Random access method and device and storage medium

Abstract

The invention discloses a random access method and device and a storage medium, which are used for widening an application scene of random access. In the application, a terminal device receives first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating a first uplink reference signal. The terminal device sends a preamble, the preamble is used for initiating random access, and the preamble is associated with a first uplink reference signal. According to the scheme, a solution can be provided for the terminal device to access the network device with limited capability, so that the application range of the random access process is widened. For example, the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with information related to downlink transmission, and based on the scheme provided by the invention, the terminal device can also access the first network device based on the first uplink reference signal.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In a wireless communication system, in order to establish a connection with a network device, the terminal device needs to first initiate a random access process to the network device. The terminal device can establish a connection with the cell, obtain uplink synchronization or beam failure recovery through the random access process.

[0003] At present, in the protocols of the fourth-generation mobile communication system long term evolution (LTE) and the fifth-generation mobile communication system new radio (NR), the terminal device usually adopts a four-step random access (4-step physical random access channel, 4-step RACH) process for random access. The four-step random access process includes: the terminal device initiates a random access request to the network device (the request includes a preamble code), the network device sends a random access response message to the terminal device, the terminal device initiates uplink data to the network device, and the network device sends contention resolution information to the terminal device. In order to support random access requests in low-latency scenarios, a two-step random access (2-stepRACH) process is proposed. In the two-step random access process, the terminal device initiates a random access request to the network device, and the request includes a preamble code and uplink data; the network device sends a response message to the random access request to the terminal.

[0004] Whether it is a four-step random access process or a two-step random access process, before the random access process begins, the network device needs to first specify a downlink reference signal for the terminal device, and the downlink reference signal is associated with the random access process. The network device needs to send the downlink reference signal, the terminal device receives the downlink reference signal, and the signaling transmission between the terminal device and the network device in the random access process needs to refer to the downlink reference signal. For example, messages such as random access requests sent by the terminal device to the network device need to be associated with the spatial relationship of the specified downlink reference signal. For example, the path loss reference signal in the random access process also needs to be set to the specified downlink reference signal.

[0005] From the above content, it can be seen that the current application scope of the random access process is relatively limited. For example, the network device must send a downlink reference signal, the preamble sent by the terminal device is associated with the downlink reference signal, and the terminal device accesses the network device through a random access process based on the downlink reference signal. For network devices that do not send downlink reference signals (such as network devices that do not have the ability to send downlink signals or network devices that are not configured with relevant parameters for downlink transmission, etc.), the terminal device cannot use the above-mentioned random access process to access such network devices. It can be seen that how to broaden the application scenarios of random access has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present application provides a random access method, device and storage medium, which are used to enable a terminal device to associate a preamble code with an uplink reference signal, and then for a network device that does not send a downlink reference signal (such as a network device that does not have downlink transmission capability, or a network device that is not configured with downlink transmission related information, etc.), the terminal device can also access such a network device, thereby broadening the application scenarios of random access.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a random access method, which is executed by a terminal device, which may be a terminal equipment or a chip inside the terminal equipment.

[0008] In the present application, the terminal device receives first indication information. For example, the terminal device may receive first indication information from a second network device. The first indication information is used to indicate that the first uplink reference signal terminal device sends a preamble, and the preamble is used to initiate random access. The preamble is associated with the first uplink reference signal.

[0009] Since the terminal device can send a preamble based on the first uplink reference signal and then randomly access the first network device, this solution can provide a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the first network device does not have a downlink transmission capability or the first network device is not configured with information related to downlink transmission. In one possible implementation, the information related to downlink transmission may include: information related to downlink reference signals, information related to downlink control channel transmission, information related to downlink data channel transmission, information related to downlink frame structure, information related to downlink time slots, or at least one of information related to downlink bandwidth. Information related to downlink reference signals that are not configured may also be replaced by downlink reference signals that are not configured. Information related to downlink control channel transmission that is not configured may also be replaced by downlink control channel transmission that is not configured. Information related to downlink data channel transmission that is not configured may also be replaced by downlink data channel transmission that is not configured. Information related to downlink frame structure that is not configured may also be replaced by parameters related to downlink frame structure that are not configured. Information related to downlink time slots that are not configured may also be replaced by parameters related to downlink time slots that are not configured. Information related to downlink bandwidth that is not configured may also be replaced by downlink bandwidth that is not configured.

[0011] In this case, by applying the solution provided in this application, the terminal device can still access such a network device through a random access process.

[0012] In another possible implementation, the first network device has uplink transmission capability; and / or, the first network device configures information related to uplink transmission. In this implementation, the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or the first network device does not configure information related to downlink transmission. In a possible implementation, it can also be described as: the first network device only has uplink transmission capability, and / or, the first network device only configures information related to uplink transmission. The information related to uplink transmission may include: at least one of information about uplink reference signals, information about uplink control channel transmission, information about uplink data channel transmission, information related to uplink frame structure, information related to uplink time slots, or information related to uplink bandwidth. Configuring information related to uplink reference signals may also be replaced by configuring uplink reference signals. Configuring information related to uplink control channel transmission may also be replaced by configuring uplink control channel transmission. Configuring information related to uplink data channel transmission may also be replaced by configuring uplink data channel transmission. Configuring information related to uplink frame structure may also be replaced by configuring parameters related to uplink frame structure. Configuring information related to uplink time slots may also be replaced by configuring parameters related to uplink time slots. Configuring information related to uplink bandwidth may also be replaced by configuring uplink bandwidth. In this way, the terminal device can send information, such as a preamble, to the first network device.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the preamble code may be carried in a physical random access channel (PRACH). The preamble code may be associated with a first uplink reference signal, which may be understood as some parameters in the preamble code transmission process may refer to the first uplink reference signal. For example, the spatial relationship (or beam) of sending the preamble code may refer to the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first uplink reference signal, or the spatial relationship (or beam) of the preamble code may be associated with the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first uplink reference signal. For another example, the path loss reference signal associated with sending the preamble code is the first uplink reference signal. Alternatively, it may be understood that the path loss of sending the preamble code may refer to (or be regarded as) the path loss of the first uplink reference signal.

[0014] There are multiple options for the information that carries the first indication information, such as being carried in downlink control information (DCI), or a media access control layer control element (MAC CE), or in a radio resource control (RRC) message, which can make the solution more flexible and more compatible with existing solutions. For example, the first indication information can be carried in the DCI in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends a preamble to the first network device. The first indication information comes from the second network device, and the first network device is different from the second network device. The terminal device may receive some relevant information, such as the first indication information, from the second network device, and then send a preamble to the first network device to access the first network device. This solution can provide a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or the first network device is not configured with downlink transmission-related information. Based on the solution provided in this application, the terminal device may also receive some relevant information from the second network device, thereby achieving the effect of accessing the first network device.

[0016] The solution provided in the present application is applicable to a variety of scenarios. In different scenarios, the forms of the first network device and the second network device are in various situations. For example, the cell associated with the first network device is a non-service cell, or the first network device is a cell with a physical cell identifier (PCI) different from that of the service cell, and the cell associated with the second network device is a service cell. For another example, the first network device and the second network device can be different transmission reception points (TRPs) in the same cell. For another example, the cells associated with the first network device and the second network device can be different service cells (or different component carriers (CCs)). It can be seen that the solution provided in the present application is applicable to a variety of scenarios, thereby expanding the scope of application of the present application.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may also receive second indication information. For example, the terminal device receives second indication information from a second network device. The second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the first network device from which the terminal device initiates random access does not have downlink transmission capability; the signal type referenced by the random access initiated by the terminal device is an uplink reference signal; or, the first network device from which the terminal device initiates random access is not configured with information related to downlink transmission. In this way, the terminal device can determine, based on the received second indication information, that the random access to be initiated this time is associated with an uplink reference signal, and does not need to be associated with a downlink reference signal. In this way, the scheme can be compatible with a random access process that requires association with a downlink reference signal, and the terminal device can distinguish whether the random access process uses an uplink reference signal or a downlink reference signal.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may also receive (for example, may receive from the second network device) information for indicating the first network device. For example, the terminal device receives information from the second network device for indicating the first network device. The information for indicating the first network device is used to indicate the first network device. The first network device is a network device for initiating random access by the terminal device. The information for indicating the first network device may include, for example, identification information of a cell associated with the first network device or index information of a CC of the first network device. For example, when the cells associated with the first network device and the second network device are different service cells: the information for indicating the first network device includes identification information of the service cell associated with the first network device.

[0019] In this way, the terminal device can determine the first network device that needs to be accessed this time. On the other hand, the terminal device can determine that the first network device does not have the downlink transmission capability or the first network device is not configured with downlink transmission-related information based on the pre-configured information. In this case, the terminal device can determine that the random access that needs to be initiated this time is associated with the uplink reference signal based on the information used to indicate the first network device, and does not need to be associated with the downlink reference signal. In this way, the scheme can be compatible with the random access process that needs to be associated with the downlink reference signal, and the terminal device can distinguish whether the random access process uses the uplink reference signal or the downlink reference signal. On the other hand, when applying this implementation, the terminal device can receive the above-mentioned second indication information. The terminal device may also not receive the above-mentioned second indication information, so that signaling overhead can be saved.

[0020] The terminal device needs to determine the preamble before sending the preamble, and there are many ways to determine the preamble. For example, the terminal device receives information indicating the preamble and determines the preamble according to the information indicating the preamble. For example, the terminal device receives information indicating the preamble from the second network device.

[0021] For another example, the terminal device may configure some association relationships in advance, and these association relationships may include an association relationship between one or more uplink reference signals and one or more preamble codes. An uplink reference signal may be associated with one or more preamble codes, and one or more preamble codes may be associated with an uplink reference signal. These association relationships may include a first association relationship, and the first association relationship indicates an association relationship between a first uplink reference signal and a preamble code. The terminal device may search for these association relationships based on the first uplink reference signal, and then find out the preamble code associated with the first uplink reference signal based on the first association relationship. In this way, the terminal device does not need to receive information indicating the preamble code, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0022] The terminal device needs to determine the random access timing before sending the preamble, and the terminal device sends the preamble at the random access timing. There are many ways to determine the random access timing. For example, the terminal device receives the mask information of the random access channel and determines the random access timing according to the mask information of the random access channel. For example, the terminal device receives the mask information of the random access channel from the second network device.

[0023] For another example, the terminal device may configure some association relationships in advance, and these association relationships may include an association relationship between one or more uplink reference signals and one or more random access opportunities. An uplink reference signal may be associated with one or more random access opportunities, and one or more random access opportunities may be associated with an uplink reference signal. These association relationships may include a second association relationship, and the second association relationship indicates an association relationship between a first uplink reference signal and a random access opportunity. The terminal device may search for these association relationships based on the first uplink reference signal, and then find out the random access opportunity associated with the first uplink reference signal based on the second association relationship. In this way, the terminal device does not need to receive information for indicating the preamble code, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes: a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal. In this way, the terminal device can determine the first uplink reference signal according to the first indication information.

[0025] In another possible implementation, the second network device may send a first threshold and a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal, and the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal belongs to the measurement result of the at least one uplink reference signal. In this way, the terminal device may select an uplink reference signal indicating a signal strength greater than the first threshold from the measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information includes the first threshold and the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal, and the signal strength indicated by the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, so that the terminal device can select the first uplink reference signal to provide assistance for the random access process. In this example, the second network device may not send the first threshold, for example, the first indication information includes the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal, but does not include the first threshold. The protocol may specify the first threshold, or the terminal device may preconfigure the first threshold.

[0026] For another example, the second network device may send a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal, and the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal belongs to the measurement result of the at least one uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information includes the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal. The uplink reference signals associated with these measurement results indicated by the second network device can all be used for random access, and the terminal device can arbitrarily select a measurement result (such as an uplink reference signal) from the measurement results of at least one uplink reference signal, and the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result is used for random access.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the terminal device may determine the uplink reference signal associated with an uplink reference signal based on a measurement result of the measurement result of the uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information also includes a resource index of the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result (such as a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the uplink reference signal), and then the terminal device determines the uplink reference signal based on the resource index of the uplink reference signal.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the first indication information may not include a resource index of an uplink reference signal (such as a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the uplink reference signal), so that the terminal device can infer an uplink reference signal associated with a measurement result based on some other information. For example, the terminal device sends three uplink reference signals, the first indication information includes measurement results associated with the three uplink reference signals, and the order of the three measurement results in the message carrying the first indication information is consistent with the order of the three uplink reference signals sent by the terminal device, so that the terminal device can infer the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result based on the order of the measurement results included in the first indication information.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the terminal device sends a preamble code based on the downlink timing of the third network device, the first network device that the terminal device initiates random access is different from the third network device, the third network device is the same as or different from the second network device, and the second network device is the device that sends the first indication information.

[0030] This solution can provide a solution for a terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, if the first network device does not have downlink transmission capabilities or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, the terminal device cannot send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the first network device. Based on this solution, the terminal device can send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the third network device, thereby achieving the effect of accessing the first network device.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the terminal device receives information for indicating a third network device. For example, the terminal device receives information for indicating a third network device from a second network device. The information for indicating the third network device may be sent by the second network device or another network device. The information for indicating the third network device and the first indication information may be carried in the same signaling, or may be carried in multiple signalings respectively. In another possible implementation, the terminal device determines the third network device based on the content defined by the protocol. For example, the CC of the third network device may be specified by the protocol to be a primary component carrier (PCC), or the protocol may specify other CCs. For another example, the cell associated with the third network device may be specified by the protocol to be a service cell, or the protocol may specify other cells.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may search for PDCCH in a public search space associated with a third network device or a fourth network device. The terminal device may also receive a random access response based on the first beam. The fourth network device may be different from the third network device, and the fourth network device may also be configured by the second network device. In the embodiment of the present application, an example is given of a terminal device searching for PDCCH in a public search space associated with a third network device. This scheme can provide a solution for a terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, and the terminal device cannot search for PDCCH in the public search space associated with the first network device. Based on this scheme, the terminal device can search for PDCCH in the public search space associated with the third network device, thereby providing technical support for successfully receiving a random access response.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the terminal device receives a random access response, and the random access response is received through a first beam, and the first beam includes a beam associated with a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of a third network device or a beam associated with first indication information. In this implementation, the terminal device can receive a random access response after successfully searching for the PDCCH. This scheme can provide a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, the first network device does not have a downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, and the terminal device cannot receive a random access response based on the beam of the downlink reference signal of the first network device. Based on this scheme, the terminal device can receive a random access response based on the first beam, thereby achieving the effect of accessing the first network device.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the terminal device sends first information. The first information includes the identification information of the terminal device. The first information may be information (message, msg) 3 in four-step random access. The first information satisfies at least one of the following: the first information is associated with a first uplink reference signal; or, the first information is sent based on the downlink timing of a third network device.

[0035] This solution can provide a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the applicable scope of the random access procedure. For example, if the first network device does not have the downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, the terminal device cannot send the first information based on the downlink reference signal of the first network device. Based on this solution, the terminal device can send the first information based on the first uplink reference signal and / or the downlink timing of the third network device, thereby achieving the effect of accessing the first network device.

[0036] In a possible implementation, after the terminal device sends the first information, the terminal device receives a PDCCH based on a second beam. The second beam includes a beam associated with the unified TCI state of the third network device, a beam associated with the first information, or a beam associated with a first indication information. The PDCCH can be regarded as the information in msg4 in four-step random access, that is, msg4 may include this PDCCH. In another possible implementation, msg4 further includes a subsequent physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In another possible implementation, it can be considered that msg4 includes the PDSCH and does not include the PDCCH.

[0037] This solution can provide a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the applicable scope of the random access procedure. For example, if the first network device does not have the downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, the terminal device cannot receive the PDCCH based on the beam of the downlink reference signal of the first network device. Based on this solution, the terminal device can receive a random access response based on the second beam. The second beam can be a specified beam, or thereby achieving the effect of accessing the first network device.

[0038] In a second aspect, the present application provides a random access method. This method is executed by a first network device. The first network device may be a network device or a chip inside the network device.

[0039] In the present application, the first network device receives a preamble. The preamble is used to initiate random access and is associated with a first uplink reference signal.

[0040] This solution can provide a solution for a terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, the first network device does not have a downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information (the relevant content can be found in the relevant description of the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here). Based on the solution provided by the present application, the first network device receives a preamble, and the first network device sends a second information to the second network device to trigger the second information to send a random access response, so that the terminal device accesses the first network device based on the random access process.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first network device sends second information to the second network device, and the second information is used to indicate that the first network device has received a preamble. In this way, the second information can trigger the second network device to send a random access response. In some scenarios, the first network device may not send the second information. For example, the first network device and the second network device are integrated into one physical entity, and the first network device and the second network device are two CCs. In this case, after the first network device receives the preamble, the second network device can send a random access response, and the first network device does not need to send the second information.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the first network device receives first information. The first information includes identification information of the terminal device, and the first information satisfies at least one of the following: the first information is associated with a first uplink reference signal; or, the first information is sent based on the downlink timing of the third network device. In one possible implementation, after the first network device receives the first information, the first network device sends third information to the second network device, and the third information indicates that the first network device has received the first information.

[0043] This solution can provide a solution for a terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information. Based on the solution provided by this application, the first network device receives a preamble, and the first network device sends a second information to the second network device to trigger the second information to send a random access response. Further, the first network device receives the first information and triggers the second network device to send a PDCCH, so that the terminal device can access the first network device based on the four-step random access process.

[0044] The preamble is associated with the first uplink reference signal. For related solutions, please refer to the related description of possible implementations in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here. For related introductions of the first network device and the second network device, please refer to the related description of possible implementations in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here.

[0045] In a third aspect, the present application provides a random access method, which is executed by a second network device, which may be a network device or a chip inside the network device.

[0046] In the present application, the second network device sends first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate a first uplink reference signal. The first uplink reference signal is used to associate with a preamble code for initiating random access. The second network device sends a random access response based on the second information.

[0047] This solution can provide a solution for a terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process. For example, the first network device does not have a downlink transmission capability or is not configured with information related to downlink transmission (the relevant content can be found in the relevant description of the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here). Based on the solution provided by this application, the second network device sends a first indication information to associate the preamble sent by the terminal device with the first uplink reference signal, and then the first network device receives the preamble, and the first network device sends a second information to the second network device to trigger the second information to send a random access response, so that the terminal device accesses the first network device based on the random access process.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the second network device receives second information from the first network device, and the second information indicates that the first network device has received a preamble. In this way, the second information can trigger the second network device to send a random access response. In some scenarios, the first network device may not send the second information. For example, the first network device and the second network device are integrated into one physical entity, and the first network device and the second network device are two CCs. In this case, after the first network device receives the preamble, the second network device can send a random access response, and the first network device does not need to send the second information.

[0049] In a possible implementation manner, the second network device sends second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the first network device to which the terminal device initiates random access does not have downlink transmission capability; the signal type referenced by the random access initiated by the terminal device is an uplink reference signal; or the first network device to which the terminal device initiates random access may not be configured with information related to downlink transmission. For the relevant beneficial effects, please refer to the relevant description of the possible implementation manner in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the second network device sends (for example, sends to the terminal device) information for indicating the first network device, and the information for indicating the first network device is used to indicate the first network device. The first network device is a network device for initiating random access by the terminal device, and the information for indicating the first network device includes identification information of a cell associated with the first network device. For example, when the cells associated with the first network device and the second network device are different service cells: the information for indicating the first network device includes identification information of the service cell associated with the first network device. For the relevant beneficial effects, please refer to the relevant description of the possible implementation methods in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the second network device sends information indicating the preamble, and determines the preamble according to the information indicating the preamble. For the related beneficial effects, reference may be made to the related description of the possible implementation in the first aspect above, which will not be described in detail.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the second network device sends mask information of a random access channel, and the mask information of the random access channel indicates a random access opportunity of the preamble. For the related beneficial effects, please refer to the related description of the possible implementation in the first aspect above, which will not be described in detail.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the second network device sends information for indicating the third network device. The third network device is used for the terminal device to send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the third network device. The first network device for the terminal device to initiate random access is different from the third network device, the third network device is the same as or different from the second network device, and the second network device is a device for sending the first indication information. For related beneficial effects, please refer to the related description of the possible implementation methods in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here.

[0054] In a possible implementation manner, the second network device sends information for indicating the third network device. For the related beneficial effects, reference may be made to the related description of the possible implementation manner in the first aspect above, which will not be described in detail.

[0055] In a possible implementation manner, the third network device is further used to: enable the terminal device to search for PDCCH in a common search space associated with the third network device, and receive a random access response based on a first beam, where the first beam includes a beam associated with a unified TCI state of the third network device or a beam associated with the first indication information. For the relevant beneficial effects, please refer to the relevant description of the possible implementation manner in the first aspect above, and no further description is given.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the second network device receives third information, the third information indicates that the first network device has received first information, and the first information includes identification information of the terminal device. The second network device sends a PDCCH based on a second beam, and the second beam includes a beam associated with a unified TCI state of the third network device, a beam associated with the first information, or a beam associated with the first indication information. For the relevant beneficial effects, please refer to the relevant description of the possible implementation methods in the first aspect above, and no further description is given.

[0057] The preamble is associated with the first uplink reference signal. For related solutions, please refer to the related description of the possible implementation methods in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here. For related introductions of the first network device and the second network device, please refer to the related description of the possible implementation methods in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here. For related introductions of the first indication information, please refer to the related description of the possible implementation methods in the first aspect above, which will not be repeated here.

[0058] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device, the first network device, or the second network device. The communication device may include a communication unit and a processing unit to perform any of the above-mentioned first to third aspects, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to third 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 an input / output circuit, an input / output interface, or an antenna port of the communication chip.

[0059] In another design, the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver.

[0060] Optionally, the communication device also includes various modules that can be used to execute any aspect of the first to third aspects above, or execute any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

[0061] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device, the first network device, or the second network device. The communication device may include a processor and a memory to execute any one of the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects. Optionally, a transceiver is further included, the memory is used to store a computer program or instruction, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program or instruction from the memory, and when the processor executes the computer program or instruction in the memory, the communication device executes any one of the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

[0062] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0063] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0064] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0065] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device, the first network device, or the second network device. The communication device may include a processor to execute any of the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects. For example, the processor executes any of the first to third aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects, through a logic circuit or by executing a computer program or instruction in a memory. The processor is coupled to the memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0066] In one implementation, when the communication device is a terminal device, a first network device, or a second 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.

[0067] In 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 on the chip or the chip system, etc. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0068] In a seventh aspect, a system is provided, the system comprising the above-mentioned terminal device.

[0069] In a possible implementation manner, the system may further include a first network device and / or a second network device.

[0070] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute any one of the first to third aspects described above, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

[0071] In the ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes any one of the first to third aspects above, or executes any possible implementation of the first to third aspects.

[0072] In a tenth aspect, a processing device is provided, comprising: an interface circuit and a processing circuit. The interface circuit may include an input circuit and an output circuit. The processing circuit is used to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that any aspect of the first to third aspects above, or any possible implementation of the first to third aspects is implemented.

[0073] In the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processing device can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0074] In one implementation, when the communication device is a terminal device, a first network device, or a second network device, the interface circuit may be a radio frequency processing chip in the terminal device, the first network device, or the second network device, and the processing circuit may be a baseband processing chip in the terminal device, the first network device, or the second network device.

[0075] In another implementation, the communication device may be a part of a terminal device, a first network device or a second network device, such as an integrated circuit product such as a system chip or a communication chip. The interface circuit may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit on the chip or the chip system. The processing circuit may be a logic circuit on the chip. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0076] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a communication system architecture;

[0077] Figure 2 A possible flow chart of a random access method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] Figure 3 A possible flow chart of another random access method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] Figure 4 A possible flow chart of another random access method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Figure 6 Another structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0082] Before introducing the present application, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are briefly explained first to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0083] (1) Reference signal

[0084] The reference signal in the embodiment of the present application includes an uplink reference signal and a downlink reference signal. An uplink reference signal refers to a signal sent by a terminal device, such as a signal sent by a terminal device to a network device via an uplink. A downlink reference signal refers to a signal sent by a network device, such as a signal sent by a network device to a terminal device via a downlink.

[0085] In the embodiment of the present application, the reference signal may include (or be) a channel state information reference signal (CSI) reference signal (RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SS / PBCH block), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) or a cell reference signal (CRS). The downlink reference signal may include (or be) at least one of these reference signals. In the embodiment of the present application, SSB and SS / PBCH block may be interchangeable.

[0086] The uplink reference signal may include (or be) a sounding reference signal (SRS), etc.

[0087] (2) Resources.

[0088] The resources in the embodiments of the present application may include, for example, at least one of time domain resources or frequency domain resources.

[0089] The time domain resources may include at least one of a radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a mini slot, or an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. Among them, a radio frame may include multiple subframes, a subframe may include one or more slots, and a slot may include at least one symbol. Alternatively, a radio frame may include multiple slots, and a slot may include at least one symbol. It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, an OFDM symbol may also be referred to as a symbol.

[0090] Frequency domain resources may include at least one of resource elements (RE), resource blocks (RB), channels, subchannels, carriers, or bandwidth parts (BWP). In the embodiment of the present application, the channel may also be equivalently replaced by a resource block set (RBset), and the frequency domain bandwidth of an RB set may be 20 megahertz (MHz).

[0091] (3) Beam.

[0092] The embodiment of beam in the new radio (NR) protocol can be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or quasi-colocation (QCL) information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, etc. The beam can be indicated by a transmission configuration indicator state (TCI-state) parameter or by a spatial relationship parameter.

[0093] Therefore, in this application, beam can be replaced by spatial filter, spatial filter, spatial parameter, spatial parameter, spatial setting, spatial setting, QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state (downlink TCI-state, uplink TCI-state), spatial relationship, etc. The above terms are also equivalent to each other. Beam can also be replaced by other terms representing beams, which are not limited in this application.

[0094] A beam used to transmit a signal may be referred to as a transmission beam (Tx beam), and may also be referred to as a spatial domain transmission filter, a spatial transmission filter, a spatial domain transmission parameter, or a spatial transmission parameter, a spatial domain transmission setting, or a spatial transmission setting. A downlink transmission beam may be indicated by a TCI-state.

[0095] The beam used to receive the signal may be referred to as a reception beam (Rx beam), and may also be referred to as a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, or a spatial reception parameter, a spatial domain reception setting, or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam may be indicated by a spatial relationship, or an uplink TCI-state, or an SRS resource (indicating a transmit beam using the SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam may also be replaced by an SRS resource.

[0096] The transmit beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions of space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and the receive beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions of space of the wireless signal received from the antenna.

[0097] In addition, the beam may be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The technology for forming the beam may be a beamforming technology or other technologies. The beamforming technology may specifically be a digital beamforming technology, an analog beamforming technology, or a hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology.

[0098] Beams are generally associated with resources. For example, when performing beam measurement, the network device measures different beams through different resources. The terminal device feeds back the measured resource quality, and the network device knows the quality of the associated beam. During data transmission, beam information is also indicated through its associated resources. For example, the network device indicates the information of the physical downlink sharing channel (PDSCH) beam of the terminal device through the TCI field in the downlink control information (DCI).

[0099] Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics are regarded as one beam. One beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. One or more antenna ports forming a beam may also be regarded as an antenna port set.

[0100] In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, a beam refers to a transmission beam of a network device. In beam measurement, each beam of a network device is associated with a resource, so the beam associated with the resource can be uniquely identified by the index of the resource.

[0101] (4)TCI-state (used to indicate the downlink beam).

[0102] Network devices can generate different beams pointing to different transmission directions. In downlink data transmission, when a network device uses a specific beam to send data to a terminal device, it needs to inform the terminal device of the transmit beam information it uses, so that the terminal device can use the receive beam associated with the transmit beam to receive the data sent by the network device.

[0103] In the 3GPP R15 / R16 protocol, the network device uses the TCI field in the DCI to indicate to the terminal device the relevant information of the transmission beam it adopts. Specifically, the TCI field size is 3 bits, which can specifically represent 8 different field values ​​(codepoints). Each value of the TCI field is associated with a TCI-state index, and the TCI-state index can uniquely identify a TCI-state. The TCI-state in the embodiment of the present application can also be written as TCI state. TCI-state includes several parameters, and the relevant information of the transmission beam can be determined by these parameters. TCI-state is configured by the network device to each terminal device. The structure of TCI-state is as follows Figure 1 As shown. Each TCI-state includes its own index TCI-state identifier and two QCL information (QCL information, QCL-Info). Each QCL-Info includes a cell field and a bandwidth (bandwidth part, bwp) identifier, which respectively indicate which bandwidth of which cell the TCI-state is applied to, that is, different cells or different bandwidths of the same cell can be configured with different QCL-Info. QCL-Info also includes a reference signal to indicate which reference signal resource constitutes the QCL relationship.

[0104] In the R15 / R16 protocol, the word "beam" generally does not appear directly, and beam is generally replaced by other terms. For example, in data transmission and channel measurement, beams are associated with reference signal resources, and one beam is associated with one reference signal resource. Therefore, when we say which reference signal resource constitutes a QCL relationship here, we actually mean which beam constitutes a QCL relationship. A QCL relationship means that two reference signal resources (or two antenna ports, where antenna ports and reference signal resources are also associated one-to-one) have certain identical spatial parameters. Which specific spatial parameters are the same depends on the type of the QCL-Info, that is, another field of QCL-Info, qcl-Type. qcl-Type can have four values ​​{typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}. Taking typeD as an example, typeD indicates that two reference signal resources have the same spatial reception parameter information, that is, the two beams have the same receiving beam. At most one of the two QCL-Info included in the TCI-state can be TypeD.

[0105] (5) Spatial relation (used to indicate uplink beam).

[0106] In the current protocol, the transmit beam for uplink transmission is indicated by a spatial relationship, which functions similarly to TCI-state and is used to inform the terminal device which transmit beam to use for uplink transmission.

[0107] The spatial relationship also needs to be configured through radio resource control (RRC) signaling first. RRC signaling can include the id of the spatial relationship, the cell id, the target reference signal resource, the path loss measurement reference signal, the power control parameters, etc. Among them, the target reference signal resource (which can be one of SRS / SSB / CSI-RS) is used to indicate the associated uplink beam. If the uplink transmission adopts spatial relationship #1, and the spatial relationship #1 includes a target reference signal resource #2, it means that the transmission beam used for the uplink transmission is the transmission / reception beam of the target reference signal. For example, when the target reference signal resource is the uplink resource SRS, it means that the transmission beam used for the uplink transmission is the transmission beam of the SRS (the transmission beam of the SRS is known). For another example, the target reference signal resource is a downlink resource such as SSB / CSI-RS, which means that the transmission beam used for the uplink transmission is the reception beam of the SSB / CSI-RS (the reception beam of the SSB / CSI-RS is known).

[0108] The network equipment can configure multiple spatial relationships for the terminal device. Then one of them is activated for associated data transmission through the media access control control element (MAC CE). Uplink transmission includes physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), SRS, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc., all of which require associated spatial relationships. The spatial relationship of PUCCH is indicated by MAC CE signaling. The spatial relationship of SRS is also indicated by MAC CE signaling. When PUSCH is transmitted, it will be associated with a specific SRS and use the spatial relationship of the SRS for transmission.

[0109] Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 applicable to the embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown. Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1As shown, the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure, collectively referred to as 110), and may also include at least one terminal (such as Figure 1 RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment ( Figure 1 (not shown in the figure). The terminal 120 is connected to the RAN node 110 by wireless means, and the RAN node 110 is connected to the core network 200 by wireless or wired means. The core network device in the core network 200 and the RAN node 110 in the RAN 100 may be independent and different physical devices, or may be the same physical device that integrates the logical functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the RAN node. Terminals and terminals and RAN nodes and RAN nodes may be connected to each other by wired or wireless means.

[0110] RAN100 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). RAN100 may also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (open RAN, O-RAN).

[0111] The network device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a RAN node. A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, a RAN entity or an access node, is used to help a terminal access a communication system wirelessly. In one application scenario, a RAN node may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a TRP, a next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (such as a Figure 1 110a), or a micro base station or an indoor station (such as Figure 1 110b) in the figure, it can also be a relay node or a donor node.

[0112] In another application scenario, the cooperation of multiple RAN nodes can be used to help the terminal achieve wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU) or a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. For the specific description of the above-mentioned various protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP. RU can be used to implement the transceiver function of radio frequency signals. CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated in the same RAN node, such as integrated in a baseband unit (BBU). RU can be included in a radio frequency device, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0113] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, CU may be called an open CU (open CU, O-CU), DU may be called an open DU (open DU, O-DU), and RU may be called an open RU (open RU, O-RU). The centralized unit control plane (central unit control panel, CU-CP) may also be called an open centralized unit control plane (open CU-CP, O-CU-CP), and the centralized unit user plane (central unit user panel, CU-UP) may also be called an open centralized unit user plane (open CU-UP, O-CU-UP). The RAN node in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with a corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For the convenience of description, the base station is described below as an example of a RAN node.

[0114] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver function, which can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be called a terminal device, user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, automatic driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a mechanical arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0115] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or movable. Base stations and terminals can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0116] The roles of the base station and the terminal can be relative, for example, Figure 1The helicopter or drone 120i in the figure can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminal 120j that accesses the wireless access network 100 through 120i, the terminal 120i is a base station; but for the base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, 110a and 120i communicate through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between base stations. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a base station. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. Figure 1 110a and 110b in the figure may be referred to as communication devices having base station functions. Figure 1 120a-120j in the figure can be called communication devices with terminal functions.

[0117] Base stations and terminals, base stations and base stations, and terminals and terminals can communicate through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; they can communicate through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0118] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem including the base station function. The control subsystem including the base station function here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or by a device including the terminal function.

[0119] In this application, the base station sends a downlink signal or downlink information to the terminal, and the downlink information is carried on the downlink channel; the terminal sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on the uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the service cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the service cell, it will also be interfered by signals from neighboring cells.

[0120] The communication between the access network device and the terminal device may follow a certain protocol layer structure. Exemplarily, the protocol layer structure may include a control plane protocol layer structure and a user plane protocol layer structure. For example, the control plane protocol layer structure may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. For example, the user plane protocol layer structure may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

[0121] The access network device may include a central unit (CU) and a distribution unit (DU). This design may be referred to as CU and DU separation. Multiple DUs may be centrally controlled by one CU. As an example, the interface between the CU and the DU is referred to as the F1 interface. Among them, the control plane (CP) interface may be F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface may be F1-U. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific names of the interfaces. The CU and DU may be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network: for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers above (such as the RRC layer and the SDAP layer, etc.) are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer, etc.) are set in the DU; for another example, the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer are set in the DU, without limitation.

[0122] The above division of the processing functions of CU and DU according to the protocol layer is only an example, and the division can also be carried out in other ways. For example, the CU or DU can be divided into functions with more protocol layers, and the CU or DU can be divided into partial processing functions with protocol layers. For example, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. For another example, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to the service type or other system requirements, such as division by latency, and the functions whose processing time needs to meet the latency requirements are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the latency requirements are set in the CU.

[0123] Optionally, the CU may have one or more functions of the core network.

[0124] Optionally, the radio unit (RU) of the DU can be set remotely. Among them, the RU has a radio frequency function. Exemplarily, the DU and the RU can be divided at the PHY layer. For example, the DU can implement the high-level functions in the PHY layer, and the RU can implement the low-level functions in the PHY layer. Among them, when used for sending, the functions of the PHY layer may include at least one of the following: adding cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits, channel coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, precoding, resource mapping, physical antenna mapping, or radio frequency transmission function. When used for receiving, the functions of the PHY layer may include at least one of the following: CRC check, channel decoding, rate matching, descrambling, demodulation, layer mapping, channel detection, resource demapping, physical antenna demapping, or radio frequency receiving function. Among them, the high-level functions in the PHY layer may include a part of the functions of the PHY layer, which is closer to the MAC layer; the low-level functions in the PHY layer may include another part of the functions of the PHY layer, for example, this part of the functions is closer to the radio frequency function. For example, the high-level functions in the PHY layer may include adding CRC bits, channel coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, and layer mapping, and the low-level functions in the PHY layer may include precoding, resource mapping, physical antenna mapping, and RF transmission functions; or, the high-level functions in the PHY layer may include adding CRC bits, channel coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, layer mapping, and precoding, and the low-level functions in the PHY layer may include resource mapping, physical antenna mapping, and RF transmission functions. For example, the high-level functions in the PHY layer may include CRC checking, channel decoding, rate matching, decoding, demodulation, and layer mapping, and the low-level functions in the PHY layer may include channel detection, resource demapping, physical antenna demapping, and RF reception functions; or, the high-level functions in the PHY layer may include CRC checking, channel decoding, rate matching, decoding, demodulation, layer mapping, and channel detection, and the low-level functions in the PHY layer may include resource demapping, physical antenna demapping, and RF reception functions.

[0125] Optionally, the functions of the CU can be further divided, and the control plane and the user plane can be separated and implemented through different entities. The separated entities are the control plane CU entity (i.e., CU-CP entity) and the user plane CU entity (i.e., CU-UP entity). The CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity can be connected to the DU respectively. In the embodiment of the present application, the entity can be understood as a module or a unit, and its existence can be a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module, without limitation.

[0126] Optionally, any one of the above-mentioned CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU can be a software module, a hardware structure, or a software module plus a hardware structure, without limitation. Among them, the existence forms of different entities can be the same or different. For example, CU, CU-CP, CU-UP and DU are software modules, and RU is a hardware structure. For the sake of brevity, all possible combinations are no longer listed here. These modules and their execution methods are also within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. For example, when the method of the embodiment of the present application is executed by an access network device, it can be specifically executed by at least one of CU, CU-CP, CU-UP or DU.

[0127] based on Figure 1 The embodiment shown, Figure 2 A possible flow chart of a random access method provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified. Figure 2 The terminal device in the embodiment may be the aforementioned Figure 1 The terminal device or the chip inside the terminal device shown in Figure 2 The first network device and / or the second network device in the embodiment may be the aforementioned Figure 1 A network device in the network (such as a RAN node, such as a CU or DU) or a chip in a network device (such as a chip in a RAN node, such as a chip in a CU or DU).

[0128] like Figure 2 As shown, the method includes step 201 and step 202. Figure 2 Make an introduction.

[0129] Step 201: The second network device sends first indication information.

[0130] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0131] The first indication information is used to indicate the first uplink reference signal. The first indication information may include, for example, at least one of a resource identifier of the first uplink reference signal, a resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal, or a measurement result of the first uplink reference signal. For related solutions, please refer to the subsequent description, which will not be elaborated here.

[0132] The first indication information may be carried in DCI.

[0133] Step 202: The terminal device sends a preamble.

[0134] Correspondingly, the first network device receives the preamble.

[0135] The terminal device may initiate random access to the first network device. The first network device is different from the second network device.

[0136] In one possible implementation, the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability; and / or, the first network device is not configured with information related to downlink transmission. In one possible implementation, the information related to downlink transmission may include: information related to downlink reference signal, information related to downlink control channel transmission, information related to downlink data channel transmission, information related to downlink frame structure, information related to downlink time slot, or at least one of information related to downlink bandwidth. Information related to downlink reference signal not configured may also be replaced by downlink reference signal not configured. Information related to downlink control channel transmission not configured may also be replaced by downlink control channel transmission not configured. Information related to downlink data channel transmission not configured may also be replaced by downlink data channel transmission not configured. Information related to downlink frame structure not configured may also be replaced by downlink frame structure related parameters not configured. Information related to downlink time slot not configured may also be replaced by downlink time slot related parameters not configured. Information related to downlink bandwidth not configured may also be replaced by downlink bandwidth not configured.

[0137] In another possible implementation, the first network device has uplink transmission capability and / or is configured with uplink transmission-related parameters. The uplink transmission-related parameters may include at least one of: an uplink reference signal, an uplink control channel transmission, an uplink data channel transmission, an uplink frame structure-related parameter, an uplink time slot-related parameter, or an uplink bandwidth.

[0138] The preamble code can be associated with the first uplink reference signal, which can be understood as some parameters in the process of sending the preamble code can refer to the first uplink reference signal. For example, the spatial relationship (or beam) of sending the preamble code can refer to the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first uplink reference signal, or the spatial relationship (or beam) of the preamble code is associated with the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first uplink reference signal. For another example, the path loss reference signal associated with the preamble code is the first uplink reference signal. Or it can also be understood that the path loss of the preamble code can refer to (or be regarded as) the path loss of the first uplink reference signal.

[0139] In this embodiment, since the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, the terminal device cannot access the first network device based on the current random access process. In the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can send a preamble based on the first uplink reference signal and then randomly access the first network device. This solution provides a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process.

[0140] The solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is applicable to a variety of random access scenarios. Figure 3 and Figure 4 A possible flow chart of the random access method in two scenarios is exemplarily introduced. Figure 3In this paper, non-contention-free random access (CFRA) is used as an example to introduce Figure 4 Contention-based random access (CBRA) is taken as an example for introduction. Figure 3 and Figure 4 For details about the terminal device, the first network device, and the second network device, please refer to the aforementioned Figure 2 The relevant introduction will not be repeated here. Figure 2 The third network device in the embodiment may be the aforementioned Figure 1 A network device in the network (such as a RAN node, such as a CU or DU) or a chip in a network device (such as a chip in a RAN node, such as a chip in a CU or DU).

[0141] Combine the following Figure 3 Make an introduction, Figure 3 The embodiment shown includes step 301, step 302, step 303 and step 304. In a possible implementation, Figure 3 The illustrated embodiment also includes step 305 and step 306 .

[0142] Step 301: The second network device sends configuration information.

[0143] The configuration information may include one or more of information A1, information A2, information A3, information A4, information A5, information A6, information A7, information A8, or information A9. The content included in the configuration information may be transmitted through one signaling or through multiple signalings, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In one possible implementation, the configuration information may be carried in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0144] Information A1 is used to indicate information of an uplink reference signal.

[0145] The second network device may be configured with one or more uplink reference signals, and the first uplink reference signal in the embodiment of the present application may be one or more of the one or more uplink reference signals. The information used to indicate the uplink reference signal includes: a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the uplink reference signal. For example, the information used to indicate the uplink reference signal may include a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal. In the embodiment of the present application, the resource identifier and / or the resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal may also be replaced with a resource index of the first uplink reference signal.

[0146] Information A2 is used to indicate the information of the preamble code.

[0147] The second network device may be configured with one or more preambles. A preamble may be written as preamble in English, and a preamble may also have other names, such as pilot, etc. The information used to indicate the preamble may be used to indicate an index of the preamble or pilot.

[0148] In the embodiment of the present application, the preamble may be associated with the first uplink reference signal. In this case, when the terminal device sends the preamble, the spatial relationship of the preamble may be associated with the first uplink reference signal. Alternatively, it can also be understood that the terminal device sends the preamble with reference to the beam of the first uplink reference signal.

[0149] Information A3 is used to indicate the random access occasion.

[0150] The second network device may configure one or more random access occasions. The random access occasion may also be a RACH transmission occasion (occasion) and / or a PRACH transmission occasion (occasion). The information used to indicate the random access occasion may include mask information of a random access channel, and the mask information of the random access channel is used to indicate the random access occasion. The mask information of the random access channel may include, for example, an index of the mask of the random access channel.

[0151] Information A4: information on time-frequency resources.

[0152] The information of the time-frequency resource in the embodiment of the present application can be used to indicate the time-frequency resource. The time-frequency resource is used to initiate random access, and the time-frequency resource can be used to transmit signaling in the random access process.

[0153] The information of time-frequency resources may include information of time domain resources and / or information of frequency domain resources. The information of time domain resources may include at least one of a frame number, a subframe number, a starting symbol of a random access opportunity, a PRACH time slot, or the number of random access opportunities in the time domain (such as the number of PRACH transmission opportunities in a time slot), which may be configured by a high-level parameter (such as a parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex). The information of frequency domain resources may include at least one of the starting position of the RACH frequency domain, the number of random access opportunities in the frequency domain (such as the number of PRACH transmission opportunities in the frequency domain).

[0154] Information A5, indicating information on the association relationship between any multiple items of uplink reference signal, preamble code and random access opportunity.

[0155] In the embodiment of the present application, there may be an association relationship between the various parameters configured by the second network device, and the association relationship between the various parameters may be expressed in the form of a table or text, etc. The second network device may configure (for example, may indicate through some instructions) the association relationship between the uplink reference signal, the preamble, and the random access opportunity.

[0156] In the embodiment of the present application, a random access opportunity may be associated (or associated) with an uplink reference signal; or a random access opportunity may be associated with multiple uplink reference signals; or multiple random access opportunities may be associated with one uplink reference signal. Similarly, in the embodiment of the present application, a preamble may be associated (or associated) with an uplink reference signal; or a preamble may be associated with multiple uplink reference signals; or multiple preambles may be associated (or associated) with one uplink reference signal.

[0157] Information A6, random access resources.

[0158] In an embodiment of the present application, the second network device may also indicate the association relationship between the configured parameters (such as an uplink reference signal, a preamble code, and any multiple items of random access opportunities) in an implicit manner, for example, the second network device sets the parameters with an association relationship together, for example, the parameters with an association relationship may be set in a parameter set. In a possible example, the name of the parameter set may be called a random access resource, for example, it may be recorded as CFRA-SRS-resource, and it may also be understood as: the parameters with an association relationship are set in the same CFRA-SRS-resource.

[0159] The second network device may configure one or more random access resources for the terminal device, and one random access resource may be associated with one resource identifier. Exemplarily, the resource identifier may be recorded as CFRA-SRS-resource ID, where ID is the English abbreviation of identity.

[0160] One (or each) random access resource (such as CFRA-SRS-resource) may include one or more of information for indicating an uplink reference signal (such as first indication information), information for indicating a preamble code, or information for indicating a random access opportunity. The parameters indicated by the information belonging to the same random access resource (such as CFRA-SRS-resource) (at least two of the uplink reference signal, preamble code, and random access opportunity) are associated with each other. In this scheme, the second network device implicitly indicates the association between the various parameters (part or all of the uplink reference signal, preamble code, or random access opportunity), that is, the terminal device believes that the various parameters belonging to the same random access resource have an association relationship, so the second network device can no longer separately indicate the association relationship through additional information, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0161] In the embodiment of the present application, the uplink reference signals in the two random access resources may be different or the same, the preambles in the two random access resources may be the same or different, and the random access opportunities in the two random access resources may be the same or different. For example, CFRA-SRS-resource#1 includes preamble#1, uplink reference signal#1 and random access opportunity#1, and CFRA-SRS-resource#2 includes preamble#2, uplink reference signal#2 and random access opportunity#2. The terminal considers that preamble#1, uplink reference signal#1 and random access opportunity#1 are associated, and preamble#2, uplink reference signal#2 and random access opportunity#2 are associated. Preamble#1 and preamble#2 may be the same or different. Uplink reference signal#1 and uplink reference signal#2 may be the same or different. Random access opportunity#1 and random access opportunity#2 may be the same or different.

[0162] CFRA-SRS-resource may also include part of the uplink reference signal, the preamble, and part of the parameters in the random access opportunity, and the CFRA-SRS-resource may have an association relationship with the parameters not included. For example, a CFRA-SRS-resource includes information for indicating the preamble and information for indicating the uplink reference signal (such as the first indication information), and may not include information for indicating the random access opportunity. The CFRA-SRS-resource may be associated with one or more random access opportunities. A random access opportunity may be associated (or associated) with a random access resource (such as a CFRA-SRS-resource); or a random access opportunity may be associated with multiple random access resources (such as a CFRA-SRS-resource); or multiple random access opportunities may be associated with one random access resource (such as a CFRA-SRS-resource).

[0163] For another example, a CFRA-SRS-resource includes information for indicating a random access opportunity and information for indicating an uplink reference signal (such as first indication information), but may not include information for indicating a preamble, and the CFRA-SRS-resource may be associated with one or more information for indicating a preamble. A preamble may be associated (or associated) with a random access resource (such as a CFRA-SRS-resource); or a preamble may be associated with multiple random access resources (such as a CFRA-SRS-resource); or multiple preambles may be associated with one random access resource (such as a CFRA-SRS-resource).

[0164] Information A7, quantity information.

[0165] The quantity information may include at least one of the following: the number of random access opportunities associated with an uplink reference signal; the number of uplink reference signals associated with a random access opportunity; the number of preambles associated with an uplink reference signal; or the number of uplink reference signals associated with a preamble. The quantity information may also include at least one of the number of uplink reference signals, the number of random access opportunities, or the number of preambles.

[0166] The first network device can know the beam index of the uplink reference signal used by the terminal device (such as the beam index of the uplink reference signal with the best signal quality) according to the time-frequency domain position of the random access opportunity where the received preamble is located, and the information used to indicate the preamble (such as the index of the preamble). The second network device can configure the relationship between the number of uplink reference signals, the number of random access opportunities, and the number of preambles through a parameter (the name of the parameter can be defined by itself, such as the parameter name SRS-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSRS). For example, the second network device can associate and map the three to different random access opportunities according to a specific mapping rule. This operation also implicitly indicates the association between the number of uplink reference signals, the number of random access opportunities, and the number of preambles.

[0167] Information A8 is used to indicate information of the third network device.

[0168] The third network device may be used to guide the terminal device to transmit information in the random access process, for example, the terminal device sends a preamble based on the downlink timing of the third network device.

[0169] In the embodiment of the present application, the information used to indicate the third network device may include indication information of a cell associated with the third network device and / or indication information of a CC associated with the third network device. In the embodiment of the present application, the identification information of the cell (or CC) of the third network device may also be referred to as identification information of a reference cell (or reference CC). The third network device is a network device with downlink transmission capability.

[0170] Information A9, root sequence index of the preamble code.

[0171] The preamble code may be generated by cyclic shift of a root sequence (such as a ZC root sequence). The second network device configures the root sequence of the preamble code for the terminal device, and the terminal device may generate one or more preamble codes according to the root sequence.

[0172] Step 302: The second network device sends fourth information to the terminal device.

[0173] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the fourth information. The fourth information is used to trigger the terminal device to initiate random access.

[0174] In step 302, the fourth information may be carried in a signaling sent to trigger the terminal device to initiate random access. The signaling may be, for example, DCI format 1_0 or other DCI formats, carried in a PDCCH order, and the PDCCH order may be used to trigger CFRA.

[0175] In the embodiment of the present application, the second network device may also send one or more of the following information B1, information B2, information B3, information B4, information B5, information B6 or information B7. The information sent by the second network device (one or more of information B1, information B2, information B3, information B4, information B5, information B6 or information B7) may be carried in one or more signalings. For example, all or part of the information sent by the second network device (one or more of information B1, information B2, information B3, information B4, information B5, information B6 or information B7) is carried in the PDCCH order.

[0176] Information B1, first indication information.

[0177] The first indication information may be used to indicate a first uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information may include an identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal. For example, if the first uplink reference signal is an SRS, the indication information of the first uplink reference signal is a resource index of the SRS (for example, a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the SRS).

[0178] The first uplink reference signal may be an uplink reference signal among a plurality of uplink reference signals configured by the second network device. For related content, reference may be made to the content of the aforementioned information A1 and will not be described in detail.

[0179] Information B2 is used to indicate the information of the preamble code.

[0180] The information used to indicate the preamble code is used to indicate the preamble code for the terminal to initiate random access, and the information used to indicate the preamble code may be an index of the preamble code.

[0181] The preamble code may be a preamble code among a plurality of preamble codes configured by the second network device. The content of the information B2 may refer to the content of the aforementioned information A2, and will not be described in detail.

[0182] Information B3 is used to indicate the random access opportunity.

[0183] The random access opportunity may refer to the opportunity when the terminal device receives the preamble at certain specific positions on the time-frequency resources. The network device (such as the first network device) may receive the preamble at this opportunity. The information used to indicate the random access opportunity may be a PRACH mask index.

[0184] The random access opportunity may be a random access opportunity among a plurality of random access opportunities configured by the second network device. The content of the information B3 may refer to the content of the aforementioned information A3, and will not be described in detail.

[0185] Information B4: identifier of the first random access resource.

[0186] When the terminal device receives the identifier of the first random access resource, it can be considered that the random access needs to be performed based on one or more of the uplink reference signal, the preamble or the random access opportunity in the first random access resource. Therefore, the identifier of the first random access resource can also be regarded as (or replaced by): one or more of the first indication information (information B1), the information for indicating the preamble (information B2) or the information for indicating the random access opportunity (information B3).

[0187] For example, when the terminal device determines that the random access resource used for random access is CFRA-SRS-resource#1, the terminal device refers to the spatial relationship (or beam) of the uplink reference signal indicated by the information used to indicate the uplink reference signal in the CFRA-SRS-resource#1, and sends a preamble code at the random access timing indicated by the information used to indicate the random access timing in the CFRA-SRS-resource#1.

[0188] In another possible implementation, for the parameters in the two random access resources, the terminal device may not identify whether the parameters in the two random access resources are associated, or the terminal device believes that there is no association between the two random access resources. For example, when the terminal device determines to enable the parameters of CFRA-SRS-resource#1, it will search for the preamble code and the uplink reference signal to which the preamble code is referenced from CFRA-SRS-resource#1, and also search for the random access opportunity in the CFRA-SRS-resource#1. However, when the terminal device determines to enable the parameters of CFRA-SRS-resource#1, it will not search for the uplink reference signal associated with the preamble code in CFRA-SRS-resource#1 from other resources (such as CFRA-SRS-resource#2), which can also be understood as the terminal device believes that the preamble code in CFRA-SRS-resource#1 is not associated with the uplink reference signal in CFRA-SRS-resource#2.

[0189] The first random access resource may be one of a plurality of random access resources, such as one of a plurality of random access resources configured for the second network device. The content of information B4 may refer to the content of the aforementioned information A6, and will not be described in detail.

[0190] Information B5: second instruction information.

[0191] The second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the first network device from which the terminal device initiates random access does not have downlink transmission capability; the signal type referenced by the random access initiated by the terminal device is an uplink reference signal; or the first network device from which the terminal device initiates random access is not configured with information related to downlink transmission. In this way, the terminal device can determine, based on the second indication information, that the reference signal that needs to be referenced in the process of initiating random access is an uplink reference signal, rather than a downlink reference signal. In another possible implementation, when the information configured by the second network device includes both an uplink reference signal and a downlink reference signal, the terminal device can identify which reference signal is used to initiate random access.

[0192] In the embodiment of the present application, the second network device may send or not send the second indication information. When the second network device does not send the second indication information, the terminal device may identify that an uplink reference signal is required to initiate random access through the other method.

[0193] For example, the message received by the terminal device (such as PDCCH order) only includes an uplink reference signal but does not include a downlink reference signal. Then the terminal device determines that the uplink reference signal needs to be used to initiate random access this time.

[0194] For another example, if the message received by the terminal device (such as PDCCH order) includes the identification information of the cell associated with the first network device, the terminal device determines that the network device initiating the random access is the first network device. The terminal device can also determine that the first network device has no downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information based on some other information (such as pre-configuration, etc.), and then the terminal device determines that the uplink reference signal needs to be used for this random access.

[0195] Information B6: information used to indicate the first network device.

[0196] The first network device is the network device to which the terminal device initiates random access. In this way, the terminal device can identify the network device to which random access needs to be initiated based on the identification information of the cell associated with the first network device.

[0197] The information used to indicate the first network device may include, for example: identification information of a cell associated with the first network device, index information of a CC associated with the first network device, and the like.

[0198] On the other hand, the terminal device can pre-configure some parameters of each cell in advance. For example, the terminal device can pre-configure the first network device that does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information. In this way, the terminal device can determine that the reference signal that needs to be referenced in the process of initiating random access is an uplink reference signal, not a downlink reference signal. In this embodiment, since the terminal device can determine that the reference signal that needs to be referenced in the process of initiating random access is an uplink reference signal in combination with the identification information of the cell associated with the first network device, in this embodiment, the second network device does not need to configure the above-mentioned second indication information (i.e., information B5).

[0199] Information B7 is used to indicate information of the third network device.

[0200] The second network device may be configured with multiple third network devices, and the third network device in the information B7 may be a network device among the multiple third network devices. The content of the information B7 may refer to the content of the aforementioned information A8, and will not be described in detail.

[0201] There are many application scenarios of the embodiments of the present application. The following describes several scenarios by way of example through implementation mode C1, implementation mode C2 and implementation mode C3. In implementation mode C1, the inter-cell multiple transmission reception point (inter-cell mTRP) scenario is used as an example for introduction. In implementation mode C2, the intra-cell multiple transmission reception point (intra-cell mTRP) scenario is used as an example for introduction. In implementation mode C3, the carrier aggregation (CA) scenario is used as an example for introduction.

[0202] Implementation method C1, inter-cell mTRP scenario.

[0203] In implementation mode C1, the cell associated with the first network device is a non-serving cell or the first network device is a cell with a PCI different from that of the serving cell, and the cell associated with the second network device is a serving cell. The non-serving cell in the embodiment of the present application may also be replaced with a cell with a PCI different from that of the serving cell. The serving cell in this implementation mode may also be replaced with a cell associated with the second network device, and the non-serving cell may also be replaced with a cell associated with the first network device.

[0204] In this implementation C1, the serving cell and the non-serving cell are respectively associated with different physical cell identifiers (PCI). For the sake of distinction, the PCI of the non-serving cell may be referred to as an additional PCI. The second network device may send a signaling (such as MAC CE TCI state) to the terminal device. If the TCI-state activated by the signaling includes additionalPCI, it indicates that the terminal device operates in an inter-cellmTRP scenario.

[0205] In implementation mode C1, cells that only have uplink reception capability (i.e., do not have downlink transmission capability) or are not configured with information related to downlink transmission (or all) (or cells understood as indicated by additionalPCI) are referred to as first cells. A serving cell, a cell that has downlink reception capability, or is configured with information related to downlink transmission (or a cell understood as indicated by the PCI of a serving cell) may be referred to as a second cell. In this implementation mode, the first cell may also be replaced by a cell associated with the first network device, and the second cell may also be replaced by a cell associated with the second network device. In a possible implementation mode, the present application may be implemented by a protocol that stipulates (or restricts): the serving cell has downlink transmission capability; and / or the serving cell is configured with information related to downlink transmission.

[0206] In implementation C1, the second network device may send a signaling (such as a PDCCH order) to the terminal device through the second cell (the second cell may also be understood as a cell associated with the second network device, or the second cell may be referred to as a cell of the second network device), and the signaling (such as a PDCCH order) is used to trigger the terminal device to initiate a random access (such as a CFRA) to the first cell (or the first network device). One or more of the above information B1, information B2, information B3, information B4, information B5 or information B6 sent by the second network device to the terminal device may be carried in one signaling (such as a PDCCH order) or multiple signalings.

[0207] For example, the DCI1_0 carried by the PDCCH order includes the first indication information, and the beam of the terminal device sending the preamble (or sending the RACH) refers to the beam of the first uplink reference signal. Optionally, the DCI1_0 is scrambled by the cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and the frequency domain resource assignment field of the DCI1_0 is all 1.

[0208] There are multiple possible implementations for carrying the first indication information, which are exemplarily introduced below through implementation C1.1 and implementation C1.2. For example, the first indication information is located in a newly added field of the signaling (such as DCI1_0) (implementation C1.1). For another example, the first indication information is located in an existing field of the signaling (such as DCI1_0) (implementation C1.2), such as a field originally used to carry information of a downlink reference signal.

[0209] In implementation C1.1, the first indication information is located in a newly added field of the signaling (eg, DCI1_0).

[0210] For example, DCI1_0 adds a new field, which is used to carry the first indication information.

[0211] In a possible implementation, DCI1_0 may include first indication information (such as indication information of SRS) and information for indicating a downlink reference signal (such as indication information of SS / PBCH). DCI1_0 may be used to trigger random access (such as CFRA) of the first network device, and may also be used to trigger random access (such as CFRA) of the second network device. In implementation C1.1, the random access for triggering the first network device may also be replaced by the random access for triggering the first cell, and the random access for triggering the second network device may also be replaced by the random access for triggering the second cell.

[0212] When DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device, the terminal device may not process the field for indicating the downlink reference signal information (such as the resource index of SS / PBCH) carried in DCI1_0, or consider the field meaningless. The terminal device may send a preamble based on the uplink reference signal, that is, the beam of the preamble may refer to the beam of the uplink reference signal in the DCI1_0.

[0213] When DCI1_0 triggers random access of the second network device, the terminal device may not process the field carrying the first indication information (such as the resource index of the SRS) in DCI1_0, or consider the field to be meaningless. The terminal device may send a preamble based on the downlink reference signal, that is, the beam of the preamble may refer to the beam of the downlink reference signal in the DCI1_0.

[0214] In a possible implementation, DCI1_0 may further include information for indicating the following: whether the DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device or the second network device. The information for indicating whether the DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device or the second network device may include: identification information of a cell associated with the network device (such as an identification of a cell associated with the second network device or an identification of a cell associated with the first network device) (see Example 1 below). Alternatively, whether the DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device or the second network device may be indicated by second indication information (see Example 2 below). The following two examples are respectively introduced below.

[0215] Example 1: When DCI1_0 includes cell identification information associated with a first network device (such as additional PCI), it can be considered that this DCI1_0 indicates a cell associated with the first network device (such as a non-serving cell). Then, the terminal device processes the field in DCI1_0 that carries the first indication information, and does not process the field in DCI1_0 that carries information for indicating a downlink reference signal. The preamble sent is associated with the first uplink reference signal (or it can be said that the signaling transmission in the random access procedure refers to the first uplink reference signal). When DCI1_0 includes cell identification information associated with a second network device (such as the PCI of a serving cell), it can be considered that this DCI1_0 indicates a cell associated with the second network device (such as a serving cell). Then, the terminal device processes the field in DCI1_0 that carries information for indicating a downlink reference signal, and does not process the field in DCI1_0 that carries the first indication information. The preamble sent is associated with the downlink reference signal (or it can be said that the signaling transmission in the random access procedure refers to the downlink reference signal).

[0216] Example 2: A field can be included in DCI1_0, and the value carried on this field can indicate whether DCI1_0 triggers the random access of the first network device or the second network device. For example, if the value carried on this field is "1", it means that the first network device is triggered; if the value carried on this field is "0", it means that the second network device is triggered. When the value carried on this field is "1", it can also be regarded that DCI1_0 includes second indication information. When the value carried on this field is "0", it can also be regarded that DCI1_0 does not include second indication information.

[0217] When DCI1_0 includes the above-mentioned second indication information, the terminal device processes the field in DCI1_0 that carries the first indication information, and does not process the field in DCI1_0 that carries information for indicating a downlink reference signal. The preamble sent is associated with the first uplink reference signal (or it can be said that the signaling transmission in the random access procedure refers to the first uplink reference signal). When DCI1_0 does not include the above-mentioned second indication information, the terminal device processes the field in DCI1_0 that carries information for indicating a downlink reference signal, and does not process the field in DCI1_0 that carries the first indication information. The preamble sent is associated with the downlink reference signal (or it can be said that the signaling transmission in the random access procedure refers to the downlink reference signal). The second indication information can be carried on a new field or an existing field (such as a reserved field) in DCI1_0.

[0218] For example, DCI1_0 includes a field whose length is 1. When the field is "1", it can be considered that the DCI1_0 indicates a cell associated with the first network device (for example, a non-service cell) (the bit value "1" on this bit position can be regarded as the second indication information), and the terminal device determines that the DCI1_0 triggers the first network device. Therefore, the terminal device processes the field of the indication information of the uplink reference signal (such as the first uplink reference signal) carried in DCI1_0, and does not process the field in DCI1_0 that carries the information used to indicate the downlink reference signal. The preamble code sent by the terminal device is associated with the first uplink reference signal (or the signaling transmission in the random access process refers to the first uplink reference signal). When this field is "0", it can be considered that the DCI1_0 indicates a cell associated with the second network device (for example, a service cell) (at this time, it can be considered that the DCI1_0 does not include the second indication information), and the terminal device processes the field in DCI1_0 that carries the information for indicating the downlink reference signal, and does not process the field in DCI1_0 that carries the indication information of the uplink reference signal (such as the first uplink reference signal), and the preamble code sent by the terminal device is associated with the downlink reference signal (or the signaling transmission in the random access process refers to the downlink reference signal).

[0219] In implementation C1.2, the first indication information is located in an existing field of the signaling (eg, DCI1_0).

[0220] In implementation C1.2, the first indication information is located in an existing field of the signaling (such as DCI1_0), which may be a reserved field of DCI1_0 or a field used to carry a downlink reference signal. The name of the field may or may not be changed later, and this embodiment of the application does not limit it.

[0221] For example, the first indication information and the information used to indicate the downlink reference signal multiplex the same field in DCI1_0. When DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device, the field carries the first indication information; when DCI1_0 triggers random access of the second network device, the field carries information used to indicate the downlink reference signal. In this implementation, the terminal device can determine whether the random access of the first network device or the second network device needs to be triggered based on whether the uplink reference signal or the information used to indicate the downlink reference signal is carried in the signaling. In this implementation, the second network device does not need to indicate the network device it triggers through additional signaling, and the signaling can only carry one type of reference signal (uplink or downlink), so this solution can save signaling overhead.

[0222] In a possible implementation manner, the length of the field used to carry the indication information of the uplink reference signal (such as the first uplink reference signal) depends on N SSB The maximum number of SSBs that can be configured for network devices, N SRS The maximum number of SRSs can be configured for network devices. means rounding up, and max(a, b) means taking the maximum value of a and b.

[0223] In implementation C1.2, DCI1_0 may include information for indicating the following: whether the DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device or the second network device; the information may also be understood as indicating whether the DCI1_0 carries information for indicating an uplink reference signal (such as the first indication information) or information for indicating a downlink reference signal. It can be understood that when DCI1_0 triggers the first network device, the DCI1_0 carries information for indicating an uplink reference signal (such as the first indication information). When DCI1_0 triggers the second network device, the DCI1_0 carries information for indicating a downlink reference signal. The information for indicating whether the DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device or the second network device may include: identification information of a cell associated with the network device (such as an identification of a cell associated with the second network device or an identification of a cell associated with the first network device). Or whether the DCI1_0 triggers random access of the first network device or the second network device may be indicated by whether the second indication information is included in the signaling. For related content, please refer to the related description of Example 1 and Example 2 in the aforementioned Implementation Method C1.1, which will not be repeated here.

[0224] Implementation method C2, intra-cell mTRP scenario.

[0225] In this implementation C2, the terminal device operates in an intra-cell mTRP scenario, in which a cell may have multiple TRPs. This implementation is introduced by taking the first network device and the second network device as different TRPs in the same cell as an example. Implementation C2 can be configured as a single DCI mTRP scenario, that is, only the control resource set pool index (CORESETpoolindex) 0 is configured, or the CORESETpoolindex is not configured. When the TCI field indicated by each TCI code point (TCI Codepoint) (or DCI) activated by the second network device through MAC CE is associated with a pair of TCI-states, and the TCI-state does not contain additionalPCI, it can be considered that the terminal device operates in an intra-cell mTRP scenario. In this scenario, the second network device sends a PDCCH order to the terminal device, and the terminal device may not be able to perceive the two TRPs. The terminal device believes that the PDCCH order is sent from the serving cell.

[0226] In this scenario, there are multiple possible implementations for carrying the first indication information, such as the first indication information being located in a newly added field or an existing field of the signaling (such as DCI1_0 of the PDCCH order), and the relevant contents refer to the relevant description in the implementation mode C1, which will not be described in detail. In this implementation mode, the second network device can send the second indication information, and the relevant solutions can refer to the relevant description in the aforementioned implementation mode C1, which will not be described in detail.

[0227] Implementation method C3, CA scenario.

[0228] In the CA scenario, multiple component carriers (CCs) can be aggregated, and each CC can be regarded as a service cell. In this implementation, the cells associated with the first network device and the second network device can be illustrated as different service cells. In implementation C3, the first network device and the second network device can also be said to belong to two CCs respectively. For example, the first network device is a secondary component carrier (SCC), and the second network device is a PCC. In the embodiment of the present application, the cell of the PCC (the cell of the second network device) can be called a primary cell (Pcell), and the cell of the SCC (the cell of the first network device) can be called a secondary cell (Scell). The first network device and the second network device belong to the same device or different devices.

[0229] For example, DCI1_0 carried by the PDCCH order includes a field that carries information used to indicate the first network device (such as identification information of the cell associated with the first network device or index information of the CC associated with the first network device), and the field is used to indicate which cell or CC random access (such as CFRA) is triggered by the PDCCH order. In this example, since the cells associated with the first network device and the second network device are different serving cells, the information used to indicate the first network device may be identification information of the serving cell associated with the first network device. The information used to indicate the first network device may be a newly added field in the signaling, or an existing field.

[0230] In this scenario, there are multiple possible implementations for carrying the first indication information, such as the first indication information being located in a newly added field or an existing field of the signaling (such as DCI1_0 of the PDCCH order), and the relevant contents refer to the relevant description in the implementation mode C1, which will not be described in detail. In this implementation mode, the second network device can send the second indication information, and the relevant solutions can refer to the relevant description in the aforementioned implementation mode C1, which will not be described in detail.

[0231] Step 303: The terminal device determines parameters of the random access procedure.

[0232] The parameters of the random access procedure may include, for example, an uplink reference signal and a preamble, and may also include a random access opportunity.

[0233] The terminal device may determine the first uplink reference signal according to the first indication information. There are many schemes for the terminal device to determine other parameters of the random access process, and several possible examples are introduced below through implementation mode D1 and implementation mode D2.

[0234] In implementation mode D1, a terminal device receives information indicating parameters of a random access procedure, and determines the parameters of the random access procedure according to the information indicating parameters of the random access procedure.

[0235] The parameters of the random access procedure may be, for example, a preamble and / or a random access opportunity. The information used to indicate the parameters of the random access procedure may include, for example, information used to indicate the preamble and / or information used to indicate the random access opportunity. When the parameter of the random access procedure is the random access opportunity, the information used to indicate the parameters of the random access procedure may be replaced with information of a mask of a random access channel. The information of the mask of the random access channel is used to indicate the random access opportunity.

[0236] In this example, there may be multiple parameters for the random access procedure of the same type. For example, the second network device may indicate multiple preambles and / or multiple random access opportunities. In this case, the terminal device can obtain the association relationship (such as the association relationship involved in the above information A5) between the uplink reference signal and the parameters of the random access procedure (such as preambles and / or random access opportunities, etc.). The second network device can indicate this association relationship in an explicit or implicit manner. Then, the terminal device determines the parameters of the random access procedure associated with the first uplink reference signal (such as preambles and / or random access opportunities, etc.) based on this association relationship.

[0237] In Embodiment D2, the terminal device determines the parameters of the random access procedure according to the association relationship and the first uplink reference signal, and this association relationship indicates the association between the first uplink reference signal and the parameters of the random access procedure. In Example 2, the terminal device can pre-obtain some association relationships, and this association relationship is the association relationship between the uplink reference signal and one or more parameters of the random access procedure. Then, the terminal device can find out the parameters of the random access procedure associated with the first uplink signal (such as preambles and / or random access opportunities, etc.) from these association relationships. These association relationships can be in the form of a mapping table or text. Examples of the association relationship between the uplink reference signal and the parameters of the random access procedure (such as preambles and / or random access opportunities, etc.) can be seen in the foregoing related descriptions and will not be elaborated here. This solution can reduce the signaling overhead caused by indicating the parameters of the random access procedure, thereby saving resources.

[0238] For example, the association relationships configured for the terminal device may include the association relationships between one or more uplink reference signals and one or more preambles. One uplink reference signal can be associated with one or more preambles, and one or more preambles can be associated with one uplink reference signal. These association relationships may include a first association relationship, and the first association relationship indicates the association relationship between the first uplink reference signal and the preamble. The terminal device can search for these association relationships based on the first uplink reference signal, and then, according to the first association relationship, find out the preamble associated with the first uplink reference signal. In this way, the terminal device does not need to receive the information for indicating the preamble, thereby saving signaling overhead. In a possible implementation manner, one first uplink reference signal can be associated with one preamble, and in this way, the terminal device can uniquely determine one preamble.

[0239] To give another example, the association relationship configured by the terminal device may include an association relationship between one or more uplink reference signals and one or more random access opportunities, one uplink reference signal may be associated with one or more random access opportunities, and one or more random access opportunities may be associated with one uplink reference signal. These association relationships may include a second association relationship, and the second association relationship indicates the association relationship between the first uplink reference signal and the random access opportunity. The terminal device can search for these association relationships based on the first uplink reference signal, and then find the random access opportunity associated with the first uplink reference signal based on the second association relationship. In this way, the terminal device does not need to receive information for indicating the preamble code, thereby saving signaling overhead. In a possible implementation, a first uplink reference signal can be associated with a random access opportunity, so that the terminal device can determine a unique random access opportunity.

[0240] The implementation methods provided in the above implementation methods D1 and D2 can be used alone or in combination. For example, some parameters of the random access process are determined by the scheme provided in Example 1, and some parameters of the random access process are determined by the scheme provided in Example 2. For example, the terminal device determines the random access timing based on the mask information of the received random access channel, and for another example, the terminal device determines the preamble code based on the first association relationship and the first uplink reference signal. In this example, the second network device can send the mask information of the random access channel, but may not send the information for indicating the preamble code.

[0241] Step 304: The terminal device sends a preamble.

[0242] Correspondingly, the first network device receives the preamble.

[0243] In step 304, after the terminal device determines the first uplink reference signal, the spatial relationship of the terminal device sending the preamble code can refer to the spatial relationship of the first uplink reference signal. The terminal device can also determine the preamble code and determine the associated random access radio network temporary identifier (random access radio network temporary identifier, RA-RANTI), and send the preamble code on the PRACH resource (such as at the random access opportunity).

[0244] Since the first network device cannot send a downlink reference signal, the terminal device cannot send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the first network device. Based on this situation, an embodiment of the present application provides a possible solution, in which the terminal device determines a third network device, and the terminal device sends a preamble based on the downlink timing of the third network device. The third network device is different from the first network device.

[0245] The third network device may be the second network device, or may be a network device different from the second network device. For example, if the third network device is the second network device, in this case, the terminal device may send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the second network device. For example, the terminal device sends a preamble based on the downlink timing of the PDCCH order received from the second network device and then advances the uplink timing offset, and the timing advance (TA) during the transmission of the preamble is 0. The uplink timing offset may be defined by a network configuration (such as the second network device) or a protocol.

[0246] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can determine the third network device in a variety of ways. For example, the second network device sends information for indicating the third network device, and the terminal device determines the third network device based on the received information for indicating the third network device. For another example, the information for indicating the third network device may be sent by a network device other than the second network device. For another example, the third network device may also be defined by a protocol, or pre-configured, or agreed upon. For example, the protocol stipulates that the third network device is a PCC or a reference CC configured by the network device, or the protocol stipulates that the cell associated with the third network device is a service cell or a reference cell configured by the network device.

[0247] When the terminal device works in the intra-cell or inter-cell mTRP scenario, the terminal device can send the preamble code in advance of an uplink timing offset based on the downlink timing of the serving cell (the third network device is the serving cell), and TA is 0. When the terminal device works in a multi-CC scenario, the network device can configure a reference CC or a reference cell (a CC or cell associated with the third network device), and the reference CC (the CC associated with the third network device) can be any CC in CA, and the reference cell (the cell associated with the third network device) can be an Scell, a PCell, or a primary secondary cell (PScell). The terminal device sends the preamble code in advance of an uplink timing offset based on the downlink timing of the reference CC or the reference cell (the CC or cell associated with the third network device), and TA is 0. The uplink timing offset can be defined by the network configuration (such as the second network device) or the protocol.

[0248] The content of step 304 can refer to the content of the aforementioned step 202 and will not be repeated here.

[0249] Step 305: The first network device sends second information.

[0250] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the second information. The second information is used to indicate that the first network device has received the preamble.

[0251] Since the first network device cannot send a random access response, the first network device sends the second information to the second network device to inform the first network device that the preamble is received and the second network device can send a random access response to the terminal.

[0252] Step 305 is an optional step and may not be performed. For example, the first network device and the second network device are integrated into one physical entity, and the first network device and the second network device are two CCs. In this case, after the first network device receives the preamble, the second network device can send a random access response, and the first network device does not need to send the second information. The second network device can know that the first network device has received the preamble (for example, the first network device and the second network device may share a processing unit).

[0253] Step 306: The second network device sends a random access response.

[0254] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives a random access response.

[0255] In step 306, the terminal device may search for PDCCH in a common search space associated with the third network device or the fourth network device. The terminal device may also receive a random access response based on the first beam. The fourth network device may be different from the third network device, and the fourth network device may also be configured by the second network device. In the embodiment of the present application, an example is given in which the terminal device searches for PDCCH in a common search space associated with the third network device. The random access response in the embodiment of the present application may include a PDCCH random access response (RAR) and / or a PDSCH RAR. The PDCCH random access response is used to schedule the PDSCH RAR.

[0256] The first beam may be a beam associated with a joint TCI state of the third network device. The first beam may be a beam associated with a unified TCI state of the third network device, where the unified TCI state may be written as unified TCI-state in English. The unified TCI state may also be a downlink unified TCI state. Or the first beam may be a beam associated with the first indication information.

[0257] exist Figure 3 In the example, for example, the first indication information is carried in the PDCCH order, and the terminal device can receive the random access response with reference to the beam of the PDCCH order (i.e., the receiving beam associated with the first indication information). It can be understood that the reference signal of the random access response received by the terminal can satisfy the QCL relationship with the DMRS of the PDCCH order.

[0258] For example, after sending the preamble, the terminal device will search for PDCCH in the common search space (such as type 1 PDCCH common search space) of the CC or cell of the configured third network device within the RAR time window (RAR window) to obtain DCI 1_0 on the PDCCH, and rely on the information of DCI 1_0 to receive the random access response scrambled by the associated random access cell radio network temporary identifier (Random Access-radio network temporary identifier, RA-RNTI). It can be understood that when the terminal device initiates random access to the cell or CC of the first network device, the random access response and the type 1 PDCCH common search space of the CC or cell of the third network device meet the quasi-co-location relationship. The English name of the type 1 PDCCH common search space can be written as Type1-PDCCH common search space.

[0259] In a possible example, when the terminal device operates in a multi-CC scenario and a unified TCI mode, the terminal device may receive a random access response according to a unified TCI state of a reference CC (i.e., a CC of a third network device) configured or specified by a protocol. Alternatively, the terminal device receives a random access response with reference to a unified TCI state of a CC of a PDCCH order received from a second network device.

[0260] The random access response may include: the random access preamble in step 304, the uplink TA (11 bits, coarse adjustment) of the terminal device, and a backoff parameter (which can be written as backoff in English, used to indicate the time when resending the preamble should delay re-access). If the terminal device does not receive the random access response within the RAR time window, it is considered that the random access process has failed.

[0261] Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, since the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, the terminal device cannot access the first network device based on the current random access process. In the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can send a preamble based on the first uplink reference signal and then randomly access the first network device. This solution provides a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process.

[0262] On the other hand, since the first network device cannot send a downlink reference signal, the terminal device cannot receive a random access response based on the downlink reference signal from the first network device. In the embodiment of the present application, a third network device is configured, and the terminal device can receive a random access response based on the information of the third network device (such as a beam associated with the unified TCI state of the third network device), thereby improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the random access response, and then improving the success rate of random access.

[0263] Combine the following Figure 4 Make an introduction, Figure 4 CBRA is used as an example for introduction. Figure 4 The embodiment shown includes step 401, step 402, step 403 and step 404. In a possible implementation, Figure 4 The illustrated embodiment also includes step 405 , step 406 , step 407 and step 408 .

[0264] Step 401: The second network device sends configuration information.

[0265] Figure 4 The configuration information in the illustrated embodiment may include one or more of information E1, information A2, information A3, information A4, information A5, information A6, or information A7. The content included in the configuration information may be transmitted through one signaling or through multiple signalings, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In one possible implementation, the configuration information may be carried in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The relevant contents of information A2, information A3, information A4, information A5, information A6, and information A7 can be found in the aforementioned description and will not be repeated here.

[0266] Information E1, first indication information.

[0267] exist Figure 4 In the illustrated embodiment, the terminal device may send at least one uplink reference signal, the first uplink reference signal belongs to the at least one uplink reference signal, and the second network device measures part or all of the received at least one uplink reference signal to obtain a measurement result of the at least one uplink reference signal. The specific contents of the first indication information are introduced by the following examples E1.1 and E1.2.

[0268] Example E1.1: The first indication information may include a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal. The measurement result of the first uplink reference signal is a measurement result among the measurement results of the at least one uplink reference signal.

[0269] In example E1.1, the terminal device may determine that the random access procedure needs to use the first uplink reference signal (for example, the preamble needs to be associated with the first uplink reference signal) based on the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal. The measurement result of the uplink reference signal in the embodiment of the present application may include, for example, reference signal receiving power (RSRP).

[0270] For example, the terminal device may select a measurement result from the measurement results of the at least one uplink reference signal (e.g., may select the one indicating the strongest or second strongest signal strength), and associate the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result (e.g., the first uplink reference signal) with the preamble code.

[0271] For another example, the terminal device may obtain a first threshold. In this example, the first threshold may not be carried in the first indication information, and the first threshold may be defined by a protocol, or may be pre-agreed or pre-configured. The terminal device may select a measurement result indicating that the signal strength of a measurement result is greater than the first threshold, and associate an uplink reference signal (such as a first uplink reference signal) associated with the measurement result with the preamble.

[0272] Example E1.2: The first indication information may include a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal and a first threshold.

[0273] In Example E1.2, the measurement result of the uplink reference signal and the first threshold value may be sent through one or more signalings. The signal strength indicated by the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold value. The terminal device may find a measurement result having a signal strength greater than the first threshold value from the measurement results of at least one uplink reference signal, such as the measurement result associated with the first uplink reference signal, and then the terminal device performs random access according to the first uplink reference signal, such as associating the preamble code with the first uplink reference signal.

[0274] In Example E1.1 and / or Example E1.2, the terminal device may determine the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result based on the measurement result of an uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information also includes the resource index of the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result (such as the resource identifier and / or resource set identifier of the uplink reference signal), and then the terminal device determines the uplink reference signal based on the resource index of the uplink reference signal.

[0275] In Example E1.1 and / or Example E1.2, in another possible implementation, the first indication information may not include a resource index of an uplink reference signal (such as a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the uplink reference signal), so that the terminal device can infer an uplink reference signal associated with a measurement result based on some other information. For example, the terminal device sends three uplink reference signals, the first indication information includes measurement results associated with the three uplink reference signals, and the order of the three measurement results in the message carrying the first indication information is consistent with the order of the three uplink reference signals sent by the terminal device, so that the terminal device can infer an uplink reference signal associated with a measurement result based on the order of the measurement results included in the first indication information.

[0276] Figure 4 The provided embodiments can also be used with Figure 3 The embodiments provided are used in combination, such as in Figure 4 In the provided implementation manner, the information E1 first indication information may also include a resource identifier and a resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal. Figure 3 In the provided implementation manner, the configuration information sent by the second network device may also include a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal. Figure 3 In the provided implementation manner, the configuration information sent by the second network device may also include at least one uplink reference signal measurement result and a first threshold. Figure 3 In the provided implementation manner, the first indication information may also include the measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal (for related content, see the above example E1.1), or the first indication information includes the measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal and a first threshold (for related content, see the above example E1.2).

[0277] Step 402: The terminal device determines parameters of the random access procedure according to the configuration information.

[0278] The parameters of the random access procedure may include, for example, an uplink reference signal and a preamble, and may also include a random access opportunity.

[0279] The terminal device can determine the uplink reference signal used by the random access process, that is, the first uplink reference signal, according to the first indication information (such as the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal, and such as the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal and the first threshold).

[0280] For example, the second network device may send a first threshold and a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal, and the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal belongs to the measurement result of the at least one uplink reference signal. In this way, the terminal device may select an uplink reference signal indicating a signal strength greater than the first threshold from the measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information includes the first threshold and the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal, and the signal strength indicated by the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal is greater than or equal to the first threshold, so that the terminal device can select the first uplink reference signal to provide assistance for the random access process. In this example, the second network device may not send the first threshold, for example, the first indication information includes the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal, but does not include the first threshold. The protocol may specify the first threshold, or the terminal device may preconfigure the first threshold.

[0281] For another example, the second network device may send a measurement result of at least one uplink reference signal, and the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal belongs to the measurement result of the at least one uplink reference signal. For example, the first indication information includes the measurement result of the first uplink reference signal. The uplink reference signals associated with these measurement results indicated by the second network device can all be used for random access, and the terminal device can arbitrarily select a measurement result from the measurement results of at least one uplink reference signal (for example, the first uplink reference signal is selected), and the uplink reference signal associated with the measurement result is used for random access.

[0282] There are many schemes for the terminal device to determine the parameters of other random access procedures. For example, the terminal device receives information for indicating the parameters of the random access procedure (for example, the information is carried in the configuration information in the aforementioned step 401), and determines the parameters of the random access procedure according to the information for indicating the parameters of the random access procedure. For another example, the terminal device determines the parameters of the random access procedure according to the association relationship and the first uplink reference signal. For related content, please refer to the description of the aforementioned implementation mode D1 and implementation mode D2, which will not be repeated here.

[0283] Step 403: The terminal device sends a preamble.

[0284] Correspondingly, the first network device receives the preamble.

[0285] The information carrying the preamble code may also be referred to as message 1 (message1, msg1).

[0286] In step 403, since the first network device cannot send a downlink reference signal, the terminal device cannot send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the first network device. Based on this situation, an embodiment of the present application provides a possible solution, in which the terminal device determines a third network device, and the third network device is used for the terminal device to send a preamble based on the downlink timing of the third network device. The terminal device sends a preamble based on the downlink timing of the third network device. The third network device is different from the first network device.

[0287] The content of step 403 can refer to the content of the aforementioned step 304 and will not be repeated here.

[0288] Step 404: The first network device sends second information.

[0289] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the second information.

[0290] The content of step 404 can refer to the content of the aforementioned step 305 and will not be repeated here.

[0291] Step 405: The second network device sends a random access response.

[0292] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives a random access response.

[0293] exist Figure 4 In the implementation manner, the information carrying the random access response can be called information 2 (message2, msg2).

[0294] The random access response may include: the random access preamble in step 403 (the preamble in msg1), the uplink TA of the terminal device (11 bits, coarse adjustment), the backoff parameter (written as backoff in English, used to indicate the time when the resending of the preamble should delay re-access), the PUSCH uplink scheduling information allocated for the transmission of msg3 (the uplink scheduling information may include uplink (UL) authorization (grant) information, such as whether to hop frequency, modulation coding rate, access resources or access time, etc.), temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI) (this parameter can be used for subsequent msg3 scrambling). If the terminal device does not receive the random access response within the RAR time window, it is considered that the random access process has failed.

[0295] The terminal device may search for the PDCCH in the common search space associated with the third network device. The terminal device may also receive a random access response based on the first beam. The content of step 405 may refer to the content of the aforementioned step 306, which will not be described in detail.

[0296] Step 406: The terminal device sends the first information.

[0297] Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first information.

[0298] The first information includes identification information of the terminal device. The identification information of the terminal device will be used for subsequent conflict resolution. The information carrying the identification information of the terminal device may also be referred to as message 3 (message3, msg3).

[0299] The first information can be associated with the first uplink reference signal, which can be understood as some parameters in the process of sending the first information can refer to the first uplink reference signal. For example, the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first information can refer to the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first uplink reference signal, or the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first information is associated with the spatial relationship (or beam) of the first uplink reference signal. For another example, the path loss reference signal associated with the first information is the first uplink reference signal. Or it can also be understood that the path loss of the first information can refer to (or be regarded as) the path loss of the first uplink reference signal.

[0300] Since the first network device cannot send a downlink reference signal, the terminal device cannot send the first information based on the downlink timing of the first network device. Based on this situation, the embodiment of the present application provides a possible solution, in which the terminal device determines a third network device, and the terminal device sends the first information based on the downlink timing of the third network device. For relevant content of the third network device, please refer to Figure 3 The relevant description in will not be repeated here.

[0301] In a possible implementation, the uplink transmission timing of the terminal device sending the first information may include (or be): the sum of the downlink timing of the third network device, TA, and an uplink timing offset. TA may be indicated in the random access response, TA may not be zero; or TA is 0. The uplink timing offset may be defined by a network configuration (such as the second network device) or a protocol.

[0302] When the terminal device operates in an intra-cell or inter-cell mTRP scenario, the terminal device can send the first information based on the downlink timing of the serving cell (the third network device is the serving cell) and then advance TA plus an uplink timing offset. When the terminal device operates in a multi-CC scenario, the network device can configure or reference the cell (the CC or cell associated with the third network device), and the terminal device sends the first information based on the downlink timing of the CC or cell associated with the third network device and then advance TA plus an uplink timing offset. The uplink timing offset can be defined by the network configuration (such as the second network device) or the protocol. The reference CC (CC associated with the third network device) can be any CC in CA, and the reference cell (cell associated with the third network device) can be an Scell, PCell or primary secondary cell (PScell).

[0303] Step 407: The first network device sends third information.

[0304] Correspondingly, the second network device receives the third information, and the third information indicates that the first network device has received the first information.

[0305] Since the first network device cannot send the PDCCH, the first network device sends third information to the second network device to trigger the second network device to send the PDCCH.

[0306] Step 407 is an optional step and may not be performed. For example, the first network device and the second network device are integrated into one physical entity, and the first network device and the second network device are two CCs. In this case, the first network device does not need to send the third information, and the second network device can know that the first network device has received the first information (for example, the first network device and the second network device may share a processing unit).

[0307] Step 408: The second network device sends a PDCCH.

[0308] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the PDCCH.

[0309] exist Figure 4 In the embodiment of the present invention, the information carrying the PDCCH may belong to msg4. The PDCCH may be regarded as the information in msg4 in the four-step random access, that is, msg4 may include the PDCCH. In another possible implementation, msg4 may also include the subsequent PDSCH. In another possible implementation, it may be considered that msg4 includes the PDSCH but does not include the PDCCH.

[0310] The terminal device may also receive the PDCCH based on the second beam.

[0311] The second beam may be a beam associated with a joint TCI state of the third network device. The second beam may be a beam associated with a unified TCI state of the third network device, where the unified TCI state may be written as unified TCI-state in English. The unified TCI state may also be a downlink unified TCI state. Or the second beam includes a beam associated with the first information. Or the second beam is a beam associated with the first indication information, such as a beam associated with the configuration information.

[0312] In one possible example, when the terminal device operates in a multi-CC scenario, the terminal device may receive PDCCH according to the downlink unified TCI state of the reference CC (i.e., the CC of the third network device or the cell associated with the third network device) configured or specified by the protocol; or, the terminal device may receive PDCCH according to the joint TCI state of the reference CC (i.e., the CC of the third network device or the cell associated with the third network device) configured or specified by the protocol. When the terminal device operates in an intra-cell or inter-cell MTRP scenario, the terminal device uses the beam with the downlink unified TCI state of the serving cell (i.e., the cell of the third network device) to receive PDCCH.

[0313] In step 306, after the terminal device sends the first information (msg3), a timer may be started, such as the timer named mac-ContentionResolutionTimer, and the timer may be restarted when the first information (msg3) is retransmitted by a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The terminal device will continue to monitor the PDCCH until the timer times out or stops. If the terminal device monitors the PDCCH, and the terminal device carries the C-RNTI MAC control element when sending the first information (msg3), then in the following two situations (the following situation one or situation two), the terminal device considers that the conflict resolution is successful (that is, the terminal device is successfully accessed), at which time the terminal device will stop the timer and discard the TC-RNTI.

[0314] In case 1, the random access process is triggered by the MAC sublayer, and the PDCCH received by the terminal device is scrambled by the C-RNTI carried by the first information (msg3), and an uplink grant (UL Grant) is allocated to the newly transmitted data.

[0315] In case 2, the random access process is triggered by the PDCCH order, and the PDCCH received by the terminal device is scrambled by the C-RNTI carried by the first information (msg3).

[0316] If the timer expires, the terminal device discards the TC-RNTI and considers the contention resolution to have failed.

[0317] In this embodiment, since the first network device does not have downlink transmission capability or is not configured with downlink transmission-related information, the terminal device cannot access the first network device based on the current random access process. In the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can send a preamble based on the first uplink reference signal and then randomly access the first network device. This solution provides a solution for the terminal device to access a network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process.

[0318] On the other hand, since the first network device cannot send a downlink reference signal, the terminal device cannot receive a random access response based on the downlink reference signal from the first network device. In the embodiment of the present application, a third network device is configured, and the terminal device can receive a random access response based on the information of the third network device (such as a beam associated with the unified TCI state of the third network device), thereby improving the success rate of the terminal device receiving the random access response, and then improving the success rate of random access.

[0319] On the other hand, Figure 4 In the provided embodiment, the terminal device can send the first information (msg3) based on the first uplink reference signal, and can also receive the PDCCH based on the second beam. Therefore, the scheme can apply the four-step random access process to the network device that cannot send the downlink reference signal. The scheme provides a solution for the terminal device to access the network device with limited capabilities, thereby broadening the scope of application of the random access process.

[0320] It is understandable that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the first device, the second device and the positioning management device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0321] Figure 5 and Figure 6 The following is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be as follows: Figure 1 The terminal device shown may also be Figure 1 The network device (such as a RAN node) shown may also be applied to Figure 1 The chip system of the terminal device or network device shown.

[0322] like Figure 5 As shown, the communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. The communication device 1300 is used to implement the above Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 The functions of the terminal device, the first network device or the second network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. The transceiver unit 1320 may also be called a communication unit. The transceiver unit 1320 may include a sending unit and a receiving unit.

[0323] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown, the transceiver unit 1320 can perform the above steps 201 and 202. Figure 3 When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown, the processing unit 1310 can execute the above step 303, and the transceiver unit 1320 can execute the above steps 301, 302, 304 and 306. Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown are performed, the processing unit 1310 can execute the above step 402, and the transceiver unit 1320 can execute the above steps 401, 403, 405, 406 and 408.

[0324] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit may be used to receive the fourth information, and the sending unit or the receiving unit may also be used to transmit the first signal. In another possible implementation, the receiving unit may also be used to receive the first information, and the sending unit may also be used to send the second information.

[0325] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment are shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive the first indication information, and the sending unit is used to send the preamble code.

[0326] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send a preamble code to the first network device.

[0327] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive the second indication information.

[0328] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive information indicating the first network device.

[0329] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment are shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive information indicating a preamble code.

[0330] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment are shown, in a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the preamble code according to the first association relationship and the first uplink reference signal.

[0331] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment are shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive mask information of the random access channel, and determine the random access timing according to the mask information of the random access channel.

[0332] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 In the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the random access opportunity according to the second association relationship and the first uplink reference signal, and the second association relationship indicates that the first uplink reference signal is associated with the random access opportunity. The sending unit is used to send a preamble code at the random access opportunity.

[0333] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown is concerned, in one possible implementation, the sending unit is used to send a preamble code based on the downlink timing of the third network device, the first network device in which the terminal device initiates random access is different from the third network device, the third network device is the same as or different from the second network device, and the second network device is a device for sending the first indication information.

[0334] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 In the method embodiment shown, when the terminal device has a function, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive information indicating the third network device.

[0335] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1310 is used to determine the third network device based on the content defined by the protocol.

[0336] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment are shown, in a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1310 is used to search for PDCCH in a common search space associated with a third network device, and the receiving unit is used to receive a random access response based on the first beam.

[0337] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send the first information.

[0338] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment are shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive the PDCCH based on the second beam.

[0339] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown, the transceiver unit 1320 can perform the above step 202. Figure 3 When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown, the transceiver unit 1320 can perform the above steps 304 and 305. Figure 4 When the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown is performed, the transceiver unit 1320 can execute the above steps 403, 404, 406 and 407.

[0340] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4In the method embodiment shown, the function of the first network device is, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive a preamble code, and the sending unit is used to send the second information to the second network device.

[0341] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the first network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive the first information.

[0342] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 In the method embodiment shown, when the function of the first network device is used, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send the third information to the second network device.

[0343] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment shown is implemented, the transceiver unit 1320 can perform the above step 201. Figure 3 When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown, the transceiver unit 1320 can perform the above steps 301, 302, 305 and 306. Figure 4 When the function of the first network device in the method embodiment shown is performed, the transceiver unit 1320 can execute the above steps 401, 404, 405, 407 and 408.

[0344] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment shown is used, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send the first indication information, the receiving unit is used to receive the second information from the first network device, and the sending unit is used to send the random access response based on the second information.

[0345] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send the second indication information.

[0346] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send information for indicating the first network device.

[0347] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send information for indicating a preamble code.

[0348] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send mask information of the random access channel.

[0349] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send information for indicating the third network device.

[0350] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is used to send information for indicating the third network device.

[0351] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the function of the second network device in the method embodiment is shown, in a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is used to receive the third information, and the sending unit is used to send the PDCCH based on the second beam.

[0352] For more detailed description of the processing unit 1310 and the transceiver unit 1320, please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 The method embodiment shown is described in detail.

[0353] like Figure 6As 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. Among them, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver, the transmitter can be used to send information, the receiver can be used to receive information, and other functions can be implemented by the processor. The input-output interface is used to input and / or output information, the output can be understood as sending, the input can be understood as receiving, and other functions can be implemented by the processor. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may also include a memory 1430 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1410 or storing input data required for the processor 1410 to run the instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1410 runs the instructions.

[0354] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 When the method is shown, the processor 1410 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned processing unit 1310, and the interface circuit 1420 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1320.

[0355] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The terminal chip receives information from the base station, which can be understood as the information is first received by other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip sends information to the base station, which can be understood as the information is first sent to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0356] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the function of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station chip receives information from the terminal, which can be understood as the information is first received by other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. The base station chip sends information to the terminal, which can be understood as the information is sent to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0357] In the present application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A sends it directly to B, or that A sends it to B indirectly through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or that entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Entities A and B here can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside the RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, information interaction between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information interaction between different modules inside a device, for example, information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or information interaction between a base station chip and other modules in the base station.

[0358] It is understandable that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0359] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, register, hard disk, mobile hard disk, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or any other form of storage medium 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 component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also be present in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0360] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When a computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function of the embodiment of the present application is 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 device. The computer program or instruction 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 instruction can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. 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 tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; it can also be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state hard disk. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0361] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided for in any logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other, and the technical features in the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0362] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of the present application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of the present application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0363] It is understandable that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application (such as the digital numbers "first" and "second", and the letter numbers "A1, A2", "B1, B2", "C1, C2", etc.) are only distinguished for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A random access method, It is characterized in that The method is applicable to a terminal device, and the method comprises: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first uplink reference signal; A preamble is sent, where the preamble is used to initiate random access, and the preamble is associated with the first uplink reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The sending of the preamble code comprises: sending the preamble to the first network device; The first indication information comes from a second network device, and the first network device is different from the second network device.

3. The method according to claim 2, Features: The cell associated with the first network device is a non-serving cell, and the cell associated with the second network device is a serving cell; or, The first network device and the second network device are different transmission reception points TRP in the same cell; or, The cells associated with the first network device and the second network device are different serving cells.

4. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, It is characterized in that The first network device satisfies at least one of the following: The first network device does not have downlink transmission capability; or, The first network device is not configured with information related to downlink transmission, and the information related to downlink transmission includes at least one of information related to downlink reference signals, information related to downlink control channel transmission, information related to downlink data channel transmission, information related to downlink frame structure, information related to downlink time slots, or information related to downlink bandwidth.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the following: The first network device initiating random access by the terminal device does not have downlink transmission capability; The type of signal referenced by the random access initiated by the terminal device is an uplink reference signal; or, The first network device to which the terminal device initiates random access is not configured with information related to downlink transmission, and the information related to downlink transmission includes at least one of information related to downlink reference signals, information related to downlink control channel transmission, information related to downlink data channel transmission, information related to downlink frame structure, information related to downlink time slots, or information related to downlink bandwidth.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: Information indicating a first network device is received, where the first network device is a network device for initiating random access by the terminal device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, It is characterized in that Before sending the preamble, the method further includes: receiving information indicating the preamble, and determining the preamble according to the information indicating the preamble; or, The preamble is determined according to a first association relationship and the first uplink reference signal, where the first association relationship indicates that the first uplink reference signal is associated with the preamble.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving mask information of a random access channel, and determining a random access opportunity according to the mask information of the random access channel; or, Determine a random access opportunity according to the second association relationship and the first uplink reference signal, where the second association relationship indicates that the first uplink reference signal is associated with the random access opportunity; The sending of the preamble code comprises: A preamble is sent at the random access opportunity.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, It is characterized in that The sending of the preamble code comprises: The preamble code is sent based on the downlink timing of the third network device, the first network device initiating random access by the terminal device is different from the third network device, the third network device is the same as or different from the second network device, and the second network device is the network device that sends the first indication information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, It is characterized in that After sending the preamble, the method further includes: Searching for a physical downlink control channel PDCCH in a common search space associated with the third network device; A random access response is received according to the searched PDCCH, the random access response is received through a first beam, the first beam is a beam associated with a unified transmission configuration indication TCI state of the third network device or a beam associated with the first indication information, the first network device from which the terminal device initiates random access is different from the third network device, the third network device is the same as or different from the second network device, and the second network device is the network device that sends the first indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending first information, wherein the first information includes identification information of the terminal device; The first information satisfies at least one of the following conditions: the first information is associated with the first uplink reference signal; or the first information is sent based on the downlink timing of the third network device; The first network device for the terminal device to initiate random access is different from the third network device, the third network device is the same as or different from the second network device, and the second network device is the network device that sends the first indication information.

12. The method according to claim 11, It is characterized in that After sending the first information, the method further includes: PDCCH is received based on the second beam, where the second beam is a beam associated with the unified TCI state of the third network device, a beam associated with the first information, or a beam associated with the first indication information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving information indicating the third network device; or, The third network device is determined based on the content of the protocol definition.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, It is characterized in that The first indication information includes: a resource identifier and / or a resource set identifier of the first uplink reference signal.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, It is characterized in that The first indication information includes: a measurement result of the first uplink reference signal; or, A first threshold and a measurement result of the first uplink reference signal.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, It is characterized in that The path loss reference signal associated with the preamble code is the first uplink reference signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, It is characterized in that The first indication information is carried in downlink control information DCI or radio resource control RRC message.

18. A random access method, It is characterized in that The method comprises: The first network device receives a preamble, where the preamble is used to initiate random access, and the preamble is associated with a first uplink reference signal; The second network device sends a random access response based on the preamble received by the first network device.

19. The method of claim 18, It is characterized in that After the first network device receives the preamble, before the second network device sends a random access response based on the preamble received by the first network device, the method further includes: The first network device sends second information to the second network device, where the second information is used to indicate that the first network device has received the preamble; The second network device receives the second information.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives first information, the first information includes identification information of the terminal device, and the first information satisfies at least one of the following: the first information is associated with the first uplink reference signal; or the first information is sent based on the downlink timing of the third network device.

21. A communication device, It is characterized in that Comprising means for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 20.

22. A communication device, It is characterized in that The device comprises a processor, wherein the processor implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20 through a logic circuit or executing a computer program or instruction.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, It is characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction, and when the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20 is implemented.

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