Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device. The communication method comprises: when a first PDCCH candidate can be used for bearing a first DCI, a terminal device performs blind detection (BD) or non-overlapping control channel element (CCE) counting on a first cell on the first PDCCH candidate, the first DCI being DCI in a first format, one DCI in the first format scheduling data transmission of at most one cell, the first DCI being used for scheduling data transmission of a second cell, and the second DCI being used for scheduling data transmission of the second cell; the first cell is different from the second cell.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] There are two tasks in physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring that have a great impact on the implementation complexity of terminal devices. One is the number of PDCCH candidates monitored, also known as the number of blind detections (BDs); the other is the number of non-overlapping control channel elements (CCEs). The more PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device, the higher the decoding complexity of the terminal device; the more non-overlapping CCEs in the PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device, the higher the channel estimation complexity of the terminal device.

[0003] In order to reduce the complexity of terminal monitoring of PDCCH, the protocol presets an upper limit on the number of PDCCH candidates and / or the upper limit on the number of non-overlapping CCEs monitored by the terminal device on a cell within a time unit, where the upper limit on the number of PDCCH candidates is also called the BD upper limit, and the upper limit on the number of non-overlapping CCEs is also called the CCE upper limit.

[0004] In the current protocol, the access network device and the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a DCI of the first format on a cell scheduled by the DCI of the first format, wherein a DCI of the first format can schedule data transmission of at most one carrier. However, this method has the problem of low flexibility when the access network device schedules PDCCH. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method to improve the flexibility of an access network device when scheduling a PDCCH.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a terminal device, comprising: when a first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry a first DCI, the first PDCCH candidate is blindly detected BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counted on a first cell, the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, a DCI of a first format schedules data transmission of at most one cell, the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission of a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell. That is, the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI of the first format that schedules the second cell.

[0007] In the embodiment of the present application, the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the first DCI is also referred to as a PDCCH candidate associated with the first DCI.

[0008] Among them, a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission of at most one cell, which can also be described as: a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission of at most one carrier, or a DCI format of the first format schedules data transmission of at most one cell, or a DCI format of the first format schedules data transmission of at most one carrier. That is, the first format can be considered as a single-cell scheduling DCI format, or also called a single-carrier scheduling DCI format.

[0009] That is to say, in this embodiment, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the DCI of the first format for scheduling data transmission of the second cell. Or in other words, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the DCI of the first format for scheduling data transmission of the second cell.

[0010] It should be understood that when a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling a second cell is counted with BD and / or non-overlapping CCEs on the first cell, it is possible to give more BDs and / or non-overlapping CCEs to a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a second format DCI that needs to be counted with BD and / or non-overlapping CCEs on the second cell, wherein a second format DCI can simultaneously schedule data transmissions of two or more cells, i.e., the second format can be considered as a multi-cell scheduling DCI format. Therefore, through the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the scheduling flexibility of the PDCCH candidate capable of carrying the second format DCI can be improved, i.e., the flexibility of the access network device in scheduling the PDCCH is improved.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first information sent by an access network device, the first information indicating that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for a PDCCH candidate that carries the first DCI. Or in other words, the first information indicates that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for a PDCCH candidate that carries the first format of DCI for scheduling a second cell.

[0012] In this implementation, the access network device sends a first message to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the DCI in the first format for scheduling data transmission in the second cell. Or to put it another way, the access network device sends a first message to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the DCI in the first format for scheduling data transmission in the second cell.

[0013] That is, in this implementation, after receiving the first information, the terminal device will perform blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell based on the instruction of the first information.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel unit CCE counting in the first cell, including: if the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the second DCI is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the second cell, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell; wherein, the second DCI is a DCI of a second format, and a DCI of a second format can simultaneously schedule data transmission of two or more cells.

[0015] The second format is a multi-cell scheduling DCI format, or may also be called a multi-carrier scheduling DCI format.

[0016] In the embodiment of the present application, a DCI in the second format can simultaneously schedule data transmission of two or more cells, which can also be described as: a DCI in the second format can simultaneously schedule data transmission of two or more carriers.

[0017] In the embodiment of the present application, the cells that can be scheduled by a DCI of a second format include a second cell, and the PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry the second DCI perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the second cell.

[0018] That is to say, in this implementation, it is further restricted that the first PDCCH candidate will be counted for BD and / or non-overlapping CCE on the first cell only when the second cell is a counting cell for BD and / or non-overlapping CCE of PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry the second format of DCI. In other words, in this implementation, if there is no PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the second DCI and performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the second cell, the first PDCCH candidate will not perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting in the first cell, including: if the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same cell, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell; wherein the third DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell. The first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI in the same cell can be understood as the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same bandwidth part BWP of the same cell, and this BWP can be the downlink activation BWP of this cell.

[0020] That is, in this implementation, it is further restricted that only when the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the second cell and the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the first cell are in the same cell, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting of the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the second cell on the first cell, or in other words, perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting of the first PDCCH candidate on the first cell. In other words, in this implementation, if the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI are not in the same cell, the first PDCCH candidate does not perform BD and non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting in the first cell, including: if the first PDCCH candidate has the same subcarrier spacing as the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell; wherein the fourth DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the fourth DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell.

[0022] That is, in this implementation, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI that can be used to schedule the second cell only when the subcarrier spacing of the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is the same, or in other words, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the first PDCCH candidate. In other words, in this implementation, if the subcarrier spacing of the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is different, the first PDCCH candidate does not perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell. In other words, in this implementation, the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI are on the downlink activation BWP of the same cell, or the first PDCCH candidate is on the downlink activation BWP of one cell, and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is on the downlink activation BWP of another cell, and the subcarrier spacing of these two downlink activation BWPs is the same.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second information sent by an access network device, the second information being used to configure at least one first PDCCH candidate; wherein the second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell. The second information includes one or more aggregation levels of PDCCH candidates of the first format of DCI that can carry the data transmission of the second cell and the number of PDCCH candidates of each aggregation level. According to the second information, the terminal device can determine the time-frequency resources of the PDCCH candidates of the first format of DCI that can carry the data transmission of the second cell. Exemplarily, the second information may be search space set configuration information. It should be noted that there is no strict order between the first information and the second information. The first information may be sent before the second information, or later than the second information, or the first information and the second information may be sent at the same time.

[0024] Specifically, the BD upper limit is the upper limit of the number of PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device in the first cell within a unit time, and the non-overlapping CCE upper limit is the upper limit of the number of non-overlapping CCEs monitored by the terminal device in the first cell within a unit time.

[0025] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to an access network device, including: sending first information to a terminal device, the first information indicating that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on a first cell for a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a first DCI; wherein the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell, the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

[0026] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: when the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, performing blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell.

[0027] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel unit CCE counting in the first cell, including: if the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the second DCI is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the second cell, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell; wherein, the second DCI is a DCI of a second format, and a DCI of a second format can simultaneously schedule data transmission of two or more cells.

[0028] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting in the first cell, including: if the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same cell, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell; wherein, the third DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell.

[0029] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation method, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting in the first cell, including: if the subcarrier spacing of the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is the same, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell; wherein the fourth DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the fourth DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell.

[0030] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: second information sent to the terminal device, the second information is used to configure at least one first PDCCH candidate; wherein the second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

[0031] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a memory configured to execute the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0032] In combination with the third aspect, in a possible implementation, the communication device also includes a processor; the memory is used to store program instructions; and the processor is used to call the program instructions in the memory to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a memory configured to execute the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0034] In combination with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the communication device also includes a processor; the memory is used to store program instructions; and the processor is used to call the program instructions in the memory to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0035] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising the communication device as described in the third aspect and the communication device as described in the fourth aspect.

[0036] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable medium storing a program code for computer execution, wherein the program code includes instructions for executing the method as described in any one of the first to second aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0037] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a chip system, comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and at least one processor being interconnected by lines, and the at least one processor being used to run computer programs or instructions to perform the methods described in the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0038] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer implements the method described in any one of the first to second aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0039] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any implementation method of the second aspect to the eighth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned first aspect to and any possible implementation method therein, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of performing BD or non-overlapping CCE counting provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of counting BD or non-overlapping CCEs provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 5 A flow chart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 6 A structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 7 A structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] In order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. For example, the first information and the second information are used to distinguish different information, and their order is not limited. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit them to be different.

[0048] It should be noted that, in this application, words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in this application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0049] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device, wherein the method and device are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles of solving problems by the method and device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0050] The technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. For example, the communication system used can be a global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband radio service (GPRS), a long term evolution (LTE) system, an advanced long term evolution (LTE-A), a LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, a LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a fifth generation mobile communication system, and some future communication systems (such as a sixth generation mobile communication system).

[0051] Combination Figure 1 , exemplarily illustrating a communication system applicable to the communication method proposed in this application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system includes terminal equipment, access network equipment and core network equipment. The terminal equipment is connected to the access network equipment in a wireless manner, and the access network equipment is connected to the core network equipment in a wireless or wired manner.

[0052] Among them, the terminal device can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users, for example, a handheld device with wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, etc. The terminal device can also be called user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile, remote station, remote terminal, mobile equipment, user terminal, wireless telecom equipment, user agent, user equipment or user device. The terminal device may be a station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a terminal in a next-generation communication system (e.g., a fifth-generation (5G) communication network) or a terminal device in a future-evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) network. Among them, 5G can also be referred to as a new radio (NR). In a possible application scenario of the present application, the terminal device may also be a terminal device that often works on the ground, such as a vehicle-mounted device. In the present application, for the sake of ease of description, the chip deployed in the above-mentioned device, or the chip may also be referred to as a terminal device.

[0053] The access network device may be any device with wireless transceiver function. The device includes but is not limited to: evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), base band unit (BBU), access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP) or transmission and reception point (TRP), etc., and can also be a gNB in ​​5G, such as NR, system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0054] In some deployments, the gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include a radio unit (RU). The CU implements some functions of the gNB, and the DU implements some functions of the gNB, for example, the CU implements the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers, and the DU implements the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. Since the information of the RRC layer will eventually become the information of the physical layer, or be converted from the information of the physical layer, under this architecture, high-level signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU+CU. It can be understood that the network device can be a CU node, a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be divided into a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), and the CU can also be divided into a network device in a core network (core network, CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0055] In the embodiments of the present application, the terms terminal device and UE can be interchanged, and the terms base station and access network device can also be interchanged.

[0056] In the present application, the access network device and the terminal device may communicate through the authorized spectrum, or may communicate through the unauthorized spectrum, or may communicate through both the authorized spectrum and the unauthorized spectrum. The access network device and the terminal device may communicate through the spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHZ), or may communicate through the spectrum above 6 GHZ, or may communicate using the spectrum below 6 GHZ and the spectrum above 6 GHZ at the same time. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used between the access network device and the terminal device.

[0057] Specifically, the information exchanged between the terminal device and the access network device is carried through a physical channel. Among them, the control information sent by the access network device to the terminal device, such as downlink control information (DCI), can be carried through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); the data sent by the access network device to the terminal device, that is, downlink data, can be carried through a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); the data sent by the terminal device to the access network device, that is, uplink data, can be carried through a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Among them, the physical channel used to carry DCI can also be a channel with other names, such as an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCC); the channel used to carry downlink data at the physical layer can be a channel with other names except PDSCH; the channel used to carry uplink data at the physical layer can be a channel with other names except PUSCH, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

[0058] The core network equipment mainly includes the user plane function (UPF) and control plane function of the data plane. The core network equipment and the access network equipment can be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the access network equipment can be integrated on the same physical device, or the functions of some core network equipment and some access network equipment can be integrated on one physical device.

[0059] Understandably, Figure 1 The number of terminal devices shown in the figure is only an example. In actual process, the number of terminal devices can also be other numbers.

[0060] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device or access network device includes 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 includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through a process, 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 includes applications such as a browser, an address book, a word processing software, and an instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in a terminal device or a network device that can call a program and execute the program.

[0061] In addition, the methods of various aspects of the present application can be implemented using programming and form a computer program accessed by a computer-readable device, carrier or medium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to: a magnetic storage device (e.g., a hard disk, a floppy disk or a magnetic tape, etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), etc.), a smart card and a flash memory device (e.g., an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a card, a stick or a key drive, etc.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0062] It should be understood that Figure 1 This is just an example, and the communication system may also include other network devices, which will not be described in detail here.

[0063] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, prior to introducing the embodiments of the present application, terms that may be involved in the embodiments of the present application are first introduced.

[0064] 1. Bandwidth part (BWP)

[0065] In a wireless communication system, such as an NR communication system, an access network device may configure a BWP for a terminal device, and the terminal device and the access network device may exchange information in the BWP.

[0066] BWP can be understood as a frequency domain working interval configured by the access network device for the terminal device, including the frequency domain range and subcarrier spacing, etc. A BWP can be used only to transmit uplink data, and the BWP can be called an uplink BWP; or a BWP can be used only to transmit downlink data, and the BWP can be called a downlink BWP; for time division duplex systems, uplink BWP and downlink BWP are often configured in pairs, and their center frequencies are the same. The access network device can configure one or more BWPs for the terminal device. In the downlink BWP, the terminal device can receive one or more of the following channels from the access network device: PDCCH, PDSCH, and uplink demodulation reference signal. In the uplink BWP, the terminal device can send one or more of the following channels to the network device: PUSCH, PUCCH, and downlink demodulation reference signal.

[0067] 2. Subcarrier spacing (SCS):

[0068] There are 5 subcarrier spacings in the NR system, and the subcarrier spacing configuration parameter μ ranges from 0 to 4, corresponding to 15KHz, 30KHz, 60KHz, 120KHz and 240KHz respectively.

[0069] 3. Main cell and auxiliary cell

[0070] Under dual connectivity (DC), a terminal device can establish connections with multiple cells, which are divided into two groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG).

[0071] MCG includes a primary cell and may include one or more secondary cells; similarly, SCG includes a primary cell and may include one or more secondary cells. The primary cell in MCG is called the primary cell (PCell), the primary cell in SCG is called the primary secondary cell (PSCell), and the other cells in MCG and SCG are secondary cells (SCell).

[0072] The PCell under MCG and the SCell under MCG are combined through carrier aggregation (CA) technology. The PSCell under SCG and the SCell under SCG are also combined through CA technology.

[0073] If not otherwise specified, the primary cell in the embodiments of the present application may refer to the primary cell of the MCG or the primary cell of the SCG.

[0074] 4. Cell and carrier:

[0075] The cell is described by a high layer (such as the radio resource control layer, the media access control layer, and other protocol layers above the physical layer) from the perspective of resource management or mobility management. The coverage of each network device can be divided into one or more cells. In the NR system, a cell can be configured with a downlink carrier and optionally at least one uplink carrier. Cell is a general name. For a terminal device, the cell that provides service to it is called a service cell. The cell involved in this application may also be a service cell.

[0076] 5. Self-scheduling and cross-carrier scheduling

[0077] The cell that sends the control channel corresponding to the data channel is called a scheduling cell, also called a master cell; the cell that sends the data channel is called a scheduled cell.

[0078] The data on a cell is scheduled using the PDCCH on the cell, which is called self-scheduling. In other words, the control channel is carried on the downlink carrier of a cell to schedule the uplink and downlink data channels of the cell, which is called self-scheduling. In self-scheduling, the cell is both the scheduling cell and the scheduled cell.

[0079] The data of one cell is scheduled using the PDCCH on another cell, which is called cross-carrier scheduling. In other words, the control channel on the downlink carrier of one cell is used to schedule the uplink and downlink data channels of another cell, which is called cross-carrier scheduling (CCS). In cross-carrier scheduling, the cell carrying the PDCCH is the master cell or scheduling cell, and the cell carrying the data (uplink data or downlink data) is called the scheduled cell.

[0080] Optionally, in cross-carrier scheduling, one master cell may correspond to multiple controlled cells, that is, one master cell may send a control channel to perform data scheduling for multiple controlled cells.

[0081] 6. PDCCH candidates and DCI formats

[0082] The access network equipment will configure a set of PDCCH candidates for the terminal device. Among them, a PDCCH candidate can contain L = {1, 2, 4, 8, 16} control channel elements (CCE). Here L is called the aggregation level (AL) of PDCCH. A CCE contains 6 resource element groups (REG). REG is a unit of a time-frequency resource block, which is an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the time domain and a resource block (RB) in the frequency domain. A search space with an AL of L is defined as a set of PDCCH candidates containing several CCEs of size L. A search space set is a set of search spaces containing different ALs. A search space set is associated with a control resource set (CORESET).

[0083] Accordingly, the terminal device monitors the group of PDCCH candidates, wherein monitoring refers to performing PDCCH decoding on each PDCCH candidate according to a downlink control information (DCI) format to be detected.

[0084] There are many types of DCI formats: DCI format 0_0, DCI format 1_0, DCI format 0_1, DCI format 1_1, DCI format 0_2, DCI format 1_2, DCI format 0_3 and DCI format 1_3. Specifically:

[0085] 1) DCI format 0_0, DCI format 1_0, DCI format 0_1, DCI format 1_1, DCI format 0_2, and DCI format 1_2 are single-cell scheduling DCI formats.

[0086] The single-cell scheduling DCI format may also be called a single-carrier scheduling DCI format. The single-cell scheduling DCI format can schedule data of at most one cell for transmission.

[0087] If a DCI is in any of the formats DCI format 0_0, DCI format 0_1 ​​and DCI format 0_2, then this DCI can schedule PUSCH transmission on at most one uplink carrier of one cell. If a DCI is in any of the formats DCI format 1_0, DCI format 1_1 and DCI format 1_2, then this DCI can schedule PDSCH transmission on at most one downlink carrier of one cell. These DCI formats.

[0088] 2) DCI format 0_3 and DCI format 1_3 are multi-cell scheduling DCI formats.

[0089] The multi-cell scheduling DCI format may also be called a multi-carrier scheduling DCI format. The multi-cell scheduling DCI format may schedule data of at least two cells for transmission at the same time.

[0090] If a DCI is formatted as DCI format 0_3, then this DCI can schedule PUSCH transmission on one uplink carrier in each of two or more cells. If a DCI is formatted as DCI format 1_3, then this DCI can schedule PDSCH transmission on one downlink carrier in each of two or more cells.

[0091] Since the access network device may or may not send a DCI for a terminal device in a PDCCH candidate, the result of the terminal device monitoring may be that the DCI is detected (dected) or not. In other words, the result of the terminal device monitoring may be that the PDCCH is detected or not.

[0092] After introducing the above concepts, the problems to be solved by the communication method of the present application are described below.

[0093] When the terminal device monitors the PDCCH, there are two tasks that have a greater impact on the implementation complexity of the terminal device:

[0094] 1) The number of PDCCH candidates monitored, also known as the number of blind detections (BDs).

[0095] 2) Number of non-overlapping CCEs. Among them, CCEs with overlapping time-frequency resources associated with the same CORESET are considered overlapping CCEs, and other CCEs are considered non-overlapping CCEs. In other words, CCEs with different CORESET numbers or different starting symbols of PDCCH candidates are considered non-overlapping CCEs.

[0096] Generally, the more PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device, the higher the decoding complexity of the terminal device; the more non-overlapping CCEs in the PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device, the higher the channel estimation complexity of the terminal device. In other words, the more PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device, or the more non-overlapping CCEs, the greater the implementation complexity of the terminal device.

[0097] In order to reduce the complexity of the terminal monitoring PDCCH, the protocol presets the upper limit of the number of PDCCH candidates and the upper limit of the number of non-overlapping CCEs that the terminal device monitors in one time unit on one cell, also known as the BD / CCE upper limit. Or to put it another way, in order to reduce the complexity of the terminal monitoring PDCCH, the BD number corresponding to all PDCCH candidates monitored by the terminal device in one time unit and counting BD or non-overlapping CCEs in the same cell should be less than or equal to the BD upper limit of the cell, and the corresponding non-overlapping CCE number should be less than or equal to the CCE upper limit of the cell.

[0098] The unit time here can be a time slot, or a time span, or a number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, or a number of slots, wherein a span is a number of consecutive OFDM symbols in a slot.

[0099] Specifically, in the current protocol, when the terminal device performs BD / non-overlapping CCE counting, the access network device and the terminal device will perform BD / non-overlapping CCE counting on a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format on the cell scheduled by the DCI in the single-cell scheduling DCI format.

[0100] In addition, if the cell scheduled by the DCI in the single-cell scheduling DCI format and one or more other scheduled cells are scheduled together with a DCI in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format, then the PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry the DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format may also be instructed to perform BD / non-overlapping CCE counting on the cell scheduled by the DCI in the single-cell scheduling DCI format.

[0101] For example, Figure 2 As shown, the access network device sends a DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format on cell 1 for scheduling data transmission in cell 1, the access network device sends a DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format on cell 2 for scheduling data transmission in cell 2, and the access network device sends a DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format on cell 3 for scheduling data transmission in cell 3. In addition, the access network device sends a DCI in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format on cell 4, and the DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format can schedule data transmission in cells 1, 2, and 3 at the same time.

[0102] Then, the terminal device will be able to perform BD / non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 1 for PDCCH candidates that carry DCI for scheduling data transmission in cell 1, will be able to perform BD / non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 2 for PDCCH candidates that carry DCI for scheduling data transmission in cell 2, and will be able to perform BD / non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 3 for PDCCH candidates that carry DCI for scheduling data transmission in cell 3. In addition, PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry DCI in multi-cell scheduling DCI format may be instructed to perform BD / non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 1.

[0103] In some embodiments, when the scheduled cell is a secondary cell, within each unit time, the configuration of the access network equipment directly ensures that the BD number corresponding to all PDCCH candidates performing BD / CCE counting on the scheduled cell is less than or equal to the BD upper limit of the scheduled cell, and the corresponding non-overlapping total number of CCEs is less than or equal to the CCE upper limit of the scheduled cell.

[0104] In some embodiments, when the scheduled cell is the primary cell, within a certain unit time, the number of BDs / CCEs corresponding to all PDCCH candidates configured by the access network device for BD / CCE counting on the scheduled cell may be greater than the BD upper limit / CCE upper limit of the scheduled cell. At this time, the access network device and the terminal device will give up monitoring some PDCCH candidates through a method specified by a protocol, thereby ensuring that within this unit time, the number of BDs corresponding to all PDCCH candidates actually monitored by the terminal device for BD / CCE counting on the scheduled cell is less than or equal to the BD upper limit of this cell, and the corresponding total number of non-overlapping CCEs is less than or equal to the CCE upper limit of this cell.

[0105] However, the above method has the problem of low flexibility in scheduling PDCCH for access network equipment. The reasons are as follows: Under normal circumstances, DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format occupies more CCEs. In addition, DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format may also require a large number of PDCCH candidates. Therefore, in order to improve the scheduling flexibility of DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format, it is necessary to give DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format more scheduling opportunities. However, in the prior art, when PDCCH candidates associated with the DCI in the single-cell scheduling DCI format for scheduling data transmission of the target cell and PDCCH candidates associated with the DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format for scheduling data transmission of at least one cell are both counted by BD / CCE on the target cell, it may result in the inability to schedule the PDCCH candidates associated with the DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format on the target cell.

[0106] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and a communication device for improving the flexibility of an access network device when scheduling a PDCCH.

[0107] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0108] refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 The following is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 As shown, the method includes:

[0109] S301, the access network device sends the first information to the terminal device, the first information indicates that the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the first DCI will be used for BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the first cell, wherein the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell, and the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell.

[0110] In the embodiment of the present application, the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the first DCI is also referred to as a PDCCH candidate associated with the first DCI.

[0111] The fact that a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission of at most one cell can also be described as: a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission of at most one carrier. That is, the first format is the single-cell scheduling DCI format described above, or also called the single-carrier scheduling DCI format.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present application, the first information indicates that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate that carries the first DCI, which can also be described as: the first information indicates that the terminal device performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the first DCI.

[0113] Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission of the second cell. In other words, the PDCCH candidate associated with the first DCI in the present embodiment is a PDCCH candidate used to schedule data transmission of the second cell.

[0114] That is to say, in this embodiment, the access network device will send the first information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling data transmission in the second cell. Or to put it another way, the access network device will send the first information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling data transmission in the second cell.

[0115] S302: When the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell.

[0116] That is, in an embodiment of the present application, for a terminal device, if it is determined that the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell.

[0117] Or in other words, for the terminal device, the PDCCH candidate associated with the DCI in the first format for scheduling data transmission of the second cell will be subjected to BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell.

[0118] Or in other words, for the terminal device, the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE count of the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling data transmission of the second cell will be performed on the first cell.

[0119] As mentioned above, the second format DCI usually occupies a larger number of CCEs. In addition, the second format DCI may also require a larger number of PDCCH candidates. Therefore, in order to improve the scheduling flexibility of the second format DCI, it is necessary to give the second format DCI more scheduling opportunities. However, if the method of the prior art is used, that is, the first PDCCH candidate associated with the first DCI is counted as BD and / or non-overlapping CCE in the second cell, at this time, if the PDCCH candidate associated with the second format DCI is also counted as BD and / or non-overlapping CCE in the second cell, then the PDCCH candidate associated with the second format DCI may not have enough scheduling opportunities. However, through the present application Figure 3 The solution proposed in the embodiment shown is that when the PDCCH candidate associated with the first DCI of the first format for scheduling the second cell is counted by BD and / or CCE on the first cell, more BD and / or non-overlapping CCE can be given to the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the DCI of the second format that needs to be counted by BD and / or CCE on the second cell, so that the DCI of the second format is more likely to be sent. Therefore, through the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the scheduling flexibility of the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the DCI of the second format can be improved, that is, the sending flexibility of the DCI of the second format of the access network device is improved.

[0120] It should be noted that the above is described from the perspective of the terminal device. It should be understood that for the access network device, like the terminal device, when the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, the first PDCCH candidate will be blindly detected BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counted on the first cell, that is, the access network device will also perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counts of the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling data transmission in the second cell on the first cell to ensure consistency between the network side and the terminal side.

[0121] As an optional embodiment, the above Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, S301 may be an optional step. That is, there is no step in which the access network device sends a first message to the terminal device to indicate that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the first DCI. Exemplarily, during implementation, the advance agreement stipulates that the access network device and the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the first DCI.

[0122] As an optional embodiment, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device performs blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel unit CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell, including: if a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the second DCI performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the second cell, the first PDCCH candidate performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell; wherein the second DCI is a DCI of a second format, a DCI of a second format can simultaneously schedule data transmission of two or more cells, and the cells that can be scheduled by a DCI of a second format include the second cell.

[0123] The second format is the multi-cell scheduling DCI format described above, or may also be called a multi-carrier scheduling DCI format.

[0124] Among them, a DCI in the second format can schedule data transmission of two or more cells at the same time, which can also be described as: a DCI in the second format can schedule data transmission of two or more carriers at the same time.

[0125] In this embodiment, the cells that can be scheduled by a DCI of the second format include the second cell, and the PDCCH candidate carrying the second DCI performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting in the second cell.

[0126] That is to say, in this embodiment, the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting of the first PDCCH candidate on the first cell is further restricted to be performed only when the second cell is a counting cell that can be used to count the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE of the PDCCH candidate carrying the second format of DCI.

[0127] In some embodiments, the DCI in the first format for scheduling the second cell is the DCI sent by the access network device on the second cell. That is, the access network device schedules data transmission of the second cell by self-scheduling.

[0128] by Figure 2 Take this as an example. Figure 2As shown, the access network device can send DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format (i.e., the first format) for scheduling data transmission in cell 1 on cell 1, the access network device can send DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format for scheduling data transmission in cell 2 on cell 2, and the access network device can send DCI in a single-cell scheduling DCI format for scheduling data transmission in cell 3 on cell 3, that is, the access network device schedules data in cell 1, data in cell 2, and data transmission in cell 3 based on self-scheduling. In addition, the access network device can send DCI in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format (i.e., the second format) on cell 4, and the DCI in the multi-cell scheduling DCI format can simultaneously schedule data transmission in cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3. It should be noted that, based on high-level parameter configuration, a DCI in a multi-cell scheduling DCI format may be able to schedule data transmission in a cell among cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 separately, or schedule data transmission in two cells among cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 at the same time, or schedule data transmission in cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 at the same time. In the prior art, PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry DCI of the first format for scheduling data transmission of cell 1 perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 1, PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry DCI of the first format for scheduling data transmission of cell 2 perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 2, and PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry DCI of the first format for scheduling data transmission of cell 3 perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 3. However, in this embodiment, if the PDCCH candidate associated with the second format DCI sent by the access network device on cell 4 performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 1, then the terminal device can perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry DCI of the first format for scheduling data transmission of cell 1 in other cells except cell 1. Specifically, which other cells are may be agreed in advance by the protocol, or indicated by the access network device.

[0129] For example, a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling data transmission of cell 1 may be counted by BD and / or non-overlapping CCEs in cell 2. At this time, cell 1 may be considered as the second cell, and cell 2 may be considered as the first cell.

[0130] For example, a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling data transmission of cell 1 may be counted by BD and / or non-overlapping CCEs in cell 3. At this time, cell 1 may be considered as the second cell, and cell 3 may be considered as the first cell.

[0131] In some embodiments, the DCI in the first format for scheduling the second cell is DCI sent by the access network device on a cell other than the second cell. That is, the access network device schedules data transmission of the second cell by cross-carrier scheduling.

[0132] by Figure 4 Take an example. The access network device can send a DCI in a first format for scheduling data transmission in cell 1, a DCI in a first format for scheduling data transmission in cell 2, and a DCI in a first format for scheduling data transmission in cell 3 in cell 41. In addition, the access network device can send a DCI in a second format in cell 42, and the DCI in the second format can schedule data transmission in cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 at the same time. It should be noted that, based on the high-level parameter configuration, a DCI in the second format may be able to schedule data transmission in one of cells 1, cell 2, and cell 3 separately, or schedule data transmission in two cells of cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 at the same time, or schedule data transmission in cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 at the same time. In the prior art, a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling data transmission of cell 1 performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 1, a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling data transmission of cell 2 performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 2, and a PDCCH candidate capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling data transmission of cell 3 performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 3. However, in this embodiment, if a PDCCH candidate associated with a second format DCI sent by the access network device on cell 42 performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on cell 1, then the terminal device may perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on PDCCH candidates capable of carrying a first format DCI for scheduling data transmission of cell 1 on other cells except cell 1. Specifically, which other cells are may be agreed in advance by the protocol, or indicated by the access network device.

[0133] As an optional embodiment, in the embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell, it includes: if the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same cell, performing BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; wherein the third DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell. The first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI in the same cell can be understood as the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same bandwidth part BWP of the same cell, and this BWP can be the downlink activation BWP of this cell.

[0134] Or in other words, in the present embodiment, it is further restricted that the terminal device will perform the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE count of the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the second cell on the first cell only when the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the second cell and the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the first cell are on the same cell.

[0135] by Figure 2 and Figure 4 Take this as an example. When the method is limited to only when the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the second cell and the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the first cell are in the same cell, the terminal device will perform the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting method of the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format of DCI for scheduling the second cell in the first cell, then for Figure 2 In the scenario shown, since the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format DCI of scheduling cell 1 and the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format DCI of scheduling cell 2 are not in the same cell, the terminal device will not perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting of the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format DCI of scheduling the second cell in the first cell. Figure 4 In the scenario shown, since the PDCCH candidates associated with the first format DCI for scheduling cell 1 and the PDCCH candidates associated with the first format DCI for scheduling cell 2 are sent on the same cell, the terminal device can perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting of the PDCCH candidates associated with the first format DCI for scheduling cell 1 on cell 2.

[0136] As an optional embodiment, in the embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell, it includes: if the subcarrier spacing of the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is the same, the first PDCCH candidate is performed on the first cell BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting; wherein the fourth DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the fourth DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for scheduling the PDCCH candidate associated with the first format DCI of the second cell only when the subcarrier spacing of the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is the same. In the embodiment of the present application, the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI are on the downlink activation BWP of the same cell, or the first PDCCH candidate is on the downlink activation BWP of one cell, and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is on the downlink activation BWP of another cell, and the subcarrier spacing of the two downlink activation BWPs is the same.

[0137] It should be understood that, usually, the access network device will also configure at least one first PDCCH candidate information to the terminal device.

[0138] In an embodiment of the present application, the information of at least one first PDCCH candidate configured by the access network device is also referred to as second information. In some embodiments, the second information includes one or more aggregation levels of PDCCH candidates of the first format of DCI that can carry the data transmission of the second cell and the number of PDCCH candidates of each aggregation level. According to the second information, the terminal device can determine the time-frequency resources of the PDCCH candidates of the first format of DCI that can carry the data transmission of the second cell. Exemplarily, the second information may be search space set configuration information. Based on the second information, the terminal device can monitor at least one first PDCCH candidate in the configured first format. It should be noted that the time order of sending the first information and the second information is uncertain, and the first information may be sent before the second information, or the second information may be sent before the first information, or the first information and the second information may be sent at the same time.

[0139] In this embodiment, when the access network device sends the second information, since the second information includes the number of at least one first PDCCH candidate, the time-frequency resource of at least one first PDCCH candidate can also be determined according to the second information, so the access network device determines the second information based on the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell. In this way, when the first cell is a primary cell, within a unit time, the access network device can ensure that when the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counts of the PDCCH candidates that can be used to send DCI are counted on the first cell, the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE corresponding to all PDCCH candidates on the first cell do not exceed the BD upper limit and / or non-overlapping CCE upper limit of the first cell specified within the unit time. When the first cell is a secondary cell, the access network device can ensure that when the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE of the PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry DCI configured within a unit time are counted on the first cell, the BD and / or non-overlapping CCE corresponding to all PDCCH candidates on the first cell do not exceed the BD upper limit or non-overlapping CCE of the first cell specified within the unit time.

[0140] The concepts of the BD upper limit and the non-overlapping CCE upper limit may be referred to the description in the previous related parts and will not be repeated here.

[0141] Next, combine Figure 5 , a detailed embodiment is described. Figure 5 As shown, the method includes:

[0142] S501, determine the second information according to the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit of the first cell, the second information indicates a PDCCH candidate of a first DCI in a first format that can be used to carry and schedule data transmission of a second cell, the first cell and the second cell are different, and a DCI in the first format can only schedule data transmission of one cell at most.

[0143] Among them, the detailed description of the first DCI and the first format refers to the description in the aforementioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0144] S502, the access network device sends second information to the terminal device; the terminal device receives the second information.

[0145] S503, the access network device sends first information to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the first information, where the first information indicates that the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry the first DCI.

[0146] S504: When the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, the terminal device performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell.

[0147] It should be noted that there is no strict order between S501 and S502, and the first information may be sent before or after the second information, or the first information and the second information may be sent at the same time.

[0148] Combined with the above Figures 3 to 5 , describes in detail the communication method of the embodiment of the present application, and will now be combined with Figure 6 and Figure 7 The communication device provided by the present application is described in detail.

[0149] Figure 6 The structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application is as follows. Figure 6 As shown, the device 600 includes: a transceiver module 601 and a processing module 602 .

[0150] In the first embodiment, the communication apparatus is applied to a terminal device.

[0151] Specifically, in the first embodiment, the processing module 602 is used to perform blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell when the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell. The first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

[0152] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 601 is used to: receive first information sent by an access network device, where the first information indicates that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE calculation on the first cell for a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a first DCI.

[0153] In one possible implementation, the processing module 602 is specifically used to: if a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a second DCI performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the second cell, perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate on the first cell; wherein the second DCI is a DCI of a second format, a DCI of a second format can simultaneously schedule data transmission of two or more cells, and the cells that a DCI of a second format can schedule include the second cell.

[0154] In one possible implementation, the processing module 602 is specifically used to: if the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same cell, perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; wherein the third DCI is a DCI in the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell.

[0155] In one possible implementation, the processing module 602 is specifically used to: if the subcarrier spacing of the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the fourth DCI is the same, perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; wherein the fourth DCI is a DCI of the first format, and the fourth DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the first cell.

[0156] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to: receive second information sent by the access network device, the second information is used to configure a PDCCH candidate for the DCI that can be used to carry and schedule data transmission of the second cell; wherein the second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

[0157] In a second embodiment, the communication device is used for access network equipment.

[0158] Specifically, in the second embodiment, the transceiver module 601 is used to send first information to the terminal device, and the first information indicates that the terminal device will be able to perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for the PDCCH candidate that carries the first DCI; wherein the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and a DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell, and the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in the second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 601 is also used to: send second information to the terminal device, the second information is used to configure a PDCCH candidate of the first DCI that can be used to carry and schedule data transmission of the second cell; wherein the second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

[0160] Figure 7 A structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 The device shown can be used to execute the method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0161] like Figure 7As shown, the apparatus 700 of this embodiment includes: a memory 701 and a processor 702. Optionally, the apparatus 700 further includes a communication interface 703 and a bus 704. The memory 701, the processor 702, and the communication interface 703 are connected to each other through the bus 704.

[0162] The memory 701 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 701 may store a program. When the program stored in the memory 701 is executed by the processor 702, the processor 702 is used to execute the program. Figures 3 to 5 The individual steps of the method are shown.

[0163] The processor 702 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for executing related programs to implement the present application. Figures 3 to 5 The method shown.

[0164] The processor 702 may also be an integrated circuit chip having the ability to process signals. Figures 3 to 5 Each step of the method may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 702 or by instructions in the form of software.

[0165] The processor 702 may also be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or executed. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor, etc.

[0166] The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 701, and the processor 702 reads the information in the memory 701, and completes the functions required to be executed by the units included in the device of the present application in combination with its hardware, for example, it can execute Figures 3 to 5 The various steps / functions of the illustrated embodiment.

[0167] The communication interface 703 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver or other transceiver device to implement communication between the apparatus 700 and other devices or a communication network.

[0168] The bus 704 may include a path for transmitting information between various components of the device 700 (eg, the memory 701 , the processor 702 , and the communication interface 703 ).

[0169] It should be understood that the device 700 shown in the embodiment of the present application may be an electronic device, or may be a chip configured in an electronic device. The device 700 may be deployed in a terminal device, or may be deployed in a network device.

[0170] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented by software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state hard disk.

[0171] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship, but it may also indicate an "and / or" relationship. Please refer to the context for specific understanding.

[0172] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can be represented by: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0173] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0174] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0175] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0176] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0177] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0178] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0179] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments 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.

[0180] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to terminal equipment, including: When the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, the first PDCCH candidate is subjected to blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first cell, the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and one DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell, and the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive first information sent by an access network device, where the first information indicates that the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry the first DCI.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The performing blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell includes: If the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the second DCI performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the second cell, the first PDCCH candidate performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell; The second DCI is a DCI in a second format, and one DCI in the second format can schedule data transmission of two or more cells at the same time.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The performing blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell includes: If the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same cell, performing BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; The third DCI is the DCI in the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission of the first cell.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The performing blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell includes: If the first PDCCH candidate has the same subcarrier spacing as a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a fourth DCI, performing BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; The fourth DCI is the DCI in the first format, and the fourth DCI is used to schedule data transmission of the first cell.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving second information sent by an access network device, where the second information is used to configure at least one of the first PDCCH candidates; The second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: Application and access network equipment, including: Sending first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information indicates that the terminal device performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on a first cell for a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a first DCI; The first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and one DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell. The first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending second information to the terminal device, where the second information is used to configure at least one of the first PDCCH candidates; The second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

9. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processing module is used to perform blind detection BD and / or non-overlapping control channel element CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in a first cell when the first PDCCH candidate can be used to carry the first DCI, the first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and one DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell, the first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that The device further comprises a transceiver module, wherein the transceiver module is used for: Receive first information sent by an access network device, where the first information indicates that the terminal device will perform BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell for PDCCH candidates that can be used to carry the first DCI.

11. The device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The processing module is specifically used for: If the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the second DCI performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the second cell, the first PDCCH candidate performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first cell; The second DCI is a DCI in a second format, and one DCI in the second format can schedule data transmission of two or more cells at the same time.

12. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that The processing module is specifically used for: If the first PDCCH candidate and the PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry the third DCI are in the same cell, performing BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; The third DCI is the DCI in the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission of the first cell.

13. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that The processing module is specifically used for: If the first PDCCH candidate has the same subcarrier spacing as a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a third DCI, performing BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on the first PDCCH candidate in the first cell; The third DCI is the DCI in the first format, and the third DCI is used to schedule data transmission of the first cell.

14. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that The transceiver module is also used for: receiving second information sent by an access network device, where the second information is used to configure at least one of the first PDCCH candidates; The second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

15. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A transceiver module, configured to send first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information indicates that the terminal device performs BD and / or non-overlapping CCE counting on a first cell for a PDCCH candidate that can be used to carry a first DCI; The first DCI is a DCI of a first format, and one DCI of the first format schedules data transmission in at most one cell. The first DCI is used to schedule data transmission in a second cell, and the first cell is different from the second cell.

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that The transceiver module is also used for: second information sent to the terminal device, where the second information is used to configure at least one of the first PDCCH candidates; The second information is determined based on the BD upper limit and / or the non-overlapping CCE upper limit corresponding to the first cell.

17. A communication system, characterized in that: The method comprises the communication device according to any one of claims 9 to 14 and the communication device according to any one of claims 15 or 16.

18. A computer readable medium, characterized in that The computer-readable medium stores a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or claims 7 to 8.

19. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer program codes, and when the computer program codes are executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or claims 7 to 8.

20. A chip, characterized in that: It includes at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected through a line, and the at least one processor is used to run a computer program or instruction to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 or the communication method as described in any one of claims 7 to 8.

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