Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, relates to the technical field of communication, and is used for improving the uplink throughput rate of a cell and a user and further improving the resource utilization rate. In the present application, the method comprises: an access network device determining a frequency band of a second cell capable of serving as an SUL frequency band of a first UE, the access network device sending scheduling information to the first UE, the scheduling information being used for instructing the first UE to send uplink information on the frequency band of the second cell through an SUL communication mode. Wherein the serving cell of the first UE is the first cell, the second cell is an adjacent cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Supplementary uplink (SUL) technology refers to configuring a SUL carrier in a new radio (NR) cell to improve the uplink throughput of the cell and users. The SUL carrier is paired with a downlink carrier and belongs to the frequency band of the cell corresponding to the downlink carrier. When a cell is configured with a SUL carrier, the cell will have two uplink carriers, one for the SUL carrier and one for the normal uplink / non-supplementary uplink (NUL) carrier. In this way, user equipment (UE) can use the SUL carrier and the NUL carrier to send uplink information to the access network device.

[0003] At present, the frequency bands of SUL carriers defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) protocol (referred to as SUL bands) are limited, and when the access network device schedules the UE to use the SUL band to transmit uplink information, it can only select from the bands configured as SUL bands. When the SUL band is busy, it is difficult for the access network device to use SUL technology to further improve the uplink throughput. In addition, when the utilization rate of non-SUL bands is lower than that of SUL bands, the resource utilization rate in the communication system is low. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for enabling SUL communication mode in a time division duplex (TDD) frequency band or a frequency division duplex (FDD) frequency band defined in the 3GPP protocol, so as to further improve the uplink throughput of cells and users and improve resource utilization in the communication system.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by an access network device or a module (such as a chip or circuit) in the access network device. The following is an example of execution by the access network device.

[0006] The access network device determines the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, and the access network device sends scheduling information to the first UE, where the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information through the SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell. The service cell of the first UE is the first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band. The scheduling information can specifically be downlink control information (DCI) carried on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0007] In the above technical solution, the access network device uses the frequency band of the neighboring cell of the service cell where the first UE is located as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, wherein the frequency band of the neighboring cell can be a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band, and the access network device can schedule the first UE to send uplink information through the SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell, which helps to solve the problem of fewer SUL frequency bands defined in the 3GPP protocol. Further, it helps to improve the uplink throughput of the cell and the user, and improve the resource utilization in the communication system.

[0008] In a possible implementation, when the access network device determines the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the access network device can specifically determine the frequency band of the second cell according to the frequency band of the first cell and the corresponding relationship between the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell. The access network device broadcasts the frequency band of the second cell in the first cell, and accordingly, the access network device receives capability information from the first UE, wherein the capability information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band. In the above technical solution, the access network device broadcasts the frequency band of the second cell in the first cell, and accordingly, multiple UEs (including the first UE) located in the first cell can receive the frequency band of the second cell and determine whether to support the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band. In this way, the access network device can schedule multiple UEs to send uplink information on the frequency band of the second cell through the SUL communication mode, which is helpful to improve the uplink throughput of the cell and the user, and improve the resource utilization in the communication system.

[0009] In a possible implementation, when the access network device determines the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, specifically, the access network device receives capability information from the first UE; wherein the capability information includes the frequency band of the second cell and indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band; the access network device determines the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE according to the capability information of the first UE, the frequency band of the first cell, and the correspondence between the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell. In the above technical solution, the first UE reports the capability information of the first UE to the access network device, and the access network device determines the frequency band that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE according to the capability information of the first UE, which helps to improve the success rate of determination.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the full capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band. Exemplarily, this solution is applicable to the case where the combination of the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell is not a CA frequency band combination. In the above technical solution, the access network device can more effectively schedule the first UE to send uplink information based on the full capability.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band, and the difference between the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band. Exemplarily, this scheme is applicable to the case where the combination of the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell is a CA frequency band combination, that is, the case where the frequency band of the second cell is used as the auxiliary cell frequency band. In the above technical scheme, the access network device can determine the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band (that is, the full capability) according to the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band, and the capability difference. The access network device more effectively schedules the first UE to send uplink information based on the full capability. And the first UE only reports the capability difference to the access network device, which helps to reduce the overhead of uplink resources.

[0012] In a possible implementation, before the access network device determines the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, it also sends measurement indication information to the first UE, and the measurement indication information is used to instruct the first UE to measure the channel quality of the second cell. Accordingly, the access network device receives the channel quality of the second cell from the first UE and determines that the channel quality of the second cell is greater than the channel quality threshold. In this way, the access network device can select a cell with better channel quality from multiple neighboring cells of the first cell as the second cell, which helps to improve the uplink throughput of the cell and the user, and improve the resource utilization in the communication system.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the scheduling information is used to indicate that in the first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information through the SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell. Before sending the scheduling information to the first UE, the access network device also predicts the first transmission capability of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell in the first time slot, and the second transmission capability when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell, and determines that the second transmission capability is better than the first transmission capability. In the above technical solution, the access network device can schedule the first UE to send uplink information in the first cell and the second cell in time division. Furthermore, the access network device selects a cell with better transmission capability as the cell for the first UE to send uplink information based on the transmission capability of the first cell and the transmission capability of the second cell, which helps to improve the uplink throughput of the first UE.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the uplink information includes first uplink information and second uplink information. The scheduling information is used to indicate that in the second time slot, the first UE sends the first uplink information on the frequency band of the first cell, and the first UE sends the second uplink information on the frequency band of the second cell through the SUL communication method. In the above technical solution, the access network device can schedule the first UE to send uplink information in parallel on the first cell and the second cell, which helps to improve the uplink throughput of the UE.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the second cell is a service cell for the second UE, and the uplink resources of the second cell are shared by the first UE and the second UE. Exemplarily, the access network device schedules the first UE and the second UE to share the uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Exemplarily, the access network device schedules the first UE and the second UE to share the uplink time slot resources of the second cell in the frequency domain and / or spatial domain. In this way, without affecting the normal transmission of uplink information by the existing UE (i.e., the second UE) in the second cell, the access network device schedules the first UE to send uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell.

[0016] In one possible implementation, before the access network device determines the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, it also determines that one or more of the following conditions are met: the throughput of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell is lower than the throughput requirement of the first UE; the uplink resource utilization rate of the second cell is lower than the preset utilization rate; the available processing capacity of the second cell is higher than the preset processing capacity. In this way, it is avoided that when the first cell is idle, the access network device also schedules the first UE to send uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell, resulting in a waste of uplink resources of the first cell. And it is avoided that when the second cell is busy, the access network device also schedules the first UE to send uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell, resulting in the problem that the existing UE (i.e., the second UE) in the second cell cannot transmit uplink information normally.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first UE or a module (such as a chip or a circuit) in the first UE. The following is an example of the first UE executing the method.

[0018] The first UE receives scheduling information from the access network device, and the first UE sends uplink information in a SUL communication mode on a frequency band of the second cell according to the scheduling information. The scheduling information is generated by the access network device after determining a frequency band of the second cell that can be used as a SUL frequency band of the first UE, the serving cell of the first UE is the first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band.

[0019] In a possible implementation, before the first UE receives the scheduling information from the access network device, it also receives the frequency band of the second cell broadcasted by the access network device in the first cell, and the first UE sends the capability information of the first UE, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band. In a possible implementation, before the first UE receives the scheduling information from the access network device, it also sends the capability information of the first UE, where the capability information includes the frequency band of the second cell and indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the full capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band. In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the difference between the capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band and the capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band.

[0021] In one possible implementation, before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the first UE also receives measurement indication information from the access network device; measures the channel quality of the second cell based on the measurement indication information; and sends the channel quality of the second cell to the access network device, wherein the channel quality of the second cell is greater than a channel quality threshold.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the scheduling information is used to indicate that in a first time slot, uplink information is sent via a SUL communication method on a frequency band of a second cell; in a first time slot, a second transmission capability when sending uplink information via a frequency band of a second cell is better than a first transmission capability when sending uplink information via a frequency band of a first cell. In a possible implementation, the uplink information includes first uplink information and second uplink information; the scheduling information is used to indicate that in a second time slot, the first uplink information is sent on a frequency band of a first cell, and the second uplink information is sent via a SUL communication method on a frequency band of a second cell.

[0023] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the access network device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation method of the first aspect. The device can be an access network device or a chip included in the access network device.

[0024] The communication device may also have the function of implementing the first UE in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. The device may be the first UE or a chip included in the first UE.

[0025] The functions of the above communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units or means corresponding to the above functions.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the structure of the device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, wherein the processing module is configured to support the device to perform the corresponding functions of the access network device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, or to perform the corresponding functions of the first UE in the above-mentioned second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect. The transceiver module is used to support communication between the device and other communication devices. For example, when the device is an access network device, scheduling information can be sent to the first UE. The communication device may also include a storage module, which is coupled to the processing module and stores program instructions and data necessary for the device. As an example, the processing module may be a processor, the communication module may be a transceiver, and the storage module may be a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be separately provided from the processor.

[0027] In another possible implementation, the structure of the device includes a processor and may also include a memory. The processor is coupled to the memory and can be used to execute computer program instructions stored in the memory so that the device executes the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or executes the method in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. Optionally, the device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface. When the device is a first UE or an access network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface; when the device is a chip included in the first UE or a chip included in the access network device, the communication interface may be an input / output interface of the chip. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, and the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0028] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions, and when the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the chip system implements the method of the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or implements the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0029] Optionally, the chip system also includes an interface circuit, which is used to interact with code instructions to the processor.

[0030] Optionally, there may be one or more processors in the chip system, and the processor may be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented by software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0031] Optionally, the memory in the chip system may be one or more. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be separately provided with the processor. Exemplarily, the memory may be a non-transient processor, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or may be provided on different chips.

[0032] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions stored thereon. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the communication device executes the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or executes the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0033] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. When a communication device reads and executes the computer program product, the communication device executes the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or executes the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0034] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, the communication system comprising an access network device and a first UE. Optionally, the communication system may further include a second UE. The access network device is used to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the first UE is used to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0035] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the communication method comprising: an access network device determines a frequency band of a second cell that can be used as a SUL frequency band of a first UE, the service cell of the first UE is the first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band; the access network device sends scheduling information to the first UE, the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information through a SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell. Correspondingly, the first UE receives the scheduling information from the access network device; according to the scheduling information, the uplink information is sent through a SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell.

[0036] The technical effects that can be achieved in any of the second to eighth aspects mentioned above can refer to the description of the beneficial effects in the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of information transmission;

[0038] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a communication system provided for this application;

[0039] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0040] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a process for determining a target SUL frequency band provided in this application;

[0041] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another process for determining a target SUL frequency band provided in the present application;

[0042] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a process for determining a target cell provided in this application;

[0043] Figure 7A schematic diagram of a scenario in which a base station schedules a UE to send uplink information based on the UE location provided in this application;

[0044] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of transmission information provided for this application;

[0045] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of another transmission information provided by this application;

[0046] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of another transmission information provided by this application;

[0047] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of information transmission when a SUL frequency band provided in the present application is a TDD frequency band;

[0048] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of information transmission when a SUL frequency band provided in the present application is an FDD frequency band;

[0049] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of resource allocation provided for this application;

[0050] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of another resource allocation provided for this application;

[0051] Fig.15 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0052] Fig.16 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the relevant terms involved in this article.

[0054] 1. Time division duplex (TDD): A duplex communication technology of a communication system, in which uplink data transmission and downlink data transmission can use the same frequency domain resources and different time domain resources.

[0055] 2. Frequency division duplex (FDD): It is also a duplex communication technology of the communication system. The transmission of uplink data and downlink data can use the same time domain resources and different frequency domain resources.

[0056] 3. Carrier aggregation (CA): CA technology is used to aggregate two or more component carriers (CCs) to support a larger transmission bandwidth. For example, the maximum bandwidth can be 100 megahertz (MHz), and the bandwidth of each component carrier can be 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, and 20MHz, etc.

[0057] CA technology involves primary cells (PCell) and secondary cells (SCell). The primary cell is the cell used by the UE to establish an initial connection, or the cell used to reestablish a radio resource control (RRC) connection, or the primary cell specified during a handover (HO); the carrier component corresponding to the primary cell is called the primary component carrier (PCC). The secondary cell is added during RRC reconfiguration to provide additional radio resources. The carrier component corresponding to the secondary cell is called the secondary component carrier (SCC).

[0058] 4. Supplementary uplink (SUL) technology

[0059] 1. SUL carrier

[0060] A SUL carrier is configured in an NR cell to improve the uplink throughput. A SUL carrier can be paired with a downlink carrier and belongs to the cell corresponding to the downlink carrier. When a cell is configured with a SUL carrier, the cell will have two uplink carriers, one for the SUL carrier and one for the NUL carrier.

[0061] There are two ways for the UE to send uplink information to the base station through the SUL carrier:

[0062] Mode 1: Time division multiplexing (TDM) is performed between the frequency band of the NUL carrier (referred to as the NUL frequency band) and the frequency band of the SUL carrier (referred to as the SUL frequency band), that is, time division transmission is performed on the two frequency bands. Specifically, in a certain time slot, the UE either sends uplink information to the base station through the NUL frequency band or sends uplink information to the base station through the SUL frequency band. For details, see Figure 1 As shown in (a).

[0063] Mode 2: Transmit only on SUL. For details, see Figure 1As shown in (b).

[0064] It should be added that Figure 1 In the information transmission schematic diagram shown, D represents a time slot for transmitting downlink information, U represents a time slot for transmitting uplink information, and S represents a time slot for transmitting reference signals, control information, and the like. Exemplarily, D is a downlink subframe, U is an uplink subframe, and S is a special subframe. This description can also be used in other information transmission schematic diagrams of the present application.

[0065] 2. SUL band and SUL band combination

[0066] The SUL frequency bands defined in the 3GPP protocol can be seen in Table 1 below. For example, n80, n81, n82, etc. can all be used as SUL frequency bands.

[0067] Furthermore, the 3GPP protocol also defines a SUL frequency band combination, which includes a correspondence between a NUL frequency band and a SUL frequency band, that is, when the UE's service cell is located in a certain NUL frequency band, the UE can also use the SUL frequency band corresponding to the NUL frequency band to transmit uplink information, wherein the NUL frequency band is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band. Referring to the exemplary multiple SUL frequency band combinations shown in Table 2, when the NUL frequency band of the UE's service cell is n24, the UE can use n99 as the SUL frequency band to transmit uplink information; when the NUL frequency band of the UE's service cell is n41, the UE can use n80 as the SUL frequency band to transmit uplink information.

[0068] Table 1

[0069]

[0070] Table 2

[0071]

[0072]

[0073] Based on the above explanations of relevant terms, the embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0074] Figure 2 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the communication system includes a wireless access network 100 and a core network 200 . Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300 .

[0075] The wireless access network 100 may include at least one wireless access network device (or access network device) (eg Figure 2 110a and 110b), and may also include at least one UE (such as Figure 2 120a-120j in the figure). The UE is connected to the access network device wirelessly, and the access network device is connected to the core network wirelessly or by wire. The core network device and the access network device can be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the access network device can be integrated on the same physical device, or part of the functions of the core network device and part of the functions of the access network device can be integrated on one physical device. UE and UE, and access network devices and access network devices can be connected to each other by wire or wirelessly. Figure 2 This is just a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. Figure 2 Not drawn in.

[0076] The access network equipment can be a base station (BS), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), the next generation NodeB (gNB) in the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, the next generation base station in the sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc.; it can also be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of a base station, for example, it can be a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. The access network equipment can be a macro base station (such as Figure 2 110a), or a micro base station or an indoor station (such as Figure 2110b), may also be a relay node or a donor node, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the access network device. For the convenience of description, the following description is taken as an example of a base station.

[0077] UE can also be called mobile device, terminal device, mobile station, etc. UE can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. UE can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by UE.

[0078] The base station and UE can be fixed or movable. The base station and UE can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the base station and UE.

[0079] The roles of the base station and the UE may be relative, for example, Figure 2 The helicopter or drone 120i in the figure can be configured as a mobile base station. For the UE 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through 120i, UE 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a UE, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between base stations. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, base stations and UEs can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 2 110a and 110b in the figure may be referred to as communication devices having base station functions. Figure 2 120a-120j in the figure can be called communication devices with UE functions.

[0080] Base stations and UEs, base stations and base stations, and UEs and UEs can communicate through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; they can communicate through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem including the base station functions. The control subsystem including the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the UE may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the UE, or by a device including the UE functions.

[0082] In this application, the base station sends a downlink signal or downlink information to the UE, and the downlink information is carried on the downlink channel; the UE sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the UE needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the UE has established a wireless connection is called the service cell of the UE. When the UE communicates with the service cell, it will also be interfered by signals from neighboring cells.

[0083] At present, when the access network device schedules the UE to use the SUL frequency band to transmit uplink information, it can only select the SUL frequency band defined by the 3GPP protocol. However, the SUL frequency bands defined by the 3GPP protocol are limited. When these SUL frequency bands are busy, it is difficult for the access network device to use the SUL technology to further improve the uplink throughput. To this end, the present application provides a communication method, which enables the TDD frequency band or FDD frequency band defined by the 3GPP protocol as a SUL communication mode (that is, using the TDD frequency band or FDD frequency band as a SUL frequency band) to further improve the uplink throughput of the cell and the user, and improve the resource utilization in the communication system.

[0084] The following first explains how to enable the TDD band or FDD band as the SUL communication mode:

[0085] (1) Enable the TDD band as the SUL communication mode

[0086] Exemplarily, the 3GPP protocol defines that both n78 and n79 can be used as TDD frequency bands. Furthermore, Table 3 is an example of a TDD frequency band enabled as a SUL communication mode provided in this application, wherein n78 can be used not only as a normal TDD frequency band, but also as a SUL frequency band; similarly, n79 can be used not only as a normal TDD frequency band, but also as a SUL frequency band. For the convenience of description below, the TDD frequency band enabled as a SUL communication mode may be referred to as a SUL frequency band.

[0087] Table 3

[0088]

[0089] Furthermore, it is also necessary to define a SUL frequency band combination corresponding to each SUL frequency band.

[0090] In one example, the CA frequency band combination defined in the 3GPP protocol can be reused as the SUL frequency band combination. Table 4 is an example of the CA frequency band combination defined in the 3GPP protocol. This application can use these CA frequency band combinations as SUL frequency band combinations. For example, the CA band combination "n41-n78" means that when n41 is used as the main cell band, n78 can be used as the secondary cell band corresponding to the main cell band. Furthermore, the present application can reuse the CA band combination as the SUL band combination, which means that when n41 is used as the NUL band, n78 can be used as the SUL band corresponding to the NUL band. For another example, the CA band combination "n41-n79" means that when n41 is used as the main cell band, n79 can be used as the secondary cell band corresponding to the main cell band. Furthermore, the present application can reuse the CA band combination as the SUL band combination, which means that when n41 is used as the NUL band, n79 can be used as the SUL band corresponding to the NUL band. Other CA band combinations are similar and can be reused as SUL band combinations. It can also be understood that Table 4 is a newly defined SUL band combination provided by the present application, which can replace the main cell band with the NUL band and the secondary cell band with the SUL band.

[0091] Table 4

[0092]

[0093] In another example, based on the SUL band, a new SUL band combination is defined, and the SUL band combination is not a CA band combination already defined in the 3GPP protocol. For example, the SUL band is n39, and the newly defined SUL band combination is n78-n39, which means that when n78 is used as the NUL band, n39 can be used as the SUL band corresponding to the NUL band, and n78-n39 is not a CA band combination already defined in the 3GPP protocol.

[0094] (2) Enable the FDD band as the SUL communication mode

[0095] Exemplarily, n28 is defined in the 3GPP protocol as being usable as an FDD frequency band. Further, Table 5 is an example of an FDD frequency band enabled as a SUL communication mode provided by the present application, wherein n28 can be used not only as a normal FDD frequency band, but also as a SUL frequency band. For the convenience of description below, the FDD frequency band enabled as a SUL communication mode may be referred to as a SUL frequency band.

[0096] Table 5

[0097]

[0098]

[0099] Furthermore, it is also necessary to define a SUL frequency band combination corresponding to each SUL frequency band.

[0100] In one example, the CA band combination defined in the 3GPP protocol can be reused as the SUL band combination. Table 6 is an example of the CA band combination defined in the 3GPP protocol. The present application can use these CA band combinations as SUL band combinations. Specifically, the CA band combination "n40-n1" means that when n40 is used as the primary cell band, n1 can be used as the secondary cell band corresponding to the primary cell band. Further, the present application can reuse the CA band combination as the SUL band combination, that is, when n40 is used as the NUL band, n1 can be used as the SUL band corresponding to the NUL band; the CA band combination "n77-n1" means that when n77 is used as the primary cell band, n1 can be used as the secondary cell band corresponding to the primary cell band. Further, the present application can reuse the CA band combination as the SUL band combination, which means that when n77 is used as the NUL band, n1 can be used as the SUL band corresponding to the NUL band. Other CA band combinations are similar and can be reused as SUL band combinations. It can also be understood that Table 6 is a newly defined SUL frequency band combination provided by the present application, and the primary cell frequency band can be replaced by the NUL frequency band, and the secondary cell frequency band can be replaced by the SUL frequency band.

[0101] Table 6

[0102]

[0103]

[0104] In another example, based on the SUL band, a new SUL band combination is defined, and the SUL band combination is not a CA band combination already defined in the 3GPP protocol. For example, the SUL band is n1, and the newly defined SUL band combination is n40-n1, which means that when n40 is used as the NUL band, n1 can be used as the SUL band corresponding to the NUL band, and n40-n1 is not a CA band combination already defined in the 3GPP protocol.

[0105] Figure 3 The flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application is as follows. The communication method can be interactively executed by an access network device and a first UE, and the access network device and the first UE can be respectively Figure 2 For the convenience of description, the following description takes the access network device as a base station as an example.

[0106] Step 301: A base station determines a frequency band of a second cell that can be used as a SUL frequency band of a first UE.

[0107] The serving cell of the first UE is the first cell, and the first cell has multiple neighboring cells, including the second cell. The first cell is a cell controlled by the base station, and the second cell can be a cell controlled by the base station or a cell controlled by another base station. The SUL frequency band of the first UE is specifically a frequency band that can be used for the first UE to send uplink information to the base station through the SUL communication mode.

[0108] The frequency band of the first cell may be a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band defined in the 3GPP protocol. Similarly, the frequency band of the second cell may be a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band defined in the 3GPP protocol.

[0109] The frequency band number range of TDD is 34-53, 77-79; the frequency band number range of FDD is 1-28, 65-74, 90-94; for example, the frequency band of the first cell is the TDD band, the frequency band number is n41, the frequency band of the second cell is the TDD band, the frequency band number is n79; the frequency band of the first cell is the TDD band, the frequency band number is n40, the frequency band of the second cell is the FDD band, the frequency band number is n1; the frequency band of the first cell is the FDD band, the frequency band number is n1, the frequency band of the second cell is the TDD band, the frequency band number is n40; the frequency band of the first cell is the FDD band, the frequency band number is n2, the frequency band of the second cell is the FDD band, the frequency band number is n12.

[0110] In one possible manner, the base station and the first UE first negotiate a target SUL frequency band supported by both, and then the base station selects a target cell (ie, a second cell) located in the target SUL frequency band and capable of enabling SUL communication from a neighboring cell of the first cell.

[0111] In combination with implementation mode 1 and implementation mode 2, the negotiation of the target SUL frequency band between the base station and the first UE is explained as follows:

[0112] Implementation 1

[0113] For details, please refer to Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an exemplary process of determining a target SUL frequency band is shown below:

[0114] Step 401: A base station sends information of a target SUL frequency band to a first UE.

[0115] Correspondingly, the first UE receives information about the target SUL frequency band from the base station.

[0116] The base station may send the information of the target SUL frequency band by broadcasting in the first cell or by unicasting to the first UE.

[0117] Specifically, the information of the target SUL frequency band may include an identifier of the target SUL frequency band. Exemplarily, the identifier of the target SUL frequency band is the frequency band number of the target SUL frequency band, or the frequency band range of the target SUL frequency band. For example, if the target SUL frequency band is n78, then the base station may broadcast n78 or 3300MHz-3800MHz in the first cell.

[0118] Furthermore, the information of the target SUL frequency band may also include one or more of the following information of the target SUL frequency band: uplink center frequency, starting resource block (RB) position of uplink bandwidth part (BWP) 0, uplink BWP0 bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, etc.

[0119] When the base station broadcasts the information of the target SUL frequency band to the first UE, exemplarily, the base station may carry the information of the target SUL frequency band in the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) of the first cell. Further exemplarily, the base station may broadcast the information of the target SUL frequency band in the multiple synchronization signal and PBCH (physical broadcast channel) block (multiple SSB) of the first cell.

[0120] In a possible implementation manner, before step 401, the base station may first determine a target SUL frequency band.

[0121] Exemplarily, the base station can determine the target SUL frequency band corresponding to the NUL frequency band of the first cell based on the SUL frequency band supported by the base station, the frequency bands of one or more neighboring cells of the first cell, the frequency band of the first cell (ie, the NUL frequency band), and the SUL frequency band combination.

[0122] There is one target SUL frequency band. The SUL frequency band combination may be a SUL frequency band combination defined by the 3GPP protocol, or a SUL frequency band combination newly defined in this application (such as Table 4 or Table 6).

[0123] Exemplarily, the base station determines one or more SUL frequency bands corresponding to the NUL frequency band of the first cell from the SUL frequency band combination according to the NUL frequency band of the first cell. Subsequently, the base station determines the intersection of one or more SUL frequency bands corresponding to the NUL frequency band, the SUL frequency bands supported by the base station, and the frequency bands of one or more neighboring cells of the first cell, and determines the target SUL frequency band according to the intersection. Exemplarily, when the intersection includes multiple SUL frequency bands, the base station can randomly select one SUL frequency band from them as the target SUL frequency band.

[0124] Taking Table 4 as an example, the NUL frequency band corresponding to the first cell is n41. Based on the combination of NUL frequency band n41 and SUL frequency band, the base station determines that n78 and n79 can be used as the frequency band of the SUL corresponding to n41. Further, the base station determines that the multiple neighboring cells of the first cell include the cell corresponding to n78, but not the cell corresponding to n79, and the base station supports n78 and n79 as SUL frequency bands, so n78 is selected as the target SUL frequency band. Taking Table 4 as an example again, the NUL frequency band corresponding to the first cell is n41. Based on the combination of NUL frequency band n41 and SUL frequency band, the base station determines that n78 and n79 can be used as the frequency band of the SUL corresponding to n41. Further, the base station determines that the multiple neighboring cells of the first cell include the cell corresponding to n78, and the cell corresponding to n79, and the base station supports n78 and n79 as SUL frequency bands, so n78 or n79 is selected as the target SUL frequency band.

[0125] In addition, the base station may further determine a target SUL frequency band based on other information (such as the frequency bands supported by the operator to which the base station belongs, the frequency bands supported by the region to which the base station belongs, etc.).

[0126] Step 402: The first UE sends capability information of the first UE to a base station.

[0127] Accordingly, the base station receives the capability information of the first UE from the first UE.

[0128] In a possible implementation manner, the first UE determines that the first UE supports the target SUL frequency band according to the SUL frequency band supported by the first UE and the target SUL frequency band, and then sends the capability information of the first UE to the base station.

[0129] Among them, the capability information of the first UE is used to indicate whether the first UE supports the target SUL frequency band as the frequency band of the SUL communication mode, or in other words, the capability information of the first UE is used to indicate whether the first UE supports the target SUL frequency band. Exemplarily, the capability information of the first UE includes an identifier of the target SUL frequency band. Further exemplarily, the capability information of the first UE also includes indication information corresponding to the target SUL frequency band. For example, when the indication information takes a value of 1, it indicates that the first UE supports the target SUL frequency band. The capability information of the first UE is, for example, UE capability information (UECapabilityInformation).

[0130] It should be added that, before the above step 401, if the base station determines that the intersection of the SUL frequency band corresponding to the NUL frequency band, the SUL frequency band supported by the base station, and the frequency band of the neighboring cell of the first cell contains multiple SUL frequency bands, the base station can also broadcast the multiple SUL frequency bands as multiple alternative SUL frequency bands in the first cell or send them to the first UE by unicast. Accordingly, the first UE receives multiple alternative SUL frequency bands from the base station. The first UE selects an alternative SUL frequency band supported by the first UE from the multiple alternative SUL frequency bands as the target SUL frequency band, and the target SUL frequency band can also be one or more. Further, the first UE sends capability information to the base station, and accordingly, the base station receives capability information from the first UE, and the capability information of the first UE is used to indicate that the first UE supports the target SUL frequency band as the frequency band of the SUL communication mode. For example, the base station determines n78 and n79 as alternative SUL frequency bands, and sends information about the two frequency bands n78 and n79 to the first UE. Correspondingly, the first UE receives information about the n78 frequency band and the n79 frequency band from the base station. The first UE determines that the first UE supports the n78 frequency band and the n79 frequency band as SUL frequency bands, so the capability information of the first UE sent to the base station includes n78 and n79. For details not described in detail in this embodiment, please refer to Figure 4 The related embodiments are not described in detail.

[0131] Implementation 2

[0132] For details, please refer to Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another process of determining a target SUL frequency band is shown as an example:

[0133] Step 501: A first UE sends capability information of the first UE to a base station.

[0134] Accordingly, the base station receives the capability information of the first UE from the first UE.

[0135] Among them, the capability information of the first UE includes one or more alternative SUL frequency bands and indication information corresponding to the above alternative SUL frequency bands, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the use of these alternative SUL frequency bands as frequency bands for SUL communication. Optionally, the capability information of the first UE also includes the NUL frequency bands of the first cell corresponding to the alternative SUL frequency bands, that is, the capability information of the first UE includes the SUL frequency band combination supported by the first UE. For example, the NUL frequency band corresponding to the first cell is n41, then the capability information of the first UE may include the following two items: "n41-n78, indication information", "n41-n79, indication information", wherein "n41-n78, indication information" indicates that the first UE supports the use of n78 as the SUL frequency band when it is in the service cell located in the n41 frequency band, and "n41-n79, indication information" indicates that the first UE supports the use of n79 as the SUL frequency band when it is in the service cell located in the n41 frequency band.

[0136] Optionally, before step 501, the first UE may first determine an alternative SUL frequency band.

[0137] Exemplarily, the first UE determines the candidate SUL frequency band according to the SUL frequency band supported by the first UE, the frequency band of the first cell (i.e., the NUL frequency band), and the SUL frequency band combination. The SUL frequency band combination may be a SUL frequency band combination defined by the 3GPP protocol, or a SUL frequency band combination newly defined in this application (such as Table 4 or Table 6). The candidate SUL frequency band may be one or more.

[0138] In conjunction with the example in Table 4, the NUL frequency band corresponding to the first cell is n41, the first UE determines that n41 corresponds to n78 and n79, and further, the first UE supports n78 as the SUL frequency band, and n78 is selected as the alternative SUL frequency band. Alternatively, the NUL frequency band corresponding to the first cell is n41, the first UE determines that n41 corresponds to n78 and n79, and further, the first UE supports n78 and n79 as the SUL frequency band, and n78 and n79 are selected as the alternative SUL frequency bands.

[0139] Step 502: The base station determines a target SUL frequency band according to capability information of the first UE.

[0140] Specifically, the base station can determine the target SUL frequency band according to the SUL frequency band supported by the base station, the alternative SUL frequency band in the capability information of the first UE, and the frequency band where the neighboring cells of the first cell are located. Among them, the target SUL frequency band can be one or more. For example, the alternative SUL frequency bands are n78 and n79, and the multiple neighboring cells of the first cell include a cell corresponding to n78, but do not include a cell corresponding to n79, and the base station supports n78 and n79 as SUL frequency bands, so the base station selects n78 as the target SUL frequency band. For another example, the alternative SUL frequency bands are n78 and n79, and the multiple neighboring cells of the first cell include a cell corresponding to n78, and, include a cell corresponding to n79, and the base station supports n78 and n79 as SUL frequency bands, so the base station selects n78 and n79 as the target SUL frequency band.

[0141] In addition, the first UE may also report all SUL frequency band combinations and indication information supported by it in the capability information of the first UE. Accordingly, the base station may further determine the target SUL frequency band in combination with the SUL frequency band supported by the base station, the NUL frequency band of the first cell to which the first UE belongs, and the frequency band where the neighboring cell of the first cell is located. Specifically, the base station determines one or more SUL frequency bands corresponding to the NUL frequency band based on the NUL frequency band, the SUL frequency band combination and indication information in the capability information of the first UE, and further, takes the intersection of one or more SUL frequency bands corresponding to the NUL frequency band, the SUL frequency band supported by the base station, and the frequency band where the neighboring cell of the first cell is located as the target SUL frequency band. For example, the SUL frequency band combinations supported by the first UE include "n41-n78", "n41-n79" and "n40-n79", and the capability information reported by the first UE to the base station includes "n41-n78, indication information", "n41-n79, indication information", and "n40-n79, indication information". Accordingly, the base station determines that the SUL frequency bands corresponding to the NUL frequency band are n78 and n79 based on the NUL frequency band n41 of the first cell to which the first UE belongs. Further, the base station determines that the SUL frequency bands it supports are n78 and n79. The frequency bands of the neighboring cells of the first cell include n78 but not n79, so the target SUL frequency band is determined to be n78.

[0142] In the above implementation manner 1 and implementation manner 2, the capability information of the first UE may also include full capability, which specifically refers to the full capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the first UE uses the target SUL frequency band as the SUL frequency band when sending uplink information to the base station, or it can also be understood that the full capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the target SUL frequency band is enabled as the SUL communication mode. Among them, the full capability may include at least one or more of the following: maximum output power, maximum supported bandwidth, maximum number of layers supported by the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), modulation mode, and uplink tx switching period.

[0143] Considering that the target SUL frequency band in the present application can specifically be a TDD frequency band that enables the SUL communication mode, when the TDD frequency band does not enable the SUL communication mode, the first UE can send uplink information based on the TDD frequency band, that is, the first UE also has the ability to send uplink information through the TDD frequency band that does not enable the SUL communication mode (i.e., the ordinary TDD frequency band). Further, the first UE has reported the capability to the base station in advance, for example, when the first UE accesses the first cell, or when the first UE receives the capability query of the base station, the first UE reports the capability to the base station in advance. In order to reduce the amount of data when the first UE reports the capability, the UE can also determine the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the TDD frequency band is not enabled as the SUL communication mode (for example, as the secondary cell frequency band in the CA frequency band combination) (recorded as capability 1), and the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the TDD frequency band is enabled as the SUL communication mode (recorded as capability 2), and then determine the capability difference between capability 1 and capability 2, and report the capability difference to the base station. Correspondingly, the base station may determine capability 2 according to capability 1 reported by the first UE and the capability difference.

[0144] Exemplarily, capability 1 includes maximum transmit power 1, maximum supported bandwidth 1, maximum number of layers supported by PUSCH 1, modulation mode 1, and uplink transmission switching period 1. Capability 2 includes maximum transmit power 1, maximum supported bandwidth 1, maximum number of layers supported by PUSCH 1, modulation mode 1, and uplink transmission switching period 2. Then, the first UE can determine that the capability difference is uplink transmission switching period 2, and then report the uplink transmission switching period 2 to the base station.

[0145] Similarly, when the target SUL frequency band is specifically an FDD frequency band that enables the SUL communication mode, the first UE can also determine the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the FDD frequency band is not enabled as the SUL communication mode (for example, as the secondary cell frequency band in the CA frequency band combination) (recorded as capability 3), and the ability of the first UE to send uplink information when the FDD frequency band is enabled as the SUL communication mode (recorded as capability 4), and then determine the capability difference (i.e., capability difference) between capability 3 and capability 4, and report the capability difference to the base station. Accordingly, the base station can determine capability 4 based on capability 3 and capability difference reported by the first UE. For specific examples, please refer to the description when the target SUL frequency band is the TDD frequency band.

[0146] As described above, the base station and the first UE have negotiated one or more target SUL frequency bands. Further, the base station may select a target cell located in the target SUL frequency band from the neighboring cells of the first cell and whose frequency band can enable the SUL communication mode. For details, see Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a process for determining a target cell is provided as an example:

[0147] Step 601: A base station sends measurement indication information to a first UE.

[0148] Correspondingly, the first UE receives the measurement indication information from the base station.

[0149] The measurement indication information is used to instruct the first UE to measure reference signals of one or more neighboring cells of the first cell located in the target SUL frequency band, so as to obtain the channel quality between the first UE and each neighboring cell.

[0150] The reference signal may be one or more of the following: a cell-specific reference signal (CS-RS), a positioning reference signal (PRS), and a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0151] The channel quality may be one or more of the following: channel state information (CSI), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR).

[0152] Exemplarily, the measurement indication information may include one or more of the following information: information of the target SUL frequency band, and identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first cell located in the target SUL frequency band.

[0153] Furthermore, the measurement indication information may also include a measurement event, and the measurement event is used to indicate when the first UE needs to report the channel quality of the neighboring cell. The measurement event may be an A3 measurement event or an A5 measurement event.

[0154] Optionally, the base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the first UE, where the RRC reconfiguration message includes measurement indication information.

[0155] Step 602: The first UE sends a measurement report to the base station.

[0156] Accordingly, the base station receives a measurement report from the first UE.

[0157] The measurement report includes channel quality of one or more neighboring cells of the first cell located in the target SUL frequency band.

[0158] Specifically, the first UE measures the reference signal sent by the neighboring cell of the first cell in the target SUL frequency band according to the measurement indication information to obtain the channel quality of the neighboring cell. Further, when the first UE determines that the channel quality of the neighboring cell is greater than the channel quality threshold, the first UE carries the channel quality of the neighboring cell in the measurement report and sends it to the base station.

[0159] Step 603: The base station determines a target cell (ie, the second cell) according to the measurement report of the first UE.

[0160] In the first example, the base station first prioritizes multiple neighboring cells in the measurement report of the first UE, and then selects a target cell from the multiple neighboring cells according to the ranking result.

[0161] The base station may prioritize multiple neighboring cells based on one of the following factors (1) to (4):

[0162] (1) Neighboring cell channel quality: Neighboring cells with better channel quality are ranked higher in the ranking results; neighboring cells with worse channel quality are ranked lower in the ranking results.

[0163] (2) Transmission performance of neighboring cells: The better the transmission performance of a neighboring cell, the higher the ranking of the neighboring cell; the worse the transmission performance of a neighboring cell, the lower the ranking of the neighboring cell. When determining the transmission performance of a neighboring cell, the base station may determine the transmission performance of the neighboring cell based on the uplink available bandwidth, modulation order, coding efficiency and rank (RANK) of the neighboring cell. For example, transmission performance = uplink available bandwidth × modulation order × coding efficiency × RANK.

[0164] (3) Whether the frequency band of the neighboring cell is the same as the frequency band of the first cell: The neighboring cell with the same frequency band as the first cell is located in front of the neighboring cell with a different frequency band than the first cell (i.e., the neighboring cell with a different frequency band from the first cell). Specifically, the two cells having the same frequency band may have the same frequency band number.

[0165] (4) Whether the neighboring cell and the first cell belong to the same base station: The neighboring cell that belongs to the same base station as the first cell is located in front of the neighboring cell that does not belong to the same base station as the first cell.

[0166] In addition, the base station can also prioritize the multiple neighboring cells based on multiple factors (1) to (4). In this case, the multiple factors can be prioritized first, and when the multiple neighboring cells are prioritized according to the first factor and the order cannot be distinguished, the multiple neighboring cells are further prioritized according to the second factor, and when the multiple neighboring cells are prioritized according to the second factor and the order cannot be distinguished, the multiple neighboring cells are further prioritized according to the third factor, and so on, to obtain the final ranking result. For example, the measurement report includes the channel quality of cells 1 to 5. The base station ranks the five neighboring cells according to the channel quality and transmission performance of the neighboring cells in turn. When the channel quality factor is given priority, the channel quality relationship of the five cells is cell 1 = cell 2 > cell 4 = cell 5 > cell 3. Secondly, the base station determines that the transmission performance of cell 1 is better than the transmission performance of cell 2, and the transmission performance of cell 4 is better than the transmission performance of cell 5. Therefore, the base station determines that the priority ranking result of the five cells is cell 1, cell 2, cell 4, cell 5, cell 3.

[0167] When the base station selects a target cell from multiple neighboring cells according to the sorting results, specifically, the base station determines whether the frequency band of the first neighboring cell in the sorting results can enable the SUL communication mode. If the base station determines that the frequency band of the first neighboring cell can enable the SUL communication mode, then it is determined that the first neighboring cell is the target cell (i.e., the second cell). If the base station determines that the frequency band of the first neighboring cell cannot enable the SUL communication mode, then it is determined whether the frequency band of the second neighboring cell can enable the SUL communication mode, and so on, until the target cell is determined.

[0168] Furthermore, when the base station determines whether the frequency band of a neighboring cell (hereinafter referred to as a candidate neighboring cell) enables the SUL communication mode, there may be two possible situations:

[0169] Case 1: the candidate neighboring cell is a cell controlled by the base station.

[0170] The base station maintains cell status information, which includes identifiers of multiple cells controlled by the base station, and the frequency bands corresponding to each of the multiple cells and the enabled status of the frequency bands. The base station can determine whether the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has been enabled as the SUL communication mode based on the cell status information. Further, if the base station determines that the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has not been enabled as the SUL communication mode, then after determining that the candidate neighboring cell is in an idle state, the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell is enabled as the SUL communication mode, and then the following step 302 is executed. If the base station determines that the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has been enabled as the SUL communication mode, the following step 302 can be directly executed.

[0171] Exemplarily, the base station controls cell A to cell D, and the corresponding enabling states of cell A to cell D are shown in Table 7. When the enabling state is 1, it indicates that the frequency band of the cell has been enabled as the SUL communication mode; when the enabling state is 0, it indicates that the frequency band of the cell has not been enabled as the SUL communication mode. Among them, cell A is an alternative neighboring cell, and the base station determines that the frequency band of cell A has not been enabled as the SUL communication mode. After determining that cell A is in an idle state, the frequency band of cell A is enabled as the SUL communication mode. Further, the base station updates the enabling state of cell A in the cell status information from "0" to "1".

[0172] Table 7

[0173] Community Frequency band Enable status Community A Band A 0 Community B Band B 0 Cell C Band C 1 Community D Band D 1

[0174] Case 2: The candidate neighboring cell is not a cell controlled by the base station. That is, the candidate neighboring cell is a cell controlled by other base stations. For the convenience of description, the base station in step 301 (i.e., the base station for managing the first cell) is called the first base station; the base station for managing the candidate neighboring cell is called the second base station.

[0175] The second base station maintains cell status information, which includes the identifiers of multiple cells controlled by the second base station, and the frequency bands corresponding to each of the multiple cells and the enabling status of the frequency bands. After determining the candidate neighboring cell, the first base station may send an enabling request to the second base station, and the enabling request may include the identifier of the candidate neighboring cell. Correspondingly, the second base station determines whether the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has been enabled as the SUL communication mode according to the enabling request and the cell status information. Further, if the second base station determines that the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has not been enabled as the SUL communication mode, after determining that the candidate neighboring cell is in an idle state, the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell is enabled as the SUL communication mode, and sends an enabling response to the first base station, so that the first base station continues to perform the following step 302. If the second base station determines that the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has been enabled as the SUL communication mode, it sends an enabling response to the first base station, so that the first base station continues to perform the following step 302. Among them, the enabling response is used to inform the first base station that "the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell has been enabled as the SUL communication mode".

[0176] In the above situation 1 or situation 2, the base station (or the second base station) determines that the candidate neighboring cell is in an idle state, which may be specifically determined that the candidate neighboring cell satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0177] (1) The uplink resource utilization of the candidate neighboring cell is lower than the preset utilization. The uplink resource utilization of the candidate neighboring cell may specifically be the sounding reference signal (SRS) resource utilization, the PUSCH resource utilization or the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource utilization. Among them, the SRS resource utilization may be expressed as the ratio of the number of used SRS resources to the total number of available SRS resources in the candidate neighboring cell; the PUSCH resource utilization may be expressed as the ratio of the number of used PUSCH resources to the total number of available PUSCH resources in the candidate neighboring cell; the PUCCH resource utilization may be expressed as the ratio of the number of used PUCCH resources to the total number of available PUCCH resources in the candidate neighboring cell. The total number of available resources includes the number of used resources and the number of unused resources.

[0178] (2) The available processing capacity of the alternative neighboring cell is higher than the preset processing capacity. The available processing capacity of the alternative neighboring cell includes one or more of the following: the number of UEs that can be accessed by the alternative neighboring cell, the remaining computing capacity of the processor (such as the central processing unit (CPU)) corresponding to the alternative neighboring cell, etc. Among them, the number of UEs that can be accessed by the alternative neighboring cell refers to the difference between the total number of UEs that can be accessed by the alternative neighboring cell and the number of UEs that have already accessed the alternative neighboring cell. Among them, the total number of UEs that can be accessed by the alternative neighboring cell can be the minimum value of the following: the number of UE contexts that can be established by the alternative neighboring cell, the number of UEs that can be supported by SRS in the alternative neighboring cell, the number of UEs that can be supported by PUSCH in the alternative neighboring cell, and the number of UEs that can be supported by PUCCH in the alternative neighboring cell.

[0179] In addition, the base station (or the second base station) may not maintain the cell status information, but directly enable the frequency band of the candidate neighboring cell as the SUL communication mode after determining that the candidate neighboring cell is in an idle state.

[0180] In the second example, the base station first selects a candidate neighboring cell whose frequency band can be enabled as a SUL communication mode from multiple neighboring cells included in the measurement report of the first UE, and then prioritizes the selected multiple candidate neighboring cells, and then selects a target cell from the multiple candidate neighboring cells according to the ranking result. For example, the measurement report includes the channel quality of cells 1 to 5. The base station first selects a candidate neighboring cell whose frequency band can be enabled as a SUL communication mode (such as cells 1 to 3) from cells 1 to 5, and then the base station prioritizes cells 1 to 3. For example, if the ranking result is cell 1, cell 3 and cell 2, the base station can determine cell 1 as the target cell.

[0181] Among them, the base station selects an alternative neighboring cell whose frequency band can be enabled as a SUL communication mode from multiple neighboring cells included in the measurement report of the first UE. Specifically, the base station determines whether the frequency band of each neighboring cell in the measurement report can be enabled as a SUL communication mode. The specific method can refer to the description of the base station determining whether the alternative neighboring cell can be enabled as a SUL communication mode in the first example above. Furthermore, if the base station determines that the frequency band of the neighboring cell can be enabled as a SUL communication mode, the neighboring cell is used as a candidate neighboring cell; if the base station determines that the frequency band of the neighboring cell cannot be enabled as a SUL communication mode, the neighboring cell is filtered out; the specific method of the base station prioritizing the multiple selected candidate neighboring cells can refer to the description of the base station prioritizing multiple neighboring cells in the measurement report in the first example above.

[0182] In one possible scenario, if the base station determines that the throughput of the first UE in the current time slot when sending uplink information through the NUL frequency band of the first cell is lower than the throughput requirement of the first UE, the base station executes step 301.

[0183] In the present application, the frequency band of the target cell may be referred to as the frequency band of the second cell, the SUL frequency band of the first cell, the SUL frequency band, etc. The frequency band of the second cell enabling the SUL communication mode may also be considered as the second cell enabling the SUL communication mode.

[0184] Optionally, after determining that the frequency band of the second cell is enabled as the SUL communication mode, the base station (or the first base station) can further configure the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band to the first UE. In a specific example, the base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the first UE, and the RRC reconfiguration message includes: one or more of the PUSCH configuration information, SRS configuration information, PUCCH configuration information, and physical random access channel (PRACH) configuration information corresponding to the SUL frequency band, wherein the PUSCH configuration information includes a dedicated bandwidth that the first UE can use to transmit the PUSCH, and others are similar, and the specifics can be found in the TS38.331 protocol.

[0185] In the above configuration process, the base station can only configure the SUL frequency band (i.e., the uplink frequency band), which helps to reduce the configuration complexity. The first UE only needs to monitor the PDCCH of the first cell, which helps to achieve UE energy saving. The first UE is not connected to the second cell, that is, for the second cell, the UE access volume is not increased, so it will not affect the total number of UEs that the second cell can accommodate. The first UE is not connected to the second cell, which will not increase the downlink resource consumption of the second cell.

[0186] Step 302: The base station sends scheduling information to the first UE.

[0187] Correspondingly, the first UE receives scheduling information from the base station.

[0188] The scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information to the base station through the SUL communication mode on the SUL frequency band of the first cell (ie, the frequency band of the second cell). The scheduling information may specifically be DCI carried on the PDCCH.

[0189] The base station may schedule the first UE to send uplink information in time-division on the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell, or to send uplink information in parallel on the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell. For details, refer to the following two implementation methods.

[0190] Implementation method 1: Time-sharing transmission

[0191] For one time slot (recorded as the first time slot), the base station selects a frequency band with better transmission capability from the NUL frequency band of the first cell and the SUL frequency band of the first cell as the frequency band for the first UE to transmit uplink information.

[0192] In the first specific example, the base station predicts the first transmission capability of the first UE when sending uplink information through the NUL frequency band of the first cell in the first time slot, and the second transmission capability when sending uplink information through the SUL frequency band of the first cell. Further, when the base station determines that the first transmission capability is better than the second transmission capability, it generates scheduling information (recorded as the first scheduling information) and sends the first scheduling information to the first UE, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that in the first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information to the base station on the NUL frequency band of the first cell; when the base station determines that the second transmission capability is better than the first transmission capability, it generates the first scheduling information and sends the first scheduling information to the first UE, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that in the first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information to the base station on the SUL frequency band of the first cell.

[0193] Among them, when the base station predicts the first transmission capacity, specifically, the base station determines the uplink available bandwidth corresponding to the first cell for the first UE to send uplink information according to the NUL frequency band of the first cell and the throughput requirements of multiple UEs (including the first UE) currently connected to the first cell; and the base station determines the modulation order, coding efficiency, and RANK corresponding to the first cell for the first UE to send uplink information according to the channel quality between the first cell and the first UE; then, the base station determines the first transmission capacity according to the uplink available bandwidth, modulation order, coding efficiency, and RANK corresponding to the first cell for the first UE to send uplink information. The implementation method of the base station predicting the second transmission capacity can refer to the implementation method of the base station predicting the first transmission capacity mentioned above, and "first cell" can be replaced with "second cell".

[0194] In the second specific example, when the base station determines that the first UE is at the middle or near point, first scheduling information is sent to the first UE, and the first scheduling information is used to indicate that in the first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information to the base station on the NUL frequency band of the first cell; when the base station determines that the first UE is at the far point, first scheduling information is sent to the first UE, and the first scheduling information is used to indicate that in the first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information to the base station on the SUL frequency band of the first cell.

[0195] Exemplarily, the first UE measures the reference signal of the first cell, obtains the channel quality of the first cell, and reports the channel quality of the first cell to the base station. Subsequently, when the base station determines that the channel quality of the first cell is greater than the channel quality threshold, it determines that the first UE is at the middle near point; when the base station determines that the channel quality of the first cell is less than or equal to the channel quality threshold, it determines that the first UE is at the far point; or, when the base station determines that the channel quality of the first cell is greater than or equal to the channel quality threshold, it determines that the first UE is at the middle near point; when the base station determines that the channel quality of the first cell is less than the channel quality threshold, it determines that the first UE is at the far point.

[0196] Figure 7 The schematic diagram is a scenario in which a base station schedules a UE to send uplink information based on the UE position, wherein the base station controls cell 1 and cell 2, and both UE1 and UE2 are connected to cell 1, that is, cell 1 is the service cell of UE1 and UE2, and the frequency band configured by the base station for cell 2 is the SUL frequency band of cell 1. Further, the base station determines that UE1 is located at a near-midpoint based on the channel quality between UE1 and cell 1, and schedules UE1 to send uplink information to the base station on the NUL frequency band of cell 1; the base station determines that UE2 is located at a farpoint based on the channel quality between UE2 and cell 1, and schedules UE2 to send uplink information to the base station on the SUL frequency band of cell 1.

[0197] Exemplarily, the first scheduling information includes a resource indication, which is used to indicate time domain resources and frequency domain resources, and the time domain resources and frequency domain resources can be used by the first UE to send uplink information to the base station. For example, the frequency domain resources are included in the dedicated bandwidth of the above-mentioned PUSCH. Exemplarily, the scheduling information may also include one or more of the following: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and precoding information.

[0198] Implementation method 2: parallel sending

[0199] For a time slot (recorded as a second time slot), the base station generates scheduling information (recorded as second scheduling information), and sends the second scheduling information to the first UE, where the second scheduling information is used to indicate that in the second time slot, the first UE sends the first uplink information to the base station on the NUL frequency band of the first cell, and sends the second uplink information to the base station on the SUL frequency band of the first cell. The fields included in the second scheduling information are similar to the fields included in the first scheduling information.

[0200] Step 303: The first UE sends uplink information in the SUL frequency band of the first cell (ie, the frequency band of the second cell) through the SUL communication mode according to the scheduling information. The uplink information may be carried in the PUSCH.

[0201] Example 1: In the first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information to the base station on the NUL frequency band of the first cell (or the SUL frequency band of the first cell) according to the first scheduling information. Figure 8A method for transmitting information between a first UE and a base station is provided as an example for the present application. The first time slot may be time slot 8 or time slot 9. Specifically, in time slot 8, the second transmission capability is better than the first transmission capability, and the first UE sends uplink information through the SUL frequency band of the first cell; in time slot 9, the first transmission capability is better than the second transmission capability, and the first UE sends uplink information through the NUL frequency band of the first cell.

[0202] Example 2: In the second time slot, the first UE sends first uplink information to the base station on the NUL frequency band of the first cell, and the first UE sends second uplink information to the base station on the SUL frequency band of the first cell. Fig. 9 Another exemplary method of transmitting information between the first UE and the base station is provided in the present application. The second time slot may be time slot 8 or time slot 9. For example, in time slot 8, the first UE may send uplink information in parallel, that is, the first UE may transmit the first uplink information through the NUL frequency band of the first cell, and transmit the second uplink information through the SUL frequency band of the first cell.

[0203] Of course, parallel transmission and time-division transmission may also exist at the same time. For example, in time slot 8, the second transmission capability is superior to the first transmission capability, and the first UE transmits uplink information through the SUL frequency band of the first cell; in time slot 9, the first UE may transmit the first uplink information through the NUL frequency band of the first cell, and transmit the second uplink information through the SUL frequency band of the first cell. For details, see Fig.10 shown.

[0204] It should be added that the second cell can also serve as a service cell for the second UE, that is, the second UE can transmit information (including uplink information and downlink information) with the base station on the frequency band of the second cell. It can be understood that the uplink resources of the second cell are shared by the first UE and the second UE. Based on whether the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD band or an FDD band, the following describes the way in which the two UEs transmit information:

[0205] It is noted in advance that the following is explained from two dimensions: Dimension 1, how the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the NUL frequency band of the first cell and / or the SUL frequency band of the first cell (i.e., the frequency band of the second cell); Dimension 2, how the base station allocates the uplink resources of the second cell to the first UE and the second UE.

[0206] For the convenience of description, the following description takes the frequency band of the first cell as the TDD frequency band as an example, and the NUL frequency band of the first cell is referred to as the NUL frequency band, and the SUL frequency band of the first cell is referred to as the SUL frequency band.

[0207] When the frequency band of the second cell is the TDD frequency band:

[0208] Example 1: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information in a time-division manner on the NUL frequency band and the SUL frequency band; the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.11 In (a), in time slot 2, time slot 6 or time slot 7, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the SUL frequency band; in time slot 8 or time slot 9, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the NUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slots (such as time slot 2, time slot 6, time slot 7) resources of the second cell.

[0209] Example 2: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information in the NUL frequency band and the SUL frequency band in time division; the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use the other part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.11 In (b), in time slot 2, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the SUL frequency band; in time slot 8 or time slot 9, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the NUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share time slot 2 of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use time slots 6 and 7 of the second cell.

[0210] Example 3: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information in parallel on the NUL frequency band and the SUL frequency band, and the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.11 In (c), in time slot 2, time slot 6 or time slot 7, the base station schedules the first UE to send the first uplink information on the NUL frequency band and the second uplink information on the SUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slots (such as time slot 2, time slot 6, time slot 7) resources of the second cell.

[0211] Example 4: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information in parallel on the NUL frequency band and the SUL frequency band, and the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use the other part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.11 In (d), in time slot 6 or time slot 7, the base station schedules the first UE to send the first uplink information on the NUL frequency band, and sends the second uplink information on the SUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share time slot 6 and time slot 7 of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use time slot 2 of the second cell.

[0212] Example 5: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information only on the SUL frequency band, but not on the NUL frequency band; the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.11 In (e), the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on uplink time slots (such as time slot 2, time slot 6, and time slot 7) of the SUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slots (such as time slot 2, time slot 6, and time slot 7) of the second cell.

[0213] It should be added that the above is only an exemplary way for the base station to schedule the first UE or the second UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is the TDD frequency band. Of course, there may be other ways, and this application will not give examples one by one.

[0214] When the frequency band of the second cell is the FDD band:

[0215] Example 1: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information in a time-division manner on the NUL frequency band and the SUL frequency band; the base station schedules the first UE to exclusively use part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use other part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.12 In (a), in time slots 0 to 3, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the SUL frequency band; in time slots 8 and 9, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the NUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE to exclusively use time slots 0 to 3 of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use time slots 4 to 9 of the second cell.

[0216] Example 2: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information in the NUL frequency band and the SUL frequency band in time division; the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use the other part of the uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.12 In (b), in time slot 0 to time slot 3, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the SUL frequency band; in time slot 8 and time slot 9, the base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information on the NUL frequency band. Further, the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share time slot 0 to time slot 3 of the second cell, and schedules the second UE to exclusively use time slot 4 to time slot 9 of the second cell.

[0217] Example 3: The base station schedules the first UE to send uplink information only on the SUL frequency band, but not on the NUL frequency band; the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share all uplink time slot resources of the second cell. Fig.12 In (c), the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share time slot 0 to time slot 9 of the second cell.

[0218] It should be added that the above is only an exemplary way for the base station to schedule the first UE or the second UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is the FDD frequency band. Of course, there may be other ways, and this application will not give examples one by one.

[0219] Furthermore, when the base station schedules the first UE and the second UE to share a certain uplink time slot resource of the second cell, the uplink information sent by the first UE and the second UE can be further distinguished in the frequency domain and / or spatial domain.

[0220] Implementation A: Distinguish the uplink information sent by the first UE and the second UE in the frequency domain.

[0221] Reference Fig.13 A schematic diagram of resource allocation is shown as an example, in which a base station schedules a first UE and a second UE to share an uplink time slot resource of a second cell. Further, the base station schedules the first UE to use the first uplink resource corresponding to the time slot and the first frequency band to send uplink information to the base station; the base station schedules the second UE to use the second uplink resource corresponding to the time slot and the second frequency band to send uplink information to the base station, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency band are different sub-frequency bands on the frequency band corresponding to the second cell.

[0222] Furthermore, the base station may dynamically adjust the ratio of the number of resources included in the first uplink resource and the second uplink resource according to the service transmission requirements of the first UE and the second UE. Here, the number of resources is, for example, the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0223] Optionally, the first uplink resource and the second uplink resource may have no obvious boundary, for example, see Fig.14 A schematic diagram of another exemplary resource allocation is shown, where the shaded portion is the first uplink resource, and the non-shaded portion is the second uplink resource.

[0224] Implementation method B: Distinguish the uplink information sent by the first UE and the second UE in the spatial domain.

[0225] The base station includes multiple receiving antennas, each receiving antenna is used to receive uplink information from a UE. The base station can allocate a first antenna among the multiple receiving antennas to receive uplink information from a first UE; and the base station allocates a second antenna among the multiple receiving antennas to receive uplink information from a second UE. The first antenna and the second antenna are different, the first antenna can be one or more, and the second antenna can be one or more.

[0226] In the above technical solution, the TDD frequency band or FDD frequency band defined in the existing 3GPP protocol is enabled as a SUL communication mode, and a new SUL frequency band combination is defined for these TDD frequency bands or FDD frequency bands, or the CA frequency band combination in which these TDD frequency bands or FDD frequency bands are used as secondary cell frequency bands is used as a SUL frequency band combination. In this way, the optional range of SUL frequency bands that can be used when the base station and the first UE communicate through the SUL communication mode is expanded.

[0227] When the base station and the first UE communicate through the SUL communication mode, there are mainly the following three processes:

[0228] In process 1, the base station and the first UE negotiate a target SUL frequency band that is supported by both and corresponds to the NUL frequency band of the first cell.

[0229] There are two specific methods:

[0230] Mode 1: The base station may determine the candidate SUL frequency band corresponding to the NUL frequency band of the first cell (which may be recorded as the candidate SUL frequency band of the first cell) according to the NUL frequency band of the first cell and the combination of these SUL frequency bands. The candidate SUL frequency band of the first cell may be one or more. The base station sends the one or more candidate SUL frequency bands to the first UE. Accordingly, the first UE selects the candidate SUL frequency band it supports (recorded as the target SUL frequency band) from the one or more SUL candidate frequency bands. The target SUL frequency band may be one or more. The first UE sends the capability information of the first UE to the base station. The capability information of the first UE is used to indicate that the first UE supports the one or more target SUL frequency bands as the frequency bands in the SUL communication mode.

[0231] Mode 2: The first UE sends the capability information of the first UE to the base station, and the capability information of the first UE includes one or more alternative SUL frequency bands supported by the first UE and indication information corresponding to the above alternative SUL frequency bands, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the use of these alternative SUL frequency bands as the frequency bands for SUL communication. Correspondingly, the base station selects the alternative SUL frequency bands it supports (referred to as the target SUL frequency band) from the one or more alternative SUL frequency bands according to the NUL frequency band of the first cell and the combination of these SUL frequency bands, and the target SUL frequency band can be one or more.

[0232] For details not described in Method 1, please refer to Figure 4 For details not described in detail in Method 2, please refer to Figure 5 Described in the relevant embodiments.

[0233] In process 2, the base station selects a second cell located in a target SUL frequency band from multiple neighboring cells of the first cell, wherein the frequency band of the second cell (ie, the target SUL frequency band) can be used as the target SUL frequency band when the first UE communicates with the base station.

[0234] The base station instructs the first UE to measure the channel quality of one or more neighboring cells of the first cell located on each target SUL frequency band, and then selects neighboring cells whose channel quality is greater than the channel quality threshold, and the first UE carries the channel quality of these selected neighboring cells in the measurement report and reports it to the base station. Further, the base station selects a second cell from the multiple neighboring cells according to the channel quality of the multiple neighboring cells in the measurement report. In one example, the base station sorts the multiple neighboring cells in the measurement report from high to low priority, and determines in sequence based on the sorting result whether the frequency band of each neighboring cell can be used as the target SUL frequency band when the first UE communicates with the base station, until it is determined that the target SUL frequency band can be used as the target SUL frequency band when the first UE communicates with the base station, and accordingly, the determined neighboring cell is the second cell. In another example, the base station first selects neighboring cells whose frequency band can be used as the target SUL frequency band when the first UE communicates with the base station from the multiple neighboring cells included in the measurement report, and then sorts these neighboring cells from high to low priority, and takes the first neighboring cell in the sorting result as the second cell. Among them, when the base station prioritizes multiple neighboring cells from high to low, the ranking can be based on one or more of the channel quality, transmission performance, whether the frequency band of the neighboring cell is the same as that of the first cell, and whether the neighboring cell belongs to the same base station as the first cell. When the base station determines whether the frequency band of the neighboring cell can be used as the target SUL frequency band when the first UE communicates with the base station, it can be specifically determined whether the neighboring cell is in an idle state.

[0235] For details not described in detail, please refer to Figure 6 Described in the relevant embodiments.

[0236] In process 3, the base station may send scheduling information to the first UE, where the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information to the base station via the SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the selected second cell. In the present application, the frequency band of the second cell may be understood as the target SUL frequency band when the base station and the first UE communicate via the SUL communication mode, or referred to as the target SUL frequency band of the first UE, or referred to as the target SUL frequency band of the first cell.

[0237] In this way, when the base station and the first UE communicate through the SUL communication mode, the target SUL frequency band used for the SUL communication mode can be selected from more SUL frequency bands, which helps to solve the problem of fewer SUL frequency bands defined in the 3GPP protocol. Further, it helps to improve the uplink throughput of the cell and the user, and improve the resource utilization in the communication system.

[0238] The various embodiments described herein may be independent solutions or may be combined according to internal logic, and all of these solutions fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0239] In the embodiments provided by the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between various devices. In order to implement the functions of the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application, the UE and the access network device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module to implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether one of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0240] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into a processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

[0241] Based on the above content and the same idea, Fig.15 and Fig.16 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a possible communication device provided by the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the access network device or the first UE in the above method embodiment, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiment.

[0242] In the present application, the communication device may be Figure 2 The access network device shown in FIG. 1 may also be Figure 2 The UE shown may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to an access network device or a UE.

[0243] like Fig.15 As shown, the communication device 1500 includes a processing module 1501 and a transceiver module 1502. The communication device 1500 is used to implement the above Figures 3 to 6 The method embodiment shown has a function of an access network device (such as a base station) or a first UE.

[0244] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement Figures 3 to 6 The functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown are:

[0245] The processing module 1501 is used to determine the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the service cell of the first UE is the first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band; the transceiver module 1502 is used to send scheduling information to the first UE, and the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information through the SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell.

[0246] In a possible implementation, when determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the processing module 1501 is specifically used to: determine the frequency band of the second cell according to the frequency band of the first cell and the correspondence between the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell; control the transceiver module 1502 to broadcast the frequency band of the second cell in the first cell, and receive capability information from the first UE, wherein the capability information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

[0247] In a possible implementation, when determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the processing module 1501 is specifically used to: control the transceiver module 1502 to receive capability information from the first UE; wherein the capability information includes the frequency band of the second cell and indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band; determine the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE according to the capability information of the first UE, the frequency band of the first cell, and the correspondence between the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell.

[0248] In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the full capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band. In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the difference between the capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band and the capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band.

[0249] In one possible implementation, before determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the processing module 1501 is also used to: control the transceiver module 1502 to send measurement indication information to the first UE, where the measurement indication information is used to instruct the first UE to measure the channel quality of the second cell; control the transceiver module 1502 to receive the channel quality of the second cell from the first UE; and determine that the channel quality of the second cell is greater than a channel quality threshold.

[0250] In one possible implementation, the scheduling information is used to indicate that in a first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information through a SUL communication method on a frequency band of a second cell; before the transceiver module 1502 sends the scheduling information to the first UE, the processing module 1501 is also used to predict a first transmission capability of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell in the first time slot, and a second transmission capability when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell; and determine that the second transmission capability is better than the first transmission capability.

[0251] In one possible implementation, the uplink information includes first uplink information and second uplink information; the scheduling information is used to indicate that in the second time slot, the first UE sends the first uplink information on the frequency band of the first cell, and the first UE sends the second uplink information on the frequency band of the second cell through SUL communication.

[0252] In a possible implementation manner, the second cell is a serving cell of the second UE, and uplink resources of the second cell are shared by the first UE and the second UE.

[0253] In one possible implementation, before determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the processing module 1501 is further used to: determine whether one or more of the following conditions are met: the throughput of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell is lower than the throughput requirement of the first UE; the uplink resource utilization of the second cell is lower than the preset utilization; the available processing capacity of the second cell is higher than the preset processing capacity.

[0254] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement Figures 3 to 6 The functions of the first UE of the method embodiment shown are:

[0255] The transceiver module 1502 is used to receive scheduling information from the access network device, where the scheduling information is generated by the access network device after determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, where the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band; the processing module 1501 is used to control the transceiver module 1502 to send uplink information through the SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell according to the scheduling information.

[0256] In one possible implementation, before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the transceiver module 1502 is also used to: receive the frequency band of the second cell broadcast by the access network device in the first cell; and send capability information of the first UE, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

[0257] In one possible implementation, before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the transceiver module 1502 is also used to send capability information of the first UE, where the capability information includes the frequency band and indication information of the second cell, where the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

[0258] In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the full capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band. In a possible implementation, the capability information also includes: the difference between the capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band and the capability of the first UE to send uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band.

[0259] In one possible implementation, before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the transceiver module 1502 also receives measurement indication information from the access network device; measures the channel quality of the second cell based on the measurement indication information; and sends the channel quality of the second cell to the access network device, and the channel quality of the second cell is greater than the channel quality threshold.

[0260] In a possible implementation, the scheduling information is used to indicate that in a first time slot, uplink information is sent via a SUL communication method on a frequency band of a second cell; in a first time slot, a second transmission capability when sending uplink information via a frequency band of a second cell is better than a first transmission capability when sending uplink information via a frequency band of a first cell. In a possible implementation, the uplink information includes first uplink information and second uplink information; the scheduling information is used to indicate that in a second time slot, the first uplink information is sent on a frequency band of a first cell, and the second uplink information is sent via a SUL communication method on a frequency band of a second cell.

[0261] Based on the above content and the same concept, Fig.16 The device 1600 provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. Fig.16 The device shown can be Fig.15 A hardware circuit implementation of the device shown in FIG. Figures 3 to 6 The method embodiment shown has a function of an access network device (such as a base station) or a first UE.

[0262] For ease of explanation, Fig.16 Only the main components of the device are shown.

[0263] Fig.16The device 1600 shown includes a communication interface 1610, a processor 1620 and a memory 1630, wherein the memory 1630 is used to store program instructions and / or data. The processor 1620 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1630. The processor 1620 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1630. When the instructions or programs stored in the memory 1630 are executed, the processor 1620 is used to execute the operations performed by the processing module 1501 in the above embodiment, and the communication interface 1610 is used to execute the operations performed by the transceiver module 1502 in the above embodiment.

[0264] The memory 1630 is coupled to the processor 1620. The coupling in the embodiment of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, for information exchange between devices, units or modules. At least one of the memories 1630 may be included in the processor 1620.

[0265] In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface may be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interfaces. In the embodiment of the present application, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver may include an independent receiver, an independent transmitter, or a transceiver with integrated transceiver functions or a communication interface.

[0266] The device 1600 may further include a communication line 1640. The communication interface 1610, the processor 1620, and the memory 1630 may be interconnected via the communication line 1640; the communication line 1640 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The communication line 1640 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.16 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0267] Based on the above content and the same concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, including: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the chip system realizes the above Figures 3 to 6 The method embodiment shown has a function of an access network device (such as a base station) or a first UE.

[0268] Based on the above content and the same concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the communication device implements the above Figures 3 to 6 The method embodiment shown has a function of an access network device (such as a base station) or a first UE.

[0269] Based on the above content and the same concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. When the communication device reads and executes the computer program product, the communication device implements the above Figures 3 to 6 The method embodiment shown has a function of an access network device (such as a base station) or a first UE.

[0270] Based on the above content and the same concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the above Figures 3 to 6 The access network device (such as a base station) and the first UE in the method embodiment shown in the figure. Optionally, the communication system may also include the above Figures 3 to 6 The second UE in the method embodiment is shown.

[0271] Based on the above content and the same concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which includes: an access network device (such as a base station) determines a frequency band of a second cell that can be used as a SUL frequency band of a first UE, the service cell of the first UE is the first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a TDD frequency band or an FDD frequency band; the access network device sends scheduling information to the first UE, and the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information through a SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell. Correspondingly, the first UE receives the scheduling information from the access network device; according to the scheduling information, the uplink information is sent through a SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell.

[0272] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can be represented by: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can be represented by: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of the present application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship.

[0273] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0274] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of protection of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine a frequency band of a second cell that can be used as a secondary uplink (SUL) frequency band of a first user equipment UE, where a serving cell of the first UE is a first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a time division duplex (TDD) frequency band or a frequency division duplex (FDD) frequency band; Send scheduling information to the first UE, where the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information through a SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining a frequency band of the second cell that can be used as a SUL frequency band of the first UE includes: Determine the frequency band of the second cell according to the frequency band of the first cell and the correspondence between the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell; broadcasting a frequency band of the second cell in the first cell; Capability information is received from the first UE, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first UE supports a frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining a frequency band of the second cell that can be used as a SUL frequency band of the first UE includes: receiving capability information from the first UE; wherein the capability information includes a frequency band and indication information of the second cell, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band; The frequency band of the second cell that can serve as the SUL frequency band of the first UE is determined according to the capability information of the first UE, the frequency band of the first cell, and the correspondence between the frequency band of the first cell and the frequency band of the second cell.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The capability information also includes: the first UE's capability to send the full amount of the uplink information when using the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

5. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The capability information also includes: the difference between the ability of the first UE to send the uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band, and the ability of the first UE to send the uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Before determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the method further includes: Sending measurement indication information to the first UE, where the measurement indication information is used to instruct the first UE to measure the channel quality of the second cell; receiving a channel quality of the second cell from the first UE; It is determined that the channel quality of the second cell is greater than a channel quality threshold.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The scheduling information is used to indicate that in a first time slot, the first UE sends uplink information through the SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell; Before sending the scheduling information to the first UE, the method further includes: Predicting, in the first time slot, a first transmission capability of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell, and a second transmission capability of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell; It is determined that the second transmission capability is superior to the first transmission capability.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The uplink information includes first uplink information and second uplink information; the scheduling information is used to indicate that in a second time slot, the first UE sends the first uplink information on the frequency band of the first cell, and the first UE sends the second uplink information on the frequency band of the second cell through the SUL communication method.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The second cell is a serving cell for the second UE, and uplink resources of the second cell are shared by the first UE and the second UE.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that Before determining the frequency band of the second cell that can be used as the SUL frequency band of the first UE, the method further includes: Make sure one or more of the following conditions are met: The throughput of the first UE when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell is lower than the throughput requirement of the first UE; The uplink resource utilization rate of the second cell is lower than a preset utilization rate; The available processing capacity of the second cell is higher than the preset processing capacity.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: Applicable to a first user equipment UE, where a serving cell of the first UE is a first cell, the method includes: Receiving scheduling information from an access network device, where the scheduling information is generated by the access network device after determining a frequency band of a second cell that can be used as a secondary uplink (SUL) frequency band of the first UE, where the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a time division duplex (TDD) frequency band or a frequency division duplex (FDD) frequency band; According to the scheduling information, uplink information is sent through a SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the method further includes: receiving a frequency band of the second cell broadcast by the access network device in the first cell; Send capability information of the first UE, where the capability information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the method further includes: Send capability information of the first UE, where the capability information includes the frequency band of the second cell and indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate that the first UE supports the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The capability information also includes: the first UE's capability to send the full amount of the uplink information when using the frequency band of the second cell as the SUL frequency band.

15. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The capability information also includes: the difference between the ability of the first UE to send the uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the SUL frequency band, and the ability of the first UE to send the uplink information when the frequency band of the second cell is used as the TDD frequency band or the FDD frequency band.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that Before receiving the scheduling information from the access network device, the method further includes: Receiving measurement indication information from the access network device; Measuring and obtaining the channel quality of the second cell according to the measurement indication information; The channel quality of the second cell is sent to the access network device, where the channel quality of the second cell is greater than a channel quality threshold.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that The scheduling information is used to indicate that in a first time slot, uplink information is sent through the SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell; in the first time slot, the second transmission capability when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the second cell is better than the first transmission capability when sending uplink information through the frequency band of the first cell.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that The uplink information includes first uplink information and second uplink information; the scheduling information is used to indicate that the first uplink information is sent on the frequency band of the first cell in a second time slot, and the second uplink information is sent on the frequency band of the second cell through the SUL communication method.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: A method comprising a module for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or a method comprising a module of any one of claims 11 to 18.

20. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The access network device determines a frequency band of a second cell that can be used as a secondary uplink SUL frequency band of a first user equipment UE, the serving cell of the first UE is a first cell, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the frequency band of the second cell is a time division duplex TDD frequency band or a frequency division duplex FDD frequency band; Sending scheduling information to the first UE, where the scheduling information is used to instruct the first UE to send uplink information through the SUL communication mode on the frequency band of the second cell; The first UE receives the scheduling information from the access network device; and sends the uplink information through the SUL communication method on the frequency band of the second cell according to the scheduling information.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method described in any one of claims 11 to 18 is implemented.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method described in any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method described in any one of claims 11 to 18 is implemented.

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