Indication method and apparatus of reference signal, computer readable storage medium and computer program

Abstract

This application provides a method and apparatus for indicating a reference signal, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program. In the method, a terminal device receives configuration information of a reference signal from a network device. The configuration information indicates at least one resource location of the reference signal. The terminal device also receives indication information of the reference signal from the network device. The indication information indicates whether the network device transmits the reference signal at a first resource location. At least one resource location includes the first resource location. According to this method, the terminal device can determine at which resource locations the network device transmits the reference signal, thereby knowing whether the demodulation performance at the PO to be monitored subsequently can be guaranteed by receiving the reference signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of mobile communication technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for indicating a reference signal, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program. Background Technology

[0002] In communication systems, terminal devices in idle or inactive states need to monitor a paging opportunity during discontinuous reception cycles. Before this, the terminal device needs to synchronize with the network device to ensure demodulation performance. Typically, the terminal device can be woken up by the most recent synchronization block to synchronize, but it needs to maintain this synchronization until the paging opportunity ends. There is usually a long interval between the synchronization block and the paging opportunity, resulting in significant power consumption by the terminal device during this period. Therefore, a solution is urgently needed that allows the terminal device to achieve synchronization before the paging opportunity with lower power consumption. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a method and apparatus for indicating reference signals, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program, enabling a terminal device to know at which resource locations a network device is sending reference signals, thereby having the opportunity to achieve synchronization before a paging opportunity by monitoring the reference signals.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a method for indicating a reference signal. The method includes: receiving configuration information of the reference signal from a network device. The configuration information is used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal. The method further includes: receiving indication information of the reference signal from the network device. The indication information is used to indicate whether the network device transmits the reference signal at a first resource location. At least one resource location includes the first resource location.

[0005] The method can be executed by a first communication device, which can be a terminal device or a communication device that can support the terminal device to implement the method. For example, the first communication device can be a chip installed in the terminal device.

[0006] According to this method, the terminal device can determine at which resource locations the network device sends reference signals, thereby knowing whether the demodulation performance at the PO that needs to be monitored subsequently can be guaranteed by receiving reference signals.

[0007] In one alternative implementation, the indication information is carried on downlink control information (DCI) received on the first paging opportunity (PO). Alternatively, the indication information is carried on a first signal received prior to the first PO, the first signal indicating whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs.

[0008] In one alternative implementation, the first resource location corresponds to the second PO. The second PO is at least one PO following the first PO.

[0009] In one alternative implementation, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is a discontinuous reception DRX period. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is a default DRX period. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is the minimum value among the default DRX periods. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is the maximum value among the default DRX periods.

[0010] In one alternative implementation, the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold. Alternatively, there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO.

[0011] In one alternative implementation, the interval between the first PO and different second POs is a different DRX cycle.

[0012] In one alternative implementation, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the second PO. Each bit is used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at at least one resource location corresponding to the resource location of the second PO corresponding to that bit.

[0013] In one alternative implementation, the first resource location is a resource location within a first time period, which is one of at least one resource locations. The first time period is the interval between a first PO and a second PO. Alternatively, the first time period is at least one time period that constitutes the interval between the first PO and the second PO.

[0014] In one alternative implementation, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the first time period. Each bit is used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at at least one resource location within the time period corresponding to that bit.

[0015] Secondly, a method for indicating a reference signal is provided. The method includes: sending configuration information of the reference signal to a terminal device. The configuration information is used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal. The method further includes: sending indication information of the reference signal to the terminal device. The indication information is used to indicate whether a network device sends a reference signal at a first resource location. At least one resource location includes the first resource location.

[0016] The method can be executed by a second communication device, which can be a network device or a communication device that can support the network device to implement the method. For example, the second communication device can be a chip installed in the network device.

[0017] According to this method, the terminal device can determine at which resource locations the network device sends reference signals, thereby enabling the terminal device to know whether the demodulation performance at the PO that needs to be monitored can be guaranteed by receiving reference signals.

[0018] In one alternative implementation, the indication information is carried on downlink control information (DCI) received on the first paging opportunity (PO). Alternatively, the indication information is carried on a first signal received prior to the first PO, the first signal indicating whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs.

[0019] In one alternative implementation, the first resource location corresponds to the second PO. The second PO is at least one PO following the first PO.

[0020] In one alternative implementation, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is a discontinuous reception DRX period. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is a default DRX period. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is the minimum value among the default DRX periods. Alternatively, the interval between the first PO and the second PO is the maximum value among the default DRX periods.

[0021] In one alternative implementation, the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold. Alternatively, there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO.

[0022] In one alternative implementation, the interval between the first PO and different second POs is a different DRX cycle.

[0023] In one alternative implementation, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the second PO, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends a reference signal at at least one resource location corresponding to the resource location of the second PO corresponding to that bit.

[0024] In one alternative implementation, the first resource location is a resource location within a first time period, which is one of at least one resource locations. The first time period is the interval between the first PO and the second PO. Alternatively, the first time period is at least one time period, which constitutes the interval between the first PO and the second PO.

[0025] In one alternative implementation, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the first time period. Each bit is used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at at least one resource location within the time period corresponding to that bit.

[0026] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, which may include modules for performing the methods described in the first aspect or any optional embodiments thereof, such as a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, which may be different functional modules or the same functional module capable of performing different functions. The processing module may be implemented using a processor. The transceiver module may be implemented using a transceiver; correspondingly, the transmitting module may be implemented using a transmitter, and the receiving module may be implemented using a receiver. If the device is a terminal device, the transceiver may be a radio frequency transceiver component in the terminal device. If the device is a chip disposed in the terminal device, the transceiver may be a communication interface in the chip, which is connected to the radio frequency transceiver component in the terminal device to transmit and receive information via the radio frequency transceiver component.

[0027] Fourthly, a communication device is provided, which may include modules for performing the methods described in the second aspect or any optional embodiments thereof, such as a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module may include a transmitting module and a receiving module, which may be different functional modules or the same functional module capable of performing different functions. The processing module may be implemented using a processor. The transceiver module may be implemented using a transceiver; correspondingly, the transmitting module may be implemented using a transmitter, and the receiving module may be implemented using a receiver. If the device is a network device, the transceiver may be a radio frequency transceiver component in the network device. If the device is a chip disposed in a network device, the transceiver may be a communication interface in the chip, which is connected to the radio frequency transceiver component in the network device to transmit and receive information via the radio frequency transceiver component.

[0028] Fifthly, a communication system is provided, which includes the terminal equipment described in the third aspect and the network equipment described in the fourth aspect.

[0029] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable medium storing a computer program that, when the computer program code is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the first aspect or any of its alternative embodiments.

[0030] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable medium storing a computer program that, when the computer program code is run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the second aspect or any alternative embodiments thereof.

[0031] Eighthly, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product including a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the first aspect or any alternative embodiments thereof.

[0032] Ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product including a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the second aspect or any alternative embodiments thereof. Attached Figure Description

[0033] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to this application.

[0034] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating one possible distribution of paging opportunities.

[0035] Figure 3(a) is a schematic diagram of power consumption during the paging process.

[0036] Figure 3(b) is another schematic diagram of power consumption during the paging process.

[0037] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a reference signal indication method provided in this application.

[0038] Figure 5(a) is a schematic diagram of a reference signal availability indication.

[0039] Figure 5(b) is a schematic diagram of another reference signal availability indication.

[0040] Figure 5(c) is a schematic diagram of another type of reference signal availability indication.

[0041] Figure 5(d) is a schematic diagram of another type of reference signal availability indication.

[0042] Figure 6 This is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application.

[0043] Figure 7 This is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided in this application.

[0044] Figure 8 This is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in this application. Detailed Implementation

[0045] The technical solution provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, 5th generation (5G) system, new radio (NR) system, or other communication systems that may emerge in the future.

[0046] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to this application is shown. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as Figure 1 The network device 110 shown. The communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as... Figure 1 The terminal device 120 is shown. Network device 110 can send reference signals to terminal device 120, which can then use these reference signals for radio resource management (RRM) measurements, channel state information (CSI) measurements, time / frequency synchronization, beam management, channel estimation, etc. In this embodiment, the terminal device can be user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The terminal device can also be a cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network, or terminal device in a future public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. This embodiment does not limit the scope of the application.

[0047] The network device in this application embodiment can be a device used to communicate with terminal devices. For example, the network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. Alternatively, the network device can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station; for example, it can be a central unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). Furthermore, the network device can also be a radio controller, relay station, access point, vehicle-mounted equipment, wearable device, or access network equipment in other future evolved communication systems in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. This application does not limit the specific technology or specific device form used in the network device.

[0048] In this embodiment, the terminal device or network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on top of the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, or Windows. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. Furthermore, this embodiment does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in this embodiment by running a program that records the code of the method provided in this embodiment. For example, the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or network device that can call and execute a program.

[0049] Furthermore, various aspects or features of this application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein encompasses a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical discs (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). Additionally, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, including, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0050] Before introducing the method of this application, some concepts involved in this application will be explained first.

[0051] (a) Radio Resource Control (RRC) Status

[0052] In a communication system, the RRC states of a terminal device include the idle state (RRC_IDLE state), the inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE state), and the connected state (RRC_CONNECTED state).

[0053] In this configuration, when the terminal device is in idle mode, the air interface connection between the terminal device and the network device is disconnected, and context information is no longer saved. The terminal device can only receive broadcast information sent by the network device. When the terminal device is inactive mode, the air interface connection between the terminal device and the network device is disconnected, but context information is saved. When the terminal device enters connected mode from inactive mode, it can quickly restore to connected mode based on the saved context information. When the terminal device is in connected mode, an air interface connection is established between the terminal device and the network device, and communication with the network device is performed based on the air interface connection.

[0054] (ii) Paging

[0055] A terminal device in an idle state has no RRC connection with the network. A terminal device in an inactive state, although having established an RRC connection with the network device, is in a suspended state. When a network device has data to send to a terminal device in an idle or inactive state, it first needs to page the terminal device to notify it to establish or restore the RRC connection before data transmission can occur. Paging can be initiated by the 5G core network (5GC), also known as core network (CN) paging. Paging can also be initiated by the radio access network (RAN), also known as RAN paging.

[0056] (iii) Discontinuous reception (DRX)

[0057] Terminal devices in idle or inactive states can use DRX to receive paging messages to reduce power consumption; this type of DRX is also called paging DRX. When using DRX to receive paging messages, the terminal device in idle or inactive state will only "wake up" to receive paging messages during a predefined period of time, and can remain in a "sleep" state at other times, that is, stop receiving paging messages at other times. This reduces power consumption and improves the battery life of the terminal device.

[0058] When DRX is used to receive paging messages, the DRX cycle can also be called the paging cycle. The DRX cycle can be configured by the network device. For example, the network device can configure the DRX cycle in the following ways:

[0059] Method 1: For CN paging, the cell can broadcast a default DRX cycle through the information element (IE) "defaultPagingCycle" in system information block (SIB) 1;

[0060] Method 2: For CN paging, the non-access stratum (NAS) layer can configure a UE-specific DRX cycle through the IE "PagingDRX".

[0061] Method 3: For RAN paging, the cell can configure a UE-specific DRX cycle by carrying the IE "ran-PagingCycle" in the "RRC Release" message when the RRC connection is suspended.

[0062] For terminal devices in idle state, if a UE-specific DRX period is configured via method two, the minimum value between the default DRX period configured via method one and the UE-specific DRX period configured via method two can be used as the final DRX period. If a UE-specific DRX period is not configured via method two, the default DRX period configured via method one will be used.

[0063] Terminal devices in an inactive state can use the minimum value among the default DRX period configured in method one, the UE-specific DRX period configured in method two, and the UE-specific DRX period configured in method three as the final DRX period to be used.

[0064] (iv) Paging occasion (PO)

[0065] When using DRX to receive paging messages, terminal devices in idle or inactive states will only attempt to receive the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scrambled with the paging radio network tempory identity (P-RNTI) at a specific PO within each DRX cycle. A PO can be viewed as a monitoring occasion for a set of PDCCHs. A PO can include multiple time units, such as slots or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. Network devices can send downlink control information (DCI) in the PO to schedule paging messages. Furthermore, a paging frame (PF) is a radio frame that can contain one or more POs or the origin of a PO. When monitoring POs, the terminal device first determines the PF, and then determines the PO associated with the PF. It should be noted that the origin of a PO associated with a PF can be located within or after the PF. The terminal device can determine the PO it needs to monitor based on paging configuration parameters and the terminal device identifier.

[0066] For example, such as Figure 2As shown, the network devices configure a PO (Position Required) every 80 milliseconds. For a specific terminal device, it only needs to monitor a portion of these POs according to its own DRX (Dual Regression Limit) cycle. Terminal device #1 has a DRX cycle of 320 milliseconds, monitors the first PO shown in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 320 milliseconds. Terminal device #2 has a DRX cycle of 320 milliseconds, monitors the second PO shown in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 320 milliseconds. Terminal device #3 has a DRX cycle of 640 milliseconds, monitors the first PO shown in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 640 milliseconds. Terminal device #4 has a DRX cycle of 640 milliseconds, monitors the second PO shown in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 640 milliseconds.

[0067] In this embodiment of the application, when "interval" is used to describe the distance between two time units, it can refer to the distance between the starting points of the two time units, the distance between the center points of the two time units, the distance between the ending points of the two time units, or the distance between the starting point of one time unit and the ending point of the other time unit. Here, the two time units can be time units of the same duration or time units of different durations.

[0068] The technical solution provided in this application will be described below in conjunction with the concepts introduced above.

[0069] In LTE systems, terminal devices in both idle and connected states can utilize the cell reference signal (CRS) for measurements, time / frequency tracking, channel estimation, and other functions. The CRS is always-on. To reduce system overhead, inter-cell interference, and network equipment power consumption, NR systems do not define a reference signal that is always on like the CRS. The various functions supported by the CRS in LTE systems are implemented in NR systems through different types of reference signals. For example, the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) can be used to measure downlink channel quality, and the tracking reference signal (TRS) can be used for time / frequency tracking and channel estimation. It is important to note that CSI-RS and TRS are only available when the terminal device is in connected state. Terminal devices in idle and inactive states can utilize the synchronization signal block (SSB) for measurements and time / frequency synchronization. Therefore, terminal devices in idle and inactive states need to be periodically woken up to monitor the SSB.

[0070] To monitor the Page Notification (PO), the terminal device wakes up the nearest Service Block (SSB) before the PO and uses that SSB for time / frequency synchronization. Afterward, the terminal device must remain awake or in light sleep mode to maintain the acquired time / frequency synchronization until the PO ends. Figure 3(a) illustrates the power consumption of the terminal device during paging. The patterned rectangles in the figure represent different power consumption states of the terminal device, and the height of these rectangles indicates the power consumption in that state. It can be seen from the figure that the power consumption per unit time is lower in deep sleep mode than in light sleep mode. The larger the interval between the SSB and the PO, the higher the power consumption of the terminal device. To reduce the power consumption caused by the interval between the SSB and the PO, the simplest method is to send the SSB more frequently. However, from a system overhead perspective, this method is not advisable and violates the original intention of the NR system to disable the always-on reference signal.

[0071] In addition to sending SSBs more frequently, it is also possible to allow terminal devices in idle and inactive states to use reference signals such as CSI-RS and TRS. Figure 3(b) is a schematic diagram of the power consumption of a terminal device capable of using TRS during the paging process. The meaning of the rectangles with patterns is the same as described above for Figure 3(a). As can be seen from the figure, if the terminal device uses TRS configured between PO and SSB, the terminal device can stay in deep sleep mode for a longer period of time. Since the power consumption per unit time in deep sleep mode is lower than that in shallow sleep mode, extending the time in deep sleep mode can reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0072] In order for the terminal device to bypass SSB reception, the terminal device needs to know in advance whether there is a reference signal between SSB and PO. Otherwise, in order to ensure the demodulation performance of PDCCH (e.g., paging DCI) and / or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception at PO, the terminal device still needs to wake up at SSB for time / frequency synchronization.

[0073] Therefore, this application provides a method for indicating a reference signal. Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart of the method, as shown in the figure. The method includes steps S410 and S420. The following is a further explanation... Figure 4 The steps shown are explained below.

[0074] In S410, the network device sends configuration information of the reference signal to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the configuration information of the reference signal from the network device.

[0075] Here, the configuration information of the reference signal is used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal. It should be understood that the indication information that enables the terminal device to determine at least one resource location of the reference signal, regardless of whether the indication information has other uses or is an explicit or implicit indication, can be regarded as indicating whether the network device transmits the reference signal at the first resource location.

[0076] As mentioned earlier, the reference signal can be TRS, CSI-RS, etc. Network devices can configure the reference signal to be transmitted periodically. For example, the network device can configure resource locations for at least one reference signal at equal intervals, and then select to transmit the reference signal at all or some of the resource locations. Alternatively, the network device can also configure the reference signal to be bound to a PO (Program Point). For example, the network device can configure at least one PO, and the terminal device can determine the resource location of at least one reference signal based on the offset information between the PO and the reference signal. This offset information can be received from the network device or obtained through other means; for example, the configuration information can be a preset value, such as an offset value. When the communication system supports multi-beam transmission, the reference signal can be transmitted in multiple beam directions. In this case, the configuration information of the reference signal can include multiple sets of configurations, each corresponding to one beam direction.

[0077] In S420, the network device sends reference signal indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the reference signal indication information from the network device.

[0078] Here, the reference signal indication information is used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at the first resource location. It should be understood that any indication information that enables the terminal device to determine whether the network device transmits a reference signal at the first resource location, regardless of whether the indication information has other uses or is an explicit or implicit indication, can be considered as indicating whether the network device transmits a reference signal at the first resource location. The reference signal indication information can be used solely to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at the first resource location, or solely to indicate whether the network device does not transmit a reference signal at the first resource location, or different values ​​of the reference signal indication information can be used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at the first resource location.

[0079] The indication information of the reference signal can be carried in the DCI received on the PO, which can be called the paging DCI. For NR systems, this DCI can be used to carry scheduling information for short messages and / or paging messages. The format of this DCI can be a DCI format 1_0 scrambled with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) using paging-radio network tempory identity (P-RNTI). The indication information of the reference signal can be indicated by a newly added field in the paging DCI, a pre-existing functional field in the paging DCI, or a reserved field in the paging DCI.

[0080] Alternatively, the indication information of the reference signal can be carried in a signal indicating whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs. This signal can be a paging advance indication signal or a power-saving signal, such as a wake-up signal (WUS) or a go-to-sleep signal. For ease of description, the PO used to receive the indication information will be referred to as the first PO, or the PO located after the signal used to receive the indication information will be referred to as the first PO. The first PO can be the first PO located after the signal used to receive the indication information, at least one PO associated with the signal used to receive the indication information, one of the at least one PO associated with the signal used to receive the indication information (e.g., whether the subsequent PO indicated by the signal needs to be monitored), the first PO among the at least one PO associated with the signal used to receive the indication information, the PO closest to the time domain position of the signal among the at least one PO associated with the signal used to receive the indication information, or a PO determined according to a certain rule. It should be noted that the function of the signal described here is to indicate whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs. A subsequent PO can be at least one PO after the first PO. The at least one PO and the first PO can be the same PO that the terminal device needs to monitor, or they can be POs that different terminal devices need to monitor. The specific method for the terminal device to determine the location of the PO can refer to the existing technology in the LTE system or NR system.

[0081] At least one resource location of the reference signal includes a first resource location. The first resource location can be one resource location or multiple resource locations. When the first resource location is multiple resource locations, the indication information of the reference signal can be used to indicate to the network device whether to send a reference signal at each resource location.

[0082] The first resource location (RP) of the reference signal can be the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to at least one RP after the first RP. For ease of description, the RP corresponding to the first resource location of the reference signal is referred to as the second RP. The interval between the first RP and the second RP can be configured by the network device, a preset value, or obtained based on network device configuration parameters and preset values. For example, the interval between the first RP and the second RP can be an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal. The period of the reference signal can be indicated by the configuration information of the reference signal, and the multiple can be a preset value or indicated by the network device. Alternatively, the interval between the first RP and the second RP can be a DRX period, specifically which DRX period(s) can be preset. For example, the interval between the first RP and the second RP can be a default DRX period. When multiple default DRX periods exist, the interval between the first RP and the second RP can be the minimum value among the default DRX periods, the maximum value among the default DRX periods, or multiple second RPs can exist, with the intervals between these first RPs and second RPs being different default DRX periods.

[0083] Specifically, the first resource location of the reference signal can be the resource location of a reference signal located near the second PO. When the interval between the resource location of the reference signal and the second PO is less than or equal to a certain threshold, the resource location of the reference signal can be considered as the resource location of a reference signal near the second PO. This threshold can be configured by the network device or a preset value. Alternatively, when the reference signal is a reference signal that is location-bound to the PO, the resource location of the reference signal can be considered as the resource location of a reference signal near the second PO. In other words, if the terminal device can guarantee the demodulation performance at the second PO by using a certain reference signal for synchronization, then the resource location of that reference signal can be considered as the resource location of a reference signal near the second PO. Only the resource locations of reference signals located before the second PO, or belonging to the same time slot, symbol, etc., as the second PO, can be considered. When there are multiple resource locations of reference signals that meet the aforementioned requirements, the first resource location can be the resource location of the reference signal that is closest to the second PO among these resource locations.

[0084] Alternatively, the first resource location of the reference signal can be the resource location of the reference signal located between the first PO and the second PO. The indication can be given for the entire time interval between the first PO and the second PO, or the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be divided into multiple time intervals, with indication given for each time interval separately. The resource locations of the reference signals configured by all network devices between the first PO and the second PO can all belong to the first resource location, or only some of the configured reference signal resource locations can belong to the first resource location. In the latter case, the network devices and terminal devices need to reach a consensus on which configured reference signal resource locations belong to the first resource location.

[0085] It should be noted that the first PO and the second PO can be the same PO that the terminal device needs to monitor, or they can be POs that different terminal devices need to monitor. The specific method for the terminal device to determine the location of the PO can refer to the existing technology in LTE or NR systems.

[0086] It should be understood that although the above description uses the second PO as a reference to indicate at which resource locations the network device will transmit reference signals, the method of enabling the terminal device to know the resource locations of these reference signals through other references is also applicable to the technical solution provided in this application. For example, the reference signal indication information can instruct the network device to transmit reference signals at the resource locations of reference signals within at least one time period, where the starting position of the time period is the first PO, and the length of the time period is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal, the default DRX period, etc.

[0087] By using the configuration and indication information of the reference signal, the terminal device can determine at which resource locations the network device sends the reference signal, thereby knowing whether the demodulation performance at the PO to be monitored subsequently can be guaranteed by receiving the reference signal. Furthermore, if the demodulation performance at the PO cannot be guaranteed by receiving the reference signal, and the terminal device still needs to wake up the nearest SSB before that PO, the terminal device can also determine whether to wake up the nearest SSB before the PO to be monitored subsequently. In addition, the network side only needs to send the reference signal within a specific time period to guarantee the demodulation performance of the PO, which can reduce the overhead of network devices.

[0088] The first resource location of the reference signal will be described below in four cases, using specific examples.

[0089] (a) The first resource location of the reference signal is a resource location near a PO.

[0090] As mentioned earlier, the first resource location of the reference signal can be a resource location of the reference signal located near the second PO, and the second PO can be a PO following the first PO. That is, the indication information of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device should transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal near the subsequent PO. If the indication information is used to instruct the network device to transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal near the PO, and the terminal device determines that it needs to monitor the PO, it can receive the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal.

[0091] The reference signal indication information can be a single bit. When the value of this bit is "1", it indicates that the network device is transmitting a reference signal at a reference signal resource location near the PO; when the value of this bit is "0", it indicates that the network device is not transmitting a reference signal at a reference signal resource location near the PO.

[0092] As mentioned above, the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be configured by the network device, a preset value, or obtained based on the parameters configured by the network device and the preset value. The interval between the first PO and the second PO can be an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal, or it can be the DRX period, such as the default DRX period, the minimum value of the default DRX period, the maximum value of the default DRX period, etc.

[0093] The following description illustrates this method with reference to Figure 5(a). As shown in Figure 5(a), the network device configures a PO every 80 milliseconds. Terminal device #1 has a DRX period of 320 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the figure, and then monitors the next PO every 320 milliseconds. Terminal device #2 has a DRX period of 640 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the figure, and then monitors the next PO every 640 milliseconds. The paging DCI sent at the first PO (i.e., the first PO in the figure) carries a 1-bit indication information with a value of "1". This indication information "1" is used to instruct the network device to send a reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the second PO (i.e., the second-to-last PO in the figure), the resource location of which is shown in the figure. It can be understood that this indication information is for the next PO corresponding to the 640-millisecond DRX period.

[0094] Through this instruction information, terminal device #2 can know that by receiving this reference signal, the demodulation performance at the second PO can be guaranteed, and there is no need to wake up the nearest SSB before the second PO.

[0095] In addition to the resource location of this reference signal, the network device may also configure resource locations for other reference signals, such as the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the third-to-last PO in the figure, but the network device may not send reference signals at these resource locations.

[0096] Although the indication information carried in the paging DCI sent at the first PO only applies to terminal device #2 with a DRX period of 640 milliseconds and not to terminal device #1 with a DRX period of 320 milliseconds, and Figure 5 does not show that the network device will send a reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the PO monitored by terminal device #1 after the first PO (i.e., the fifth PO in the figure), in fact, if terminal device #1 monitors a PO 320 milliseconds before the first PO, the network device can carry an indication information with a value of "1" in the paging DCI sent at that PO. In this way, terminal device #1 can know that the network device will send a reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the PO 320 milliseconds after the first PO.

[0097] The advantage of this approach is that it saves the overhead of reference signal indication information, and the overhead of network devices sending reference signals is relatively small.

[0098] (ii) The first resource location of the reference signal is at least one resource location near a PO.

[0099] As previously stated, the first resource location of the reference signal can be a resource location of the reference signal located near the second PO, and the second PO can be at least one PO following the first PO. That is, the indication information of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device transmits the reference signal at a resource location of the reference signal near at least one subsequent PO. When indicating only one PO, as in (a), if the indication information is used to instruct the network device to transmit the reference signal at a resource location of the reference signal near that PO, and the terminal device determines that it needs to monitor that PO, it can receive the reference signal at that resource location. When indicating more than one PO, if the indication information is used to instruct the network device to transmit the reference signal at a resource location of the reference signal near one of these POs, and the terminal device needs to monitor that PO, it can receive the reference signal at that resource location.

[0100] The reference signal indication information can be a bit group, containing the same number of bits as the number of Points of Interest (POs) to which the indication information corresponds. Each bit in the bit group corresponds to one PO; that is, at least one bit corresponds one-to-one with at least one PO. When a bit is set to "1", it indicates that the network device transmits a reference signal at a reference signal resource location near the PO corresponding to that bit; when a bit is set to "0", it indicates that the network device does not transmit a reference signal at a reference signal resource location near the PO corresponding to that bit.

[0101] As mentioned above, the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be configured by the network device, a preset value, or obtained based on the network device's configured parameters and preset values. The interval between the first PO and the second PO can be an integer multiple of the reference signal period, or it can be the DRX period, such as the default DRX period, the minimum value of the default DRX period, the maximum value of the default DRX period, etc. When the interval between the first PO and the second PO is the DRX period, each bit in the bit group corresponding to one PO can also be understood as each bit in the bit group corresponding to a DRX period. Lower bits can correspond to smaller DRX periods, higher bits can correspond to larger DRX periods, or vice versa.

[0102] The number of bits contained in this bit group can be a preset value, for example, a positive integer from 1 to 6.

[0103] Alternatively, the number of bits contained in the bit group can be the number of entries for the default DRX period configuration parameters. For example, when all the entries for the default DRX period configuration parameters are 320 milliseconds, 640 milliseconds, 1280 milliseconds, and 2560 milliseconds, the number of these entries is 4, therefore, the bit group contains 4 bits.

[0104] Alternatively, the number of bits in this bit group can be the number of entries in the default DRX period configuration parameter that are less than or equal to the default DRX period. For example, when all entries in the default DRX period configuration parameter are 320 milliseconds, 640 milliseconds, 1280 milliseconds, and 2560 milliseconds, if the network device is configured with a default DRX period of 1280 milliseconds, then the entries less than or equal to the default DRX period are 320 milliseconds, 640 milliseconds, and 1280 milliseconds, which is 3. Therefore, the bit group contains 3 bits. As mentioned earlier, the DRX period ultimately used by the terminal device is the minimum value between the terminal device's default DRX period and a specific DRX period. Therefore, the DRX period ultimately used by the terminal device must be less than or equal to the default DRX period.

[0105] The following description illustrates this method with reference to Figure 5(b). As shown in Figure 5(b), the network device configures a PO every 80 milliseconds. Terminal device #1 has a DRX period of 320 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 320 milliseconds. Terminal device #2 has a DRX period of 640 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 640 milliseconds. The paging DCI sent at the first PO (i.e., the first PO in the diagram) carries a 2-bit indication information with a value of "01". The first bit "0" of this indication information is used to indicate that the network device will not send a reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the second PO #1 (i.e., the fifth PO in the diagram). The second bit "1" of this indication information is used to indicate that the network device will send a reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the second PO #2, which is shown in the diagram. It can be understood that the first bit of this indication information refers to the next PO corresponding to the 320-millisecond DRX period, and the second bit refers to the next PO corresponding to the 640-millisecond DRX period.

[0106] Through this instruction, terminal device #1 can know that the demodulation performance at the second PO #1 cannot be guaranteed by receiving the reference signal, and it needs to be woken up by the nearest SSB before the second PO #1. Furthermore, through this instruction, terminal device #2 can know that by receiving the reference signal, the demodulation performance at the second PO #2 can be guaranteed, and it does not need to be woken up by the nearest SSB before the second PO #2.

[0107] In addition to the resource location of this reference signal, the network device may also configure resource locations for other reference signals, such as the resource location of the reference signal corresponding to the third-to-last PO, but the network device may not send reference signals at these resource locations.

[0108] The advantages of this approach are: it allows selection of resource locations for reference signals near different numbers of POs as needed, and when indicating resource locations for reference signals near multiple POs, it can also indicate whether reference signals are being transmitted at resource locations near different POs, enhancing the flexibility of the indication; in addition, the overhead of network devices transmitting reference signals is relatively small.

[0109] (iii) The first resource location of the reference signal is the resource location within a time period.

[0110] As mentioned earlier, the first resource location of the reference signal can be the resource location of the reference signal located between the first PO and the second PO, and can be indicated for the entire time period between the first PO and the second PO. That is, the indication information of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device will transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal in a subsequent time period. If the indication information is used to instruct the network device to transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal in that time period, and the terminal device determines that it needs to monitor the PO near a certain reference signal among these reference signals, it can receive the reference signal at the resource location of that reference signal.

[0111] The reference signal indication information can be a single bit. When the value of this bit is "1", it indicates that the network device is transmitting the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal within the time period; when the value of this bit is "0", it indicates that the network device is not transmitting the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal within the time period.

[0112] As mentioned above, the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be configured by the network device, a preset value, or obtained based on the parameters configured by the network device and the preset value. The interval between the first PO and the second PO can be an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal, or it can be the DRX period, such as the default DRX period, the minimum value of the default DRX period, the maximum value of the default DRX period, etc.

[0113] The following description illustrates this method with reference to Figure 5(c). As shown in Figure 5(c), the network device configures a Point of Interest (PO) every 80 milliseconds and a resource location for a reference signal every 80 milliseconds. Terminal device #1 has a DRX period of 320 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 320 milliseconds. Terminal device #2 has a DRX period of 640 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 640 milliseconds. The paging DCI sent at the first PO (i.e., the first PO in the diagram) carries a 1-bit indication information with a value of "1". This indication information "1" is used to instruct the network device to send a reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal between the first PO and the second PO (i.e., the second-to-last PO in the diagram), the resource locations of which are shown in the diagram. It can be understood that this indication information is for a time period of 640 milliseconds starting from the first PO.

[0114] Through this instruction information, terminal device #1 can know that by receiving one of these reference signals (e.g., the fourth reference signal in the diagram), the demodulation performance at the PO 320 milliseconds after the first PO (i.e., the fifth PO in the diagram) can be guaranteed without needing to wake up the nearest SSB before that PO. Furthermore, through this instruction information, terminal device #2 can know that by receiving one of these reference signals (e.g., the last reference signal in the diagram), the demodulation performance at the second PO can be guaranteed without needing to wake up the nearest SSB before the second PO.

[0115] In addition to the resource locations of these reference signals, network devices may also be configured with resource locations of other reference signals, such as the resource location of the reference signal 80 milliseconds after the last reference signal in the diagram, but network devices may not send reference signals at these resource locations.

[0116] The advantage of this approach is that it saves the overhead of reference signal indication information. In addition, in some cases, the terminal device may be able to guarantee the demodulation performance at PO by receiving the reference signal.

[0117] (iv) The first resource location of the reference signal is the resource location within at least one time period.

[0118] As previously mentioned, the first resource location of the reference signal can be the resource location of the reference signal located between the first PO and the second PO. It can be indicated for the entire time interval between the first PO and the second PO, or the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be divided into multiple time intervals, with indication for each time interval separately. When multiple time intervals exist, these time intervals can be of equal or unequal length. It should be understood that although the term "division" is used here, it only describes the relationship between the interval between the first PO and the second PO and the aforementioned multiple time intervals. In practice, division is not necessary; the network device and the terminal device can directly determine the multiple time intervals. That is, the indication information of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device will transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal in at least one subsequent time interval. If the indication information is used to instruct the network device to transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal in a certain time interval of these time intervals, and the terminal device determines that it needs to monitor a PO near a certain reference signal, it can receive the reference signal at the resource location of that reference signal.

[0119] The indication information of the reference signal can be a bit group, the number of bits in which the indication information corresponds to the number of time periods. Each bit in the bit group corresponds to one time period; that is, at least one bit corresponds one-to-one with at least one time period. When a bit is valued as "1", it indicates that the network device transmits the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal within the time period corresponding to that bit; when a bit is valued as "0", it indicates that the network device does not transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal within the time period corresponding to that bit.

[0120] As described above, the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be configured by the network device, a preset value, or obtained based on network device configuration parameters and preset values. The interval between the first PO and the second PO can be an integer multiple of the reference signal period, or it can be the DRX period, such as the default DRX period, the minimum value of the default DRX period, the maximum value of the default DRX period, etc. The interval between the first PO and the second PO can be set, and then the number and division of time periods within that interval can be set. Alternatively, it can be set directly for at least one time period. It can also be assumed that multiple time periods are of equal length, and the interval between the first PO and the second PO can be set, and then the duration of each time period can be set. The term "set" here can be understood as setting through network device configuration and / or preset values ​​as described above. For at least one time period, each time period can be an integer multiple of the reference signal period, for example, each time period is one period of the reference signal. Alternatively, each time period can be a DRX period, for example, the minimum value of the default DRX period, or the minimum value of a specific DRX period.

[0121] The following description illustrates this method with reference to Figure 5(d). As shown in Figure 5(d), the network device configures a PO (Property Location) every 80 milliseconds and a reference signal resource location every 80 milliseconds. Terminal device #1 has a DRX period of 320 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 320 milliseconds. Terminal device #2 has a DRX period of 640 milliseconds, monitors the first PO in the diagram, and then monitors the next PO every 640 milliseconds. The paging DCI sent at the first PO (i.e., the first PO in the diagram) carries a 4-bit indication information with a value of "0110". The time period between the first PO and the second PO (i.e., the second-to-last PO in the diagram) is divided into four time periods of 160 milliseconds each. The first bit "0" indicates that the network device does not send a reference signal at the reference signal resource location in the first 160 millisecond time period. The second bit "1" indicates that the network device sends a reference signal at the reference signal resource location in the second 160 millisecond time period, and these reference signal resource locations are shown in the diagram. The third bit "1" instructs the network device to transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal within the third 160-millisecond time period, as shown in the diagram. The fourth bit "0" instructs the network device not to transmit the reference signal at the resource location of the reference signal within the fourth 160-millisecond time period. This can be understood as follows: the first bit of this indication information refers to a 160-millisecond time period starting from the first PO; the second bit refers to a 160-millisecond time period 160 milliseconds after the first PO; the third bit refers to a 160-millisecond time period 320 milliseconds after the first PO; and the fourth bit refers to a 160-millisecond time period 480 milliseconds after the first PO.

[0122] Through this indication, terminal device #1 can know that by receiving one of these reference signals (e.g., the fourth reference signal in the diagram), the demodulation performance at the PO 320 milliseconds after the first PO (i.e., the fifth PO in the diagram) can be guaranteed without needing to wake up from the nearest SSB before that PO. Furthermore, through this indication, terminal device #2 can know that the demodulation performance at the second PO cannot be guaranteed by receiving the reference signal and requires waking up from the nearest SSB before the second PO.

[0123] In addition to the resource locations of these reference signals, network devices may also be configured with resource locations of other reference signals, such as the resource location of the reference signal 80 milliseconds after the last reference signal in the diagram, but network devices may not send reference signals at these resource locations.

[0124] The advantages of this approach are: it allows for the selection of resource locations for reference signals of different quantities and granularities as needed; when indicating resource locations for reference signals in multiple time periods, it can also indicate whether reference signals are being transmitted at resource locations in different time periods, enhancing the flexibility of the indication; furthermore, in some cases, the terminal device may be able to guarantee the demodulation performance at the PO by receiving reference signals, and the overhead of the network device transmitting reference signals is relatively small.

[0125] It should be understood that the various solutions in the embodiments of this application can be used in a reasonable combination, and the explanations or descriptions of the various terms appearing in the embodiments can be referenced or explained to each other in the various embodiments, without limitation.

[0126] Furthermore, in the various embodiments of this application, the sequence numbers of the above processes do not imply a specific order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic. The various numerical designations or sequence numbers involved in the above processes are merely for descriptive convenience and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0127] In addition, the method embodiments described above only take network devices and terminal devices as examples of the execution subjects. The network device can also be replaced by chips configured in the network device, and the terminal device can also be replaced by chips configured in the terminal device.

[0128] The above, combined with Figure 4 The methods provided in the embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Figures 6 to 8 The apparatus provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail.

[0129] Figure 6 This is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 6 As shown, the communication device 1000 may include a transceiver unit 1100.

[0130] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 may correspond to the network device in the method provided in the embodiments of this application. The communication device 1000 may be a network device or a chip configured in a network device, and each unit in the communication device 1000 is used to implement the operation performed by the network device in the corresponding method.

[0131] The transceiver unit 1100 can be used to: transmit configuration information of a reference signal to a terminal device. The configuration information of the reference signal is used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal.

[0132] The transceiver unit 1100 can also be used to: send indication information of a reference signal to the terminal device. The indication information of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device should send a reference signal at a first resource location, wherein at least one resource location of the reference signal includes the first resource location.

[0133] In another embodiment, the communication device 1000 may correspond to the terminal device in the method provided in the embodiments of this application. The communication device 1000 may be a terminal device or a chip configured in a terminal device, and each unit in the communication device 1000 is used to implement the operation performed by the terminal device in the corresponding method.

[0134] The transceiver unit 1100 can be used to receive configuration information of a reference signal from a network device. The configuration information of the reference signal is used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal.

[0135] The transceiver unit 1100 can also be used to receive indication information of a reference signal from the network device. The indication information of the reference signal is used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at a first resource location, wherein at least one resource location of the reference signal includes the first resource location.

[0136] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the above-mentioned corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0137] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1000 is a network device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 can correspond to Figure 7 The network device 2000 shown in the figure has a remote radio unit (RRU) 2100. When the communication device 1000 is a chip configured in the network device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 can be an input / output interface.

[0138] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1000 is a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 in the communication device 1000 can correspond to Figure 8 Transceiver 3002 in terminal device 3000 shown in the figure.

[0139] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device 2000 provided in an embodiment of this application. The network device 2000 can be applied to, for example... Figure 1 In the system shown, the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments are performed. As shown in the figure, the network device 2000 may include one or more radio frequency units, such as RRU 2100 and one or more base band units (BBU) (also referred to as DU) 2200. RRU 2100 may be referred to as a transceiver unit or communication unit, and... Figure 6 The transceiver unit 2100 corresponds to the transceiver unit 1100 in the diagram. Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 can also be called a transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver, etc., and it may include at least one antenna 2101 and a radio frequency unit 2102. Optionally, the transceiver unit 2100 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may correspond to a receiver (or receiver circuit), and the transmitting unit may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter circuit). The RRU 2100 is mainly used for the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals and the conversion between radio frequency signals and baseband signals. The BBU 2200 is mainly used for baseband processing and controlling network equipment. The RRU 2100 and BBU 2200 can be physically set together or physically separated, i.e., a distributed base station.

[0140] The BBU 2200 serves as the control center of the network device, also known as the processing unit. It primarily performs baseband processing functions such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, and spread spectrum. For example, this BBU can be used to control the network device to execute the operational procedures described in the above method embodiments.

[0141] In one example, the BBU 2200 can consist of one or more boards. These boards can collectively support a single access standard wireless access network (such as an LTE network), or they can each support different access standards wireless access networks (such as LTE, 5G, or other networks). The BBU 2200 also includes a memory 2201 and a processor 2202. The memory 2201 stores necessary instructions and data. The processor 2202 controls the network device to perform necessary actions, such as controlling the network device to execute the operation procedures described in the above method embodiments. The memory 2201 and processor 2202 can serve one or more boards. That is, each board can have its own memory and processor, or multiple boards can share the same memory and processor. Furthermore, each board can also have necessary circuitry.

[0142] It should be understood that Figure 7 The network device 2000 shown can implement the various processes involved in the network device in the foregoing method embodiments. The operation or function of each module in the network device 2000 is to implement the corresponding process in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0143] The BBU 2200 can be used to perform the actions implemented internally by the network device as described in the preceding method embodiments, while the RRU 2100 can be used to perform the actions described in the preceding method embodiments whereby the network device sends or receives data from the terminal device. Please refer to the descriptions in the preceding method embodiments for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0144] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device 3000 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in the figure, the terminal device 3000 includes a processor 3001 and a transceiver 3002. Optionally, the terminal device 3000 may also include a memory 3003. The processor 3001, transceiver 3002, and memory 3003 can communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and / or data signals. The memory 3003 is used to store computer programs, and the processor 3001 is used to call and run the computer program from the memory 3003 to control the transceiver 3002 to transmit and receive signals.

[0145] Processor 3001 and memory 3003 can be combined into a processing device 3004, whereby processor 3001 executes program code stored in memory 3003 to achieve the aforementioned functions. It should be understood that the processing device 3004 shown in the figure is merely an example. In specific implementations, memory 3003 may be integrated into processor 3001 or independent of processor 3001. This application does not impose any limitations on this.

[0146] The terminal device 3000 may also include an antenna 3010 for transmitting uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 3002 via a wireless signal.

[0147] It should be understood that Figure 8 The terminal device 3000 shown can implement the various processes involved in the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments. The operation or function of each module in the terminal device 3000 is to implement the corresponding process in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0148] Optionally, the terminal device 3000 may also include a power supply 3005 for providing power to various devices or circuits in the terminal device.

[0149] In addition, to make the terminal device more functional, the terminal device 3000 may also include one or more of the following: an input unit 3006, a display unit 3007, an audio circuit 3008, a camera 3009, and a sensor 3008. The audio circuit 3008 may also include a speaker 30081, a microphone 30082, etc.

[0150] It should be understood that the processing device 3004 can be a chip. For example, the processing device 3004 can be a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf FPGA, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, a system on-chip (SoC), a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips. It can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly manifested as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method.

[0151] The memory 3003 can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or it can include both. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DRRAM).

[0152] It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0153] This application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods executed by the network device or terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0154] This application also provides a computer-readable medium storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method executed by the network device or terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0155] This application also provides a system including a terminal device and a network device.

[0156] This application also provides a communication device, which includes a processor and a storage medium. The storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the methods executed by the network device or terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

[0157] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. This computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When these computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center integrating one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks (SSDs)).

[0158] In this specification, the terms "component," "module," and "system" are used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, or a computer. As illustrated, applications running on computing devices and computing devices can both be components. One or more components may reside in a process or execution thread, and components may be located on a single computer or distributed among two or more computers. Furthermore, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media on which various data structures are stored. Components can communicate, for example, via local or remote processes based on signals from one or more data terminal devices (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, or a network, such as the Internet, which interacts with other systems via signals).

[0159] It should be understood that the term "embodiment" used throughout this specification means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this application. Therefore, various embodiments throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0160] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, the designations "first", "second", etc., are only used to distinguish different objects, such as different network devices, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of the embodiments of this application. The embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0161] Furthermore, in this application, "when," "if," and "if" all refer to the network element taking corresponding actions under certain objective circumstances, and are not time-limited, nor do they require the network element to perform a judgment action when it is implemented, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0162] In addition, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more.

[0163] It should also be understood that in the embodiments of this application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. However, it should also be understood that determining B based on A does not mean that B is determined solely based on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0164] In addition, the term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this article can indicate that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, when " / " is used in "and / or", it can also indicate that the preceding and following related objects are in an "and / or" relationship, such as when " / " is used in "time / frequency".

[0165] In this application, expressions such as "at least one of A, B, and C" generally refer to any one of the following, unless otherwise specified: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C; A and A; A, A and A; A, A and B; A, A and C, A, B and B; A, C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B, and C. The above examples using three elements (A, B, and C) illustrate the optional entries for this item. When an expression contains more elements, its meaning can be obtained according to the aforementioned rules.

[0166] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the terminal device and / or network device may execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of this application may also perform other operations or variations thereof. Furthermore, the various steps may be executed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessarily necessary to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

[0167] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software 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 this application.

[0168] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0169] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings, direct couplings, or communication connections may be through some interfaces; indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0170] The unit described as a separate component may or may not be physically separate. The component shown as a unit may or may not be a physical unit; that is, it may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0171] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0172] If this function is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, external hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0173] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for indicating a reference signal, characterized in that, include: Configuration information for receiving a reference signal from a network device, the configuration information being used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal; Before the first paging opportunity (PO), the network device receives indication information for a reference signal. The indication information is used to indicate whether the network device should send a reference signal at a first resource location, where the at least one resource location includes the first resource location. The first resource location corresponds to a second PO, where the second PO is at least one PO following the first PO. Wherein, the first resource location corresponds to the second PO, including: The interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO; or, The first resource location is within a first time period, which is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The indication information is carried in a first signal received before the first PO, the first signal being used to indicate whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is a discontinuous reception DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the default DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the minimum value in the default DRX cycle; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the maximum value in the default DRX cycle.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the interval between the first PO and different second POs is a different DRX period.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the second PO, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location corresponding to the second PO in the at least one resource location.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the first resource location is within a first time period, where the first time period is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the first time period, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location within the time period corresponding to the bit in the at least one resource location.

7. A method for indicating a reference signal, characterized in that, include: Configuration information for sending a reference signal to a terminal device, the configuration information being used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal; Before the first paging opportunity (PO), an indication information for a reference signal is sent to the terminal device. The indication information is used to indicate whether the network device should send a reference signal at a first resource location, where the at least one resource location includes the first resource location. The first resource location corresponds to a second PO, and the second PO is at least one PO following the first PO. Wherein, the first resource location corresponds to the second PO, including: The interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO; or, The first resource location is within a first time period, which is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The indication information is carried in a first signal received before the first PO, the first signal being used to indicate whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is a discontinuous reception DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the default DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the minimum value in the default DRX cycle; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the maximum value in the default DRX cycle.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the interval between the first PO and different second POs is a different DRX period.

11. The method according to claim 7 or 10, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the second PO, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location corresponding to the second PO in the at least one resource location.

12. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, When the first resource location is within a first time period, where the first time period is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the first time period, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location within the time period corresponding to the bit in the at least one resource location.

13. A reference signal indicating device, characterized in that, include: A transceiver unit is configured to receive configuration information of a reference signal from a network device, the configuration information being used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal; The transceiver unit is further configured to: receive indication information of a reference signal from the network device before the first paging opportunity (PO), the indication information being used to indicate whether the network device transmits a reference signal at a first resource location, the at least one resource location including the first resource location; the first resource location corresponds to a second PO, the second PO being at least one PO following the first PO; Wherein, the first resource location corresponds to the second PO, including: The interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO; or, The first resource location is within a first time period, which is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that, The indication information is carried in downlink control information (DCI) received on the first paging opportunity (PO); or, The indication information is carried in a first signal received before the first PO, the first signal being used to indicate whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is a discontinuous reception DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the default DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the minimum value in the default DRX cycle; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the maximum value in the default DRX cycle.

16. The apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the interval between the first PO and different second POs is a different DRX period.

17. The apparatus according to claim 13 or 16, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the second PO, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location corresponding to the second PO in the at least one resource location.

18. The apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that, When the first resource location is within a first time period, where the first time period is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the first time period, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location within the time period corresponding to the bit in the at least one resource location.

19. An indicating device for a reference signal, characterized in that, include: A transceiver unit is used to send configuration information of a reference signal to a terminal device, the configuration information being used to indicate at least one resource location of the reference signal; The transceiver unit is further configured to: send reference signal indication information to the terminal device before the first paging opportunity (PO), the indication information being used to indicate whether the network device should send a reference signal at a first resource location, the at least one resource location including the first resource location; the first resource location corresponds to a second PO, the second PO being at least one PO following the first PO; Wherein, the first resource location corresponds to the second PO, including: The interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO; or, The first resource location is within a first time period, which is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that, The indication information is carried in downlink control information (DCI) received on the first paging opportunity (PO); or, The indication information is carried in a first signal received before the first PO, the first signal being used to indicate whether the terminal device should monitor subsequent POs.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is an integer multiple of the period of the reference signal; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is a discontinuous reception DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the default DRX period; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the minimum value in the default DRX cycle; or, The interval between the first PO and the second PO is the maximum value in the default DRX cycle.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the interval between the first PO and different second POs is a different DRX period.

23. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 22, characterized in that, When the interval between the first resource location and the second PO is less than or equal to a first threshold, or when there is an offset value between the first resource location and the second PO, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the second PO, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location corresponding to the second PO in the at least one resource location.

24. The apparatus according to claim 19, characterized in that, When the first resource location is within a first time period, where the first time period is the interval between the first PO and the second PO, and the first time period is one or more time periods, the bits of the indication information have a one-to-one correspondence with the first time period, and each bit is used to indicate whether the network device sends the reference signal at the resource location within the time period corresponding to the bit in the at least one resource location.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a storage medium, the storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program that, when executed, causes the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program that, when run by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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