A possible example block diagram of the apparatus involved in the embodiments of the present application is shown. As shown in the figure, Figure 10 The apparatus 1000 can include a processing unit 1002 and a communication unit 1003. The processing unit 1002 is used to control and manage the actions of the apparatus 1000. The communication unit 1003 is used to support the communication of the apparatus 1000 with other devices. Optionally, the communication unit 1003, also known as a transceiver unit, can include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are used to perform receiving and sending operations, respectively. Optionally, the apparatus 1000 can also include a storage unit 1001, which is used to store the program code and / or data of the apparatus 1000.

[0225] The apparatus 1000 can be a terminal device in the above embodiments, or can also be a chip arranged in a terminal device. The processing unit 1002 can support the apparatus 1000 to perform the actions of the terminal device in each method example. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly performs the internal actions of the terminal device in the method example, and the communication unit 1003 can support the communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices.

[0226] Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is configured to: obtain configuration information of a multicast service, the configuration information being used by the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service; and receive first indication information from an access network device, the first indication information indicating a manner in which the terminal device obtains configuration update information of the multicast service; wherein the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to obtain the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to obtain the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

[0227] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is specifically configured to: receive a first radio resource control (RRC) message from the access network device, the first RRC message including the configuration information of the multicast service; or receive a common message from the access network device, the common message including the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0228] In a possible design, the first indication information is carried in a second RRC message, or a MAC CE, or a DCI.

[0229] In a possible design, the first indication information includes an index of the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0230] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003, before receiving the first indication information from the access network device, is further configured to: receive a third RRC message from the access network device, the third RRC message including an index of the first manner and an index of the second manner.

[0231] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further configured to: receive second indication information from the access network device, the second indication information indicating a validity time of the first indication information.

[0232] In another embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is configured to acquire configuration information of a multicast service, the configuration information being used by the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service; and the processing unit 1002 is configured to determine, according to a radio resource control (RRC) state of the terminal device, a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service, wherein the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner, the first manner being acquiring the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner being acquiring the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

[0233] In a possible design, the processing unit 1002 is specifically configured to determine, when the terminal device is in an idle state or an inactive state, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner, or determine, when the terminal device is in a connected state, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner.

[0234] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further configured to receive, from an access network device, configuration information of a common message and third indication information, the third indication information indicating that the configuration information of the common message is used by terminal devices in an idle state or an inactive state to receive the common message; and the processing unit 1002 is specifically configured to determine, according to the third indication information, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner, or determine, according to the third indication information, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner.

[0235] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further configured to receive, from an access network device, configuration information of the common message and fourth indication information, the configuration information of the common message including modification notification information of the common message, and the fourth indication information indicating that the modification notification information of the common message is used by terminal devices in an idle state or an inactive state to receive modification notification of the common message; and the processing unit 1002 is specifically configured to determine, according to the fourth indication information, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner, or determine, according to the fourth indication information, the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner.

[0236] The apparatus 1000 can be the access network device in the above embodiments, or can also be a chip arranged in the access network device. The processing unit 1002 can support the apparatus 1000 to perform the actions of the access network device in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly performs the internal actions of the access network device in the method examples, and the communication unit 1003 can support the communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices.

[0237] Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is configured to: send configuration information of a multicast service, the configuration information being used for a terminal device to receive data of the multicast service; and send first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information indicating a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service; wherein the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

[0238] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is specifically configured to: send a first RRC message to the terminal device, the first RRC message including the configuration information of the multicast service; or send a common message, the common message including the configuration information of the multicast service.

[0239] In a possible design, the first indication information is carried in a second RRC message, or a MAC CE, or a DCI.

[0240] In a possible design, the first indication information includes an index of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service.

[0241] In a possible design, before sending the first indication information to the terminal device, the communication unit 1003 is further configured to: send a third RRC message to the terminal device, the third RRC message including an index of the first manner and an index of the second manner.

[0242] In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further configured to: send second indication information to the terminal device, the second indication information indicating a validity time of the first indication information.

[0243] In yet another embodiment, the processing unit 1002 is configured to determine third indication information, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to transmit the configuration information of the common message and the third indication information, the third indication information indicating that the configuration information of the common message is used for the idle-state or inactive-state terminal device to receive the common message. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 is configured to determine fourth indication information, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to transmit the configuration information of the common message and the fourth indication information, the configuration information of the common message comprising modification notification information of the common message, and the fourth indication information indicating that the modification notification information of the common message is used for the idle-state or inactive-state terminal device to receive the modification notification of the common message.

[0244] It should be understood that the division of units in the above apparatus is only a logical functional division, and all or part of the units can be integrated into one physical entity, or can be physically separated. The units in the apparatus can all be implemented in the form of software invoked by a processing element; or all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some units are implemented in the form of software invoked by a processing element, and some units are implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or can be integrated into a chip of the apparatus, in addition, the units can also be stored in the form of programs in the memory, and the functions of the units are invoked and executed by a processing element of the apparatus. In addition, all or part of the units can be integrated together, or can be independently implemented. The processing element mentioned herein can be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capability. In the implementation process, the operations of the above method or the above units can be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware in the processing element, or in the form of software invoked by the processing element.

[0245] In one example, the units in any of the above apparatuses can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the units in the apparatus can be implemented in the form of a program invoked by a processing element, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processors that can invoke programs. For another example, the units can be integrated together to implement in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0246] The above receiving unit is an interface circuit of the apparatus for receiving signals from other apparatuses. For example, when the apparatus is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving unit is an interface circuit of the chip for receiving signals from other chips or apparatuses. The above transmitting unit is an interface circuit of the apparatus for transmitting signals to other apparatuses. For example, when the apparatus is implemented in the form of a chip, the transmitting unit is an interface circuit of the chip for transmitting signals to other chips or apparatuses.

[0247] Figure 11 A structural diagram of a terminal device is provided for the embodiments of the present application, which can be the terminal device in the above embodiments and is used to implement the operations of the terminal device in the above embodiments. As shown in the structural diagram, the terminal device includes an antenna 1110, a radio frequency part 1120, and a signal processing part 1130. The antenna 1110 is connected to the radio frequency part 1120. In the downlink direction, the radio frequency part 1120 receives information transmitted by the network device through the antenna 1110 and sends the information to the signal processing part 1130 for processing. In the uplink direction, the signal processing part 1130 processes information of the terminal device and sends the information to the radio frequency part 1120, which processes the information of the terminal device and then sends the information to the network device through the antenna 1110. Figure 11

[0248] The signal processing part 1130 can include a modem subsystem for implementing processing of data at various communication protocol layers, a central processing subsystem for implementing processing of an operating system and an application layer of the terminal device, and other subsystems such as a multimedia subsystem for implementing control of a camera, a screen display, and the like of the terminal device and a peripheral subsystem for implementing connection with other devices. The modem subsystem can be a separately arranged chip.

[0249] The modem subsystem can include one or more processing elements 1131, for example, including a master CPU and other integrated circuits. In addition, the modem subsystem can further include a storage element 1132 and an interface circuit 1133. The storage element 1132 is used to store data and programs, but the program used to implement the method performed by the terminal device in the above method can not be stored in the storage element 1132, but in a memory outside the modem subsystem, which is loaded for use when needed. The interface circuit 1133 is used to communicate with other subsystems.

[0250] ​The modem subsystem can be implemented by a chip including at least one processing element and an interface circuit, wherein the processing element is configured to perform each step of any of the methods performed by the terminal device, and the interface circuit is configured to communicate with other devices. In one implementation, the units of the terminal device that implement each step of the above methods can be implemented by a processing element scheduler, for example, the device for the terminal device includes a processing element and a storage element, and the processing element invokes a program stored in the storage element to perform the method performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The storage element can be a storage element on the same chip as the processing element, i.e., an on-chip storage element.

[0251] In another implementation, the program for performing the method performed by the terminal device in the above method can be stored in a storage element on a different chip from the processing element, i.e., an off-chip storage element. At this time, the processing element invokes or loads the program from the off-chip storage element to the on-chip storage element to invoke and execute the method performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0252] In yet another implementation, the units of the terminal device that implement each step of the above methods can be one or more processing elements configured on the modem subsystem, and the processing elements can be integrated circuits, such as one or more ASICs, or one or more DSPs, or one or more FPGAs, or a combination of these integrated circuits. These integrated circuits can be integrated together to form a chip.

[0253] The units of the terminal device that implement each step of the above methods can be integrated together to implement the above method in the form of a SOC chip. The chip can include at least one processing element and a storage element, and the method performed by the terminal device can be implemented by the processing element invoking the program stored in the storage element; or the chip can include at least one integrated circuit for implementing the method performed by the terminal device; or a combination of the above implementations can be used, i.e., part of the functions of the units are implemented by the processing element invoking the program, and part of the functions of the units are implemented by the integrated circuit.

[0254] As can be seen, the device for the terminal device can include at least one processing element and an interface circuit, wherein the at least one processing element is configured to perform any of the methods performed by the terminal device according to the above method embodiments. The processing element can perform part or all of the steps of the method performed by the terminal device in the following ways: the first way is to invoke the program stored in the storage element; the second way is to perform part or all of the steps of the method performed by the terminal device by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processing element in combination with the instructions; and of course, part or all of the steps of the method performed by the terminal device can be performed by a combination of the first way and the second way.

[0255] The processing element herein can be implemented by a processor, and the function of the processing element can be the same as the function of the processing unit described above. Figure 10 For example, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a CPU, and can also be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, such as one or more ASICs, or one or more microprocessors DSP, or one or more FPGAs, etc., or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. The storage element can be implemented by a memory, and the function of the storage element can be the same as the function of the storage unit described above. Figure 10 The storage element can be implemented by a memory, and the function of the storage element can be the same as the function of the storage unit described above. Figure 10 The storage element can be a memory, and can also be a collective term for multiple memories.

[0256] Figure 11 The terminal device shown can implement each process of the terminal device involved in the above method embodiments. Figure 11 The operation and / or function of each module in the terminal device is respectively to implement the corresponding flow in the above method embodiments. For details, see the description in the above method embodiments, and the detailed description is appropriately omitted here to avoid repetition.

[0257] Referring to Figure 12 A structure schematic diagram of an access network device provided by the embodiments of the present application is provided, which can be applied to the system architecture as shown in Figure 1 The access network device 120 can include one or more DUs 1201 and one or more CUs 1202. The DU 1201 can include at least one antenna 12011, at least one radio frequency unit 12012, at least one processor 12013, and at least one memory 12014. The DU 1201 part is mainly used for the transceiver of the radio frequency signal and the conversion between the radio frequency signal and the baseband signal, and part of the baseband processing. The CU 1202 can include at least one processor 12022 and at least one memory 12021.

[0258] The CU 1202 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the access network device, etc. The DU 1201 and the CU 1202 can be physically arranged together, or can be physically arranged separately, i.e. a distributed base station. The CU 1202 is the control center of the access network device, and can also be called a processing unit, which is mainly used to complete the baseband processing function. For example, the CU 1202 can be used to control the access network device to perform the operation flow of the access network device in the above method embodiments.

[0259] In addition, the access network device 120 can include one or more radio frequency units, one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU can include at least one processor 12013 and at least one memory 12014, the radio frequency unit can include at least one antenna 12011 and at least one radio frequency unit 12012, and the CU can include at least one processor 12022 and at least one memory 12021.

[0260] In one example, the CU 1202 can be composed of one or more single boards, and the single boards can collectively support a single access indicated wireless access network (such as a 5G network) or respectively support wireless access networks of different access modes (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 12021 and the processor 12022 can serve one or more single boards. That is, the memory and the processor can be separately arranged on each single board. Alternatively, the memory and the processor can be shared by multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be arranged on each single board. The DU 1201 can be composed of one or more single boards, and the single boards can collectively support a single access indicated wireless access network (such as a 5G network) or respectively support wireless access networks of different access modes (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 12014 and the processor 12013 can serve one or more single boards. That is, the memory and the processor can be separately arranged on each single board. Alternatively, the memory and the processor can be shared by multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be arranged on each single board.

[0261] Figure 12 The access network device shown can implement each process of the access network device involved in the method embodiments described above. Figure 12 The operations and / or functions of each module in the access network device shown are respectively used to implement the corresponding processes in the method embodiments described above. For details, refer to the description in the method embodiments described above, and the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0262] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can be in the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can be in the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0263] The computer program instructions can 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 the flowchart block or blocks. Figure 1 one or more flow or blocks Figure 1 one or more flow or blocks

[0264] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. Figure 1 one or more flow or blocks Figure 1 one or more flow or blocks

[0265] The computer program instructions can 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 the flowchart block or blocks. Figure 1 one or more flow or blocks Figure 1 one or more flow or blocks

[0266] Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present application are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, the application can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is suitable for a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device, and the method comprises: obtaining configuration information of a multicast service, the configuration information being used for the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service, the configuration information comprising a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) associated with the multicast service; receiving first indication information from an access network device, the first indication information indicating a manner in which the terminal device obtains configuration update information of the multicast service, and a radio resource control (RRC) state of the terminal device being a connected state; wherein the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to obtain the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to obtain the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The obtaining of the configuration information of the multicast service comprises: receiving a first RRC message from the access network device, the first RRC message comprising the configuration information of the multicast service; or receiving a common message from the access network device, the common message comprising the configuration information of the multicast service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first indication information is carried in a second RRC message, or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first indication information comprises an index of the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, Before the receiving of the first indication information from the access network device, the method further comprises: receiving a third RRC message from the access network device, the third RRC message comprising an index of the first manner and an index of the second manner.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving second indication information from the access network device, the second indication information indicating a validity time of the first indication information.

7. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is suitable for an access network device or a chip in the access network device, and the method comprises: sending configuration information of a multicast service, the configuration information being used for a terminal device to receive data of the multicast service, the configuration information comprising a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) associated with the multicast service; sending first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information indicating a manner in which the terminal device obtains configuration update information of the multicast service, and an RRC state of the terminal device being a connected state; wherein the manner in which the terminal device obtains the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to obtain the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to obtain the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The sending of the configuration information of the multicast service comprises: sending a first RRC message to the terminal device, the first RRC message comprising the configuration information of the multicast service; or sending a common message, the common message comprising the configuration information of the multicast service.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein, The first indication information is carried in a second RRC message, or a MAC CE, or DCI.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The first indication information comprises an index of a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, Before the sending of the first indication information to the terminal device, the method further comprises: sending a third RRC message to the terminal device, the third RRC message comprising the index of the first manner and the index of the second manner.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending second indication information to the terminal device, the second indication information indicating a validity time of the first indication information.

13. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applicable to a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device, and the method comprises: acquiring configuration information of a multicast service, the configuration information being used for the terminal device to receive data of the multicast service, the configuration information comprising a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) associated with the multicast service; determining a manner in which the terminal device acquires configuration update information of the multicast service according to an RRC state of the terminal device, the RRC state of the terminal device being a connected state; wherein the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is a first manner or a second manner; the first manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a common message, and the second manner is to acquire the configuration update information by receiving a dedicated message.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The determining of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service according to the RRC state of the terminal device comprises: when the terminal device is in an idle state or an inactive state, determining that the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is the first manner; or when the terminal device is in the connected state, determining that the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is the second manner.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving configuration information of a common message and third indication information from an access network device, the third indication information indicating that the configuration information of the common message is used for an idle-state or inactive-state terminal device to receive the common message; the determining of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the first manner comprises: determining, according to the third indication information, that the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is the first manner; the determining of the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service as the second manner comprises: determining, according to the third indication information, that the manner in which the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service is the second manner.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving configuration information of the common message and fourth indication information from the access network device, the configuration information of the common message comprising modification notification information of the common message, and the fourth indication information indicating that the modification notification information of the common message is used for an idle-state or inactive-state terminal device to receive the modification notification of the common message; The determining that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first mode comprises: determining, according to the fourth indication information, that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the first mode. The determining that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode comprises: determining, according to the fourth indication information, that the terminal device acquires the configuration update information of the multicast service in the second mode.

17. A communications device, characterized by A module for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method of any one of claims 13 to 16.

18. A communications device, characterized by A module for performing the method of any one of claims 7 to 12.

19. A communications device, characterized by A processor coupled to a memory, the memory storing a computer program; the processor is configured to invoke the computer program in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method of any one of claims 13 to 16.

20. A communications device, characterized by A processor coupled to a memory, the memory storing a computer program; the processor is configured to invoke the computer program in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method of any one of claims 7 to 12.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method of any one of claims 1 to 16 is realized.

22. A computer program product, characterised in that, When the computer reads and executes the program or instructions in the computer program product, the method of any one of claims 1 to 16 is realized.

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