Communication method, device and system

Abstract

The invention relates to a communication method, device and system. And the first terminal equipment executes channel access on the unlicensed frequency band. And the first terminal equipment sends the SCI, the SCI comprises first information, and the first information is used for indicating that at least one bit in the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit. The M bits are bits used for bearing COT-SI, and M is a positive integer. Equivalently, it is indicated that the second-order SCI does not carry the COT-SI through the first information. Because some terminal devices (e.g., terminal devices sharing COT) may not transmit or carry COT-SI; alternatively, it is possible that the terminal device that initializes the COT does not support the COT sharing function, so that the terminal device does not send or carry the COT-SI. Through the indication of the first information, the probability that other terminal devices misunderstand COT can be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In the new radio (NR) system, in order to support the transmission of higher-speed services, researchers have extended the terminal direct communication to the unlicensed frequency band with a larger bandwidth, namely the sidelink-unlicensed (SL-U). Before the UE sends information on the unlicensed frequency band, it needs to listen-before-talk (LBT) to confirm that the channel is idle. LBT is divided into two categories, namely type 1 LBT and type 2 LBT. Among them, the listening time of type 1 LBT is generally longer, while the listening time of type 2 is generally shorter.

[0003] Generally speaking, the longer the channel listening time is, the greater the possibility of detecting that the channel is busy, and the lower the probability of accessing the channel. In order to increase the probability of UE accessing the channel, SL-U also supports the channel occupancy time sharing (COT sharing) mechanism. Specifically, only the UE that initializes the COT (i.e., the first UE to grab the channel) needs to perform type 1 LBT before sending information, while other UEs in the COT only need to perform type 2 LBT. Since type 2 LBT generally requires a shorter channel listening time than type 1 LBT, it can increase the probability of other UEs sharing the COT accessing the channel.

[0004] Among them, when the UE that initializes COT successfully seizes a COT, it can send COT sharing information (COT sharing information, COT-SI) to instruct other UEs to share the COT. Optionally, in one possible case, in order to avoid misunderstanding of COT by other UEs, UEs that share COT (UEs that do not initialize COT) should not send COT sharing information. Or, in another possible case, when the UE that initializes COT does not support the function / feature of COT sharing, COT sharing information should not be sent. For the receiving end, it is not clear whether the received information includes COT-SI, and thus the content included in the received information may be misunderstood. Summary of the invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, device, and system for providing a method for indicating not to send / carry COT shared information.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including terminal device functions, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional modules, which can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, arranged in the terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a first terminal device. In the following description, the method is performed by the first terminal device as an example. The method includes: performing channel access on an unlicensed frequency band; sending an SCI, wherein the SCI includes first information, wherein the first information is used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, and the M bits are bits used to carry COT-SI, and M is a positive integer.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present application, COT-SI can be carried on M bits in the second stage SCI. In an embodiment of the present application, the first information can be used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second stage SCI is a reserved bit. The at least one bit is a reserved bit, which means that the at least one bit does not carry COT-SI. In one possible case, it is equivalent to indicating that the M bits do not carry COT-SI. Or, it is equivalent to indicating that the second stage SCI does not carry COT-SI. Because some UEs (such as UEs that share COT) may not send or carry COT-SI; or, it may be that the UE that initializes COT does not support the COT sharing function, so it does not send or carry COT-SI. Through the indication of the first information, the probability of other terminal devices misunderstanding COT based on the value of the M bits after demodulating the M bits can be reduced.

[0008] In an optional implementation, the COT-SI is used to indicate a shared COT, wherein the first terminal device occupies all or part of the resources in the COT. For example, if the first terminal device is a terminal device that preempts the COT, the first terminal device can send a COT-SI to indicate to other terminal devices whether to share the COT or not after preempting the COT.

[0009] In an optional implementation, the first information is carried by bits of a first field in the SCI. The SCI, for example, includes a first field, and bits of the first field can be used to carry the first information, thereby enabling the SCI to include the first information.

[0010] In an optional embodiment, the SCI is a first-order SCI, or a second-order SCI. The first-order SCI may be associated with the second-order SCI, for example, the first-order SCI may schedule the second-order SCI. Alternatively, the first-order SCI schedules the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) where the second-order SCI is located. This is equivalent to the first-order SCI associated with the second-order SCI being able to carry the first information, so that the receiving end can know in advance whether at least one bit in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit; or the first information may be carried by the second-order SCI without having to carry the first information by other information, which can simplify the implementation process.

[0011] In an optional implementation, the SCI is a first-order SCI, and the reserved bits in the first-order SCI are used to carry the first field. For example, if the first-order SCI originally includes reserved bits, the first field can be carried by some or all of these reserved bits, or some or all of these reserved bits can be used as bits in the first field. As a result, there is no need to add new bits in the first-order SCI to carry the first field, which is conducive to compatibility with existing technologies. That is, the bits used to carry the first field were originally reserved bits in the first-order SCI. In this implementation, the bits that were originally reserved bits carry the first field. It can be understood that at this time, the bit is no longer a reserved bit (because it carries the first information).

[0012] In an optional implementation, the SCI is a first-order SCI, and the newly added bits in the first-order SCI are used to carry the first field. For example, in addition to the bits originally included in the first-order SCI, newly added bits can be used to carry the first field, so that there is no need to change the original fields or bits in the first-order SCI.

[0013] In an optional embodiment, the M bits are used to carry COT-SI and are located in the second-order SCI. The first information in the first-order SCI indicates that at least one of the M bits is a reserved bit. For example, the second-order SCI may include one or more of the following four fields: CAPC field, additional ID field, COT sharing casttype field, or remaining COT duration field. These four fields can be used to carry COT-SI. The M bits, for example, include all or part of the bits in the four fields described above. The at least one bit may be part or all of the above-mentioned M bits.

[0014] In an optional implementation, the first information carried by the first field in the first-order SCI indicates that the bits included in the above four fields are reserved bits. That is, the M bits include all the bits of the above four fields, and the at least one bit includes the M bits.

[0015] In an optional implementation, the SCI is the second-order SCI. The newly added bits in the second-order SCI are used to carry the first field. For example, in addition to the bits originally included in the second-order SCI, newly added bits can be used to carry the first field, so that there is no need to change the original fields or bits in the second-order SCI.

[0016] In an optional implementation, the bits of the first field belong to the M bits. The M bits are used to carry COT-SI, and the M bits are located in the second-order SCI. The first information indicates that at least one of the M bits is a reserved bit, which is equivalent to that the M bits do not carry COT-SI when the first information exists. Then the embodiment of the present application can make some or all of the M bits carry the first field to improve the utilization rate of these parts or all of the bits.

[0017] In an optional implementation, the first field is a remaining COT duration field. For example, the second-order SCI may include the following four fields, which may be used to carry COT-SI. The four fields are, for example, a CAPC field, an additional ID field, a COT sharing cast type field, and a remaining COTduration field. The M bits, for example, include all or part of the bits in the four fields described above. For example, if the bits of the first field belong to M bits, the first field may be implemented by any one or more of the four fields, without specific limitation.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the at least one bit includes one or more of the following: a bit belonging to the CAPC field, a bit belonging to the additional ID field, or a bit belonging to the COT sharing cast type field. The M bits include at least one bit, and also include bits in the first field, and the bits in the first field carry the first information, which is equivalent to the bits in the first field not being reserved bits, but having indicative meaning, so the bits in the first field may not belong to the at least one bit indicated by the first information. In this implementation, as long as a bit has actual indicative meaning, or a bit carries valid information, it is regarded as not being a reserved bit. Taking the first field as the remaining COTduration field as an example, the bits of the remaining COT duration field can indicate that the bits of the CAPC field, the bits of the additional ID field, and the bits of the COT sharing cast type field are reserved bits, but the bits of the remaining COT duration field are not regarded as reserved bits, because the bits of the remaining COT duration field carry the first information. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the bits of the first field may continue to be regarded as reserved bits, then the at least one bit includes one or more of the following: bits belonging to the remaining COT duration field, bits belonging to the CAPC field, bits belonging to the additional ID field, or bits belonging to the COT shared broadcast type field.

[0019] In an optional implementation, the first information is used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, including: bits of the remaining COT duration field are used to indicate that bits of the CAPC field, bits of the additional ID field, and bits of the COT shared broadcast type field are reserved bits. For example, at least one bit includes bits belonging to the CAPC field, bits belonging to the additional ID field, and bits belonging to the COT shared broadcast type field, and the first field carrying the first information is the remaining COT duration field, which is equivalent to bits of the remaining COT duration field being used to indicate bits of the CAPC field, bits of the additional ID field, and bits of the COT shared broadcast type field are reserved bits.

[0020] In an optional implementation, the value of the first field is a second value, which is used to indicate that the at least one bit is a reserved bit, and the second value is a reserved value of the first field. For example, the first field occupies one or more bits, and these one or more bits can have one or more values. Among these one or more values, some values ​​may have been used. For example, if the bits of the first field belong to M bits, then some values ​​of these one or more bits may be used to indicate relevant information of COT-SI. Among these one or more values, there may be some values ​​that have not been used but are used as reserved values. Then, the embodiment of the present application can use any one of these reserved values ​​as the second value to indicate that at least one bit is a reserved bit.

[0021] In the second aspect, another communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including terminal device functions, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional modules, which can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, arranged in the terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a second terminal device. In the following description, the method is performed by the second terminal device as an example. The method comprises: receiving an SCI from a first terminal device, the SCI comprising first information; determining, according to the first information, at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI as a reserved bit, the M bits being bits used to carry COT-SI, and M being a positive integer.

[0022] In an optional implementation, the COT-SI is used to indicate a shared COT, wherein the first terminal device occupies all or part of the resources within the COT.

[0023] In an optional implementation, the first information is carried by bits of a first field in the SCI.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the SCI is the first-order SCI, or the second-order SCI.

[0025] In an optional implementation, the SCI is a first-order SCI, and the reserved bits in the first-order SCI are used to carry the first field.

[0026] In an optional implementation, the SCI is a first-order SCI, and the newly added bits in the first-order SCI are used to carry the first field.

[0027] In an optional implementation manner, the M bits are used to carry COT-SI and are located in the second-order SCI. The first information in the first-order SCI indicates that at least one bit among the M bits is a reserved bit.

[0028] In an optional implementation, the first information carried by the first field in the first-order SCI indicates that the bits included in the above four fields are reserved bits.

[0029] In an optional implementation manner, the SCI is the second-order SCI. The newly added bits in the second-order SCI are used to carry the first field.

[0030] In an optional implementation manner, the bits of the first field belong to the M bits. The M bits are used to carry COT-SI, and the M bits are located in the second-order SCI.

[0031] In an optional implementation, the first field is a remaining COT duration field.

[0032] In an optional implementation, the at least one bit includes one or more of the following: a bit belonging to a CAPC field, a bit belonging to an additional ID field, or a bit belonging to a COT shared broadcast type field.

[0033] In an optional embodiment, the first information is used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, including: bits of the remaining COT duration field are used to indicate that bits of the CAPC field, bits of the additional ID field, and bits of the COT shared broadcast type field are reserved bits.

[0034] In an optional implementation, the value of the first field is a second value, used to indicate that the at least one bit is a reserved bit, and the second value is the reserved value of the first field.

[0035] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the second aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0036] In a third aspect, another communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including terminal device functions, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, which can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a first terminal device. In the following description, the method is performed by the first terminal device as an example. The method includes: sending a first-order SCI, the first-order SCI includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate that the format of the second-order SCI is a first format; wherein, when the second information is a third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI, and when the second information is a fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI. In the embodiment of the present application, the second-order SCI including COT-SI and the second-order SCI not including COT-SI can be in different formats, thereby, by indicating the format of the second-order SCI, it is possible to indicate whether the second-order SCI includes COT-SI, and the indication method is relatively simple and easy to implement. Furthermore, for the second-order SCI that does not include COT-SI, specifically, it may not include a bit (or field) for carrying COT-SI, thereby saving the overhead of the second-order SCI.

[0037] In an optional implementation, the fourth value is a value used to indicate the SCI-2B format, and the format indicated by all values ​​of the second information does not include the SCI-2B. For example, if the second-order SCI does not support the SCI-2B format, the value (fourth value) originally used to indicate the SCI-2B format may become an idle value. Then, the embodiment of the present application can use the fourth value to indicate the format including COT-SI, so that there is no need to add a new value (for example, there is no need to expand the number of bits of the second information), and the utilization rate of the original value is also improved.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the fourth value is "01". For example, the second information occupies 2 bits, and among the values ​​of the 2 bits, the value "01" is originally used to indicate SCI-2B, and the embodiment of the present application uses it to indicate a format including COT-SI.

[0039] In an optional implementation, when the second information is the fourth value: the first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format; or the first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format. The second-order SCI including COT-SI may also have multiple formats, for example, there may be a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format, or there may be a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format, and the fourth value may indicate one of the formats of the second-order SCI including COT-SI.

[0040] In an optional implementation, the second information is carried by a 2nd stage SCI format field. The 2nd stage SCI format field is originally a field used to indicate the format of the second stage SCI. The embodiment of the present application continues to indicate the format of the second stage SCI by using this field without adding a new field for indication, so that the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application can be better compatible with existing technologies.

[0041] In a fourth aspect, another communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by other devices including terminal device functions, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional modules, which can realize the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, arranged in the terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a second terminal device. In the following description, the method is performed by the second terminal device as an example. The method includes: receiving a first-order SCI from a first terminal device, the first-order SCI including second information; determining that the format of the second-order SCI is a first format according to the second information; wherein, when the second information is a third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI, and when the second information is a fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI.

[0042] In an optional implementation, the fourth value is a value used to indicate an SCI-2B format, and the formats indicated by all values ​​of the second information do not include the SCI-2B.

[0043] In an optional implementation, the fourth value is "01".

[0044] In an optional implementation, when the second information is the fourth value: the first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format; or the first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format.

[0045] In an optional implementation, the second information is carried via a 2nd stage SCI format field.

[0046] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the fourth aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the third aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the first terminal device described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. The communication device has the function of the first terminal device. The communication device is, for example, the first terminal device, or a larger device including the first terminal device, or a functional module in the first terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module), and when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement the sending function and the receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0048] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit is used to perform channel access on an unlicensed frequency band; the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send SCI, the SCI includes first information, the first information is used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, the M bits are bits used to carry channel occupancy time sharing information COT-SI, and M is a positive integer.

[0049] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send a first-order SCI, the first-order SCI includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate that the format of the second-order SCI is the first format; wherein, when the second information is a third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI, and when the second information is a fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI.

[0050] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, so that the communication device can perform the function of the first terminal device described in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the second terminal device described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. The communication device has the functions of the second terminal device. The communication device is, for example, a second terminal device, or a larger device including a second terminal device, or a functional module in the second terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, reference may be made to the introduction of the fifth aspect.

[0052] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is used to receive SCI from a first terminal device, and the SCI includes first information; the processing unit is used to determine, based on the first information, that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, and the M bits are bits used to carry COT-SI, and M is a positive integer.

[0053] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is used to receive a first-order SCI from a first terminal device, and the first-order SCI includes second information; the processing unit is used to determine that the format of the second-order SCI is a first format based on the second information; wherein, when the second information is a third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI, and when the second information is a fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI.

[0054] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, so that the communication device can perform the function of the second terminal device described in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0055] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device, or a chip or chip system used in a terminal device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instruction, the communication device executes the method executed by the first terminal device or the second terminal device in the above aspects.

[0056] In an eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a first terminal device and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is used to execute the method performed by the first terminal device described in the first aspect, and the second terminal device is used to execute the method performed by the second terminal device described in the second aspect. For example, the first terminal device can be implemented by the communication device described in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect; the second terminal device can be implemented by the communication device described in the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect.

[0057] In a ninth aspect, another communication system is provided, comprising a first terminal device and a second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is used to execute the method executed by the first terminal device as described in the third aspect, and the second terminal device is used to execute the method executed by the second terminal device as described in the fourth aspect. For example, the first terminal device can be implemented by the communication device as described in the fifth aspect or the seventh aspect; the second terminal device can be implemented by the communication device as described in the sixth aspect or the seventh aspect.

[0058] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program or instruction, and when the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method executed by the first terminal device or the second terminal device in the above aspects is implemented.

[0059] According to an eleventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the methods described in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0060] In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is used to call and execute instructions from the interface so that the chip system implements the above-mentioned methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0061] Figure 1 An architecture diagram of a communication network used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 2 and Figure 3 Flowcharts of two communication methods provided in embodiments of the present application;

[0063] Figure 4A schematic diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] 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.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" 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. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0067] The ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in the present application is only to distinguish different steps, and is not used to limit the order between the steps. For example, S202 may occur before S203, or may occur after S203, or may occur at the same time as S203.

[0068] Below, some terms or concepts in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0069] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above devices (for example, a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: sensing scenarios, cellular communications, device-to-device communications (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, drone, robot, indoor commercial scenarios (such as mobile phone screen projection, file sharing, mobile phone to VR glasses video transmission) and other scenarios. The terminal device may sometimes be referred to as UE, terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication equipment, or user device, etc.

[0070] In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the terminal device may be a terminal device, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the device for implementing the function of the terminal device as an example, and the terminal device is used as an example. In addition, for the convenience of description, the terminal device is described in the embodiment of the present application by taking the UE as an example.

[0071] The network equipment in the embodiment of the present application, for example, includes access network equipment, and / or core network equipment. The access network equipment is a device with wireless transceiver function, which is used to communicate with the terminal device. The access network equipment includes but is not limited to base stations (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, evolved node B (eNodeB) / eNB, or next generation node B (gNodeB) / gNB), transceiver points (transmission reception point, TRP), base stations of subsequent evolution of the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP), access nodes in wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, etc. The base station can be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a micro-micro base station, a small station, a relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support networks with the same access technology, or networks with different access technologies. The base station can include one or more co-station or non-co-station transmission and receiving points. The access network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device may also be a server, etc. For example, the network device in the V2X technology may be a road side unit (RSU). The following describes the access network device using a base station as an example. The base station can communicate with a terminal device, or it can communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. The terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network device is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices that implement core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. Taking the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) system as an example, the core network equipment includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF) or user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0072] In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device for realizing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to realize the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the device for realizing the function of the network device as an example that the network device is used as the device.

[0073] In an embodiment of the present application, COT-SI can be carried on M bits in the second-order SCI. In an embodiment of the present application, at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI can be indicated as a reserved bit through the first information. The at least one bit is a reserved bit, which means that the at least one bit does not carry COT-SI. In one possible case, it is equivalent to indicating that the M bits do not carry COT-SI; or, it is equivalent to indicating that the second-order SCI does not carry COT-SI. Because some UEs (such as UEs that share COT) may not send or carry COT-SI; or, it may be that the UE that initializes COT does not support the COT sharing function, so it does not send or carry COT-SI. Through the indication of the first information, the probability of other terminal devices misunderstanding COT based on the values ​​of M bits can be reduced.

[0074] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the fourth generation mobile communication technology (the 4th generation, 4G) system, such as the long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, or can be applied to the fifth generation mobile communication technology (the 5th generation, 5G) system, such as the NR system, or can also be applied to the next generation mobile communication system or other similar communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication technology (the 6th generation, 6G) system, etc., without specific limitation. In addition, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to SL, such as SL-U. For example, the SL-U belongs to a D2D scenario, such as an NR-D2D scenario, etc., or belongs to a V2X scenario, such as an NR-V2X scenario, etc. For example, it can be used in fields such as factory manufacturing, whole-house intelligence, intelligent driving, assisted driving, intelligent networked vehicles, or indoor commercial scenarios.

[0075] For reference Figure 1 , which is a communication network architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application. Figure 1Including UE1 and UE2, UE1 and UE2 can communicate through SL, for example, UE1 can send sidelink control information (SCI), and UE2 can receive SCI. Among them, the UE1 and / or UE2 can be within the coverage of the network device, or can also be outside the coverage of the network device. If the UE1 and UE2 are within the coverage of the network device, the two UEs can be within the coverage of the same network device, or can also be within the coverage of different network devices. The UE1 and UE2 can execute the method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0076] In addition, the embodiments of the present application may also involve more UEs. For example, in addition to UE2, more UEs may receive SCI from UE1, and there is no limitation on this.

[0077] In addition, the embodiments of the present application may also involve more network devices, or may not involve any network devices, and there is no limitation on this.

[0078] In order to better describe the embodiments of the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified in the following text, the steps indicated by dotted lines in the accompanying drawings corresponding to the embodiments of the present application are all optional steps. The methods provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to Figure 1 The network architecture shown in FIG. 1 is a first UE in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 UE1 in the embodiment of the present application; the second UE involved in each embodiment of the present application may be Figure 1 UE2 in .

[0079] This application embodiment provides a communication method, see Figure 2 , which is a flow chart of the method.

[0080] S201. A first UE performs a channel access procedure in an unlicensed frequency band. Alternatively, S201 may be replaced by a first UE accessing a channel in an unlicensed frequency band.

[0081] In one possible implementation, channel access includes two types, namely type 1LBT and type 2LBT. Among them, type 1LBT requires a counter countdown, and type 2LBT requires a fixed-duration channel listening before accessing the channel. Type 2LBT may include three types, namely type 2A LBT, type 2B LBT, and type 2CLBT. Among them, type 2A LBT requires a 25 microsecond (us) channel listening before accessing the channel; type 2B LBT requires a 16us channel listening before accessing the channel; type 2CLBT does not require channel listening before accessing the channel, but the transmission duration of type 2C LBT is limited, and generally can only be transmitted for no more than 584us.

[0082] For example, the first UE may use type 1LBT or type 2LBT to access the channel, without any specific limitation.

[0083] S202, the first UE sends SCI. Correspondingly, the second UE receives the SCI from the first UE. For example, the first UE may send the SCI according to the result of LBT, for example, if the LBT result indicates that the channel is idle, the first UE may send the SCI on the channel.

[0084] The SCI may include first information, and the first information may indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, or indicates that the at least one bit does not carry COT-SI, or indicates that the at least one bit does not carry relevant information of the shared COT, or indicates that the second-order SCI does not include / carry COT-SI. The embodiment of the present application takes the first information indicating that the at least one bit is a reserved bit as an example. Among them, the COT-SI may indicate a shared COT (or indicate that the COT is not shared), and the first UE may occupy all or part of the resources in the COT. For example, if the first UE is a UE that seizes the COT, then after the first UE seizes the COT, it can send COT-SI to indicate other UEs to share the COT or not share the COT; for another example, the first UE is not a UE that seizes the COT, but a UE that shares some resources in the COT (for example, the first UE determines that the first UE can share the COT based on the COT-SI from the third UE), then the first UE can continue to send COT-SI to other UEs to indicate that other UEs share the COT or not share the COT. Among them, the second-order SCI includes M bits, and the M bits can be used to carry COT-SI. Then, through the first information, the receiving end (for example, the second UE) can clearly know that the at least one bit (or the M bits) in the second-order SCI does not carry COT-SI, so that the COT sharing information will not be misunderstood according to the values ​​of each bit in the at least one bit.

[0085] The M bits may include one or more bits, that is, M is a positive integer. For example, the second-order SCI may include the following four fields, which can be used to carry COT-SI. These four fields are, for example, a channel access priority class (CAPC) field, an additional ID field, a COT sharing cast type field, and a remaining COT duration field. Among them, the CAPC field occupies 2 bits, for example, and can indicate the CAPC. The receiving end can determine the CAPC corresponding to the COT-SI based on the CAPC field. The additional ID field occupies 24 bits, for example, and can indicate the ID of the UE. The receiving end determines that the COT indicated by the COT-SI can be shared through ID matching. The COT sharing cast type field is used to indicate unicast, multicast or broadcast. The remaining COT duration field may indicate the remaining time within the COT, where the bits occupied by the remaining COT duration field vary with the subcarrier spacing (SCS). For example, when the subcarrier spacing is 15kHz, the remaining COT duration field may occupy 4 bits; when the subcarrier spacing is 30kHz, the remaining COT duration field may occupy 5 bits; when the subcarrier spacing is 60kHz, the remaining COT duration field may occupy 6 bits. If the value of the remaining COT duration is 0, it means that the COT is not shared.

[0086] The M bits include, for example, all the bits in the four fields as described above, and the at least one bit may be part or all of the bits in the M bits. For example, the at least one bit may be part or all of the bits in any one of the four fields as described above, or part or all of the bits in any two of the four fields as described above, or part or all of the bits in the four fields as described above.

[0087] Optionally, the SCI may be a first stage SCI, and the first stage SCI may be associated with the second stage SCI, for example, the first stage SCI may schedule the second stage SCI; or, the first stage SCI schedules the PSSCH where the second stage SCI is located. The first information in the first stage SCI may indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second stage SCI is a reserved bit. Alternatively, the SCI may be the second stage SCI, that is, the second stage SCI may include the first information by itself to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second stage SCI is a reserved bit.

[0088] Regardless of whether the SCI is a first-order SCI or a second-order SCI, one way in which the SCI includes the first information is that the first information can be carried by bits of a first field in the SCI, for example, the first information is carried by all or part of the bits in the first field. When the implementation of the SCI is different, the first field may be different.

[0089] If the SCI is a first-order SCI, as an implementation of the first field, the reserved bits in the first-order SCI can be used to carry (or, as) the first field. Alternatively, it can be understood that the bits of the first field are originally reserved bits, or the first field is originally a reserved field, and the embodiment of the present application uses the original reserved bits or reserved fields to carry the first information. For example, the first-order SCI includes N reserved reserved bits, or including (N reserved -1) reserved bits, the number of which can be indicated by the network device, for example, the network device indicates by configuring high-level signaling (such as radio resource control (RRC) signaling, etc.); or, it can also indicate by pre-configured (i.e., factory-set) high-level signaling. The first information can be N reserved reserved bits or (N reserved -1) reserved bits. For example, if the value of the first information is the first value, it indicates that the at least one bit is a reserved bit, or indicates that the at least one bit does not carry COT-SI, or indicates that the at least one bit does not carry the relevant information of the shared COT, or indicates that the M bits do not carry COT-SI, or indicates that the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI; or, if the value of the first information is the fifth value (or not the first value), it indicates that the at least one bit is not a reserved bit, or indicates that the at least one bit carries COT-SI, or indicates that the at least one bit carries the relevant information of the shared COT, or indicates that the M bits carry COT-SI, or indicates that the second-order SCI includes COT-SI. The first information is transmitted through N reserved reserved bits or (N reserved-1) reserved bits as an example, the first value is, for example, "0", and the fifth value is, for example, "1".

[0090] Alternatively, if the SCI is a first-order SCI, as an implementation of the first field, the bits of the first field may also be newly defined bits, or it can be understood that the first field may be a newly defined field in the first-order SCI, and the first field may occupy one or more bits. By carrying the first information through the newly defined field, the original content of the first-order SCI may not be affected, so that the first-order SCI can indicate more information.

[0091] Optionally, if the first field is located in the first-order SCI, the values ​​of the four fields used to carry the COT-SI may be predefined values ​​or default values, or the values ​​may be determined by the UE itself, such as 0, or other values.

[0092] If the SCI is a second-order SCI, the above text introduces that the second-order SCI may include four fields for carrying COT-SI. As an implementation method of the bits of the first field, the first field can be implemented through any one or more of the four fields. For example, the first field is any one of the four fields, or any two of the four fields, or all four fields. For example, the first field is the remaining COTduration field among the four fields. Alternatively, the first field may not be implemented through these four fields, for example, the first field is other fields in the second-order SCI, and the other fields are, for example, reserved fields, or fields used to implement other functions, or newly defined fields in the second-order SCI.

[0093] If the first field is implemented by any one or more of the four fields used to carry COT-SI, the bits in the first field belong to M bits. Optionally, in this case, the bits in the first field may not belong to at least one bit indicated by the first information. That is, the M bits include at least one bit, including the bits in the first field, and the bits in the first field carry the first information, which is equivalent to the bits in the first field not being reserved bits, but having indicative meaning, so the bits in the first field may not belong to at least one bit indicated by the first information. In this implementation, as long as a bit has actual indicative meaning, or a bit carries valid information, it is regarded as not being a reserved bit. Taking the first field as the remaining COT duration field as an example, the bits in the remaining COT duration field can indicate that the bits in the CAPC field, the bits in the additional ID field, and the bits in the COT sharing casttype field are reserved bits, but the bits in the remaining COT duration field are not regarded as reserved bits because the bits in the remaining COT duration field carry the first information.

[0094] Alternatively, the bits in the first field may also belong to at least one bit indicated by the first information. For example, the at least one bit is the M bits mentioned above, and the first field indicates that the other bits in at least one bit except the bits in the first field are reserved bits, and the bits in the first field themselves are also reserved bits. In this embodiment, the first field is originally used to carry relevant information of COT-SI, but it actually carries the first information, not relevant information of COT-SI, so the bits of the first field are considered to be reserved bits. Taking the first field as the remaining COT duration field as an example, the bits of the remaining COT duration field can indicate that the bits of the CAPC field, the bits of the additional ID field, and the bits of the COT sharing cast type field are reserved bits, and the bits of the remaining COT duration field are also considered to be reserved bits.

[0095] Optionally, if the first field is implemented by any one or more of the four fields used to carry COT-SI, the remaining fields (or remaining bits) of the four fields except the first field may be a predefined value or a default value, or the value may be determined by the UE itself. The value is, for example, 0, or may be other values.

[0096] For example, if the value of the first information is the second value (or the value (or, state) of the first field is the second value), it indicates that the at least one bit is a reserved bit, or indicates that the at least one bit does not carry COT-SI, or indicates that the at least one bit does not carry relevant information of the shared COT, or indicates that the M bits do not carry COT-SI, or indicates that the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI; or, if the value of the first information is the sixth value (or, the value of the first field is the sixth value; or, the value of the first field is not the second value), it indicates that the at least one bit is not a reserved bit, or indicates that the at least one bit carries COT-SI, or indicates that the at least one bit carries relevant information of the shared COT, or indicates that the M bits carry COT-SI, or indicates that the second-order SCI includes COT-SI. Optionally, the second value can be a reserved value of the first field. For example, the first field is implemented by any one or more of the four fields as described above included in the second-order SCI. When the second-order SCI includes COT-SI, some values ​​of the first field have corresponding meanings and can indicate COT-SI-related content. For example, if some values ​​of the first field have not been used but are reserved, or are called redundant, then the present application embodiment can use these reserved values ​​as the first information. See Table 1 for an example of the state (or value) of the remaining COT duration field.

[0097] Table 1

[0098]

[0099] Taking the subcarrier spacing of 15kHz as an example, the remaining COT duration field (the remaining COT duration field in Table 1) occupies 4 bits, and these 4 bits have a total of 16 values ​​(or, 16 states). 10 of the values ​​(for example, 10 values ​​from 0 to 9) have been used to indicate relevant information of COT-SI, such as indicating the remaining time of the shared COT, or indicating that the COT is not shared; and the other 6 values ​​(for example, 6 values ​​from 10 to 15) have not yet been used and are redundant. For example, if the first field is the remaining COT duration field, the second value in the embodiment of the present application can be at least one of these 6 values. The same is true when the subcarrier spacing is 30kHz or 60kHz, so I will not go into details.

[0100] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may further include S203, the first UE sends a second-order SCI, and correspondingly, the second UE receives the second-order SCI from the first UE. The second-order SCI is the second-order SCI mentioned above, for example, the four fields used to carry COT-SI in the second-order SCI do not carry COT-SI, or the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI. The second UE has determined that the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI based on the first information, which can reduce the probability of the second UE misunderstanding COT.

[0101] If the SCI in S201 is the first-order SCI, S202 and S203 may be executed separately; or, if the SCI in S201 is the second-order SCI, S202 and S203 may be the same step, or S202 may be executed without executing S203.

[0102] In the embodiment of the present application, the format of the second-order SCI is, for example, SCI-2A, SCI-2B or SCI-2C, without specific limitation.

[0103] In an embodiment of the present application, COT-SI can be carried on M bits in the second-order SCI. In an embodiment of the present application, at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI can be indicated as a reserved bit through the first information. The at least one bit is a reserved bit, which means that the at least one bit does not carry COT-SI. In one possible case, it is equivalent to indicating that the second-order SCI does not carry COT-SI. Because some UEs (such as UEs that share COT) may not send or carry COT-SI; or, it may be that the UE that initializes COT does not support the COT sharing function, so it does not send or carry COT-SI. Through the indication of the first information, the probability of other terminal devices misunderstanding COT can be reduced.

[0104] This application embodiment provides another communication method, see Figure 3 , which is a flow chart of the method.

[0105] S301. A first UE performs channel access in an unlicensed frequency band.

[0106] Optionally, the first UE may first perform channel access in the unlicensed frequency band. For more information about S301, please refer to Figure 2 S201 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0107] S302: The first UE sends a first-order SCI. Correspondingly, the second UE receives the first-order SCI from the first UE.

[0108] According to the LBT result, the first UE may send the first-order SCI. For example, if the LBT result indicates that the channel is idle, the first UE may send the first-order SCI on the channel.

[0109] The first-order SCI may include second information, and the second information may indicate that the format of the second-order SCI is a first format, and the first format is a format including COT-SI in the second-order SCI, or a format not including COT-SI in the second-order SCI. The first-order SCI may be associated with the second-order SCI, for example, the first-order SCI may schedule the second-order SCI, or the first-order SCI may schedule the PSSCH where the second-order SCI is located.

[0110] Optionally, the second information may be carried by a 2nd stage SCI format field in the first stage SCI. That is, the first stage SCI may include a 2nd stage SCI format field, and the embodiment of the present application may use the 2nd stage SCI format field to indicate the format of the second stage SCI.

[0111] When the second information is the third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI; when the second information is the fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI. Figure 3 In the embodiment shown in the figure, the second-order SCI including COT-SI and excluding COT-SI are set to different formats, wherein the format including COT-SI may be a newly introduced format in the embodiment of the present application, so that by indicating the format of the second-order SCI, the receiving end can clearly understand whether the second-order SCI includes COT-SI.

[0112] Embodiment of the present application ( Figure 3 In the embodiment shown in the figure, the second-order SCI includes COT-SI. One understanding is that the second-order SCI includes fields for carrying COT-SI, such as the CAPC field, the additional ID field, the COT sharingcast type field, and the remaining COT duration field, and the field for carrying COT-SI also carries COT-SI; the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI. One understanding is that the second-order SCI does not include fields for carrying COT-SI, such as the CAPC field, the additional ID field, the COT sharing cast type field, and the remaining COT duration field, and naturally the second-order SCI does not include relevant information of COT-SI.

[0113] and Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the second-order SCI includes COT-SI. One understanding is that the second-order SCI includes a field for carrying COT-SI, and the field for carrying COT-SI also carries COT-SI. The second-order SCI does not include COT-SI. One understanding is that the second-order SCI includes a field for carrying COT-SI, but the field for carrying COT-SI does not carry COT-SI, that is, the bits of the relevant fields are reserved bits.

[0114] That is, not carrying COT-SI or not including COT-SI means not carrying corresponding indication information. Specifically, not including or not carrying indication information, for example, Figure 2 and Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, the understanding of “the second-order SCI does not include or carry COT-SI” may be different from the above.

[0115] The 2nd stage SCI format field may occupy one or more bits, some or all of which may be used to carry the second information. For example, the original formats of the second-stage SCI include SCI-2A, SCI-2B, and SCI-2C, and these three formats may be regarded as formats that do not include COT-SI; in addition, the embodiments of the present application add one or more of the following formats: a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format, a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2B format, or a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format. Among them, the format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format can be understood as the multiplexing of the SCI-2A format, and the bits or related fields for carrying COT-SI are added thereto (for example, the CAPC field, additional ID field, COTsharing cast type field, and remaining COT duration field are added). For the format including COT-SI in the SCI-2B format or the format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format, the understanding method is similar.

[0116] Taking the example that all bits in the 2nd stage SCI format field carry the second information, reference may be made to Table 2, which is an example of the content indicated by the 2nd stage SCI format field.

[0117] Table 2

[0118]

[0119] Table 2 takes the 2nd stage SCI format field (the second-stage SCI format field in Table 2) as an example to indicate a total of 6 formats, so the 2nd stage SCI format field can occupy 3 bits. Or the 2nd stage SCI format field can also occupy more bits, and there is no restriction on this. Among them, the correspondence between the value of the 2nd stage SCI format field in Table 2 and the format is only an example. For example, the value corresponding to a certain format may also be other values ​​of the 2nd stage SCI format field. For example, 001 indicates the SCI-2C format, and 010 indicates the SCI-2B format. Or there are other correspondences between the value of the field and the format, which are not restricted here.

[0120] As described above, when the second information is the third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI; when the second information is the fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI. Taking Table 2 as an example, the third value is, for example, "000", "001" or "010", and the fourth value is, for example, "011", "100" or "101".

[0121] In the above implementation, the original format of the second-order SCI includes SCI-2A, SCI-2B and SCI-2C. Or it is also possible that the original format of the second-order SCI includes SCI-2A and SCI-2C, but does not include SCI-2B, or the second-order SCI does not support the SCI-2B format, that is, the format indicated by all values ​​of the second information is not SCI-2B. In this case, the original format of the second-order SCI includes SCI-2A and SCI-2C, and these two formats can be regarded as formats that do not include COT-SI; in addition, the embodiment of the present application can add a format that includes COT-SI in the SCI-2A format, and / or a format that includes COT-SI in the SCI-2C format.

[0122] Taking the example that all bits in the 2nd stage SCI format field carry the second information, reference may be made to Table 3, which is an example of the content indicated by the 2nd stage SCI format field.

[0123] Table 3

[0124]

[0125] Table 3 takes the 2nd stage SCI format field (the second-stage SCI format field in Table 3) as an example indicating a total of 4 formats, so the 2nd stage SCI format field can occupy 2 bits. Or the 2nd stage SCI format field can also occupy more bits, and there is no restriction on this. Among them, the correspondence between the value of the 2nd stage SCI format field in Table 3 and the format is only an example. For example, the value corresponding to a certain format can also be other values ​​of the 2nd stage SCI format field. For example, continuing to take the example of all bits in the 2nd stage SCI format field carrying the second information, you can refer to Table 4 again, which is another example of the content indicated by the 2nd stage SCI format field (the second-stage SCI format field in Table 4).

[0126] Table 4

[0127] The value of the second-order SCI format field Format 00 SCI-2A 01 SCI-2C+COT-SI 10 SCI-2C 11 SCI-2A+COT-SI

[0128] In Table 4, the format corresponding to "01" is SCI-2C+COT-SI, and the format corresponding to "11" is SCI-2A+COT-SI; while in Table 3, the format corresponding to "11" is SCI-2C+COT-SI, and the format corresponding to "01" is SCI-2A+COT-SI. That is, the value corresponding to a certain format can be a certain value A in the 2nd stage SCI format field, or it can also be another value B, which is more flexible.

[0129] As described above, when the second information is the third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI; when the second information is the fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI. Optionally, the fourth value may be a value originally used to indicate the SCI-2B format, or may be a reserved value.

[0130] Taking Table 3 as an example, the third value is, for example, "00" or "10", and the fourth value is, for example, "01" or "11". Among them, the value "01" was originally used to indicate the SCI-2B format. This is equivalent to when the second-order SCI does not support the SCI-2B format, the embodiment of the present application can use the value originally used to indicate SCI-2B to indicate the second-order SCI format including COT-SI. Then the embodiment of the present application does not need to introduce a new value to indicate the second-order SCI format including COT-SI, which not only improves the utilization rate of the original value, but also can be better compatible with existing technologies. Continuing to take Table 3 as an example, the fourth value can also be "11", and the value "11" was originally a reserved value. This is equivalent to the embodiment of the present application using a reserved value to indicate the second-order SCI format including COT-SI, thereby improving the utilization rate of the original value without having to introduce a new value.

[0131] Tables 3 and 4 both take the format of including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format and the format of including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format as examples of the embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, the embodiments of the present application may also add the format of including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format, but not add the format of including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format. Taking the example of all bits in the 2nd stage SCI format field carrying the second information, reference may be made to Table 5, which is an example of the content indicated by the 2nd stage SCI format field.

[0132] Table 5

[0133] The value of the second-order SCI format field Format 00 SCI-2A 01 SCI-2A+COT-SI 10 SCI-2C 11 Reserve

[0134] Table 5 takes the 2nd stage SCI format field (the second stage SCI format field in Table 5) as an example indicating a total of 4 formats, so the 2nd stage SCI format field can occupy 2 bits. Alternatively, the 2nd stage SCI format field can also occupy more bits, and there is no restriction on this. Among them, the correspondence between the value of the 2nd stage SCI format field in Table 5 and the format is only an example, for example, the value corresponding to a certain format can also be other values ​​of the 2nd stage SCI format field.

[0135] As described above, when the second information is the third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-order SCI; when the second information is the fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-order SCI. Optionally, the fourth value can be a value originally used to indicate the SCI-2B format. Taking Table 5 as an example, the third value is, for example, "00" or "10", and the fourth value is, for example, "01". For an introduction to this, please refer to the previous text.

[0136] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may further include S303, the first UE sends a second-order SCI, and correspondingly, the second UE receives the second-order SCI from the first UE. The second-order SCI is the second-order SCI described above. The second UE may determine whether the second-order SCI includes COT-SI based on the second information. If the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI, the second-order SCI may not include a bit (or, field) for carrying COT-SI, which can save the overhead of the second-order SCI.

[0137] In an embodiment of the present application, COT-SI can be carried in the second-order SCI, and the format of the second-order SCI including COT-SI can be obtained according to the original format of SCI-2A, SCI-2B or SCI-2C, that is, the embodiment of the present application provides a method of sending COT-SI through the second-order SCI, so that COT-SI can be sent. In addition, the embodiment of the present application sets whether to include COT-SI as a different format of the second-order SCI, so that by indicating the format of the second-order SCI, it can indicate whether the second-order SCI includes COT-SI. The indication method is relatively simple and clear, which can simplify the implementation of the transmitting end and the receiving end. Through the indication of the embodiment of the present application, the receiving end can clearly understand whether the second-order SCI includes COT-SI. If the second-order SCI does not include COT-SI, the second-order SCI may not include the bit (or, field) used to carry COT-SI, thereby saving the transmission overhead of the second-order SCI.

[0138] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is given. The communication device 400 may be Figure 2 or Figure 3 The first UE or the circuit system of the first UE described in any of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings is used to implement the method corresponding to the first UE in the above method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication device 400 may be Figure 2 or Figure 3 The second UE or the circuit system of the second UE described in any of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings is used to implement the method corresponding to the second UE in the above method embodiment. For example, one circuit system is a chip system.

[0139] The communication device 400 includes at least one processor 401. The processor 401 can be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, the processor 401 includes instructions. Optionally, the processor 401 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, can be located in different physical locations, and can be located on different integrated circuits. Optionally, different processors can be integrated into one or more processors, for example, integrated on one or more integrated circuits.

[0140] Optionally, the communication device 400 includes one or more memories 403 for storing instructions. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory 403. The processor and memory may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0141] Optionally, the communication device 400 includes a communication line 402 and at least one communication interface 404. Since the memory 403, the communication line 402 and the communication interface 404 are all optional, Figure 4 Indicated by dotted lines.

[0142] Optionally, the communication device 400 may further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver may be used to send information to other devices or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the communication device 400 through an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. Exemplarily, the transmitter may be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver may be used to convert the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0143] The processor 401 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

[0144] The communication link 402 may include a pathway to transmit information between the above-mentioned components.

[0145] The communication interface 404 uses any transceiver-like device for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), wired access networks, etc.

[0146] The memory 403 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 403 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 401 via the communication line 402. Alternatively, the memory 403 may also be integrated with the processor 401.

[0147] The memory 403 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 401. The processor 401 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 403, thereby realizing Figure 2 or Figure 3 The steps performed by the first UE or the second UE described in the embodiments shown in any of the figures.

[0148] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0149] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 401 may include one or more CPUs, such as Figure 4 CPU0 and CPU1 in.

[0150] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 400 may include multiple processors, such as Figure 4 401 and processor 405 in FIG. Each of these processors may be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0151] when Figure 4When the device shown is a chip, for example, a chip of the first UE or a chip of the second UE, the chip includes a processor 401 (may also include a processor 405), a communication line 402 and a communication interface 404, and optionally, the chip may include a memory 403. Specifically, the communication interface 404 may be an input interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The memory 403 may be a register, a cache, etc. The processor 401 and the processor 405 may be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0152] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the device according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a device is shown, and the device 500 may be the first UE or the second UE involved in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, or a chip in the first UE or a chip in the second UE. The device 500 includes a processing unit 502 and a transceiver unit 501.

[0153] It should be understood that the apparatus 500 can be used to implement the steps performed by the first UE or the second UE in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application, and the relevant features can refer to the above Figure 2 or Figure 3 The embodiments shown in any of the accompanying drawings will not be described in detail here.

[0154] Optional, Figure 5 The functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 501 and the processing unit 502 can be Figure 4 The processor 401 in the embodiment calls the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 403 to implement. Or, Figure 5 The function / implementation process of the processing unit 502 in Figure 4 The processor 401 in the embodiment calls the computer execution instruction stored in the memory 403 to implement, Figure 5 The function / implementation process of the transceiver unit 501 can be achieved by Figure 4 The communication interface 404 in is implemented.

[0155] Optionally, when the device 500 is a chip or a circuit, the function / implementation process of the transceiver unit 501 can also be implemented by a pin or a circuit. Optionally, the transceiver unit 501 may include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, the sending unit is used to implement the sending function, and the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function; or, the transceiver unit 501 may be an integral module that can implement the sending function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 501 may be implemented by a transceiver.

[0156] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method performed by the first UE or the second UE in the aforementioned method embodiment is implemented. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly 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 method described in each embodiment of the present application. Storage media include: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0157] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer executes the method executed by the first UE or the second UE in any of the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0158] An embodiment of the present application also provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method executed by the first UE or the second UE involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0159] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using 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 instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions 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 instructions may be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. 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 includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0160] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or operated by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of the above. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, and optionally, the general-purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0161] The steps of the method or algorithm described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in the hardware, the software unit executed by the processor, or the combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable programmable read-only memory, EPROM), EEPROM, register, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM or other storage media of any form in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be arranged in an ASIC, and the ASIC can be arranged in a terminal device. Optionally, the processor and the storage medium can also be arranged in different components in the terminal device.

[0162] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0163] The contents of the various embodiments of the present application may refer to each other. If there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0164] It is understandable that in the embodiment of the present application, the first UE and / or the second UE may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiment of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples. In the embodiment of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. In addition, the various steps may be performed in different orders presented in the embodiment of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiment of the present application need to be performed.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first terminal device, the method includes: Perform channel access in unlicensed frequency bands; The sending side control information SCI includes first information, wherein the first information is used to indicate that at least one of the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, the M bits are bits used to carry channel occupancy time sharing information COT-SI, and M is a positive integer.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The COT-SI is used to indicate a shared COT; wherein the first terminal device occupies all or part of the resources within the COT.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first information is carried by bits of a first field in the SCI.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The SCI is the first-order SCI, or the second-order SCI.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The SCI is a first-order SCI, and the reserved bits in the first-order SCI are used to carry the first field.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The SCI is the second-order SCI, and the bits of the first field belong to the M bits.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first field is the remaining COT duration field.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The at least one bit includes one or more of the following: a bit belonging to a channel access priority CAPC field, a bit belonging to an additional identification ID field, or a bit belonging to a COT shared broadcast type field.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first information is used to indicate that at least one bit among the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, including: The bits of the remaining COT duration field are used to indicate that the bits of the CAPC field, the bits of the additional ID field, and the bits of the COT shared broadcast type field are reserved bits.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that: The value of the first field is a second value, used to indicate that the at least one bit is a reserved bit, and the second value is the reserved value of the first field.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first terminal device, the method includes: Sending a first-order SCI, where the first-order SCI includes second information, where the second information is used to indicate that a format of the second-order SCI is a first format; When the second information is a third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-level SCI; when the second information is a fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-level SCI.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The fourth value is a value used to indicate the SCI-2B format, and the formats indicated by all values ​​of the second information do not include the SCI-2B.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: The fourth value is "01".

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that: When the second information is the fourth value, The first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format; or, The first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that: The second information is carried by a 2nd stage SCI format field.

16. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a second terminal device, the method includes: receiving an SCI from a first terminal device, wherein the SCI includes first information; According to the first information, at least one bit among the M bits in the second-order SCI is determined to be a reserved bit, the M bits are bits used to carry COT-SI, and M is a positive integer.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The COT-SI is used to indicate a shared COT, wherein the first terminal device occupies all or part of the resources within the COT.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The first information is carried by bits of a first field in the SCI.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that: The SCI is the first-order SCI, or the second-order SCI.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The SCI is a first-order SCI, and the reserved bits in the first-order SCI are used to carry the first field.

21. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The SCI is the second-order SCI, and the bits of the first field belong to the M bits.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The first field is the remaining COTduration field.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that The at least one bit includes one or more of the following: a bit belonging to a CAPC field, a bit belonging to an additional ID field, or a bit belonging to a COT shared broadcast type field.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The first information is used to indicate that at least one bit among the M bits in the second-order SCI is a reserved bit, including: The bits of the remaining COT duration field are used to indicate that the bits of the CAPC field, the bits of the additional ID field, and the bits of the COT shared broadcast type field are reserved bits.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, characterized in that The value of the first field is a second value, used to indicate that the at least one bit is a reserved bit, and the second value is the reserved value of the first field.

26. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a second terminal device, the method includes: receiving a first-order SCI from a first terminal device, wherein the first-order SCI includes second information; Determining, according to the second information, that the format of the second-order SCI is the first format; When the second information is a third value, the first format is a format that does not include COT-SI in the second-level SCI; when the second information is a fourth value, the first format is a format that includes COT-SI in the second-level SCI.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The fourth value is a value used to indicate the SCI-2B format, and the formats indicated by all values ​​of the second information do not include the SCI-2B.

28. The method according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that The fourth value is "01".

29. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 28, characterized in that: When the second information is the fourth value, The first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2A format; or, The first format is a format including COT-SI in the SCI-2C format.

30. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 29, characterized in that: The second information is carried by the 2ndstage SCI format field.

31. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit, and the processing unit is coupled to the transceiver unit to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, or the method according to any one of claims 16 to 25, or the method according to any one of claims 26 to 30.

32. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 16 to 25, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 26 to 30.

33. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, or the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 15, or the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 25, or the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 26 to 30.

34. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, or enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 16 to 25, or enables the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 26 to 30.

35. A chip system, characterized in that: The chip system comprises: A processor and an interface, the processor being used to call and run instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or implementing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, or implementing the method according to any one of claims 16 to 25, or implementing the method according to any one of claims 26 to 30.

36. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system comprises a first terminal device and a second terminal device, wherein: The first terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10; The second terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 16 to 25.

37. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system comprises a first terminal device and a second terminal device, wherein: The first terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 15; The second terminal device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 26 to 30.

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