Communication method, device and system

Abstract

A communication method, device and system can be applied to a communication scenario including a plurality of radio access technologies (RAT). According to the method, a terminal can select to access one of a plurality of RATs through a set of synchronization signals. Compared with the method that the base station configures the synchronization signal for each RAT, the base station can reduce the overhead of the synchronization signal and reduce the complexity of detecting the synchronization signal by the terminal.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] With the gradual evolution of communication systems, "low carbon" (such as reducing energy consumption) has received more and more attention in communication networks. Even if there is no need to transmit data information, current network devices still need to send some public information so that terminal devices can discover network devices and access network devices.

[0003] From the perspective of energy consumption, the main technical means to reduce energy consumption is to reduce the transmission of unnecessary signals. When the network device has no data information transmission requirements, the network device can turn off the transmitting antenna to save energy. However, in the current communication system, there are two wireless access technologies, long term evolution (LTE) and new radio (NR). Since the network equipment configures public information for the two wireless access technologies and sends public information separately, the energy consumption is large, which is not conducive to energy saving of network equipment. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method, device and system, which can reduce the overhead of the communication device, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the communication device.

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or can also be executed by a chip or circuit used in the terminal device. For ease of description, the following description is given by taking the execution by the terminal device as an example.

[0006] The method may include: a terminal device receives a synchronization signal, the synchronization signal is associated with a first radio access technology RAT; the terminal device determines first indication information based on the synchronization signal, the first indication information indicates a second RAT, and the first RAT and the second RAT are different; the terminal device accesses the second RAT based on the first indication information.

[0007] In this method, one set of synchronization signals can support the synchronization and access requirements of terminal devices of multiple RATs, and the terminal device does not need to receive multiple sets of synchronization signals in the time domain, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the terminal. For a communication device that sends a synchronization signal, it can support the synchronization and access of terminal devices of multiple RATs by sending one set of synchronization signals, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the communication device and increasing the chance of shutting down the communication device that sends the synchronization signal.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the synchronization signal includes PSS and / or SSS.

[0009] In this way, by designing the synchronization signal of LTE or 4G, a set of synchronization signals can support the synchronization requirements and access requirements of terminal devices of multiple RATs.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the synchronization signal includes SSB.

[0011] In this way, by designing the synchronization signal of NR or 5G, a set of synchronization signals can support the synchronization and access requirements of terminal devices of multiple RATs.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information further indicates a first RAT.

[0013] In this manner, the first indication information indicates multiple RATs.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information indicates multiple RATs, and the method also includes the terminal device determining to use the second RAT for communication according to the first indication information.

[0015] In this manner, the first indication information indicates multiple RATs for the terminal device to select. For the terminal device, the terminal device can independently determine the RAT used for communication according to its own capabilities or transmission requirements.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the synchronization signal is used to determine first indication information, the first indication information indicates a second RAT, and the first RAT and the second RAT are different.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the first RAT is LTE and the second RAT is NR, the first indication information is carried in the MIB and / or SIB of LTE.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the first RAT is NR and the second RAT is the RAT corresponding to 6G, the first indication information is carried in the MIB and / or SIB of NR.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, the synchronization signal includes SSB, the number of cell physical identifiers PCI corresponding to the first RAT is 1008, and the number of PCIs corresponding to the second RAT is greater than 1008.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device receives a synchronization signal, including: the terminal device receives a synchronization signal in a first cell, and the first cell is associated with a first PCI. The method also includes: the terminal device receives second indication information, the second indication information indicates a value range to which the first PCI belongs, and determines a second PCI of a second cell accessing the second RAT based on the second indication information and the synchronization signal.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, the frequency domain resources included in the first cell are continuous in the frequency domain, and the frequency domain resources included in the second cell are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0022] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or can also be executed by a chip or circuit used in a network device. For ease of description, the following description is given by taking the execution by a network device as an example.

[0023] The method may include: the network device sends a synchronization signal, the synchronization signal being associated with the first RAT. In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the synchronization signal being associated with the first RAT may be alternatively described as: the synchronization signal being synchronization information of the first RAT.

[0024] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the synchronization signal indicates first indication information, the first indication information indicates a second RAT, or the synchronization signal indicates scheduling information of first public information, the first public information includes first indication information, the first indication information indicates a second RAT, and the first RAT is different from the second RAT.

[0025] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, a synchronization signal is sent in a first cell of a first RAT, and the first cell is associated with a first PCI. The method also includes: a network device sends second indication information, and the second indication information indicates a value range to which the first PCI belongs, and the first PCI and the second indication information jointly indicate a second PCI of a second cell of the second RAT.

[0026] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, the synchronization signal includes SSB, the number of cell physical identifiers PCI corresponding to the first RAT is 1008, and the number of PCIs supported by the second RAT is greater than 1008.

[0027] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, the frequency domain resources included in the first cell are continuous in the frequency domain; the frequency domain resources included in the second cell are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0028] It should be understood that the second aspect is a method on the network device side corresponding to the first aspect, and the relevant explanations, supplements and descriptions of the beneficial effects of the first aspect are also applicable to the second aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0029] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or can also be executed by a chip or circuit for a terminal device. For ease of description, the following description is taken as an example of execution by a terminal device.

[0030] The method may include: the terminal device acquires first public information, where the first public information includes time-frequency resource indication information of a random access channel RACH; the terminal device sends the RACH, and communicates using a first RAT.

[0031] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the terminal device sends the RACH and uses the first RAT to communicate, including: the terminal device sends the RACH, the RACH is associated with the first RAT. Or, the terminal device sends the RACH and third indication information, the third indication information indicates the first RAT.

[0032] In this method, the terminal device sends RACH to implicitly indicate the RAT supported by the terminal device or implicitly indicate the RAT selected by the terminal device for access, for example, the relationship between RACH time-frequency resources and RAT is predefined. The network device can implicitly obtain the RAT supported by the terminal device or the RAT selected by the terminal device for access through RACH.

[0033] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the terminal device sends the RACH and communicates using the first RAT, including: the terminal device sends the RACH and third indication information, the third indication information indicating the first RAT.

[0034] In this manner, the terminal device explicitly indicates the RAT supported by the terminal device or the RAT selected for access by the terminal device through the third indication information. The network device directly obtains the RAT currently supported by the terminal device or the RAT selected for access through the time-frequency resources of the RACH or the third indication information.

[0035] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the terminal device receives second public information, and the first public information and / or the second public information include time-frequency resource indication information of the RACH; the method also includes: the terminal device determines the RACH based on the first public information and / or the second public information.

[0036] Optionally, the first common information includes all time-frequency resource indication information of RACH, or the second common information includes all time-frequency resource indication information of RACH, or the first common information and the second common information respectively include part of the time-frequency resource indication information of RACH.

[0037] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the third indication information is carried in a radio resource control connection request message Msg3.

[0038] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or can also be executed by a chip or circuit used in a network device. For ease of description, the following description is given by taking the execution by a network device as an example.

[0039] The method may include: a network device sending first public information, the first public information including time-frequency resource indication information of RACH; receiving the RACH, the RACH being associated with a first RAT, or the network device receiving the RACH and third indication information, the third indication information indicating the first RAT.

[0040] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, second public information is sent, and the first public information and / or the second public information includes time-frequency resource indication information of the RACH.

[0041] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the third indication information is carried in Msg3.

[0042] It should be understood that the fourth aspect is a method on the network device side corresponding to the third aspect, and the relevant explanations, supplements and descriptions of the beneficial effects of the third aspect are also applicable to the fourth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module can be used to receive a synchronization signal, which is associated with a first RAT. The processing module is used to determine first indication information based on the synchronization signal, and the first indication information indicates a second RAT; the processing module is used to access the first RAT based on the first indication information.

[0044] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module is used to send a synchronization signal, and the synchronization signal is associated with a first RAT.

[0045] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a transceiver module and a processing module, the transceiver module is used to receive first public information, the first public information includes RACH-associated time-frequency resource indication information, the RACH is associated with a first RAT, and the transceiver module is used to send the RACH; or, the transceiver module is used to send the RACH and third indication information, the third indication information indicates the first RAT.

[0046] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a transceiver module and a processing module, the transceiver module is used to send first public information, the first public information includes RACH-associated time-frequency resource indication information, the RACH is associated with RAT, and the transceiver module is used to receive the RACH; or, the transceiver module is used to receive the RACH and third indication information, the third indication information indicating the first RAT.

[0047] It should be understood that the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth aspects are implementation methods on the device side corresponding to the first, second, third and fourth aspects, respectively, and the relevant explanations, supplements, possible implementation methods and descriptions of beneficial effects of the first, second, third and fourth aspects are also applicable to the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth aspects, respectively, and will not be repeated here.

[0048] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including an interface circuit and a processor, wherein the interface circuit is used to implement the function of the transceiver module in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect, and the processor is used to implement the function of the processing module in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect.

[0049] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including an interface circuit and a processor, wherein the interface circuit is used to implement the function of the transceiver module in the sixth aspect or the eighth aspect, and the processor is used to implement the function of the processing module in the sixth aspect or the eighth aspect.

[0050] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing a program code for execution by a terminal device, the program code including instructions for executing the method of the first aspect or the third aspect, or any possible manner in the first aspect or the third aspect, or all possible manners in the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0051] In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing a program code for execution by a network device, the program code comprising instructions for executing the method of the second aspect or the fourth aspect, or any possible manner in the second aspect or the fourth aspect, or all possible manners in the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0052] In the thirteenth aspect, a computer program product storing computer-readable instructions is provided, which, when the computer-readable instructions are executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method of the above-mentioned first aspect or third aspect, or any possible manner of the first aspect or third aspect, or all possible manners of the first aspect or third aspect.

[0053] In the fourteenth aspect, a computer program product storing computer-readable instructions is provided, which, when the computer-readable instructions are executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method of the above-mentioned second aspect or fourth aspect, or any possible manner of the second aspect or fourth aspect, or all possible manners of the second aspect or fourth aspect.

[0054] In the fifteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes a device having a method for implementing the above-mentioned first aspect or third aspect, or any possible manner in the first aspect or third aspect, or all possible manners in the first aspect or third aspect, and various possible designed functions, and a device having the second aspect or fourth aspect, or any possible manner in the second aspect or fourth aspect, or all possible manners in the second aspect or fourth aspect, and various possible designed functions.

[0055] In the sixteenth aspect, a processor is provided, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the method of the above-mentioned first aspect or third aspect, or any possible manner in the first aspect or third aspect, or all possible manners in the first aspect or third aspect.

[0056] In the seventeenth aspect, a processor is provided, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the method of the above-mentioned second aspect or fourth aspect, or any possible manner of the second aspect or fourth aspect, or all possible manners of the second aspect or fourth aspect.

[0057] In an eighteenth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system includes a processor and may also include a memory for executing a computer program or instruction stored in the memory, so that the chip system implements the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects and any possible implementation of any one of the aspects. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0058] In the nineteenth aspect, a computer program product storing computer-readable instructions is provided, which, when the computer-readable instructions are executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method of the above-mentioned first aspect or third aspect, or any possible manner of the first aspect or third aspect, or all possible implementation manners of the first aspect or third aspect.

[0059] In the twentieth aspect, a computer program product storing computer-readable instructions is provided, which, when the computer-readable instructions are executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method of the second aspect or the fourth aspect above, or any possible manner of the second aspect or the fourth aspect, or all possible implementation manners of the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0060] In the twenty-first aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising at least one communication device as in the fifth aspect and / or at least one communication device as in the sixth aspect, the communication system being used to implement the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect, or any possible manner in the first aspect or second aspect, or all possible manners of implementation in the first aspect or second aspect.

[0061] In the twenty-second aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising at least one communication device as in the seventh aspect and at least one communication device as in the eighth aspect, the communication system being used to implement the third aspect or the fourth aspect above, or any possible manner in the third aspect or the fourth aspect, or all possible manners of implementation in the third aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0062] In the twenty-third aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a network device sends a synchronization signal to a terminal device, the synchronization signal is associated with a first radio access technology RAT, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal, and determines first indication information based on the synchronization signal, the first indication information indicates a second RAT, and the first RAT and the second RAT are different; accessing the second RAT based on the first indication information.

[0063] In the twenty-fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, comprising: a network device sends first public information to a terminal device, the first public information including time-frequency resource indication information of RACH, the RACH is associated with a first RAT, and the terminal device sends the RACH to the network device; or, the terminal device sends the RACH and third indication information to the network device, the third indication information indicating the first RAT. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0064] Figure 1 A system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0065] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of SSB is shown.

[0066] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a synchronization signal is shown.

[0067] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of time domain resources occupied by synchronization signals under LTE and NR is shown.

[0068] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a communication method proposed in an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0069] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of another communication method proposed in an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0070] Figure 7 A schematic block diagram of a communication device proposed in an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0071] Figure 8 A schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0072] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0073] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as Figure 1 120a-120j in the figure, collectively referred to as 120) RAN100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment ( Figure 1 ).

[0074] The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN 110 in a wireless manner. Terminals and RAN nodes can be connected to each other in a wired or wireless manner. The communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. 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 independent and different physical devices, or may be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. The communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300.

[0075] RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, and a future radio access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), or a WiFi system. RAN100 may also include two or more of the above different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0076] RAN nodes, also known as radio access network equipment, RAN entities or access nodes, are used to help terminals access the communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation NodeB 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 can be a macro base station (such as a Figure 1 110a), or a micro base station or an indoor station (such as Figure 1110b), it can also be a relay node or a donor node, etc. In another application scenario, the writing of multiple RAN nodes can help the terminal to achieve 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 (central unit, CU) or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (medium access control, MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. For the specific description of the above-mentioned various protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the third generation partnership project (3GPP). RU can be used to implement the sending and receiving functions of radio frequency signals. CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated in the same RAN node, for example, inherited in the baseband unit (baseband, BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU may be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0077] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, CU may become an open CU (open CU, O-CU), DU may become an open DU (open DU, O-DU), and RU may become an open RU (openRU, O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with a corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For the convenience of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0078] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), terminal device, mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. 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, smart city, etc. 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, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal. For the convenience of description, the following description is taken as an example.

[0079] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or movable. Base stations 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 airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0080] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative, for example, Figure 1 The helicopter or drone 120i in the figure can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminal 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between base stations. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure may be referred to as communication devices having base station functions. Figure 1 120a-120j in the figure can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0081] Base stations and terminals, base stations and base stations, and terminals and terminals can communicate through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; they can communicate through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem including the base station function. The control subsystem including the base station function here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or by a device including the terminal function.

[0083] The technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to wireless communication between communication devices. Wireless communication between communication devices may include: wireless communication between network devices and terminals, wireless communication between network devices and network devices, and wireless communication between terminal devices and terminal devices. In the embodiment of the present application, the term "wireless communication" can also be referred to as "communication", and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission" or "transmission".

[0084] In order to facilitate understanding of the solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant concepts are explained.

[0085] 1. Radio access technology (RAT)

[0086] RAT is the technology used by the air interface of a wireless communication network, sometimes also referred to as wireless communication technology or wireless communication standard, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), NR and 6G, etc.

[0087] In this application, NR is used as an example of RAT for 5G mobile communication network, LTE is used as an example of RAT for 4G mobile communication network, and 6G is used as the name of RAT for 6G mobile communication network for description. It is understandable that RAT for 6G mobile communication network may be presented with other names in the future.

[0088] The following is a unified explanation of the differences between LTE, NR and 6G.

[0089] LTE supports a subcarrier spacing. Each cell of LTE and NR consists of continuous frequency resources, while NR supports multiple subcarrier spacings, which means that the NR subcarrier spacing can be flexibly configured. For example, the subcarrier spacing of NR can be 15kHz, 30kHz, or 60kHz, etc. The number of PCIs of LTE is 504, while the number of PCIs of NR is 1008. For 6G, some possible designs are that the number of PCIs of 6G is greater than that of NR, the cells included in 6G may be discontinuous in the frequency domain, or 6G supports non-continuous frequency domain resources (such as non-continuous bandwidth), or 6G supports scheduling data on discrete frequency domain resources, or discrete frequency domain resources can constitute a cell of 6G. That is, the number of PCIs of 6G is greater than 1008, and one or more cells of 6G (such as the second cell) can be composed of multiple frequency domain resources with intervals. The cells of NR (such as the first cell) are continuous in the frequency domain, or NR supports continuous frequency domain resources (such as continuous bandwidth), or NR supports scheduling data on continuous frequency domain resources, or continuous frequency domain resources can constitute a cell of NR. In summary, different RATs may have different subcarrier spacing configurations, PCI numbers, and whether the frequency domain resources are continuous or not.

[0090] It should be understood that LTE, NR and 6G are used as examples of different RATs in this application, but this application is not limited thereto. For other RATs, such as the RAT corresponding to 5.5G, the solution of this application can also be applied.

[0091] 2. Public Information

[0092] Public information, also known as public information or non-private information, can be understood as information sent from one communication device to multiple communication devices. Figure 1Taking the communication system shown as an example, public information can be understood as information sent by the base station to multiple terminals or a terminal group in the cell, or as information sent by the base station to an unspecified terminal or a terminal group in the cell, or as information that can be used commonly by multiple terminals or a terminal group in the cell. For example, public information can be system information block (SIB), synchronization signal or PBCH block (SSB), etc.

[0093] 3. Common mode

[0094] Signals from different RATs are transmitted through the same hardware, which is called common mode. The scenario of communication through common mode is called common mode scenario.

[0095] For example, one form of common-mode scenario is that the base station (or terminal) supports both LTE and NR, and the base station uses the same RF channel to send NR signals and LTE signals.

[0096] 4. NR synchronization signal

[0097] In the NR system, the terminal device synchronizes with the base station through SSB. SSB can be used for terminal access to the cell, such as cell search, beam measurement, beam selection and beam recovery. In NR, SSB includes synchronization signals and broadcast signals. The specific synchronization signals include primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS); broadcast signals include PBCH.

[0098] Specifically, Figure 2 The following is an example of the time-frequency domain structure of SSB in NR. SSB occupies 4 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and 20 resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain, that is, 240 subcarriers (SCs).

[0099] NR's SSB has two main functions: 1) used for cell synchronization and acquisition of master information block (MIB), where MIB can be carried by PBCH; 2) used for beam training.

[0100] 1) For cell synchronization: PSS and SSS carry the physical cell identifier (PCI), and the terminal obtains the PCI by detecting PSS and SSS. In NR, the PBCH of SSB carries the SSB index, and each SSB index corresponds to the sending position of an SSB. The terminal can complete downlink timing synchronization by detecting the SSB index and the detection time.

[0101] 2) Used for beam training: Beam training is also commonly referred to as beam alignment and beam selection. Beam training detects the channel using simulated transmit beams and receive beams to find the transmit-receive beam combination with the maximum received signal energy, that is, the beam pair that is most suitable for the channel transmission, thereby avoiding direct estimation of the air interface channel. For example, an SSB pattern may contain multiple SSB indices, and different SSB indices may correspond to different base station transmit beams. The UE can detect the SSB and select the best SSB index, such as SSB index 1, to complete wide beam training. At the same time, the UE can also use multiple receive beams to receive an SSB index 1 with different receive beams, and select the best receive beam, such as receive beam 2, to complete the UE-side receive beam training. The functions of this base station wide beam include: 1) UE improves the coverage of SIB1 / Paging by receiving SIB1 / Paging sent by beam 2 at the position corresponding to SSB index 1; 2) UE sends a physical random access channel (PRACH) at the position corresponding to SSB index 1, and the base station can use the same wide beam that sends SSB index 1 to receive PRACH, thereby increasing the probability of successful PRACH reception; 3) After the UE completes the initial access and establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection, the base station can perform fine beam training based on the wide beam (receiving beam 2), that is, only train the fine beams within the range of receiving beam 2, thereby reducing the overhead of fine beam training.

[0102] In addition, the terminal needs to blindly detect the position of the SSB. However, since the cell bandwidth in NR is very wide, if the terminal tries to detect the SSB at each frequency point, the terminal access speed will be very slow. Therefore, a synchronization raster is defined in the NR protocol to determine the frequency position of the candidate SSB. In other words, the terminal only needs to try to detect the SSB at the frequency domain position determined by the synchronization raster, thereby improving the speed at which the terminal detects the SSB. The interval between two adjacent frequency domain positions determined by the synchronization raster has different sizes in different frequency bands, which are 1200kHz, 1.44MHz and 17.28MHz respectively. For example, as shown in Table 1: The terminal only needs to detect the SSB at the frequency domain position determined by the synchronization raster. REF It is sufficient to detect SSB at the determined frequency, rather than at all frequencies. REF The calculated result represents the center frequency of SSB. Combined with the fact that SSB contains 4 continuous symbols in the time domain, it occupies 20 RBs in the frequency domain, which is SSB. REF What is calculated is the position where the resource element (RE) in the 10th RB in the SSB is equal to 0.

[0103] Table 1 GSCN parameters for the global frequency raster

[0104]

[0105] In Table 1, SS REF It represents the center frequency of SSB, and GSCN represents the Global Synchronization Channel Number.

[0106] The frequency domain position of SSB can be determined according to the synchronization grid, and the time domain position of SSB can be determined according to SSB pattern. For example, an SSB pattern represents the time domain position of a group of continuous SSBs in a half-frame.

[0107] 5. LTE synchronization signal

[0108] Similar to the NR system, the PBCH of LTE also carries the MIB, but the difference lies in the specific information content of the MIB. The information carried by the PBCH of LTE can be used for terminal synchronization.

[0109] The LTE MIB is used by the terminal to obtain the most basic cell configuration information, which mainly includes the downlink system bandwidth, physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH) configuration, and system frame number (SFN). The PBCH carrying the MIB is located in the first 4 OFDM symbols of the second time slot of subframe 0 of each system frame in the time domain. In LTE, a subframe is divided into two time slots, that is, the length of a time slot is 0.5ms.

[0110] Specifically, Figure 3 As shown in (a), PBCH can occupy the first four symbols in the second time slot of subframe 0, such as the four symbols indexed as 0, 1, 2 and 3.

[0111] The functions of PSS and SSS in LTE are similar to those of PSS and SSS in NR. However, PSS and SSS in LTE are not transmitted as a block like in NR, but are transmitted separately. The main functions are: 1) obtaining frequency and symbol synchronization with the cell (downlink synchronization); 2) obtaining system frame timing, that is, the starting position of the downlink frame; 3) determining the PCI of the cell.

[0112] For example, Figure 3 As shown in (b), for frequency division duplex (FDD), PSS is sent on the last OFDM symbol of the first slot of subframe 5; SSS and PSS are sent on the same slot in the same subframe, but SSS is located on the second to last OFDM symbol, one OFDM symbol earlier than PSS.

[0113] Another example Figure 3 As shown in (c) in FIG. 1 , for time division duplex (TDD), the PSS is sent on the third OFDM symbol of subframes 1 and 6; and the SSS is sent on the last OFDM symbol of subframes 0 and 5, 3 symbols earlier than the PSS.

[0114] In addition, in LTE, a total of 504 different PCIs are defined, each PCI corresponds to a specific downlink reference signal sequence. All PCIs are divided into 168 groups (corresponding to variables The value range is 0 to 167), each group contains 3 cell IDs (corresponding to variables The value range is 0 to 2). The determination method of PCI can refer to the following relationship:

[0115]

[0116] in, PCI is the cell identifier.

[0117] The synchronization signal is introduced above, and the following is an example introduction of two types of public information.

[0118] 6.SIB1

[0119] SIB1 is carried on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The time-frequency position and transmission parameters of the PDSCH carrying SIB1 are indicated by downlink control information (DCI). The DCI corresponding to SIB1 is jointly determined by CORESET and common search space 0 (CSS0, also known as searchSpaceZero). In addition, the beam used by the base station to send SIB1 is the same as the beam of the SSB at the time-frequency position of the DCI sent by the base station to indicate the scheduling of SIB1. Correspondingly, the beam used by the terminal to receive SIB1 is the same as the beam of the SSB at the time-frequency position of the DCI received by the terminal to indicate the scheduling of SIB1.

[0120] SIB1 can also be considered as the remaining minimum system information (RMSI). It can also be considered as the first system message sent after MIB. Alternatively, SIB1 can be considered as a system message including the time-frequency resource indication information of RACH. Alternatively, it can be considered as the information carried in the PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH determined by CORESET 0 and CSS0. SIB1 contains parameters used to determine whether a cell is suitable for cell selection, as well as time domain scheduling information of other SIBs.

[0121] It can be seen from the above that the synchronization signals of LTE and NR are different. For example, the synchronization signals of the two RATs occupy different resource positions in the time domain. In addition, for terminals that can only support one RAT, the terminal can only detect the synchronization signal corresponding to the RAT supported by the terminal. For example, a terminal that supports NR receives SSB, obtains public information based on the SSB, such as MIB, SIB1, etc., and then accesses the network based on this public information. Terminals that support LTE receive PSS / SSS, obtain public information based on the PSS / SSS, such as MIB, SIB1, etc., and then access the network based on this public information.

[0122] For terminals that can support multiple RATs, the terminal can identify the synchronization signals of different RATs. Different RATs use different physical layer protocols and signal parameters, so the terminal needs to identify and decode the corresponding synchronization signals, so as to detect and decode these synchronization signals according to the corresponding RAT specifications to synchronize and communicate with the base station. The terminal will scan different frequency bands during the search process, and try to decode the detected synchronization signals to determine the available RATs, and access the network through the corresponding RAT. From the above introduction, it can be seen that in order to maintain basic communication functions (such as synchronization, cell discovery, etc.), even if there is no data transmission, the base station still needs to frequently send some public signaling. For example, the base station sends the synchronization signal of LTE and the synchronization signal of NR respectively, so that the terminal supporting NR can access the network of NR, and the terminal supporting LTE can access the network of LTE. Alternatively, for terminals that support both LTE and NR, the terminal needs to access the network of NR according to the synchronization signal of NR, and access the network of LTE according to the synchronization signal of LTE.

[0123] However, the time domain resources of different signals are configured independently, and the overlap rate of time-frequency resources is low. Figure 4 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the configuration of public information. The horizontal axis in the figure represents the time domain, and the vertical axis represents the frequency domain. The first row in the figure represents the distribution of LTE's public information in the time domain, and the second row represents the distribution of NR's public information in the time domain. The base station indicates that different RATs need to send two different sets of public information, which has a large overhead. In addition, the base station can only turn off the transmitting antenna when there is no signal transmission in different RATs, which results in fewer opportunities to shut down the base station and higher power consumption of the base station.

[0124] It should be understood that the above only uses NR and LTE as examples of different RATs, and this problem may also exist between other RATs or new RATs proposed in future technological developments. In other words, when the common information in different RATs, such as synchronization signals, has a low overlap rate in the time domain, there may be a problem of fewer base station shutdown opportunities and higher base station power consumption.

[0125] In view of this, the present application proposes a communication method that can increase the shutdown opportunities of base stations and reduce the energy consumption of base stations.

[0126] In this embodiment, 6G refers to the RAT of the next generation communication technology based on 5G. The following is a detailed description using 6G, LTE and NR as examples. It should be noted that other different RATs may also be applicable to the solution of this application and should all be within the scope of protection of this application.

[0127] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method 500 may include the following steps.

[0128] 501. The base station sends a synchronization signal to the terminal, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the synchronization signal.

[0129] The synchronization signal is associated with the first RAT. In other words, the synchronization signal is a synchronization signal of the first RAT.

[0130] In one possible implementation, the synchronization signal is associated with the first RAT through a format (or structure, standard). For example, the synchronization signal is a synchronization signal in NR, that is, the synchronization signal is associated with NR. In other words, the format of the synchronization signal is the same as the format of the synchronization signal in NR, then the synchronization signal is associated with NR. For example, the time-frequency resources occupied by the synchronization signal are the same as those of the synchronization signal in NR. Figure 2 If the time-frequency resources occupied by the SSB in the NR are the same, the synchronization signal is associated with the NR, or it can be said that the synchronization signal is the synchronization signal in the NR.

[0131] The following describes the manner in which the synchronization signal is associated with the first RAT for several situations of the common mode scenario.

[0132] Case 1: For the scenario of LTE and NR common mode, the synchronization signal includes PSS and / or SSS. For example, PSS is the PSS in LTE, and SSS is the SSS in LTE, that is, the synchronization signal uses the structure of PSS and SSS in LTE, or in other words, the first RAT associated with the synchronization signal is LTE. In this example, the synchronization signal can also include PBCH in LTE. The structure of PSS, SSS and PBCH in LTE can all refer to the relevant description of the synchronization signal in LTE in the previous text. I will not go into details here.

[0133] Case 2: For the scenario of NR and 6G common mode, the synchronization signal is SSB. For example, the SSB is the SSB in NR, that is, the first SSB uses the structure of the SSB in NR, and the first RAT associated with the SSB is NR. The structure of the SSB in NR can be referred to the previous introduction and will not be repeated here.

[0134] Case 3: For the scenario of LTE and 6G common mode, the synchronization signal includes PSS and / or SSS. For example, PSS is the PSS in LTE, and SSS is the SSS in LTE, that is, the synchronization signal uses the structure of PSS and SSS in LTE, or in other words, the first RAT associated with the synchronization signal is LTE. In this example, the synchronization signal can also include PBCH in LTE. The structure of PSS, SSS and PBCH in LTE can all refer to the relevant description of the synchronization signal in LTE in the previous text. I will not go into details here.

[0135] It should be understood that the terminal receiving the synchronization signal in this step can also be understood as the terminal detecting the synchronization signal, and the places below involving the terminal receiving the synchronization signal can be replaced by the terminal detecting the synchronization signal.

[0136] In the above possible situations, in the common mode scenario, the base station sends a synchronization signal of a lower version of RAT to the terminal, and the terminal can use a higher RAT to communicate based on the synchronization signal of the lower version of RAT. This method has good backward compatibility. For example, assuming that in a common mode scenario of LTE and 6G, if the base station sends a 6G synchronization signal, a terminal that only supports LTE synchronization signals cannot obtain public information through the synchronization signal sent by the base station. Through the method of the above situation 3, by designing that terminals that support 6G can access the network through LTE synchronization signals, terminals that only support LTE can be enabled to detect and parse synchronization signals to avoid communication abnormalities.

[0137] 502. The terminal determines first indication information based on the synchronization signal.

[0138] The first indication information indicates a second RAT, and the second RAT is different from the first RAT.

[0139] In a possible implementation, the terminal detects a synchronization signal and obtains first indication information, where the first indication information indicates the second RAT.

[0140] For example, the terminal needs to detect a synchronization signal to obtain public information, and the first indication information is carried in the public information.

[0141] In one possible implementation, the terminal detects a synchronization signal such as SSB, obtains CORESET0 and CSS0 according to the MIB in the SSB, and thereby determines the frequency domain position and time domain position where the DCI for receiving the scheduling SIB1 is located. The DCI indicates the time-frequency position and transmission parameters of the PDSCH carrying SIB1, and the terminal receives the PDSCH according to the DCI to obtain SIB1.

[0142] In other words, the base station indicates multiple RATs supported by the current network through the synchronization signal and the public information indicated by the synchronization signal. For example, the base station implicitly indicates one RAT through step 501, and explicitly indicates another RAT through the public information in step 502.

[0143] The following is a detailed description using SIB as an example of public information. The terminal obtains SIB according to the synchronization signal, and the first indication information is carried in SIB1, for example, the first indication information is a field in SIB. A certain state value of the field indicates the first RAT.

[0144] In one possible manner, the first indication information may also indicate the first RAT. That is, the first indication information may indicate multiple RATs. For example, the first indication information is a field in the SIB, and different state values ​​of the field indicate different RATs. For example, the first indication information occupies 2 bits, and the state value of the 2 bits is 00 to indicate LTE, the state value of the 2 bits is 01 to indicate NR, and the state value of the 2 bits is 10 to indicate 6G. For example, the first indication information is 1 bit, and the state value of the 1 bit is 0 to indicate LTE, and the state value of the 1 bit is 1 to indicate NR. For example, the first indication information is 1 bit, and the state value of the 1 bit is 0 to indicate NR, and the state value of the 1 bit is 1 to indicate 6G.

[0145] The method in which the terminal detects the synchronization signal to obtain SIB1 can refer to the above introduction.

[0146] It should be understood that the above description is based on the example that the synchronization signal and the public information respectively indicate different RATs, and the synchronization signal and the public signal may also indicate the same RAT. For example, the synchronization signal is a synchronization signal of the first RAT, and the first indication information indicates the first RAT. That is, the second RAT is the same as the first RAT. In this manner, the base station indicates to the terminal that the current network only supports the first RAT.

[0147] The following is an explanation of the common information in several common mode situations.

[0148] Case A: For the scenario of LTE and NR co-mode, the terminal detects the LTE synchronization signal to determine the public information, and the first indication information carried in the public information indicates NR. That is, in this scenario, the public information follows the design in LTE, and the public information is one or more of the MIB, SIB1 or SIBx in LTE. SIBx represents one or more system messages in other system messages except SIB1.

[0149] Case B: For the NR and 6G common mode scenario, the terminal detects the NR synchronization signal to determine the public information, and the first indication information carried in the public information indicates 6G. That is, the public information follows the design in NR, and the public information is one or more of MIB, SIB1 or SIBx in NR. Among them, SIBx represents a system message in other system messages except SIB1.

[0150] Case C: For the scenario of LTE and 6G co-mode, the terminal detects the LTE synchronization signal to determine the public information, and the first indication information carried in the public information indicates 6G. That is, in this scenario, the public information follows the design in LTE, and the public information is one or more of the MIB, SIB1 or SIBx in LTE. Among them, SIBx represents one or more system messages in other system messages except SIB1.

[0151] It should be noted that the common information in case A, case B and case C may be different. For example, in case A, the first indication information is carried in the first MIB, in case B, the first indication information is carried in the second MIB, and in case C, the first indication information is carried in the third MIB, and the first MIB, the second MIB and the third MIB occupy different time domain resources.

[0152] In actual communication, the terminal needs to access the network through a certain cell, that is, the terminal needs to obtain the PCI of the cell during the access to the network. In NR, the sequence of SSB is associated with PCI, and the terminal can determine the PCI corresponding to the sequence of SSB in 1008 PCIs based on the sequence of SSB. However, for 6G, the number of PCIs may be more, that is, when the number of PCIs is greater than 1008, therefore, for the scenario where the first RAT is NR and the second RAT is 6G, this application provides a method for determining PCI. A detailed description is given below.

[0153] The terminal receives a synchronization signal in the first cell, and the first cell is associated with the first PCI. The association method of the first cell and the first PCI can refer to the association relationship between the SSB sequence and the PCI in the NR. Further, the terminal receives second indication information in the first cell, and the second indication information indicates the value range to which the first PCI belongs. The terminal determines the second PCI of the second cell of the second RAT according to the second indication information and the synchronization signal.

[0154] For example, the second indication information is a 1-bit field, when the second indication information takes a value of 0, the PCI value range is 0-1007, and when the second indication information takes a value of 1, the PCI value range is 1008-2015. The terminal determines the value range of the first PCI according to the second indication information, specifically, the second indication information takes a value of 1, and the terminal determines that the first PCI is 5 according to the synchronization signal, then the second PCI is 5+1008.

[0155] In addition, the corresponding relationship between the value of the above-mentioned second indication information and the meaning it represents can be predefined and can be configured by the base station through signaling.

[0156] 503. The terminal accesses the second RAT based on the first indication information.

[0157] Specifically, the terminal accesses the second RAT, which may be that the terminal sends a RACH of the second RAT, or that the terminal receives a paging of the second RAT.

[0158] Figure 5 In the method shown, a terminal can select one of two or more RATs through a set of synchronization signals. Compared with independently configuring synchronization signals for each RAT, the base station can reduce signaling overhead and increase the chances of shutting down the transmitting antenna, which is beneficial to energy saving of the base station.

[0159] The embodiment of the present application also proposes a communication method, which enables the base station to obtain the RAT supported by the terminal, thereby further improving the communication efficiency.

[0160] In this solution, the communication system includes at least two terminals, and the following description is made by taking terminal #A and terminal #B as examples. Terminal #A and terminal #B support different RATs respectively. For example, terminal #A supports LTE and terminal #B supports NR, or terminal #A supports NR and terminal #B supports 6G, or both terminal #A and terminal #B support multiple RATs, but can access different RATs. For the convenience of description, the following embodiment is described by taking the RAT supported by terminal #A as 6G and the RAT supported by terminal #B as NR as an example.

[0161] Among them, accessing RAT can be understood as using RAT for communication. For example, the process of random access of a terminal can be referred to, which will not be described in detail here.

[0162] The following uses terminal #A as an example of a terminal device.

[0163] like Figure 6 As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0164] Optionally, 601, the base station sends a synchronization signal to terminal #A, and correspondingly, terminal #A receives the synchronization signal.

[0165] Specifically, the synchronization signal is used for downlink synchronization. The manner in which terminal #A receives the synchronization signal can refer to the above description and will not be described in detail. Optionally, terminal #A can be one of multiple terminals. For example, the base station can send a synchronization signal to terminal #A and terminal #B, and terminal #A and terminal #B receive the same synchronization signal, that is, the base station supports two RATs, but only sends one set of synchronization signals. This can reduce the power consumption of the base station.

[0166] 602. The base station sends first public information to terminal #A, and correspondingly, terminal #A receives the first public information.

[0167] The first public information includes time-frequency resource indication information of a random access channel (RACH). In other words, the first public information includes time-frequency resource indication information of a RACH.

[0168] In one possible way, the public information received by terminal #A is the same as the public information received by terminal #B. For example, for example, the first public information is SIB1. The SIB1 can carry the time-frequency resource indication information of RACH. Terminal #A that supports 6G can receive the same SIB1 as terminal #B that supports NR. In a possible implementation, there may be functional information in 6G that NR does not have. Therefore, optionally, terminal #A can also detect other public information, such as the second public information. The second public information carries functional information that NR does not have. For example, the second public information is SIBx.

[0169] Optionally, the time-frequency resource indication information of RACH can be indicated by the first public information, or by the second public information, or by the combination of the first public information and the second public information. That is, terminal #A can determine the time-frequency resources of RACH based on the first public information and / or the second public information.

[0170] In another possible manner, the public information received by terminal #A is different from the public information received by terminal #B. That is, the public information received by terminals supporting different RATs is different. For example, terminal #A receives the first public information, and terminal #B receives the third public information. The first public information is different from the third public information, and the difference may be that the content of the first public information is different from that of the third public information, and / or that the time-frequency resources occupied by the first public information and the third public information are different.

[0171] 603. Terminal #A sends a first RACH to the base station.

[0172] Example 1: Terminal #A sends a first RACH to the base station based on the first public information. The RACH is associated with the first RAT, or the RACH is the RACH of the first RAT. The first RAT is a RAT supported by terminal #A, and terminal #A selects the RAT to access.

[0173] When terminal #A sends the first RACH to the base station, the base station can determine the RAT supported by terminal #A based on the first RACH and the association between the first RACH and the RAT. It should be understood that the association between the first RACH and the corresponding first RAT can be preset or configured. Terminal #B can also send RACH based on the first public information. Alternatively, terminal #B sends RACH based on the third public information. The RACHs sent by terminal #A and terminal #B can be the same or different.

[0174] In this mode, RACH is associated with the first RAT, and the terminal implicitly indicates the first RAT through RACH. For example, the RACH resource is associated with the first RAT, and the resource can be at least one of a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, or a code resource, and the code resource can be a sequence. For example, the association relationship between the sequence used by RACH and the RAT is predefined or configured. The base station learns the first RAT through the RACH sequence.

[0175] Example 2: Terminal #A sends a first RACH and third indication information to the base station, where the third indication information is used to indicate the RAT supported by terminal #A, or the third information indicates the RAT selected by terminal #A for access. Terminal #B may also send indication information to the base station, such as fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information indicates the RAT supported by terminal #B, or indicates the RAT selected by terminal #B for access.

[0176] In this manner, the terminal #A explicitly indicates the first RAT through the first indication information. The base station can determine the first RAT through the third indication information.

[0177] In a possible implementation, the third indication information may be a radio resource control connection request message (RRCConnectionRequest), namely Msg3. In other words, terminal #A reports the supported first RAT in Msg3. Alternatively, the third indication information may be sent separately.

[0178] In a possible implementation, the terminal also reports its own identification (such as ID) to the base station so that the base station can clearly understand the RAT supported or selected by the terminal. For example, terminal #A reports ID#A to the base station and reports that the RAT selected for access is NR. Terminal #B reports ID#B to the base station and selects LTE as the RAT to access. The base station determines that the terminal with ID#A uses NR communication and the terminal with ID#B uses LTE communication, and sends configurations according to the corresponding RAT.

[0179] In this method, there are multiple terminals in the communication network, and the multiple terminals can be multiple terminals supporting multiple RATs. The terminals report the RATs they support or choose to access to the base station, and the base station can align with the current communication needs of the terminals. The public information sent by the base station does not need to distinguish between RATs, which is beneficial to energy saving of the base station.

[0180] 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.

[0181] Figure 7 and Figure 8 The following is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be as follows: Figure 1 One of the terminals 120a-120j shown may also be Figure 1 The base station 40a or 40b shown may also be a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal or a base station.

[0182] like Figure 7 As shown, the communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720. The communication device 700 is used to implement the above Figure 5 or Figure 6 The functions of the terminal or base station in the method embodiment shown in FIG.

[0183] When the communication device 700 is used to implement Figure 4 The functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown are: the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a synchronization signal; the processing unit 710 is used to determine the public information #A based on the synchronization signal; the processing unit 710 is also used to access the second RAT based on the synchronization signal.

[0184] When the communication device 700 is used to implement Figure 4 The functions of the base station in the method embodiment shown are: the transceiver unit 720 is used to send a synchronization signal.

[0185] When the communication device 700 is used to implement Figure 6 The functions of the base station in the method embodiment shown are: the transceiver unit 720 is used to send a synchronization signal; the transceiver unit 720 is used to send the first public information; the transceiver unit 720 is used to send the first public information; the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive the third indication information; the transceiver unit 720 can also be used to send Msg3.

[0186] When the communication device 700 is used to implement Figure 6The functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown are: the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive a synchronization signal; the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive the first public information; the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive the first public information; the transceiver unit 720 is used to send the third indication information; the transceiver unit 720 can also be used to receive Msg3.

[0187] For more detailed description of the processing unit 710 and the transceiver unit 720, please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 The relevant description in the method embodiment shown is directly obtained and will not be repeated here.

[0188] like Figure 8 As shown, the communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. The processor 810 and the interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 820 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 800 may also include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by the processor 810 or storing input data required by the processor 810 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 810 executes instructions.

[0189] When the communication device 800 is used to implement Figure 4 or Figure 6 When the method is shown, the processor 810 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned processing unit 710, and the interface circuit 820 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 720.

[0190] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment. The terminal chip receives information from other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal; or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station.

[0191] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal. The base station module here can be a baseband chip of a base station, or it can be a DU or other module, and the DU here can be a DU under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0192] It is understandable that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0193] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, register, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also be present in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0194] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is executed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a base station, a user device or other programmable device. The computer program or instruction may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instruction may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape; it may also be an optical medium, for example, a digital video disc; it may also be a semiconductor medium, for example, a solid-state hard disk. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0195] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided for in any logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other, and the technical features in the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0196] Depending on whether it is used in the specification, it is optional: In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0197] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving a synchronization signal, wherein the synchronization signal is associated with a first radio access technology RAT; Determine first indication information according to the synchronization signal, where the first indication information indicates a second RAT, and the second RAT is different from the first RAT; Access the second RAT based on the first indication information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The synchronization signal includes a primary synchronization signal PSS and / or a secondary synchronization signal SSS, or the synchronization signal includes a synchronization signal block SSB.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first indication information further indicates the first RAT.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: When the first RAT is NR and the second RAT is 6G, the first indication information is carried in the main system block MIB.

5. According to the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the first RAT is the new wireless NR, the second RAT is 6G, the synchronization signal includes SSB, the number of physical cell identifiers PCIs corresponding to the first RAT is 1008, and the number of PCIs corresponding to the second RAT is greater than 1008.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The receiving synchronization signal comprises: receiving a synchronization signal in a first cell of a first RAT, the first cell being associated with a first PCI, The method further comprises: receiving second indication information, where the second indication information indicates a value range to which the first PCI belongs, Determine a second PCI of a second cell accessing the second RAT according to the second indication information and the synchronization signal.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, The frequency domain resources included in the first cell are continuous in the frequency domain; The frequency domain resources included in the second cell are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

8. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a synchronization signal, wherein the synchronization signal is associated with a first RAT, wherein: The synchronization signal indicates first indication information, and the first indication information indicates a second RAT, or The synchronization signal indicates scheduling information of first public information, the first public information includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates a second RAT, The first RAT is different from the second RAT.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The synchronization signal includes PSS and / or SSS, or the synchronization signal includes SSB.

10. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 9, characterized in that: When the first RAT is NR and the second RAT is 6G, The synchronization signal indicates first indication information, and the first indication information is carried in the MIB; Alternatively, the synchronization signal indicates scheduling information of first public information, the first public information is SIB, and the first indication information is carried in the SIB.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, the synchronization signal includes SSB, the number of cell physical identifiers PCI corresponding to the first RAT is 1008, and the number of PCIs supported by the second RAT is greater than 1008.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The sending of the synchronization signal comprises: sending the synchronization signal in a first cell of a first RAT, wherein the first cell is associated with a first PCI, The method further comprises: Send second indication information, where the second indication information indicates a value range to which the first PCI belongs, and the second indication information and the first PCI jointly indicate a second PCI of a second cell of the second RAT.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first RAT is NR, the second RAT is 6G, The frequency domain resources included in the first cell are continuous in the frequency domain; The frequency domain resources included in the second cell are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

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

15. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13.

16. A communication system, characterized in that: Comprising the communication device as claimed in claim 14 and comprising the communication device as claimed in claim 15.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13 is implemented.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a communication device, the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or performs the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, configured to execute computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the apparatus performs: the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13.

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