Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and device. The method comprises: a first communication device receiving a paging-related configuration sent by a second communication device, the paging-related configuration indicating paging-related configuration information of a carrier group, the carrier group comprising a plurality of carriers; and the first communication device receives a paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration. Therefore, cooperative reception of multiple carriers of the carrier group can be realized, and the energy consumption of the network equipment can be reduced.

Description

Communication method and device Technical Field

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

[0002] To meet people's ever-increasing traffic demands, wireless networks are being rapidly built. As networks grow larger, network energy consumption continues to increase. Compared to third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) communication systems (such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems), fifth-generation (5G) and sixth-generation (6G) communication systems, including those evolving beyond 5G, support the use of more active antenna units (AAUs), more transceiver antenna arrays, higher data rates, greater traffic, increased transmission bandwidth, the use of higher-frequency carriers (such as millimeter waves and terahertz), and more flexible and fine-grained scheduling mechanisms. While these features offer a wider range of applications, they require the deployment of more densely populated network equipment, which also increases its energy consumption.

[0003] Therefore, how to reduce the energy consumption of network equipment is a research focus.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus that can reduce the energy consumption of network equipment.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which includes: a first communication device receives a paging-related configuration sent by a second communication device, the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to a carrier group and paging, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers; the first communication device receives a paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration.

[0007] Through the method provided in the first aspect, the second communication device sends a paging-related configuration to the first communication device, so that the first communication device learns the multiple carriers in the carrier group for receiving paging-related messages according to the paging-related configuration. The second communication device collaboratively sends paging-related messages on multiple carriers in the carrier group. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration. In the present application, the coordinated transmission of multiple carriers in the carrier group is realized. From the perspective of the second communication device, the transmission time of the second communication device in the time domain is reduced, the shutdown time of the second communication device is increased, and it helps to reduce the energy consumption of the second communication device.

[0008] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging control channel configuration and a carrier group paging search space configuration, where the carrier group paging control channel configuration includes a configuration for determining a paging frame and a paging occasion for M carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging search space configuration includes a search space configuration for a physical downlink control channel used for paging reception for N carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, where M and N are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group.

[0009] The first communication device receives, on one or more carriers in a carrier group according to a paging-related configuration, a paging-related message sent by a second communication device, including:

[0010] The first communication device receives a short message or a paging message on the same one or more carriers among the M carriers and the N carriers according to the carrier group paging control channel configuration and the carrier group paging search space configuration.

[0011] Thus, when the paging-related message is a short message or a paging message, the first communications device may select one or more carriers from the intersection of the M carriers indicated by the carrier group paging control channel configuration and the N carriers indicated by the carrier group paging search space configuration. Thus, the first communications device may receive the short message or paging message on the selected one or more carriers.

[0012] In one possible design, the first communication device receives the paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, including: the first communication device determines the number of paging time slots and beam information of each of the one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging occasion according to the paging-related configuration; the first communication device receives the paging-related message on one or more carriers within the carrier group according to the number of paging time slots and beam information of each of the one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging occasion.

[0013] Among them, the number of paging slots of each carrier in each paging occasion indicates the number of continuous downlink control channel monitoring opportunities of each carrier in each paging occasion, and the beam information of the paging slot of each carrier in each paging occasion indicates the physical downlink shared channel-associated and quasi-co-located synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block ((synchronization signal, SS) / (physical broadcast channel, PBCH) block, SSB) of the paging slot of each carrier in each paging occasion.

[0014] Thus, when the paging-related message is a short message or a paging message, the first communications device can determine the number of paging slots and beam information for each of one or more carriers within the carrier group during each paging occasion. Thus, based on the foregoing, the first communications device can wake up and accurately receive the short message or paging message on each carrier.

[0015] In one possible design, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion of one or more carriers in the carrier group are determined according to the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion used for paging reception in the carrier group predefined in a protocol.

[0016] Alternatively, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion within the carrier group, and the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers within the carrier group is determined based on the associated indication information.

[0017] Therefore, the first communication device can determine the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging occasion based on the protocol pre-defined method or the method indicated by the second communication device.

[0018] In one possible design, the carrier group paging search space configuration includes the association indication information. Thus, the second communication device does not need to send the association indication information to the first communication device through signaling.

[0019] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging early indication configuration, and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, the carrier group paging early indication configuration including a configuration related to the paging early indication of the P carriers used for paging early indication within the carrier group, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration including a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for paging early indication of the Q carriers used for paging early indication within the carrier group, P and Q are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging early indication within the carrier group; the first communication device receives the paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, including: the first communication device receives the paging early indication message on the same one or more carriers among the P carriers and the Q carriers according to the carrier group paging early indication configuration and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration.

[0020] Thus, when the paging-related message is a paging early indication message, the first communications device may select one or more carriers from the intersection of the P carriers indicated by the carrier group paging early indication configuration and the Q carriers indicated by the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration. The first communications device may then receive the paging early indication message on the selected one or more carriers.

[0021] In one possible design, a first communication device receives a paging-related message sent by a second communication device on one or more carriers within a carrier group according to a paging-related configuration, including: the first communication device determines, according to the paging-related configuration, the number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information for each of the one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity; and the first communication device receives the paging-related message on one or more carriers within the carrier group according to the number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information for each of the one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity. The number of paging early indication monitoring slots for each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity indicates the number of consecutive downlink control channel monitoring opportunities for each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity, and the beam information for the paging early indication monitoring slot for each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity indicates the physical downlink control channel-associated and quasi-co-located SSBs for the paging early indication monitoring slots of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity.

[0022] Thus, when the paging-related message is a paging early indication message, the first communications device can determine the number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information for each of one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity. Consequently, based on the foregoing, the first communications device can wake up and accurately receive the paging early indication message on each carrier.

[0023] In one possible design, the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers within a carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity is determined according to the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity predefined by the protocol; or, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which determines the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity, and the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in the one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity is determined according to the associated indication information.

[0024] In one possible design, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes associated indication information. Thus, the second communication device does not need to send the associated indication information to the first communication device through signaling, saving signaling overhead.

[0025] In one possible design, the method also includes: the first communication device receives paging mode information sent by the second communication device, the paging mode information indicating the paging mode of the first communication device; when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, the first communication device receives paging-related messages on one or more carriers within the carrier group; or, when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, the first communication device receives paging-related messages on the carrier of the cell where the first communication device is located.

[0026] Thus, the first communication device can inform the second communication device which paging mode to adopt by means of the paging mode information, so that the second communication device can successfully receive the paging-related message.

[0027] In one possible design, the first communication device receives the paging mode information sent by the second communication device, including: the first communication device receives a system message sent by the second communication device, the system message including the paging mode information. As a result, the second communication device can broadcast the paging mode information to the first communication device.

[0028] In one possible design, the first communication device receives a paging-related configuration sent by the second communication device, including: the first communication device receives a system message sent by the second communication device, the system message including the paging-related configuration. As a result, the second communication device may broadcast the paging-related configuration to the first communication device.

[0029] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes: a carrier group configuration, where the carrier group configuration indicates that the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

[0030] Thus, with the help of the carrier group configuration, the second communication device can inform the first communication device of the carrier group used for sending the paging-related message and the multiple carriers in the carrier group.

[0031] In one possible design, the method also includes: the first communication device receives a system message sent by the second communication device on each carrier within the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration including an identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs; or, the first communication device receives a system message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration including relevant configuration information of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs; or, the first communication device receives a system message set sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, the system message set including the system message of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs.

[0032] Therefore, the second communication device can use multiple methods to send the carrier group configuration to the first communication device, which facilitates the second communication device to flexibly select an appropriate method.

[0033] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which includes: a second communication device sends a paging-related configuration to a first communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to paging of a carrier group, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers; the second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on the carrier within the carrier group.

[0034] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging control channel configuration and a carrier group paging search space configuration, where the carrier group paging control channel configuration includes a configuration for determining a paging frame and a paging occasion for M carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging search space configuration includes a search space configuration for a physical downlink control channel used for paging reception for N carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, where M and N are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group.

[0035] The second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier within the carrier group, including:

[0036] The second communication device sends a short message or a paging message on the same carrier among the M carriers and the N carriers in the carrier group.

[0037] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, where the associated indication information is used to determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion within the carrier group.

[0038] In one possible design, the carrier group paging search space configuration includes association indication information.

[0039] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging early indication configuration and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, where the carrier group paging early indication configuration includes configurations related to the paging early indication for P carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for the paging early indication for Q carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group, where P and Q are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group.

[0040] The second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on each carrier in the carrier group, including:

[0041] The second communication device sends a paging early indication message on the same carrier among the P carriers and the Q carriers in the carrier group.

[0042] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity within the carrier group.

[0043] In one possible design, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes associated indication information.

[0044] In one possible design, the method also includes: the second communication device sends paging mode information to the first communication device, the paging mode information indicating the paging mode of the first communication device; when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, the second communication device sends paging-related messages on multiple carriers within the carrier group; or, when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, the second communication device sends paging-related messages on a carrier of the cell where the first communication device is located.

[0045] In one possible design, the second communication device sends paging mode information to the first communication device, including: the second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device, where the system message includes the paging mode information.

[0046] In one possible design, the second communication device sends the paging-related configuration to the first communication device, including: the second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device, where the system message includes the paging-related configuration.

[0047] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes: a carrier group configuration, where the carrier group configuration indicates that the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

[0048] In one possible design, the method also includes: the second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device on each carrier within the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, the carrier group configuration including the identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs; or, the second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, the carrier group configuration including relevant configuration information of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs; or, the second communication device sends a system message set to the first communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, the system message set including the system message of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs.

[0049] The beneficial effects of the communication method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect and each possible design of the second aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the above-mentioned first aspect and each possible implementation method of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0050] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising:

[0051] a transceiver unit, configured to receive a paging-related configuration sent by a second communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to a carrier group and paging, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0052] The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration.

[0053] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging control channel configuration and a carrier group paging search space configuration, where the carrier group paging control channel configuration includes a configuration for determining a paging frame and a paging occasion for M carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging search space configuration includes a search space configuration for a physical downlink control channel used for paging reception for N carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, where M and N are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group.

[0054] The transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a short message or a paging message on one or more carriers that are the same among the M carriers and the N carriers according to the carrier group paging control channel configuration and the carrier group paging search space configuration.

[0055] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each of one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging occasion based on the paging-related configuration; and receive paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group based on the number of paging time slots and beam information of each of one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging occasion.

[0056] In one possible design, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion of one or more carriers in the carrier group are determined according to the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion used for paging reception in the carrier group predefined in a protocol.

[0057] Alternatively, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion within the carrier group, and the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers within the carrier group is determined based on the associated indication information.

[0058] In one possible design, the carrier group paging search space configuration includes association indication information.

[0059] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging early indication configuration and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, where the carrier group paging early indication configuration includes configurations related to the paging early indication for P carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for the paging early indication for Q carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group, where P and Q are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group.

[0060] The transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a paging early indication message on the same one or more carriers among the P carriers and the Q carriers according to the carrier group paging early indication configuration and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration.

[0061] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to determine, based on the paging-related configuration, the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity; and receive paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group based on the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity.

[0062] In one possible design, the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity in one or more carriers in the carrier group are determined according to the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity in the carrier group predefined in the protocol for paging early indication;

[0063] Alternatively, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity within the carrier group, and the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers within the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity is determined based on the associated indication information.

[0064] In one possible design, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes associated indication information.

[0065] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive paging mode information sent by the second communication device, where the paging mode information indicates a paging mode of the first communication device;

[0066] The transceiver unit is also used to receive paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode; or, when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, receive paging-related messages on the carrier where the first communication device resides in the cell where the first communication device is located.

[0067] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to receive a system message sent by the second communication device, where the system message includes paging mode information.

[0068] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to receive a system message sent by the second communication device, where the system message includes paging-related configuration.

[0069] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes: a carrier group configuration, where the carrier group configuration indicates that the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

[0070] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to receive a system message sent by the second communication device on each carrier within the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration including the identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs; or, to receive a system message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration including relevant configuration information of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs; or, to receive a system message set sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, the system message set including the system message of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs.

[0071] The beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the third aspect and each possible design of the third aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the first aspect and each possible implementation method of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0072] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising:

[0073] a transceiver unit, configured to send a paging-related configuration to the first communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to paging of a carrier group, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0074] The transceiver unit is further configured to send a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier within the carrier group.

[0075] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging control channel configuration and a carrier group paging search space configuration, where the carrier group paging control channel configuration includes a configuration for determining a paging frame and a paging occasion for M carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging search space configuration includes a search space configuration for a physical downlink control channel used for paging reception for N carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group, where M and N are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group.

[0076] The transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a short message or a paging message on the same carrier among the M carriers and the N carriers in the carrier group.

[0077] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, where the associated indication information is used to determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion within the carrier group.

[0078] In one possible design, the carrier group paging search space configuration includes association indication information.

[0079] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging early indication configuration and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, where the carrier group paging early indication configuration includes configurations related to the paging early indication for P carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group, and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for the paging early indication for Q carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group, where P and Q are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for the paging early indication within the carrier group.

[0080] The transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a paging early indication message on the same carrier among the P carriers and the Q carriers in the carrier group.

[0081] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity within the carrier group.

[0082] In one possible design, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes associated indication information.

[0083] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to send paging mode information to the first communication device, where the paging mode information indicates a paging mode of the first communication device;

[0084] The transceiver unit is further used to send paging-related messages on multiple carriers within the carrier group when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode; or, when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, send paging-related messages on a carrier of the cell where the first communication device resides.

[0085] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to send a system message to the first communication device, where the system message includes paging mode information.

[0086] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to send a system message to the first communication device, where the system message includes paging-related configuration.

[0087] In one possible design, the paging-related configuration also includes: a carrier group configuration, where the carrier group configuration indicates that the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

[0088] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to send a system message to the first communication device on each carrier within the carrier group, where the system message includes the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration includes an identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs; or, to send a system message to the first communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, where the system message includes the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration includes relevant configuration information of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs; or, to send a system message set to the first communication device on one or more carriers within the carrier group, where the system message set includes a system message of each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs.

[0089] The beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the above-mentioned fourth aspect and each possible design of the fourth aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the above-mentioned second aspect and each possible implementation method of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0090] In any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible design of that aspect, the total number of paging slots of all carriers within the carrier group used for paging reception in each paging occasion is equal to the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device resides; or, the total number of paging early indication monitoring slots of all carriers within the carrier group used for paging early indication in each paging early indication occasion is equal to the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device resides.

[0091] Thus, the total number of paging slots in each paging occasion across all carriers within the carrier group used to transmit paging-related messages is equal to the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device resides. The number of paging slots in each paging occasion across any one of the carriers within the carrier group used to transmit paging-related messages is less than the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device resides. Consequently, the coordinated transmission of paging-related messages by the second communication device across multiple carriers within the carrier group used to transmit paging-related messages reduces the transmission duration of the second communication device in the time domain.

[0092] In any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible design of that aspect, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging reception in each paging occasion indicates any one of the following schemes: the physical downlink shared channel of the paging slot of each carrier in each paging occasion is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the SSB according to the sending order of the SSB in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of first time domain and then frequency domain; or, the physical downlink shared channel of the paging slot of each carrier in each paging occasion is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the SSB according to the sending order of the SSB in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of first frequency domain and then time domain.

[0093] Therefore, multiple SSBs can be sequentially allocated to multiple carriers for paging reception within the carrier group in a time domain priority or frequency domain priority manner.

[0094] In any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible design of that aspect, the number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity of each carrier in the carrier group indicates any of the following schemes: the physical downlink control channel of the paging early indication monitoring slot of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the SSB according to the sending order of the SSB in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of first time domain and then frequency domain; or, the physical downlink control channel of the paging early indication monitoring slot of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the SSB according to the sending order of the SSB in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of first frequency domain and then time domain.

[0095] Therefore, multiple SSBs can be sequentially allocated to multiple carriers for paging early indication in the carrier group in a time domain priority or frequency domain priority manner.

[0096] In any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible design of that aspect, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging reception in each paging opportunity includes: the SSB sequence number range of each carrier, the SSB sequence number range of each carrier is the sequence number of the SSB associated with the physical downlink shared channel of one or more paging slots of each carrier in each paging opportunity and the quasi-co-located SSB in the synchronized broadcast resource block set in the sending order; or, the number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity includes: the SSB sequence number range of each carrier, the SSB sequence number range of each carrier is the sequence number of the SSB associated with the physical downlink control channel of one or more paging early indication monitoring slots of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity and the quasi-co-located SSB in the synchronized broadcast resource block set in the sending order.

[0097] Therefore, with the help of the SSB sequence number range, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception or paging early indication in each paging opportunity can be clearly indicated.

[0098] In any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible design of that aspect, the SSB sequence number range in the i-th carrier in the carrier group is: greater than or equal to 1+(i-1)*ceil(S / m) and less than or equal to i*ceil(S / m); wherein i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception or paging early indication in the carrier group, P is the number of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set, m is the number of SSBs sent for each paging slot or paging early indication monitoring slot, and ceil represents rounding up.

[0099] In any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible design of that aspect, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging reception in each paging occasion includes: an SSB index set for each carrier, the SSB index set for each carrier is the index of the SSB associated with and quasi-co-located by the physical downlink shared channel of one or more paging slots of each carrier in each paging occasion; or, the number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information of each carrier in the carrier group used for paging early indication in each paging early indication occasion includes: an SSB index set for each carrier, the SSB index set for each carrier is the index of the SSB associated with and quasi-co-located by the physical downlink control channel of one or more paging early indication monitoring slots of each carrier in each paging early indication occasion.

[0100] Therefore, with the help of the SSB index set, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception or paging early indication in each paging occasion can be clearly indicated.

[0101] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, the method comprising:

[0102] The first communication device receives time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0103] The first communication device stops receiving and / or stops sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutoff information.

[0104] Through the method provided in the fifth aspect, the second communication device determines the time domain shutdown information, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that all carriers in the carrier group stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers. The second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device stops receiving and / or stops sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information. In the present application, when all carriers in the carrier group do not carry data for a certain period of time, all carriers in the carrier group are simultaneously shut down in the time domain. From the perspective of the second communication device, the signaling overhead of the indication is saved, which helps to reduce the energy consumption of the second communication device.

[0105] In one possible design, the first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device, including:

[0106] The first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device on a carrier in the carrier group. The carrier in the carrier group can be any carrier in the carrier group, such as an anchor carrier. In this way, the transmission of the time domain shutdown information is achieved.

[0107] In one possible design, when multiple carriers in a carrier group adopt different radio access technologies, the first communications device receives time-domain shutdown information sent by the second communications device, including:

[0108] The first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device on one carrier among the carriers adopting each radio access technology in the carrier group.

[0109] Thus, the transmission of time domain shutdown information is achieved. The time domain shutdown information is applicable to multiple carriers using different wireless access technologies within a carrier group, and the time domain shutdown information is independent of the wireless access technology of the carrier.

[0110] In one possible design, the first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device, including:

[0111] When multiple carriers in a carrier group use the same subcarrier spacing, the first communication device receives time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that each carrier in the carrier group stops sending and / or stops receiving in a time slot that is the same as the position of the first time domain unit in the first carrier, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving; or, when multiple carriers in the carrier group use different subcarrier spacing, the first communication device receives time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as any carrier in the carrier group, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that each carrier in the carrier group stops sending and / or stops receiving in a time slot that overlaps with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving.

[0112] Thus, the transmission of time domain shutdown information is realized. The time domain shutdown information is applicable to multiple carriers with the same or different subcarrier spacings in the carrier group, and the time domain shutdown information is independent of the subcarrier spacing of the carriers.

[0113] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which includes: a second communication device determines time domain shutdown information, the time domain shutdown information indicates that all carriers in a carrier group stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers; the second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information to the first communication device.

[0114] In one possible design, the second communication device sends time domain shutdown information to the first communication device, including: the second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information on a carrier in the carrier group.

[0115] In one possible design, when multiple carriers within a carrier group adopt different wireless access technologies, the second communication device sends time domain shutdown information to the first communication device, including: the second communication device sends time domain shutdown information on one carrier among the carriers within the carrier group that adopt each wireless access technology.

[0116] In one possible design, the second communication device sends time domain shutdown information to the first communication device, including: when multiple carriers in a carrier group use the same subcarrier spacing, the second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, where the time domain shutdown information instructs each carrier in the carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving in a time slot that is the same as a position of a first time domain unit in the first carrier, where the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units for which sending and / or reception are stopped;

[0117] Alternatively, when multiple carriers within a carrier group use different subcarrier spacings, the second communication device sends time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as any carrier within the carrier group. The time domain shutdown information indicates that each carrier within the carrier group stops sending and / or stops receiving in a time slot that overlaps with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier. The first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving.

[0118] The beneficial effects of the communication method provided in the sixth aspect and each possible design of the sixth aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the fifth aspect and each possible implementation method of the fifth aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0119] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising:

[0120] a transceiver unit, configured to receive time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0121] The transceiver unit is further configured to stop receiving and / or sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information.

[0122] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device on a carrier within the carrier group.

[0123] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to receive time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device on one carrier among the carriers that adopt each wireless access technology in the carrier group when multiple carriers in the carrier group adopt different wireless access technologies.

[0124] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to, when multiple carriers in a carrier group use the same subcarrier spacing, receive time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, where the time domain shutdown information indicates that a time slot in each carrier in the carrier group that is the same as a position of a first time domain unit in the first carrier stops sending and / or stops receiving, where the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving;

[0125] Alternatively, when multiple carriers within a carrier group use different subcarrier spacings, time domain shutdown information is received on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as any carrier within the carrier group. The time domain shutdown information indicates that the time slots in each carrier within the carrier group that overlap with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving.

[0126] The beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the above-mentioned seventh aspect and each possible design of the seventh aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the above-mentioned fifth aspect and each possible implementation method of the fifth aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0127] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising:

[0128] a processing unit, configured to determine time domain shutdown information, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop transmitting and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0129] The transceiver unit is configured to send time domain shutdown information to the first communication device.

[0130] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to send time domain shutdown information on a carrier within the carrier group.

[0131] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically used to send time domain shutdown information on one carrier among the carriers that adopt each wireless access technology in the carrier group when multiple carriers in the carrier group adopt different wireless access technologies.

[0132] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to, when multiple carriers in a carrier group use the same subcarrier spacing, send time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, where the time domain shutdown information indicates that a time slot in each carrier in the carrier group that is the same as a position of a first time domain unit in the first carrier stops sending and / or stops receiving, where the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving;

[0133] Alternatively, when multiple carriers within a carrier group use different subcarrier spacings, time domain shutdown information is sent on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as any carrier within the carrier group. The time domain shutdown information indicates that each carrier within the carrier group stops sending and / or stops receiving in a time slot that overlaps with the position of a first time domain unit on the first carrier. The first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving.

[0134] The beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the above-mentioned eighth aspect and each possible design of the eighth aspect can be referred to the beneficial effects brought about by the above-mentioned sixth aspect and each possible implementation method of the sixth aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0135] In any one of the above-mentioned aspects 5 to 8 and any possible design of that aspect, the indication level of the time domain shutdown information is any one of the following: symbol level, time slot level, subframe level, or multiple consecutive time slot levels.

[0136] In any one of the above-mentioned aspects from the fifth to the eighth aspect and any possible design of the aspect, the time domain shutdown information is irrelevant to whether the time division multiplexing ratio of multiple carriers in the carrier group is the same.

[0137] In any one of the first to eighth aspects above and any possible design of such aspect, all carriers in the carrier group use the same hardware device.

[0138] Thus, the second communication device can simultaneously activate and deactivate a hardware device and send information and / or signals on multiple carriers in a carrier group supported by the hardware device, thereby reducing the overhead of the second communication device.

[0139] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising: a first communication device for executing the method of the first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect, and a second communication device for executing the method of the second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect; and / or, a first communication device for executing the method of the fifth aspect and any possible design of the fifth aspect, and a second communication device for executing the method of the sixth aspect and any possible design of the sixth aspect.

[0140] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory stores a computer program or instruction, the processor is configured to control the transceiver to transmit and receive signals, and the processor is configured to call and execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, so that the processor implements the method in any one of the above aspects and any possible design of the aspect.

[0141] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a processor; the processor is used to call a computer program or instruction in a memory, so that the communication device executes any one of the above aspects and any possible design method of the aspect.

[0142] Optionally, the communication device further comprises: a memory for storing program instructions, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0143] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a chip device comprising a processor for calling a computer program or instruction in the memory so that the processor executes a method in any one of the above aspects and any possible design of the aspect.

[0144] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0145] In the thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip, including: an interface circuit and a logic circuit, the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other chips outside the chip and transmit them to the logic circuit, or send signals from the logic circuit to other chips outside the chip, and the logic circuit is used to implement any one of the above aspects and any possible design method of this aspect.

[0146] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions are configured to execute any one of the above aspects and any possible design method of the aspect.

[0147] In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when running on a computer, enables the computer to execute any one of the above aspects and any possible design of the method in the aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0148] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a paging control channel configuration (PCCH-config) for paging;

[0149] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a paging early indication (PEI);

[0150] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0151] FIG4 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0152] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0153] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0154] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0155] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0156] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0157] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0158] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0159] FIG12 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0160] FIG13 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0161] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0162] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0163] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0164] FIG17 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0165] FIG18 is a schematic diagram of coordinated reception of multiple carriers within a carrier group provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0166] FIG19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0167] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0168] FIG21 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0169] FIG22 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0170] FIG23 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0171] FIG24 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0172] In this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to 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 represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. "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 alone, b alone, or c alone can represent: a alone, b alone, c alone, a and b in combination, a and c in combination, b and c in combination, or a, b, and c in combination, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0173] First, some of the terms used in this application are explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0174] 1. Beam

[0175] A beam is a communication resource. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology used to form the beam can be beamforming technology or other technical means. Beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered different resources. The same information or different information can be sent through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered as one beam. A beam can be formed by one or more antenna ports and used to transmit data channels, control channels, and detection signals. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted by an antenna, and a receive beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of a wireless signal received from an antenna. It can be understood that one or more antenna ports that form a beam can also be considered as an antenna port set.

[0176] Beams can be divided into the transmit beam and receive beam of the network device and the transmit beam and receive beam of the terminal device.

[0177] When using low- or medium-frequency bands, signals can be transmitted omnidirectionally or over a wide angle. When using high-frequency bands, thanks to the shorter carrier wavelengths of high-frequency communication systems, antenna arrays consisting of many antenna elements can be deployed at both the transmitter and receiver ends. The transmitter transmits signals with specific beamforming weights, forming a spatially directional beam. Simultaneously, the receiver uses an antenna array with specific beamforming weights to receive the signals. This improves the received signal power at the receiver and combats path loss. This process is referred to as beamforming technology.

[0178] The beamforming technology mentioned above can be applied to network devices, terminal devices (i.e., terminal devices can also be configured with antenna arrays), or can be applied to both network devices and terminal devices at the same time, and this application does not limit this. For example, network devices can be configured with massive antenna arrays (massive multiple-input multiple-output, massive MIMO), such as 64, 128, 256, 1024 antennas, or other numbers of antennas. Thus, communication can be achieved through antenna arrays, which can improve the transmission quality of wireless signals.

[0179] When a network device acts as the transmitter and a terminal device acts as the receiver, the network device can use multiple, differently oriented beams (Tx beams) to transmit wireless signals in different directions to achieve coverage of the service area. Correspondingly, the terminal device can use multiple, differently oriented beams (Rx beams) to receive wireless signals from the network device in different directions.

[0180] In addition, the network device may also use a directional beam to send wireless signals. This application does not limit the number of beams used by the network device to send wireless signals. The terminal device may also use a directional beam to receive wireless signals. This application does not limit the number of beams used by the terminal device to receive wireless signals.

[0181] In new radio (NR), synchronization and broadcast channels typically use multiple beams to transmit multiple synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (SSB) blocks. Each transmission cycle occurs within a specific period. Within each transmission cycle, the transmitter sends multiple SSBs from different beams in a time-division manner. All SSBs from different beams within a transmission cycle constitute a synchronized broadcast resource block set (SS burst set).

[0182] Where SSBx represents an SSB in a beam direction, and the number x represents the SSB index, where x is an integer greater than or equal to 0. Each SSB occupies four orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain. The transmitter can choose to send SSBs in 1, 2, 4, or 8 beams.

[0183] Furthermore, the aforementioned beamforming technology focuses the energy of wireless signals, forming a directional beam that concentrates the signal energy in the direction of the receiver. In other words, if the beam used by the transmitter is pointed slightly away from the receiver or is aligned with it, the receiver will receive high-quality wireless signals. If the beam used by the transmitter is pointed away from the receiver, the receiver may not receive high-quality wireless signals.

[0184] When the transmitter and / or receiver use beams with different orientations, a pair of beams (i.e., one beam used by the transmitter and one beam used by the receiver) has a smaller orientation alignment or deviation than other beam combinations, resulting in good alignment. This allows the receiver to receive high-quality wireless signals.

[0185] Among them, the pair of beams can be called a beam pair, and the beam pair can include a beam used by the transmitting end (i.e., the transmitting beam) and a beam used by the receiving end (i.e., the receiving beam), that is, the transmitting beam and the receiving beam are pointed in the same direction or have a small deviation, and the alignment of the beam pair is good. For example, when the received signal power (RSRP) of the reference signal received by the terminal device is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, it can be regarded as that the alignment of the beam pair formed by the transmitting beam used by the network device to send the reference signal and the receiving beam used by the terminal device to receive the reference signal is good. Alternatively, when the transmitting beam and the receiving beam meet certain communication requirements, it can be regarded as that the alignment of the beam pair is good.

[0186] That is, the network device can use the transmit beam in the beam pair to transmit wireless signals, thereby enabling wireless signal transmission between the network device and the terminal device. And / or, the terminal device can use the receive beam in the beam pair to receive wireless signals, thereby enabling wireless signal transmission between the network device and the terminal device. This enables the terminal device to receive high-quality wireless signals, thereby improving communication quality.

[0187] In addition, in NR, each channel has its own demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), as well as other measurement reference signals, such as SSB, channel state information-reference signal (CSI RS), channel sounding reference signal (SRS), etc. These channels and / or signals are transmitted in narrowband using beamforming, covering only part of the cell. Even if these channels and / or signals are sent from the same network device or terminal device, they cannot be considered to be associated and quasi-co-located (QCL).

[0188] Among them, QCL is used to indicate that multiple resources have one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. For multiple resources with QCL, the same or similar communication configuration can be used. For example, if two antenna ports have a co-location relationship, the large-scale characteristics of the channel for transmitting a symbol on one port can be inferred from the large-scale characteristics of the channel for transmitting a symbol on the other port. Large-scale characteristics may include: delay spread, average delay, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, spatial reception parameters. Specifically, spatial reception parameters may include received arrival angle, spatial correlation of receiver antennas, main angle of arrival (AoA), average arrival angle, spread of AoA, etc. Specifically, QCL is used to indicate whether at least two groups of antenna ports have QCL, or QCL is used to indicate whether the channel state information reference signals transmitted by at least two groups of antenna ports come from the same transmission point, or QCL is used to indicate whether the channel state information reference signals transmitted by at least two groups of antenna ports come from the same beam group.

[0189] Therefore, network equipment and terminal devices need to consider the QCL of channels and / or signals, such as which SSB or CSI-RS is associated and quasi-co-located with the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). This allows the terminal device to receive associated and quasi-co-located channels and / or signals.

[0190] For example, if a certain SSB and PDSCH are associated and quasi-co-located, the directions of the SSB beam and the PDSCH beam need to be as consistent as possible so that the terminal device can receive the associated and quasi-co-located SSB and PDSCH.

[0191] For another example, if a certain SSB and PDCCH are associated and quasi-co-located, the directions of the SSB beam and the PDCCH beam need to be as consistent as possible so that the terminal device can receive the associated and quasi-co-located SSB and PDCCH.

[0192] In summary, the PDSCH or PDCCH is associated with the SSB and is QCL. Correspondingly, the beam of the PDSCH or PDCCH is the same as the beam of the SSB.

[0193] 2. Paging Mechanism

[0194] In NR, in addition to supporting paging triggered by the core network (CN), it also supports paging triggered by network equipment, which is called radio access network (RAN) paging.

[0195] Currently, network devices can initiate paging over a single carrier. Network-initiated paging is used to trigger terminal devices to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection. It is also used to notify terminal devices of system updates, send alerts from the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) or Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), and notify terminal devices to stop paging detection.

[0196] 2.1 Paging Message

[0197] The process of the network device sending the paging message is: sending it to the terminal device through the PDSCH, and the PDSCH is scheduled by the PDCCH scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

[0198] In other words, the process of a terminal device receiving a paging message is as follows: since the terminal device does not know whether the network device has actually sent a paging message to the terminal device before receiving the paging message, the terminal device in the idle or inactive state will wake up at every paging occasion (PO).

[0199] It should be understood that in addition to being called a paging occasion, a PO may also be called a paging opportunity.

[0200] The idle state refers to the state of the terminal device when it has completed its residency in the cell but has not yet performed a random access procedure. The terminal device usually enters the idle state after being powered on or after RRC is released.

[0201] The corresponding state to the idle state is the connected state. The connected state refers to the state in which the terminal device is in after completing the random access procedure and not performing RRC release. When in the connected state, the terminal device can transmit data with the network device. When the terminal device is in the idle state, after completing the random access procedure, the terminal device state transitions to the connected state. When the terminal device is in the connected state, after completing the RRC release, the terminal device state transitions to the idle state.

[0202] The inactive state is between the connected and idle states. For a terminal device in the inactive state, the user plane bearer of the air interface is suspended, while the user plane bearer and control plane bearer between the RAN and CN are still maintained. When the terminal device initiates a call or service request, the user plane bearer of the air interface needs to be activated, and the existing user plane bearer and control plane bearer between the RAN and CN are reused.

[0203] After waking up, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH encrypted by P-RNTI, parses the downlink control information (DCI) in the PDCCH, and the DCI determines the demodulation information (such as time-frequency position) of the PDSCH. The terminal device receives the PDSCH based on the demodulation information of the PDSCH, and the terminal device obtains the paging message in the PDSCH. The paging message carries a terminal device identification list, and the terminal device identification list includes the identification of one or more terminal devices that can access the network (such as an identification number (ID)). The terminal device determines whether the terminal device identification exists in the terminal device identification list. If so, the terminal device performs corresponding operations, such as establishing an RRC connection. Thus, the terminal device can access the network.

[0204] 2.2 Short Message

[0205] NR also defines short messages. The process for network devices to send short messages is as follows: the network device can only indicate the DCI in the PDCCH scrambled by the P-RNTI, without a corresponding PDSCH. The indication information contained in the short message includes: system information updates, ETWS or CMAS alert messages, and notifications to the terminal device to stop paging detection.

[0206] That is to say, the process of the terminal device receiving the short message is as follows: since the terminal device does not know whether the network device has actually sent a short message to the terminal device before receiving the paging call, the terminal device in the idle state or inactive state will wake up at each PO.

[0207] After waking up, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH scrambled by the P-RNTI and obtains the short message from the DCI in the PDCCH. The terminal device can perform corresponding operations based on the type of short message. For example, if the type of short message indicates a system message change, the terminal device can receive the system message again in the next cycle.

[0208] 2.3 PCCH-config

[0209] Whether receiving a paging message or a short message, the terminal device needs to wake up periodically. In order to reduce the energy consumption and unnecessary monitoring of the terminal device, the network device can broadcast the PCCH-config information shown in Figure 1 in the system message to the terminal device.

[0210] The PCCH-config is a single-carrier configuration related to receiving paging messages or short messages, and may include: a paging cycle, a frame offset of a paging frame (PF), a starting position of a PO, and the like.

[0211] That is, the terminal device can determine the PO of the paging message or short message in each paging cycle based on information such as PCCH-config and the terminal device's identity. Generally, the specific time of the PO of the paging message or short message in each paging cycle can be defined by PF and PO.

[0212] Among them, PF represents a frame for sending a paging message or a short message, that is, a terminal device in an idle state or an inactive state will only try to receive a paging message or a short message in PF.

[0213] PF can be defined using the following formula:

[0214] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(T div N)×(UE_ID mod N);

[0215] Among them, SFN is the system frame number. PF_offset is the frame offset of PF. T is the discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, which is a time unit. It can be understood that the terminal device has one or more opportunities to try to receive paging messages or short messages within a time T. N is the number of PFs included in each DRX cycle. UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device. div represents the integer quotient of division. mod represents the remainder of division. When an SFN satisfies the above formula, the SFN can be considered as a PF. Therefore, the terminal device attempts to receive paging messages or short messages within the PF.

[0216] Each PF can correspond to multiple POs. In NR, the parameter Ns is used to represent the number of POs corresponding to a PF. In other words, each PF can include Ns POs.

[0217] PO represents the timing of attempting to receive a paging message or short message within a PF.

[0218] Since paging messages or short messages are actually scheduled via the PDCCH scrambled by the P-RNTI, a PO may be a group of S×X consecutive PDCCH monitoring occasions (MO).

[0219] It should be understood that in addition to being called a monitoring opportunity, an MO may also be called a monitoring opportunity.

[0220] S is the number of SSBs actually transmitted in the synchronized broadcast resource block set indicated by the system message (such as SIB1). Generally, S is an integer greater than or equal to 1. It should be understood that in this application, S is greater than 1.

[0221] X is the PDCCH MO for each SSB in the PO. If the protocol has configured X, X uses the configured value, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. If the protocol has not configured X, X defaults to 1. Typically, X is an integer.

[0222] For ease of explanation, in this application, X is taken as 1 as an example. Based on this, each PO may include S consecutive PDCCH MOs, where S is the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set.

[0223] Since the network device supports multiple beams, paging messages or short messages need to be sent in turn on multiple beams. Accordingly, the network device needs to use different transmission beams to poll and send paging messages or short messages in S consecutive paging time slots.

[0224] That is, each PO includes S consecutive paging slots, that is, S consecutive PDCCH MOs.

[0225] In conjunction with Figure 1, assuming that SSB has four transmitting beams in different directions, transmitting beam 101 transmits SSB0, transmitting beam 102 transmits SSB1, transmitting beam 103 transmits SSB2, and transmitting beam 104 transmits SSB3, then a PO may include four consecutive paging slots (slot is used for illustration in Figure 1).

[0226] In addition, the transmission beam of a paging message or a short message is the same as that of an SSB, and the order of the transmission beams of a paging message or a short message is the same as that of an SSB.

[0227] Among them, the transmission beam of the paging messages or short messages of consecutive S paging slots is the same as the transmission beam of SSB, and the order of the transmission beam of the paging messages or short messages of consecutive S paging slots is also the same as the order of the transmission beam of SSB.

[0228] As can be seen, the network device needs to send paging messages or short messages in S consecutive paging slots in each PO in the time domain. However, as the number of transmit beams used by the network device increases, the number of SSBs (S) will also increase, resulting in a longer transmission time in the network device in the time domain and increased energy consumption.

[0229] It should be noted that in NR, each time slot can transmit two SSBs. These two SSBs can be sent via different beams. In other network systems, each time slot can transmit one or more SSBs.

[0230] In addition, the paging time slot mentioned in this application refers to paging reception when the time slot is used as the scheduling unit, and there is only one PDCCH MO in each time slot. It should be understood that in addition to using the time slot as the scheduling unit, the paging time slot can also support non-time slots as scheduling. When non-time slots are used as the scheduling unit, there can be more than one PDCCH MO in each non-time slot.

[0231] As known to those skilled in the art, in NR, a normal time slot (solt) may include 14 (regular (cyclic prefix (CP)) or 12 (extended CP) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. A non-slot (i.e., a non-slot) may occupy 2, 4, 7, or 8 OFDM symbols.

[0232] 2.4PEI

[0233] For terminal devices in idle state, in order to reduce the energy consumption of terminal devices, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced PEI. PEI can be sent before PO. If PEI indicates that there is no paging message or short message, the terminal device can enter sleep mode after receiving SSB and PEI, and no longer needs to receive the paging DCI and PDSCH in PO. Thus, the purpose of saving power consumption of terminal devices is achieved. Moreover, PEI can indicate one or more POs at the same time. In addition, PEI can also carry sub-group information, which indicates which sub-group of terminal devices can skip PO. In this way, for terminal devices sharing the same PO, by grouping the terminal devices, terminal devices that are not paged do not need to be woken up, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption of terminal devices.

[0234] To enable PEI notification, the protocol defines a new DCI format for receiving PEI messages in idle and inactive states. Network devices broadcast PEI configuration (PEI-config) and other information in system messages. PEI-config is the configuration related to receiving PEI messages for a single carrier.

[0235] For each PEI occasion (PEI-O), one PEI-O may include S consecutive PDCCH MOs, where S is the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set.

[0236] That is to say, when sending paging messages or short messages, PEI needs to be sent in turn on multiple beams. Accordingly, the network device needs to use different transmission beams to poll and send PEI messages in S consecutive PEI monitoring time slots.

[0237] That is, each PEI-O includes S consecutive PEI monitoring time slots, that is, S consecutive PDCCH MOs.

[0238] As shown in Figure 2, assuming that SSB has four transmitting beams in different directions, transmitting beam 101 transmits SSB0, transmitting beam 102 transmits SSB1, transmitting beam 103 transmits SSB2, and transmitting beam 104 transmits SSB3, then one PEI-O may include four consecutive PEI monitoring time slots (illustrated by MO1, MO2, MO3, and MO4 in Figure 2).

[0239] In addition, the transmission beam of the PEI message is the same as the transmission beam of the SSB, and the order of the transmission beam of the PEI message is the same as the order of the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0240] The transmission beam of the PEI in the S consecutive PEI listening time slots is the same as the transmission beam of the SSB, and the order of the transmission beam of the PEI in the S consecutive PEI listening time slots is also the same as the order of the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0241] As can be seen, the network device needs to send PEI messages in S consecutive PEI listening slots in each PEI-O in the time domain. However, as the number of transmit beams used by the network device increases, the number of SSBs (S) will also increase, resulting in longer transmission time in the network device in the time domain and increased energy consumption.

[0242] It should be noted that in NR, each PEI monitoring slot can transmit two SSBs. These two SSBs can be sent via different beams. In other network systems, each PEI monitoring slot can transmit one or more SSBs.

[0243] In addition, the PEI monitoring time slot mentioned in this application refers to paging reception when the time slot is used as the scheduling unit, and there is only one PDCCH MO in each time slot. It should be understood that in addition to using the time slot as the scheduling unit, the PEI monitoring time slot can also support non-time slots as scheduling. When non-time slots are used as the scheduling unit, there can be more than one PDCCH MO in each time slot.

[0244] 3. Carrier

[0245] For connected devices, 3GPP supports configuring multiple non-anchor carriers for data transmission. However, the random access channel (RACH) and paging messages or short messages still operate on the anchor carrier. To increase the capacity of the RACH and paging messages or short messages, 3GPP has standardized paging and random access on non-anchor carriers. Paging in 3GPP has the following characteristics:

[0246] 1. The paging PDCCH and the paging PDSCH are on the same carrier, that is, on both the anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier.

[0247] 2. The paging DRX cycle is the same on all carriers;

[0248] 3. Support unbalanced paging load between anchor carrier and non-anchor carrier.

[0249] For each carrier, a weight factor P is configured for the terminal device to determine the paging carrier. Specifically, the paging carrier is the minimum carrier index that satisfies the following formula:

[0250] floor(UE_ID / (N*Ns))mod W <W(0)+W(1)+…+W(n);

[0251] Where floor represents rounding down. N represents the total number of paging carriers. Ns represents the number of POs within a PF. W(i) represents the weight of the configured paging carrier i, and W is the sum of the weights of all paging carriers.

[0252] 3GPP supports paging on both anchor and non-anchor carriers. However, regardless of whether the network device sends a paging message or short message via a single carrier or multiple carriers, the terminal device will only receive the paging message or short message on a single carrier, determined by a predefined formula in the protocol.

[0253] In summary, in order to reduce the energy consumption of network equipment, the present application provides a communication method and device. By adopting multiple carriers to collaboratively transmit paging-related messages, the transmission time of the network equipment in the time domain can be reduced, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the network equipment. By adopting shutdown mechanisms in different dimensions, multiple carriers of the network equipment can be shut down at the same time, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the network equipment.

[0254] Among them, the paging-related messages mentioned in this application can be understood as messages related to paging, such as the paging messages, short messages, or PEI messages mentioned above, and can also be newly added paging-related messages.

[0255] It should be understood that the paging message or short message may be a message indicated by a DCI scrambled based on the P-RNTI, or a message indicated by a DCI scrambled based on other identifiers, and this application does not limit this.

[0256] Among them, the communication method of the present application can be applied to communication systems, and the communication systems may include but are not limited to: wireless communication systems, for example, narrowband Internet of Things systems (NB-IoT), LTE systems, fifth generation (5G) communication systems, sixth generation (6G) communication systems, and other communication systems evolved after 5G.

[0257] The applicable scenarios of the communication system may include but are not limited to: terrestrial cellular communication, non-terrestrial network (NTN), satellite communication, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) communication, reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) communication and other scenarios.

[0258] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the communication system of the present application may include: a network device 310 and a terminal device 320 .

[0259] Among them, network device 310 may include one or more. Network device 310 is a device in a wireless network. Network device 310 can be a base station, an access point, or an access network device, or it can refer to a device in the access network that communicates with wireless terminals through one or more sectors over the air interface (referred to as the air interface). Network device 310 can be used to convert received air frames into and from Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, which may include an IP network. Network device 310 can also coordinate attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network device 310 can be a satellite, a drone, an evolutionary node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device, a terminal or a relay station or an access point that performs the base station function in vehicle-to-everything (V2X), device-to-device (D2D), and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, or a base station in a 5G network, such as a gNB, or a base station in a future 6G network, or a network device in a future evolved shared land mobile network (PLMN) network, which is not limited here.

[0260] The network device 310 may be a RAN node that connects the terminal device 320 to the wireless network. Examples of RAN nodes include gNBs, transmission reception points (TRPs), evolved Node Bs (eNBs), home base stations (e.g., home evolved Node Bs, or HNBs), baseband units (BBUs), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access points (APs), and IABs.

[0261] In one network structure, the network device 310 may include a centralized unit (CU) node, a distributed unit (DU) node, a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node, or a RAN device including a control plane CU node (CU-CP node) and a user plane CU node (CU-UP node) and a DU node.

[0262] CU and DU can be understood as the division of RAN nodes from a logical functional perspective. The CU and DU are connected through the F1 interface; the CU can represent the gNB and is connected to the core network through the NG interface. Among them, the CU and DU can be physically separated or deployed together, and this application does not make specific restrictions on this. A CU can be connected to a DU, or multiple DUs can share a CU, which can save costs and facilitate network expansion. The division of CU and DU can be based on the protocol stack. One possible way is to deploy the RRC, service data adaptation protocol stack (SDAP) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers in the CU, and the remaining radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer and physical layer in the DU. This application does not fully limit the above-mentioned protocol stack division method, and there may be other division methods.

[0263] The terminal device 320 may include one or more. The terminal device 320 is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities. The terminal device 320 can be a wireless terminal or a wired terminal. A wireless terminal can be a device that provides voice and / or other service data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. A wireless terminal can communicate with one or more core networks via a radio access network (RAN). A wireless terminal can be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal. For example, it can be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in, or vehicle-mounted mobile device that exchanges voice and / or data with a radio access network. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), drones, wearable devices, terminals in the Internet of Vehicles, and other devices. A wireless terminal may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device or user equipment, user equipment (UE), a terminal unit, a terminal station, a remote station, a mobile device, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent or a terminal device, etc., without limitation herein. A terminal device in a 6G network or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) network, etc.

[0264] The present application can be applied to downlink signal transmission, uplink signal transmission, and device-to-device (D2D) signal transmission. For downlink signal transmission, the transmitting device is the network device 310, and the corresponding receiving device is the terminal device 320. For uplink signal transmission, the transmitting device is the terminal device 320, and the corresponding receiving device is the network device 310. For D2D signal transmission, the transmitting device is the terminal device 320, and the corresponding receiving device is also the terminal device 320, wherein the transmitting device can act as a relay to forward the signal from the network device 310 to the receiving device. The present application does not limit the transmission direction of the signal.

[0265] The network device 310 and the terminal device 320, as well as the terminal device 320 and the terminal device 320, can communicate through a licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum), or can communicate through an unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum), or can communicate through both a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum at the same time. The network device 310 and the terminal device 320, as well as the terminal device 320 and the terminal device 320, can communicate through a spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), or can communicate through a spectrum above 6G, or can communicate using a spectrum below 6G and a spectrum above 6G at the same time. This application does not limit the spectrum resources used between the network device 310 and the terminal device 320.

[0266] In some embodiments, the communication system may be applicable to standalone (SA) scenarios, dual connectivity (DC) scenarios, and the like.

[0267] In the SA scenario, terminal device 320 is connected to a single network device 310. The network device 310 to which terminal device 320 is connected and the core network to which network device 310 is connected are of the same standard. For example, if the core network is a 5G Core, the corresponding network device 310 is a 5G base station, which is directly connected to the 5G Core. Another example is if the core network is a 6G Core, the corresponding network device 310 is a 6G base station, which is directly connected to the 6G Core.

[0268] In the DC scenario, the terminal device 320 is connected to network devices 310 of different / same standards at the same time, which is applicable to the network devices 310 in the connected state. For example, the core network is 5G Core, and the corresponding network devices 310 are 5G base stations and 6G base stations. The terminal device 320 is connected to the 5G base station and the 6G base station at the same time, where the 5G base station serves as the primary station and the 6G base station serves as the secondary station. For another example, the core network is 6G Core, and the corresponding network devices 310 are 5G base stations and 6G base stations. The terminal device 320 is connected to the 6G base station and the 5G base station at the same time, where the 6G base station serves as the primary station and the 5G base station serves as the secondary station. For another example, the core network is 6G Core, and the corresponding network devices 310 are two 6G base stations. The terminal device 320 is connected to the two 6G base stations at the same time, that is, both the primary station and the secondary station are 6G base stations.

[0269] It should be understood that in this application, the scheme of using multiple carriers to coordinately transmit paging-related messages, especially for terminal devices 320 in idle and inactive states, does not exist in a DC scenario, or it can be understood that it is only for the master station in a DC scenario. The scheme of using shutdown mechanisms of different dimensions has a DC scenario.

[0270] Below, the following embodiments of the present application will take the network device 310 and the terminal device 320 having the structure shown in Figure 3 as an example, and combine the accompanying drawings and application scenarios to elaborate on the communication method provided by the present application for the scheme of using multiple carriers to coordinate the transmission of paging-related messages.

[0271] Figure 4 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method includes a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device can be a terminal device or a device in a terminal device, and the second communication device can be a network device or a device in a network device. As shown in Figure 4, the communication method provided by the present application may include:

[0272] S101. A second communication device sends a paging-related configuration to a first communication device. The paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to paging of a carrier group, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

[0273] With the continuous development of wireless networks, in addition to the widely deployed 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz and 3500MHz, network frequency bands such as 28GHz, 39GHz, 70GHz and terahertz bands are also deployed.

[0274] To mitigate the continued proliferation of antenna hardware, network equipment integration will continue to increase, moving from single-module support for a single frequency band to support for multiple and ultra-wideband frequencies. Accordingly, network equipment will support one or more hardware devices, each supporting one or more carriers. It should be understood that hardware devices may also be referred to as hardware modules, hardware circuits, or hardware devices.

[0275] Based on this, the second communication device 20 may be configured with one or more carrier groups, each of which includes one or more carriers.

[0276] Among them, this application does not limit the parameters such as the number and type of carriers in the carrier group.

[0277] In some implementations, multiple carriers within a carrier group may be configured in at least one of the following ways:

[0278] The same radio access technology (RAT), such as 5G RAT for each carrier or 6G RAT for each carrier;

[0279] Or, different RATs, such as the RAT of one or some carriers is 5G, and the RAT of other one or some carriers is 6G, etc.;

[0280] Alternatively, the same duplex mode, such as each carrier being a time division duplexing (TDD) carrier, or each carrier being a frequency division duplexing (FDD) carrier;

[0281] Or, different duplex modes, such as one or some carriers are TDD carriers, and other one or some carriers are FDD carriers;

[0282] Alternatively, the same TDD ratio;

[0283] Or, different TDD ratios;

[0284] Alternatively, the same subcarrier spacing (SCS);

[0285] Alternatively, different subcarrier spacing.

[0286] In NR, assume that the protocol supports a subcarrier spacing of 2^μ*15 kHz. Where μ = 0, 1, 2, or 3, NR supports subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, and 120 kHz, respectively. This suggests that subcarrier spacing can vary. Consequently, the subcarrier spacing of multiple carriers within a carrier group can be the same or different.

[0287] In addition, this application does not limit the division method of carriers within a carrier group.

[0288] In some implementations, the second communication device 20 may configure multiple carriers supported by the same hardware device into a carrier group.

[0289] For example, the second communication device 20 may configure one or more carriers generated by the same radio frequency (RF) module in the hardware device into a carrier group. Alternatively, the second communication device 20 may configure one or more carriers generated by the same intermediate frequency (IF) module in the hardware device into a carrier group. Alternatively, the second communication device 20 may configure one or more carriers generated by the same power amplifier (PA) in the hardware device into a carrier group. Of course, the second communication device 20 may configure one or more carriers generated by other modules in the hardware device into a carrier group.

[0290] For example, assume that the second communication device 20 supports six frequency bands, namely 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, and 3500MHz. 700MHz, 800MHz, and 900MHz can share one ultra-wideband hardware device, 1800MHz and 2100MHz can share one ultra-wideband hardware device, and 3500MHz can use one wideband hardware device.

[0291] Then, the second communication device 20 can configure the above 6 frequency bands into three carrier groups, carrier group 1 includes three carriers at 700MHz, 800MHz and 900MHz, carrier group 2 includes two carriers at 1800MHz and 2100MHz, and carrier group 3 includes one carrier at 3500MHz.

[0292] It can be seen that the second communication device 20 can send information and / or signals on multiple carriers supported by a hardware device, which is beneficial to reducing the overhead of the second communication device 20.

[0293] It should be understood that if the second communication device 20 does not support the ultra-wideband solution, then each sector of the second communication device 20 needs to deploy six hardware devices. Accordingly, the second communication device 20 can simultaneously activate and deactivate multiple hardware devices to transmit information and / or signals on multiple carriers supported by the multiple hardware devices, thereby also reducing the overhead of the second communication device 20.

[0294] Based on the above description, when it is known that the first communication device 10 has the corresponding device capability, the second communication device 20 may choose to send paging-related messages on multiple carriers within a certain carrier group.

[0295] The device capability may indicate that the first communication device 10 supports collaborative reception of paging-related messages on multiple carriers within the carrier group, that is, the first communication device 10 supports simultaneous reception of paging-related messages on multiple carriers within the carrier group.

[0296] In addition to the information indicated above, the device capability may also indicate whether the RATs of multiple carriers within a carrier group are the same, whether the duplex modes are the same, whether the TDD ratios are the same, whether the subcarrier spacing is the same, and other information. It should be noted that the solution of the present application is applicable to multiple carriers of the same RAT within a carrier group, and also to multiple carriers of different RATs within a carrier group. When the RATs of multiple carriers within a carrier group are different, the carriers within the carrier group can be grouped according to the same RAT. In this way, the solution of the present application is applicable to multiple carriers of the same RAT within the grouped carrier group.

[0297] Thus, the device capability is refined, that is, the first communication device 10 supports simultaneous reception of paging-related messages on multiple carriers of various types within the carrier group.

[0298] In addition, the first communication device 10 can notify the second communication device 20 in advance whether it has the corresponding equipment capabilities, so that the second communication device 20 can determine to use one carrier or multiple carriers in the carrier group to send paging related information. This helps to achieve energy saving for the second communication device 20.

[0299] The paging-related message may be various types of messages such as a paging message, a short message, or a PEI message.

[0300] When determining that the paging-related message is sent via multiple carriers, the second communication device 20 may determine a carrier group for sending the paging-related message.

[0301] A carrier group may include multiple carriers. In some implementations, each of the multiple carriers in the carrier group is used to send paging-related messages. Alternatively, some of the multiple carriers in the carrier group are used to send paging-related messages. The number of the aforementioned partial carriers may be multiple.

[0302] The present application does not limit parameters such as the type of carrier group, the number of carriers within the carrier group used to send paging-related messages, and the type of carrier within the carrier group used to send paging-related messages. In addition, "used for sending paging-related messages" can be understood as being used for paging reception or for PEI.

[0303] Thus, the second communication device 20 may send the paging-related configuration to the first communication device 10 .

[0304] The paging-related configuration may indicate configuration information related to paging of a carrier group. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the paging-related configuration, as long as the first communication device 10 can receive paging-related messages according to the paging-related configuration.

[0305] In some implementations, the second communication device 20 may broadcast a system message on a carrier within the carrier group (e.g., an anchor carrier), and the system message may include paging-related configurations. For example, a system information block (SIB) 1 in the system message may include paging-related configurations.

[0306] In addition, in addition to the broadcast method, the first communication device 10 can also be enabled to obtain the paging-related configuration through a method predefined in the protocol. Alternatively, the two methods can be combined to enable the first communication device 10 to obtain the paging-related configuration.

[0307] S102: The second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier within the carrier group.

[0308] The second communication device 20 transmits a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 on carriers within the carrier group using multiple transmission beams.

[0309] The number of carriers within a carrier group is multiple, i.e., multiple carriers within a carrier group. The multiple carriers within a carrier group can be all or part of the carriers within the carrier group, with the number of the aforementioned part of the carriers being multiple. That is, for each PO / PEI-O of a paging-related message, instead of being sent on a single carrier, it is sent simultaneously on multiple carriers within a carrier group. The transmission beams on the multiple carriers have different directions / pointings. It should be understood that the PO / PEI-O mentioned in this application refers to either PO or PEI-O.

[0310] Based on the foregoing, it can be seen that the total number of PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O for all carriers in the multiple carriers within the carrier group is equal to the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides. The number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides is the S mentioned above.

[0311] When the paging-related message is a paging message or a short message, the total number of paging slots in each PO of all carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group is equal to the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides.

[0312] When the paging-related message is a PEI message, the total number of PEI monitoring slots in each PEI-O of all carriers used for PEI in the carrier group is equal to the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides.

[0313] It can be seen that the number of PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O of any carrier among the multiple carriers in the carrier group is less than the number of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides.

[0314] The present application does not limit the specific value of the number of PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O of any carrier among the multiple carriers in the carrier group.

[0315] In one possible implementation, the PDCCH MO of each PO / PEI-O of each of the multiple carriers within the carrier group can be evenly distributed, so that the sending duration of the paging-related message sent by the second communication device 20 on each carrier in the time domain is close or equal, which is beneficial to reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device 20.

[0316] The sending durations mentioned in this application are close to or equal to each other, which can be understood as the difference between the two sending durations being less than or equal to 0 and greater than or equal to t1, where the value of t1 can be predefined. In other words, the difference between the two sending durations is small or 0.

[0317] In a possible implementation, the transmission time of the PDCCH MO of each carrier in each PO / PEI-O of each carrier in the multiple carriers in the carrier group is close to or the same.

[0318] The transmission time mentioned in this application refers to the starting moment or starting time point of the transmission. Correspondingly, "sending times are close or identical" can be understood as the time interval between the two sending times being within a preset range, where the preset range is less than or equal to 0 and greater than or equal to t2, where the value of t2 can be predefined. In other words, the time interval between the two sending times is small or zero.

[0319] For example, when multiple carriers within a carrier group share the same hardware device, the second communication device 20 can ensure, through the hardware device, that the transmission timing of the PDCCH MO of each carrier in each PO / PEI-O is close to or the same. Alternatively, when multiple carriers within a carrier group use different hardware devices, the second communication device 20 can ensure that the transmission timing of the PDCCH MO of each carrier in each PO / PEI-O is close to or the same by simultaneously activating and deactivating the multiple hardware devices.

[0320] It can also be seen that the PDCCH MO in each PO / PEI-O of any carrier in the carrier group used for receiving paging-related messages may correspond to one or more SSBs, where the number of multiple SSBs is less than the S mentioned above. Each SSB corresponds to a PDCCH MO in each PO / PEI-O of a carrier in the carrier group used for receiving paging-related messages.

[0321] When the paging-related message is a paging message or a short message, the PDCCH MO of any carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group may correspond to one or more SSBs, where the number of multiple SSBs is less than the aforementioned S. Each SSB corresponds to a PDCCH MO of a carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group.

[0322] When the paging-related message is a PEI message, the PDCCH MO in each PEI-O of any carrier used for PEI in the carrier group may correspond to one or more SSBs, where the number of multiple SSBs is less than the aforementioned S. Each SSB corresponds to a PDCCH MO in each PEI-O of a carrier used for PEI in the carrier group.

[0323] Based on the foregoing, it can also be seen that the transmission beam of the paging-related message on each carrier is the same as the transmission beam of the SSB. Correspondingly, the transmission beam of the paging-related information on any PDCCH MO in each PO / PEI-O is the same as the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0324] When the paging-related message is a paging message or a short message, the transmission beam of the paging-related information on any PDCCH MO in each PO is the same as the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0325] When the paging-related message is a PEI message, the transmission beam of the paging-related information on any PDCCH MO in each PEI-O is the same as the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0326] For example, the cell is configured with SSB0-SSB7. Therefore, there are 8 consecutive PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O, and SSB0-SSB7 correspond to the PDCCH MO in each PO / PEI-O of any carrier in the carrier group used to receive paging-related messages.

[0327] In addition, based on the foregoing, it can be known that the order of transmitting beams for paging-related messages on each carrier is the same as the order of transmitting beams for SSB.

[0328] S103: The first communication device receives a paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration.

[0329] In actual application, the first communication device 10 may select one carrier from the carrier group to which the second communication device 20 sends the paging-related message in S102 according to the paging-related configuration, or may select multiple carriers to receive the paging-related message.

[0330] The present application does not limit the number of carriers corresponding to the paging-related message received by the first communication device 10. In addition, the present application does not limit the manner in which the first communication device 10 receives the paging-related message.

[0331] In addition, since the content of the paging-related messages sent on different PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O is the same, the first communication device 10 can use various methods to receive the paging-related messages sent by the second communication device 20 on one or more carriers in the carrier group.

[0332] In some implementations, the first communication device 10 may select a PDCCH MO with the best reception performance in each PO / PEI-O indicated by the SSB measurement result to receive paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group.

[0333] Among them, one or more receive beams for receiving paging-related messages by the first communication device 10 and the transmit beam for paging-related information on the PDCCH MO with the best reception performance in each PO / PEI-O can form one or more beam pairs. The aforementioned good alignment and beam pairs can be referred to the previous description and will not be repeated here.

[0334] In some implementations, the first communication device 10 may adopt a beam polling method (ie, use multiple receiving beams) to receive paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group.

[0335] For example, assume that the second communication device 20 sends multiple rounds of SSB0-SSB7 to the first communication device 10. In each round, the second communication device 20 uses transmission beams 101 to 108 to send SSB0-SSB7, respectively. For example, the second communication device 20 may use transmission beam 101 to send SSB0, use transmission beam 102 to send SSB1, use transmission beam 103 to send SSB2, use transmission beam 104 to send SSB3, use transmission beam 105 to send SSB4, use transmission beam 106 to send SSB5, use transmission beam 107 to send SSB6, and use transmission beam 108 to send SSB7.

[0336] Correspondingly, the first communication device 10 can use receiving beams 201-203 to measure SSB0-SSB7 respectively. For example, the first communication device 10 can use receiving beam 201 to measure SSB0-SSB7, use receiving beam 202 to measure SSB0-SSB7, and use receiving beam 203 to measure SSB0-SSB7 to obtain the measurement results of SSB0-SSB7.

[0337] If the measurement results of SSB0-SSB7 indicate that transmit beam 104 is aligned with receive beam 202, the first communications device 10 may determine that transmit beam 104 corresponds to SSB3. Since SSB3 corresponds to one carrier within the carrier group used for receiving paging-related messages and one PDCCH MO in each PO / PEI-O, the first communications device 10 may use receive beam 202 to receive the paging-related message on one carrier within the aforementioned carrier group.

[0338] If the measurement results of SSB0-SSB7 indicate that transmit beam 103 is aligned with receive beam 202, transmit beam 104 is aligned with receive beam 202, and transmit beam 105 is aligned with receive beam 202, then the first communication device 10 can determine SSB2 corresponding to transmit beam 103, SSB3 corresponding to transmit beam 104, and SSB4 corresponding to transmit beam 105.

[0339] When SSB2, SSB3, and SSB4 respectively correspond to one carrier in the carrier group for receiving paging-related messages and three PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O, the first communication device 10 can use the receive beam 202 to receive the paging-related message on one carrier in the aforementioned carrier group. Alternatively, when SSB2, SSB3, and SSB4 respectively correspond to multiple carriers in the carrier group for receiving paging-related messages and three PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O, the first communication device 10 can use the receive beam 202 to receive the paging-related message on multiple carriers in the aforementioned carrier group.

[0340] If the measurement results of SSB0-SSB7 indicate that transmit beam 104 is aligned with receive beam 202 and transmit beam 105 is aligned with receive beam 203, the first communication device 10 may determine SSB3 corresponding to transmit beam 104 and SSB4 corresponding to transmit beam 105.

[0341] When SSB3 and SSB4 respectively correspond to three PDCCH MOs in each PO / PEI-O for one carrier in the carrier group for receiving paging-related messages, the first communication device 10 may use reception beams 202 and 203 to receive paging-related messages on one carrier in the carrier group. Alternatively, when SSB3 and SSB4 respectively correspond to PDCCH MOs in multiple carriers in each PO / PEI-O for receiving paging-related messages in the carrier group, the first communication device 10 may use reception beams 202 and 203 to receive paging-related messages on multiple carriers in the carrier group.

[0342] In addition, the first communication device 10 may also use the reception beam 201 , the reception beam 202 , and the reception beam 203 to receive a paging-related message on one or more carriers in the carrier group.

[0343] In summary, the second communication device 20 coordinates to send paging-related messages on multiple carriers in the carrier group. Correspondingly, the first communication device 10 receives paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration.

[0344] It should be understood that in an actual network, a paging slot or a PEI monitoring slot can send more than one SSB, such as NR supports sending two SSBs in one paging slot or a PEI monitoring slot. For ease of explanation, in Figure 5 and the figures below, one grid is a time slot, which can be a paging slot or a PEI monitoring slot, and each time slot can send two SSBs. In addition, Figure 5 is only an example, and a grid can also be a non-time slot, and each non-time slot can send one or two SSBs. In addition, in Figure 5, the left side of the dotted line illustrates the related art. The right side of the dotted line illustrates the solution of the present application. Correspondingly, the related art uses NR for example. It should be understood that the time domain unit of a grid in Figure 5 and subsequent figures can be a time slot or a non-time slot, and this application does not make specific limitations.

[0345] As shown in Figure 5, assuming that the carrier group contains two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beam 101 transmits SSB0, transmission beam 102 transmits SSB1, transmission beam 103 transmits SSB2, and transmission beam 104 transmits SSB3.

[0346] In related art, for each PO / PEI-O, the second communication device 20 needs to transmit paging-related messages using different beam polling in four consecutive PDCCH MOs on a carrier. For example, in each PO, two consecutive paging slots on carrier 1 can respectively transmit four consecutive SSBs (SSB0-SBB3) of transmit beams (101-104).

[0347] Alternatively, in each PEI-O, two consecutive PEI monitoring time slots of carrier 1 can respectively send transmission beams (101-104) of four consecutive SSBs (SSB0-SBB3).

[0348] In the present application, for each PO / PEI-O, the second communication device 20 may transmit paging-related messages in two consecutive paging time slots or PEI monitoring time slots shared by carrier 1 and carrier 2 within a carrier using different beam polling.

[0349] The transmission time of each carrier's paging slot or PEI monitoring slot is similar or identical. For example, in each PO / PEI-O, one paging slot of carrier 1 can transmit two SSB (SSB0-SSB1) transmission beams (101-102), and one paging slot of carrier 2 can transmit two SSB (SSB2-SSB3) transmission beams (103-104). The transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 1 and the paging slot of carrier 2 is similar or identical.

[0350] Alternatively, in each PEI-O, one PEI monitoring slot of carrier 1 can transmit two SSB (SSB0-SSB1) transmission beams (101-102), and one PEI monitoring slot of carrier 2 can transmit two SSB (SSB2-SSB3) transmission beams (103-104).

[0351] The sending time of the PEI monitoring time slot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the sending time of the PEI monitoring time slot of carrier 2.

[0352] In each PO / PEI-O, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies one grid of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is shorter than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0353] It should be understood that the above method is only an example.

[0354] The communication method provided in the present application sends a paging-related configuration to the first communication device through the second communication device, so that the first communication device obtains the multiple carriers in the carrier group for receiving paging-related messages according to the paging-related configuration. The second communication device collaboratively sends paging-related messages on multiple carriers in the carrier group. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives paging-related messages on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration. In the present application, the coordinated transmission of multiple carriers in the carrier group is realized. From the perspective of the second communication device, the transmission time of the second communication device in the time domain is reduced, the shutdown time of the second communication device is increased, and it helps to reduce the energy consumption of the second communication device.

[0355] For example, if multiple carriers within a carrier group share a common ultra-wideband hardware device, the second communication device can support the coordinated transmission of paging-related messages by multiple carriers within the carrier group, while the first communication device can support the coordinated reception of paging-related messages by one or more carriers within the carrier group. This effectively reduces the transmission duration of paging-related messages in the time domain, increases the shutdown duration of the hardware device, and effectively reduces network energy consumption.

[0356] Based on the description of the above embodiment, the paging-related configuration may be related to the type of the paging-related message.

[0357] When the paging-related message is a paging message or a short message, for each PO of the paging message or short message, the second communication device 20 may simultaneously transmit on multiple carriers within the carrier group for paging reception, with the transmit beams on the multiple carriers having different directions / pointings. Accordingly, the paging-related configuration may indicate configuration information for paging reception of the carrier group. Thus, based on the paging-related configuration, the first communication device 10 can obtain all carriers on which it can receive short messages and paging messages.

[0358] In some implementations, the paging-related configuration may include: carrier group paging control channel configuration, and carrier group paging search space configuration.

[0359] The carrier group paging control channel configuration may include the configuration for determining the PF and PO for the M carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group. For example, this may include information such as the number of PFs included in a DRX cycle, the number of POs corresponding to a PF, and the first PDCCH MO for the PO. Optionally, it may also include the DRX cycle. Exemplarily, the carrier group paging control channel configuration may indicate the PCCH-config for the carrier group.

[0360] An exemplary PCCH-config for a carrier group is as follows:

[0361]

[0362]

[0363] In this example, defaultPagingCycle represents the default paging cycle; nAndPagingFrameOffset is used to determine the paging frame offset (PF_offset) and the number of paging frames (PF) in the paging cycle; ns represents the number of paging opportunities (PO) in each paging frame (PF); firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPO represents the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity of each paging opportunity (PO) of each paging frame (PF); nrofPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionPerSSB-InPO represents the number of PDCCH-Os corresponding to each SSB in each paging opportunity (PO); ranPagingInIdlePO indicates that the network supports sending RAN paging at the PO corresponding to i_s determined by the first communication device 10 in the idle state, where i_s is determined by UE_ID and the above-mentioned ns. Among them, UE_ID is the identifier of the terminal device.

[0364] Here, M is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group.

[0365] In one possible implementation, the carrier group paging control channel configuration may further indicate which carriers or all carriers within the carrier group the carrier group paging control channel configuration applies to, thereby enabling the first communication device 10 to quickly select a carrier for paging reception from within the carrier group based on the carrier group paging control channel configuration.

[0366] The carrier group paging search space configuration, that is, the configuration of the search space of the PDCCH for paging reception of the carrier group, can indicate in which search space or search spaces the first communication device 10 searches for the PDCCH for paging reception within the carrier group. The carrier group paging search space configuration may include the search space configuration of the PDCCH for paging reception of the N carriers for paging reception within the carrier group. For example, it includes the time domain period and offset of the search space, the number of time slots continuously monitored by the search space in each period, the starting symbol monitored in each time slot, the number of candidates for the PDCCH indicated by the search space, the type of search space, the type of DCI that needs blind monitoring, and the identifier of the control resource set (CORESET) corresponding to the search space, the number of symbols, the frequency domain resources, the interleaving method, and the mapping type of the resource element group REG. Among them, N is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers for paging reception in the carrier group. In addition, the values ​​of M and N may be the same or different.

[0367] In a possible implementation, the carrier group paging search space configuration may further indicate which carriers or all carriers in the carrier group are used as search spaces for paging received PDCCHs.

[0368] In one possible implementation, the M carriers indicated by the carrier group paging control channel configuration and the N carriers indicated by the carrier group paging search space configuration have partially identical or completely identical carriers. The number of partially identical carriers here is multiple. In other words, the number of carriers in the intersection of the M carriers and the N carriers is greater than one. The aforementioned identical carriers are all carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive short messages and paging messages. Thus, the carrier group paging control channel configuration and / or the carrier group paging search space configuration can indicate all carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive short messages and paging messages.

[0369] Based on this, in a feasible implementation of S103, the first communication device 10 can receive short messages or paging messages on one or more carriers that are the same among M carriers and N carriers according to the carrier group paging control channel configuration and the carrier group paging search space configuration.

[0370] That is, the second communication device 20 can send short messages or paging messages on multiple carriers in the intersection of M carriers and N carriers. Correspondingly, the first communication device 10 can receive short messages or paging messages on one or more carriers used for sending short messages or paging messages in the intersection of M carriers and N carriers.

[0371] Before the first communication device 10 receives a short message or a paging message, in addition to knowing all the carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive short messages and paging messages, the first communication device 10 also needs to know the association between the transmission beam of the short message or paging message on one or more carriers within the receiving carrier group and the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0372] For one or more carriers within a carrier group used for paging reception, the association relationship may indicate information such as the number of paging slots of each carrier in each PO, the SSBs that are associated with and quasi-co-located with the PDSCH of the paging slot of each carrier in each PO (i.e., which SSB(s) are the transmission beams for the short message or paging message in the paging slot of each carrier in each PO), the number of transmission beams for short messages or paging messages on all carriers used for paging reception, the directions of the transmission beams for short messages or paging messages on all carriers used for paging reception, and other information.

[0373] It should be understood that all carriers used for paging reception are all carriers in the intersection of M carriers and N carriers.

[0374] The number of transmission beams for short messages or paging messages on all carriers used for paging reception and the directions of the transmission beams for short messages or paging messages on all carriers used for paging reception are typically known before the first communication device 10 receives the short message or paging message. In some implementations, the first communication device 10 may determine the number of paging slots and beam information for each carrier in each Point of View (PO) for one or more carriers within the carrier group based on the paging-related configuration. The number of paging slots for each carrier in each PO may indicate the number of consecutive PDCCH MOs for each carrier in each PO. The beam information for each carrier in each PO may indicate the SSB or SSBs associated with the PDSCH in the paging slot of each carrier in each PO and are quasi-co-located. Thus, the first communication device 10 may receive paging-related messages in the paging slots of each PO for one or more carriers within the carrier group based on the number of paging slots and beam information for each carrier in each PO.

[0375] In addition, the association between the transmission beam of short messages or paging messages on each carrier in the carrier group and the transmission beam of SSB can be represented by the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO in the carrier group.

[0376] In a feasible implementation, the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group may be predefined by the protocol.

[0377] In this way, the first communication device 10 can determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in each PO of one or more carriers in the carrier group based on the paging-related configuration and the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in each PO for paging reception in the carrier group predefined by the protocol.

[0378] In another feasible implementation, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group may be indicated by the second communication device 20. For example, the paging-related configuration may further include associated indication information, which determines the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group. For example, the carrier group paging search space configuration may include associated indication information. Thus, the first communication device 10 may determine the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each PO of one or more carriers within the carrier group based on the associated indication information.

[0379] In summary, the association relationship between the transmission beam of short messages or paging messages on each carrier in the carrier group and the transmission beam of SSB, that is, the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO in the carrier group can be obtained through the formula predefined by the protocol, or obtained through the configured association indication information.

[0380] In simple terms, the protocol predefines or the second communication device 20 indicates the number of paging slots and beam information for each carrier in each PO used for paging reception within the carrier group, referred to as Set 1. The first communication device 10 obtains the number of paging slots and beam information for each carrier in each PO used for paging reception in one or more carriers within the carrier group, referred to as Set 2. In this way, Set 1 contains Set 2, and Set 2 is a subset or full set of Set 1.

[0381] Based on the above description, the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group can be implemented in multiple ways.

[0382] In some implementations, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group indicates any one of the following schemes:

[0383] Solution 1: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of time domain first and frequency domain later, the PDSCH of the paging time slot of each carrier in each PO is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with one or more SSBs. The number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is less than the S mentioned above.

[0384] It can be seen that Scheme 1 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers sequentially in a time domain priority manner, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the S mentioned above.

[0385] For ease of explanation, refer to Figure 5 for an explanation of a paging slot or PEI monitoring slot and SSB. In Figures 6-11, one grid is a slot, which can be a paging slot or a PEI monitoring slot, and one slot can send two SSBs. In addition, Figure 6 is only an example, and a grid can also be a non-slot, and each non-slot can send one or two SSBs. In addition, in Figures 6-11, the left side of the dotted line illustrates the NR solution. The right side of the dotted line illustrates the solution of this application. Correspondingly, the related art uses NR for example.

[0386] As shown in FIG5 , the carrier group includes two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 104 transmit SSB0 to SSB3 in sequence.

[0387] In NR, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam, that is, transmission beams 101-104.

[0388] In this application, in each PO, with time domain priority, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB1) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the first and second transmission beams, i.e., transmission beams 101-102. The transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB2-SSB3) associated with carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are the third and fourth transmission beams, i.e., transmission beams 103-104. The transmission time of the paging timeslot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the transmission time of the paging timeslot of carrier 2.

[0389] Obviously, in each PO, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies one grid of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is shorter than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0390] Solution 2: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of frequency domain first and time domain later, the PDSCH of the paging time slot of each carrier in each PO is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with one or more SSBs. The number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is less than the S mentioned above.

[0391] It can be seen that Scheme 2 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers sequentially in a frequency domain-first manner, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the S mentioned above.

[0392] As shown in FIG6 , the carrier group includes two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 104 transmit SSB0 to SSB3 in sequence.

[0393] In NR, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam, that is, transmission beams 101-104.

[0394] In this application, taking frequency domain as priority, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0 and SSB2) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the first and third transmission beams, i.e., transmission beams 101 and 103. The transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB1 and SSB3) associated with carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are the second and fourth transmission beams, i.e., transmission beams 102 and 104.

[0395] The transmission time of the paging time slot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the transmission time of the paging time slot of carrier 2.

[0396] Obviously, in each PO, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies one grid of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is less than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain in the related art.

[0397] In summary, Scheme 1 and Scheme 2 can be applied to various scenarios, especially to scenarios where the subcarrier spacing of each carrier used for paging reception in the carrier group is the same. It can ensure that the paging time slots of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO in the carrier group are evenly distributed, reducing the transmission time of the second communication device 20 in the time domain and reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device 20.

[0398] Solution 3: The number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group includes: the SSB sequence number range of each carrier.

[0399] Among them, the SSB sequence number range of each carrier is the sequence number of the SSB transmission order of the quasi-co-located SSB associated with the PDSCH of one or more paging time slots of each carrier in each PO in the synchronized broadcast resource block set.

[0400] It can be seen that Scheme 3 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers by indicating the number of the multiple SSBs, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the S mentioned above.

[0401] In some implementations, the range of the SSB sequence number in the i-th carrier in the carrier group is: greater than or equal to 1+(i-1)*ceil(S / m) and less than or equal to i*ceil(S / m).

[0402] Here, i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group, S is the S mentioned above, ceil represents rounding up, and m represents the number of SSBs sent in each paging slot.

[0403] When S=4 and m=2, based on the above expression, the SSBs associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st and 2nd SSBs, and the SSBs associated with carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are the 3rd and 4th SSBs. That is, the transmit beams of the SSBs associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st and 2nd transmit beams. The transmit beams of the SSBs associated with carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are the 3rd and 4th transmit beams, as shown in Figure 5.

[0404] Solution 4: The number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group include: the SSB index set of each carrier.

[0405] The SSB index set of each carrier is the index of the SSB associated with and quasi-co-located by the PDSCH of one or more paging slots of each carrier in each PO.

[0406] In some implementations, a set of SSB indices for each carrier may be included in a carrier group paging search space configuration.

[0407] It can be seen that Scheme 4 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers by indicating SSB indexes.

[0408] An exemplary configuration is as follows:

[0409]

[0410] In this example, controlResourceSetZero represents control resource set 0, commonControlResourceSet represents common control resource set, searchSpaceZero represents search space 0, commonSearchSpaceList represents common search space list, and pagingSearchSpace represents paging search space. For multi-carrier coordinated paging reception within a carrier group, it is necessary to configure the paging search space and common control resource set on each carrier.

[0411] The configuration of the paging search space and common control resource set on each carrier in the carrier group represented by pagingSearchSpace is as follows:

[0412]

[0413] In this example, searchSpaceId represents the search space identifier; controlResourceSetId represents the control resource set identifier; beamForPaging represents the SSB index of the same QCL as paging on each carrier, that is, the paging beam on each carrier.

[0414] In summary, Scheme 3 and Scheme 4 are applicable to various scenarios, and clearly indicate the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group.

[0415] In addition, in Scheme 3 and Scheme 4, the number of paging time slots of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the indicated carrier group can be evenly distributed to ensure that the transmission duration of the paging time slot of each carrier used for paging reception in each PO within the carrier group is close to or equal in the time domain, thereby reducing the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain and reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device 20.

[0416] Scheme 5: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of time domain first and frequency domain later, the PDSCH of the paging slot of each carrier in each PO is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the carrier with the smallest time slot length is associated with the PDSCH of the paging slot in each PO and quasi-co-located with the remaining SSBs among multiple SSBs.

[0417] Specifically, with time domain priority, multiple SSBs are allocated to each carrier in equal proportions, based on the inverse of the ratio of the time slot lengths of each carrier. The number of these SSBs is equal to the aforementioned S. After this equal proportionate allocation, if any SSBs remain, they are preferentially allocated to carriers with smaller slot lengths. This ensures that the paging slots of each carrier in each PO have similar or equal transmission durations in the time domain.

[0418] It can be seen that Scheme 5 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers in a time domain manner with a priority on small time slot length, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the S mentioned above.

[0419] As shown in FIG7 , the carrier group includes two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 104 transmit SSB0 to SSB3 in sequence.

[0420] In NR, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam, that is, transmission beams 101-104.

[0421] In this application, the time slot length of carrier 1 is 1 / 2 of the time slot length of carrier 2. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is twice the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2. That is, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 2 SBBs, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 1 SSB. Since there are 4 SSBs and the time slot length of carrier 1 is smaller, the remaining 1 SSB is allocated to carrier 1. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 3 SBBs, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 1 SSB.

[0422] Taking time domain priority, the transmission beams of the three SSBs (SSB0-SSB2) associated with and quasi-co-located on carrier 1 are the first, second, and third transmission beams, i.e., transmission beams 101-103. The transmission beam of the one SSB (SSB3) associated with and quasi-co-located on carrier 2 is the fourth transmission beam, i.e., transmission beam 104. The transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 2.

[0423] Obviously, in each PO, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is equal to the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0424] It should be understood that the above example is only an example. In actual application, when the number of SSBs is large, solution 5 is adopted, and the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain is longer than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain in the related art.

[0425] Scheme 6: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of frequency domain first and time domain later, the PDSCH of the paging slot of each carrier in each PO is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the carrier with the smallest time slot length is associated with the PDSCH of the paging slot in each PO and the remaining SSBs are quasi-co-located.

[0426] Specifically, multiple SSBs are allocated to each carrier in equal proportions, prioritizing the frequency domain, based on the inverse of the ratio of the carrier's time slot lengths. If any SSBs remain, they are preferentially allocated to carriers with smaller time slot lengths. This ensures that the paging slots of each carrier in each PO have similar or equal transmission durations in the time domain.

[0427] It can be seen that Scheme 6 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers in a frequency domain manner with a priority on small time slot length, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the S mentioned above.

[0428] As shown in FIG8 , the carrier group includes two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 104 transmit SSB0 to SSB3 in sequence.

[0429] In NR, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam (101-104).

[0430] In this application, the time slot length of carrier 1 is 1 / 2 of the time slot length of carrier 2. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is twice the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2. That is, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 2 SBBs, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 1 SSB. Since there are 4 SSBs and the time slot length of carrier 1 is smaller, the remaining 1 SSB is allocated to carrier 1. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 3 SBBs, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 1 SSB.

[0431] With frequency domain priority, the transmission beams of the three SSBs (SSB0, SSB1, and SSB3) associated with and quasi-co-located on carrier 1 are the first, second, and fourth transmission beams (101, 102, and 104), and the transmission beam of the one SSB (SSB2) associated with and quasi-co-located on carrier 2 is the third transmission beam (103). The transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 2.

[0432] Obviously, in each PO, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is shorter than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0433] It should be understood that the above example is only an example. In actual application, when the number of SSBs is large, solution 6 is adopted, and the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain is longer than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain in the related art.

[0434] Scheme 7: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of time domain first and frequency domain later, the PDSCH of the paging slot of each carrier in each PO is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the PDSCH of the paging slot of each PO of the carrier with a smaller number is associated and the remaining SSBs are quasi-co-located.

[0435] Specifically, with time domain priority, multiple SSBs are allocated to each carrier in equal proportion according to the inverse of the ratio of the time slot lengths of each carrier, where the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the aforementioned S. After the equal proportion allocation, if there are any remaining SSBs, then the remaining SSBs are preferentially allocated to the carrier with a smaller number.

[0436] It can be seen that Scheme 7 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers in a time domain, time slot length and smaller number priority manner, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is equal to the S mentioned above.

[0437] As shown in FIG9 , the carrier group includes two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 104 transmit SSB0 to SSB3 in sequence.

[0438] In NR, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam (101-104).

[0439] In this application, the time slot length of carrier 1 is twice the time slot length of carrier 2. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 1 / 2 of the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2. That is, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 1 SBB, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 2 SSBs. Since carrier 1 is the carrier with the smallest number, the remaining 1 SSB is allocated to carrier 1. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 2 SBBs, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 2 SSBs.

[0440] Taking time domain as priority, the transmission beams of the two SSBs (SSB0 and SSB1) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam (101 and 102), and the transmission beams of the two SSBs (SSB2 and SSB3) associated with carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are the third transmission beam and the fourth transmission beam (103 and 104).

[0441] The transmission time of the paging time slot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the transmission time of the paging time slot of carrier 2.

[0442] Obviously, in each PO, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies one grid of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is shorter than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0443] Scheme 8: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronized broadcast resource block set and the association method of frequency domain first and time domain later, the PDSCH of the paging slot of each carrier in each PO is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the PDSCH of the paging slot of each PO of the carrier with a smaller number is associated and the remaining SSBs are quasi-co-located.

[0444] Specifically, with frequency domain priority, multiple SSBs are allocated to each carrier in equal proportion according to the inverse of the ratio of the time slot lengths of each carrier. If there are any remaining SSBs, the remaining SSBs are preferentially allocated to the carrier with a smaller number.

[0445] It can be seen that Scheme 8 allocates multiple SSBs to multiple carriers in a frequency domain, time slot length and smaller number priority manner.

[0446] As shown in FIG10 , the carrier group includes two carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has four transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 104 transmit SSB0 to SSB3 in sequence.

[0447] In NR, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam (101-104).

[0448] In this application, the time slot length of carrier 1 is twice the time slot length of carrier 2. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 1 / 2 of the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2. That is, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 1 SBB, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 2 SSBs. Since carrier 1 is the carrier with the smallest number, the remaining 1 SSB is allocated to carrier 1. Therefore, the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 1 is 2 SBBs, and the number of SSBs associated with and quasi-co-located with carrier 2 is 2 SSBs.

[0449] Prioritizing the frequency domain, the transmission beams for the two SSBs (SSB0 and SSB3) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the first and fourth transmission beams (101 and 104), and the transmission beams for the two SSBs (SSB1 and SSB2) associated with carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are the second and third transmission beams (102 and 103). The transmission time of the paging slots for carrier 1 is close to or identical to the transmission time of the paging slots for carrier 2.

[0450] Obviously, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies one grid of carrier 1 and one grid of carrier 2 in the present application. Based on the coordinated operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is shorter than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0451] In Scheme 7 and Scheme 8, in addition to the carriers with smaller numbers, the remaining SSBs can also be allocated to predefined carriers, which is not limited in this application.

[0452] It can be seen that Scheme 5, Scheme 6, Scheme 7, and Scheme 8 all take into account the impact of different subcarrier spacings of multiple carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group on the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the time domain. Since there is an inverse relationship between the subcarrier spacing and the symbol duration, that is, the smaller the subcarrier spacing, the longer the symbol duration, and the longer the corresponding time slot duration. Suppose the number of symbols in each paging time slot or PEI monitoring time slot is the same. Taking the subcarrier spacing of 15KHz as an example, the time slot duration corresponding to 15KHz is X, then the time slot duration corresponding to 30KHz is X / 2, the time slot duration corresponding to 60KHz is X / 4, and the time slot duration corresponding to 120KHz is: X / 8.

[0453] Based on this, Scheme 5, Scheme 6, Scheme 7, and Scheme 8 can ensure that the paging slots of multiple carriers within a carrier are evenly distributed in each PO, and there will be no phenomenon that the paging slots of carriers with small subcarrier spacing in each PO are longer and the paging slots of carriers with small subcarrier spacing in each PO are shorter. This ensures that the transmission time of the second communication device 20 in the time domain will not be particularly long, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device 20.

[0454] In summary, Scheme 5, Scheme 6, Scheme 7, and Scheme 8 are applicable to various scenarios, and are particularly applicable to scenarios where the subcarrier spacing of each carrier used for paging reception within a carrier group is different.

[0455] It should be understood that in addition to the above solutions, the present application may also include other solutions.

[0456] For example, for different TDD ratio scenarios, as shown in Figure 11, the carrier group contains 2 carriers (carrier 1 and carrier 2), and SSB has 7 transmission beams in different directions. Transmission beams 101 to 107 transmit SSB0 to SSB6 respectively.

[0457] The TDD ratio of carrier 1 is 7:3, that is, DDDSUDDSUU, and the TDD ratio of carrier 2 is 8:2, that is, DDDDDDDSUU.

[0458] Wherein, D represents a downlink timeslot, U represents an uplink timeslot, and S represents a mixed timeslot. Specifically, S may include downlink symbols, uplink symbols, and gapped partial (GAP) symbols, where GAP symbols are used for uplink-downlink conversion.

[0459] If the subcarrier spacing of carrier 1 and carrier 2 is the same, the SSBs associated with "DDDS" in "DDDSUDDSUU" of carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are 4 SBBs, where the "S" in "DDDS" refers to the downlink symbol in "S"; the SSBs associated with "DDD" in "DDDDDDDSUU" of carrier 2 and quasi-co-located are 3 SSBs.

[0460] In the related art, the transmission beams of the SSBs (SSB0-SSB6) associated with carrier 1 and quasi-co-located are the 1st transmission beam, the 2nd transmission beam, the 3rd transmission beam and the 4th transmission beam (101-107).

[0461] In this application, with time domain priority, the transmission beams of the four SSBs (SSB0-SSB3) associated with and quasi-co-located on carrier 1 are the first, second, third, and fourth transmission beams (101-104), and the transmission beams of the three SSBs (SSB4-SSB6) associated with and quasi-co-located on carrier 2 are the fifth, sixth, and seventh transmission beams (105-107). The transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 1 is close to or the same as the transmission time of the paging slot of carrier 2.

[0462] Obviously, in each PO, the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies four grids of carrier 1 in the related art, and the transmission of 4 SSBs occupies two grids of carrier 1 and two grids of carrier 2 in this application. Based on the collaborative operation of carrier 1 and carrier 2, the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the present application in the time domain is shorter than the transmission duration of the second communication device 20 in the related art in the time domain.

[0463] It should be understood that the multiple carriers used for paging reception within the carrier group can be various scenarios such as different duplex modes, different TDD ratios and frequency domain priority, different subcarrier spacing of carriers with different TDD ratios, and different subcarrier spacing between TDD carriers and FDD carriers.

[0464] When the paging-related message is a PEI message, for each PEI-O of the PEI message, the second communication device 20 may simultaneously transmit the message on multiple carriers within the carrier group used for PEI, with the transmission beams on the multiple carriers having different directions / pointings. Accordingly, the paging-related configuration may indicate the configuration information for the carrier group used for PEI. Thus, based on the paging-related configuration, the first communication device 10 can obtain all carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive PEI messages.

[0465] In some implementations, the paging-related configuration may include: a carrier group paging early indication configuration, and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration.

[0466] The carrier group paging early indication configuration may include PEI-related configurations for the P carriers used for PEI within the carrier group. For example, this may include one or more of the following: the payload size of the PEI DCI, the offset of the start bit frame of the PEI-O reference frame relative to the PF start frame, and the total number of subpackets per PO. P is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for PEI within the carrier group. For example, the carrier group paging early indication configuration may indicate the PEI-config for the carrier group.

[0467] In one possible implementation, the carrier group paging early indication configuration may further indicate which carriers, or all carriers, within the carrier group used for PEI to which the carrier group paging early indication configuration applies. Thus, the first communication device 10 can quickly select a carrier for PEI from within the carrier group based on the carrier group paging early indication configuration.

[0468] The carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, that is, the configuration of the search space for the PDCCH for PEI of the carrier group, can indicate in which search space or search spaces the first communication device 10 searches for the PDCCH for PEI within the carrier group. The carrier group paging early indication search space configuration may include the search space configuration for the PDCCH for PEI of the Q carriers for PEI within the carrier group. For example, it includes one or more of the following information: the time domain period and offset of the search space, the number of time slots continuously monitored by the search space in each period, the starting symbol monitored in each time slot, the number of candidates for the PDCCH indicated by the search space, the type of search space, the type of DCI that needs to be blindly monitored, and the identifier of the control resource set (CORESET) corresponding to the search space, the number of symbols, the frequency domain resources, the interleaving method, and the mapping type of REG.

[0469] Wherein, Q is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for PEI in the carrier group. In addition, the values ​​of P and Q can be the same or different.

[0470] In a possible implementation, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration may further indicate which carriers or all carriers in the carrier group the carrier group paging early indication search space is configured as are the search spaces for the PDCCH used for PEI.

[0471] In one possible implementation, the P carriers indicated by the carrier group paging early indication configuration and the Q carriers indicated by the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration may have some or all the same carriers. The number of these "partially identical" carriers is multiple. In other words, the number of carriers in the intersection of the P carriers and the Q carriers is greater than one.

[0472] The aforementioned same carriers are all carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive PEI messages.

[0473] Therefore, the carrier group paging early indication configuration and / or the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration may indicate all carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive PEI messages.

[0474] Based on this, in a feasible implementation of S103, the first communication device 10 can receive the PEI message on one or more carriers that are the same among the P carriers and the Q carriers according to the carrier group paging early indication configuration and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration.

[0475] That is, the second communication device 20 may send PEI messages on multiple carriers in the intersection of P carriers and Q carriers. Correspondingly, the first communication device 10 may receive PEI messages on one or more carriers in the intersection of P carriers and Q carriers used to send PEI messages.

[0476] Before the first communication device 10 receives the PEI message, in addition to knowing all the carriers on which the first communication device 10 can receive the PEI message, the first communication device 10 also needs to know the association between the transmission beam of the PEI message on one or more carriers in the receiving carrier group and the transmission beam of the SSB.

[0477] For one or more carriers used for PEI within a carrier group, the association relationship may indicate information such as the number of PEI monitoring time slots of each carrier in each PEI-O, the SSBs associated with the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in each PEI-O and quasi-co-located (that is, which SSBs are the transmission beams of the PEI message in the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in each PEI-O), the number of transmission beams of PEI messages on all carriers used for PEI, the direction of the transmission beams of PEI on all carriers used for PEI, and other information.

[0478] It should be understood that all carriers used for PEI are all carriers in the intersection of P carriers and Q carriers.

[0479] The number of transmission beams for PEI messages on all carriers used for PEI and the directions of transmission beams for PEI messages on all carriers used for PEI are usually known before the first communication device 10 receives the PEI message.

[0480] In some implementations, the first communication device 10 may determine the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each PEI-O for each of one or more carriers in the carrier group based on the paging-related configuration. The number of PEI monitoring time slots of each carrier in each PEI-O indicates the number of consecutive PDCCH MOs of each carrier in each PEI-O. The beam information of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in each PEI-O indicates which SSB(s) are associated with the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in each PEI-O and are quasi-co-located.

[0481] Thus, the first communication device 10 can receive PEI messages on the PEI monitoring time slots in each PEI-O of one or more carriers in the carrier group based on the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each PEI-O of one or more carriers in the carrier group.

[0482] In addition, the association between the transmission beam of PEI on each carrier in the carrier group and the transmission beam of SSB can be represented by the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information in each PEI-O of each carrier used for PEI in the carrier group.

[0483] In a feasible implementation, the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group may be predefined by the protocol.

[0484] In this way, the first communication device 10 can determine the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information in each PEI-O for each carrier in one or more carriers in the carrier group based on the paging-related configuration and the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information in each PEI-O for each carrier used for PEI in the carrier group predefined by the protocol.

[0485] In another feasible implementation manner, the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group may be indicated by the second communication device 20 .

[0486] For example, the paging-related configuration also includes association indication information, which determines the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information for each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group. For example, the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration may include association indication information.

[0487] Therefore, the first communication device 10 can determine the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each PEI-O for each of one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the association indication information.

[0488] In summary, the association relationship between the transmission beam of PEI on each carrier in the carrier group and the transmission beam of SSB, that is, the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O in the carrier group can be obtained through the formula predefined by the protocol, or the configured association indication information.

[0489] In simple terms, the protocol predefines or the second communication device 20 indicates the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information for each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group, referred to as Set 1. The first communication device 10 obtains the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information for each carrier in each PEI-O of one or more carriers used for PEI within the carrier group, referred to as Set 2. In this way, Set 1 contains Set 2, and Set 2 is a subset or full set of Set 1.

[0490] Based on the above description, the number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group may include multiple implementation methods.

[0491] In some implementations, the number of PEI monitoring slots and beam information for each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group indicates any of the following schemes:

[0492] Solution 1: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of time domain first and frequency domain later, the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in each PEI-O is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with one or more SSBs, and the number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is less than the S mentioned above.

[0493] Solution 2: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of frequency domain first and time domain later, the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in each PEI-O is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with one or more SSBs. The number of the aforementioned multiple SSBs is less than the S mentioned above.

[0494] Solution 3: The number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group include: the SSB sequence number range of each carrier.

[0495] Among them, the SSB sequence number range of each carrier is the sequence number of the SSB transmission order of the quasi-co-located SSB associated with the PDCCH of one or more PEI monitoring time slots in each PEI-O of each carrier in the synchronous broadcast resource block set.

[0496] In some implementations, the range of the SSB sequence number in the i-th carrier in the carrier group is: greater than or equal to 1+(i-1)*ceil(S / m) and less than or equal to i*ceil(S / m).

[0497] Wherein, i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for PEI in the carrier group, S is the S mentioned above, ceil represents rounding up, and m represents the number of SSBs sent in each PEI monitoring time slot.

[0498] Scheme 4: The number of PEI monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for PEI in each PEI-O within the carrier group are: the SSB index set of each carrier, and the SSB index set of each carrier is the index (index) of the SSB associated with the PDCCH of one or more PEI monitoring time slots of each carrier in each PEI-O and quasi-co-located.

[0499] The SSB index set of each carrier may be included in the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration.

[0500] Scheme 5: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of time domain first and frequency domain later, the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in PEI-O is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the carrier with the smallest time slot length is associated with the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot in PEI-O and the remaining SSBs are quasi-co-located.

[0501] Scheme 6: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of frequency domain first and time domain later, the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in PEI-O is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the carrier with the smallest time slot length is associated with the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot in PEI-O and the remaining SSBs are quasi-co-located.

[0502] Scheme 7: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of time domain first and frequency domain later, the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in PEI-O is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the carrier with a smaller number is associated with the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot in PEI-O and quasi-co-located the remaining SSBs.

[0503] Scheme 8: According to the sending order of SSBs in the synchronous broadcast resource block set and the association method of frequency domain first and time domain later, the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot of each carrier in PEI-O is respectively associated and the ratio of the number of quasi-co-located SSBs is the same as the inverse of the ratio of the time slot length of each carrier, and the carrier with a smaller number is associated with the PDCCH of the PEI monitoring time slot in PEI-O and the remaining SSBs are quasi-co-located.

[0504] It should be understood that the above scheme is similar to the implementation of the various schemes for indicating the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each PO for paging reception within the carrier group mentioned above, and this application will not go into details here. In addition, in addition to the above scheme, this application may also include other schemes.

[0505] Based on the description of the above embodiment, in addition to the configurations mentioned above, paging-related configurations may also include: carrier group configuration. The carrier group configuration may indicate the number of carriers included in the carrier group, i.e., which carriers are included in the carrier group. Furthermore, the carrier group configuration may also indicate to which carrier group the carrier of the cell in which the first communication device 10 resides belongs.

[0506] The second communication device 20 may adopt various implementation methods to broadcast a system message carrying the carrier group configuration to the first communication device 10 .

[0507] In one feasible implementation, the second communication device 20 may send a system message to the first communication device 10 on each carrier within the carrier group. The system message includes a carrier group configuration, which includes an identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs. This allows the first communication device 10 to determine which carriers belong to the same carrier group based on the carrier group identifier. The carrier group identifier uniquely identifies the carrier group. The carrier group identifier may be provided in the form of an ID or a number, for example.

[0508] For example, for each carrier in a carrier group, the second communication device 20 may carry the number of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs in the broadcasted system message.

[0509] In another feasible implementation, the second communication device 20 may send a system message to the first communication device 10 on one or more carriers within the carrier group. The system message includes a carrier group configuration, which includes relevant configuration information for each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs. Thus, notification is performed at the granularity of the carrier group, allowing the first communication device 10 to determine which carriers belong to the same carrier group based on the relevant configuration information of each carrier. The relevant configuration information for each carrier may include, but is not limited to, at least one of: a frequency (such as an ARFCN), a bandwidth, and a cell identifier (ID).

[0510] For example, for a certain carrier (such as an anchor carrier) in the carrier group, the system message broadcast by the second communication device 20 may be used to indicate relevant configuration information of each carrier in the carrier group.

[0511] In another feasible implementation, the second communication device 20 may send a system message set to the first communication device 10 on one or more carriers within the carrier group. The system message set includes system messages for each carrier within the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs. Thus, notification is performed at the granularity of the carrier group, allowing the first communication device 10 to determine which carriers belong to the same carrier group by using all system messages received on a single carrier.

[0512] For example, for a particular carrier in a carrier group (e.g., an anchor carrier), the second communication device 20 may broadcast system information for all carriers in the carrier group. In other words, in addition to transmitting system information for that carrier, the carrier also transmits system information for other carriers in the carrier group. Thus, by acquiring the system information transmitted on that carrier, the first communication device 10 can obtain information about the carriers included in the carrier group.

[0513] In another feasible implementation, the second communication device 20 may send a system message to the first communication device 10 on a carrier within the carrier group. The system message includes a carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration includes configuration information related to each carrier within all carrier groups. Thus, the first communication device 10 can determine which carriers belong to the same carrier group based on the configuration information related to each carrier within all carrier groups.

[0514] It should be understood that in addition to the above implementations, the present application may also include other implementations.

[0515] Based on the description of the above embodiment, the first communication device 10 can support simultaneous reception of paging-related messages on multiple carriers within a carrier group. That is, the paging mode of the first communication device 10 can be a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode. Correspondingly, the multi-carrier coordinated paging mode refers to the use of multiple carriers within a carrier group to coordinate the reception of paging-related messages.

[0516] Of course, the first communication device 10 may also support receiving paging-related messages on one carrier, that is, the paging mode of the first communication device 10 may be a single-carrier paging mode. The corresponding single-carrier paging mode refers to receiving paging-related messages using a single carrier.

[0517] For the first communication device 10 that supports two paging modes, in addition to indicating that the first communication device 10 supports multiple carriers within the carrier group to coordinate the reception of paging-related messages, the device capability may also indicate one or more of the following: the first communication device 10 supports a single carrier to receive paging-related messages; or, the first communication device 10 simultaneously supports multiple carriers within the carrier group to coordinate the reception of paging-related messages and a single carrier to receive paging-related messages; or, the first communication device 10 supports switching between multiple carriers within the carrier group to coordinate the reception of paging-related messages and a single carrier to receive paging-related messages.

[0518] Based on this, for the first communication device, the first communication device may only support the multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, may only support the single-carrier paging mode, or may support the multi-carrier coordinated paging mode and the single-carrier paging mode.

[0519] The first communication device 10 takes into account that different first communication devices may have different device capabilities. The second communication device 20 may send a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 in the following manner:

[0520] In some implementations, the first communication device 10 may synchronize the device capabilities of the first communication device 10 with the second communication device 20. The second communication device 20 selects a paging mode for the first communication device 10 based on the device capabilities of the first communication device 10. The second communication device 20 sends a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 based on the selected paging mode of the first communication device 10. This allows the first communication device 10 to successfully receive the paging-related message.

[0521] In some implementations, the second communication device 20 may notify the first communication device 10 of the paging mode to be used. The second communication device 20 sends a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 according to the notified paging mode. This allows the first communication device 10 to successfully receive the paging-related message according to the notified paging mode.

[0522] For the convenience of explanation, FIG12 is used to illustrate the above method.

[0523] In some implementations, the two aforementioned approaches can be combined. The first communication device 10 can synchronize the device capabilities of the first communication device 10 with the second communication device 20. The second communication device 20 notifies the first communication device 10 of the paging mode to be used based on the device capabilities of the first communication device 10. The second communication device 20 sends a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 based on the notified paging mode. This enables the first communication device 10 to successfully receive the paging-related message based on the notified paging mode.

[0524] Regarding the above-mentioned method of the second communication device 20 notifying the first communication device 10 of the paging mode, in some implementations, after the first communication device 10 receives the notified paging mode, the first communication device 10 can determine whether it supports the notified paging mode based on its own device capabilities.

[0525] If the first communication device 10 does not support the notified paging mode, the first communication device 10 may provide feedback to the second communication device 20 that the first communication device 10 does not support the notified paging mode. In this way, the second communication device 20 may change the notified paging mode and send a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 according to the changed paging mode.

[0526] If the first communication device 10 supports the notified paging mode, the first communication device 10 may also feedback to the second communication device 20 that the first communication device 10 supports the notified paging mode. In this way, the second communication device 20 may send a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 according to the notified paging mode.

[0527] The above implementation will be described in detail below with reference to FIG12 .

[0528] Figure 12 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, the communication method provided by the present application may include:

[0529] S201. A second communication device sends paging mode information to a first communication device, where the paging mode information indicates a paging mode of the first communication device.

[0530] The paging mode of the first communication device 10 may be a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode or a single-carrier paging mode.

[0531] Before the second communication device 20 sends a paging-related message to the first communication device 10, the second communication device 20 may send paging mode information to the first communication device 10, so that the first communication device 10 can successfully receive the paging-related message according to the corresponding paging mode.

[0532] The present application does not limit the manner in which the second communication device 20 transmits the paging mode message.

[0533] In some implementations, the second communication device 20 may broadcast a system message to the first communication device 10, and the system message may indicate paging mode information. It should be understood that the system message here and the system message carrying the paging-related configuration may be the same system message or different system messages.

[0534] In one implementation, the system message may carry paging-related configurations of a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode or a single-carrier paging mode, so that the first communication device 10 can learn the corresponding paging mode according to the specific configuration.

[0535] When the system message carries the aforementioned paging-related configuration of the carrier group, the first communication device 10 can know that the paging mode is a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode.

[0536] When the system message carries a carrier paging-related configuration, such as a single-carrier PCCH-config for paging reception or PEI, a single-carrier PDCCH search space configuration for paging reception or PEI, etc., the first communication device 10 can be informed that the paging mode is a single-carrier paging mode. The aforementioned carrier paging-related configuration can be referred to the configuration of receiving paging-related messages using a single carrier in the related art, and will not be described in detail here.

[0537] In one implementation, the system message may carry a newly added identifier, which is used to indicate the paging mode of the first communication device 10. Thus, the first communication device 10 can learn the corresponding paging mode according to the identifier.

[0538] In summary, the second communication device 20 may notify the first communication device 10 of the paging mode by using an implicit indication or a marker indication.

[0539] It should be understood that step S201 is optional. That is, the second communication device 20 may not execute S201. Before the second communication device 20 executes S2021 or S2031, the first communication device 10 may send the device capabilities of the first communication device 10 to the second communication device 20. The second communication device 20 executes S2021 or S2031 based on the device capabilities of the first communication device 10.

[0540] After executing S201, regarding S2021 or S2031, the second communication device 20 may adopt multiple implementations:

[0541] In some implementations, the second communication device 20 may execute S2021 or S2031 according to the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information in S201. For ease of explanation, FIG12 uses the above-mentioned method for example.

[0542] In some implementations, after the first communication device 10 receives the paging mode information in S201 , the first communication device 10 may determine whether it supports the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information based on its own device capabilities.

[0543] If the first communication device 10 supports the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information, the first communication device 10 may send a feedback message 1 to the second communication device 20. The feedback message 1 indicates that the first communication device 10 supports the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information. After receiving the feedback message 1, the second communication device 20 executes S2021 or S2031 based on the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information. The aforementioned details are not illustrated in FIG. 12 .

[0544] If the first communication device 10 does not support the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information, the first communication device 10 may send a feedback message 2 to the second communication device 20. The feedback message 2 indicates that the first communication device 10 does not support the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information. After receiving the feedback message 2, the second communication device 20 may change the paging mode indicated by the paging mode information and send a paging-related message to the first communication device 10 based on the changed paging mode. This is not illustrated in FIG. 12 .

[0545] S2021. When the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, the second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on multiple carriers in the carrier group.

[0546] S2022: When the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, the first communication device receives a paging-related message on one or more carriers in the carrier group.

[0547] Among them, S2021 and S2022 are similar to the implementation methods of S102 and S103 in the embodiment of Figure 4, and are not repeated here.

[0548] S2031. When the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, the second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier of a cell where the first communication device resides.

[0549] S2032: When the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, the first communication device receives a paging-related message on the carrier where the cell where the first communication device camps is located.

[0550] The carrier of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides may be any carrier in the carrier group, such as an anchor carrier.

[0551] The second communication device 20 sends a paging-related message on a carrier of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides. Correspondingly, the first communication device 10 receives a paging-related message on a carrier of the cell where the first communication device 10 resides.

[0552] In summary, the second communication device 20 can adjust the paging mode of the first communication device 10 according to various factors such as the network side status, the network side load, the number of first communication devices 10, the complexity of the network situation, etc., that is, it can switch between the multi-carrier coordinated paging mode and the single-carrier paging mode.

[0553] For example, when the network side is in normal transmission mode, the second communication device 20 may select a single-carrier paging mode. When the network side is in energy-saving mode, the second communication device 20 may select a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode.

[0554] For another example, when the network side is under medium to high load, the second communication device 20 may select a single-carrier paging mode. When the network side is under low load, the second communication device 20 may select a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode.

[0555] It should be understood that in addition to the above-mentioned method of indicating the paging mode of the first communication device 10, the second communication device 20 can also add an identifier for switching the paging mode of the first communication device 10 in the system message, so that the first communication device 10 and the second communication device 20 switch the corresponding paging mode.

[0556] For example, if the first communication device 10 adopts a single-carrier paging mode, when the first communication device 10 receives an identifier for switching the paging mode of the first communication device 10 , both the first communication device 10 and the second communication device 20 adopt a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode.

[0557] Alternatively, if the first communication device 10 adopts the multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, when the first communication device 10 receives an identifier for switching the paging mode of the first communication device 10, both the first communication device 10 and the second communication device 20 adopt the single-carrier paging mode.

[0558] In summary, the first communication device 10 supports two different paging modes and supports switching between paging modes. Correspondingly, the second communication device 20 can dynamically adjust the paging mode for sending paging-related information according to various factors. Based on the above description, in order to reduce the energy consumption of the second communication device 20, the second communication device 20 can collaboratively send paging-related messages on multiple carriers within the carrier group, reduce the sending time of the second communication device 20 in the time domain, so that the second communication device 20 can be in sleep mode for a longer period of time, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device 20. In addition, the second communication device 20 can also set a shutdown mechanism of different dimensions, and shut down multiple carriers within the carrier group at the same time, saving signaling overhead, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the second communication device 20.

[0559] Below, the following embodiments of this application will take the network device 310 and the terminal device 320 having the structure shown in Figure 3 as an example, and combine the accompanying drawings and application scenarios to elaborate on the communication method provided by this application for schemes adopting shutdown mechanisms of different dimensions.

[0560] Figure 13 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method includes a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device can be a terminal device or a device in a terminal device, and the second communication device can be a network device or a device in a network device. As shown in Figure 13, the communication method provided by the present application may include:

[0561] S301. The second communication device determines time domain shutdown information, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

[0562] S302: The second communication device sends time domain shutdown information to the first communication device.

[0563] S303. The first communication device stops receiving and / or stops sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information.

[0564] In order to reduce network-side energy consumption, when all carriers in the carrier group do not carry data for a certain period of time, the second communication device 20 may shut down some components, such as PA, RF components, intermediate frequency components, etc. Based on this, the second communication device 20 may determine the time domain shutdown information. The certain period of time may be set based on various factors such as the network side status, the network side load, the number of first communication devices 10, the complexity of the network situation, etc. The time domain shutdown information may instruct all carriers in the carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving. Correspondingly, if the second communication device 20 stops sending, the first communication device 10 stops receiving. If the second communication device 20 stops receiving, the first communication device 10 stops sending.

[0565] Thus, the time-domain shutdown information enables the second communication device 20 to instruct to shut down all carriers in the carrier group at the same time, without having to instruct to shut down each carrier in the carrier group separately.

[0566] The time domain shutdown information can be indicated by a signaling, which takes effect on all carriers in the carrier group in the time domain, thereby reducing the signaling overhead of the indication.

[0567] In the time domain, the time domain unit in communication can be a radio frame, a subframe, a time slot, a symbol, etc.

[0568] A radio frame includes multiple subframes.

[0569] A subframe consists of one or more time slots. For example, a subframe is 1 millisecond, where the length of a time slot varies depending on the subcarrier spacing. If the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, then one subframe is one time slot. If the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, then one subframe is two time slots.

[0570] A time slot includes multiple symbols. For example, in NR, a time slot can include 14 symbols (with a normal cyclic prefix (CP)) or 12 symbols (with an extended cyclic prefix).

[0571] A timeslot may include three types: downlink timeslot (D), uplink timeslot (U), and mixed timeslot (S).

[0572] A time slot may include three types of symbols: downlink symbols (D), uplink symbols (U), and flexible symbols (F). Flexible symbols can be used for both uplink and downlink.

[0573] Based on this, the indication level of the time domain shutdown information can be any one of the following: symbol level, time slot level, subframe level, or multiple consecutive time slot levels.

[0574] Correspondingly, the indication level of the time domain shutdown information is different, and the content of the time domain shutdown information may be different.

[0575] Therefore, the second communication device 20 supports time-domain shutdown at different granularities, flexibly achieving energy saving of the second communication device 20. Of course, the present application is not limited to time-domain shutdown at other granularities.

[0576] In addition, this application does not limit parameters such as the number and type of multiple carriers in a carrier group.

[0577] In some implementations, multiple carriers within a carrier group may employ at least one of the following: the same RAT, different RATs, the same duplex mode, different duplex modes, the same TDD ratio, different TDD ratios, the same subcarrier spacing, or different subcarrier spacing.

[0578] In some implementations, all carriers in a carrier group use the same hardware device. The specific implementation method can be found in the above description and will not be repeated here.

[0579] Upon learning that the first communication device 10 has the aforementioned device capabilities, the second communication device 20 may send time domain shutdown information to the first communication device 10. Correspondingly, the first communication device 10 may stop receiving and / or sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information.

[0580] The device capability may indicate that the first communication device 10 supports simultaneous shutdown of multiple carriers in the carrier group, that is, the first communication device 10 can simultaneously receive, stop receiving, and / or stop sending on multiple carriers in the carrier group.

[0581] In addition to the above indicated information, the device capability may also indicate the indication levels of multiple carriers within the carrier group, thereby achieving refinement of the device capability, ie, the first communication device 10 supports turning off various indication levels of multiple carriers within the carrier group.

[0582] In addition to the above-mentioned indication information, the device capability may also indicate whether the RATs of multiple carriers in the carrier group are the same, whether the duplex mode is the same, whether the TDD ratio is the same, whether the subcarrier spacing is the same, etc. It should be noted that when the RATs of multiple carriers in the carrier group are different, the carriers in the carrier group can be grouped according to the same RAT. The solution of the present application is applicable to multiple carriers of the same RAT in the carrier group.

[0583] Thus, the device capability is refined, that is, the first communication device 10 supports the shutdown of multiple carriers of various types within the carrier group.

[0584] In addition, the first communication device 10 can notify the second communication device 20 in advance whether it has the corresponding device capabilities, facilitating the second communication device 20 to determine whether to use time-domain shutdown information to indicate the shutdown of multiple carriers within the carrier group. Alternatively, the protocol predefines that the first communication device 10 must support the corresponding device capabilities. This helps reduce signaling overhead for the second communication device 20.

[0585] The communication method provided in the present application determines the time domain shutdown information through the second communication device, and the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in the carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers. The second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information to the first communication device. Correspondingly, the first communication device stops receiving and / or stops sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information. In the present application, when all carriers in the carrier group do not carry data for a certain period of time, all carriers in the carrier group are simultaneously shut down in the time domain. From the perspective of the second communication device, the signaling overhead of the indication is saved, so that the second communication device can be in sleep mode for a longer period of time, which helps to reduce the energy consumption of the second communication device.

[0586] For example, if multiple carriers within a carrier group share a common ultra-wideband hardware device, the second communication device can support time-domain shutdown of all carriers within the carrier group, and the first communication device can support time-domain shutdown of all carriers within the carrier group. Thus, the carrier group's time-domain shutdown indication facilitates time-domain energy conservation for the second communication device, effectively reducing signaling overhead.

[0587] In addition, the time domain shutoff of all carriers in the carrier group is generally applicable to the first communication device 10 after receiving a paging message or a short message, that is, the first communication device 10 transmitting data normally, such as the first communication device 10 in a connected state.

[0588] Based on the description of the above embodiments, the time domain shutdown information is applicable to all carriers in the carrier group and is irrelevant to parameters such as the carrier's RAT, duplex mode, TDD ratio, or subcarrier spacing.

[0589] Next, the specific implementation of the second communication device 20 sending the time domain shutdown information to the first communication device 10 is described in detail in combination with parameters such as the RAT, duplex mode, TDD ratio, or subcarrier spacing of the carriers in the carrier group.

[0590] Scenario 1: Carriers within a carrier group have the same RAT

[0591] The second communication device 20 may send the time domain shutdown information to the second communication device 20 on one carrier in the carrier group. The one carrier in the carrier group may be any carrier in the carrier group, such as an anchor carrier.

[0592] Scenario 2: Carriers within a carrier group have different RATs

[0593] In a feasible implementation, the second communication device 20 may send the time domain shutdown information to the second communication device 20 on a carrier in the carrier group. The carrier in the carrier group may be any carrier in the carrier group, such as an anchor carrier.

[0594] In another feasible implementation, the second communication device 20 may group the carriers in the carrier group based on different RATs. Thus, the second communication device 20 may send the time domain shutdown information to the first communication device 10 on one of the carriers using each RAT in the carrier group.

[0595] Scenario 3: Carriers within a carrier group have the same subcarrier spacing

[0596] The second communication device 20 may send time domain shutdown information to the first communication device 10 on the first carrier, where the time domain shutdown information instructs each carrier in the carrier group to stop transmitting and / or receiving in the same time slot as the first time domain unit in the first carrier. The first carrier has the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units for which transmission and / or reception are stopped. The time domain unit of the first time domain unit may be any one of a subframe, a time slot, a symbol, and the like.

[0597] As shown in Figure 14, in the first carrier, O indicates normal transmission, and X indicates time domain shutdown. The subcarrier spacing of the first carrier, the subcarrier spacing of carrier 1, and the subcarrier spacing of carrier 2 are equal. For carriers 1 and 2, the timeslots with the same position as X in the first carrier include timeslot 3, timeslot 4, timeslot 11, timeslot 12, timeslot 13, and timeslot 18.

[0598] Therefore, the first communication device 10 stops receiving and / or stops transmitting on time slot 3 , time slot 4 , time slot 11 , time slot 12 , time slot 13 , and time slot 18 in carrier 1 and carrier 2 .

[0599] Scenario 4: Carriers within a carrier group have different subcarrier spacings

[0600] The second communication device 20 can send time domain shutdown information to the first communication device 10 on the first carrier, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that the time slots in each carrier in the carrier group that overlap with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier stop sending and / or stop receiving.

[0601] The first carrier has the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units for stopping transmission and / or stopping reception. The time domain unit of the first time domain unit can be any one of a subframe, a time slot, a symbol, etc.

[0602] In one possible implementation, the time slot in any carrier within the carrier group that overlaps with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier may include the same time slot as the position of the first time domain unit, or a time limit that overlaps with the position of the first time domain unit.

[0603] In a feasible implementation, the subcarrier spacing of the first carrier may be the same as the minimum value of the subcarrier spacing of the carriers in the carrier group.

[0604] As shown in Figure 15, in the first carrier, O indicates normal transmission and X indicates time domain shutdown. The subcarrier spacing of carrier 1 is smaller than that of carrier 2. The subcarrier spacing of the first carrier is equal to that of carrier 1.

[0605] For carrier 1, the time slots that are the same as the position of X in the first carrier include time slot 3, time slot 4, time slot 11, time slot 12, time slot 13, and time slot 18. For carrier 2, the time slots that overlap with the position of X in the first carrier include time slot 1, time slot 2, time slot 5, time slot 6, and time slot 9. Therefore, the first communication device 10 stops receiving and / or stops transmitting in time slot 3, time slot 4, time slot 11, time slot 12, time slot 13, and time slot 18 in carrier 1, and stops receiving and / or stops transmitting in time slot 1, time slot 2, time slot 5, time slot 6, and time slot 9 in carrier 2.

[0606] In another feasible implementation, the subcarrier spacing of the first carrier may be the same as the maximum value of the subcarrier spacing of the carriers in the carrier group.

[0607] As shown in FIG16 , in the first carrier, O indicates normal transmission, and X indicates time domain shutdown.

[0608] The subcarrier spacing of carrier 1 is smaller than that of carrier 2. The subcarrier spacing of the first carrier is equal to the subcarrier spacing of carrier 2.

[0609] For carrier 1, the time slots that overlap with the position of X in the first carrier include time slot 4, time slot 5, time slot 14, time slot 15, time slot 16, and time slot 17. For carrier 2, the time slots that are the same as the position of X in the first carrier include time slot 2, time slot 7, and time slot 8. Therefore, the first communication device 10 stops receiving and / or stops transmitting in time slot 4, time slot 5, time slot 14, time slot 15, time slot 16, and time slot 17 in carrier 1, and stops receiving and / or stops transmitting in time slot 2, time slot 7, and time slot 8 in carrier 2.

[0610] It should be understood that in addition to the maximum or minimum value of the subcarrier spacing of the carriers in the carrier group, the subcarrier spacing of the first carrier can also be implemented in other ways, and this application does not limit this.

[0611] Scenario 5: Carriers in a carrier group have the same duplex mode

[0612] When multiple carriers within a carrier group adopt the same TDD mode, each carrier within the carrier group is a TDD carrier. Correspondingly, the time domain shutdown information indicates that for each carrier within the carrier group, the downlink time slot D may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops transmitting and the first communication device 10 stops receiving. The uplink time slot U may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops receiving and the first communication device 10 stops transmitting. The downlink symbol in the mixed time slot S may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops transmitting and the first communication device 10 stops receiving. The uplink symbol in the mixed time slot S may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops receiving and the first communication device 10 stops transmitting.

[0613] When multiple carriers within a carrier group adopt the same FDD mode, each carrier within the carrier group is an FDD carrier. Correspondingly, the time domain shutdown information indicates that the second time domain unit of the downlink carrier within the carrier group may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops transmitting and the first communication device 10 stops receiving, and / or the third time domain unit of the uplink carrier may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops receiving and the first communication device 10 stops transmitting.

[0614] Among them, the second time domain unit or the third time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or receiving. The specific implementation method of the second time domain unit or the third time domain unit can be found in the description of the first time domain unit and will not be repeated here.

[0615] Scenario 6: Carriers within a carrier group have different duplex modes

[0616] When the multiple carriers in the carrier group adopt different duplex modes, namely, TDD mode and FDD mode, the multiple carriers in the carrier group include TDD carriers and FDD carriers. Correspondingly, the time domain shutdown information indicates that the downlink time slot D of the TDD carrier in the carrier group may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops sending and the first communication device 10 stops receiving. The uplink time slot U may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops receiving and the first communication device 10 stops sending. The downlink symbol in the mixed time slot S may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops sending and the first communication device 10 stops receiving. The uplink symbol in the mixed time slot S may indicate that the second communication device 20 stops receiving and the first communication device 10 stops sending. The fourth time domain unit of the FDD carrier in the carrier group stops sending and / or receiving.

[0617] Among them, the fourth time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or receiving. The specific implementation method of the fourth time domain unit can refer to the description of the first time domain unit and will not be repeated here.

[0618] Thus, the second communication device 20 can send time domain shutdown information to the first communication device 10 on the first carrier, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that the time slots in each carrier in the carrier group that overlap with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier stop transmitting and / or stop receiving. The first carrier has the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop transmitting and / or stop receiving. The time domain unit of the first time domain unit can be any one of a subframe, a time slot, a symbol, etc.

[0619] In addition, the time slot in any carrier within the carrier group that overlaps with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier may include the same time slot as the position of the first time domain unit, or the time limit that overlaps with the position of the first time domain unit.

[0620] As shown in FIG17 , in the first carrier, O indicates normal transmission, and X indicates time domain shutdown.

[0621] When the carriers in the carrier group use different duplex modes, carrier 1 and carrier 2 are both DDDDDDDDDD and UUUUUUUUUU, and carrier 3 is DDDDDDDSUU.

[0622] For carrier 1 and carrier 2, the time slots at the same position as X in the first carrier include the 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 9th downlink time slots D and uplink time slots U in "DDDDDDDDD".

[0623] For carrier 3, the time slots at the same position as X in the first carrier include the 4th and 5th downlink time slots D, and the 9th and 10th uplink time slots U in "DDDDDDDSUU".

[0624] Therefore, the first communication device 10 stops receiving in the 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 9th downlink time slots D in carrier 1 and carrier 2 and stops sending in the 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 9th uplink time slots U, and stops receiving in the 3rd and 4th downlink time slots D in carrier 3 and stops sending in the 8th and 9th uplink time slots U.

[0625] In addition, in addition to the above scenarios, multiple carriers in a carrier group can also adopt different TDD ratios.

[0626] As shown in FIG18 , in the first carrier, O indicates normal transmission, and X indicates time domain shutdown.

[0627] When carrier 1 and carrier 2 in the carrier group adopt different TDD ratios, the TDD ratio of carrier 1 is 7:3, that is, DDDSUDDSUU, and the TDD ratio of carrier 2 is 8:2, that is, DDDDDDDSUU.

[0628] For carrier 1, the time slots at the same position as X in the first carrier include uplink symbols and downlink symbols in the 3rd and 13th mixed time slots S in "DDDSUDDSUU", the 4th and 18th uplink time slots U, and the 11th and 12th downlink time slots D.

[0629] For carrier 2, the time slots at the same position as X in the first carrier include the 3rd, 4th, 11th, 12th, and 13th downlink time slots D and the 18th uplink time slot U in "DDDDDDDSUU".

[0630] Therefore, the first communication device 10 stops receiving downlink symbols in the 11th and 12th downlink time slots D and the 3rd and 13th mixed time slots S in carrier 1, and stops sending uplink symbols in the 4th and 18th uplink time slots U and the 3rd and 13th mixed time slots S. The first communication device 10 stops sending in the 3rd, 4th, 11th, 12th, and 13th downlink time slots D and the 18th uplink time slot U in carrier 2.

[0631] It should be understood that the scenario in which all carriers in a carrier group are shut down in the time domain is applicable to any one or any combination of scenarios, such as multiple carriers have different duplex modes, different TDD ratios and frequency domain priority, different subcarrier spacing of carriers with different TDD ratios, and different subcarrier spacing of TDD carriers and FDD carriers.

[0632] Illustratively, the present application also provides a communication device.

[0633] FIG19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0634] As shown in FIG19 , the communication device 100 can exist independently or be integrated into other devices, and can communicate with the second communication device mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the first communication device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0635] The communication device 100 may include a transceiver unit 101. The transceiver unit 101 may implement corresponding communication functions and may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0636] Optionally, the communication device 100 may further include a processing unit and / or a storage unit, wherein the processing unit is used to perform data processing and the storage unit may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the communication device 100 implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0637] The communication device 100 can be used to perform the actions performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment. The communication device 100 can be the first communication device or a component that can be configured in the first communication device. The transceiver unit 101 is used to perform the reception-related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0638] Optionally, the transceiver unit 101 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit is configured to perform the sending operation in the aforementioned method embodiment. The receiving unit is configured to perform the receiving operation in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0639] It should be noted that the communication device 100 may include a sending unit but not a receiving unit. Alternatively, the communication device 100 may include a receiving unit but not a sending unit. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the communication device 100 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0640] As an example, the communication device 100 is used to execute the actions executed by the first communication device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 above.

[0641] The communication device 100 may include: a transceiver unit 101 .

[0642] The transceiver unit 101 is used to receive a paging-related configuration sent by a second communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to a carrier group and the carrier group includes multiple carriers; and is also used to receive a paging-related message sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration.

[0643] It should be understood that the execution of the above corresponding processes by each unit has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0644] The processing unit in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver unit 101 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The transceiver unit 101 can also be called a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0645] Illustratively, the present application also provides a communication device.

[0646] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0647] As shown in FIG20 , the communication device 200 can exist independently or be integrated into other devices, and can communicate with the first communication device mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the second communication device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0648] The communication device 200 may include a transceiver unit 201. The communication device 200 may also include a processing unit. The transceiver unit 201 may implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit is used to process data. The transceiver unit 201 may also be called a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0649] Optionally, the communication device 200 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the communication device 200 implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0650] Communication device 200 can be used to perform the actions performed by the second communication device in the method embodiments described above. Communication device 200 can be a second communication device or a component that can be configured in a second communication device. Transceiver unit 201 is used to perform reception-related operations of the second communication device in the method embodiments described above, and the processing unit is used to perform processing-related operations of the second communication device in the method embodiments described above.

[0651] Optionally, the transceiver unit 201 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit is configured to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment. The receiving unit is configured to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0652] It should be noted that the communication device 200 may include a sending unit but not a receiving unit. Alternatively, the communication device 200 may include a receiving unit but not a sending unit. The specific details may depend on whether the above solution executed by the communication device 200 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0653] As an example, the communication device 200 is used to execute the actions executed by the second communication device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 above.

[0654] The communication device 200 may include: a transceiver unit 201 .

[0655] The transceiver unit 201 is configured to send a paging-related configuration to the first communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to paging of a carrier group, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0656] The transceiver unit 201 is further configured to send paging-related messages to the first communication device on multiple carriers in the carrier group.

[0657] It should be understood that the execution of the above corresponding processes by each unit has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0658] The processing unit in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver unit 201 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The transceiver unit can also be called a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0659] Illustratively, the present application also provides a communication device.

[0660] FIG21 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0661] As shown in FIG21 , the communication device 300 can exist independently or be integrated into other devices, and can communicate with the second communication device mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the first communication device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0662] The communication device 300 may include a transceiver unit 301. The transceiver unit 301 may implement corresponding communication functions and may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0663] Optionally, the communication device 300 may further include a processing unit and / or a storage unit, wherein the processing unit is used to perform data processing and the storage unit may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the communication device 300 implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0664] The communication device 300 can be used to perform the actions performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment. The communication device 300 can be the first communication device or a component that can be configured in the first communication device. The transceiver unit 301 is used to perform the reception-related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0665] Optionally, the transceiver unit 301 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit is configured to perform the sending operation in the aforementioned method embodiment. The receiving unit is configured to perform the receiving operation in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0666] It should be noted that the communication device 300 may include a sending unit but not a receiving unit. Alternatively, the communication device 100 may include a receiving unit but not a sending unit. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the communication device 300 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0667] As an example, the communication device 300 is used to execute the actions executed by the first communication device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 13 above.

[0668] The communication device 300 may include: a transceiver unit 301 .

[0669] The transceiver unit 301 is configured to receive time domain shutdown information sent by a second communication device, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop transmitting and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0670] The transceiver unit 301 is further configured to stop receiving and / or sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information.

[0671] It should be understood that the execution of the above corresponding processes by each unit has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0672] The processing unit in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver unit 301 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The transceiver unit 301 can also be called a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0673] Illustratively, the present application also provides a communication device.

[0674] FIG22 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0675] As shown in FIG22 , the communication device 400 can exist independently or be integrated into other devices, and can communicate with the first communication device mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the second communication device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0676] The communication device 400 may include a processing unit 401 and a transceiver unit 402. The transceiver unit 401 may implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 401 is used for data processing. The transceiver unit 402 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0677] Optionally, the communication device 400 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit, so that the communication device 400 implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0678] Communication device 400 can be used to perform the actions performed by the second communication device in the method embodiments described above. Communication device 400 can be a second communication device or a component that can be configured in a second communication device. Transceiver unit 402 is used to perform reception-related operations of the second communication device in the method embodiments described above, and processing unit 401 is used to perform processing-related operations of the second communication device in the method embodiments described above.

[0679] Optionally, the transceiver unit 402 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit. The sending unit is configured to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment. The receiving unit is configured to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0680] It should be noted that the communication device 400 may include a sending unit but not a receiving unit. Alternatively, the communication device 400 may include a receiving unit but not a sending unit. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the communication device 400 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0681] As an example, the communication device 400 is used to execute the actions executed by the second communication device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 13 above.

[0682] The communication device 400 may include: a processing unit 401 and a transceiver unit 402 .

[0683] A processing unit 401 is configured to determine time domain shutdown information, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop transmitting and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers;

[0684] The transceiver unit 402 is configured to send time domain shutdown information to the first communication device.

[0685] It should be understood that the execution of the above corresponding processes by each unit has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0686] The processing unit in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver unit 201 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The transceiver unit can also be called a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0687] Illustratively, the present application also provides a communication device.

[0688] FIG23 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0689] The communication device 500 includes a processor 501, which is coupled to a memory 502. The memory 502 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 501 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions and / or data stored in the memory 502, so that the method in the above method embodiment is executed.

[0690] Optionally, the communication device 500 includes one or more processors 501 .

[0691] Optionally, as shown in FIG. 23 , the communication device 500 may further include a memory 502 .

[0692] Optionally, the communication device 500 may include one or more memories 502 .

[0693] Optionally, the memory 502 may be integrated with the processor 501 or provided separately.

[0694] As shown in Figure 23, the communication device 500 may further include a transceiver 503, which is used to receive and / or send signals. For example, the processor 501 is used to control the transceiver 503 to receive and / or send signals.

[0695] As a solution, the communication device 500 is used to implement the operations performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0696] For example, the processor 501 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 503 is used to implement the sending and receiving-related operations performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0697] As another solution, the communication device 500 is used to implement the operations performed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0698] For example, the processor 501 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 503 is used to implement the sending and receiving-related operations performed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0699] In the communication device shown in FIG. 23 , the device in transceiver 503 used for receiving power can be considered a receiving unit, and the device in transceiver 503 used for transmitting can be considered a transmitting unit. That is, transceiver 503 can include a receiver and a transmitter. Transceiver 503 can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver unit, or a transceiver circuit. The receiver can also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving unit, a receiver, or a receiving circuit. The transmitter can also be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, a transmitting unit, or a transmitting circuit. Processor 501 has processing functionality and can be referred to as a processing unit. Memory 502 is used to store computer program code and data and can also be referred to as a storage unit.

[0700] Illustratively, the present application also provides a communication device.

[0701] The communication device 600 may be the first communication device or the second communication device, or may be a chip of the first communication device or the second communication device. The communication device 600 may be used to execute the operations executed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0702] FIG24 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0703] As shown in Figure 24, communication device 600 includes sections 610, 620, and 630. Section 610 is primarily used for baseband processing and base station control. Section 610 is typically the control center of the base station and can be generally referred to as a processor or processing unit, which is used to control the first or second communication device to perform the processing operations of the first or second communication device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. Section 620 is primarily used to store computer program code and data and can be generally referred to as a memory or storage unit. Section 630 is primarily used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals. Section 630 can be generally referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver. The transceiver unit in section 630, which can also be referred to as a transceiver or transceiver, includes an antenna 633 and radio frequency circuitry (not shown), with the radio frequency circuitry primarily used for radio frequency processing. Optionally, the device used for receiving in section 630 can be considered a receiver, and the device used for transmitting can be considered a transmitter. That is, section 630 includes a receiver 632 and a transmitter 631. A receiver may also be referred to as a receiving unit, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc., and a transmitter may be referred to as a transmitting unit, a transmitting unit, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0704] Sections 610 and 620 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used to read and execute programs in the memory to implement baseband processing functions and control the base station. If multiple boards are present, the boards may be interconnected to enhance processing capabilities. As an optional implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, multiple boards may share one or more memories, or multiple boards may simultaneously share one or more processors.

[0705] In one implementation, the transceiver unit in section 630 is configured to execute the transceiver-related processes performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the embodiments shown in FIG4 or FIG13. The processor in section 610 is configured to execute the processing-related processes performed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the embodiments shown in FIG4 or FIG13.

[0706] It should be understood that FIG24 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the first communication device or the second communication device including the processor, the memory, and the transceiver may not rely on the structure shown in FIG24 .

[0707] When communication device 600 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver, memory, and a processor. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processor can be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. In the above method embodiments, the transmission operation of the first or second communication device can be understood as an output of the chip, and the reception operation of the first or second communication device in the above method embodiments can be understood as an input of the chip.

[0708] Exemplarily, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the first communication device or the method executed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0709] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method executed by the first communication device or the method executed by the second communication device in the above method embodiments.

[0710] Exemplarily, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method executed by the first communication device or the method executed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0711] Illustratively, the present application further provides a communication system, comprising a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is configured to execute the process executed by the first communication device in the above embodiment. The second communication device is configured to execute the process executed by the second communication device in the above embodiment.

[0712] Illustratively, the present application further provides a chip device, including a processor, configured to call a computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the reference signal processing method of the above embodiment.

[0713] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 13 , and the output of the chip device corresponds to the sending operation in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 13 .

[0714] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0715] Optionally, the chip device further includes a memory, in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0716] The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, a baseband processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the reference signal processing method of the above embodiments. The memory mentioned in any of the above may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0717] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the communication devices provided above can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0718] In the present application, the first communication device or the second communication device may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0719] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0720] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0721] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0722] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0723] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the part that essentially contributes to the technical solution of the present application or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the process of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0724] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, ordinary technicians in this field should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the above embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The first communication device receives a paging-related configuration sent by the second communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to a carrier group and paging, and the carrier group includes multiple carriers; The first communication device receives, on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, a paging-related message sent by the second communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging control channel configuration, and a carrier group paging search space configuration, wherein the carrier group paging control channel configuration includes a configuration for determining a paging frame and a paging occasion of M carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group, and the carrier group paging search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for paging reception of N carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group, where M and N are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group; The receiving, by the first communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, a paging-related message sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device receives a short message or a paging message on the same one or more carriers among the M carriers and the N carriers according to the carrier group paging control channel configuration and the carrier group paging search space configuration.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The receiving, by the first communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, a paging-related message sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device determines, according to the paging-related configuration, the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in the one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging occasion; The first communication device receives the paging-related message on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion in the one or more carriers in the carrier group.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion of the one or more carriers in the carrier group are determined according to the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion for paging reception in the carrier group predefined in a protocol; Alternatively, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion within the carrier group, and the number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers within the carrier group is determined based on the associated indication information.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein The paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging early indication configuration and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, wherein the carrier group paging early indication configuration includes configurations related to the paging early indication of P carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group, and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for paging early indication of Q carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group, where P and Q are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group; The receiving, by the first communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, a paging-related message sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device receives a paging early indication message on the same one or more carriers among the P carriers and the Q carriers according to the carrier group paging early indication configuration and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that The receiving, by the first communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the paging-related configuration, a paging-related message sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device determines, according to the paging-related configuration, the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in the one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity; The first communication device receives the paging-related message on one or more carriers in the carrier group according to the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity of the one or more carriers in the carrier group are determined according to the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity for the one or more carriers in the carrier group predefined in the protocol; Alternatively, the paging-related configuration also includes associated indication information, which is used to determine the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity, and the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier in one or more carriers in the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity is determined based on the associated indication information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first communication device receives paging mode information sent by the second communication device, where the paging mode information indicates a paging mode of the first communication device; When the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode, the first communication device receives the paging-related message on one or more carriers in the carrier group; Alternatively, when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, the first communication device receives the paging-related message on a carrier where a cell where the first communication device resides is located.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first communication device receiving the paging mode information sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device receives a system message sent by the second communication device, where the system message includes the paging mode information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The first communication device receiving a paging-related configuration sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device receives a system message sent by the second communication device, where the system message includes the paging-related configuration.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The paging-related configuration further includes: a carrier group configuration, where the carrier group configuration indicates that the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first communication device receives, on each carrier in the carrier group, a system message sent by the second communication device, where the system message includes the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration includes an identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs; Alternatively, the first communication device receives, on one or more carriers in the carrier group, a system message sent by the second communication device, where the system message includes a carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration includes relevant configuration information of each carrier in the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs; Alternatively, the first communication device receives a system message set sent by the second communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group, where the system message set includes a system message of each carrier in the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The second communication device sends a paging-related configuration to the first communication device, where the paging-related configuration indicates configuration information related to paging of a carrier group, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers; The second communication device sends a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier within the carrier group.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging control channel configuration, and a carrier group paging search space configuration, wherein the carrier group paging control channel configuration includes a configuration for determining a paging frame and a paging occasion of M carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group, and the carrier group paging search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for paging reception of N carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group, where M and N are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception in the carrier group; The second communication device sending a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier in the carrier group includes: The second communication device sends a short message or a paging message on the same carrier among the M carriers and the N carriers in the carrier group.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The paging-related configuration further includes associated indication information, where the associated indication information is used to determine the number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion within the carrier group.

16. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The paging-related configuration includes: a carrier group paging early indication configuration and a carrier group paging early indication search space configuration, wherein the carrier group paging early indication configuration includes configurations related to the paging early indication of P carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group, and the carrier group paging early indication search space configuration includes a search space configuration of a physical downlink control channel used for paging early indication of Q carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group, where P and Q are integers greater than 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group; The second communication device sending a paging-related message to the first communication device on a carrier in the carrier group includes: The second communication device sends a paging early indication message on the same carrier among the P carriers and the Q carriers in the carrier group.

17. The method according to claim 13 or 16, characterized in that The paging-related configuration further includes associated indication information, where the associated indication information is used to determine the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity within the carrier group.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The second communication device sends paging mode information to the first communication device, where the paging mode information indicates a paging mode of the first communication device; The second communication device sends the paging-related message on multiple carriers in the carrier group when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a multi-carrier coordinated paging mode; Alternatively, when the paging mode information indicates that the first communication device adopts a single-carrier paging mode, the second communication device sends the paging-related message on a carrier of a cell where the first communication device resides.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The second communication device sending paging mode information to the first communication device includes: The second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device, where the system message includes the paging mode information.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that: The second communication device sending a paging-related configuration to the first communication device includes: The second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device, where the system message includes the paging-related configuration.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, characterized in that: The paging-related configuration further includes: a carrier group configuration, where the carrier group configuration indicates that the carrier group includes multiple carriers.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device on each carrier in the carrier group, the system message including the carrier group configuration, the carrier group configuration including an identifier of the carrier group to which each carrier belongs; Alternatively, the second communication device sends a system message to the first communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group, where the system message includes the carrier group configuration, and the carrier group configuration includes relevant configuration information of each carrier in the carrier group to which the carrier corresponding to the system message belongs; Alternatively, the second communication device sends a system message set to the first communication device on one or more carriers in the carrier group, where the system message set includes system information of each carrier in the carrier group to which the carrier receiving the system message set belongs.

23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The total number of paging slots of all carriers used for paging reception in each paging occasion in the carrier group is equal to the number of synchronization information and physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) in the synchronization broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device resides; Alternatively, the total number of paging early indication monitoring time slots of all carriers used for paging early indication in the carrier group in each paging early indication opportunity is equal to the number of synchronization information and physical broadcast channel blocks SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set of the cell where the first communication device resides.

24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 23, characterized in that The number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging reception in each paging occasion in the carrier group indicates any of the following schemes: The physical downlink shared channel of the paging time slot of each carrier in each paging occasion is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set according to the transmission order of the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB and the association method of first in the time domain and then in the frequency domain; Alternatively, the physical downlink shared channel of the paging time slot of each carrier in each paging occasion is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set according to the sending order of the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the association method of first frequency domain and then time domain.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 23, characterized in that The number of paging early indication monitoring slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity in the carrier group indicates any one of the following schemes: The physical downlink control channel of the paging early indication monitoring time slot of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity is respectively associated with and quasi-co-located with the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set according to the transmission order of the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB and the association method of first in the time domain and then in the frequency domain; Alternatively, the physical downlink control channel of the paging early indication monitoring time slot of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity is respectively associated and quasi-co-located with the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set according to the sending order of the synchronization information and the physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the association method of first frequency domain and then time domain.

26. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 25, characterized in that The number of paging time slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion for paging reception within the carrier group includes: synchronization information of each carrier and a physical broadcast channel block SSB sequence number range, wherein the synchronization information of each carrier and the physical broadcast channel block SSB sequence number range are synchronization information associated with and quasi-co-located with a physical downlink shared channel of one or more paging time slots of each carrier in each paging occasion, and synchronization information of the physical broadcast channel block SSB in a synchronization broadcast resource block set, and a sequence number of a transmission order of the physical broadcast channel block SSB; Alternatively, the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity in the carrier group includes: the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB sequence number range of each carrier, and the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB sequence number range of each carrier are the synchronization information associated with and quasi-co-located physical downlink control channel of one or more paging early indication monitoring time slots of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity, and the synchronization information of the physical broadcast channel block SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set and the sequence number of the sending order of the physical broadcast channel block SSB.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The range of the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB sequence numbers in the i-th carrier in the carrier group is: greater than or equal to 1+(i-1)*ceil(S / m) and less than or equal to i*ceil(S / m); Wherein, i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to the total number of all carriers used for paging reception or paging early indication in the carrier group, S is the number of synchronization information and physical broadcast channel blocks SSB in the synchronization broadcast resource block set, m is the number of synchronization information and physical broadcast channel blocks SSB sent for each paging slot or paging early indication monitoring slot, and ceil represents rounding up.

28. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 27, characterized in that The number of paging slots and beam information of each carrier in each paging occasion for paging reception within the carrier group includes: synchronization information and a physical broadcast channel block SSB index set of each carrier, wherein the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB index set of each carrier includes synchronization information and an index of a physical downlink shared channel (SBC) associated with and quasi-co-located with one or more paging slots of each carrier in each paging occasion; Alternatively, the number of paging early indication monitoring time slots and beam information of each carrier used for paging early indication in each paging early indication opportunity of the carrier group includes: the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB index set of each carrier, and the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB index set of each carrier are the synchronization information and physical broadcast channel block SSB index associated with and quasi-co-located with the physical downlink control channel of one or more paging early indication monitoring time slots of each carrier in each paging early indication opportunity.

29. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The first communication device receives time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers; The first communication device stops receiving and / or stops sending on all carriers in the carrier group according to the time domain shutdown information.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein The first communication device receiving the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device receives the time domain shutoff information sent by the second communication device on a carrier in the carrier group.

31. The method according to claim 29, wherein When multiple carriers in the carrier group adopt different radio access technologies, the first communication device receiving time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device includes: The first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device on one carrier among the carriers adopting each radio access technology in the carrier group.

32. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 31, characterized in that The first communication device receiving the time domain shutdown information sent by the second communication device includes: When multiple carriers in the carrier group use the same subcarrier spacing, the first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group, where the time domain shutdown information instructs each carrier in the carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving a time slot that is located at the same position as a first time domain unit in the first carrier, where the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units where sending and / or receiving is stopped; Alternatively, when multiple carriers within the carrier group use different subcarrier spacings, the first communication device receives the time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as any one of the carriers within the carrier group, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that the time slots in each carrier within the carrier group that overlap with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving.

33. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The second communication device determines time domain shutdown information, where the time domain shutdown information instructs all carriers in a carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving, where the carrier group includes multiple carriers; The second communication device sends the time domain shutoff information to the first communication device.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein The second communication device sending the time domain shutoff information to the first communication device includes: The second communication device sends the time domain shut-off information on a carrier in the carrier group.

35. The method according to claim 33, wherein When multiple carriers in the carrier group adopt different radio access technologies, the second communication device sending the time domain shutdown information to the first communication device includes: The second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information on one carrier among the carriers adopting each radio access technology in the carrier group.

36. The method according to any one of claims 33 to 35, characterized in that The second communication device sending the time domain shutoff information to the first communication device includes: The second communication device transmits the time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as the carriers in the carrier group when multiple carriers in the carrier group use the same subcarrier spacing, wherein the time domain shutdown information instructs each carrier in the carrier group to stop sending and / or stop receiving a time slot that is the same as a position of a first time domain unit in the first carrier, where the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stopping receiving; Alternatively, when multiple carriers in the carrier group use different subcarrier spacings, the second communication device sends the time domain shutdown information on a first carrier that uses the same subcarrier spacing as any one of the carriers in the carrier group, and the time domain shutdown information indicates that the time slots in each carrier in the carrier group that overlap with the position of the first time domain unit on the first carrier stop sending and / or stop receiving, and the first time domain unit is one or more time domain units that stop sending and / or stop receiving.

37. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 36, characterized in that The indication level of the time domain shutdown information is any one of the following; Symbol level, slot level, subframe level, or multiple consecutive slot levels.

38. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 37, characterized in that All carriers in the carrier group use the same hardware device.

39. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes: a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-12, 23-28, and 38; and / or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 13-28 and 38; and / or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 29-32 and 37-38; and / or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 33-38.

40. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system comprises: a first communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-12, 23-28, and 38, and a second communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 13-28 and 38; And / or, a first communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 29-32, 37-38, and a second communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 33-38.

41. A communication device, characterized in that include: processor; The processor is used to execute a computer-executable program or instruction in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method described in any one of claims 1-12, 23-28, and 38; and / or, the communication device performs the method described in any one of claims 13-28 and 38; and / or, the communication device performs the method described in any one of claims 29-32 and 37-38; and / or, the communication device performs the method described in any one of claims 33-38.

42. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer-executable program or instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the method described in any one of claims 1-12, 23-28, and 38; and / or enables the method described in any one of claims 13-28 and 38; and / or enables the method described in any one of claims 29-32, 37-38; and / or enables the method described in any one of claims 33-38.

43. A chip, characterized in that: include: An interface circuit and a logic circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other chips outside the chip and transmit them to the logic circuit, or to send signals from the logic circuit to other chips outside the chip, and the logic circuit is used to implement the method described in any one of claims 1-12, 23-28, and 38; and / or, the logic circuit is used to implement the method described in any one of claims 13-28 and 38; and / or, the logic circuit is used to implement the method described in any one of claims 29-32 and 37-38; and / or, the logic circuit is used to implement the method described in any one of claims 33-38.

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