Communication method and device, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, a storage medium and a program product. In the embodiment of the invention, the access network equipment indicates whether the cell can be scheduled in the specific time unit or not during cell configuration, so that the terminal equipment can flexibly use the preferred carrier resource under the condition that the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Carrier aggregation (CA) is a key technology to solve the problem of limited bandwidth of a single carrier. It aggregates two or more component carriers (CCs) to serve terminal devices to support larger transmission bandwidth. Currently, most operators have 4CCs to 5CCs of carrier resources, and it is expected that operators will have more carrier resources in the future.

[0003] However, due to cost constraints, the terminal equipment has limited downlink baseband processing capabilities, which limits the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously. The number of cells deployed in the current network is much larger than the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously by the terminal equipment. In order to maximize the user experience, it is necessary to enable the limited terminal equipment capabilities to flexibly use the preferred carrier resources.

[0004] The currently provided L1 / L2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) technology uses L2 signaling to instruct the terminal device to switch cells, and the switching time is about 10ms. However, when switching cells, the primary cell (PCell) must be switched, and the scenario of switching only the secondary cell (SCell) is not supported. If other technologies are used to switch only the SCell, it needs to be done through L3 signaling, and the delay is about 50ms.

[0005] Therefore, when the number of cells deployed by the network is much larger than the number of cells that the terminal device can be scheduled simultaneously, how to enable the terminal device to flexibly use the preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus, storage medium and program product, so that a terminal device can flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information comprising configuration information of a first cell, the configuration information of the first cell comprising first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; and receiving first downlink control information, the first downlink control information being used to schedule a data channel of the first cell. In this aspect, a terminal device receives configuration information of a cell from an access network device, the configuration information indicating whether the cell can be scheduled in a specific time unit, and the terminal device performs cell switching according to the indication, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0008] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: sending first configuration information, the first configuration information comprising configuration information of a first cell, the configuration information of the first cell comprising first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; and sending first downlink control information, the first downlink control information being used to schedule a data channel of the first cell. In this aspect, the access network device indicates to the terminal device whether the cell can be scheduled in a specific time unit when performing cell configuration, so that the terminal device can perform cell switching according to the indication, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first indication information is a bitmap, and the length of the bitmap is the number of time units included in the first time window. In this implementation, the bitmap can clearly indicate whether each time unit of the first cell in the first time window can be scheduled.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the first bit of the bit map is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within the first time unit in the first time window; the second bit of the bit map is used to indicate that the first cell cannot be scheduled within the second time unit in the first time window.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the first configuration information also includes configuration information of a second cell, and the configuration information of the second cell includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the second cell can be scheduled simultaneously within the first time unit.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of configured cells.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of configured cells is greater than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously as indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0015] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information comprising indices of a first cell and a second cell that can be simultaneously scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; and receiving downlink control information for scheduling a data channel of the first cell and the second cell. In this aspect, the terminal device receives the index of a cell that can be simultaneously scheduled within a time unit in a time window configured by the access network device, and performs cell switching according to the configuration, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0016] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation, the second configuration information also includes the indexes of the first cell and the third cell that can be scheduled simultaneously within the second time unit in the first time window; the method also includes: receiving downlink control information for scheduling the data channel of the first cell and the third cell. In this implementation, the second configuration information may not only indicate the indexes of the cells that can be scheduled simultaneously within a time unit in the first time window, but the second configuration information may also include the indexes of the first cell and the third cell that can be scheduled simultaneously within the second time unit in the first time window. The third cell may be the same cell as the second cell, or may not be the same cell. The first time unit and the second time unit are any time unit in the first time window.

[0017] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: sending second configuration information, the second configuration information comprising indices of a first cell and a second cell that can be simultaneously scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; and sending downlink control information for scheduling data channels of the first cell and the second cell. In this aspect, the access network device includes indices of cells that can be simultaneously scheduled within a time unit in a time window in the configuration information, and the terminal device performs cell switching according to the configuration information, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0018] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the second configuration information also includes the indexes of the first cell and the third cell that can be scheduled simultaneously in the second time unit in the first time window; the method also includes: sending downlink control information for scheduling the data channel of the first cell and the third cell. In this implementation, the second configuration information may not only indicate the indexes of the cells that can be scheduled simultaneously in a time unit in the first time window, but the second configuration information may also include the indexes of the first cell and the third cell that can be scheduled simultaneously in the second time unit in the first time window. The third cell may be the same cell as the second cell, or may not be the same cell. The first time unit and the second time unit are any time unit in the first time window.

[0019] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the second configuration information is less than or equal to the number of configured cells.

[0020] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of configured cells is greater than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously as indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0021] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation, the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the second configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0022] The methods of the first and third aspects mentioned above can be executed by a terminal device, or by a module (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.) applied to the terminal device, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0023] The methods of the second and fourth aspects mentioned above can be executed by an access network device, or by a module (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.) applied to the access network device, or by a logical node, logical module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the access network device.

[0024] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, for implementing the communication method in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect; or for implementing the communication method in the third aspect or any one of the implementations of the third aspect. The device may be a terminal device, or a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to a terminal device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of a terminal device.

[0025] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, for implementing the communication method in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect; or for implementing the communication method in the fourth aspect or any one of the implementations of the fourth aspect. The device may be an access network device, or a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to an access network device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of an access network device.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the communication device in the fifth to sixth aspects includes a module for respectively executing the method in any aspect or any implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0027] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the fifth to sixth aspects above includes a processor coupled to a memory; the processor is configured to enable the device to perform the corresponding functions in the above communication method. The memory is used to couple with the processor, which stores the necessary programs (instructions) and / or data for the device. Optionally, the communication device may also include a communication interface for implementing communication between the device and other network elements. Optionally, the memory may be located inside the communication device or outside the communication device.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the fifth to sixth aspects includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor is coupled to the transceiver, and the processor is used to execute a computer program or instruction to control the transceiver to receive and send information; when the processor executes the computer program or instruction, the processor is also used to implement the above method through a logic circuit or execute code instructions. The transceiver may be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit or an input-output interface, which is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device. When the communication device is a chip, the transceiver is a transceiver circuit or an input-output interface.

[0029] When the communication device in the fifth to sixth aspects is a chip, the sending unit may be an output unit, such as an output circuit or a communication interface; the receiving unit may be an input unit, such as an input circuit or a communication interface. When the communication device is a terminal device, the sending unit may be a transmitter or a transmitter; the receiving unit may be a receiver or a receiver.

[0030] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein a computer program or instruction is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the methods described in the above aspects are implemented.

[0031] According to an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the methods described in the above aspects.

[0032] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the communication device described in the fifth aspect and the communication device described in the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 applied in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of carrier aggregation;

[0035] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of carrier aggregation capabilities of a terminal device;

[0036] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of cell switching based on layer 1 and layer 2 mobility technology;

[0037] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of uplink carrier switching technology;

[0038] Figure 6It is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of an exemplary cell scheduling;

[0040] Figure 8 It is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig. 9 Another schematic diagram of exemplary cell scheduling;

[0042] Fig.10 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Fig.11 It is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] The at least one (item) involved in the present application as follows indicates one (item) or more (items). More than one (item) refers to two (items) or more than two (items). "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe each object in the present application, these objects should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish each object from each other.

[0045] The terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof mentioned in the following description of the present application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally includes other steps or units that are not listed, or optionally includes other steps or units that are inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. It should be noted that in the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any method or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other methods or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way.

[0046] A network element in a communication system can send a signal to another network element or receive a signal from another network element. The signal may include information, signaling, or data, etc. The network element may also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a device, a terminal device, a communication module, a node, a communication node, etc. The network element is used as an example for description in this application. For example, a communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one access network device. The access network device may send a downlink signal to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device may send an uplink signal to the access network device. In addition, it can be understood that if a plurality of terminal devices are included in the communication system, the plurality of terminal devices may also send signals to each other, that is, the signal sending network element and the signal receiving network element may both be terminal devices.

[0047] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to wireless communication systems such as 5G, 6G, satellite communication, etc. The communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100, wherein the RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as Figure 1 RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment ( Figure 1 The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 in a wireless manner. Terminals and terminals and RAN nodes and RAN nodes can be connected to each other by wired or wireless means. The communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. The RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or may be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. The communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300.

[0048] RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, and a future radio access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). RAN100 may also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN). RAN nodes, also known as radio access network equipment, RAN entities, or access nodes, are used to help terminals access the communication system wirelessly. In an application scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (such as a Figure 1 110a), or a micro base station or an indoor station (such as Figure 1 110b) in the figure, it can also be a relay node or a donor node.

[0049] In another application scenario, the cooperation of multiple RAN nodes can be used to help the terminal achieve wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU) or a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. For the specific description of the above-mentioned various protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. RU can be used to implement the transceiver function of radio frequency signals. CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated in the same RAN node, such as integrated in a baseband unit (BBU). RU can be included in a radio frequency device, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0050] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, CU may be called an open CU (open CU, O-CU), DU may be called an open DU (open DU, O-DU), and RU may be called an open RU (open RU, O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with a corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For the convenience of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0051] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be called a terminal device, user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0052] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or movable. Base stations and terminals can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0053] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative, for example, Figure 1 The helicopter or drone 120i in the figure can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminal 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between base stations. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure may be referred to as communication devices having base station functions. Figure 1 120a-120j in the figure can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0054] In the embodiment of the present application, the base station is also referred to as a network device, and the device for implementing the function of the network device may be a network device; or it may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit plus a software module. The device may be installed in the network device or used in combination with the network device. In the embodiment of the present application, only the device for implementing the function of the network device is used as a network device as an example for illustration, and the solution of the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

[0055] It can be understood that the present application can be applied between network devices and terminal devices.

[0056] The communication between the network device and the terminal device follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer structure may include a control plane protocol layer structure and a user plane protocol layer structure. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include the functions of the protocol layers such as the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical layer. For example, the user plane protocol layer structure may include the functions of the protocol layers such as the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the physical layer. In a possible implementation, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer may also be included above the PDCP layer.

[0057] Optionally, the protocol layer structure between the network device and the terminal device may also include an artificial intelligence (AI) layer for transmitting data related to AI functions.

[0058] Taking data transmission between network devices and terminal devices as an example, data transmission needs to pass through the user plane protocol layer, such as the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer. Among them, the SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer can also be collectively referred to as the access layer. According to the transmission direction of the data, it is divided into sending or receiving, and each of the above layers is divided into a sending part and a receiving part. Taking downlink data transmission as an example, after the PDCP layer obtains data from the upper layer, it transmits the data to the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and then the MAC layer generates a transmission block, and then transmits it wirelessly through the physical layer. The data is encapsulated accordingly in each layer. For example, the data received by a layer from the upper layer of the layer is regarded as the service data unit (SDU) of the layer, which becomes a protocol data unit (PDU) after being encapsulated by the layer, and then passed to the next layer.

[0059] Exemplarily, the terminal device may also have an application layer and a non-access layer. The application layer may be used to provide services to applications installed in the terminal device. For example, downlink data received by the terminal device may be sequentially transmitted from the physical layer to the application layer, and then provided to the application by the application layer; for another example, the application layer may obtain data generated by the application, and sequentially transmit the data to the physical layer and send it to other communication devices. The non-access layer may be used to forward user data, such as forwarding uplink data received from the application layer to the SDAP layer, or forwarding downlink data received from the SDAP layer to the application layer.

[0060] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number and type of each device in the communication system shown are for illustration only, and the present application is not limited thereto. In actual applications, the communication system may also include more terminal devices, more access network devices, and other network elements, such as core network devices, and / or network elements for implementing artificial intelligence functions.

[0061] It is understandable that all or part of the functions implemented by one or more of the terminal equipment, access network equipment, core network equipment, or network elements used to implement artificial intelligence functions can be virtualized, that is, implemented by one or more of the proprietary processors or general-purpose processors and the corresponding software modules. Among them, the terminal equipment and the access network equipment involve interfaces for air interface transmission, and the transceiver functions of the interfaces can be implemented by hardware. Core network equipment, such as operation administration and maintenance (OAM) network elements, can be virtualized. Optionally, one or more functions of the virtualized terminal equipment, access network equipment, core network equipment, or network elements used to implement artificial intelligence functions can be implemented by cloud devices, such as cloud devices in over the top (OTT) systems.

[0062] First, the concept of carrier aggregation involved in the embodiments of the present application is introduced:

[0063] Carrier aggregation technology is a key technology to solve the problem of limited bandwidth of a single carrier. It aggregates two or more carrier units together to serve terminal devices to support larger transmission bandwidth. Figure 2 The schematic diagram of carrier aggregation shown in FIG. 1 serves a terminal device by aggregating a primary component carrier (PCC), a secondary component carrier (SCC) 1 and an SCC2 together.

[0064] In carrier aggregation, there may be multiple cells providing services for a single UE, that is, a UE may have multiple serving cells, including a primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary cells (SCell).

[0065] PCell is the cell where the UE establishes an initial connection, or the cell where the RRC connection is reestablished, or the primary cell designated during the handover process. PCell is responsible for RRC communication with the UE. The carrier unit corresponding to PCell is called the primary carrier, where the downlink carrier of PCell is called the downlink primary carrier (DL PCC) and the uplink carrier of PCell is called the uplink primary carrier (UL PCC).

[0066] SCell is added by UE during RRC reconfiguration to provide additional radio resources. There is no RRC communication between SCell and UE. The carrier unit corresponding to SCell is called secondary carrier, where the downlink carrier of SCell is called downlink secondary carrier (DL SCC) and the uplink carrier of SCell is called uplink secondary carrier (UL SCC).

[0067] A service cell may include only one downlink carrier, one downlink carrier and one uplink carrier, or one downlink carrier and two uplink carriers. Therefore, a service cell may correspond to a downlink carrier one-to-one, so the concepts of carrier (all downlink carriers unless otherwise specified) and cell in this application may be interchangeable.

[0068] Currently, the carrier resources on the network side are mostly 4 CCs to 5 CCs, and more frequency bands are expected to be available in the future. For example, there are currently 5 CCs, including 2 CCs for 2.6G, 2 CCs for 4.9G, and 1 CC for 700M. In the future, with the opening of 1 CC for 1.8G, 1 CC for F band, 1 CC for A band, and several CCs for U6G, more carrier resources are expected to be available.

[0069] However, due to cost constraints, the terminal equipment is limited in the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously (or the number of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH) that the terminal equipment's baseband can process at most is limited), which results in a limit on the number of carriers that can be supported simultaneously. Specifically, each PDSCH requires an independent baseband processing unit, such as FFT, post-FFT data buffering, etc. The more cells that can be scheduled simultaneously (or the more PDSCHs that can be processed simultaneously), the greater the baseband implementation cost. Most current terminal equipment only has 2 CC CA capabilities, or even does not support CA. Figure 3 As shown in the schematic diagram of the carrier aggregation capability of terminal devices, terminal devices supporting 3 CCs account for 5% of all terminal devices; terminal devices supporting 2 CCs account for 40% of all terminal devices; and terminal devices not supporting CA account for 55% of all terminal devices.

[0070] In summary, the number of cells configured in the current network is much larger than the number of cells that terminal devices can be scheduled simultaneously. In order to maximize user experience, it is necessary to enable the limited capabilities of terminal devices to flexibly use preferred carrier resources.

[0071] One technology for scheduling cells is LTM technology. In this technology, the network side configures multiple service cells for the terminal device. The number of configured service cells is greater than the number of cells that the terminal device can be scheduled at the same time. Only the activated service cells are counted into the consumption of the terminal device capacity. Figure 4 The cell switching diagram based on LTM technology is shown in the figure. The network side configures 4 service cells, CC1 to CC4, for the terminal device, while the number of cells that the terminal device can be scheduled at the same time is 2. When the network side uses LTM technology to use layer 2 signaling to indicate the cell switching, the CC corresponding to the PCell will switch. Figure 4 In the process, the CC corresponding to PCell switches from CC1 to CC3. When the CC corresponding to PCell switches, the CC corresponding to SCell may or may not change. Figure 4 In the example, the CC corresponding to the SCell is switched from CC2 to CC4. Layer 2 signaling is used to indicate the switching of the cell, and the switching time is about 10ms, wherein the layer 2 signaling includes a medium access control-control element (MAC CE) activation signal, which takes about 5ms; ASN.1 decoding time and layer 2 / layer 3 reconfiguration (L2 / 3re-cfg.) time, which takes about 1 to 6ms; and baseband adjustment time (BB retuning) and radio frequency adjustment time (RF retuning), which take about 1 to 2ms. However, as can be seen from the above, for the LTM technology, when performing cell switching, PCell switching must be performed, and the scenario of only SCell switching is not supported.

[0072] Another technology for indicating cell switching can support switching of SCell only, which is performed through layer 3 (L3) signaling process, including radio resource control reconfiguration signaling (RRC re-configuration signaling), secondary cell activation (SCell activation) and radio resource control completion signaling (RRC complete signaling), with a delay of about 50ms, which is relatively large.

[0073] Another technology is the uplink transmission switching (UL Tx switching) technology. Figure 5In the uplink carrier switching technology diagram shown, the network side configures and activates multiple uplink service cells for the terminal device, and the number of activated uplink service cells is greater than or equal to the number of transmitting antennas of the terminal device. This technology schedules the switching of the transmitting antenna of the terminal device on different cells through layer 1 signaling, thereby enabling the dynamic switching of the terminal device's limited transmitting antennas between multiple cells, and the interruption time is about a few hundred microseconds. However, this technology is essentially to solve the problem of the limited number of uplink transmitting antennas of the terminal device, and does not yet support cell switching when the number of cells that the terminal device can be scheduled simultaneously during downlink transmission is limited.

[0074] It can be seen that the above technologies are unable to fully and dynamically utilize downlink spectrum resources, and thus cannot enable limited terminal equipment capabilities to flexibly use preferred carrier resources.

[0075] To this end, the present application provides a communication solution, whereby the access network device instructs the terminal device whether the cell can be scheduled in a specific time unit when configuring the cell, and the terminal device switches the cell according to the instruction, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use the preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0076] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below.

[0077] like Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0078] S601. The access network device sends first configuration information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information.

[0079] The access network device can configure one or more serving cells for the terminal device. The serving cell refers to the wireless coverage area that works on a specific carrier to serve the terminal device. In carrier aggregation, there can be multiple cells providing services for a single terminal device, that is, a terminal device can have multiple serving cells, including a PCell and one or more SCells. PCell is also called a special cell (SpCell). Exemplarily, the access network device can send configuration information of one or more serving cells to the terminal device, and the configuration information is used to configure one or more serving cells.

[0080] Exemplarily, the access network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, wherein the first configuration information includes configuration information of a first cell. The first cell is any one of a plurality of service cells configured by the access network device for the terminal device.

[0081] Exemplarily, the first configuration information may be RRC signaling, MAC-CE, etc.

[0082] As mentioned above, the number of cells configured by the access network device is much larger than the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously by the terminal device, and it is impossible for the terminal device to be scheduled simultaneously by all the cells configured by the access network device. Therefore, the configuration information of the first cell includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within the first time unit in the first time window. Exemplarily, the first time window can be configured by the access network device, or predefined by the protocol, or pre-negotiated by the access network device and the terminal device. The first time window may include one or more time units. The unit of the time unit may be a time slot, a mini-slot, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, etc.

[0083] The access network device may configure one or more service cells for the terminal device. Further, the first configuration information may also include configuration information of a second cell. The second cell may also be scheduled simultaneously with the first cell in the first time unit. The configuration information of the second cell includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the second cell can be scheduled simultaneously in the first time unit.

[0084] The first configuration information may also include configuration information of more cells. This embodiment takes the first cell and the second cell as examples for illustrative description.

[0085] Exemplarily, the first cell and the second cell may be a PCell or a SCell. The first configuration information may be represented by a cell group configuration (CellGroupConfig) field, and the CellGroupConfig includes configuration information of one or more service cells, and the one or more service cells include a PCell and one or more SCells. Furthermore, the configuration field (SpCellConfig or sCellConfig field) of the service cell in the CellGroupConfig may be used to represent the configuration information of the first cell or the configuration information of the second cell. Among them, the SpCellConfig field is an RRC signaling for configuring a SpCell, and the SCellConfig field is an RRC signaling for configuring an SCell. The first indication information or the second indication information may be a newly added physical downlink shared channel-switching pattern (PDSCH-switchPattern) field in the SpCellConfig or sCellConfig field:

[0086]

[0087] The above-mentioned PDSCH-switchPattern has a periodic characteristic, and the length of the period is the length of the first time window.

[0088] In a possible implementation, the first indication information may be a bitmap, and the length (NrofSlots) of the bitmap is the number of time units included in the first time window.

[0089] The first bit of the bitmap is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled in the first time unit in the first time window (that is, the first cell can perform PDSCH transmission in the first time unit); the second bit of the bitmap is used to indicate that the first cell cannot be scheduled in the second time unit in the first time window (that is, the first cell cannot perform PDSCH transmission in the second time unit). For example, the first bit of the bitmap is "1" and the second bit of the bitmap is "0"; or vice versa, that is, the first bit of the bitmap is "0" and the second bit of the bitmap is "1".

[0090] The implementation of the second indication information may refer to the implementation of the first indication information.

[0091] like Figure 7 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of an example cell scheduling. In this example, the access network device is configured with four service cells: PCell, SCell1, SCell2 and SCell3. The first time window includes 4 time slots: time slot 1 to time slot 4. SpCellConfig includes a Pcell PDSCH-switchPattern field, which can be a bitmap with a length of 4. The 4 bits of the bitmap are used to indicate whether the PCell in the 4 time slots can be scheduled in the time slot ("1" indicates that the PCell can be scheduled in the time slot; "0" indicates that the PCell cannot be scheduled in the time slot). Figure 7 It can be seen that PCell can be scheduled in time slot 1, time slot 2 and time slot 4, but cannot be scheduled in time slot 3. Similarly, SCellConfig of SCell1 includes the Scell1 PDSCH-switchPattern field, which can be a bitmap. The length of the bitmap is also 4. The 4 bits of the bitmap are used to indicate whether SCell1 can be scheduled in the 4 time slots ("1" indicates that SCell1 can be scheduled in the time slot; "0" indicates that SCell1 cannot be scheduled in the time slot). Figure 7It can be seen that SCell1 can be scheduled in time slot 1, time slot 2 and time slot 4, but cannot be scheduled in time slot 3. Similarly, SCell2 and SCell3 can be scheduled in time slot 3, but cannot be scheduled in time slot 1, time slot 2 and time slot 4.

[0092] That is, in time slot 1, time slot 2 and time slot 4, PCell and SCell 1 can be scheduled simultaneously, and the terminal device can perform PDSCH transmission on PCell and SCell 1 simultaneously; in time slot 3, SCell 2 and SCell 3 can be scheduled simultaneously, and the terminal device switches to SCell 2 and SCell 3 for PDSCH transmission.

[0093] Thus, the terminal device can determine the cells that can be scheduled at the same time in a certain time unit according to the indication information in the configuration information of each cell, that is, the terminal device can determine the cells that can be scheduled at the same time in a certain time unit according to the PDSCH-switchPattern field in the above SpCellConfig or sCellConfig field. This enables flexible switching of scheduled cells, enables limited terminal device capabilities, flexibly uses preferred carrier resources, and improves user experience.

[0094] The "flexible" here has two meanings. The first meaning is that switching is not limited to PCell or SCell, and switching between all cells can be supported. The second meaning is that the switching delay is short (switching only requires a switching delay at the time unit level), and it can quickly adapt to changes in channels, loads and frame structures of different carriers.

[0095] It should be noted that the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of configured cells. Figure 7 As shown, there are 4 cells configured in the access network device, but only 2 cells can be scheduled at the same time.

[0096] In addition, the terminal device may also report capability information to the access network device, and the capability information is used to indicate the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously. The number of cells configured by the access network device is greater than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device. The number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the above-mentioned first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0097] S602. The access network device sends first downlink control information (DCI). Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first DCI.

[0098] After the access network device configures the first cell and configures that the first cell can be scheduled in the first time unit in the first time window, the access network device sends a first DCI to the terminal device, and the first DCI is used to schedule the data channel of the first cell to send data to the terminal device through the data channel of the first cell.

[0099] If the first cell can be scheduled in other time units of the first time window, the access network device similarly sends a DCI to the terminal device for scheduling the data channel of the first cell.

[0100] If the access network device is also configured with other cells, the scheduling method thereof may refer to the scheduling of the first cell.

[0101] According to a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the access network device instructs the terminal device whether the cell can be scheduled in a specific time unit when configuring the cell, and the terminal device switches the cell according to the instruction, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use the preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0102] In response to the technical problems raised in the present application, the present application also provides a communication solution, in which the access network device includes in the configuration information the index of cells that can be simultaneously scheduled within a time unit in a time window, and the terminal device performs cell switching according to the configuration information, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0103] like Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0104] S801. The access network device sends second configuration information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information.

[0105] The access network device may configure one or more serving cells for the terminal device. Exemplarily, the access network device may send second configuration information of one or more serving cells to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used to configure the one or more serving cells.

[0106] As mentioned above, the number of cells configured by the access network device is much larger than the number of cells that can be simultaneously scheduled by the terminal device, and it is impossible for the terminal device to simultaneously schedule all the cells configured by the access network device. In this embodiment, the second configuration information also includes the indexes of the first cell and the second cell that can be simultaneously scheduled in the first time unit in the first time window.

[0107] Exemplarily, the first time window may be configured by the access network device, or predefined by the protocol, or pre-negotiated by the access network device and the terminal device. The first time window may include one or more time units. The unit of the time unit may be a time slot, a mini-time slot, an OFDM symbol, etc.

[0108] Within the coverage area of ​​the access network device, the cell index is unique, and each index is used to uniquely identify a cell.

[0109] Exemplarily, the second configuration information may indicate more than just the index of the cells that can be scheduled simultaneously in one time unit of the first time window. Further, the second configuration information may also include the index of the first cell and the third cell that can be scheduled simultaneously in the second time unit in the first time window. The third cell may be the same cell as the second cell or may not be the same cell. The first time unit and the second time unit are any time units in the first time window.

[0110] In addition, the access network device may further configure, in the second configuration information, the indexes of the fourth cell and the fifth cell that are simultaneously scheduled in the third time unit in the first time window. The fourth cell and the fifth cell may be cells that are partially or completely different from the first cell to the third cell, and the third time unit may be a time unit different from the first time unit and the second time unit.

[0111] Exemplarily, the second configuration information may be RRC signaling, MAC-CE, etc.

[0112] Exemplarily, the first cell to the fifth cell may be a PCell or a SCell. The second configuration information may be represented by a cell group configuration (CellGroupConfig) field, and the CellGroupConfig includes configuration information of one or more service cells, and the one or more service cells include a PCell and one or more SCells. One or more PDSCH-switchPattern fields may be added to the CellGroupConfig, wherein a PDSCH-switchPattern field includes the indexes of multiple cells that can be simultaneously scheduled in one or more time units in the first time window, and the number of cell indexes included in the PDSCH-switchPattern field is unlimited, which is scalable. The length of the PDSCH-switchPattern field is NrofSlots, and the number of all time units included in the first time window, that is, the length of the PDSCH-switchPattern field is related to the number of time units semi-statically configured by the access network device, so that the semi-static configuration period length of the carrier switching and the capabilities of different terminal devices are scalable.

[0113] The CellGroupConfig looks like this:

[0114]

[0115] Two new PDSCH-switchPattern fields are added in the above CellGroupConfig: PDSCH1-switchPattern field and PDSCH2-switchPattern field.

[0116] like Fig. 9 As shown, it is another schematic diagram of an example cell scheduling, in which the access network device is configured with four service cells: PCell, SCell1, SCell2 and SCell3. The first time window includes 4 time slots: time slot 1 to time slot 4. Among them, the PDSCH1-switchPattern field indicates the index of the Pcell that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 1 in the first time window, and the PDSCH2-switchPattern field indicates the index of the Scell1 that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 1 in the first time window; the PDSCH1-switchPattern field indicates the index of the Pcell that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 2 in the first time window, and the PDSCH2-switchPattern field indicates the index of the Scell1 that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 2 in the first time window; The PDSCH1-switchPattern field indicates the index of Scell2 that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 3 in the first time window, and the PDSCH2-switchPattern field indicates the index of Scell3 that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 3 in the first time window; and the PDSCH1-switchPattern field indicates the index of Pcell that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 4 in the first time window, and the PDSCH2-switchPattern field indicates the index of Scell1 that can be scheduled simultaneously in time slot 4 in the first time window.

[0117] The terminal device can switch the downlink carrier for PDSCH transmission according to the PDSCH1-switchPattern field and the PDSCH2-switchPattern field, thereby enabling the limited capabilities of the terminal device to flexibly use the preferred carrier resources to improve user experience.

[0118] It should be noted that the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the second configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells configured by the access network device.

[0119] In addition, the terminal device may also report its own capability information to the access network device, and the capability information is used to indicate the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously. The number of cells configured by the access network device is greater than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device. The number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the second configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

[0120] S802. The access network device sends a DCI for scheduling data channels of the first cell and the second cell. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DCI.

[0121] After the access network device configures the indexes of the first cell and the second cell that can be simultaneously scheduled within the first time unit in the first time window, it sends a DCI to the terminal device. The DCI is used to schedule the data channels of the first cell and the second cell, so that the terminal device can receive the data sent by the access network device through the data channels of the first cell and the second cell according to the DCI.

[0122] Furthermore, if the second configuration information may also include indices of the first cell and the third cell that can be simultaneously scheduled within the second time unit in the first time window, the access network device may also send a DCI for scheduling the data channels of the first cell and the third cell to the terminal device.

[0123] According to a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application, an access network device includes in configuration information the index of cells that can be simultaneously scheduled within a time unit in a time window, and a terminal device performs cell switching according to the configuration information, thereby enabling the terminal device to flexibly use preferred carrier resources when the downlink baseband processing capability is limited.

[0124] It is understandable that the present application uses the access network device and the terminal device as examples of the execution subjects of the interaction diagram, but the present application does not limit the execution subjects of the interaction diagram. For example, the access network device in the method provided by the present application may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor applied to the access network device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the access network device; the terminal device in the method provided by the present application may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor applied to the terminal device, or a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0125] In the present application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A sends it directly to B, or that A sends it to B indirectly through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or that entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Entities A and B here can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside the RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between different modules inside a device, for example, information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0126] It can be understood that in the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the access network device can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used for the access network device; the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used for the terminal device.

[0127] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between various network elements. Accordingly, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement the above various methods. The communication device can be an access network device in the above method embodiment, or a component that can be used for the access network device; or, the communication device can be a terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a component that can be used for the terminal device. It can be understood that in order to implement the above functions, the communication device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiment disclosed in this article, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present application.

[0128] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated module 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 function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0129] Based on the same concept of the above communication method, the present application also provides the following communication device:

[0130] like Fig.10 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 includes a transceiver unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002; wherein:

[0131] When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver unit 1001 can be used to execute Figure 6 The operation of the terminal device in steps S601 and S602 in the embodiment shown; or, the transceiver unit 1001 can be used to perform Figure 8 The operations of the terminal device in steps S801 and S802 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0132] When the communication device is used to implement the function of the access network device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver unit 1001 can be used to execute Figure 6 The operation of the access network device in steps S601 and S602 in the embodiment shown; or, the transceiver unit 1001 can be used to perform Figure 8 The operations of the access network device in steps S801 and S802 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0133] For the specific implementation of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1001 and the processing unit 1002, reference may be made to the description in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0134] like Fig.11As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1100 includes a processor 1101. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may also include an interface circuit 1102 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure), and the processor 1101 and the interface circuit 1102 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1102 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may also include a memory 1103 (indicated by a dotted line in the figure), and the memory 1103 is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1101, or to store input data required for the processor 1101 to run instructions, or to store data generated after the processor 1101 runs instructions. Among them, the processor 1101 is used to implement the above Fig.10 The functions of the processing unit 1002 in the embodiment shown; and the interface circuit 1102 is used to implement the above Fig.10 The functions of the transceiver unit 1001 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0135] When the above communication device is a chip applied to an access network device, the chip implements the functions of the access network device in the above method embodiment. The chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network device, and the information is sent by the terminal device to the access network device; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the access network device, and the information is sent by the access network device to the terminal device.

[0136] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal device, the chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiment. The chip receives information from other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, and the information is sent to the terminal device by the access network device; or the chip sends information to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal device, and the information is sent to the access network device by the terminal device.

[0137] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit can be implemented through a virtual module, for example, the processing unit can be implemented through a software function unit or a virtual device, and the transceiver unit can be implemented through a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing unit or the transceiver unit can also be implemented through a physical device, for example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit can be an input-output circuit and / or a communication interface, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit.

[0138] The division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. In addition, each functional module in each example of this application may be integrated into one processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules.

[0139] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0140] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method in the above embodiment is implemented.

[0141] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above embodiments.

[0142] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned communication device.

[0143] The embodiment of the present application also provides a circuit, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute the method shown in the above embodiment. The circuit may include a chip circuit.

[0144] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal device. The base station module here can be a baseband chip of a base station, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, an open DU and other devices.

[0145] It should be noted that the above units or one or more of the units can be implemented by software, hardware or a combination of the two. When any of the above units or units is implemented by software, the software exists in the form of computer program instructions and is stored in a memory, and a processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow.

[0146] In this application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in this application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0147] When the above units or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a digital signal processing (DSP) chip, a microcontroller unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, a SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator or a non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or not rely on the software to execute the above method flow.

[0148] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, including: at least one processor and an interface, the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor runs a computer program or instruction in the memory, the chip system executes a method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0149] The memory in the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD), a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM).

[0150] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, 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 loading and executing computer program instructions 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 (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center.

[0151] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by viewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "one" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in a claim. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0152] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0153] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0154] The components in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be merged, divided and deleted according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can combine or combine the different embodiments and features of the different embodiments described in this specification.

[0155] In the present application, under the premise of no logical contradiction, the examples may reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments may reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments may reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples may reference each other.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is performed by a terminal device or a module applied to a terminal device, and includes: receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes configuration information of a first cell, where the configuration information of the first cell includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; First downlink control information is received, where the first downlink control information is used to schedule a data channel of the first cell.

2. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is performed by an access network device or a module applied to an access network device, and includes: Sending first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes configuration information of a first cell, where the configuration information of the first cell includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; First downlink control information is sent, where the first downlink control information is used to schedule a data channel of the first cell.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first indication information is a bit map, and the length of the bit map is the number of time units included in the first time window.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first bit of the bitmap is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within the first time unit in the first time window; The second bit of the bit map is used to indicate that the first cell cannot be scheduled within a second time unit in the first time window.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first configuration information also includes configuration information of a second cell. The configuration information of the second cell includes second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate that the second cell can be scheduled simultaneously within the first time unit.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of configured cells.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The number of configured cells is greater than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously as indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the terminal device.

9. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a transceiver unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to receive first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes configuration information of a first cell, where the configuration information of the first cell includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; The transceiver unit is further used to receive first downlink control information, where the first downlink control information is used to schedule a data channel of the first cell.

10. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a transceiver unit, wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to send first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes configuration information of a first cell, where the configuration information of the first cell includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within a first time unit in a first time window; The transceiver unit is further used to send first downlink control information, where the first downlink control information is used to schedule a data channel of the first cell.

11. The device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The first indication information is a bit map, and the length of the bit map is the number of time units included in the first time window.

12. The device according to claim 11, characterized in that The first bit of the bitmap is used to indicate that the first cell can be scheduled within the first time unit in the first time window; The second bit of the bit map is used to indicate that the first cell cannot be scheduled within a second time unit in the first time window.

13. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that The first configuration information also includes configuration information of a second cell. The configuration information of the second cell includes second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate that the second cell can be scheduled simultaneously within the first time unit.

14. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that The number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of configured cells.

15. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that The number of configured cells is greater than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously as indicated by the capability information reported by the communication device.

16. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 15, characterized in that The number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the first configuration information is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be scheduled simultaneously indicated by the capability information reported by the communication device.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is implemented.

19. A computer program product comprising instructions, characterized in that When the instruction is executed on the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is implemented.

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