Communication method and device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and device which are used for being compatible with a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and a cross-cell multi-station transmission function. The method comprises: a terminal device receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information comprising a first field, the first field being used for indicating one cell in a first cell set or indicating one cell in a second cell set, the first cell set being a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by a low-layer signaling, the second cell set being a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by a low-layer signaling; the second cell set is a cell set for cross-cell multi-station transmission; and sending a random access request message to the network equipment through the cell indicated by the indication information.

Description

[0001] This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on August 11, 2023, with application number 202311019103.8 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0003] In a communication system, there are multiple network devices (such as base stations) on the network side. Each network device can cover a part of the area, which can be called a cell. The terminal device may move from one cell to another, that is, from the coverage of one network device to the coverage of another network device. This process is called cell switching. Figure 1 After the terminal device switches to another cell, the network device needs to instruct the terminal device to initiate a random access process to the cell so that the terminal device can obtain the uplink timing information of the cell, such as timing advance (TA), so that the terminal device can perform uplink transmission in the cell.

[0004] The current communication protocol proposes a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling to achieve fast cell switching. In the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, the network device can configure at least one alternative cell for the terminal device; when the terminal device moves to the edge of the current serving cell and approaches a certain alternative cell, the network device can send downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device in advance. A field in the DCI is used to indicate the alternative cell, so as to instruct the terminal device to initiate a random access process to the alternative cell in advance, so that the terminal device can obtain the timing advance of the alternative cell in advance, such as Figure 2 In addition, the communication protocol also proposes a function of multi-station transmission across cells, so as to enable the terminal device to perform multi-station transmission through a serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell. In the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the network device can configure at least one supplementary cell for the terminal device, and send a DCI to the terminal device, wherein a field in the DCI is used to indicate a supplementary cell, so as to instruct the terminal device to initiate a random access process to the supplementary cell, such as Figure 2 As shown in (2) in .

[0005] In both functions, the network device indicates the cell where the terminal device initiates the random access process through DCI. This will result in the terminal device receiving a DCI and not being sure whether the cell indicated by the DCI is a cell for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or a cell for multi-station transmission across cells. In other words, the two functions are incompatible. Summary of the invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell multi-station transmission function.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component (such as a chip, etc.) in the terminal device, without limitation. Taking the method executed by the terminal device as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receives indication information from a network device, the indication information includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate a cell in a first cell set, or to indicate a cell in a second cell set; and, sending a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0008] Among them, the first cell set is a cell set used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the elements in the first cell set are cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is composed of cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the cells included in the first cell set are cells involved (or associated) with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is used for the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0009] Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. In other words, the first cell set includes the at least one serving cell and the at least one candidate cell; or it can be expressed as the first cell set consisting of the at least one serving cell and the at least one candidate cell.

[0010] The second cell set is a cell set used for inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the elements in the second cell set are cells used for inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is composed of cells used for inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the cells included in the second cell set are cells involved in (or associated with) the function of inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is used for the function of inter-cell multi-station transmission.

[0011] Optionally, the cell set for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell, and the first service cell is a service cell for receiving the indication information. In other words, the second cell set includes the first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell; or it can be expressed as the second cell set consisting of the first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell.

[0012] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, the first field in the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set, so that the terminal device can clearly know whether the cell to initiate the random access process belongs to the first cell set or the second cell set, that is, to avoid the problem that the terminal device is uncertain whether to initiate the random access process for a cell in the first cell set or for a cell in the second cell set, thereby being compatible with the functions of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and cross-cell transmission. Moreover, when the indication information is DCI, the embodiment of the present application only needs to use a field (i.e., the first field) in the DCI to indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. For example, the field in the DCI used to indicate the cell for random access can be reused, without changing the format of the DCI or with less changes to the format of the DCI.

[0014] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0015] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0016] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information also includes a second field. The second field includes two values, such as the first value and the second value respectively. When the value of the second field is the first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the second field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component (such as a chip, etc.) in the terminal device, without limitation. Taking the execution by the terminal device as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receives indication information from a network device, the indication information includes a third field and / or a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and the fourth field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set; and, sending a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0018] The first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0019] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Optionally, the cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

[0020] For the description of the first cell set and the second cell set, please refer to the content of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0021] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present application, the indication information indicates a cell in the first cell set through the third field, or indicates a cell in the second cell set through the fourth field, so that the terminal device can clearly know whether the cell to initiate the random access process belongs to the first cell set or the second cell set, that is, avoid the problem that the terminal device is uncertain whether to initiate the random access process for a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set, so that it can be compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function. In addition, when the indication information is DCI, the embodiment of the present application indicates a cell in the first cell set and a cell in the second cell set through two fields in the DCI, so that after the terminal device receives the DCI, it can parse the DCI to determine whether to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set, which can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device.

[0023] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0024] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0025] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. In addition, the indication information also includes a fifth field. The fifth field includes two values, such as the third value and the fourth value respectively. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0026] In another possible implementation, the first cell set includes a first service cell and at least one alternative cell, and the second cell set includes the first service cell and an activated supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the third field and the fourth field. Further, if both the third field and the fourth field are used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the fourth field; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the third field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the third field; the priority of the fourth field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the fourth field.

[0027] Exemplarily, the value of the third field may include a fifth value. When the value of the third field is the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell. When the value of the third field is not the fifth value, or when the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell. Optionally, the fifth value is 0.

[0028] Exemplarily, the value of the fourth field includes a sixth value and a seventh value. When the value of the fourth field is the sixth value, the fourth field is used to indicate the first serving cell; when the value of the fourth field is the seventh value, the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell. Optionally, the sixth value is 0 and the seventh value is 1.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the transmission reception point (TRP) of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information can also be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the first TRP or the second TRP. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, or to indicate the second TRP. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the indication information is used to indicate the first TRP; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the indication information is used to indicate the second TRP.

[0030] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP and may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first timing advance group (TAG), and the first TAG corresponds to the first TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the first control channel group, and the first control channel group corresponds to the first TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first path loss measurement resource, and the first path loss measurement resource corresponds to the first TRP.

[0031] Optionally, the sixth field used to indicate the second TRP may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second TAG, and the second TAG corresponds to the second TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the second control channel group, and the second control channel group corresponds to the second TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second path loss measurement resource, and the second path loss measurement resource corresponds to the second TRP.

[0032] In another possible implementation, the TRP of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device, for example, the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device in the first service cell, then the indication information can also be used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information.

[0033] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0034] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in the first service cell, which may be one or more of the following: information for indicating the activation of the same-cell multi-station transmission function is configured; information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) (such as identification information of two TAGs) is configured; information of a timing advance offset parameter is configured; information of two control channel groups (or two control channel groups) is configured; and no supplementary cell is configured.

[0036] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP or to indicate the second TRP, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0037] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. Further, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0038] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. In addition, the indication information may also include the seventh field. The value of the seventh field includes the tenth value and the eleventh value. When the value of the seventh field is the tenth value, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is the eleventh value, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid.

[0039] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field. In addition, the indication information is also used to indicate the index of a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), which corresponds to the first TRP or the second TRP.

[0040] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a function of multi-station transmission across cells or a function of multi-station transmission within the same cell), the indication information includes an eighth field. Further, if the network device configures a function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, such as a first service cell or a supplementary cell in an activated state; or, if the network device configures a function of multi-station transmission within the same cell for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a first TRP or a second TRP.

[0041] Exemplarily, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a cross-cell multi-station transmission function or a same-cell multi-station transmission function), it can be: the network device configures third configuration information for the terminal device, and the third configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating enabling the multi-station transmission function; information on two timing advance offset parameters; information on two TAGs; or information on two control channel groups.

[0042] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the value of the third field is the fifth value (that is, the fifth field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0043] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0044] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0045] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is not the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0046] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the value of the third field is not the fifth value (that is, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), the indication information is used to indicate an alternative cell indicated by the third field, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0047] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0048] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0049] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0050] Optionally, the fifth value, the sixth value, and the eighth value are all 0, and the seventh value and the ninth value are all 1.

[0051] In a third aspect, the present application provides another communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component (such as a chip, etc.) in the network device, without limitation. Taking the method executed by the network device as an example, the method includes: the network device sends indication information to the terminal device, the indication information includes a first field, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or indicates a cell in the second cell set; and, receiving a random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0052] The first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0053] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Optionally, the cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

[0054] For the description of the first cell set and the second cell set, please refer to the content of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0055] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0056] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set.

[0057] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

[0058] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information also includes a second field. The second field includes two values, such as the first value and the second value respectively. When the value of the second field is the first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the second field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0059] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides another communication method, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component (such as a chip, etc.) in the network device, without limitation. Taking the method executed by the network device as an example, the method includes: the network device sends indication information to the terminal device, the indication information includes a third field and / or a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and the fourth field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set; and receiving a random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0060] The first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0061] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Optionally, the cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

[0062] For the description of the first cell set and the second cell set, please refer to the content of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0063] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0064] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0065] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0066] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. In addition, the indication information also includes a fifth field. The fifth field includes two values, such as the third value and the fourth value respectively. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0067] In another possible implementation, the first cell set includes a first service cell and at least one alternative cell, and the second cell set includes the first service cell and an activated supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the third field and the fourth field. Further, if both the third field and the fourth field are used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the fourth field; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the third field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the third field; the priority of the fourth field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the fourth field.

[0068] Exemplarily, the value of the third field may include a fifth value. When the value of the third field is the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell. When the value of the third field is not the fifth value, or when the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell. Optionally, the fifth value is 0.

[0069] Exemplarily, the value of the fourth field includes a sixth value and a seventh value. When the value of the fourth field is the sixth value, the fourth field is used to indicate the first serving cell; when the value of the fourth field is the seventh value, the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell. Optionally, the sixth value is 0 and the seventh value is 1.

[0070] In one possible implementation, the transmission reception point (TRP) of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information can also be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the first TRP or the second TRP. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, or to indicate the second TRP. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the indication information is used to indicate the first TRP; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the indication information is used to indicate the second TRP.

[0071] Optionally, the sixth field used to indicate the first TRP may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first TAG, and the first TAG corresponds to the first TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the first control channel group, and the first control channel group corresponds to the first TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first path loss measurement resource, and the first path loss measurement resource corresponds to the first TRP.

[0072] Optionally, the sixth field used to indicate the second TRP may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second TAG, and the second TAG corresponds to the second TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the second control channel group, and the second control channel group corresponds to the second TRP; or it may be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second path loss measurement resource, and the second path loss measurement resource corresponds to the second TRP.

[0073] In another possible implementation, the TRP of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device, for example, the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device in the first service cell, then the indication information can also be used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information.

[0074] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0075] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0076] In one possible implementation, the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in the first service cell, which may be one or more of the following: information for indicating the activation of the same-cell multi-station transmission function is configured; information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) (such as identification information of two TAGs) is configured; information of a timing advance offset parameter is configured; information of two control channel groups (or two control channel groups) is configured; and no supplementary cell is configured.

[0077] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP or to indicate the second TRP, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0078] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. Further, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0079] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. In addition, the indication information may also include the seventh field. The value of the seventh field includes the tenth value and the eleventh value. When the value of the seventh field is the tenth value, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is the eleventh value, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid.

[0080] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field. In addition, the indication information is also used to indicate the index of an SSB, which corresponds to the first TRP or the second TRP.

[0081] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a function of multi-station transmission across cells or a function of multi-station transmission within the same cell), the indication information includes an eighth field. Further, if the network device configures a function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, such as a first service cell or a supplementary cell in an activated state; or, if the network device configures a function of multi-station transmission within the same cell for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a first TRP or a second TRP.

[0082] Exemplarily, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a cross-cell multi-station transmission function or a same-cell multi-station transmission function), it can be: the network device configures third configuration information for the terminal device, and the third configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating enabling the multi-station transmission function; information on two timing advance offset parameters; information on two TAGs; or information on two control channel groups.

[0083] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the value of the third field is the fifth value (that is, the fifth field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0084] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0085] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0086] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is not the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0087] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the value of the third field is not the fifth value (that is, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), the indication information is used to indicate an alternative cell indicated by the third field, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0088] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0089] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0090] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0091] Optionally, the fifth value, the sixth value, and the eighth value are all 0, and the seventh value and the ninth value are all 1.

[0092] Based on any one of the first to fourth aspects above, in a possible implementation, the function of the network device configuring the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of the network device configuring the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device specifically can be: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of the network device configuring the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device means: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the network device configures the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device in the following way: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device.

[0093] Exemplarily, the first configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating a function of enabling cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; identification information of at least one alternative cell; beam information of at least one alternative cell; information for measuring relevant parameters of at least one alternative cell; relevant parameters for randomly accessing at least one alternative cell; or, a first information unit, the first information unit is used to configure relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; wherein, at least one alternative cell is an alternative cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0094] Based on any one of the first to fourth aspects above, in a possible implementation method, the function of configuring the network device for the terminal device for multi-station transmission across a cell specifically includes: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of configuring the network device for the terminal device for multi-station transmission across a cell specifically can be: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of configuring the network device for the terminal device for multi-station transmission across a cell means: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Alternatively, the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across a cell for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device.

[0095] Exemplarily, the second configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating a function of enabling cross-cell multi-station transmission; identification information of at least one supplementary cell; information for indicating an association between at least one supplementary cell and at least one transmission configuration indication state; information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission; information on two timing advance groups; information on two timing advance offset parameters; information on two control channel groups; relevant parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell; or, a second information unit, which is used to configure relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission.

[0096] Optionally, the second configuration information packet is configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell, or the second configuration information is a partial configuration of configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell. In other words, the second configuration information is configured with a serving cell (ie, the first serving cell) as the granularity.

[0097] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The communication device is, for example, a terminal device, or a functional module in the terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system.

[0098] In a possible implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device.

[0099] In another possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit). The transceiver module can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver module implements the sending function, it can be called a sending module (sometimes also referred to as a sending unit), and when the transceiver module implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving module (sometimes also referred to as a receiving unit). The sending module and the receiving module can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver module, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending module and the receiving module can be different functional modules, and the transceiver module is a general term for these functional modules.

[0100] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device is used to execute the method described in the third aspect or the fourth aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The communication device is, for example, a network device, or a functional module in a network device, such as a baseband device or a chip system.

[0101] In a possible implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device.

[0102] In another possible implementation, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit). The transceiver module can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver module implements the sending function, it can be called a sending module (sometimes also referred to as a sending unit), and when the transceiver module implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving module (sometimes also referred to as a receiving unit). The sending module and the receiving module can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver module, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending module and the receiving module can be different functional modules, and the transceiver module is a general term for these functional modules.

[0103] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device. The communication device may include at least one processor. Optionally, the communication device may also include a memory. The memory is used to store one or more computer programs or instructions. The at least one processor is used to execute the one or more computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects and any possible implementation thereof.

[0104] In an eighth aspect, the present application also provides a chip system. The chip system may include at least one processor. Optionally, the at least one processor is coupled to a memory. The at least one processor is used to execute one or more computer programs or instructions in the memory to implement the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip system may also include a memory.

[0105] In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a communication system, wherein the communication system comprises one or more of the following: the communication device described in the fifth aspect, or the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0106] In the tenth aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method described in any aspect of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible implementation method thereof is implemented.

[0107] In an eleventh aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects and any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0108] For the technical effects that can be achieved by the above-mentioned third to eleventh aspects and any possible implementation methods thereof, please refer to the technical effects that can be achieved by the above-mentioned first or second aspect and any possible implementation methods thereof, and no repetition will be given. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0109] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a cell switching;

[0110] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of initiating a random access process;

[0111] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system;

[0112] Figure 4 is a structural diagram of yet another communication system;

[0113] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication system;

[0114] Figure 6 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0115] Figure 7A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0116] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0117] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0118] The embodiments of the present application will be presented around a system including multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood that the system may include other devices, components, modules, etc. not mentioned, or may only include some of the devices, components, or modules, etc. mentioned in the embodiments.

[0119] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device for being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the multi-station transmission function across cells. The method and device described in the present application are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles of solving the problems by the method and device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0120] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0121] The following first introduces a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable.

[0122] The network architecture and application scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It is known to those skilled in the art that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new application scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems. Figure 3 The communication system shown is described as an example. When the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are applied to other communication systems, the devices, components, modules, etc. in the embodiments can be replaced with corresponding devices, components, modules in other communication systems without limitation.

[0123] like Figure 3 As shown, the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g. Figure 3 110a and 110b, collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (such as Figure 3RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment ( Figure 3 The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be different physical devices, or may be the same physical device that integrates the core network logical function and the radio access network logical function.

[0124] RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system (such as a long term evolution (LTE) system), a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system (such as a new radio (NR) system), or a future-oriented evolution system (such as a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system). RAN 100 may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, WiFi) system. RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0125] The RAN node 110, which may also be sometimes referred to as an access network device, an access network element, a network device, a network apparatus, a RAN entity, or an access node, constitutes a part of a communication system to help a terminal achieve wireless access. The multiple RAN nodes 110 in the communication system 1000 may be nodes of the same type or nodes of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are relative, for example, Figure 3 The network element 120i may be a helicopter or a drone, which may be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminals 120j that access the RAN 100 through the network element 120i, the network element 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The RAN node 110 and the terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices, for example Figure 3 The network elements 110a and 110b may be understood as communication devices having base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j may be understood as communication devices having terminal functions.

[0126] In one possible scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (e.g. Figure 3 110a in), micro base stations or indoor stations (such as Figure 3 110b in the example above), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an onboard device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU).

[0127] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0128] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU (open DU), CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP (open CU-CP), CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP (open CU-UP), and RU may also be called O-RU (open RU). For the convenience of description, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are described as examples in this application. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0129] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the RAN node may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the RAN node, or by a control subsystem including the RAN node functions. The control subsystem including the RAN node functions here may be a control center in the above application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city.

[0130] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, a terminal apparatus, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, or a mobile terminal. The terminal 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, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, or smart city. Exemplarily, the terminal may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, or a smart home device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0131] In the embodiment of the present application, the functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or may be performed by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0132] RAN nodes and terminals can be fixed or mobile. RAN nodes and terminals 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 aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of RAN nodes and terminals.

[0133] A RAN node can transmit data or control signaling to one or more terminals, such as Figure 4 As shown in (1) in . Multiple RAN nodes can also transmit data or control signaling to a terminal at the same time, such as Figure 4 As shown in (2) in .

[0134] The communication between the RAN node and the terminal follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

[0135] like Figure 5 As shown, a RAN node may include one or more CUs, one or more DUs, and one or more RUs. For clarity, Figure 5 Only one CU, DU and RU are shown. The CU is used to connect to the core network and one or more DUs. Optionally, the CU may have some functions of the core network. The CU may include a CU-CP and a CU-UP.

[0136] CU and DU can be configured according to the protocol layer functions of the wireless network they implement. For example, CU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers above (such as the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer, etc.); DU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer, etc.). For another example, CU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer (such as the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer), and DU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers below (such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer, etc.).

[0137] When the CU includes a CU-CP and a CU-UP, the CU-CP is used to implement the control plane function of the CU, and the CU-UP is used to implement the user plane function of the CU. For example, when the CU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer, the RRC layer, and the SDAP layer, the CU-CP is used to implement the control plane function of the RRC layer and the PDCP layer, and the CU-UP is used to implement the user plane function of the SDAP layer and the PDCP layer.

[0138] CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network for implementing control plane functions. The network elements in the core network for implementing control plane functions can be access and mobility function network elements, for example, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements in 5G systems. The access and mobility function network elements are responsible for mobility management in mobile networks, such as location update of terminal devices, registration network of terminal devices, switching of terminal devices, etc.

[0139] CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network for implementing user plane functions. Network elements in the core network for implementing user plane functions, for example, user plane function (UPF) network elements in the 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in terminal devices.

[0140] The above configuration of CU and DU is only an example, and the functions of CU and DU can also be configured as needed. For example, CU or DU can be configured to have functions of more protocol layers, or CU or DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of protocol layers. For example, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. For another example, the functions of CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by delay, and the functions whose processing time needs to meet the smaller delay requirement are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are set in the CU.

[0141] DU and RU can cooperate to jointly implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DU and RU can be configured in a variety of ways according to the design. For example, DU is configured to implement baseband functions, and RU is configured to implement mid-RF functions. For another example, DU is configured to implement high-level functions in the PHY layer, and RU is configured to implement low-level functions in the PHY layer or to implement the low-level functions and RF functions. The high-level functions in the physical layer may include a part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the MAC layer, and the low-level functions in the physical layer may include another part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the mid-RF side.

[0142] Exemplarily, Table 1 shows the network elements in the ORAN system and the corresponding relationship between the protocol layer functions that can be implemented. As shown in Table 1, O-CU-CP is configured to implement the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP-C (PDCP control plane) layer; O-CU-UP is configured to implement the functions of the SDAP layer and the PDCP-U (PDCP user plane) layer; O-DU is configured to implement the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the high (PHY-high) layer in PHY; and O-RU is configured to implement the functions of the low (PHY-low) layer in PHY.

[0143] Table 1

[0144] ORAN network elements 3GPP protocol layer O-CU-CP RRC+PDCP-C O-CU-UP SDAP+PDCP-U O-DU RLC+MAC+PHY-high O-RU PHY-low

[0145] The above introduces the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. Next, some technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced.

[0146] (1) Cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, multi-site transmission across cells, and multi-site transmission within a cell

[0147] The function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling refers to the implementation of cell switching of terminal equipment based on low-layer (such as layer 1 and / or layer 2) signaling (called L1 / L2 triggered mobility, LTM in the communication protocol). Exemplarily, the network device can obtain the quality of the cell (such as the serving cell and / or the alternative cell) through the measurement reporting process of layer 1 (i.e., the physical layer); the network device instructs the terminal device to switch to the alternative cell through layer 2 (i.e., the media access control layer) signaling.

[0148] The function of cross-cell multi-station transmission refers to transmission through a serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell, such as transmission of data, control signaling, etc.

[0149] The function of multi-station transmission in the same cell refers to joint transmission through two TRPs in the serving cell. Optionally, the two TRPs may correspond to two timing advance groups (TAGs), that is, one TRP in the two TRPs corresponds to one TAG in the two TAGs, and one TAG in the two TAGs corresponds to one TRP in the two TRPs. For example, the two TRPs are denoted as TRP1 and TRP2, and the two TAGs corresponding to the two TRPs are denoted as TAG1 and TAG2, where TRP1 may correspond to TAG1, and TRP2 may correspond to TAG2.

[0150] Optionally, the two TRPs may also correspond to the identifiers of two control channel groups (or control channel groups), that is, one of the two TRPs corresponds to one of the identifiers of the two control channel groups, and one of the identifiers of the two control channel groups corresponds to one of the two TRPs. For example, the two TRPs are recorded as TRP1 and TRP2, and the identifiers of the two control channel groups corresponding to the two TRPs are recorded as identifier 1 and identifier 2, where TRP1 may correspond to identifier 1, and TRP2 may correspond to identifier 2.

[0151] Optionally, the two TRPs may also correspond to two path loss measurement resources, that is, one of the two TRPs corresponds to one of the two path loss measurement resources, and one of the two path loss measurement resources corresponds to one of the two TRPs. The path loss measurement resource refers to the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process. For example, the two TRPs are recorded as TRP1 and TRP2, and the two path loss measurement resources corresponding to the two TRPs are recorded as path loss measurement resource 1 and path loss measurement resource 2, where TRP1 can correspond to path loss measurement resource 1, and TRP2 can correspond to path loss measurement resource 2.

[0152] For the sake of simplicity, the following text will record these two TRPs as the first TRP and the second TRP for description. Accordingly, the TAG corresponding to the first TRP can be recorded as the first TAG, and the TAG corresponding to the second TRP can be recorded as the second TAG. The identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the first TRP is recorded as the identifier of the first control channel group, and the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the second TRP is recorded as the identifier of the second control channel group. In addition, the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the first TRP is recorded as the first path loss measurement resource, and the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the second TRP is recorded as the second path loss measurement resource.

[0153] It should be noted that if the service cell includes two TRPs, the first TRP may be the first TRP of the service cell, and the second TRP may be the second TRP of the service cell. In other words, the term "first TRP" and the term "first TRP" can be used interchangeably, and the term "second TRP" and the term "second TRP" can be used interchangeably.

[0154] Optionally, the first TAG may be a TAG with a smaller index, or a TAG with an earlier configuration order, such as the first TAG configured in the service cell. The second TAG may be a TAG with a larger index, or a TAG with a later configuration order, such as the second TAG configured in the service cell. The first control channel group may be a control channel group with a smaller index, such as a control channel group whose identifier is 0. The second control channel group may be a control channel group with a larger index, such as a control channel group whose identifier is 1. In other words, the term "first TAG" may be used interchangeably with the term "first TAG", the term "second TAG" may be used interchangeably with the term "second TAG", the term "first control channel group" may be used interchangeably with the term "first control channel group", and the term "second control channel group" may be used interchangeably with the term "second control channel group".

[0155] The first path loss measurement resource may include any of the following: a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource indicated in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a quasi-colocation (QCL) resource adopted by the PDCCH, a QCL resource in a transmission configuration indicator state (TCI-state) adopted by the PDCCH, a QCL resource in the first of two TCI-states for downlink indicated by a network device to a terminal device, or a QCL resource in the second of two TCI-states for downlink indicated by a network device to a terminal device. The PDCCH refers to the PDCCH that triggers the random access process, i.e., the PDCCH that carries the indication information described later.

[0156] The second path loss measurement resource may include any of the following: a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) resource indicated in the PDCCH, a QCL resource in a TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device (for example, a QCL resource in the first or second TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device), a path loss measurement resource associated with a TCI state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device (for example, a path loss measurement resource associated with the first or second TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device), a QCL resource in a TCI-state associated with a TRP or TAG or control channel group identifier corresponding to a random access process triggered by a PDCCH, or a path loss measurement resource associated with a TCI-state associated with a TRP or TAG or control channel group corresponding to a random access process triggered by a PDCCH. The PDCCH refers to the PDCCH that triggers the random access process, that is, the PDCCH that carries the indication information described later.

[0157] In one implementation, the second path loss measurement resource may be an SSB resource indicated in the PDCCH. The first constraint rule may be further adopted to constrain the SSB resource indicated in the PDCCH. According to the first constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a QCL resource corresponding to one of the two TCI-states indicated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the QCL resource; or, according to the first constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a path loss measurement resource corresponding to one of the two TCI-states indicated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the path loss measurement resource. Alternatively, the second constraint rule may be further adopted to constrain the SSB resource indicated in the PDCCH. According to the second constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a QCL resource corresponding to one of the TCI-states activated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the QCL resource; or, according to the second constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a path loss measurement resource corresponding to one of the TCI-states activated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the path loss measurement resource.

[0158] The above-mentioned first constraint rule and second constraint rule are to ensure that the SSB resource indicated by the PDCCH is the QCL resource or path loss measurement resource corresponding to the TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device for the terminal device, thereby reducing the complexity requirements for the terminal device. If there is no such constraint rule, it means that the network device can indicate any SSB resource to the terminal device through PDCCH, and the terminal device needs to calculate and store the path loss values ​​corresponding to all SSB resources in advance, which is too complex. Of the two constraint rules, the first constraint rule is stricter (because the TCI-state indicated by the network device to the terminal device is a subset of the activated TCI-state). Under the first constraint rule, the network device can indicate more limited SSB resources for the terminal device. In this case, the complexity requirements for the terminal device are lower, because the terminal device only needs to calculate and store the path loss corresponding to fewer SSB resources in advance. The protocol can only use the first constraint rule, or only use the second constraint rule. It is also possible to decide which constraint rule to use based on the terminal capability report. Specifically, if the terminal device reports that it supports the second constraint rule, that is, supports the network device to indicate the SSB resources constrained by the second constraint rule, then the SSB resources indicated by the PDCCH are constrained by the second constraint rule. If the terminal device reports that it does not support the second constraint rule, then the SSB resources indicated by the PDCCH are constrained by the first constraint rule.

[0159] It should be understood that the first path loss measurement resource and the second path loss measurement resource in the present application are not limited to the above definition, and may also be other resources. That is, when the first path loss measurement resource and the second path loss measurement resource are other resources, the embodiments of the present application are still applicable.

[0160] (2) TCI-state associated with the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process

[0161] The TCI-state associated with the TRP (or TAG, or identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process can be: a TCI-state that is associated with the TRP (or TAG or identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process among multiple TCI-states (such as two TCI-states) indicated by the network device to the terminal device; or it can also be: a TCI-state in a group of TCI-states that is associated with the TRP (or TAG, or identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process among multiple groups of TCI-states activated by the network device to the terminal device, for example, the TCI-state with the smallest index in the group of TCI-states or the TCI-state with the smallest value of the corresponding TCI in the group of TCI-states.

[0162] Among them, the association relationship between TAG and TCI-state can be indicated by a configuration message, such as configuring an associated TAG for each TCI-state. The association relationship between the identifier of the control channel group and the TCI-state can be indicated by media access control control element (MAC-CE) signaling, such as indicating a group of TCI-states and the identifier of the control channel group associated with the group of TCI-states through MAC-CE. The association relationship between the control channel group and the TCI-state can be indicated by DCI signaling, such as indicating a TCI-state through the DCI corresponding to the identifier of a control channel group, and the TCI-state is associated with the identifier of the control channel group.

[0163] (3) Service cell, alternative cell and supplementary cell

[0164] The service cell refers to a cell configured by the network device for the terminal device for data transmission. The network device needs to configure all parameters of the service cell for the terminal device, which means that the terminal device can independently perform data transmission through the service cell.

[0165] The alternative cell refers to a cell configured by the network device for the terminal device for cell switching. The terminal device can switch from a serving cell to an alternative cell. After the terminal device switches to the alternative cell, the network device can reconfigure the alternative cell as a serving cell. It should be noted that the network device can configure one alternative cell for the terminal device, or it can also configure multiple alternative cells. In the embodiment of the present application, the alternative cell is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0166] A supplementary cell refers to a cell used to coordinate data transmission with a service cell. In addition to the service cell, the network device can also configure a supplementary cell for the terminal device. The network device does not need to configure all the parameters of the supplementary cell for the terminal device, but configures the information of the supplementary cell as the parameters of the service cell to the terminal device. In other words, the supplementary cell relies on its corresponding (or associated) service cell for data transmission, which means that the terminal device cannot independently perform data transmission through the supplementary cell. In an embodiment of the present application, the supplementary cell is used for multi-station transmission across cells. Unless otherwise specified, the supplementary cell in the following text can be understood as: the supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell that sends the PDCCH. The supplementary cell in the activated state can be understood as: the supplementary cell in the supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell that sends the PDCCH is in an activated state.

[0167] It should be noted that the network device can configure one supplementary cell for the terminal device, or it can also configure multiple supplementary cells. When the network device configures multiple supplementary cells for the terminal device, only one supplementary cell is activated at the same time, and this supplementary cell can be called an activated supplementary cell (or an activated supplementary cell). In other words, the terminal device can use a service cell and the activated supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell for joint transmission. In addition, the remaining supplementary cells except the activated supplementary cell among the multiple supplementary cells corresponding to the service cell can be called inactive supplementary cells (or inactive supplementary cells).

[0168] (4) Beam

[0169] The embodiment of the beam in the NR protocol can be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state, spatial relation, etc. Therefore, in this application, beams and spatial filters, spatial filters, spatial parameters, spatial parameters, spatial settings, spatial settings, QCL information, QCL assumptions, QCL indications, TCI-state (DL TCI-state, UL TCI-state), spatial relations, etc. are equivalent, and the above concepts can be replaced with each other.

[0170] A beam used to transmit a signal may be referred to as a transmission beam (Tx beam), and may also be referred to as a spatial domain transmission filter, a spatial transmission filter, a spatial domain transmission parameter, or a spatial transmission parameter, a spatial domain transmission setting, or a spatial transmission setting. A downlink transmission beam may be indicated by a TCI-state.

[0171] The beam used to receive the signal may be referred to as a reception beam (Rx beam), and may also be referred to as a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter or a spatial reception parameter, a spatial domain reception setting or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam may be indicated by a spatial relation, or an uplink TCI-state, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (indicating a transmit beam using the SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam may also be equivalently replaced with an SRS resource.

[0172] The transmit beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions of space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and the receive beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions of space of the wireless signal received from the antenna.

[0173] In addition, the beam may be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology for forming the beam may be a beamforming technology or other technologies. The beamforming technology may specifically be a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, or a hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology.

[0174] Beams generally correspond to resources. For example, when performing beam measurement, the network device sends different resources through different beams, and the terminal device can determine the quality of each beam by measuring each resource. The terminal device feeds back the measured resource quality, and the network device knows the quality of the corresponding beam. When indicating the beam, it is also indicated by indicating the resources corresponding to the beam. For example, the network device indicates to the terminal device the TCI-state used for downlink transmission. The TCI-state includes QCL resources, which are used to indicate specific beams. For details on how to indicate a beam through a QCL sub-state, see the TCI-state term definition.

[0175] Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics are regarded as one beam. One beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. One or more antenna ports forming a beam may also be regarded as an antenna port set.

[0176] (5) The resources involved in the embodiments of the present application may include time domain resources, or frequency domain resources, or time domain resources and frequency domain resources. Among them, time domain resources may include symbols, slots, mini-slots, partial slots, sub-frames, radio frames, or sensing slots, etc., without limitation. Frequency domain resources may include resource elements (RE), resource blocks (RB), RB sets, subchannels, resource pools, bandwidth parts (BWP), carriers, channels, or interlaces, etc., without limitation.

[0177] (6) In the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" may refer to two or more than two. In view of this, in the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" may also be understood as "at least two". "At least one" may be understood as one or more, for example, one, two or more. For example, "including at least one" means including one, two or more. For example, including at least one of A, B and C, then A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B and C may be included. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects. Specifically, there may be three relationships. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / ", unless otherwise specified, generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0178] In addition, the terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably, and "according to" and "based on" may be used interchangeably.

[0179] The ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are generally used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first cell set and the second cell set are not used to distinguish different cell sets, and the priority or importance of the two cell sets is not limited.

[0180] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to Figures 3 to 5 The communication system shown in any embodiment is not limited. Among them, the network device can be Figures 3 to 5 The RAN node shown in any one of the embodiments, or Figures 3 to 5The components in the RAN node shown in any embodiment are not limited. The terminal device can be Figures 3 to 5 The terminal shown in any of the embodiments, or Figures 3 to 5 The components in the terminal shown in any embodiment are not limited.

[0181] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the method may include the following contents.

[0182] S61: The network device sends instruction information to the terminal device. For example, Figure 5 The RU in the illustrated embodiment sends indication information to the terminal device.

[0183] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the indication information from the terminal device.

[0184] In S61, the network device may send indication information to the terminal device to trigger the terminal device to initiate a random access process. The indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information is included in the DCI, without limitation. Optionally, the indication information may also be MAC-CE signaling. The indication information may be used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set. In other words, the indication information may be used to indicate the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by it, which cell is a cell in the first cell set, or the cell is a cell in the second cell set.

[0185] The first cell set is a cell set used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the elements in the first cell set are cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is composed of cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the cells included in the first cell set are cells involved in (or associated with) the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is used for the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0186] The cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell; or it can be expressed as the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling is composed of at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell. That is, the first cell set includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, or is composed of at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell. The at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. The at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0187] For example, the network device configures two serving cells for the terminal device, which are respectively recorded as serving cell 1 and serving cell 2. In addition, the network device also configures three candidate cells for the terminal device, which are respectively recorded as candidate cell 1, candidate cell 2, and candidate cell 3. Then, the first cell set, or the cell set for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, can be expressed as {serving cell 1, serving cell 2, candidate cell 1, candidate cell 2, candidate cell 3}.

[0188] Alternatively, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes a first serving cell and at least one candidate cell. The at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. Alternatively, the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell corresponding to the first serving cell. Alternatively, the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell corresponding to a cell group corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0189] The first service cell is a service cell for receiving (or sending) the indication information. Alternatively, the first service cell is a service cell corresponding to the indication information, for example, a cell for configuring parameters corresponding to the indication information. It should be understood that at least one service cell configured by the network device for the terminal device includes the first service cell.

[0190] Optionally, the first service cell being a service cell for receiving (or sending) the indication information can be replaced by: the first service cell being a service cell for receiving PDCCH, and the PDCCH includes the indication information; or it can also be replaced by: the first service cell being a service cell for receiving DCI, and the DCI includes the indication information.

[0191] For example, the network device configures two service cells for the terminal device, which are respectively recorded as service cell 1 and service cell 2. Among them, service cell 1 is a service cell for receiving (or sending) the indication information. In addition, the network device also configures three alternative cells for service cell 1, which are respectively recorded as alternative cell 1, alternative cell 2 and alternative cell 3. Then, the first cell set, or the cell set for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, can be expressed as {service cell 1, alternative cell 1, alternative cell 2, alternative cell 3}.

[0192] The second cell set is a cell set used for inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the elements in the second cell set are cells used for inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is composed of cells used for inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the cells included in the second cell set are cells involved in (or associated with) the function of inter-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is used for the function of inter-cell multi-station transmission.

[0193] The cell set for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes the first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell; or it can be expressed as the cell set for cross-cell multi-station transmission consists of the first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell. That is, the second cell set includes the first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell; or it can be expressed as the second cell set consists of the first service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell.

[0194] It should be noted that the second cell set may include all supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell, that is, the terminal device may initiate a random access process to any of the supplementary cells (activated supplementary cells or inactivated supplementary cells) among all the supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell and all the supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. Initiating a random access process to a cell (or simply initiating random access to a cell) specifically refers to sending a random access request message to a network device through the cell, for example, using the random access parameters (such as random access resources) of the cell to send a random access request message to the network device.

[0195] Alternatively, the second cell set may include only the supplementary cell in the activated state corresponding to the first service cell, and does not include the supplementary cell in the inactivated state corresponding to the first service cell. That is, the terminal device only initiates a random access process to the supplementary cell in the activated state corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell and the supplementary cell in the activated state corresponding to the first service cell.

[0196] Exemplarily, the terminal device may send capability information to the network device, and the capability information is used to indicate whether to support initiating a random access process for a supplementary cell in an inactive state; accordingly, the network device receives the capability information and determines a second cell set according to the capability information. If the terminal device supports initiating a random access process for a supplementary cell in an inactive state, the second cell set is composed of the first service cell and all supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell; if the terminal device does not support initiating a random access process for a supplementary cell in an inactive state, the second cell set is composed of the first service cell and the supplementary cell in an activated state corresponding to the first service cell.

[0197] Alternatively, the second cell set may include a set number (such as X, X is a positive integer, for example, X is equal to 1) of inactive supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell, the activated supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell, and X inactive supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For example, it is predefined that the terminal device is allowed to initiate a random access process to at most any one of the X inactive supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For another example, the value of X is reported by the terminal device to the network device by sending capability information to the network device. Specifically, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information is used to indicate whether to support initiating a random access process for X inactive supplementary cells, or the capability information is used to indicate whether to support including X inactive supplementary cells in the second cell set.

[0198] Alternatively, the second cell set may include a set number (such as Y, where Y is a positive integer, for example, Y is equal to 1) of supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell and Y supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For example, it is predefined that the terminal device is allowed to initiate a random access process to at most any one of the Y supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For another example, the value of Y is reported by the terminal device to the network device by sending capability information to the network device. Specifically, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information is used to indicate whether to support initiating a random access process for Y supplementary cells, or the capability information is used to indicate whether to support including Y supplementary cells in the second cell set.

[0199] For the description of the first service cell, please refer to the above content. In addition, the first service cell may also be a service cell corresponding to a supplementary cell for receiving (or sending) the indication information, that is, the terminal device may receive the indication information through the service cell, or may receive the indication information through a supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell.

[0200] For terms such as service cell, alternative cell, supplementary cell, cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, cross-cell multi-site transmission function, supplementary cell in activated state, or supplementary cell in inactivated state, please refer to the above content and no further details will be given.

[0201] In the embodiment of the present application, the indication information may indicate the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by it, that is, a cell in the first cell set, or indicate a cell in the second cell set through the following methods. Next, these methods are introduced in detail.

[0202] Method 1: the indication information includes a first field, and the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

[0203] In one example, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. In this example, the length of the first field (such as L1) can be bits. Among them, is rounded up. M is a positive integer, which is the number of service cells configured by the network device for the terminal device. The number of service cells configured by the network device for the terminal device can also be expressed as: the number of cells included in the cell group where the first service cell is located. N is a positive integer, which is the number of alternative cells configured by the network device for the terminal device. The number of alternative cells configured by the network device for the terminal device can also be expressed as: the number of alternative cells configured by the network device for the cell group where the first service cell is located. Among them, the cell group where the first service cell is located is a cell group composed of at least one cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. For the description of the first service cell, please refer to the aforementioned content and no further details will be given.

[0204] Among them, the function of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device means that the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the network device configures the function of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device in the following way: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the function of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device.

[0205] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the first configuration information, such as Figure 5 The CU in the illustrated embodiment determines the first configuration information. Further, the network device may send the first configuration information to the terminal device, such as Figure 5 The RU in the illustrated embodiment sends the first configuration information to the terminal device; accordingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the network device. The first configuration information can be carried in the RRC signaling without limitation.

[0206] Exemplarily, the first configuration information may include one or more of the following:

[0207] Information used to indicate that a function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling is enabled (or turned on, or started, or initiated, etc.);

[0208] Information (such as identification information) of at least one candidate cell, for example, a candidate cell identification set, the set including the identification of at least one candidate cell;

[0209] Beam information of at least one candidate cell, that is, a beam used for transmission by at least one candidate cell;

[0210] used to measure relevant parameters of at least one candidate cell, for example, resources to be measured, or a measurement triggering state for triggering a measurement process, etc.;

[0211] Related parameters for random access to at least one candidate cell, for example, for random access to resources of at least one candidate cell, the network device may allocate (or configure) a set of random access parameters for each serving cell and each candidate cell, for initiating a random access process for the serving cell or the candidate cell;

[0212] Alternatively, the first information unit is used to configure relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, or the first information unit is used to carry relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the relevant parameters may include, for example, information for enabling the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, information of at least one alternative cell, beam information of at least one alternative cell, relevant parameters for measuring at least one alternative cell, or relevant parameters for random access to at least one alternative cell. One or more of them.

[0213] It should be noted that in this example, the terminal device can perform a random access process on a service cell. For example, the terminal device updates the TA of the service cell through the random access process.

[0214] Accordingly, the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the activation of the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one alternative cell; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with beam information of at least one alternative cell; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with relevant parameters for measuring at least one alternative cell; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with a first information unit; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the activation of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and information of at least one alternative cell. The remaining replacement methods are similar and are not listed here one by one.

[0215] Optionally, the first configuration information is configured by the network device at a cell group granularity. For example, the first configuration information is configuration information configured by the network device for the cell group corresponding to the first service cell. For another example, the first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the cell group corresponding to the first service cell (or the cell group where the first service cell is located), or is part of the configuration information corresponding to the cell group corresponding to the first service cell, that is, the first configuration information can be included in the configuration information corresponding to the cell group corresponding to the first service cell.

[0216] In another example, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. In this example, the length of the first field (such as L2) can be bits. Among them, is a round-up operation. Q is a positive integer, which is the number of at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell; or the number of supplementary cells included in the second cell set. It should be understood that when the second cell set only includes the supplementary cells in the activated state corresponding to the first serving cell, the value of Q is 1, and accordingly, the length of the first field is 1 bit.

[0217] Among them, the function of configuring the network device for the terminal device to transmit multiple stations across a cell specifically includes: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of configuring the network device for the terminal device to transmit multiple stations across a cell means that the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the network device configures the function of configuring the terminal device to transmit multiple stations across a cell in the following manner: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the function of configuring the network device for the terminal device to transmit multiple stations across a cell specifically means that the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device.

[0218] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the second configuration information, such as Figure 5 The CU in the illustrated embodiment determines the second configuration information. Further, the network device may send the second configuration information to the terminal device, such as Figure 5 The RU in the illustrated embodiment sends the second configuration information to the terminal device; accordingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information from the network device. The second configuration information can be carried in the RRC signaling without limitation.

[0219] Exemplarily, the second configuration information may include one or more of the following:

[0220] Information used to indicate that a function of enabling (or opening, starting, or starting, etc.) inter-cell multi-site transmission is enabled;

[0221] Information (such as identification information) of at least one supplementary cell, for example, an additional physical cell index (PCI);

[0222] Information used to indicate an association relationship between at least one supplementary cell and at least one TCI-state, wherein one supplementary cell is associated with one TCI-state, that is, an association relationship between the supplementary cell and the TCI-state is configured;

[0223] Information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission;

[0224] Information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) (e.g., identification information of two TAGs), where the TAG refers to a combination of cell groups that share a TA value, one TAG corresponds to one TA value, and configuring two TAGs means that two cells in inter-cell multi-station transmission use one TA value for transmission respectively;

[0225] Information of two timing advance offset (offset) parameters (such as the values ​​of the two offsets) is used to calculate the TA values ​​of the two TAGs;

[0226] Information of two control channel groups (or two control channel groups), such as identification information of the two control channel groups (such as CORESETPoolIndex), one of which is used for a serving cell (such as a first serving cell), and the remaining one is used for a supplementary cell;

[0227] Related parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell, for example, for random access to resources of at least one candidate cell, the network device may allocate (or configure) a set of random access parameters for each serving cell and supplementary cell, for initiating a random access procedure for the serving cell or supplementary cell;

[0228] Alternatively, the second information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission, or the second information unit is used to carry relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission, and the relevant parameters may include, for example, information for indicating the function of enabling cross-cell multi-station transmission, information for at least one supplementary cell, information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission, information for two TAGs, information for two timing advance offset parameters, information for two control channel groups, and one or more of the relevant parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell.

[0229] It should be noted that in this example, the terminal device can perform a random access process on a service cell. For example, the terminal device updates the TA of the service cell through the random access process.

[0230] Accordingly, the function of configuring the terminal device with cross-cell multi-station transmission by the network device can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the enabling of the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one supplementary cell; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two TAGs; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two timing advance offset parameters; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two control channel groups; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with relevant parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell; or can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal The network device is configured with a second information unit; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two TAGs and a second information unit; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one supplementary cell and information of two TAGs; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one supplementary cell, information of two TAGs and information of two control channel groups; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the association relationship between at least one supplementary cell and at least one TCI-state; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the function of enabling cross-cell multi-station transmission and information for indicating the association relationship between at least one supplementary cell and at least one TCI-state; the remaining replacement methods are similar and will not be listed here one by one.

[0231] Optionally, the second configuration information is configured by the network device at a cell granularity. For example, the second configuration information is configuration information configured by the network device for the first service cell. For another example, the second configuration information may be configuration information corresponding to the first service cell; or the second configuration information may also be part of the configuration information corresponding to the first service cell, that is, the second configuration information is included in the configuration information corresponding to the first service cell.

[0232] When the indication information is DCI, in the above two examples, only one field in the DCI (i.e., the first field) is needed to indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. For example, the field in the DCI used to indicate the random access cell can be reused without changing the format of the DCI, and it is compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0233] In another example, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information may also include a second field, such as the second field is also included in the DCI. The value of the second field includes a first value and a second value. When the value of the second field is the first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. When the value of the second field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. For example, the length of the second field is 1 bit, and when the value of the second field is 0, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set; when the value of the second field is 1, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. For another example, the length of the second field is 1 bit, and when the value of the second field is 1, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set; when the value of the second field is 0, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. In this example, the length of the first field can be the maximum value of L1 and L2. Please refer to the aforementioned content for L1 and L2, and no further description is given.

[0234] The network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, which means that the network device configures the terminal device with first configuration information and second configuration information. Among them, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the first configuration information, and the second configuration information. Please refer to the above content for the description, which will not be repeated here.

[0235] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the first configuration information and the second configuration information, such as Figure 5 The CU in the illustrated embodiment determines the first configuration information and the second configuration information. Further, the network device may send the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device, such as Figure 5 The RU in the illustrated embodiment sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device; accordingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information and the second configuration information from the network device. The first configuration information is carried in the RRC signaling without limitation. The second configuration information can be carried in the RRC signaling without limitation. It should be understood that the first configuration information and the second configuration information can be carried in the same signaling, or can also be carried in different signalings without limitation.

[0236] When the indication information is DCI, in the above example, two fields in the DCI (i.e., the first field and the second field) are required to jointly indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. For example, one of the fields can reuse the field in the DCI used to indicate a random access cell. The format of the DCI is slightly changed, and it is compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0237] Method 2: The indication information includes the third field, or includes the fourth field, or includes the third field and the fourth field. The third field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. The fourth field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. For example, if the network device configures the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information may include the third field. For example, if the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the indication information may include the fourth field.

[0238] In one implementation, the value of the third field may include at least a fifth value. When the value of the third field is the fifth value, the third field can be used for the first service cell. When the value of the third field is other values ​​(i.e., other values ​​except the fifth value), the third field can be used to indicate an alternative cell. For alternative cells, please refer to the aforementioned terminology introduction and will not be described in detail. Optionally, the fifth value may be 0, without limitation. In another implementation, the length of the third field may be L1. Please refer to the aforementioned content for L1 and will not be described in detail. Unless otherwise specified, the fifth value of 0 is used as an example for explanation below.

[0239] In one implementation, the value of the fourth field may include two values, such as the sixth value and the seventh value, respectively. When the value of the fourth field is the sixth value, the fourth field can be used to indicate the first service cell; when the value of the fourth field is the seventh value, the fourth field can be used to indicate an activated supplementary cell. For the activated supplementary cell, please refer to the aforementioned terminology introduction and will not be described in detail. Optionally, the sixth value may be 0 and the seventh value may be 1; or the sixth value may be 1 and the seventh value may be 0, without limitation. In another implementation, the length of the fourth field may be L2. Please refer to the aforementioned content for L2 and will not be described in detail. Unless otherwise specified, the following text will take the sixth value as 0 and the seventh value as 1 as an example for explanation.

[0240] In one example, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, and does not configure the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information includes (or exists) the third field, but does not include (or does not exist) the fourth field. In this example, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field, which means that the terminal device determines a cell indicated by the third field from the first cell set based on the third field. In other words, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0241] As another example, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, and does not configure the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information includes (or exists) the fourth field, but does not include (or does not exist) the third field. In this example, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field, which means that the terminal device determines a cell indicated by the fourth field from the first cell set based on the fourth field. In other words, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0242] When the indication information is DCI, in the above two examples, two fields in the DCI (i.e., the third field and the fourth field) respectively indicate a cell in the first cell set and a cell in the second cell set. In this way, after the terminal device receives the DCI, it can parse the DCI to determine whether to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set (that is, whether to initiate a random access process to a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set), which can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device and is compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0243] In another example, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the third field and the fourth field. In addition, the indication information also includes the fifth field. The value of the fifth field includes the third value and the fourth value. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid; when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid. For example, the length of the fifth field is 1 bit, when the value of the fifth field is 0, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid; when the value of the fifth field is 1, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid. For another example, the length of the fifth field is 1 bit, when the value of the fifth field is 1, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid; when the value of the fifth field is 0, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid. Among them, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid, which can be understood as the terminal device ignoring the fourth field and determining a cell indicated by the third field from the first cell set according to the third field. The third field is invalid, and the fourth field is valid, which can be understood as the terminal device ignores the third field and determines a cell indicated by the fourth field from the second cell set based on the fourth field.

[0244] When the indication information is DCI, in the above example, three fields in the DCI (i.e., the third field, the fourth field and the fifth field) are required to jointly indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. In this way, the terminal device can determine whether to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set in combination with the fifth field, and can be compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0245] In another example, if the network device configures the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. The terminal device can determine the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information according to the cell indicated by the third field and the cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, determine in which cell to perform random access or determine the cell indicated by the indication information. In one implementation, if both the third field and the fourth field are used to indicate the first service cell, the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first service cell, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is the first service cell. For example, when the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0) and the value of the fourth field is the sixth value (such as 0), the cell indicated by the indication information is the first service cell. In another implementation, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the supplementary cell in the activated state, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is the supplementary cell in the activated state. For example, when the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0) and the value of the fourth field is the seventh value (such as 1), the cell indicated by the indication information is the supplementary cell in the activated state. In another embodiment, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the first serving cell, the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the alternative cell, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is an alternative cell indicated by the third field. For example, when the value of the third field is other values ​​(such as non-0) except the fifth value and the value of the fourth field is the sixth value (such as 0), the cell indicated by the indication information is an alternative cell indicated by the third field. Among them, the fifth value, the sixth value, and the seventh value can refer to the above description and will not be repeated. It should be understood that it can be pre-specified that the third field cannot indicate an alternative cell and the fourth field cannot indicate a supplementary cell in the activated state. For example, it is pre-specified that the value of the third field cannot be other values ​​except the fifth value and the value of the fourth field cannot be the seventh value. For example, the value of the third field and the value of the seventh field cannot both be non-zero.

[0246] In another example, if the network device configures the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. The terminal device can determine the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information according to the priority between the third field and the fourth field, that is, determine in which cell to perform random access or determine the cell indicated by the indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device can also determine the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information according to the priority between the cell indicated by the third field and the cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, determine in which cell to perform random access or determine the cell indicated by the indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device can also determine the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information according to the priority between the third field and the fourth field, and the priority between the cell indicated by the third field and the cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, determine in which cell to perform random access or determine the cell indicated by the indication information. In one embodiment, the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field, and / or the priority of the candidate cell is higher than the priority of the supplementary cell and the first serving cell in the activated state, and the terminal device can first determine the cell indicated by the third field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is not the fifth value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is an alternative cell indicated by the third field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is an alternative cell indicated by the third field (in this case, the terminal device can ignore the fourth field); if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is a cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell indicated by the fourth field (such as the first service cell or an activated supplementary cell). In another embodiment, the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field, and / or the priority of the activated supplementary cell is higher than the priority of the alternative cell and the first service cell, and the terminal device can first determine the cell indicated by the fourth field. Further, if the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell (for example, the value of the fourth field is the seventh value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is a cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is an activated compensation cell (in this case, the terminal device can ignore the third field); if the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the fourth field is the sixth value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is a cell indicated by the third field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell indicated by the third field.

[0247] Or it can be expressed as: when both the cell indication field and the physical cell identifier (PCI) indication field are present in the PDCCH order, the PDCCH order can be understood as follows: if the cell indication field indicates an alternative cell, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to the alternative cell, and the PCI indication field can be ignored by the terminal device; otherwise (i.e., the cell indication field indicates the serving cell), the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to multi-station transmission across cells. Further, in the case where the cell indication field indicates the serving cell, if the PCI indication field indicates the serving cell, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to the serving cell; or, if the PCI indication field indicates an activated supplementary cell, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to the activated supplementary cell.

[0248] In method 2, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission. The description can refer to the content in method 1 and will not be repeated here.

[0249] In addition to the above-mentioned scenarios of cell switching and multi-station transmission across cells triggered by low-layer signaling, the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the scenario of multi-station transmission in the same cell. In the scenario of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the two TRPs of the first service cell are jointly transmitted. Please refer to the terminology introduction for details, which will not be repeated here. Accordingly, in the scenario of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the random access process triggered by the above-mentioned indication information can be a random access process for the first TRP, or it can also be a random access process for the second TRP. Among them, "the random access process for the first TRP" can be replaced by "the random access process for the first TAG", or it can be replaced by "the random access process for the identifier of the first control channel group", or it can also be replaced by "the random access process for the first path loss measurement resource". "The random access process for the second TRP" can be replaced by "the random access process for the second TAG", or it can be replaced by "the random access process for the identifier of the second control channel group", or it can also be replaced by "the random access process for the second path loss measurement resource".

[0250] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device in a serving cell, the above indication information includes a sixth field. The sixth field can be used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. In one implementation, the sixth field can directly indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. Optionally, the length of the sixth field can be 1 bit, the eighth value can be 0, and the ninth value can be 1; or, the eighth value can also be 1, and the ninth value can also be 0, without limitation. In the following text, unless otherwise specified, the eighth value is 0 and the ninth value is 1 as an example. Further, when the value of the sixth field is the eighth value (such as 0), the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value (such as 1), the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP.

[0251] In another embodiment, the sixth field may also indirectly indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. As an example, the sixth field may indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information by indicating a TAG. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field may be used to indicate the first TAG, which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP corresponding to the first TAG; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field may be used to indicate the second TAG, which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP corresponding to the second TAG. Optionally, the TAG indicated by the indication information may be a TAG associated with the TCI-state adopted by the indication information. As another example, the sixth field may indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information by indicating an identifier of a control channel group. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate the identifier of the first control channel group (such as coresetPoolIndex 0), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP corresponding to the identifier of the first control channel group; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate the identifier of the second control channel group (such as coresetPoolIndex 1), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP corresponding to the identifier of the second control channel group. In another example, the sixth field can indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information by indicating the path loss measurement resources used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information.For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first path loss measurement resource (such as the QCL resource corresponding to the indication information), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP corresponding to the first path loss measurement resource; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second path loss measurement resource (the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) resource indicated by the indication information), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP corresponding to the second path loss measurement resource. Among them, please refer to the aforementioned content for the eighth value and the ninth value, which will not be repeated here.

[0252] It is mentioned above that the sixth field can be used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. In another possible implementation, the sixth field can also be used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Among them, the TRP corresponding to the indication information is the TRP that sends the indication information. In one implementation, the sixth field can directly indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Among them, please refer to the aforementioned content for the eighth value and the ninth value, and no further description will be given.

[0253] In another embodiment, the sixth field may also indirectly indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. As an example, the sixth field may indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information by indicating whether the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information. When the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; conversely, when the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information. As another example, the sixth field can indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information by indicating whether the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information. Among them, when the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; conversely, when the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information. Among them, please refer to the aforementioned content for the eighth value and the ninth value, and no further description is given.

[0254] Exemplarily, the network device configures a same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in a serving cell (such as a first serving cell), specifically referring to that the information configured by the network device for the terminal device satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0255] Information for indicating enabling (or opening, starting, or starting, etc.) a function of multi-station transmission in the same cell is configured;

[0256] Information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) is configured (such as identification information of two TAGs);

[0257] A timing advance offset parameter is configured;

[0258] Information of configuring two control channel groups (or two control channel groups);

[0259] No supplementary cell is configured.

[0260] Accordingly, the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in a service cell, which can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two TAGs and information of two control channel groups (such as identification information of two control channel groups) in the service cell, and no supplementary cell is configured; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the activation of the same-cell multi-station transmission function, information of two TAGs, and information of a timing advance offset parameter in the service cell, and no supplementary cell is configured; the remaining replacement methods are similar and will not be listed here one by one.

[0261] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the above indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. The third field can be used to indicate a cell from the first cell set. Please refer to the above description for details. The sixth field can be used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. Please refer to the above description for details.

[0262] In this implementation, the indication information includes a third field and a sixth field, and the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission in the same cell. In one implementation, the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission in the same cell based on the third field and the sixth field. As an example, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0)), and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the eighth value (such as 0)), then the terminal device can determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is for multi-station transmission in the same cell, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the first service cell. Furthermore, the random access process triggered by the indication information satisfies one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the first TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP indicated by the indication information (i.e., the first TRP indicated by the sixth field), or the random access process corresponds to the first TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the first control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the first control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the first path loss measurement resource corresponding to the QCL resource of the indication information. As another example, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0)), and the sixth field is used to indicate the second TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the ninth value (such as 1)), then the terminal device can determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the first service cell. Furthermore, the random access process triggered by the indication information satisfies one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the second TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP indicated by the indication information (i.e., the second TRP indicated by the sixth field), or the random access process corresponds to the second TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the second control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the second control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the second path loss measurement resource corresponding to the SSB resource indicated in the indication information.As another example, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value (such as non-0)), and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is an eighth value (such as 0)), then the terminal device can determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is an alternative cell indicated by the third field. Among them, please refer to the aforementioned content for the fifth value, the eighth value and the ninth value, which will not be repeated here. It should be understood that it can be pre-specified that the third field cannot be used to indicate the first alternative cell and the sixth field cannot be used to indicate the second TRP. For example, it is pre-specified that the value of the third field cannot be a value other than the fifth value and the value of the sixth field cannot be the ninth value. For example, the value of both the third field and the sixth field cannot be 0.

[0263] Exemplarily, for multi-station transmission in the same cell and multi-station transmission across cells, when the TRP corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP for sending the PDCCH order, the path loss resource used to determine the transmit power for triggering the random access process is the SSB resource indicated by the PDCCH order. When the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP for sending the PDCCH order, the path loss resource used to determine the transmit power for triggering the random access process is the QCL resource used by the PDCCH order.

[0264] Exemplarily, the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order is sent to the TRP that sent the PDCCH order or to another TRP based on the TAG associated with the SSB indicated by the PDCCH order. For example, if the TAG associated with the SSB indicated by the PDCCH order is the same as the TAG associated with the TCI-state adopted by the PDCCH order, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order is sent to the TRP that sent the PDCCH order; otherwise, it is sent to another TRP.

[0265] In another implementation, the terminal device may also determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission in the same cell based on the priority between the third field and the sixth field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the terminal device may first determine the cell indicated by the third field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the cell indicated by the third field (in this case, the terminal device may ignore the sixth field). If the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the first service cell.

[0266] Exemplarily, when the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the terminal device can also determine one or more of the TAG, TRP, control channel group identifier, or path loss measurement resources corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information based on the sixth field. For details, please refer to the definition of the sixth field above. As an example, if the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the eighth value (such as 0)), the random access process triggered by the indication information satisfies one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the first TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP indicated by the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the first TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the first control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the first control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the first path loss measurement resource corresponding to the QCL resource of the indication information. As another example, if the sixth field is used to indicate the second TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the ninth value (such as 1)), the random access process triggered by the indication information may satisfy one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the second TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP indicated by the indication information (i.e., the second TRP indicated by the sixth field), or the random access process corresponds to the second TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the second control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the second control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the second path loss measurement resource corresponding to the SSB resource indicated in the indication information.

[0267] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the above indication may include the seventh field in addition to the third field and the sixth field. The value of the seventh field includes the tenth value and the eleventh value. When the value of the seventh field is the tenth value, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is the eleventh value, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid. For example, the length of the seventh field is 1 bit, when the value of the seventh field is 0, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is 1, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid. For another example, the length of the seventh field is 1 bit, when the value of the seventh field is 1, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is 0, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid. Among them, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid, which can be understood as the terminal device ignoring the sixth field and determining the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information according to the third field. The third field is invalid, and the sixth field is valid, which can be understood as the terminal device ignoring the third field, and determining the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information based on the sixth field. Furthermore, the terminal device can also determine one or more of the TAG, the identifier of the control channel group, or the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information based on the valid field.

[0268] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field. In addition, the indication information may also indicate an index of an SSB to indicate the SSB corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. The terminal device may determine one or more of the cell, TRP, TAG, control channel group identifier, path loss measurement resources corresponding to the random access process, or whether the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the indication information based on the third field and the TAG associated with the SSB.

[0269] For the sake of brevity, the following text will refer to one or more of the TRP, TAG, control channel group identifier, path loss measurement resources corresponding to the random access process, or whether the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the indication information as the first information.

[0270] Exemplarily, the terminal device may first determine the cell indicated by the third field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the cell indicated by the third field. In this case, the terminal device may not need to determine the first information according to the TAG associated with the SSB. If the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first service cell, and determine the first information according to the TAG associated with the SSB. For example, if the first TAG of the first service cell associated with the SSB means that the first TRP, the first TAG, the identifier of the first control channel group, the first path loss measurement resource, or the TRP (or TAG, or the identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP (or TAG, or the identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the indication information. For another example, if the second TAG of the first service cell associated with the SSB means that the random access process triggered by the indication information corresponds to the second TRP, the second TAG, the second control channel group identifier, the second path loss measurement resource, or the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the indication information.

[0271] Different fields in the above indication information can be used for scenarios of multi-station transmission across cells and multi-station transmission in the same cell, respectively; or, a field in the above indication information (such as the eighth field) can be used for scenarios of multi-station transmission across cells and multi-station transmission in the same cell. In one implementation, the meaning of the eighth field can be different in the scenario of multi-station transmission across cells and multi-station transmission in the same cell. The terminal device can first determine which scenario it is currently in, so as to determine which method to use to understand the eighth field. For example, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, and does not configure the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device, the eighth field can be understood as the fourth field above, or the function of the eighth field is the same as the function of the fourth field above. In other words, the terminal device can interpret the eighth field in the manner of interpreting the fourth field above. For details, please refer to the above content and will not be repeated. If the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device, and does not configure the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the eighth field can be understood as the sixth field above, or the function of the eighth field is the same as the function of the sixth field above. Accordingly, the terminal device may interpret the eighth field in the same manner as the sixth field.

[0272] In another implementation, the meaning of the eighth field may be the same in the scenario of multi-station transmission across cells and in the scenario of multi-station transmission within the same cell. For example, regardless of the scenario of multi-station transmission across cells or in the scenario of multi-station transmission within the same cell, the eighth field is used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information, or to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information, or to indicate the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information, or to indicate whether the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or to indicate the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information, or to indicate whether the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information, or to indicate the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the relevant content of the aforementioned indication information indicating TRP, which will not be repeated here.

[0273] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission for the terminal device in a service cell (such as the first service cell) (i.e., the function of multi-station transmission across cells, or the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell), the above indication information may include the above eighth field. The function of the network device configuring multi-station transmission for the terminal device in a service cell specifically includes: the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of the network device configuring multi-station transmission for the terminal device means that the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the function of the network device configuring multi-station transmission for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device.

[0274] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the third configuration information, such as Figure 5 The CU in the illustrated embodiment determines the third configuration information. Further, the network device may send the third configuration information to the terminal device, such as Figure 5 The RU in the illustrated embodiment sends the third configuration information to the terminal device; accordingly, the terminal device receives the third configuration information from the network device. The third configuration information can be carried in the RRC signaling without limitation.

[0275] Exemplarily, the third configuration information may include one or more of the following:

[0276] Information for indicating that a function of multi-station transmission is enabled (or turned on, or started, or initiated, etc.);

[0277] Information of two timing advance offset (offset) parameters (such as the values ​​of the two offsets) is used to calculate the TA values ​​of the two TAGs;

[0278] Information of two tags (such as identification information of two tags);

[0279] Information of two control channel groups (or called two control channel groups), such as identification information of the two control channel groups.

[0280] Accordingly, the function of configuring multi-station transmission for a terminal device in a service cell by a network device can be replaced by: the network device configures information of two TAGs and information of two control channel groups for the terminal device in the service cell; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures information for the terminal device in the service cell for indicating the function of enabling multi-station transmission; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures information of two timing advance offset parameters for the terminal device in the service cell; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures information for the terminal device in the service cell for indicating the function of enabling multi-station transmission, information of two TAGs and information of two control channel groups; the remaining replacement methods are similar and are not listed here one by one.

[0281] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the above indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. Please refer to the above content for the third field and the eighth field, and will not be repeated here. In one implementation, the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission based on the values ​​of the third field and the eighth field or the information indicated. As an example, if the values ​​of the third field and the eighth field are both 0 (or the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value), the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine the specific characteristics of the random access process based on the value of the eighth field being 0, and the meaning of the eighth field can refer to the definition of the eighth field. For example, the terminal device can determine the meaning represented by the eighth field value of 0 based on whether the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission or same-cell multi-station transmission. Specifically, if the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 0, indicating that the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is the first service cell; if the configured multi-station transmission is the same-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 0, indicating that the random access triggered by the indication information corresponds to the first TRP (or the first TAG, or the identifier of the first control channel group, or the first path loss measurement resource, etc.) of the first service cell. As another example, if the value of the third field is 0 and the value of the eighth field is 1 (or the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value or the ninth value), the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine the specific characteristics of the random process based on the value of the eighth field being 1, and the meaning of the eighth field can refer to the definition of the eighth field. For example, the terminal device can determine the meaning represented by the value of the eighth field being 1 based on whether the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission or same-cell multi-station transmission. Specifically, if the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 1, indicating that the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is an activated supplementary cell; if the configured multi-station transmission is same-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 1, indicating that the random access triggered by the indication information corresponds to the second TRP (or the second TAG, or the second control channel group, or the second path loss measurement resource, etc.) of the first service cell. In another example, if the value of the third field is not 0 (or the value of the third field is other values ​​except the fifth value), and the value of the eighth field is 0 (or the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value), the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the cell corresponding to the pair of random access processes is determined to be an alternative cell indicated by the third field.It should be understood that it can be pre-specified that the value of the third field cannot be non-0 and the value of the eighth field cannot be non-0. In other words, the value of the third field cannot be other than the fifth value and the value of the eighth field cannot be the seventh value or the ninth value.

[0282] In another embodiment, the terminal device may also determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission based on the priority between the third field and the eighth field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the terminal device may first determine the cell indicated by the third field or the value of the third field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell or the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value, the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the cell indicated by the third field (in this case, the terminal device may ignore the eighth field). If the third field is used to indicate the first service cell or the value of the third field is the fifth value, the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0283] Exemplarily, when the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell or the value of the third field is the fifth value, the terminal device can also determine the specific characteristics of the random access process according to the value of the eighth field, and the meaning of the eighth field can refer to the definition of the eighth field. For example, the terminal device can determine the meaning represented by the eighth field according to whether the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission or same-cell multi-station transmission. Specifically, if the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission (meaning that the eighth field can be interpreted according to the fourth field), the terminal device can determine whether the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is the first service cell or the supplementary cell in the activated state according to the value of the eighth field. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the aforementioned related content and will not be repeated. If the configured multi-station transmission is the same-cell multi-station transmission (meaning that the eighth field can be interpreted according to the sixth field), it is determined according to the value of the eighth field that the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is the first service cell. Furthermore, when the configured multi-station transmission is multi-station transmission in the same cell, the terminal device can also determine the first TRP (or first TAG, or first control channel group, or first path loss measurement resource, etc.) or the second TRP (or first TAG, or first control channel group, or first path loss measurement resource, etc.) corresponding to the random access process according to the value of the eighth field. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the aforementioned related content and will not be repeated here.

[0284] In the above S61, the terminal device may determine a cell from the first cell set or the second cell set, and then the terminal device initiates a random access process to the cell, that is, executes the content of S62.

[0285] S62: The terminal device sends a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0286] Correspondingly, the network device receives the random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information. Figure 5 The RU in the illustrated embodiment receives a random access request message from a terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0287] The terminal device sends a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information, which specifically means that the terminal device uses the random access parameters (such as random access resources, etc.) corresponding to the cell indicated by the indication information to send a random access request message to the network device. In addition, sending a random access request message to the network device through a cell can also be expressed as initiating a random access request process for the cell. It should be pointed out that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation method of the random access process.

[0288] In an embodiment of the present application, the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set, so that the terminal device can clearly identify the cell in which the random access process is to be initiated, and can avoid the problem that the terminal device is uncertain whether to initiate the random access process for the cell in the first cell set or for the cell in the second cell set, thereby being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0289] In the embodiments provided by the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. Among them, the steps performed by the terminal device can be implemented by different functional entities that constitute the terminal device. The steps performed by the network device can be implemented by different functional entities that constitute the network device. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and the network device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and the above-mentioned functions are implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a certain function of the above-mentioned 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.

[0290] The following describes the communication device used to implement the above method in the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the above contents can be used in subsequent embodiments, and repeated contents will not be repeated.

[0291] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 700 is shown. The communication device 700 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device or the network device in the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0292] In a possible implementation, the communication device 700 may include a processing module 701 and a transceiver module 702. The processing module 701 is used to perform processing operations other than the transceiver operations. For example, the processing module 701 may be used to perform Figure 6 In the embodiment shown, the terminal device or network device performs processing operations other than the sending and receiving operations. The sending and receiving module 702 may also be called a communication interface or a communication unit, etc., and is used to receive or send related data, information or messages. For example, the sending and receiving module 702 is used to perform Figure 6 The receiving operation and sending operation of the terminal device or the network device in the illustrated embodiment.

[0293] In another possible implementation, the communication device 700 may include a transceiver module 702, which may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit, etc., for receiving or sending relevant data, information or messages. For example, the transceiver module 702 is used to perform Figure 6 The receiving operation and sending operation of the terminal device or the network device in the illustrated embodiment.

[0294] It should be noted that the above modules may be independently configured or partially or completely integrated. For example, the transceiver module 702 may include a sending module and a receiving module.

[0295] As an example, the communication device 700 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments. Among them, the transceiver module 702 is used to receive indication information from the network device, and send a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information. Optionally, the processing module 701 is used to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set according to the indication information.

[0296] As another example, the communication device 700 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the network device in any of the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 702 is used to send indication information to the terminal device, and send a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0297] The indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set. For a more detailed description, please refer to Figure 6The relevant description in the method embodiment shown is directly obtained and will not be repeated here.

[0298] like Figure 8 As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 800. The communication device 800 may include a processor 820, which is used to implement or support the communication device 800 to implement the functions of a terminal device or a network device in any method embodiment of the present application. For details, please refer to the detailed description in the aforementioned method embodiment, which will not be repeated here. For example, the processor 820 is used to read and execute program instructions through a communication interface so that the communication device 800 implements the corresponding method. The processor 820 may include one or more processors, without limitation.

[0299] Specifically, the communication device 800 can be a terminal device or a functional module located in the terminal device, which can implement the functions of the terminal device in any method embodiment of the present application; or, the communication device 800 can be a network device or a functional module located in the network device, which can implement the functions of the network device in any method embodiment of the present application.

[0300] It should be pointed out that the above-mentioned functional modules can be implemented by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software without limitation.

[0301] For example, the communication device 800 may be a chip system, wherein the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, without limitation.

[0302] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 830 is coupled to the processor 820. The coupling may be understood as an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical or other forms, for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 820 may operate in coordination with the memory 830. The memory 830 may include one or more memories, without limitation.

[0303] Furthermore, the processor 820 is used to execute program instructions stored in the memory 830 so that the communication device 800 implements a corresponding method.

[0304] Among them, one or more memories in the memory 830 may be included in the processor, and the memory 830 may also exist independently, such as an off-chip memory, through a communication bus ( Figure 8 The memory 830 and the processor 820 may also be integrated together.

[0305] Optionally, the communication device 800 further includes a communication interface 810 ( Figure 8The communication interface 810 is used to communicate with other devices through a transmission medium, so that the device in the communication device 800 can communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, when the communication device is a terminal device, the other device can be a network device, etc. The processor 820 can use the communication interface 810 to send and receive data.

[0306] The communication interface 810 may specifically be a transceiver. Optionally, the device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver may be called a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function may be called a sending unit, that is, the transceiver includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. The receiving unit is sometimes also referred to as a receiver, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc. The sending unit is sometimes also referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc. In hardware implementation, the transceiver can be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver module 702, and the transceiver is integrated in the communication device 800 to form the communication interface 810.

[0307] It should be noted that the specific connection medium between the communication interface 810, the processor 820 and the memory 830 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 In the figure, the memory 830, the processor 820 and the communication interface 810 are connected via the communication bus 840. The connection between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not intended to be limiting. The communication bus 840 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 8 Only one thick line is used in the figure, but it does not mean that there is only one communication bus or one type of communication bus.

[0308] In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 820 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may be executed by hardware in the processor, or by a combination of hardware and software in the processor.

[0309] In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 830 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory may also be any other medium for carrying or storing program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer; or, a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0310] Based on the same idea, see Fig. 9 The embodiment of the present application also provides another communication device 900, including: an input-output interface 910 and a logic circuit 920; the input-output interface 910 is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the logic circuit 920; the logic circuit 920 is used to run the code instructions to execute the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0311] The following describes in detail the operations performed by the communication device when applied to a terminal device or a network device.

[0312] In an optional implementation manner, the communication device 900 may be applied to a terminal device to execute the method executed by the above-mentioned terminal device, specifically, for example, the above-mentioned Figure 6 The method performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in . For example, the communication device 900 receives indication information from the network device; and sends a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information. The indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

[0313] Since the communication device 900 provided in this embodiment can be applied to a terminal device to complete the method executed by the above-mentioned terminal device, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above-mentioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0314] In another optional implementation, the communication device 900 can be applied to a network device to execute the method executed by the above network device, for example, Figure 6 The method performed by the network device in the embodiment shown. For example, the communication device 900 sends indication information to the terminal device; and receives a random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information. The indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

[0315] Since the communication device 900 provided in this embodiment can be applied to a network device to complete the method executed by the above network device, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0316] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which may include one or more of the following: a terminal device or a network device. The terminal device or the network device may refer to the description in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be described in detail.

[0317] A computer-readable storage medium is also provided in an embodiment of the present application, including program instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method or step of any communication device (e.g., terminal device, or network device) in the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0318] A computer program product is also provided in an embodiment of the present application, including program instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method or step of any communication device (e.g., terminal device, or network device) in the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0319] The embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor for implementing the functions of the terminal device or network device in the aforementioned method (for example, executing the corresponding method or step). The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0320] Optionally, the chip system also includes a memory, which is used to store program instructions so that the above-mentioned processor can read and execute them to implement the corresponding method.

[0321] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0322] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0323] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0324] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0325] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0326] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0327] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the part of the technical solution of the present application that contributes essentially or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program codes.

[0328] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information comprising a first field, the first field being used to indicate a cell in a first cell set, or to indicate a cell in a second cell set, wherein the first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low layer signaling, and the second cell set is a cell set for performing inter-cell multi-station transmission; Send a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set, including: If the network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set; or, If the network device configures a function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set; or, If the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information also includes a second field. When the value of the second field is a first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. When the value of the second field is a second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

3. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information including a third field and / or a fourth field, the third field being used to indicate a cell in a first cell set, and the fourth field being used to indicate a cell in a second cell set, wherein the first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low layer signaling, and the second cell set is a cell set for performing inter-cell multi-station transmission; Send a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that If the network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field; or, If the network device configures a function of inter-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field; or, If the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field, the fourth field and the fifth field. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid. When the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid.

5. The method according to claim 2 or 4, characterized in that: The network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, including: The network device configures first configuration information for the terminal device, where the first configuration information includes one or more of the following: Information used to indicate enabling the function of cell switching triggered by the low layer signaling; identification information of at least one candidate cell; beam information of at least one candidate cell; used to measure relevant parameters of at least one candidate cell; Related parameters for random access to at least one candidate cell; or A first information unit, where the first information unit is used to configure relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; The at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

6. The method according to claim 2, 4 or 5, characterized in that: The network device configures the terminal device with a function of multi-station transmission across cells, including: The network device configures second configuration information for the terminal device, where the second configuration information includes one or more of the following: Information used to indicate enabling the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; identification information of at least one supplementary cell; Information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission; Information of two timing advance groups; Information of two timing advance offset parameters; Information of two control channel groups; Related parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell; or, A second information unit, where the second information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission; The at least one supplementary cell is a supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending indication information to a terminal device, the indication information including a first field, the first field being used to indicate a cell in a first cell set, or to indicate a cell in a second cell set, wherein the first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the second cell set is a cell set for performing inter-cell multi-station transmission; A random access request message from the terminal device is received through the cell indicated by the indication information.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set, including: If the network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set; or, If the network device configures a function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set; or, If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information also includes a second field. When the value of the second field is a first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. When the value of the second field is a second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

9. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending indication information to a terminal device, the indication information including a third field and / or a fourth field, the third field being used to indicate a cell in a first cell set, and the fourth field being used to indicate a cell in a second cell set, wherein the first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the second cell set is a cell set for performing inter-cell multi-station transmission; A random access request message from the terminal device is received through the cell indicated by the indication information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that If the network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field; or, If the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field; or, If the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the indication information includes the third field, the fourth field and the fifth field, wherein when the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid, and when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid.

11. The method according to claim 8 or 10, characterized in that: The network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, including: The network device configures first configuration information for the terminal device, where the first configuration information includes one or more of the following: Information used to indicate enabling the function of cell switching triggered by the low layer signaling; identification information of at least one candidate cell; beam information of at least one candidate cell; used to measure relevant parameters of at least one candidate cell; Related parameters for random access to at least one candidate cell; or A first information unit, where the first information unit is used to configure relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; The at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

12. The method according to claim 8, 10 or 11, characterized in that The network device configures a second function for the terminal device, and the network device configures a function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device, including: The network device configures second configuration information for the terminal device, where the second configuration information includes one or more of the following: Information used to indicate enabling the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; identification information of at least one supplementary cell; Information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission; Information of two timing advance groups; Information of two timing advance offset parameters; Information of two control channel groups; Related parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell; or, A second information unit, where the second information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission; The at least one supplementary cell is a supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

13. The method according to claim 6 or 12, characterized in that: The second configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that The cell set used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one alternative cell, wherein the at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one alternative cell is a alternative cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that The cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used for receiving the indication information.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that: The indication information is downlink control information.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, 13 to 16, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 7 to 16.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising at least one processor and a memory; The memory is used to store one or more computer programs or instructions, and the at least one processor is used to execute the one or more computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, 13 to 16, or performs the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 16.

19. A chip system, characterized in that: The chip system includes at least one processor, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute one or more computer programs or instructions in the memory to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, 13 to 16, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 16.

20. A communication system, characterized in that: It comprises a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 and 13 to 16, and the network device is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 16.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: A computer program or instruction is stored, wherein the computer program or instruction is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, 13 to 16, or implement the method according to any one of claims 7 to 16.

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