System time determination, time position indication, request to send method and apparatus

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to system time determination, time position indication, request sending method and device, wherein the system time determination method comprises: receiving signaling transmitted by a network side device, wherein reference time information is carried in the signaling; determining a reference time position associated with the reference time information; and determining the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. According to the present disclosure, when the network side device sends system information to the terminal through signaling, the network side device also indicates the reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal, ensuring that the network side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, i.e. both will take the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. Accordingly, it can be ensured that the network side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, and problems in subsequent operation of the terminal using the system time can be avoided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a system time determination method, a time position indication method, a request sending method, a system time determination apparatus, a time position indication apparatus, a request sending apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the related art, a network side can indicate a system time, such as a system frame number (SFN) and a hyper SFN (H-SFN), to a terminal through system information.

[0003] For example, the SFN can be carried in a master information block (MIB), where the SFN has 10 bits, and a part of the bits is sent through a radio resource control (RRC) message corresponding to the MIB, and another part is sent through a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0004] Since the SFN has 10 bits, the maximum value is 1024, and when 1024 is reached, the SFN needs to be re-counted, which is called number rollover. The network side can carry the H-SFN through a system information block (SIB) 1, and when the SFN number rolls over, the H-SFN is incremented by 1.

[0005] The way for the terminal to determine the system time is that the terminal takes the system time in the system information as the system time of the time position at which the system information is received. For example, when the terminal receives the MIB at a subframe n, the SFN carried in the MIB can be taken as the SFN of the system frame in which the subframe n is located; similarly, when the terminal receives the SIB1 at the subframe n, the H-SFN carried in the SIB1 can be taken as the H-SFN of the system frame in which the subframe n is located.

[0006] However, the premise for the terminal to determine the system time in the above manner is that the network side and the terminal have consistent understanding of the system time carried in the system information, that is, both consider that the system time in the system information is the system time of the time position at which the system information is received, but in some cases, the network side and the terminal do not have consistent understanding of the system time carried in the system information, which will lead to difficulty in accurately determining the time position corresponding to the system time carried in the system information. SUMMARY

[0007] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system time determination method, a time position indication method, a request sending method, a system time determination apparatus, a time position indication apparatus, a request sending apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium to address the above technical problems.

[0008] According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a system time determination method is provided, which is performed by a terminal, and includes: receiving signaling transmitted by a network side device, wherein reference time information is carried in the signaling; determining a reference time position associated with the reference time information; and determining the reference time information as a system time of the reference time position.

[0009] According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a system time determination method is provided, which is performed by a terminal, and includes: receiving system information broadcast by a network side device according to a request of the network side device, wherein reference time information is carried in the system information; determining a receiving time position of the system information as a reference time position associated with the reference time information; and determining the reference time information as a system time of the reference time position.

[0010] According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a time position indication method is provided, which is performed by a network side device, and includes: transmitting signaling to a terminal, wherein reference time information is carried in the signaling; and indicating a reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal.

[0011] According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a request sending method is provided, which is performed by a network side device, and includes: sending a request to a terminal, for requesting the terminal to read reference time information in system information broadcast by the network side device.

[0012] According to a fifth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a system time determination apparatus is provided, which includes one or more processors configured to: receive signaling transmitted by a network side device, wherein reference time information is carried in the signaling; determine a reference time position associated with the reference time information; and determine the reference time information as a system time of the reference time position.

[0013] According to a sixth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a system time determination apparatus is provided, which includes one or more processors configured to: receive system information broadcast by a network side device according to a request of the network side device, wherein reference time information is carried in the system information; determine a receiving time position of the system information as a reference time position associated with the reference time information; and determine the reference time information as a system time of the reference time position.

[0014] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a time position indication apparatus is provided, comprising one or more processors configured to: transmit signaling to a terminal, wherein the signaling carries reference time information; and indicate a reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal.

[0015] According to an eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a request sending apparatus is provided, comprising one or more processors configured to: send a request to a terminal, for requesting the terminal to read reference time information in system information broadcast by a network side device.

[0016] According to a ninth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication apparatus is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing a computer program; wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the system time determination method described above is implemented.

[0017] According to a tenth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication apparatus is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing a computer program; wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the time position indication method and / or the request sending method described above is implemented.

[0018] According to an eleventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided, for storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the system time determination method described above are implemented.

[0019] According to a twelfth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided, for storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the time position indication method and / or the request sending method described above are implemented.

[0020] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case that the network side device sends system information to the terminal through signaling, the network side device also indicates the reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal, so as to ensure that the network side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, i.e., both take the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. Accordingly, it can be ensured that the network side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, and problems in subsequent operations of the terminal using the system time can be avoided.

[0021] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case that the network-side device sends system information to the terminal through signaling, the network-side device can send a request to the terminal to request the terminal to receive the system information broadcast by the network-side device and read the reference time information therein. Since the system information broadcast by the network-side device is updated in real time and there is no case that the system information in the signaling is not updated when the signaling is retransmitted, the system time information of the receiving time position determined according to the reference time information in the broadcast system information is accurate. Accordingly, the system time information of the receiving time position can be accurately determined, and problems in subsequent operations of the terminal using the system time can be avoided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings needed in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0023] Figure 1 is a schematic flow chart of a system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a relative time position and a receiving time position according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another relative time position and a receiving time position according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 6 is a schematic flow chart of still another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 7 is a schematic flow chart of still another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart of still another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 9is a schematic flowchart of yet another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 10 is a schematic flowchart of yet another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 11 is a schematic flowchart of yet another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 12 is a schematic flowchart of a time position indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 13 is a schematic flowchart of another time position indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 14 is a schematic flowchart of a request transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for time position indication and / or request transmission according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for system time determination according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0040] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure. The singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0041] It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various information, the information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to differentiate one piece of information from another piece of information. For example, without departing from the scope of embodiments of the present disclosure, first information can also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information can also be referred to as first information. Depending on the context, the word "if' as used herein can be interpreted as "when" or "upon" or "in response to determining".

[0042] For the purpose of brevity and clarity, the terms "greater than" or "less than", "higher than" or "lower than" are used herein to represent the size relationship. However, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the term "greater than" also covers the meaning of "greater than or equal to", and the term "less than" also covers the meaning of "less than or equal to"; the term "higher than" covers the meaning of "higher than or equal to", and the term "lower than" covers the meaning of "lower than or equal to".

[0043] In the related art, each time the base station transmits system information, it is transmitted as a new transmission, and the system time carried therein is updated in real time. For the purpose of facilitating the description of the principle, it is assumed, for example, that the time position at which the base station transmits the system information is the same as the time position at which the terminal receives the system information (i.e., the difference between the two time positions is negligible).

[0044] For example, the base station transmits system information in subframe 1 of a system frame with SFN 1024, and the system time carried in the system information is SFN 1024. Since the system information transmitted by the base station is a new transmission, the system time carried therein is updated in real time, so the understanding of the system time carried in the system information by the base station and the terminal is consistent, i.e., the reference time position is consistent for the base station and the terminal, and both will take the time position at which the system information is received (which is the same as the time position at which the base station transmits the system information) as the reference time position. The base station will take 1024 as the SFN of the system frame in which the terminal receives the system information, and the terminal will also take 1024 as the SFN of the system frame in which the terminal receives the system information.

[0045] However, in some cases, the system information transmitted by the base station is not a new transmission, resulting in that the system time carried in the system information is not updated in real time, and further resulting in that the understanding of the system time carried in the system information by the base station and the terminal is inconsistent.

[0046] For example, in the case that the network side device such as a base station determines that the terminal has received the system information sent by the pseudo base station through pseudo base station detection, or in the case that the terminal receives broadcast system information is avoided during mobility (for example, cell handover), the network side device will send the system information to the terminal through dedicated signaling, for example, through radio resource control reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) signaling to send the system information to the terminal.

[0047] However, in the case of sending system information to the terminal through dedicated signaling, there may be a case that the terminal does not successfully receive the dedicated signaling, and then the network side device needs to retransmit the dedicated signaling. For the retransmitted dedicated signaling, the content in the retransmitted dedicated signaling is the same as the content in the first transmission (which can be understood as new transmission) dedicated signaling, that is, the system time in the system information carried by the retransmitted dedicated signaling is the same as the system time in the system information carried by the first transmission dedicated signaling.

[0048] For example, the system time in the system information carried by the first transmission dedicated signaling is SFN 1024, and when the terminal receives the first transmission dedicated signaling, it can be determined that the receiving time position of the received first transmission dedicated signaling is in the system frame with SFN 1024, and this determined system time is correct.

[0049] However, for subsequent retransmission, the determined system time will have a problem. For example, for a subsequent retransmission, the actual system time has advanced by one frame relative to the system time of the first transmission, so the SFN number will be flipped to 1, and the H-SFN will also be incremented by 1. However, since the system time in the system information carried by the retransmitted dedicated signaling is the same as the system time in the system information carried by the first transmission dedicated signaling, that is, the system time in the system information carried by the retransmitted dedicated signaling is still SFN 1024, not the flipped SFN 1.

[0050] In this case, the network side device and the terminal do not agree on the system time carried in the system information, the network side device will take the receiving time position of the first transmission received by the terminal as the reference time position, but the terminal will take the receiving time position of the current retransmission received as the reference time position, which will cause the network side device to take SFN 1024 as the system time corresponding to the receiving time position of the first transmission received by the terminal, and the terminal will take SFN 1024 as the system time corresponding to the receiving time position of the current retransmission received by the terminal. This will cause a series of problems when the terminal uses the system time in the retransmission for operation, for example, when performing discontinuous reception (DRX). The embodiments of the present disclosure are mainly proposed to solve the technical problems caused by the above-mentioned situation.

[0051] Figure 1 is a schematic flow chart of a system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The system time determination method shown in this embodiment can be performed by a terminal, including but not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, and the like. The terminal can communicate with a network side device, including but not limited to a network side device in a 4G, 5G, 6G, and the like communication system, such as a base station, a core network, and the like.

[0052] As shown in Figure 1 , the system time determination method can include the following steps:

[0053] In step S101, signaling transmitted by a network side device is received, for example, the above-mentioned retransmitted dedicated signaling, wherein the reference time information is carried in the signaling;

[0054] In step S102, the reference time position associated with the reference time information is determined;

[0055] In step S103, the reference time information is determined as the system time of the reference time position.

[0056] In one embodiment, when the network side device sends system information to the terminal through signaling, the system information can carry reference time information, for example, the system information is MIB, and the reference time information can be SFN, for example, the system information is SIB1, and the reference time information can be H-SFN.

[0057] Since the network side device may, when sending system information to the terminal through signaling, exist a case that the terminal does not receive the signaling, the network side device retransmits the signaling. In this case, the content in the first transmission signaling and the content in the retransmission signaling are the same, then the reference time information in the first transmission signaling and the reference time information in the retransmission signaling are also the same, for example, the SFN in the first transmission signaling and the SFN in the retransmission signaling are the same, and the H-SFN in the first transmission signaling and the H-SFN in the retransmission signaling are the same.

[0058] This will cause the network side device and the terminal to have inconsistent understanding of the system time carried in the system information, for example, the network side device will take the reception time position of the terminal receiving the first transmission signaling as the reference time position, but the terminal will take the reception time position of receiving the current retransmission signaling as the reference time position.

[0059] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case that the network-side device sends the system information to the terminal through signaling, the network-side device also indicates the reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal, so as to ensure that the network-side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, that is, both take the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. For example, if the reference time information is SFN=1, it can be determined that the SFN of the system frame where the reference time position is located is 1. In this way, it can be ensured that the network-side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, and problems in subsequent operations of the terminal using the system time can be avoided.

[0060] In one embodiment, the terminal can determine the resource for receiving the signaling according to the configuration information sent by the network-side device, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of the following:

[0061] Time domain resource configuration; frequency domain resource configuration.

[0062] The time domain resource configuration can comprise at least one of the following:

[0063] Starting time position (for example, SFN=1, subframe=1, slot=1);

[0064] Transmission period (for example, 10 milliseconds);

[0065] Time position transmitted per period (for example, slot 1, slot 3, slot 5 in every 10 slots);

[0066] The frequency domain resource configuration can comprise at least one of the following:

[0067] Frequency point (for example, ARFCN-1 (Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number));

[0068] Bandwidth (for example, 20 MHz);

[0069] Physical resource block number (for example, PRB-1 (Physical Resource Block));

[0070] Bandwidth part number (for example, BWP-1 (Bandwidth Part));

[0071] Cell number (for example, cell-1);

[0072] In one embodiment, the manner of determining the reference time position is determined by network-side configuration or based on protocol agreement.

[0073] The manner of determining the reference time position associated with the reference time information can be based on a protocol agreement, in which case the terminal and the network side device can respectively obtain the manner of determining the reference time position based on the protocol agreement. The manner of determining the reference time position associated with the reference time information can also be configured by the network side, in which case the network side device can set the manner of determining the reference time position as needed, and then configure the determined manner to the terminal.

[0074] The manner of determining the reference time position is not unique, and the following embodiments will exemplarily illustrate several manners of determining the reference time position.

[0075] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2 The reference time position corresponds to at least one relative time position, and the determining the reference time position associated with the reference time information comprises:

[0076] In step S201, the receiving time position of the signaling is determined.

[0077] In step S202, the reference time position is determined from the at least one relative time position according to the relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position.

[0078] In one embodiment, the manner of determining the reference time position can be to determine the reference time position according to the relative position relationship between the receiving time position and the relative time position.

[0079] The time in the communication system is generally not a conventional absolute time position, for example, the conventional time position is represented by time units such as day, month, year, hour, minute, and second, while the time in the communication system is represented by system frames and subframes in the system frames, for example, 1 system frame is 10 milliseconds long, including subframe 0 to subframe 9 for 10 subframes.

[0080] Therefore, the reference time position indicated by the network side device is also not an absolute time, but a time in the communication system, wherein the granularity of the indicated reference time position can be set as needed, and the granularity can be a subframe, for example, the reference time position is subframe 2, the granularity can be a slot, for example, the reference time position is slot 1 of subframe 2. The following embodiments will exemplarily illustrate the case where the granularity is a subframe.

[0081] Since the reference time position is a time in the communication system, for example, a subframe, and there are 10 subframes in each system frame, one reference time position corresponds to at least one relative time position, which refers to the time position of the reference time position in multiple system frames. The multiple system frames can be defined as needed, for example, all system frames or system frames in a time range.

[0082] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a relative time position and a receiving time position according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3 , for example, the reference time position is subframe 2, and the relative time position includes subframe 2 in multiple system frames, for example, the system frame where the receiving time position is located is called the nth frame, and there is subframe 2 in the previous system frame, the (n-1)th frame, and the next system frame, the (n+1)th frame, and the nth frame, and each subframe 2 is the relative time position corresponding to the reference time position. It should be noted that Figure 3 only the relative time positions in three adjacent system frames are shown, and there can be more relative time positions, which are not shown in the figure.

[0083] It should be noted that n, n+1, n-1 in the nth frame, the (n-1)th frame, and the (n+1)th frame are not system times, but are used to refer to several consecutive system frames, and the system times of these system frames, for example, SFN and H-SFN, are unknown to the terminal, but the terminal can determine the sequence number of the subframe in the system frame.

[0084] Since the reference time position is in different system frames, the relationship with the receiving time position will be different, and the relationship between each relative time position and the receiving time position will be different. For example, the receiving time position is subframe 9, subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is located after subframe 9, subframe 2 in the (n-1)th frame is located before subframe 9, subframe 2 in the nth frame is located in the same system frame as subframe 9, and subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame and the (n-1)th frame is located in different system frames from subframe 9. Therefore, the reference time position can be determined according to the relative position relationship between the receiving time position and the relative time position.

[0085] The way to determine the reference time position according to the relative position relationship between the receiving time position and the relative time position can also be various, which will be exemplarily explained through several embodiments.

[0086] Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4 , the determining the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to the relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position comprises:

[0087] In step S401, the relative time position closest to the receiving time position among the at least one relative time position is determined as the reference time position.

[0088] In one embodiment, the relative time position closest to the receiving time position among a plurality of relative time positions can be determined as the reference time position.

[0089] For example, for Figure 3 In the case shown, the received time position is subframe 9 in the nth frame. The multiple relative time positions corresponding to the reference time position are subframe 2 in each system frame. Among these subframe 2 in the system frames, the subframe 2 in the nth frame and the (n+1)th frame are relatively close to subframe 9 and are most likely to be used as the reference time positions. Therefore, we can mainly consider subframe 2 in these two system frames.

[0090] Calculations show that subframe 2 in frame n is 7 subframes away from subframe 9 in frame n, and subframe 2 in frame n+1 is 3 subframes away from subframe 9 in frame n. Therefore, the subframe 2 in frame n+1 that is closest to subframe 9 in frame n among the multiple system frames is subframe 2 in frame n+1. Thus, subframe 2 in frame n+1 can be determined as the reference time position, and the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the reference time position.

[0091] For example, if the reference time information is SFN, then the reference time information is determined to be the SFN of the system frame in which the reference time position is located. For example, based on the above example, if subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is the reference time position, then the reference time information can be determined to be the system time of the system frame in which subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is located (i.e., the (n+1)th frame). For example, if the reference time information is SFN=1, then the SFN of the system frame following the system frame in which the received time position is located can be determined to be 1.

[0092] To explain this embodiment more clearly, another embodiment is provided below for illustration.

[0093] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating another relative time position and receiving time position according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 5As shown, for example, the reference time position is still subframe 2, but the receiving time position is subframe 1 in the nth frame. In this case, subframe 2 in the (n-1)th frame is 9 subframes away from subframe 1 in the nth frame, subframe 2 in the nth frame is 1 subframe away from subframe 1 in the nth frame, subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is 11 subframes away from subframe 1 in the nth frame, that is, subframe 2 in the nth frame is closest to the receiving time position, so it can be determined that subframe 2 in the nth frame is the reference time position, and then the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the system frame in which subframe 2 in the nth frame is located (that is, the nth frame). For example, the reference time information is SFN=1, and it can be determined that the SFN of the system frame in which the receiving time position is located is 1.

[0094] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6 determining the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to the relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position comprises:

[0095] In step S601, the relative time position closest to the receiving time position is determined as the reference time position in the relative time positions located before the receiving time position.

[0096] In one embodiment, the relative time positions located before the receiving time position can be determined in the multiple relative time positions, and then the relative time position closest to the receiving time position is determined as the reference time position in the relative time positions located before the receiving time position.

[0097] For example, for the case shown in Figure 3 the receiving time position is subframe 9 in the nth frame, and the multiple relative time positions corresponding to the reference time position are subframes 2 in each system frame, and the subframes 2 located before subframe 9 include subframes 2 in the nth frame and system frames before the nth frame.

[0098] It can be determined through calculation that, in the subframes 2 located before subframe 9 in the nth frame, the subframe 2 closest to subframe 9 in the nth frame is subframe 2 in the nth frame, so subframe 2 in the nth frame can be determined as the reference time position, and then the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the reference time position.

[0099] For example, if the reference time information is SFN, then the reference time information is determined to be the SFN of the system frame in which the reference time position is located. For example, based on the above example, if subframe 2 in the nth frame is the reference time position, then the reference time information can be determined to be the system time of the system frame in which subframe 2 in the nth frame (i.e., the nth frame). For example, if the reference time information is SFN=1, then the SFN of the system frame in which the received time position is located can be determined to be 1.

[0100] To explain this embodiment more clearly, another embodiment is provided below for illustration.

[0101] For example, for Figure 5 In the scenario shown, for example, the reference time position is still subframe 2, but the received time position is subframe 1 in frame n. In this case, among these subframe 2s preceding subframe 1 in frame n, including subframe 2 in frame (n-1) and the system frames preceding subframe (n-1), subframe 2 in frame (n-1) is the closest to subframe 1 in frame n. Therefore, subframe 2 in frame (n-1) can be determined as the reference time position. The reference time information can then be determined as the system time of the system frame containing subframe 2 in frame (i.e., frame (n-1)). For example, if the reference time information is SFN = 1, the SFN of the system frame preceding the system frame containing the received time position can be determined to be 1.

[0102] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another system time determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 7 As shown, determining the reference time position among the at least one relative time position based on the relative positional relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position includes:

[0103] In step S701, the reference time position is determined from the relative time positions located after the receiving time position as the closest relative time position to the receiving time position.

[0104] In one embodiment, a relative time position following the receiving time position can be determined among multiple relative time positions, and then the relative time position closest to the receiving time position among the relative time positions following the receiving time position can be determined as the reference time position.

[0105] For example, for Figure 3 In the case shown, the received time position is subframe 9 in the nth frame, and the multiple relative time positions corresponding to the reference time position are subframe 2 in each system frame. These subframe 2s located after subframe 9 include the (n+1)th frame and subframe 2 in system frames after the (n+1)th frame.

[0106] Calculations show that among the subframes 2 located after subframe 9 in the nth frame, subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is closest to subframe 9 in the nth frame. Therefore, subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame can be determined as the reference time position, and the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the reference time position.

[0107] For example, if the reference time information is SFN, then the reference time information is determined to be the SFN of the system frame in which the reference time position is located. For example, based on the above example, if subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is the reference time position, then the reference time information can be determined to be the system time of the system frame in which subframe 2 in the (n+1)th frame is located (i.e., the (n+1)th frame). For example, if the reference time information is SFN=1, then the SFN of the subsequent system frames in the system frame in which the received time position is located can be determined to be 1.

[0108] To explain this embodiment more clearly, another embodiment is provided below for illustration.

[0109] For example, for Figure 5 In the scenario shown, for example, the reference time position is still subframe 2, but the received time position is subframe 1 in frame n. In this case, among these subframe 2s located after subframe 1 in frame n, including subframe 2 in system frames before frame n and frame (n+1), subframe 2 in frame n is closest to subframe 1 in frame n. Therefore, subframe 2 in frame n can be determined as the reference time position. The reference time information can then be determined as the system time of the system frame containing subframe 2 in frame n (i.e., frame n). For example, if the reference time information is SFN = 1, the SFN of the system frame containing the received time position can be determined to be 1.

[0110] Figure 8 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another system time determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 8 As shown, the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal n times, and determining the reference time location associated with the reference time information includes:

[0111] In step S801, the time offset between the i-th transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device for the i-th time and the j-th transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device for the j-th time is determined, where i, j, and n are integers, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤n, and i is greater than or equal to j.

[0112] In step S802, the reference time position is determined based on the time offset and the receiving time position of the reference time information.

[0113] In one embodiment, a reference time position can be determined based on a time offset and a received time position. Specifically, the time of the i-th transmission of the signaling by the network-side device can be determined first, referred to as the i-th transmission time position, and the time of the j-th transmission of the signaling by the network-side device can be determined, referred to as the j-th transmission time position. Then, the time domain length between the i-th transmission time position and the j-th transmission position is determined as the time offset.

[0114] In one embodiment, a terminal may receive at least one of the i-th and j-th transmissions, or it may receive neither.

[0115] If the terminal fails to receive at least one of the i-th and j-th transmissions, the network-side device needs to indicate the time offset to the terminal; if the terminal receives both the i-th and j-th transmissions, the terminal can independently calculate and determine the time offset, or it can determine the time offset based on the network instruction.

[0116] In one embodiment, when the terminal receives the i-th transmission, the i-th transmission can be the transmission the terminal is currently receiving, and the j-th transmission can be any transmission before the current transmission, such as the transmission before the current transmission.

[0117] The terminal can subtract a time offset from the received time position, and the difference can be used as a reference time position. For example, if the received time position is subframe 9 in frame n, and the time offset is 5 subframes, then the received time position can be determined to be subframe 4 in frame n. Therefore, subframe 4 in frame n can be determined as the received time position, and the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the system frame containing subframe 4 in frame n (i.e., frame n). For example, if the reference time information is SFN = 1, then the SFN of the system frame containing the received time position can be determined to be 1.

[0118] In one embodiment, the transmission type corresponding to the signaling transmitted by the network-side device to the terminal includes at least one of the following:

[0119] Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HRAQ) transmission;

[0120] Radio Link Control (RLC) transmission;

[0121] Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) transmission.

[0122] The network-side device retransmits the signaling to the terminal, which can be retransmission of HARQ, RLC or PDCP.

[0123] In one embodiment, the time offset is carried in at least one of the following:

[0124] Downlink Control Information (DCI);

[0125] a Medium Access Control (MAC) subheader;

[0126] a MAC Control Element (MAC CE);

[0127] an RLC subheader;

[0128] an RLC control packet;

[0129] a PDCP subheader;

[0130] a PDCP control packet.

[0131] For example, the terminal receives the signaling according to the DCI, the receiving time position of the signaling is subframe 1, the reference time information carried in the system information is SFN=1, and the time offset carried in the DCI is 2 subframes. According to this, the reference time position is subframe 9 of the previous system frame of the system frame in which the receiving time position is located, and thus the SFN of the previous system frame of the system frame in which the receiving time position is located is determined to be 1.

[0132] For example, the terminal receives the signaling according to the DCI, the receiving time position of the signaling is subframe 1, the reference time information carried in the system information is SFN=1, and the time offset carried in the DCI is 2 subframes. According to this, the reference time position is subframe 9 of the previous system frame of the system frame in which the receiving time position is located, and thus the SFN of the previous system frame of the system frame in which the receiving time position is located is determined to be 1.

[0133] In one embodiment, the time offset is carried in the signaling of the mth transmission, where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1. In addition to being carried in the above information, the time offset can also be carried in the signaling of the mth transmission. When m is equal to 1, the mth transmission is a new transmission, and thus the time offset can be 0. When m is greater than 1, the mth transmission is a retransmission, and thus the time offset can be greater than 0.

[0134] Further, since the time offset is used to determine the reference time position, and the reference time position is determined due to the inconsistency of the understanding of the reference time information between the network side and the terminal side, which generally exists in the case of retransmission signaling, the time offset can be carried only in the retransmission signaling, and not in the new transmission signaling, which is beneficial to save resources.

[0135] In one embodiment, the information carrying the reference time position includes the signaling carrying the reference time position completely.

[0136] Since the signaling carrying the reference time position can be divided into multiple packets when transmitted from a high layer to a low layer, for example, divided into multiple packets at the RLC layer, and each packet only contains part of the information of the reference time position, it can result in that the information carrying the reference time position only carries part of the information of the reference time position.

[0137] In addition, for example, for a 10-bit SFN, the system information in the signaling can only carry 6 MSBs (Most Significant Bit) of the 10-bit SFN.

[0138] Both of the above two cases can result in that the reference time position cannot be determined accurately based on part of the information of the reference time position. Therefore, the information carrying the reference time position can be set to include the signaling carrying the reference time position completely (for example, including a complete 10-bit SFN), so that the complete reference time position can be obtained from the information carrying the reference time position, and the reference time position can be determined accurately.

[0139] Figure 9 is another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 9 The determining the reference time position associated with the reference time information includes:

[0140] In step S901, the receiving time position of the signaling is taken as the reference time position.

[0141] In one embodiment, the terminal can take the receiving time position of the signaling as the reference time position, and then determine the reference time information as the system time of the receiving time position.

[0142] In this case, the terminal receives the signaling transmitted multiple times by the network side, and the receiving time positions of the multiple times of receiving the signaling are in the same system frame.

[0143] If the receiving time positions of the multiple times of receiving the signaling are not in the same system frame, for example, taking two times as an example, if the corresponding receiving time positions of the two times are not in the same system frame, the problem that the system time of one system frame is determined as the system time of another system frame can occur.

[0144] Therefore, by configuring that the terminal receives the signaling transmitted multiple times by the network side, and the receiving time positions of the multiple times of receiving the signaling are in the same system frame, that is, the network side device can transmit the signaling multiple times, but each transmission is in the same system frame, it can be ensured that the receiving time position of each time of receiving the signaling by the terminal is in the same system frame, and does not cross the system frame, thereby avoiding the above problem.

[0145] Figure 10 is a schematic flow chart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 10 The determining the reference time position associated with the reference time information comprises:

[0146] In step S1001, the receiving time position of the scheduling information of the signaling is taken as the reference time position.

[0147] In one embodiment, the receiving time position of the scheduling information of the signaling can be scheduled as the reference time position, and then the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the receiving time position. For example, the scheduling information is DCI, and then the receiving time position of receiving the DCI can be determined.

[0148] In this case, the transmission of the signaling by the network side device is a new transmission. Since the scheduling information and the new transmission are generally in the same system frame, that is, for the new transmission, the embodiment can determine the receiving time position of the scheduling information scheduling the new transmission as the reference time position, according to which it can be ensured that the receiving time position of the scheduling information and the receiving time position of the new transmission are in the same system frame, so that the receiving time position of the scheduling information is determined as the reference time position, which is equivalent to determining the receiving time position of the new transmission as the reference time position, and thus the problem does not occur.

[0149] Figure 11 is a schematic flow chart of another system time determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 11 The method comprises:

[0150] In step S1101, according to the request of the network side device, the system information broadcast by the network side device is received, wherein the reference time information is carried in the system information.

[0151] In step S1102, the receiving time position of the system information is determined as the reference time position associated with the reference time information.

[0152] In step S1103, the reference time information is determined as the system time of the reference time position.

[0153] In one embodiment, since the network side device may exist the case that the terminal does not receive the signaling when the network side device sends the system information to the terminal through the signaling, the network side device retransmits the signaling. In this case, the content in the first transmitted signaling and the content in the retransmitted signaling are the same, and then the reference time information in the first transmitted signaling and the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling are also the same, for example, the SFN in the first transmitted signaling and the SFN in the retransmitted signaling are the same, and the H-SFN in the first transmitted signaling and the H-SFN in the retransmitted signaling are the same.

[0154] This will cause the network side device and the terminal to be inconsistent in understanding the system time carried in the system information, for example, the network side device will take the receiving time position of the terminal receiving the first transmitted signaling as the reference time position, but the terminal will take the receiving time position of receiving the current retransmitted signaling as the reference time position.

[0155] According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case that the network side device sends the system information to the terminal through the signaling, the network side device can send a request to the terminal to request the terminal to receive the system information broadcast by the network side device and read the reference time information therein. Since the system information broadcast by the network side device is updated in real time, and there is no case that the system information in the retransmitted signaling is not updated, therefore, according to the reference time information in the broadcast system information, the system time information of the receiving time position of receiving the system information is accurate. Accordingly, it can be ensured to accurately determine the system time information of the receiving time position, and avoid problems in subsequent operations of the terminal using the system time.

[0156] For example, after the terminal receives the system information according to the request, the terminal can determine the receiving time position of the system information, and then determine the system time position as the reference time position associated with the reference time information, and further determine the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. For example, the reference time information is SFN=1, and then it can be determined that the SFN of the system frame where the reference time position is located is 1.

[0157] Figure 12is a schematic flow chart of a time position indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The time position indication method shown in this embodiment can be performed by a network side device, which includes but is not limited to a network side device in a 4G, 5G, 6G or the like communication system, such as a base station, a core network or the like, which can communicate with a terminal, which includes but is not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device or the like communication apparatus.

[0158] As shown in Figure 12 , the time position indication method can include the following steps:

[0159] In step S1201, signaling is transmitted to the terminal, wherein the reference time information is carried in the signaling;

[0160] In step S1202, the terminal is indicated a reference time position associated with the reference time information.

[0161] In one embodiment, when the network side device sends system information to the terminal through signaling, the system information can carry reference time information, for example, the system information is MIB, and the reference time information can be SFN, for example, the system information is SIB1, and the reference time information can be H-SFN.

[0162] Since the network side device may, when sending system information to the terminal through signaling, exist a case that the terminal does not receive the signaling, the network side device retransmits the signaling. In this case, the content in the first transmitted signaling and the content in the retransmitted signaling are the same, so the reference time information in the first transmitted signaling and the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling are also the same, for example, the SFN in the first transmitted signaling and the SFN in the retransmitted signaling are the same, and the H-SFN in the first transmitted signaling and the H-SFN in the retransmitted signaling are the same.

[0163] This will cause the network side device and the terminal to be inconsistent in understanding the system time carried in the system information, for example, the network side device will take the receiving time position of the terminal receiving the first transmitted signaling as the reference time position, but the terminal will take the receiving time position of receiving the current retransmitted signaling as the reference time position.

[0164] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case that the network-side device sends the signaling to the terminal through signaling, the network-side device also indicates the reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal, so as to ensure that the network-side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, i.e., both take the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. For example, if the reference time information is SFN=1, then it can be determined that the SFN of the system frame where the reference time position is located is 1. In this way, it can be ensured that the network-side device and the terminal have consistent understanding of the reference time information in the system information, and problems in the subsequent operation of the terminal using the system time can be avoided.

[0165] Figure 13 is a schematic flowchart of another time position indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 13 the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal n times, and the indication of the reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal includes:

[0166] In step S1301, the terminal is indicated the time position of the i th transmission of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device, and the time offset between the time position of the j th transmission of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device, wherein i, j and n are integers, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤n, and i is greater than or equal to j.

[0167] In one embodiment, the reference time position can be determined according to the time offset and the receiving time position, wherein the time of the i th transmission of the signaling by the network-side device is determined first, referred to as the i th transmission time position, and the time of the j th transmission of the signaling by the network-side device is determined, referred to as the j th transmission time position, and then the time domain length between the i th transmission time position and the j th transmission position is determined as the time offset.

[0168] In one embodiment, for the terminal, at least one of the i th transmission and the j th transmission can be received, or none of them can be received.

[0169] If the terminal does not receive at least one of the i th transmission and the j th transmission, the network-side device needs to indicate the time offset to the terminal; if the terminal receives the i th transmission and the j th transmission, the terminal can autonomously calculate and determine the time offset, or can determine the time offset according to the network indication.

[0170] In one embodiment, in the case that the terminal receives the i th transmission, the i th transmission can be the current transmission received by the terminal, and the j th transmission can be any transmission before the current transmission, for example, the previous transmission.

[0171] The terminal can subtract the time offset from the receiving time position, and the difference can be used as the reference time position. For example, the receiving time position is subframe 9 in the nth frame, and the time offset is 5 subframes. Then the receiving time position can be determined as subframe 4 in the nth frame, and subframe 4 in the nth frame can be determined as the receiving time position. Then the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the system frame (i.e., the nth frame) in which subframe 4 is located. For example, the reference time information is SFN = 1, and the SFN of the system frame in which the receiving time position is located can be determined as 1.

[0172] In an embodiment, the time offset is carried in the signaling of the mth transmission, where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The time offset can be carried in the signaling of the mth transmission in addition to being carried in the above information. When m is equal to 1, the mth transmission is a new transmission, and the time offset can be 0. When m is greater than 1, the mth transmission is a retransmission, and the time offset can be greater than 0.

[0173] Further, since the time offset is used to determine the reference time position, and the reference time position is determined because the network side and the terminal side do not understand the reference time information consistently, this situation generally exists in the case of retransmission signaling. Therefore, the time offset can be carried only in the retransmission signaling, and not in the new transmission signaling, which is beneficial for saving resources.

[0174] In an embodiment, the time offset is carried in at least one of the following:

[0175] Downlink control information DCI;

[0176] Medium access control layer MAC subheader;

[0177] Medium access control layer control element MAC CE;

[0178] RLC subheader;

[0179] RLC control packet;

[0180] PDCP subheader;

[0181] PDCP control packet.

[0182] For example, the terminal receives the signaling according to the DCI scheduling, for example, the receiving time position of the signaling is subframe 1, the reference time information carried in the system information of the signaling is SFN=1, and the time offset carried in the DCI is 2 subframes. According to this, the reference time position can be calculated as subframe 9 of the previous system frame of the system frame where the receiving time position is located, and thus the SFN=1 of the previous system frame of the system frame where the receiving time position is located can be determined.

[0183] For example, the terminal receives the signaling according to the DCI scheduling, for example, the receiving time position of the signaling is subframe 1, the reference time information carried in the system information of the signaling is SFN=1, and the time offset carried in the DCI is 2 subframes. According to this, the reference time position can be calculated as subframe 9 of the previous system frame of the system frame where the receiving time position is located, and thus the SFN=1 of the previous system frame of the system frame where the receiving time position is located can be determined.

[0184] In one embodiment, the transmission type of the signaling transmitted to the terminal comprises at least one of the following:

[0185] Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) transmission;

[0186] Radio Link Control (RLC) transmission;

[0187] Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) transmission.

[0188] The network side device retransmits the signaling to the terminal, which can be HARQ retransmission, RLC retransmission, or PDCP retransmission.

[0189] In one embodiment, the information carrying the reference time position comprises complete signaling carrying the reference time position.

[0190] Since the signaling carrying the reference time position is possibly divided into multiple packets when transmitted from a high layer to a low layer, for example, divided into multiple packets at the RLC layer, and each packet only contains part of the information of the reference time position, this can result in the information carrying the reference time position only carrying part of the information of the reference time position.

[0191] In addition, for example, for a 10-bit SFN, the system information in the signaling can only carry 6 MSBs (Most Significant Bit) of the 10-bit SFN.

[0192] In the above two cases, the reference time position based on the partial reference time position information cannot be determined accurately. Therefore, the information carrying the reference time position can be set to include complete signaling (e.g., including a complete 10-bit SFN) carrying the reference time position, so that the complete reference time position can be obtained from the information carrying the reference time position, thereby accurately determining the reference time position.

[0193] In one embodiment, the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal multiple times, and the transmission time positions of the multiple transmissions of the signaling are in the same system frame.

[0194] In one embodiment, the terminal can take the reception time position of receiving the signaling as the reference time position, and the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the reception time position.

[0195] In this case, the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal multiple times, and the transmission time positions of the multiple transmissions of the signaling are in the same system frame, so that the terminal receives the signaling transmitted by the network-side device multiple times, and the reception time positions of the multiple receptions of the signaling are in the same system frame.

[0196] If the reception time positions of the multiple receptions of the signaling are not in the same system frame, for example, taking two times as an example, if the corresponding reception time positions of the two times are not in the same system frame, the problem of determining the system time of one system frame as the system time of another system frame can occur.

[0197] Therefore, by configuring the terminal to receive the signaling transmitted by the network-side device multiple times, and the reception time positions of the multiple receptions of the signaling are in the same system frame, that is, the network-side device can transmit the signaling multiple times, but each transmission is in the same system frame, it can be ensured that the reception time position of each reception of the signaling by the terminal is in the same system frame, and will not cross the system frame, thereby avoiding the above problem.

[0198] In one embodiment, the reception time position of the scheduling information of the signaling can be scheduled as the reference time position, and the reference time information can be determined as the system time of the reception time position. For example, the scheduling information is DCI, and the reception time position of receiving the DCI can be determined.

[0199] In this scenario, the transmission of the signaling by the network-side device is a new transmission. Since scheduling information and new transmissions are generally located within the same system frame, this embodiment can determine the reference time position for the reception time of the scheduling information in the new transmission. This ensures that the reception time position of the scheduling information and the reception time position of the new transmission are within the same system frame. Therefore, determining the reception time position of the scheduling information as the reference time position is equivalent to determining the reception time position of the new transmission as the reference time position, thus avoiding any problems.

[0200] Figure 14 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a request sending method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The request sending method shown in this embodiment can be executed by a network-side device, which includes, but is not limited to, network-side devices in communication systems such as 4G, 5G, and 6G, such as base stations and core networks. The network-side device can communicate with a terminal, which includes, but is not limited to, communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices.

[0201] like Figure 14 As shown, the request sending method may include the following steps:

[0202] In step S1401, a request is sent to the terminal to request the terminal to read the reference time information in the system information broadcast by the network-side device.

[0203] In one embodiment, when the network-side device sends system information to the terminal via signaling, there may be a situation where the terminal does not receive the signaling, and the network-side device retransmits the signaling. In this case, the content of the first transmitted signaling is the same as the content of the retransmitted signaling, so the reference time information in the first transmitted signaling is also the same as the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling. For example, the SFN in the first transmitted signaling is the same as the SFN in the retransmitted signaling, and the H-SFN in the first transmitted signaling is the same as the H-SFN in the retransmitted signaling.

[0204] This can lead to inconsistencies between the network-side device and the terminal in their understanding of the system time carried in the system information. For example, the network-side device may use the time when the terminal receives the first transmission signaling as the reference time, but the terminal may use the time when it receives the current retransmission signaling as the reference time.

[0205] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the case that the network-side device sends system information to the terminal through signaling, the network-side device can send a request to the terminal to request the terminal to receive the system information broadcast by the network-side device and read the reference time information therein. Since the system information broadcast by the network-side device is updated in real time, there will be no case that the system information in the signaling is not updated when the signaling is retransmitted, so according to the reference time information in the broadcast system information, the system time information of the receiving time position of the system information is accurate. Accordingly, it can be ensured that the system time information of the receiving time position is accurately determined, and problems in subsequent operations of the terminal using the system time are avoided.

[0206] For example, after the terminal receives the system information according to the request, the terminal can determine the receiving time position of the system information, and then determine the system time position as the reference time position associated with the reference time information, and further determine the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position. For example, the reference time information is SFN=1, and then it can be determined that the SFN of the system frame in which the reference time position is located is 1.

[0207] Corresponding to the foregoing embodiments of the system time determination method, the time position indication method, and the request sending method, the present disclosure further provides embodiments of a system time determination apparatus, a time position indication apparatus, and a request sending apparatus.

[0208] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a system time determination apparatus, which can be applied to a terminal, including but not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, and the like. The terminal can communicate with a network-side device, including but not limited to a network-side device in a 4G, 5G, 6G, and the like communication system, such as a base station, a core network, and the like.

[0209] In one embodiment, the system time determination apparatus includes one or more processors configured to:

[0210] receive signaling transmitted by the network-side device, wherein the signaling carries reference time information;

[0211] determine a reference time position associated with the reference time information;

[0212] determine the reference time information as the system time of the reference time position.

[0213] In one embodiment, the manner of determining the reference time position is determined by the network side or based on a protocol agreement.

[0214] In one embodiment, the reference time position corresponds to at least one relative time position, and the processor is configured to:

[0215] determining a receiving time position of the signaling;

[0216] determining the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to a relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position.

[0217] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine, in the at least one relative time position, a relative time position closest to the receiving time position as the reference time position.

[0218] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine, in the relative time positions before the receiving time position, a relative time position closest to the receiving time position as the reference time position.

[0219] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine, in the relative time positions after the receiving time position, a relative time position closest to the receiving time position as the reference time position.

[0220] In one embodiment, the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal n times, and the processor is configured to:

[0221] determining an ith transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device for the ith time, and a time offset between the ith transmission time position and a jth transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device for the jth time, where i, j and n are integers, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤n, and i is greater than or equal to j;

[0222] determining the reference time position according to the time offset and a receiving time position of the reference time information.

[0223] In one embodiment, the time offset is carried in at least one of the following:

[0224] downlink control information (DCI);

[0225] a medium access control (MAC) subheader;

[0226] a MAC control element (CE);

[0227] an RLC subheader;

[0228] an RLC control packet;

[0229] a PDCP subheader;

[0230] a PDCP control packet.

[0231] In an embodiment, the time offset is carried in the signaling of the mth transmission, where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0232] In an embodiment, the network-side device transmits the transmission type corresponding to the signaling to the terminal, including at least one of the following:

[0233] Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission;

[0234] Radio Link Control (RLC) transmission;

[0235] Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) transmission.

[0236] In an embodiment, the information carrying the reference time position includes complete signaling carrying the reference time position.

[0237] In an embodiment, the processor is configured to take the reception time position of the signaling as the reference time position.

[0238] In an embodiment, the terminal receives the signaling transmitted by the network-side multiple times, and the reception time positions of multiple receptions of the signaling are in the same system frame.

[0239] In an embodiment, the processor is configured to:

[0240] Take the reception time position of the scheduling information of the signaling as the reference time position.

[0241] In an embodiment, the network-side device carries the transmission of the signaling as a new transmission.

[0242] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a system time determination apparatus, including one or more processors, the processor is configured to:

[0243] According to the request of the network-side device, receive the system information broadcast by the network-side device;

[0244] According to the reference time information in the received system information, determine the system time information of the reception time position of receiving the system information.

[0245] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a time position indication apparatus, which can be applied to a network-side device, including but not limited to network-side devices in 4G, 5G, 6G and other communication systems, such as base stations, core networks, etc., which can communicate with terminals, including but not limited to mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, Internet of Things devices and other communication devices.

[0246] In one embodiment, the time position indication device includes one or more processors, the processors being configured to:

[0247] Transmit signaling to the terminal, wherein the signaling carries reference time information;

[0248] Indicate the reference time position associated with the reference time information to the terminal.

[0249] In one embodiment, the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal n times, and instructing the terminal on the reference time location associated with the reference time information includes:

[0250] The terminal is instructed the time offset between the i-th transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device for the i-th time and the j-th transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network-side device for the j-th time, where i, j, and n are integers, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤n, and i is greater than or equal to j.

[0251] In one embodiment, the time offset is carried in the signaling transmitted in the m-th transmission, where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0252] In one embodiment, the time offset carries at least one of the following:

[0253] Downlink Control Information (DCI);

[0254] Media Access Control (MAC) subheader;

[0255] Media Access Control Layer Control Unit (MAC CE);

[0256] RLC subheader;

[0257] RLC control package;

[0258] PDCP subhead;

[0259] PDCP control package.

[0260] In one embodiment, the transmission type corresponding to the signaling transmitted to the terminal includes at least one of the following:

[0261] Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HRAQ) transmission;

[0262] Wireless line control (RLC) transmission;

[0263] Packet data aggregation protocol PDCP transmission.

[0264] In one embodiment, the information carrying the reference time location includes complete signaling carrying the reference time location.

[0265] In an embodiment, the network-side device transmits the signaling to the terminal multiple times, and transmission time positions of the multiple transmissions of the signaling are in a same system frame.

[0266] In an embodiment, the transmission of the signaling carried by the network-side device is a new transmission.

[0267] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a request sending apparatus, which can be executed by a network-side device, including but not limited to a network-side device in a 4G, 5G, 6G, or the like communication system, such as a base station, a core network, or the like, and can communicate with a terminal, including but not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, or the like communication apparatus.

[0268] In an embodiment, the request sending apparatus includes one or more processors, which are configured to:

[0269] send a request to the terminal for requesting the terminal to read reference time information in system information broadcast by the network-side device.

[0270] As to the apparatus in the above embodiments, the specific manners in which various modules perform operations have been described in detail in the embodiments of the method, and thus will not be described here in detail.

[0271] For the apparatus embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, the related parts refer to the part of the method embodiments. The apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the modules described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as modules can or can not be physical modules, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on multiple network modules. Part or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment scheme according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement it without creative labor.

[0272] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a communication apparatus, including a processor, and a memory for storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the system time determination method in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

[0273] Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a communication apparatus, including a processor, and a memory for storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the time position indication method in any of the above embodiments, and / or the request sending method in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

[0274] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, when the computer program is executed by a processor, steps of the system time determination method according to any one of the above embodiments are implemented.

[0275] The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, when the computer program is executed by a processor, steps of the time position indication method according to any one of the above embodiments, and / or steps of the request sending method according to any one of the above embodiments are implemented.

[0276] As shown in Figure 15 , Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1500 for time position indication and / or request sending according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1500 can be provided as a base station. Referring to Figure 15 , the apparatus 1500 includes a processing component 1522, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver component 1524, an antenna component 1526, and a signal processing portion of the wireless interface, the processing component 1522 can further include one or more processors. One of the processors in the processing component 1522 can be configured to implement the time position indication method according to any one of the above embodiments, and / or the request sending method according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0277] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1600 for system time determination according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1600 can be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, etc.

[0278] Referring to Figure 16 , the apparatus 1600 can include one or more of the following components: a processing component 1602, a memory 1604, a power supply component 1606, a multimedia component 1608, an audio component 1610, an input / output (I / O) interface 1612, a sensor component 1614, and a communication component 1616.

[0279] The processing component 1602 usually controls overall operations of the apparatus 1600, such as operations associated with display, phone call, data communication, camera operation, and recording operation. The processing component 1602 can include one or more processors 1620 to execute instructions to complete all or part of steps of the system time determination method described above. Further, the processing component 1602 can include one or more modules to facilitate the interaction between the processing component 1602 and other components. For example, the processing component 1602 can include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 1608 and the processing component 1602.

[0280] The memory 1604 is configured to store various types of data to support operations of the device 1600. Examples of these data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 1600, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and the like. The memory 1604 can be implemented by any type of volatile or nonvolatile storage devices or a combination thereof such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), read only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disc or optical disc.

[0281] The power supply component 1606 supplies electrical power for the various components of the device 1600. The power supply component 1606 can include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing electrical power for the device 1600.

[0282] The multimedia component 1608 includes a screen providing an output interface between the device 1600 and a user. In some embodiments, the screen can include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen can be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, swiping, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors can not only sense a boundary of a touch or swiping action, but also detect duration and pressure associated with the touch or swiping action. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 1608 includes a front camera and / or a rear camera. The front and / or rear camera can receive external multimedia data when the device 1600 is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode. Each of the front and rear camera can be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

[0283] The audio component 1610 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 1610 includes a microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when the device 1600 is in an operating mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals can be further stored in the memory 1604 or transmitted via the communication component 1616. In some embodiments, the audio component 1610 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0284] The I / O interface 1612 provides an interface between the processing component 1602 and peripheral interface modules, which can be a keyboard, a click wheel, buttons, and the like. These buttons can include, but are not limited to, a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

[0285] The sensor component 1614 includes one or more sensors to provide status assessments for various aspects of the device 1600. For example, the sensor component 1614 can detect an open / closed status of the device 1600, relative positioning of components of the device 1600, such as a display and keypad of the device 1600, a change in position of the device 1600 or a component of the device 1600, presence or absence of user contact with the device 1600, orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the device 1600, and temperature changes of the device 1600. The sensor component 1614 can include proximity sensor(s) configured to detect presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The sensor component 1614 can also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component 1614 can also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

[0286] The communication component 1616 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the device 1600 and another device. The device 1600 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR, or a combination thereof. In an example embodiment, the communication component 1616 receives broadcast signals or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an example embodiment, the communication component 1616 can also include a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) techniques, infrared data association (IrDA) techniques, ultra-wideband (UWB) techniques, Bluetooth (BT) techniques, and other techniques.

[0287] In an example embodiment, the device 1600 can be implemented with one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic elements to perform the above-described system time determination method.

[0288] In an example embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as the memory 1604 including instructions, is also provided, which can be executed by the processor 1620 of the device 1600 to complete the above-described system time determination method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be a ROM, a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, and an optical data storage device, etc.

[0289] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0290] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0291] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0292] The methods and apparatus provided in the embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this disclosure. The descriptions of the embodiments above are only for the purpose of helping to understand the methods and core ideas of this disclosure. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this disclosure. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A system time determination method, characterized by, The method is performed by a terminal and comprises: receiving signaling transmitted by a network device, wherein the signaling carries system information, and the system information carries reference time information; the signaling includes retransmitted signaling, in a case where the system information is master information block (MIB), the reference time information is system frame number (SFN), and in a case where the system information is system information block (SIB1), the reference time information is hyper-system frame number (H-SFN); determining, according to an indication of the network device, a reference time position associated with the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling; the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling is the same as the reference time information in newly transmitted signaling; determining the reference time information as system time of the reference time position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The manner of determining the reference time position is determined by network configuration or based on protocol agreement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, The reference time position corresponds to at least one relative time position, and the determining of the reference time position associated with the reference time information comprises: determining a receiving time position of the signaling; determining the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to a relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The determining of the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to the relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position comprises: determining, in the at least one relative time position, a relative time position closest to the receiving time position as the reference time position.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, The determining of the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to the relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position comprises: determining, in the relative time position before the receiving time position, a relative time position closest to the receiving time position as the reference time position.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein, The determining of the reference time position in the at least one relative time position according to the relative position relationship between the relative time position and the receiving time position comprises: determining, in the relative time position after the receiving time position, a relative time position closest to the receiving time position as the reference time position.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, The network device transmits the signaling to the terminal for n times, and the determining of the reference time position associated with the reference time information comprises: determining an ith transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network device for the ith time and a time offset between a jth transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network device for the jth time, wherein i, j, and n are integers, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤n, and i is greater than j; determining the reference time position according to the time offset and a receiving time position of the reference time information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The time offset is carried in at least one of the following: downlink control information (DCI); a medium access control (MAC) subheader; a MAC control element (CE); an RLC subheader; an RLC control packet; a PDCP subheader; a PDCP control packet.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein, The time offset is carried in the signaling of the mth transmission, m being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein, The transmission type corresponding to the signaling transmitted by the network device to the terminal comprises at least one of the following: Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission; Radio link control (RLC) transmission; Packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) transmission.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein, The information carrying the reference time position includes complete signaling carrying the reference time position.

12. A time position indication method, characterized by, The method is performed by a network device, and the method comprises: transmitting signaling to a terminal, wherein the signaling carries system information, and the system information carries reference time information; the signaling comprises retransmitted signaling; in the case of system information being a master information block (MIB), the reference time information is a system frame number (SFN); in the case of the system information being a system information block (SIB1), the reference time information is a hyper-system frame number (H-SFN); indicating, to the terminal, a reference time position associated with the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling; the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling is the same as the reference time information in newly transmitted signaling; wherein the reference time information is system time of the reference time position.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The network device transmits the signaling to the terminal n times, and the indication, to the terminal, of the reference time position associated with the reference time information comprises: indicating, to the terminal, an ith transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network device for the ith time and a jth transmission time position of the signaling transmitted by the network device for the jth time, and a time offset between the ith transmission time position and the jth transmission time position, wherein i, j and n are integers, 1≤i≤n, 1≤j≤n, and i is greater than j.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The time offset is carried in the signaling of the mth transmission, m being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein, The time offset is carried in at least one of the following: downlink control information (DCI); a medium access control (MAC) subheader; a MAC control element (CE); an RLC subheader; an RLC control packet; a PDCP subheader; a PDCP control packet.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein, The transmission type corresponding to the signaling transmitted by the network device to the terminal comprises at least one of the following: Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission; Radio link control (RLC) transmission; Packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) transmission.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein, The information carrying the reference time position includes complete signaling carrying the reference time position.

18. A system time determination apparatus, characterized by The network device comprises one or more processors configured to: receive signaling transmitted by a network device, wherein the signaling carries system information, and the system information carries reference time information; the signaling comprises retransmitted signaling; in the case of system information being a master information block (MIB), the reference time information is a system frame number (SFN); in the case of the system information being a system information block (SIB1), the reference time information is a hyper-system frame number (H-SFN); determine, according to an indication by the network device, a reference time position associated with the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling; the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling is the same as the reference time information in newly transmitted signaling; determine the reference time information as system time of the reference time position.

19. A time position indicating device, characterized by comprising one or more processors configured to: transmit signaling to a terminal, wherein the signaling carries system information, and the system information carries reference time information; the signaling includes retransmitted signaling, in the case of system information being master information block (MIB), the reference time information is system frame number (SFN), in the case of system information being system information block (SIB1), the reference time information is hyper-system frame number (H-SFN); indicate to the terminal a reference time position associated with the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling; the reference time information in the retransmitted signaling is the same as that in newly transmitted signaling; wherein the reference time information is system time of the reference time position.

20. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the system time determination method of any one of claims 1-11 is implemented.

21. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the time position indication method of any one of claims 12-17 is implemented.

22. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps in the system time determination method of any one of claims 1-11 are implemented.

23. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the time position indication method of any one of claims 12-17 is implemented.

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