Communication method and device, readable storage medium and computer program product

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, a readable storage medium and a computer program product, which are used for improving the data transmission efficiency and improving the transmission spectrum efficiency. In the application, a terminal device receives first information. The first information includes information for indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process. And the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process at an update time in the at least one update time, and performs communication based on the updated transmission window of the process. Since the terminal device can autonomously update the transmission window at the update time, the network device does not need to frequently issue the signaling for updating the transmission window, thereby saving the signaling overhead.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method, apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product. Background Art

[0002] Currently, the 5th generation (5G) new radio (NR) technology is evolving from Release 18 to Release 19. At the same time, NR technology has also entered the commercial deployment stage from the standardization stage. The NR standard protocol is a wireless communication technology designed for terrestrial cellular network scenarios and can provide users with wireless communication services featuring ultra-low latency, ultra-high reliability, ultra-high speed, and massive connectivity. Compared with terrestrial communication, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) communication has characteristics such as a large coverage area and flexible networking, enabling seamless global network coverage. NTN communication includes using devices such as drones, high-altitude platforms, and satellites to form a network and provide services such as data transmission and voice communication for user equipment (UE).

[0003] Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a method to ensure the reliability of data transmission. HARQ transmission can adopt multiple HARQ processes for parallel processing. When one HARQ process is waiting for an acknowledgment, the sender can use another HARQ process to continue sending information. Similarly, when the receiver is processing the information received by one HARQ process, it can use another HARQ process to continue receiving information. It can be seen that the HARQ technology can improve the data transmission efficiency.

[0004] Significantly different from terrestrial communication, the distance between network devices (such as satellite base stations) and terminal devices is relatively far, resulting in a large round-trip delay. In the prior art, the number of HARQ processes cannot support the transmission in scenarios with a large round-trip delay. Currently, HARQ feedback is turned off during the transmission in large-delay scenarios, which will lead to a reduction in transmission spectral efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product, which are used to improve the data transmission efficiency and the transmission spectral efficiency.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device. The terminal device can be a terminal equipment or a chip system inside the terminal equipment.

[0007] In this method, the terminal device receives first information. The first information includes information indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process. The terminal device updates the transmission window of the process at the update time among the at least one update time, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0008] In the embodiments of the present application, data is transmitted through the mechanism of a process. For a process, after the sender (terminal device or network device) sends a data unit in a transmission window of the process, it can determine whether the data unit is successfully received in a relatively short time. It can be seen that this solution can enable the sender to obtain feedback information relatively quickly, thereby improving the transmission spectral efficiency.

[0009] In the embodiments of the present application, one or more data units can be transmitted in a transmission window of a process. On the other hand, in some scenarios with large transmission delays, after the sender (terminal device or network device) sends a data unit in a transmission window, it takes a long time to receive feedback information, and this period of time is wasted. In order to improve the data transmission rate, the sender can increase the number of processes as much as possible and transmit data through other processes during this period. On the other hand, the number of processes is limited by the maximum number of processes. Based on this, in a possible implementation, multiple data units can be transmitted in one transmission window. In this case, this period of time can be utilized more, thereby improving the data transmission efficiency.

[0010] On the other hand, the transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device may change. Subsequently, if the transmission window between the terminal device and the network device is a fixed value, it may increase the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays. For example, in a satellite communication scenario, as the satellite device moves, the communication elevation angle between the terminal device and the satellite device will change accordingly. If a fixed transmission window is adopted, in the area where the communication elevation angle of the terminal device is large, a larger transmission window may increase the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays.

[0011] Based on the above problems, in the embodiments of the present application, the network device can indicate at least one update time of the transmission window of the process to the terminal device, so that the terminal device and the network device update the transmission window at these times, thereby on the one hand, the utilization rate of time domain resources can be satisfied, and on the other hand, the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays can also be reduced.

[0012] On the other hand, since in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can autonomously update the window length at the update time indicated by the network device, rather than the network device sending a signaling to trigger the terminal device to update at each update time, the number of signaling sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0013] The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives. For example, the time length of a transmission window can be defined, or the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window can be defined. For example, the transmission window of an update process can include: the time length of the transmission window of the update process. For another example, the transmission window of the update process can include: the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the update process. This can improve the flexibility of the solution.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of a process includes: indication information of the time interval between two adjacent update times among the at least one update time. The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of a process includes one or more time intervals. In this way, the terminal device can update the transmission window once every time interval. The update times indicated by the first information can also include these times at every other time interval. This solution can reduce the signaling overhead caused by indicating the update time.

[0015] In another possible implementation, the information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of a process includes: the time information of the at least one update time. In this way, the update time of each time window can be set more flexibly, and thus the update mechanism of the time window can be optimized more.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the terminal device can receive information for indicating the initial value of the transmission window of a process. Or the initial value of the transmission window is preset. In this way, the terminal device can start communicating with the network device with the initial value of the transmission window as the starting point.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the terminal device can receive information for indicating the window update amount. Or the window update amount is preset. The updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update. For example, the updated transmission window is the sum or difference of the window update amount and the transmission window before the update. In this solution, the terminal device can autonomously update the transmission window with the specified window update amount as the step size, and this solution can reduce the operation complexity of updating the transmission window on the terminal device side.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the terminal device can receive information for indicating the boundary value of the transmission window of a process. Or the boundary value of the transmission window is preset.

[0019] In a possible implementation, when the updated transmission window of the process in the terminal device is equal to the window boundary value, the terminal device stops updating the transmission window of the process; or, since the terminal device can obtain the boundary value of the window, the terminal device can control the transmission window within a certain range, thereby avoiding the problem that the updated transmission window after multiple updates cannot meet the minimum requirements.

[0020] In another possible implementation, when the updated transmission window of the process in the terminal device is equal to the window boundary value, at the update time among at least one update time, starting from the window boundary value, the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process and communicates based on the length of the updated transmission window of the process. This solution can also be understood as the terminal device performing reverse update. During the reverse update process, the terminal device updates the transmission window from the boundary value of the transmission window to the initial value of the transmission window step by step, and can stop updating when reaching the initial value of the transmission window. The update time for each update is the update time determined according to the first information. The update step size for each update is the window update amount. In this way, during one over-the-horizon process of the satellite device, the terminal device can select a more appropriate transmission window throughout the process, thereby further improving the data transmission efficiency.

[0021] In a possible implementation, after the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process, it sends information indicating that the update of the transmission window of the process is completed. In this way, the terminal device can make the network device know that the terminal device has completed the update of the transmission window.

[0022] In another possible implementation, after the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process, it sends information indicating the updated transmission window of the process. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the updated transmission window it uses to the network device, so that the network device can check whether the configurations used by each other are the same.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the first information is carried in a broadcast message or a multicast message, which can save signaling overhead. Alternatively, the first information is carried in a unicast message, which can facilitate the network device to provide better parameters for a single terminal device.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a master system information block, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, RRC reconfiguration signaling, RRC resume signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information (DCI), or a media access control control element.

[0025] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device. The network device can be a network equipment or a chip system inside the network equipment.

[0026] In this method, the network device sends the first information. The first information includes information indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process. The network device updates the transmission window of the process at the update time among the at least one update time, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0027] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device may indicate at least one update time of the transmission window of the process to the terminal device, so that the terminal device and the network device update the transmission window at these times, thereby on the one hand, the time domain resource utilization rate can be satisfied, and on the other hand, the data scheduling, processing, and feedback latency can be reduced.

[0028] On the other hand, since the terminal device can autonomously update the window length at the update time indicated by the network device, rather than the network device sending a signaling to trigger the terminal device to update at each update time, the number of signals sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner, the network device updates the transmission window of the process, including: updating the time length of the transmission window of the process; or, updating the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process. For related content, refer to the related description in the foregoing first aspect, and details are not described herein again.

[0030] For the related content of the first information and the information indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process, refer to the related description in the foregoing first aspect, and details are not described herein again.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner, the network device may obtain at least one of the information indicating the boundary value of the transmission window of the process, the information indicating the initial value of the transmission window of the process, or the information indicating the window update amount. The updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

[0032] In another possible implementation manner, the network device may send at least one of the information indicating the boundary value of the transmission window of the process, the information indicating the initial value of the transmission window of the process; or, the information indicating the window update amount.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner, when the updated transmission window of the process is equal to the window boundary value, the network device performs one of the following: stopping updating the transmission window of the process; or, at the update time among the at least one update time, starting from the window boundary value, updating the transmission window of the process, and communicating based on the length of the updated transmission window of the process. For related content, refer to the related description in the foregoing first aspect, and details are not described herein again.

[0034] In a possible implementation, after updating the transmission window of a process, the network device receives at least one of the following: information for indicating that the update of the transmission window of the process is completed; or, information for indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0035] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device. The terminal device may be a terminal device or a chip system inside the terminal device.

[0036] In this method, the terminal device receives second information. The terminal device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the second information to obtain a first transmission window. The terminal device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window and communicates based on the first transmission window when determining that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated according to the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window.

[0037] Since the terminal device can calculate whether the transmission window needs to be updated according to the second information and update it independently when needed, on the one hand, it can meet the time-domain resource utilization rate, on the other hand, it can also reduce the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delay, and can save signaling overhead.

[0038] The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives. For example, the time length of a transmission window can be defined, or the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window can be defined.

[0039] In a possible implementation, updating the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window includes: the terminal device updating the time length of the transmission window of the process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window. Or, updating the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window includes: the terminal device updating the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window. This can improve the flexibility of the solution.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point. The location information of the service link reference point may be the location information of the terminal device, or a location information within the area where the terminal device is located, or the location information of a reference point within the area where the terminal device is located. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in the same device, and the terminal device can obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information). The terminal device can calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device according to the location of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point.

[0041] In another possible implementation, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point and the location information of the feeding link reference point. The location information of the feeding link reference point may be the location information of a network device (such as a gateway) or the location information of a location near the network device. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in different devices. The terminal device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information). The terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeding link reference point) based on the location of the satellite device, the location information of the service link reference point, and the location information of the feeding link reference point.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the terminal device determines the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device according to the second information and the location information of the satellite device. The terminal device calculates the transmission window of the process based on the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit, and obtains the first transmission window. In this way, the first transmission window can be associated with these parameters, so that the calculated first transmission window can better match the current actual situation. The setting of the first transmission window can further improve the data transmission efficiency.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated when the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process meet the first condition.

[0044] Among them, the first condition may include: the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is greater than or equal to the time length threshold; or, the absolute value of the difference between the number of data units transmitted within the current transmission window of the process and the number of data units transmitted within the first transmission window is greater than or equal to the number threshold. In this way, frequent update of the transmission window can be avoided, thereby reducing the complexity of the solution.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the time length threshold and / or the number threshold are preset values. Or the terminal device receives the time length threshold and / or the number threshold (such as receiving from the network device).

[0046] In a possible implementation, after the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, the terminal device sends information indicating that the update of the transmission window of the process is completed. In this way, the terminal device can make the network device know that the terminal device has completed the update of the transmission window.

[0047] In another possible implementation, after the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, the terminal device sends information for indicating the updated transmission window of the process. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the updated transmission window it uses to the network device, so that the network device can check whether the configurations used by each other are the same.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the second information is carried in a broadcast message or a multicast message, which can save signaling overhead. Alternatively, the second information can also be carried in a unicast message, which can facilitate the network device to provide better parameters for a single terminal device.

[0049] In a possible implementation, the second information is carried in one of the following: system information block, master system information block, RRC signaling, RRC reconfiguration signaling, RRC resume signaling, downlink control information, group DCI, or medium access control control element.

[0050] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device. The network device can be a network equipment or a chip system inside the network equipment.

[0051] In this method, the network device sends the second information. The network device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the second information to obtain the first transmission window. The network device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window and communicates based on the first transmission window when it is determined that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated according to the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window.

[0052] Since the network device can calculate whether the transmission window needs to be updated according to the second information and update it independently when it needs to be updated, on the one hand, it can meet the time-domain resource utilization rate, on the other hand, it can also reduce the data scheduling, processing and feedback delay, and can save signaling overhead.

[0053] The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives. For example, the time length of a transmission window can be defined, or the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window can be defined.

[0054] In a possible implementation, when the network device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, it includes: the network device updates the time length of the transmission window of the process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window. Or, the network device updates the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window. This can improve the flexibility of the solution.

[0055] In a possible implementation manner, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point. The location information of the service link reference point may be the location information of the terminal device, or a location information within the area where the terminal device is located, or the location information of the reference point within the area where the terminal device is located. In this implementation manner, the network device and the satellite device may be located in the same device. The network device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information), and the network device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device according to the location of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point.

[0056] In another possible implementation manner, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point and the location information of the feeding link reference point. The location information of the feeding link reference point may be the location information of the network device (such as a gateway) or the location information of a location near the network device. In this implementation manner, the network device and the satellite device may be located in different devices. The network device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information). The network device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeding link reference point) according to the location of the satellite device, the location information of the service link reference point, and the location information of the feeding link reference point.

[0057] In a possible implementation manner, the network device determines the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device according to the second information and the location information of the satellite device. The network device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit, and obtains the first transmission window. The relevant content is similar to a possible implementation manner of the foregoing third aspect and will not be elaborated herein.

[0058] In a possible implementation manner, the network device determines to update the transmission window of the process when the first condition is satisfied. The relevant content of the first condition can be found in the description of the foregoing third aspect and will not be elaborated herein.

[0059] In a possible implementation manner, the network device sends a time length threshold and / or a quantity threshold. Alternatively, the time length threshold and / or the quantity threshold are preset values.

[0060] In a possible implementation manner, the network device receives information indicating that the update of the transmission window of the process is completed. In this way, the terminal device can let the network device know that the terminal device has completed the update of the transmission window.

[0061] In another possible implementation manner, the network device receives information indicating the updated transmission window of the process. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the updated transmission window used by itself to the network device so that the network device can check whether the configurations used by each other are the same.

[0062] For the content related to the second piece of information, reference can be made to the foregoing third aspect, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0063] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the foregoing terminal device or network device. The communication device may include a communication unit and a processing unit to perform any one of the foregoing first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects. The communication unit is used to perform functions related to sending and receiving. The communication unit may be referred to as a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, the processing unit may be one or more processors or processor cores, and the communication unit may be the input / output circuit, input / output interface or antenna port of the communication chip.

[0064] In another design, the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit is a transmitter and a receiver.

[0065] Optionally, the communication device further includes various modules that can be used to perform any one of the foregoing first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects.

[0066] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the foregoing terminal device or network device. The communication device may include a processor and a memory to perform any one of the foregoing first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects. Optionally, a transceiver is further included. The memory is used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor is used to call and run the computer programs or instructions from the memory. When the processor executes the computer programs or instructions in the memory, the communication device is caused to perform any one of the foregoing first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects.

[0067] Optionally, there is one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0068] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory is separately provided from the processor.

[0069] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (emitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0070] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device or network device. The communication device may include a processor configured to perform any one of the first to fourth aspects above, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects. The processor is coupled to a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0071] In one implementation, when the communication device is a terminal device or a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0072] In yet another implementation, when the communication device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or a related circuit, etc. on the chip or chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0073] In an eighth aspect, a system is provided, the system including the aforementioned terminal device.

[0074] In a possible implementation, the system may further include a network device.

[0075] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product including: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instruction), when the computer program is run, causing the computer to perform any one of the first to fourth aspects above, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects.

[0076] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable medium storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code, or instruction), when it runs on a computer, causing the computer to perform any one of the first to fourth aspects above, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects.

[0077] In an eleventh aspect, a processing device is provided, including: an interface circuit and a processing circuit. The interface circuit may include an input circuit and an output circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that any one of the first to fourth aspects above, or any possible implementation manner of the first to fourth aspects is implemented.

[0078] In the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processing device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be transistors, gate circuits, flip-flops, and various logic circuits, etc. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example but not limited to, a receiver. The signal output by the output circuit may be output to, for example but not limited to, a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. Moreover, the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which serves as the input circuit and the output circuit at different times respectively. The present application does not limit the specific implementation manners of the processor and various circuits.

[0079] In one implementation manner, when the communication device is a terminal device or a network device, the interface circuit may be a radio frequency processing chip in the terminal device or the network device, and the processing circuit may be a baseband processing chip in the terminal device or the network device.

[0080] In another implementation manner, the communication device may be some components in the terminal device or the network device, such as integrated circuit products like a system-on-chip or a communication chip, etc. The interface circuit may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or a related circuit, etc. on the chip or the chip system. The processing circuit may be the logic circuit on the chip. Description of the Drawings

[0081] Figure 1A It is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0082] Figure 1B It is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of another communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0083] Figure 1C It is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of another communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0084] Figure 2 It is a possible flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0085] Figure 3 It is a possible schematic diagram of data transmission between a sender and a receiver applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0086] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0087] Figure 5 It is a possible example of the correlation between the communication elevation angle and the process window of the terminal device provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0088] Figure 6 It is a possible flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0089] Figure 7 A possible schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] Figure 8 For the application Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the change of a transmission window of an embodiment provided;

[0091] Figure 9 A possible schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] Figure 10 A possible schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] Figure 11 Another possible schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0094] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: terrestrial communication systems, NTN communication systems, such as satellite communication systems. Among them, the satellite communication system can be integrated with the mobile communication system. For example: the mobile communication system can be a fourth-generation (4th Generation, 4G) communication system (for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth-generation (5th Generation, 5G) communication system (for example, a new radio (NR) system), and future mobile communication systems, etc. The mobile communication system can also be a vehicle to everything (V2X) system, an internet of things (IoT) system.

[0095] Figure 1A and Figure 1B Exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of the network architecture of several communication systems applicable to the embodiments of the present application. The communication system can include satellites, network devices, terminal devices, etc. The communication system can also include gateways and core network devices. Figure 1A and Figure 1B Exemplarily shows the integrated network architecture of NTN and the terrestrial network. The following will be introduced with reference to the drawings.

[0096] (1) Satellite.

[0097] The satellite can be a highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) satellite, a GEO satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, or a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the working mode of the satellite. For example, the working mode of the satellite can be a transparent mode or a regenerative mode. Figure 1A Taking the transparent mode of the satellite as an example for illustration, Figure 1B Taking the regenerative mode of the satellite as an example for illustration.

[0098] When the satellite operates in the transparent mode, the satellite has the function of transparent relay forwarding. The gateway has the function of a network device (such as a base station) or part of the function of a network device (such as a base station). At this time, the gateway can be regarded as a network device (such as a base station). Or, the network device (such as a base station) can be deployed separately from the gateway. Then, the delay of the feeder link includes two parts: the delay from the satellite to the gateway and the delay from the gateway to the gNB. The following discussion of the transparent mode takes the case where the gateway and the gNB are together or in close proximity as an example. For the case where the gateway and the gNB are far apart, the feeder link delay can be obtained by adding the delay from the satellite to the gateway and the delay from the gateway to the gNB.

[0099] When the satellite operates in the regenerative mode, the satellite has data processing capabilities and has the function of a network device (such as a base station) or part of the function of a network device (such as a base station). At this time, the satellite can be regarded as a network device (such as a base station).

[0100] The satellite can communicate wirelessly with the terminal through broadcast communication signals, navigation signals, etc. Optionally, each satellite can provide communication services, navigation services, positioning services, etc. for the terminal device through multiple beams. For example, each satellite uses multiple beams to cover the service area, and the relationship between different beams can be one or more of time division, frequency division, and space division.

[0101] (2) Gateway.

[0102] The gateway (also known as a ground station, earth station, gateway station, or border station) (gateway) can be used to connect the satellite and the ground network device (such as a ground base station). One or more satellites can be connected to one or more ground network devices (such as ground base stations) through one or more gateways, which is not limited here.

[0103] The link between the satellite and the terminal is called the service link, and the link between the satellite and the gateway is called the feeder link. The network device can be deployed separately from the gateway. Then, the latency of the feeder link can include two parts: the latency from the satellite to the gateway and the latency from the gateway to the network device.

[0104] (3) Network device.

[0105] The network device in the embodiments of this application may include a network device deployed on the satellite (such as a satellite base station), may also include a network device deployed on the gateway, and may also include a network device deployed on the ground (such as a ground base station).

[0106] The network device involved in the embodiments of this application may be a radio access network (RAN) node. The RAN may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, an NR system, and a future radio access system defined in the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The RAN may also include two or more different radio access systems mentioned above. The RAN may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0107] The RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, a RAN entity, or an access node, is used to help the terminal access the communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, the RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation NodeB in the 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. The RAN node may be a macro base station, a micro base station, or an indoor station, and may also be a relay node or a donor node.

[0108] In another application scenario, the wireless access of a terminal can be assisted by the cooperation of multiple RAN nodes, and different RAN nodes respectively implement some functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). Here, the CU completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete some or all of the functions of the physical layer. For the specific descriptions of the above various protocol layers, reference can be made to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. The RU can be used to implement the functions of receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals. The CU and the DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or can be integrated in the same RAN node, for example, integrated in the baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in the radio frequency device, for example, included in the remote radio unit (RRU) or the active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0109] In different systems, the RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in the O-RAN system, the CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), the DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and the RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN nodes in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software modules and hardware modules. For example, the RAN node can be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the RAN nodes. For the convenience of description, the base station is used as an example of the RAN node in the following description.

[0110] (4) Core network equipment (core network, CN).

[0111] A core network device is a device installed on the ground and capable of communicating with NTN devices in an NTN system. The CN device is a network element included in the CN part of a mobile communication system. The CN device can connect a terminal device to different data networks and perform services such as authentication, charging, mobility management, session management, policy control, and user plane forwarding. The CN device can be a CN device in the current mobile communication system (such as the 5th generation (5 th generation, 5G) mobile communication system) or a CN device in a future mobile communication system. In mobile communication systems with different standards, the names of CN devices with the same functions may vary. However, the embodiments of this application do not limit the specific names of CN devices with each function.

[0112] For example, in the 4th generation (4 th generation, 4G) mobile communication system (i.e., Long Term Evolution (LTE)), the network element responsible for functions such as access control, security control, and signaling coordination is the Mobility Management Entity (MME); the network element serving as the local mobility management anchor is the Serving Gateway (S-GW); the network element serving as the anchor for handover to an external data network and responsible for Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation is the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW); the network element storing user-related data and subscription data is the Home Subscriber Server (HSS); the network element responsible for policy and charging functions is called the Policy and Charging Rule Function (PCRF) network element.

[0113] For another example, in a 5G mobile communication system, according to specific logical functions, the core network can be divided into a control plane (CP) and a user plane (UP). Among them, the network elements responsible for the control plane functions in the CN can be collectively referred to as control plane network elements, and the network elements responsible for the user plane functions can be collectively referred to as user plane network elements. Specifically, in the user plane, the network element that serves as the interface of the data network and is responsible for functions such as user plane data forwarding is the user plane function (UPF) network element. In the control plane, the network element responsible for access control and mobility management functions is called the access and mobility management function (AMF) network element; the network element responsible for session management and the execution of control policies is called the session management function (SMF) network element; the network element responsible for functions such as managing subscription data and user access authorization is called the unified data management (UDM) network element; the network element responsible for charging and policy control functions is called the policy and charging function (PCF) network element; the application function (AF) network element responsible for transmitting the requirements of the application side to the network side.

[0114] (5) Terminal.

[0115] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver functions that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver functions, a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal.

[0116] The embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication system architectures, such as air-to-ground (ATG) communication systems, which include at least one network device and at least one high-altitude terminal. High-altitude terminals include, for example, high-altitude aircraft and on-board terminals, etc. The above-mentioned Figure 1A and Figure 1B The satellites in can also be replaced by other relay devices, such as other NTN devices like high altitude platform station (HAPS), etc. Figure 1A Or Figure 1B Taking the communication system shown as an example does not limit the communication systems to which the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable.

[0117] It can be understood that the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to air-to-ground (ATG) communication systems. As an example, please refer to Figure 1C , which is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of another communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application. This communication system includes at least one network device and at least one high-altitude terminal device. High-altitude terminal devices include, for example, high-altitude aircraft and on-board terminal devices, etc.

[0118] Based on Figure 1A , Figure 1B and Figure 1C the content shown and the above other content, Figure 2 an exemplary possible flowchart of a communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is shown. For ease of understanding, Figure 2 the interaction between a terminal device, a network device, and a satellite device is taken as an example for introduction. The satellite device in the embodiments of the present application can be the satellite in Figure 1A or Figure 1B or a chip system inside the satellite. The terminal device can be the terminal in Figure 1A , Figure 1B or Figure 1C or a chip system inside the terminal. The network device can be the network device in Figure 1A , Figure 1B or Figure 1C or a chip system inside the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can be integrated with the satellite device into the same device. For example, both the network device and the satellite device are satellite base stations. In this case, it can also be understood that the satellite device operates in a regeneration mode. In another possible implementation, the network device and the satellite device can belong to two devices. In this case, it can also be understood that the satellite device operates in a transparent transmission mode.

[0119] For example, as in Figure 2As shown, the method includes step 201, step 202, and step 203. In one possible implementation, the method may further include step 204, and step 204 is an optional step and may not be executed.

[0120] This will be introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0121] Step 201, the network device sends the first information.

[0122] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information. The first information includes information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window for the process.

[0123] In the embodiments of the present application, a process may be referred to as a thread. Data may be transmitted between the network device and the terminal device through multiple processes. For a process, the sender may send one or more data units to the receiver within a transmission window of a process. A data unit may include: a transport block (TB), or data carried by a frame, or data carried by a subframe, or data carried by a slot, or data carried by a symbol. In the embodiments of the present application, the sender and the receiver may be the terminal device and the network device respectively. For example, when the sender is the terminal device, the receiver may be the network device. Another example is that when the sender is the network device, the receiver may be the terminal device.

[0124] For ease of understanding, Figure 3 An exemplary schematic diagram of data transmission between a sender and a receiver applicable to the embodiments of the present application is shown. As Figure 3 shown, data is transmitted between the sender and the receiver through process #0, process #1, and process #2.

[0125] For a process, such as process #0, after the sender finishes sending the data unit (taking the data unit as TB as an example) within a transmission window of process #0 (such as transmission window #00), the sender may stop transmitting data units through process #0, and the sender waits for the receiver to confirm whether it has received the data units sent within transmission window #00. The number of data units transmitted within a transmission window may be one or more, and the data units transmitted within a transmission window may also be referred to as a group of data units. Figure 3

[0126] ​In a possible implementation, after the sender finishes sending the data units within transmission window #00 and receives the acknowledgement (ACK) feedback from the receiver (the ACK corresponding to the data units within transmission window #00), it can be considered that the receiver has successfully received the data units sent within transmission window #00. When it is confirmed that the receiver has successfully received the data units sent within transmission window #00, the sender can send other data units within the next transmission window of process #0 (such as transmission window #01). When it is confirmed that the receiver has not successfully received the data units sent within transmission window #00, the sender can retransmit the data units within transmission window #00 through transmission window #01, thereby solving the problem of error codes. It can be seen that in the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, the sender can perform retransmission in units of one transmission window.

[0127] The retransmission involved in the embodiments of the present application can be located at the physical (PHY) / MAC layer. Figure 3 It is exemplified that the receiver fails to decode the data units within transmission window #00 and then returns a NACK, and the receiver returns an ACK for the data units within other transmission windows. An ACK can indicate successful transmission, and a NACK can indicate transmission failure.

[0128] From Figure 3 the content, it can be seen that when the sender finishes sending the data units within one transmission window through one process, it needs to stop and wait for the feedback from the receiver, which results in very low throughput. In the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, the sender can perform parallel processing through multiple processes, that is, when one process is waiting for confirmation, the sender can use another process to continue sending information. Similarly, when the receiver is processing the information received by one process, it can use another process to continue receiving information. For example Figure 3 in, after the sender finishes sending the data units through process #0 and during the time of waiting for the feedback information, it can also send data units through process #1 and process #2.

[0129] In the embodiments of the present application, the sender and the receiver can be configured with a maximum number of processes. The maximum number of processes only represents the upper limit of the number of processes, and not all processes will be used. For example, the maximum number of processes can be 32, and the number of processes used by the sender and the receiver can be 32, or a value less than 32.

[0130] The transmission window of the process in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a transmission opportunity, a transmission chance, or a TB group window. The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives. For example, the time length of a transmission window can be defined, or the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window can be defined.

[0131] For example, the time length of a transmission window of a process is a specified value. The dimension of the time length of the transmission window can be the slot length, or it can be milliseconds (ms), seconds, sub-frame length, frame length, etc. For example, if the time length of the transmission window is 5 milliseconds, the sender can send one or more data units within a transmission window of this process (the duration of this transmission window is 5 milliseconds). When the time lengths of two transmission windows are the same, since the data units may be continuous or discretely distributed in the time domain, the number of data units transmitted within these two transmission windows may be the same or different. For example, the time lengths of transmission window #11 and transmission window #12 are both 5 milliseconds, but 1 data unit is transmitted within transmission window #11, and 4 data units may be transmitted within transmission window #11.

[0132] Another example, for instance, the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window of a process is a specified value, such as 5. Then the sender can send 5 data units within a transmission window of this process. When the number of data units to be transmitted within two transmission windows is the same, since the data units may be continuous or discretely distributed in the time domain, the time lengths of these two transmission windows may be the same or different. For example, the sender transmits 5 data units within transmission window #11 and 5 data units within transmission window #12, but the time length of transmission window #11 may be 5 milliseconds, and the time length of transmission window #12 may be 10 milliseconds.

[0133] In a possible implementation manner, a transmission window of a process in the embodiments of the present application (the time length of this transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within this transmission window) may be related to multiple factors. For example, it may be related to the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. In some scenarios, such as in the satellite scenario, the terminal device needs to communicate with the network device through the satellite device. In this case, a transmission window (the time length of this transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within this transmission window) may also be related to the satellite orbital altitude and the positional relationship between the satellite device and the area served by this satellite device.

[0134] In a possible implementation manner, a transmission window of a process can be determined by the following formula (1):

[0135]

[0136] In formula (1), RTT represents the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device, max_process_num can represent the maximum number of processes supported by the system, and slot_duration can represent the time length occupied by a data unit (such as the slot length). represents rounding up. It can be seen that the transmission window of a process can be related to the round-trip delay.

[0137] In a possible implementation, since the satellite device moves, the communication elevation angle of the terminal device changes. The change in the communication elevation angle can also be understood as a change in the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. In this case, the transmission window required by the terminal device at different communication elevation angles (the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window) may be different.

[0138] Figure 4 Exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application, as Figure 4 shown, the satellite device moves, Figure 4 shows the positions of the satellite device at time t0, time t1, and time t2. The communication elevation angles of the terminal device corresponding to different positions are different. The communication elevation angle can be the angle between the line connecting the satellite device and the terminal device and the horizon (the horizon at the location of the terminal device). Figure 4 shows the communication elevation angle r corresponding to the terminal device at time t0 0 , the communication elevation angle r corresponding to the terminal device at time t1 1 , the communication elevation angle r corresponding to the terminal device at time t2 2 . It can be seen that at time t2, the satellite device is directly above the terminal device, and the communication elevation angle r 2 of the terminal device is 90 degrees, which is the largest. Taking one satellite device overpass as an example, the communication elevation angle of the terminal device will experience a process of changing from small to large and then from large to small.

[0139] Figure 5 Exemplarily shows a possible example of the correlation between the communication elevation angle of the terminal device and the process window provided by the embodiment of the present application, as Figure 5 shown. Taking the orbital height of the satellite device as 1200 kilometers as an example, the round-trip transmission delay range for different communication elevation angles is 16 milliseconds to 32.7 milliseconds, and the minimum time length range of a transmission window of the corresponding process is 4 to 9 slot lengths. Please refer to Figure 5 . When the communication elevation angle is 20 degrees, a transmission window of a process requires 9 slot lengths. When the communication elevation angle is 20 degrees, a transmission window of a process requires 4 slot lengths. Other parameters are similar and will not be elaborated.

[0140] In order to meet the time domain resource utilization of the terminal device with the minimum communication elevation angle (for example, the round-trip delay is 32.7ms), the time length of the transmission window of a process corresponding to the terminal device is greater than or equal to 9 time slots. However, when the communication elevation angle of the terminal device is larger, such as when the satellite device moves to the top of the terminal device, the transmission round-trip delay is reduced, and the time required for a transmission window of the process is also reduced. For example, only 4 time slots are needed to meet the time domain resource utilization. However, if a fixed transmission window is always maintained between the terminal device and the network device during the entire process of the satellite device passing over the top, then in the area where the communication elevation angle of the terminal device is larger, a larger transmission window may increase the data scheduling, processing and feedback delay.

[0141] Figure 5 The time length of the transmission window is used as an example to introduce the scheme. When a transmission window is defined by the number of data units that can be transmitted in the transmission window, the scheme is similar. In order to meet the time domain resource utilization of the terminal device with the minimum communication angle (for example, the round-trip delay is 32.7ms), the number of data units that need to be transmitted in the transmission window of a process corresponding to the terminal device needs to be the number of data units that can be transmitted in a transmission window when the communication angle is small, and this value is larger. However, in areas with large communication angles, when the number of data units that can be transmitted in a transmission window is large, data scheduling, processing and feedback delays may increase.

[0142] In view of the above situation, in the embodiment of the present application, the network device can indicate at least one update time of the transmission window of the process to the terminal device, so that the terminal device and the network device update the transmission window at these times, thereby satisfying the time domain resource utilization on the one hand, and reducing the data scheduling, processing and feedback delay on the other hand.

[0143] In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple implementations of the network device indicating time. The following describes two implementations by way of example through implementation A1 and implementation A2. In implementation A1, the network device indicates a time interval for the terminal device. In implementation A2, the network device indicates a specific time for the terminal device.

[0144] Implementation A1, the network device indicates a time interval to the terminal device.

[0145] In implementation A1, the information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: indication information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time. This can reduce the signaling overhead caused by indicating the update time.

[0146] The time interval can be represented as △T, and the terminal device updates the time window every △T. For example, △T is 2 minutes. The terminal device updates the transmission window every 2 minutes. In the embodiments of the present application, after updating the transmission window, the transmission windows in all processes used are enabled with new configurations, that is, the updated transmission window is enabled.

[0147] In the embodiments of the present application, the time interval can be a time length, and the unit of the time length can be a frame, a sub-frame, a time slot, a symbol, or 1 ms, etc. For example, △T is 10 frames (which can also be understood as the time length occupied by 10 frames), and the terminal device updates the transmission window every 10 frames. In the embodiments of the present application, the network device also synchronously updates the transmission window. The scheme for the network device to update the transmission window is similar to that of the terminal device to update the transmission window, and will not be described repeatedly.

[0148] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can configure multiple time intervals △T. For example, the network device can configure two △T, which are 1 minute and 6 seconds and 53 seconds respectively.

[0149] In a possible implementation manner, when the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes smaller (the time length or the number of data units of the updated transmission window is less than that before the update), the terminal device can select the larger value among the multiple configured time intervals (such as 1 minute and 6 seconds). When the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes larger (the time length or the number of data units of the updated transmission window is greater than that before the update), the terminal device can select the smaller value among the multiple configured time intervals (such as 53 seconds).

[0150] In another possible implementation manner, the multiple time intervals can be associated with time, and the terminal device can update the transmission window using the time interval associated with the time within this time. Alternatively, the multiple time intervals are associated with the update process, and when updating the transmission window each time, the time interval associated with this update process is used to update the transmission window.

[0151] In another possible implementation, when multiple time intervals are configured, the network device may configure a usage count for each time interval, where the usage count is used to indicate the number of times the time interval is used. The indication information of the usage count may be carried in the same signaling as the information indicating the time interval, or may be carried in different signaling respectively. For example, the network device configures time interval #1 and time interval #2, the usage count corresponding to time interval #1 is k1, and the usage count corresponding to time interval #2 is k2, where both k1 and k2 are positive integers. For example, k1 is 3 and k2 is 1. The terminal device may first use time interval #1 for updating. After updating 3 times (k1 times), it enables time interval #2 for updating, and time interval #2 is used 1 time. There may be a sorting relationship between time interval #1 and time interval #2, and the terminal device may sequentially use time interval #1 first and then time interval #2.

[0152] In Embodiment A2, the network device indicates the specific time to the terminal device.

[0153] In Embodiment A2, the information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window for the process includes: the time information of at least one update time. In this way, the update time of each time window can be set more flexibly, and thus the update mechanism of the time window can be optimized more.

[0154] The at least one update time may include one or more. Taking the at least one update time including multiple update times as an example, the time information of the update time may be expressed as T1, T2, T3..., and the terminal device updates the time window at these update times T1, T2, T3....

[0155] In the embodiments of the present application, the update time may be a time (such as absolute time or relative time). Among them, the absolute time may be coordinated universal time (UTC), Greenwich Mean Time, Beijing Time, etc. The relative time may be a time indication relative to the downlink data frame number, subframe number, time slot number, symbol index, etc. For example, it may be the index number of a frame. For example, the update time includes frame #1, frame #11, and frame #21. Among them, frame #1, frame #11, and frame #21 are the index numbers of the frames. The terminal device updates the transmission window once at frame #1 (such as the start time or end time of the frame or a certain time during the frame transmission), and enables the updated transmission window for transmission; the terminal device updates the transmission window once at frame #11 and enables the updated transmission window for transmission; the terminal device updates the transmission window once at frame #21 and enables the updated transmission window for transmission. In the embodiments of the present application, the network device also synchronously updates the transmission window. The scheme for the network device to update the transmission window is similar to that of the terminal device to update the transmission window, and will not be described repeatedly.

[0156] Step 202: At the update time among at least one update time, the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0157] Step 203: At the update time among at least one update time, the network device updates the transmission window of the process, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0158] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and the network device can each update the transmission window. Updating the transmission window can be the time length of the transmission window of the process. Or, updating the transmission window is the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process.

[0159] Next, three parameters related to the embodiments of the present application are introduced respectively: the initial value of the transmission window, the boundary value of the transmission window, and the window update amount. The initial value of the transmission window and the boundary value of the transmission window in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as two values, and their names can be changed. For example, the initial value of the transmission window can be called the first value, and the boundary value of the transmission window can be called the second value, and the first value and the second value are different. The window update amount can also be understood as a value, or a step size, etc., and the name of the window update amount can also be replaced, such as it can be replaced with the third value, window update value, etc.

[0160] (1) The initial value of the transmission window.

[0161] In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device can obtain the initial value of the transmission window. The initial value of the transmission window can be agreed upon or indicated by the network device. For example, the network device can send the initial value of the transmission window to the terminal device. The information used to indicate the initial value of the transmission window can be carried in the first information or other information.

[0162] The terminal device and the network device can start with the initial value of the transmission window for data transmission. The initial value of the transmission window can be understood as the value of the transmission window of a process when the terminal device and the network device first transmit through the process. The initial value of the transmission window can be the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units that can be sent within the transmission window.

[0163] The initial value of the transmission window determined by the network device can be determined according to the corresponding communication elevation angle between the terminal device (or the service link reference point within the coverage area of the satellite device, where the terminal device is located within the coverage area of the satellite device) and the satellite device (such as the satellite device at the current location). In a possible implementation manner, the initial value of the transmission window can also be determined according to the height of the satellite device (such as the satellite device at the current location) from the ground. The communication elevation angle can be the included angle between the line connecting the satellite device at the current location and the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) and the horizon (the horizon at the location of the terminal device or the service link reference point). For example, the network device can determine the transmission window according to formula (1), where the RTT can be the round-trip transmission delay between the current terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located), through the satellite device, and the network device, and the obtained transmission window can be determined as the initial value of the transmission window.

[0164] The initial value of the transmission window can be unicast, and the initial values of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices can be different. The initial value of the transmission window can be multicast or broadcast. For example, the initial values of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices within a cell are the same, and the initial values of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different cells can be different; for another example, the initial values of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices within the coverage range of a beam are the same, and the initial values of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different beam coverage areas can be different. In this way, the network device can configure more reasonable initial values of the transmission window for different terminal devices, or terminal devices in different cells, or terminal devices within different beam coverage ranges. Thereby, the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays can be reduced.

[0165] (2) The boundary value of the transmission window.

[0166] In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device can obtain the boundary value of the transmission window. The boundary value of the transmission window can be agreed upon or indicated by the network device. For example, the network device can send the boundary value of the transmission window to the terminal device. The information used to indicate the boundary value of the transmission window can be carried in the first information or in other information. The terminal device and the network device can take the boundary value of the transmission window as the cut-off.

[0167] For example, when the terminal device updates the transmission window once or multiple times, and the updated transmission window becomes the boundary value of the transmission window, the terminal device can stop the update. Then, subsequent transmissions are carried out with the window boundary value as the transmission window. The update of the transmission window of the network device is similar and will not be elaborated here.

[0168] For another example, when the terminal device updates the transmission window once or multiple times, and the updated transmission window reaches the transmission window boundary value, the terminal device can perform reverse update, that is, starting from the transmission window boundary value, continue to perform the update. The time for the terminal device to perform reverse update can be the update time indicated by the above network device. For example, the terminal device continues to update at time intervals, or for example, the terminal device performs the update at the update time indicated by the above network device. The update of the transmission window of the network device is similar and will not be elaborated here.

[0169] In the embodiments of this application, the boundary value of the transmission window can be the time length of the transmission window, or the number of data units that can be sent within the transmission window.

[0170] The network device determines the boundary value of the transmission window based on the corresponding communication elevation angle between the terminal device (or the service link reference point within the coverage area of the satellite device, where the terminal device is located within the coverage area of the satellite device) and the satellite device (such as the satellite device at a specified moment). In a possible implementation, the boundary value of the transmission window can also be determined based on the height of the satellite device (such as the satellite device at a specified moment) from the ground. The communication elevation angle can be the angle between the line connecting the position of the satellite device at the specified moment and the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) and the horizon. For example, the network device can determine the transmission window according to formula (1), where the RTT can be the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) and the network device through the satellite device at the specified moment, and the obtained transmission window can be determined as the boundary value of the transmission window.

[0171] In the embodiments of this application, the initial value and the boundary value of the transmission window can be regarded as two parameters of the transmission window that the terminal will use at two moments during the movement of the satellite device. For example, the terminal device will update the transmission window from the initial value of the transmission window to the boundary value through one or multiple updates. Since the satellite device is constantly moving, the positions of the satellite device used when calculating the boundary value and the initial value of the transmission window are different.

[0172] For example, the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window may be the starting position or nearby during a single overflight process. For example, it may be Figure 4 a position of the satellite device at one moment between time t0 and time t1 in. The position of the satellite device used to calculate the boundary value of the transmission window can be, for example, the position of the satellite device directly above the terminal device (or the position with the maximum communication elevation angle of the terminal device). For example, Figure 4 the position of the satellite device at time t1 in or nearby. During a single overflight process, the satellite device first passes through the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window, and then passes through the position of the satellite device used to calculate the boundary value of the transmission window.

[0173] For another example, when calculating the initial value of the transmission window, the position of the satellite device may be at or near the position directly above the terminal device (or the position with the maximum communication elevation angle of the terminal device) during a single overflight process. For example, it may be Figure 4 the position of the satellite device at or near time t1 in []. The position of the satellite device used to calculate the boundary value of the transmission window may be, for example, the position of the satellite device at the end of a single overflight process, such as Figure 4 the position of the satellite device at or near time t2 in []. During a single overflight process, the satellite device first passes through the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window, and then passes through the satellite device used to calculate the boundary value of the transmission window.

[0174] The boundary value of the transmission window may be unicast, and the boundary values of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices may be different. The boundary value of the transmission window may be multicast or broadcast. For example, the boundary values of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices in a cell are the same, and the boundary values of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different cells may be different; for another example, the boundary values of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices within the coverage of a beam are the same, and the boundary values of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different beam coverage areas may be different. In this way, the network device can configure more reasonable boundary values of the transmission window for different terminal devices, or terminal devices in different cells, or terminal devices within different beam coverage ranges. Thereby, the data scheduling, processing, and feedback latency can be reduced.

[0175] (3) Window update amount.

[0176] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may obtain information on the window update amount. The updated transmission window is determined based on the window update amount and the transmission window before the update. The window update amount may be represented as △PWL. The updated transmission window is the sum or difference of the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

[0177] In the embodiments of this application, the window update amount may be a time length or the number of data units.

[0178] For example, if the window update amount is a time length, such as 1 time slot, then each time the terminal device updates the transmission window, the time length of the transmission window changes (increases or decreases) by 1 time slot.

[0179] For another example, if the window update amount is the number of data units, such as the number of 1 data unit, then each time the terminal device updates the transmission window, the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window changes (increases or decreases) by 1.

[0180] The window update amount can be agreed upon or indicated for the network device. For example, the network device can send the window update amount to the terminal device. The information used to indicate the window update amount can be carried in the first information or in other information.

[0181] The window update amount can be unicast, and the window update amounts corresponding to two terminal devices can be different. The window update amount can be multicast or broadcast. For example, the window update amounts corresponding to the terminal devices within a cell are the same, and the window update amounts corresponding to two terminal devices in different cells can be different; for another example, the window update amounts corresponding to the terminal devices within the coverage range of a beam are the same, and the window update amounts corresponding to two terminal devices in different beam coverage areas can be different. In this way, the network device can configure more reasonable window update amounts for different terminal devices, or terminal devices in different cells, or terminal devices within different beam coverage ranges. Thereby, the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delay can be reduced.

[0182] In a possible implementation manner, there can be one or more window update amounts. The window update amount can be determined according to the communication elevation angle of the terminal device and the height of the network device from the ground. For example, there are multiple window update amounts. Some possible selection rules can be set for the window update amount. For example, when the terminal device reduces the transmission window (such as the time length of the transmission window becomes shorter or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes smaller), the terminal device can select a larger window update amount. For another example, when the terminal device enlarges the transmission window (such as the time length of the transmission window becomes longer or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes larger), the terminal device can select a smaller window update amount.

[0183] For another example, multiple window update amounts can be associated with time periods and / or geographical locations. For example, when performing window update within a time period, the update is performed with the window update amount corresponding to that time period. For another example, when performing window update, the update is performed with the window update amount corresponding to the current area where the terminal device is located.

[0184] In the embodiments of this application, the network device can configure multiple window update amounts. For example, the network device can configure two window update amounts, namely window update amount #1 and window update amount #2. The time lengths indicated by window update amount #1 and window update amount #2 are different, or the numbers of data units indicated by window update amount #1 and window update amount #2 are different.

[0185] In a possible implementation, when the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes smaller (the time length or the number of data units of the updated transmission window is less than that before the update), the terminal device may select the larger value among the multiple window update amounts configured (such as the window update amount with a larger time length or a larger number of data units). When the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes larger (the time length or the number of data units of the updated transmission window is greater than that before the update), the terminal device may select the smaller value among the multiple window update amounts configured (such as the window update amount with a smaller time length or a smaller number of data units).

[0186] In another possible implementation, the multiple window update amounts may be associated with time, and the terminal device may apply the window update amount associated with the time to update the transmission window within this time. Alternatively, the multiple window update amounts #1 are associated with the update process, and when updating the transmission window each time, the window update amount associated with this update process is used to update the transmission window.

[0187] In another possible implementation, when multiple window update amounts are configured, the network device may configure a usage count for each window update amount, and the usage count is used to indicate the number of times the window update amount is used. The indication information of the usage count may be carried in the same signaling as the information indicating the window update amount, or may be carried in different signaling respectively. For example, the network device configures window update amount #1 and window update amount #2, the usage count corresponding to window update amount #1 is s1, and the usage count corresponding to window update amount #2 is s2. Both s1 and s2 are positive integers. For example, s1 is 3 and s2 is 1. The terminal device may first use window update amount #1 for update. After updating 3 times (s1 times), it enables window update amount #2 for update, and window update amount #2 is used 1 time. There may be a sorting relationship between window update amount #1 and window update amount #2, and the terminal device may use window update amount #1 first in sequence and then use window update amount #2.

[0188] Next, two implementation manners for the terminal device to update the transmission window are exemplarily introduced through Implementation Manner B1 and Implementation Manner B2. In Implementation Manner B1, the terminal device determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the initial value of the transmission window and the boundary value of the transmission window. In Implementation Manner B2, the terminal device determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the current transmission window and the boundary value of the transmission window.

[0189] In Implementation Manner B1, the terminal device determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the initial value of the transmission window and the boundary value of the transmission window.

[0190] In Embodiment B1, the terminal device can compare the initial value of the transmission window with the boundary value of the transmission window. When the initial value of the transmission window is greater than the boundary value of the transmission window, the terminal device can update the transmission window according to the following formula (1):

[0191] PWL_new = PWL_old - △PWL... Formula (1)

[0192] In the above formula (1), PWL_old is the transmission window before update, △PWL is the window update amount, and PWL_new is the transmission window after update.

[0193] When the initial value of the transmission window is less than the boundary value of the transmission window, the terminal device can update the transmission window according to the following formula (2):

[0194] PWL_new = PWL_old + △PWL... Formula (2)

[0195] For the meanings of the parameters in the above formula (2), refer to the content in the foregoing formula (1), and details will not be elaborated.

[0196] In Embodiment B2, the terminal device determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the current transmission window and the boundary value of the transmission window.

[0197] In Embodiment B2, the terminal device can compare the current transmission window with the boundary value of the transmission window. When the current transmission window is greater than the boundary value of the transmission window, the terminal device can update the transmission window according to Formula (1).

[0198] When the current transmission window is less than the boundary value of the transmission window, the terminal device can update the transmission window according to Formula (2).

[0199] The embodiments in which the network device updates the transmission window are similar to the above Embodiment B1 and Embodiment B2. The network device and the terminal device use the same transmission window configuration, and the process of the network device updating the transmission window will not be elaborated.

[0200] Step 204, the terminal device sends the third information.

[0201] Correspondingly, the network device receives the third information.

[0202] The third information includes information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed, and / or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0203] The information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed can be ACK information to notify the network device that the terminal device has completed the update.

[0204] In the embodiments of the present application, since the terminal device can autonomously update the window length at the update time indicated by the network device, rather than the network device sending a signaling to trigger the terminal device to update at each update time, the number of signals sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead. In another possible implementation, if the update transmission window is at the terminal device granularity, for example, the initial values, boundary values, or window update amounts of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices may be different. For another example, the network device can configure parameters for the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device or the communication elevation angle of the terminal device. In this case, if the network device wants to send an update instruction, the signaling overhead will be greater, resulting in the update of the transmission window not being applicable to the terminal device granularity. After applying the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, signaling overhead can be saved, and then the update transmission window can be configured to be at the terminal device granularity, thereby further reducing the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delay of the terminal device.

[0205] In one possible implementation, data can be transmitted between the terminal device and the network device through multiple processes. If the update time of the transmission window of a process is earlier than a currently used transmission window, the priority of the currently used transmission window can be set higher until the updated transmission window becomes effective after the currently used transmission window ends. In this way, the update process of the transmission window will not interfere with the currently used transmission window.

[0206] In another possible implementation, the terminal device and the network device can obtain the start time of an update transmission window mechanism. For example, the network device can send this time to the terminal device, so that the network device and the terminal device simultaneously enable the mechanism of the update transmission window (which can also be called the automatic update transmission window) at this time (for example, execute the above steps 202 and 203). The start time of the update transmission window mechanism can be an absolute time or a relative time (refer to the description of the above absolute time and relative time), or an index number of a frame. So that the network device and the terminal device enable the mechanism of the update transmission window at the time corresponding to the same frame (such as the start time, end time, or a specified time in the frame).

[0207] Based on Figure 2 In the shown implementation, the terminal device (or the network device) can stop updating the transmission window after the transmission window is updated to the boundary value of the transmission window. Or the terminal device (or the network device) can stop updating the transmission window after all the update times indicated by the network device have updated the transmission window, because there is no update time (for example, in the implementation where the network device indicates a limited number of times, such as the above implementation A2). Therefore, the terminal device (or the network device) stops updating the transmission window. The above implementation A1 can be understood as the network device indicating an infinite number of update times.

[0208] In another possible implementation, the terminal device (or network device) may reverse-update the transmission window after the transmission window is updated to the boundary value of the transmission window. In the embodiments of the present application, reverse-updating the transmission window may refer to the process in which the first device updates the transmission window from the boundary value of the transmission window to the initial value of the transmission window. Reverse-updating the transmission window is just a naming method. In practical applications, it can also be understood as a way to update the transmission window, and this name can also be replaced with other names. The terminal device and the network device may both perform reverse-updating the transmission window, or neither of them performs reverse-updating the transmission window, but the transmission windows used after the update by the terminal device and the network device need to be consistent for communication.

[0209] In another possible implementation, the network device may configure information for indicating whether reverse-updating is required, so that the terminal device can determine whether reverse-updating is required.

[0210] The following exemplarily introduces two implementation manners of reverse-updating the transmission window by the terminal device (or network device) through Implementation Manner C1 and Implementation Manner C2. In Implementation Manner C1, the terminal device (or network device) determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the boundary value of the transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window. In Implementation Manner C2, the terminal device (or network device) determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the current transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window.

[0211] In Implementation Manner C1, the terminal device (or network device) determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the boundary value of the transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window.

[0212] In Implementation Manner C1, the terminal device (or network device) may compare the magnitudes of the boundary value of the transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window. When the boundary value of the transmission window is greater than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) may update the transmission window according to formula (1).

[0213] When the boundary value of the transmission window is less than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) may update the transmission window according to formula (2).

[0214] In Implementation Manner C2, the terminal device (or network device) determines the change trend of the transmission window according to the current transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window.

[0215] In Embodiment C2, the terminal device (or network device) can compare the size of the current transmission window with the initial value of the transmission window. If the current transmission window is greater than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) can update the transmission window according to Formula (1). If the current transmission window is less than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) can update the transmission window according to Formula (2).

[0216] In the above Embodiment B1, Embodiment B2, Embodiment C1, and Embodiment C2, it is exemplified by the window update amount being a non - negative number. When the window update amount is negative, the above Formulas (1) and (2) can be modified adaptively. For example, Formula (1) can be modified to: PWL_new = PWL_old + △PWL, and Formula (2) can be modified to: PWL_new = PWL_old - △PWL. The meanings of the relevant parameters can be referred to the descriptions of the above Formulas (1) and (2), and will not be elaborated here.

[0217] Based on Figure 1A 、 Figure 1B 、 Figure 1C 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 shown in the embodiments, Figure 6 exemplarily shows a possible flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 It is introduced by taking the execution of the first device as an example. The first device can be the aforementioned Figure 2 terminal device, or can also be the Figure 2 network device in Figure 6 . When the first device is the terminal device, Figure 6 the example provided can be understood as an example of the execution scheme of the terminal device involved in the aforementioned Steps 201, 202, and 204. When the first device is the network device,

[0218] Figure 6 An example of updating the transmission window is introduced by taking the first device as an example. Figure 6 The method flow shown includes Step 601, Step 602, Step 603, Step 604, Step 605, and Step 606. It will be introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0219] Step 601, the first device obtains first information.

[0220] For the relevant content of Step 601, refer to the relevant description of Step 201 above, and it will not be elaborated here.

[0221] Step 602, the first device determines whether the initial value of the transmission window (or the current transmission window) is greater than the limit value of the transmission window;

[0222] If so, step 603 is executed;

[0223] If not, step 604 is executed.

[0224] Step 603, the first device updates the transmission window according to formula (1) at the update time to obtain the updated transmission window, and communicates with the updated transmission window.

[0225] Step 604, the first device updates the transmission window according to formula (2) at the update time to obtain the updated transmission window, and communicates with the updated transmission window.

[0226] Step 605, the first device determines whether the current transmission window reaches the limit value of the transmission window;

[0227] If not, step 602 is executed;

[0228] If so, step 606 is executed.

[0229] In another possible implementation, in step 605, if the first device determines that the current transmission window does not reach the limit value of the transmission window, the transmission window can be directly updated according to the formula used in the previous update. For example, if formula (1) was used last time, then when the current transmission window does not reach the limit value of the transmission window, the first device directly executes step 603. For example, if formula (2) was used last time, then when the current transmission window does not reach the limit value of the transmission window, the first device directly executes step 604. In this example, step 602 above does not need to be executed multiple times.

[0230] When the first device is a terminal device, steps 602, 603, 604, and 605 can refer to the relevant content of step 202 described above, and will not be elaborated here. When the first device is a network device, steps 602, 603, 604, and 605 can refer to the relevant content of step 203 described above, and will not be elaborated here. Figure 2 the relevant content of step 202 described above, and will not be elaborated here. When the first device is a network device, steps 602, 603, 604, and 605 can refer to the relevant content of step 203 described above, and will not be elaborated here. Figure 2 and will not be elaborated here.

[0231] Step 606, the first device stops updating the transmission window.

[0232] Figure 6 In, the execution time points (i.e., the update time) of steps 603 and 604 can be determined according to a time interval. For example, the first device updates the transmission window every time interval through the corresponding step (such as step 603 or step 604).

[0233] In another possible implementation, the network device may indicate a specific time. In this case, the execution time points of steps 603 and 604 (i.e., the update time) may be the specific time indicated by the network device. In a possible implementation, if all the update times indicated by the network device have been updated, but the current transmission window has not reached the boundary value of the transmission window, in this case, the first device may stop updating the transmission window.

[0234] Based on Figure 1A , Figure 1B , Figure 1C , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 shown in the embodiments, Figure 7 Exemplarily shows a possible flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 The difference between the shown embodiment and Figure 6 the embodiment of Figure 6 is that in Figure 7 , after the first device updates the transmission window to the boundary value of the transmission window, it stops updating the transmission window. Figure 7 For other related content of Figure 6 and Figure 2 , reference can be made to the relevant descriptions in Figure 7 . In Figure 7 , after the first device updates the transmission window to the boundary value of the transmission window, it updates the transmission window in the reverse direction. Steps 706, 707, 708, 709, and 710 can be understood as an implementation manner in which the first device updates the transmission window in the reverse direction. For the subsequent scheme of updating the transmission window in the reverse direction, reference can also be made to the relevant descriptions in the foregoing embodiment C1 or embodiment C2.

[0235] Figure 7 In Figure 2 , the introduction is made by taking the execution of the first device as an example. The first device may be the terminal device in the foregoing Figure 2 , or may be the network device in Figure 2 . When the first device is a terminal device, Figure 7 the example provided can be understood as an example of the execution scheme of the terminal device involved in the foregoing steps 201, 202, and 204. When the first device is a network device, Figure 7 the example provided can be understood as an example of the execution scheme of the network device involved in the foregoing steps 201, 203, and 204.

[0236] Figure 7 A possible implementation manner of updating the transmission window is introduced by taking the first device as an example. Figure 7The method flow shown includes steps 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, and 710. It will be introduced below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0237] Step 701, the first device obtains first information.

[0238] For the relevant content of step 701, refer to the relevant description of the foregoing step 201, and details will not be repeated.

[0239] Step 702, the first device determines whether the initial value of the transmission window (or the current transmission window) is greater than the limit value of the transmission window;

[0240] If so, execute step 703;

[0241] If not, execute step 704;

[0242] Step 703, the first device updates the transmission window according to formula (1) at the update time to obtain the updated transmission window, and communicates with the updated transmission window.

[0243] Step 704, the first device updates the transmission window according to formula (2) at the update time to obtain the updated transmission window, and communicates with the updated transmission window.

[0244] Step 705, the first device determines whether the current transmission window reaches the limit value of the transmission window;

[0245] If not, execute step 702;

[0246] If so, execute step 706.

[0247] When the first device is a terminal device, steps 702, 703, 704, and 705 can refer to steps 602, 603, 604, or 605 in the foregoing, or can also refer to Figure 6 the relevant content of step 202, and details will not be repeated. When the first device is a network device, steps 702, 703, 704, and 705 can refer to steps 602, 603, 604, or 605 in the foregoing, Figure 2 or can also refer to the relevant content of step 203, and details will not be repeated. Figure 6 Figure 2 Figure 2 the relevant content of step 203, and details will not be repeated.

[0248] Step 706, the first device determines whether the limit value of the transmission window (or the current transmission window) is greater than the initial value of the transmission window;

[0249] If so, execute step 707;

[0250] If not, perform step 708;

[0251] Step 707, the first device may update the transmission window according to formula (1) to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicate with the updated transmission window.

[0252] Step 708, the first device may update the transmission window according to formula (2) to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicate with the updated transmission window.

[0253] Step 709, the first device determines whether the current transmission window reaches the initial value of the transmission window;

[0254] If not, perform step 706;

[0255] If so, perform step 710.

[0256] In another possible implementation, in step 709, if the first device determines that the current transmission window does not reach the initial value of the transmission window, it may directly update the transmission window according to the formula used in the previous update. For example, if formula (1) was used last time, then when the current transmission window does not reach the initial value of the transmission window, the first device directly performs step 707. For example, if formula (2) was used last time, then when the current transmission window does not reach the initial value of the transmission window, the first device directly performs step 708. In this example, the above step 706 does not need to be executed multiple times.

[0257] Step 710, the first device stops updating the transmission window.

[0258] Figure 7 In, the execution time points (i.e., update times) of step 703, step 704, step 707, and step 708 may be determined according to a time interval. For example, the first device updates the transmission window once every time interval through the corresponding steps (such as step 703, step 704, step 707, or step 708).

[0259] In another possible implementation, the network device may indicate a specific time. In this case, the execution time points (i.e., update times) of step 703, step 704, step 707, and step 708 may be the specific time indicated by the network device. In one possible implementation, if all the update times indicated by the network device have been updated, but the current transmission window has not reached the initial value of the transmission window (i.e., step 709 is not yet satisfied), in this case, the first device may stop updating the transmission window.

[0260] Figure 8 Exemplarily shows an application Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the change of a transmission window provided by an implementation manner, as Figure 8As shown, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the transmission window. Figure 8 takes the transmission window as the time length as an example. Figure 8 As shown in , the terminal device updates the transmission window once at each update time. The transmission window of the terminal device first gradually changes from 9 time slots to 5 time slots, and then gradually changes from 5 time slots to 9 time slots. The initial value of the transmission window can be regarded as 9 time slots, the limit value of the transmission window can be regarded as 5 time slots, and the gradual change of the transmission window of the terminal device from 5 time slots to 9 time slots can be regarded as a reverse update process.

[0261] If the network device instructs the terminal device to update each transmission signal through signaling. For example, when the transmission window of the terminal device gradually changes from 9 time slots to 5 time slots, the network device needs to send 8 medium access control control elements (MAC CE) signaling to the terminal device (the first update, the second update, the third update, the fourth update, the fifth update, the sixth update, the seventh update and the eighth update). The signaling sent by the network device during the update process may require 8*8=64 bits. If the update of the transmission window is at the granularity of the terminal device, the network device needs to spend 64 bits for each terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, since the terminal device can update the transmission window by itself, the number of signaling sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0262] Based on Figure 1A 、 Figure 1B 、 Figure 1C 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 and Figure 8 The embodiment shown, Figure 9 A possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is exemplified. Figure 9 is introduced by taking the interaction among terminal device, network device and satellite device as an example. For related introduction, please refer to the above Figure 2 The relevant description will not be repeated here.

[0263] Figure 9 The method flow shown includes step 901, step 902, step 903, step 905 and step 906. In a possible implementation, the method may also include at least one of step 904, step 907 and step 908, at least one of which is an optional step and may not be executed. ​​

[0264] The following is an introduction with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0265] Step 901, the network device sends the second information.

[0266] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second information.

[0267] The second information may be information for calculating the transmission window. The second information may be used to indicate the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device. The data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device may be understood as the data transmission delay of the communication link between the terminal device and the network device.

[0268] In a possible implementation manner, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point. The location information of the service link reference point may be the location information of the terminal device, or a location information within the area where the terminal device is located, or the location information of a reference point within the area where the terminal device is located. The range of the area where the terminal device is located may be the range of a cell served by the satellite device, or the coverage range of a beam. The reference point of the area where the terminal device is located may be the central position of the area where the terminal device is located, or a position near the center, or the edge position of the area where the terminal device is located. In this implementation manner, the network device and the satellite device may be located in the same device, and the terminal device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information), and the terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device according to the position of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point.

[0269] In another possible implementation manner, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point and the location information of the feeder link reference point. The location information of the feeder link reference point may be the location information of the network device (such as a gateway), or the location information of a reference point within the area where the network device is located, and the reference point may be located at or near the network device. In this implementation manner, the network device and the satellite device may be located in different devices, and the terminal device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information). The terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the satellite device according to the position of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point, and the terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the network device (feeder link reference point) and the satellite device according to the position of the satellite device and the location information of the feeder link reference point. Then, the terminal device calculates the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeder link reference point) according to the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite device, and the data transmission delay between the network device and the satellite device.

[0270] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device can also calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. The calculation method is similar to the foregoing content and will not be elaborated herein.

[0271] Step 902, the terminal device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the second information to obtain a first transmission window.

[0272] In a possible implementation manner, the second information is used to indicate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. Subsequently, the terminal device can calculate a transmission window according to the second information. For the sake of distinction, the calculated transmission window is called the first transmission window.

[0273] In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device determines the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device according to the second information and the position information of the satellite device. The terminal device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit to obtain a first transmission window. In this way, the first transmission window can be associated with these parameters, so that the calculated first transmission window can better match the current actual situation, and the setting of the first transmission window can further improve the data transmission efficiency.

[0274] For example, the terminal device can calculate the first transmission window according to the following formula:

[0275]

[0276] In this formula, PWL_cal is the first transmission window, max_process_num can represent the maximum number of processes supported by the system, slot_duration can represent the time length occupied by a data unit (such as the time length of a time slot), and the data transmission delay can represent the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeder link reference point) (in the embodiments of the present application, the data transmission delay can include or be the round-trip delay, and the round-trip delay in the embodiments of the present application can also be called the transmission round-trip delay). represents rounding up. In a possible implementation manner, the data transmission delay = (RTD(RP_service, satellite device) + RTD(RP_feeder, satellite device)), where RTD(RP_service, satellite device) represents the data transmission delay (such as the round-trip delay) between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the satellite device, and RTD(RP_feeder, satellite device) represents the data transmission delay (such as the round-trip delay) between the network device (feeder link reference point) and the satellite device. It can be seen that the transmission window of a process can be related to the round-trip delay.

[0277] Step 903: When the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, update the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window and perform communication based on the first transmission window.

[0278] In a possible implementation, when the terminal device determines that the first condition is satisfied, it determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated. In another possible implementation, when the terminal device determines that the first condition is not satisfied, it determines that there is no need to update the transmission window of the process. This can avoid frequent updates of the transmission window, thereby reducing the complexity of the solution.

[0279] In a possible implementation, the first condition includes: the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is greater than or equal to the time length threshold. Or, the first condition includes: the absolute value of the difference between the number of data units transmitted within the current transmission window of the process and the number of data units transmitted within the first transmission window is greater than or equal to the number threshold. The time length threshold (or number threshold) in the embodiments of the present application may be equal to the window update amount or may not be equal to the window update amount.

[0280] In another possible implementation, the case where the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is equal to the time length threshold may belong to the case where the first condition is satisfied (some content in the embodiments of the present application is introduced by taking this as an example), or may belong to the case where the first condition is not satisfied. For example, the first condition includes that the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is greater than the time length threshold, and the first condition does not include the case where the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is equal to the time length threshold. Similarly, in another possible implementation, the case where the absolute value of the difference between the number of data units transmitted within the current transmission window of the process and the number of data units transmitted within the first transmission window is equal to the number threshold may belong to the case where the first condition is satisfied (some content in the embodiments of the present application is introduced by taking this as an example), or may belong to the case where the first condition is not satisfied.

[0281] In the embodiments of the present application, the time length threshold and / or the number threshold may be preset or indicated by the network device. For example, the network device sends the time length threshold and / or the number threshold to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives this information. The time length threshold and / or the number threshold may be carried in the second information or may be carried in other information.

[0282] In step 903, the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, which may specifically include updating the time length of the transmission window of the process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window. Alternatively, the terminal device updates the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window. For related content, refer to the relevant embodiments described above Figure 2 and will not be elaborated here.

[0283] Step 904, the terminal device, based on the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process, in the case of determining that the transmission window of the process does not need to be updated: does not update the transmission window of the process.

[0284] Step 905, the network device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the second information and obtains the first transmission window.

[0285] Step 905 can refer to the previous step 902, which is similar and will not be elaborated here.

[0286] Step 906, the network device, based on the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process, in the case of determining that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated: updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window and conducts communication based on the first transmission window.

[0287] Step 906 can refer to the previous step 903, which is similar and will not be elaborated here.

[0288] Step 907, the network device, based on the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process, in the case of determining that the transmission window of the process does not need to be updated: does not update the transmission window of the process.

[0289] Step 907 can refer to the previous step 904, which is similar and will not be elaborated here.

[0290] Step 908, the terminal device sends the fourth information.

[0291] Correspondingly, the network device receives the fourth information.

[0292] The fourth information includes information for indicating the completion of the update of the transmission window of the process, and / or information for indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0293] The information for indicating the completion of the update of the transmission window of the process can be an ACK message to notify the network device that the terminal device has completed the update.

[0294] The fourth information can be sent after the transmission window of the terminal device update process. If the terminal device does not have a transmission window for the update process, the fourth information may not be sent. After step 902, the terminal device can execute step 903 or step 904, and one of step 903 and step 904 can be selected for execution. After step 903, step 908 can also be executed. After step 904, step 908 may not be executed. After step 905, the terminal device can execute step 906 or step 907, and one of step 906 and step 907 can be selected for execution.

[0295] Figure 9 In the illustrated embodiment, step 902 can be executed multiple times by the terminal device. For example, it can be executed once at regular intervals. Each time it is executed, the terminal device can calculate a new first transmission window based on the position information of the current satellite device and the second information. The second information can be updated before each execution of step 902, or it can not be updated, or a single second information can be shared during multiple executions of 902.

[0296] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and the network device can calculate whether to update the transmission window based on the second information, and update independently when an update is required. Thus, on the one hand, it can meet the time-domain resource utilization rate, on the other hand, it can also reduce data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays, and can save signaling overhead.

[0297] In the embodiments of the present application, the information that the network device needs to indicate (such as one or more of the first information, the second information, the initial value of the transmission window, the boundary value of the transmission window, the window update amount, the time length threshold, or the quantity threshold) can be carried in at least one of the broadcast information such as system information block (SIB) 1, other system information (OSI), and master information block (MIB), and is broadcast or multicast by the network device to the terminal device. This can avoid scheduling different resources for different terminal devices to send the above signaling, thereby saving the signaling overhead of scheduling resources and reducing the system scheduling complexity.

[0298] In another possible implementation, if the network device sends information to be indicated (such as one or more of the first information, the second information, the initial value of the transmission window, the boundary value of the transmission window, the window update amount, the time length threshold, or the quantity threshold) during the RRC connection establishment phase and subsequent communication processes, then this information can be carried in at least one of RRC signaling (for example, RRC setup message, RRC reconfiguration, RRC resume, etc.), DCI, group DCI, and media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and this information can be indicated by signaling or in tabular form. Alternatively, the information to be indicated by the network device (such as one or more of the first configuration information, the first distance threshold, the first signal quality threshold, or the second signal quality threshold) can be carried during data transmission or in a separately allocated physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The information to be indicated by the network device (such as one or more of the first information, the second information, the initial value of the transmission window, the boundary value of the transmission window, the window update amount, the time length threshold, or the quantity threshold) can be sent via unicast or multicast. In this way, these information corresponding to each / group of terminal devices can be flexibly controlled.

[0299] For example, the network device can configure different first information, different second information, different initial values of the transmission window, different boundary values of the transmission window, different window update amounts, different time length thresholds, or different quantity thresholds, etc. for the terminal device according to the location or area where the terminal device is located, or according to the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device, so as to optimize the data scheduling delay and data processing delay performance, avoid excessive scheduling and processing delays, and improve the overall communication performance of the terminal device and the system.

[0300] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device and the network device can adopt the above Figure 2 or Figure 9The provided embodiments update the transmission window. In the embodiments of the present application, the granularity of the updated window can be at the terminal device level. For example, the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices in the same cell may be different (or may be the same). In the embodiments of the present application, the granularity of the updated window can be at the cell level. For example, the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices in the same cell are the same (at least one of the relevant parameters of the updated transmission windows of any two terminal devices in the same cell, such as the update time, the initial value of the transmission window, the boundary value of the transmission window, and the window update amount, is the same), and the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices in different cells may be different (or may be the same). In the embodiments of the present application, the granularity of the updated window can be at the coverage area granularity of the satellite device. For example, for the coverage area of the same satellite device, the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices within this area are the same (at least one of the relevant parameters of the updated transmission windows of any two terminal devices within this area, such as the update time, the initial value of the transmission window, the boundary value of the transmission window, and the window update amount, is the same); for two terminal devices within the coverage areas of two satellite devices, the updated transmission windows may be different (or may be the same).

[0301] It can be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device and the network device may include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, combining the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraint conditions of the technical solution.

[0302] Figure 10 and Figure 11 FIG. [X] is a schematic structural diagram of a possible communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or the base station in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal device as shown in Figure 1A 、 Figure 1B or Figure 1C , or can be a network device (such as a RAN node) as shown in Figure 1A 、 Figure 1B or Figure 1C , and can also be a chip system applied to the terminal device or network device as shown in Figure 1A 、 Figure 1B or Figure 1C .

[0303] Such as Figure 10As shown, the communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. The communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the network device in the method embodiments described above Figure 2 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 or Figure 9 shown in. The transceiver unit 1320 may also be referred to as a communication unit. The transceiver unit 1320 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit.

[0304] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 shown in the method embodiments of the functions of the terminal device, in a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive the first information. The processing unit 1310 is used to update the transmission window of the process at the update time in at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process through the transceiver unit 1320.

[0305] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 shown in the method embodiments of the functions of the terminal device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to: update the time length of the transmission window of the process; or, update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process.

[0306] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 shown in the method embodiments of the functions of the terminal device, in a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive at least one of the following: information for indicating the boundary value of the transmission window of the process; information for indicating the initial value of the transmission window of the process; or, information for indicating the window update amount.

[0307] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 shown in the method embodiments of the functions of the terminal device, in a possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is further used to, when the updated transmission window of the process is equal to the window boundary value, perform one of the following: stop updating the transmission window of the process; or, at the update time in at least one update time, update the transmission window of the process with the window boundary value as the starting value, and communicate based on the length of the updated transmission window of the process through the transceiver unit 1320.

[0308] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 orFigure 7 When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send at least one of the following: information indicating the completion of the update of the transmission window of the process; or, information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0309] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send first information. The processing unit 1310 is used to update the transmission window of the process at the update time among at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process through the transceiver unit 1320.

[0310] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to update the time length of the transmission window of the process; or, update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process.

[0311] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send at least one of the following: information indicating the boundary value of the transmission window of the process; information indicating the initial value of the transmission window of the process; or, information indicating the window update amount.

[0312] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is further used to, when the updated transmission window of the process is equal to the window boundary value, perform one of the following: stop updating the transmission window of the process; or, at the update time among at least one update time, start from the window boundary value to update the transmission window of the process, and communicate based on the length of the updated transmission window of the process through the transceiver unit 1320.

[0313] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 6 or Figure 7When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive at least one of the following: information indicating the completion of the update of the transmission window of the process; or, information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0314] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive second information. The processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to calculate the transmission window of the process according to the second information to obtain a first transmission window, and based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, when it is determined that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated: update the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, and perform communication through the transceiver unit 1320 based on the first transmission window.

[0315] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to update the time length of the transmission window of the process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window; or, update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window.

[0316] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is further configured to determine that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated when the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window meet a first condition.

[0317] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is further configured to: receive a time length threshold and / or a quantity threshold.

[0318] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to determine the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device according to the second information and the position information of the satellite device, and calculate the transmission window of the process according to the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by one data unit to obtain a first transmission window.

[0319] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9When implementing the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to send at least one of the following: information indicating the completion of the update of the transmission window of a process; or, information indicating the updated transmission window of a process.

[0320] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to send second information. The processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to calculate the transmission window of a process according to the second information to obtain a first transmission window, and based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, when it is determined that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated: update the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, and perform communication through the transceiver unit 1320 based on the first transmission window.

[0321] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to: update the time length of the transmission window of a process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window; or, update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of a process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window.

[0322] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to determine that the transmission window of a process needs to be updated when the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window meet a first condition.

[0323] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to send a time length threshold and / or a quantity threshold.

[0324] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9 When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to determine the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device according to the second information and the position information of the satellite device, and calculate the transmission window of the process according to the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by one data unit to obtain a first transmission window.

[0325] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 9When implementing the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive at least one of the following: information for indicating the completion of the update of the transmission window of the process; or, information for indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0326] For a more detailed description of the above processing unit 1310 and transceiver unit 1320, reference can be made to Figure 2 the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown.

[0327] As Figure 11 shown, the communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and an interface circuit 1420. The processor 1410 and the interface circuit 1420 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1420 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The input / output interface is used for inputting and / or outputting information, and output can be understood as sending, and input can be understood as receiving. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a memory 1430, which is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1410 or store input data required for the processor 1410 to run instructions or store data generated after the processor 1410 runs instructions.

[0328] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement Figure 10 the method shown, the processor 1410 is used to implement the functions of the above processing unit 1310, and the interface circuit 1420 is used to implement the functions of the above transceiver unit 1320.

[0329] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from the base station, which can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip sends information to the base station, which can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0330] When the above communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The base station chip receives information from the terminal, which can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip sends information to the terminal, which can be understood that the information is sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the base station and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0331] In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A directly sends to B, or A indirectly sends to B through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be the information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, the information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, the information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between different modules within a device, for example, the information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or the information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0332] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0333] The method steps in the embodiments of this application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, removable hard disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a base station or a terminal.

[0334] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in the form of a computer program product in whole or in part. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions of the embodiments of the present application are executed in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable devices. The computer program or 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 program or instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that the computer can access, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile types of storage media.

[0335] In various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0336] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects and indicates that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after; in the formulas of the present application, the character " / " represents a "division" relationship between the associated objects before and after. "Including at least one of A, B, and C" can represent: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B, and C.

[0337] It can be understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application (such as numerical numbers "first", "second", and also letter numbers such as "Embodiment A1", "Embodiment B1", "Embodiment C1", etc.) are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The magnitude of the sequence numbers of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a terminal device, comprising: receiving first information, the first information comprising information indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; At an update time in the at least one update time, a transmission window of the process is updated, and communication is performed based on the updated transmission window of the process.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The updating of the transmission window of the process includes: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Receive at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: After the updating of the transmission window of the process, the method further includes: Send at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a network device, comprising: Sending first information, the first information comprising information for indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; At an update time in the at least one update time, a transmission window of the process is updated, and communication is performed based on the updated transmission window of the process.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The updating of the transmission window of the process includes: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that: After the updating of the transmission window of the process, the method further includes: Receive at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes a processor and an interface circuit; The interface circuit is used to receive first information, wherein the first information includes information indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; The processor is configured to update a transmission window of the process at an update time in the at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process.

14. The device according to claim 13, characterized in that The processor is specifically used for: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

15. The device according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

16. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that: The interface circuit is also used for: Receive at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

17. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that: The interface circuit is also used for: Send at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

18. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes a processor and an interface circuit; The interface circuit is used to send first information, wherein the first information includes information for indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; The processor is configured to update a transmission window of the process at an update time in the at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process.

20. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that The processor is specifically used for: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

21. The device according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

22. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that The interface circuit is also used for: Send at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

23. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 22, characterized in that The interface circuit is also used for: Receive at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

24. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, characterized in that The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, or comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 12.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 12 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor, wherein the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 through a logic circuit or executing a code instruction.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 is implemented.

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