Communication method and device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and device, relates to the field of communication, and can reduce the number of times that terminal equipment executes GNSS measurement so as to reduce the energy consumption of the terminal equipment. The method comprises the following steps: sending first information to network equipment, and receiving second information from the network equipment; wherein the first information comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to execute an interval duration from a first global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement adjustment crystal oscillator frequency offset to a second GNSS measurement adjustment crystal oscillator frequency offset, and the second information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment is expected not to execute the GNSS measurement adjustment crystal oscillator frequency offset within the first duration; the first duration is determined according to the first information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0002] In satellite communications, in order to maintain uplink time and frequency synchronization, a terminal device needs to compensate for uplink time offset (abbreviated as time offset) and uplink frequency offset (abbreviated as frequency offset). When implementing uplink time synchronization, the terminal device needs to estimate the timing advance (TA). TA includes the transmission delay from the terminal device to the satellite (referred to as the serving link TA) and the transmission delay from the satellite to the reference point (RP) (referred to as the common TA). Among them, the transmission delay from the terminal device to the satellite is calculated by the terminal device according to ephemeris information and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information. When implementing uplink frequency synchronization, the terminal device needs to calculate the Doppler frequency offset according to ephemeris information and GNSS information to obtain the crystal oscillator frequency offset, so as to perform frequency offset pre-compensation when sending uplink signals.

[0003] As can be seen from the above, whether it is time offset or frequency offset adjustment, the terminal device needs to obtain GNSS information to implement it. This GNSS information is obtained by the terminal device performing GNSS measurements. However, in order to maintain uplink synchronization, the terminal device needs to perform GNSS measurements frequently, which will increase the power consumption of the terminal device. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and apparatus, which can reduce the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurements.

[0005] To achieve the above object, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component of the terminal device, such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system of the terminal device, or can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device. The method includes: sending a first piece of information to a network device and receiving a second piece of information from the network device. The first piece of information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. The second piece of information is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within a first duration, and the first duration is determined according to the first piece of information.

[0007] Based on this communication method, the terminal device reports first information to the network device to indicate the stability ability of the crystal oscillator or the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset after one frequency offset adjustment, so that the network device can configure the maximum duration (i.e., the first duration) for the terminal device to perform GNSS measurement for the next crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment. This can ensure that the terminal device can still maintain uplink frequency synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the first duration, that is, the terminal device can perform GNSS measurement within the maximum time range, thereby reducing the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurement due to frequency offset, and further reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0008] In a possible design solution, the first information may further include second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing the first GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance and performing the second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The second information is also used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the first duration. Thus, the terminal device can also report the effective duration of the timing advance obtained by performing one GNSS measurement adjustment, so that the network device can configure the first duration considering the effective duration of the crystal oscillator and the effective duration of the timing advance, which can ensure that the terminal device can still maintain uplink time and frequency synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the first duration, thereby reducing the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurement due to frequency offset and time offset.

[0009] In a possible design solution, the first duration may be the minimum value of the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance. The effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset is determined according to the first indication information, and the effective duration of the timing advance is determined according to the second indication information. Thus, configuring the first duration as the minimum value of the time offset and frequency offset effective durations can ensure that after the first duration ends, the performed GNSS measurement simultaneously adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, reducing the number of GNSS measurements.

[0010] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: determining not to perform GNSS measurement within a first time period with a duration of the first duration. Wherein, the start time of the first time period is the time when the second information is received plus a first preset duration. Thus, the terminal device can wait for a period of time to trigger the first duration after receiving the second information, and can not perform GNSS measurement within the first duration to ensure uplink frequency synchronization or uplink time and frequency synchronization, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing the number of GNSS measurements.

[0011] In a possible design solution, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may further include: receiving third information from a network device within a first preset duration starting from the end of a first time period. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. The third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. During a second time period with a duration of a first duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement. The start time of the second time period is the moment when the third information is received plus the first preset duration. Thus, after the first duration ends, the terminal device can receive the third information from the network device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset again or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance without performing GNSS measurement for adjustment, which can also reduce the number of GNSS measurements. Moreover, after the terminal device adjusts according to the received third information, the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance can be stabilized again, and the first duration can be triggered again to reduce the number of times of performing GNSS measurement.

[0012] In a possible design solution, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may further include: determining to perform GNSS measurement at the end moment of a first time period. Thus, the terminal device can perform GNSS measurement at the end moment of the first duration to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance without waiting for an adjustment instruction sent by the network device, which can improve the adjustment rate.

[0013] In a possible design solution, determining to perform GNSS measurement at the end moment of a first time period may include: not receiving the third information within the first time period. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. The third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. At the end moment of the first time period, it is determined to perform GNSS measurement. Thus, the terminal device can also determine whether there is an adjustment instruction from the network device within the first time period. In the case of not receiving the adjustment instruction within the first time period, the terminal device can still perform GNSS measurement at the end moment of the first duration to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. It should be understood that in the case of receiving the adjustment instruction within the first time period, the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance in advance according to the adjustment instruction without performing GNSS measurement.

[0014] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a third time period, no third information is received. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. The third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. The third time period is the first time period plus a first preset duration. At the end moment of the third time period, it is determined to perform GNSS measurement. Thus, the terminal device can also wait for a period of time based on the first duration to determine whether there is an adjustment instruction from the network device. If no adjustment instruction from the network device is still received, GNSS measurement is performed at the end moment of the waiting duration to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance.

[0015] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, sending fourth information to the network device. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period. The start time of the first time period is the moment of receiving the second information plus a first preset duration. Within a fourth time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement. The start time of the fourth time period is the moment of sending the fourth information plus a first preset duration. Thus, if the terminal device needs to trigger GNSS measurement within the first duration due to certain situations, the terminal device needs to inform the network device through the fourth information that it has performed GNSS measurement within the first duration and re-trigger the first duration.

[0016] In a possible design solution, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate the remaining time of the terminal device until the second GNSS measurement is performed. Thus, the terminal device can implicitly indicate that it has performed GNSS measurement within the first duration by indicating the duration until the next GNSS measurement.

[0017] In a possible design solution, the first information may be carried and sent in a radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment request message or an RRC connection establishment complete message.

[0018] In a possible design solution, the interval duration between adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing the first GNSS measurement and adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing the second GNSS measurement is related to temperature. Since the stable duration of the crystal oscillator is related to temperature, the higher the temperature, the lower the possible stable duration of the crystal oscillator. The terminal device can update and report the stable duration of the crystal oscillator in real time according to the change of temperature, so as to ensure the accuracy of the set first duration.

[0019] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a network device, or by components of the network device, such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system of the network device, or can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device. The method includes: receiving first information from a terminal device and sending second information to the terminal device. The first information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. The second information is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within a first duration, and the first duration is determined according to the first information.

[0020] In a possible design, the first information may further include second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The second information is further used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the first duration.

[0021] In a possible design, the first duration may be the minimum of the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance. The effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset is determined according to the first indication information, and the effective duration of the timing advance is determined according to the second indication information.

[0022] In a possible design, the method provided in the embodiments of this application may further include: within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal. The start time of the first time period is the time when the second information is sent plus a second preset duration. Thus, the network device can also be locally configured with the first duration, and within the first duration, the network device can not perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal, so that there is no need to send an adjustment indication to the terminal device within the first duration, which can reduce the complexity of the network device in processing the uplink signal and reduce the signaling overhead of the network device.

[0023] In a possible design solution, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a second preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, sending third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance. The third information includes the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter. Within a second time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal. The start time of the second time period is the time when the third information is sent plus the second preset duration. Thus, after the first duration ends, the network device can send an adjustment instruction to the terminal device, so that the terminal device does not need to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, and can re-trigger the first duration after sending the adjustment instruction.

[0024] In a possible design solution, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a third time period, determining not to send the third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance. The third information includes the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter. The third time period is the first time period plus the second preset duration.

[0025] In a possible design solution, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, receiving fourth information from the terminal device. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period. The start time of the first time period is the time when the second information is sent plus the second preset duration. Within a fourth time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal. The start time of the fourth time period is the time when the fourth information is received plus the second preset duration.

[0026] In a possible design solution, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate the remaining time for the terminal device to perform the second GNSS measurement.

[0027] In a possible design solution, the first information may be carried and sent in a radio resource control (RRC) establishment request message or an RRC connection establishment completion message.

[0028] In a possible design solution, the interval duration between adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing the first GNSS measurement and adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing the second GNSS measurement is related to the temperature.

[0029] Among them, for the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect, reference may be made to the description of the technical effects of the method described in the first aspect, and details are not elaborated herein.

[0030] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal device, or by components of the terminal device, such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system of the terminal device, etc., or can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device. The method includes: sending first information to a network device and receiving second information from the network device. Among them, the first information includes first indication information and second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. The second indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The second information is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within a first duration, and is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within a second duration. The first duration is determined according to the first indication information, and the second duration is determined according to the second indication information.

[0031] Based on this communication method, the terminal device reports the first information to the network device to indicate the stable ability of the crystal oscillator or the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance after a frequency offset adjustment, so that the network device can respectively configure the maximum duration (i.e., the first duration) of the GNSS measurement for the terminal device to perform the next adjustment of the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and the maximum duration (i.e., the second duration) of the GNSS measurement for the terminal device to perform the next adjustment of the timing advance. This can ensure that the terminal device can still maintain uplink frequency synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the first duration, and can still maintain uplink time synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the second duration. That is, the terminal device can perform GNSS measurement within the maximum time range, thereby reducing the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurement due to frequency offset and time offset, and further reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0032] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and within a second time period with a duration of the second duration, determining not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance; where the start time of the first time period and the start time of the second time period are the time of receiving the second information plus a first preset duration. Thus, the terminal device can still maintain uplink frequency synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the first duration based on the second information of the network device, and can still maintain uplink time synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the second duration.

[0033] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: when the first duration is less than the second duration, at the end moment of the first time period, determining to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance; or, when the first duration is greater than or equal to the second duration, at the end moment of the second time period, determining to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. Thus, in order to further reduce the number of GNSS measurements performed due to frequency offset and time offset, the terminal device can judge the magnitudes of the first duration and the second duration, and perform GNSS measurement and adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance at the end moment of the shorter duration.

[0034] In a possible design solution, determining to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance at the end moment of the first time period may include: within the first time period, the third information is not received. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance, and the third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. At the end moment of the first time period, determine to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. Thus, when the first duration is less than the second duration, the terminal device can judge whether the network device has sent an adjustment instruction within the triggered first duration, and when no adjustment instruction is received, perform GNSS measurement and adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance at the end moment of the first duration.

[0035] In a possible design solution, determining to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance at the end moment of the second time period may include: within the second time period, the third information is not received. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance, and the third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. At the end moment of the second time period, determine to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. Thus, when the second duration is less than the first duration, the terminal device can judge whether the network device has sent an adjustment instruction within the triggered second duration, and when no adjustment instruction is received, perform GNSS measurement and adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance at the end moment of the second duration.

[0036] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a third time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset; and within a fourth time period with a duration of the second duration, determining not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The start times of the third time period and the fourth time period are the moment of the last GNSS measurement plus a first preset duration. Thus, after the terminal device re-adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance, the first duration and the second duration can be re-triggered.

[0037] In a possible design solution, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may further include: receiving third information from a network device during a first time period or a second time period. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance. The third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. During a fifth time period with a duration of a first duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. During a sixth time period with a duration of a second duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The start times of the fifth time period and the sixth time period are the time when the third information is received plus a first preset duration. Thus, the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance according to the adjustment instruction sent by the network device without performing GNSS measurement, which can reduce the number of GNSS measurements.

[0038] In a possible design solution, during the first time period, send fourth information to the network device. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement during the first time period. Alternatively, during the second time period, send fourth information to the network device. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement during the second time period. During a seventh time period with a duration of a first duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and during an eighth time period with a duration of a second duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The start times of the seventh time period and the eighth time period are the time when the fourth information is sent plus a first preset duration. Thus, if the terminal device needs to trigger GNSS measurement within the first duration or the second duration due to certain situations, the terminal device needs to inform the network device through the fourth information that it has performed GNSS measurement within the first duration or the second duration, and re-trigger the first duration and the second duration.

[0039] In a possible design solution, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate the remaining time of the terminal device until the second GNSS measurement is performed. Thus, the terminal device can implicitly indicate that it has performed GNSS measurement within the first duration or the second duration by indicating the duration until the next GNSS measurement.

[0040] In a possible design solution, the first information may be carried and sent in a radio resource control (RRC) establishment request message or an RRC connection establishment completion message.

[0041] In a possible design solution, the interval duration between performing the first GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing the second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset is related to the temperature.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a network device, or by components of the network device, such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system of the network device, etc., or can also be implemented by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device. The method includes: receiving first information from a terminal device and sending second information to the terminal device. The first information includes first indication information and second indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. The second indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The second information is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within a first duration, and is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within a second duration. The first duration is determined according to the first indication information, and the second duration is determined according to the second indication information.

[0043] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal, and within a second time period with a duration of the second duration, determining not to perform time offset detection on the uplink signal; wherein, the start time of the first time period and the start time of the second time period are the time of sending the second information plus a second preset duration.

[0044] In a possible design solution, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may further include: within the first time period or within the second time period, sending third information to the terminal device. The third information is used to indicate that the terminal device adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance. The third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter. Within a fifth time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal. Within a sixth time period with a duration of the second duration, determining not to perform time offset detection on the uplink signal. The start time of the fifth time period and the start time of the sixth time period are the time of sending the third information plus a second preset duration.

[0045] In a possible design, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may further include: receiving fourth information from a terminal device within a first time period. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period. Alternatively, within a second time period, sending the fourth information to a network device. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the second time period. Within a seventh time period with a duration of a first duration, it is determined not to perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal, and within an eighth time period with a duration of a second duration, it is determined not to perform time offset detection on the uplink signal. The start times of the seventh time period and the eighth time period are the time when the fourth information is sent plus a first preset duration.

[0046] In a possible design, the first information may be carried and sent in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment request message or an RRC connection establishment complete message.

[0047] In a possible design, the interval duration between adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing a first GNSS measurement and adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing a second GNSS measurement is related to temperature.

[0048] The technical effects of the method described in the fourth aspect can refer to the description of the technical effects of the method described in the second aspect, and will not be elaborated here.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the above various methods. The communication device may be the terminal device in the first aspect or the third aspect above, or a device including the above terminal device, or a device included in the above terminal device, such as a chip. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the methods described in the first aspect or the third aspect above. The module, unit, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0050] In some possible designs, the communication device includes: a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module is used to execute the processing functions of the terminal device in the first aspect or the third aspect. The processing module is used to execute the transceiver functions of the terminal device in the first aspect or the third aspect.

[0051] In a possible design, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module. The sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the fifth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the fifth aspect.

[0052] In a possible design, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may further include a storage module that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module executes the programs or instructions, the communication device described in the fifth aspect can execute the methods described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the above various methods. The communication device may be the network device in the second aspect or the fourth aspect above, or a device including the above network device, or a device included in the above network device, such as a chip. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the methods described in the second aspect or the fourth aspect above. The module, unit, or means may be implemented by hardware, by software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0054] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a processing module and a transceiver module. Among them, the processing module is used to execute the processing functions of the network device in the second aspect or the fourth aspect. The processing module is used to execute the transceiver functions of the network device in the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0055] In a possible design, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module. Among them, the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the sixth aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0056] In a possible design, the communication device described in the sixth aspect may further include a storage module that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module executes the programs or instructions, the communication device described in the sixth aspect can execute the methods described in the second aspect or the fourth aspect.

[0057] In a seventh aspect, a communication device (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a chip system) is provided. The communication device includes a processor for implementing the functions involved in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect above.

[0058] In a possible design, the communication device may further include a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data. The processor is coupled to the memory, and the processor is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory so that the communication device executes the methods described in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect above.

[0059] In a possible design, the communication device described in the seventh aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the seventh aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0060] In a possible design, the processor may be integrated with the memory.

[0061] In some possible designs, when the device is a chip system, it may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0062] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device. The processor is used to implement the method described in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect above through logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

[0063] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a terminal device, or may be a module or unit (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) corresponding one by one to the method / operation / step / action described in the first aspect or the third aspect above in the terminal device, or may be capable of being used in matching with the terminal device. The communication device may be a network device, or may be a module or unit (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) corresponding one by one to the method / operation / step / action described in the second aspect or the fourth aspect above in the network device, or may be capable of being used in matching with the network device.

[0064] It can be understood that when the communication device provided in any one of the seventh aspect or the ninth aspect is a chip, the above-mentioned sending action / function can be understood as output, and the above-mentioned receiving action / function can be understood as input.

[0065] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. A computer program or instruction is stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When it runs on the communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect above.

[0066] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, including computer program code. When the computer program code runs on the communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect above.

[0067] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, including: a communication device for implementing the method described in the first aspect above, and a communication device for implementing the method described in the second aspect above.

[0068] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including: a communication device for implementing the method described in the above third aspect, and a communication device for implementing the method described in the above fourth aspect. Description of the Drawings

[0069] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed Embodiments

[0073] Embodiments of the present application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and clear that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the drawings. In addition, combinations of these solutions may also be used.

[0074] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle networking communication systems, 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as 6th generation (6G) mobile communication systems, etc.

[0075] The following introduces the communication system and applicable network elements involved in the embodiments of the present application, as well as related terms.

[0076] 1. Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Communication

[0077] Non-terrestrial communication has the advantages of wide coverage, long communication distance, high reliability, great flexibility, high throughput, etc. It is not affected by geographical environment, climate conditions and natural disasters, and has been widely used in fields such as aviation communication, maritime communication, and military communication. Introducing NTN into the 5th generation (5G) mobile network can improve the performance of the communication system. Satellite communication systems and high altitude platform station (HAPS) are typical non-terrestrial communication systems. On the one hand, satellite networks can provide communication services for areas that are difficult to cover by terrestrial networks, such as oceans, forests, deserts or remote areas, etc. On the other hand, satellite networks can enhance the reliability of 5G communication, such as providing more stable communication services for users in high-speed mobile scenarios such as trains and airplanes. In addition, satellite networks can also provide more data transmission resources to support a larger number of connections.

[0078] Generally speaking, the higher the orbit of a satellite, the larger its coverage area, but the longer the communication delay. According to the orbit height, satellites can be divided into:

[0079] (1) Low Earth Orbit (LEO): The orbit height is 160 - 2000 kilometers (km);

[0080] (2) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): The orbit height is 2000 - 35786 km;

[0081] (3) Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO): The orbit height is 35786 km;

[0082] Among them, GEO is the geosynchronous earth satellite orbit, and the satellites operating on this orbit are stationary relative to the ground; LEO and MEO are collectively referred to as non-geostationary orbit (NGSO), and the satellites operating on such orbits move at high speed relative to the ground.

[0083] For NGSO, it can be further divided into Earth Moving Cell and Earth Fixed Cell according to whether the satellite beam moves with the satellite. For Earth Moving Cell, the cell moves relative to the ground, and the satellite beam direction follows the satellite's movement; for Earth Fixed Cell, the cell is fixed relative to the ground within a certain period of time, and the satellite antenna can use its beamforming ability to direct the beam to a certain area on the ground within a certain period of time.

[0084] According to the working mode, satellites can generally be divided into two categories. The first type is transparent forwarding, where the satellite forwards the information of the cells of ground network devices (such as next generation Node-B, gNB). The role of the satellite is radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification. That is, the satellite mainly acts as a layer 1 relay, regenerating the physical layer signals and not having other higher protocol layers. The second type is regenerative, where the satellite has the processing functions of a base station. In the regenerative working mode, it can be further divided into regenerative satellites without inter-satellite links, that is, there is no inter-satellite link (ISL) between satellites; regenerative satellites with inter-satellite links, that is, there is an interface between satellites to directly exchange data. Among them, the inter-satellite link is the Xn interface; there is also an architecture where the satellite only has the processing function of the distributed unit (DU) of the base station, and in this scenario, the satellite acts as the DU.

[0085] 2. Uplink Time Synchronization - TA Adjustment

[0086] An important feature of uplink transmission is that the uplink transmissions of different terminal devices from the same cell do not interfere with each other. To ensure the orthogonality of uplink transmission and avoid intra-cell interference, the base station requires that the signals of different terminal devices from the same subframe but different frequency domain resources (different resource blocks, RB) arrive at the base station at basically the same time. As long as the base station receives the uplink data sent by the terminal device within the cyclic prefix (CP) range, it can correctly decode the uplink data. Therefore, uplink synchronization requires that the signals of different terminal devices from the same subframe arrive at the base station within the cyclic prefix range.

[0087] To ensure time synchronization on the receiving side (base station side), LTE / NR introduces the mechanism of uplink timing advance. From the perspective of the terminal device, TA is essentially a negative offset between the start time of the received downlink subframe and the time of transmitting the uplink subframe. By appropriately controlling the offset of each terminal device, the base station can control the arrival time of the uplink signals from different terminal devices at the base station. For terminal devices farther from the base station, due to the larger transmission delay, they need to send uplink data earlier than those closer to the base station.

[0088] In the terrestrial network (TN), the base station sends the timing advance command (TAC) to the terminal device in the following two ways:

[0089] (1) During the random access process, the base station determines the TA by measuring the received preamble and sends it to the terminal device through the Timing Advance Command field in the random access response (RAR). This process is the "initial uplink synchronization process".

[0090] (2) In the radio resource control (RRC) connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), the base station needs to maintain TA information. Although the terminal device and the base station achieve uplink time synchronization during the random access process, the timing of the uplink signal arriving at the base station may change over time. Therefore, the terminal device needs to continuously update its uplink timing advance to maintain uplink time synchronization. In LTE / NR, the base station determines the TA value of each terminal device based on the measurement of the uplink transmission of the corresponding terminal device. In theory, any signal sent by the terminal device, such as sounding reference signal (SRS) / demodulation reference signal (DMRS) / channel quality indicator (CQI) / acknowledge (ACK) / negative acknowledgement (NACK) / physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc., can be used to measure TA. If a specific terminal device needs to be corrected, the base station will send a TAC to the terminal device, requiring it to adjust the uplink transmission timing. This TAC is sent to the terminal device through the timing advance command media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (Timing Advance Command MAC-CE).

[0091] As can be seen from the above, in terrestrial communication, TA is adjusted through TAC, and the terminal device does not need to perform timing advance when initiating the preamble. This TAC mechanism can be understood as a closed-loop TA adjustment mechanism.

[0092] Different from terrestrial communication, in NTN, the round-trip delay (RTD) and round-trip delay difference of terminal devices within the same beam / cell are much larger than those of terminal devices in the same cell of the terrestrial network. For example, when the cell diameter in the terrestrial cellular network is 350 kilometers (km), the maximum round-trip delay within the cell is 1.17 milliseconds (ms). However, the round-trip transmission delay of high-orbit satellites is up to several hundred milliseconds, and the round-trip transmission delay of low-orbit satellites is also up to dozens of milliseconds. It is inaccurate to determine TA only by TAC, and the TA indicated by TAC cannot cover such a large timing advance.

[0093] Therefore, in satellite communication, in order to achieve uplink time synchronization, an additional open-loop mechanism needs to be introduced to estimate the TA. If the terminal device does not perform open-loop estimation, the time offset of the uplink signal received by the base station will be very large, resulting in the failure of uplink signal decoding. Specifically, if the uplink signals of each terminal device are aligned on the satellite, the terminal device needs to calculate the round-trip transmission delay from the terminal device to the satellite (service link) based on the ephemeris information and its own geographical location information, and use it as the open-loop TA adjustment information when sending the uplink signal for timing advance. Of course, TAC is still useful because there will be errors in the positioning information and ephemeris information of the terminal device, and TAC is used as a closed-loop timing advance adjustment to compensate for the error of the open-loop TA. If the uplink signals of each terminal device are aligned at the ground station, or at a certain reference point on the feeder link between the satellite and the ground station, since the terminal device does not know the location of the ground station or the reference point, the network needs to additionally indicate the round-trip transmission delay from the satellite to the reference point or the ground, which is usually called the common TA (common TA or TA_common). That is, the terminal device uses the RTD from the terminal device to the satellite and the common TA together as the TA in the open-loop part.

[0094] Currently, the TA adjustment amount in NTN is determined according to the following formula (1):

[0095] T TA =(N TA +N TA，UE-specific +N TA，common +N TA，offset )×T c (1);

[0096] Where, T TA is the TA adjustment amount; N TA is the first timing advance amount. When the terminal device initiates a physical random access channel (PRACH), N TA =0, and it is updated by the TAC carried by the MAC CE when message (msg) 2 / msgB is received;

[0097] N TA，UE-specific is the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite, which is the timing advance amount determined by the terminal device according to GNSS information and ephemeris information;

[0098] N TA，common is the common TA, which is the timing advance amount associated with the common TA information (possibly calculated from parameters related to the common TA);

[0099] N TA，offsetis a specified timing offset, which is related to the communication mode (TDD / FDD) of the terminal device. For example, in a time division duplexing (TDD) system, it has a finite number of fixed values, and in a frequency division duplexing (FDD) system, this parameter is 0;

[0100] T c is the minimum time unit, which can be a fixed value predefined in the 3GPP technical specification (TS) (for example, 0.509 nanoseconds (ns) in the 3GPP technical specification).

[0101] Determines N TA，UE-specific The GNSS information and ephemeris information of N and the common TA are updated simultaneously before any one of the parameters expires (the update here does not include the adjustment made by the terminal device according to the prediction).

[0102] After receiving the TAC, the terminal device determines N by accumulating the corresponding TA TA , and based on the determined N TA determines the TA adjustment amount. The terminal device adds the received TAC to the previous TA each time it receives a TAC. When TACs (T A ) are received in the MAC CE (connected state), the update of N TA is as follows in formula (2):

[0103]

[0104] where, N TA_new is based on the N determined this time TA , N TA_old is the N determined last time TA , T A can be understood as the timing advance determined according to the TAC. μ is the subcarrier spacing (SCS) serial number. In NR, the SCS corresponding to the SCS serial number μ is 2 μ ·15 kilohertz (KHz).

[0105] 3. Uplink frequency synchronization

[0106] In NTN, the terminal device obtains the downlink frequency offset F d +F o by detecting the downlink reference signal, where, F d is the Doppler frequency offset, F d can be determined by the terminal device according to the GNSS information and ephemeris information, F oLet \(f_{osc}^{UE}\) and \(f_{osc}^{BS}\) be the crystal oscillator frequency offsets of the terminal device and the base station respectively. The terminal device can calculate the crystal oscillator frequency offset based on the obtained downlink frequency offset and Doppler frequency offset. In terrestrial communication, since the base station is stationary, the residual frequency offset generally does not exceed the error requirement, so there is no need to support closed-loop frequency offset correction, and the base station does not need to detect the frequency offset either.

[0107] After the terminal device calculates \(F_{D}\) d and \(F_{o}\) o , it can pre-compensate the frequency offset introduced by Doppler and crystal oscillator when sending the uplink signal. Therefore, the frequency offset at the base station side can be reduced, and the residual frequency offset is within a certain required range. If the GNSS information is inaccurate or unavailable, the terminal device cannot determine the crystal oscillator frequency offset for pre-compensation. If the downlink frequency offset is directly used for pre-compensation, it will result in a 2-fold crystal oscillator frequency offset remaining at the base station side. Moreover, for a terminal device with a relatively large crystal oscillator frequency offset, the residual frequency offset requirement cannot be met after frequency offset compensation. For example, the center frequency point is \(F_{c}\) c = 3.5 GHz, the crystal oscillator frequency offset \(F_{o}\) o = 0.2, the Doppler frequency offset \(F_{D}\) d = 0.8. The downlink signal received by the terminal device is 3.5 + 0.6 = 4.1, and a deviation of 0.6 is detected. The terminal device compensates 0.6 in the digital domain for the transmitted signal, and the actual transmitted signal frequency is 3.7 - 0.6 = 3.1. The signal frequency received by the base station is 3.1 + 0.8 = 3.9, which is 0.4 away from the center frequency point 3.5, that is, the offset value of 2 times the crystal oscillator frequency offset.

[0108] In the embodiments of the present application, the Doppler frequency offset can also be referred to as Doppler frequency shift, Doppler frequency shift value, Doppler frequency offset value, etc., and no specific limitation is made in this regard. It should be understood that the GNSS information in the embodiments of the present application refers to the GNSS positioning information of the terminal device.

[0109] As can be seen from the above, in NTN, when the terminal device performs uplink time synchronization and / or uplink frequency synchronization, it needs to adjust the time offset and frequency offset according to the GNSS information. However, whether it is time offset or frequency offset adjustment, the terminal device needs to obtain the GNSS information to achieve it. The GNSS information is obtained by the terminal device through GNSS measurement. However, in order to maintain uplink synchronization, the terminal device needs to perform GNSS measurement frequently, which will increase the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0110] Therefore, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which can reduce the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurement while ensuring uplink synchronization, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0111] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following points are explained before introducing the embodiments of the present application.

[0112] First, in the embodiments of the present application, "for indicating" may include for direct indication and for indirect indication. When describing that a certain "indication information" is used to indicate A, it may include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not mean that A must be carried in the indication information.

[0113] The information indicated by the indication information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, it can directly indicate the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated, etc. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It can also only indicate a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or pre-agreed. For example, it can also rely on the arrangement order of each information pre-agreed (such as protocol regulations) to achieve the indication of specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, it can also identify the common parts of each information and uniformly indicate them to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0114] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods. For example, but not limited to, the above indication methods and their various combinations, etc. The specific details of various indication methods can refer to the prior art and will not be elaborated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple pieces of information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods of different information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication methods involved in the embodiments of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0115] The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. Moreover, the sending periods and / or sending opportunities of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the present application. Among them, the sending periods and / or sending opportunities of these sub-information can be predefined, such as predefined according to the protocol, or can be configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device. Among them, the configuration information can, for example, but not limited to, include one or a combination of at least two of RRC signaling, MAC layer signaling, and physical layer signaling. Among them, MAC layer signaling, for example, includes MAC-CE; physical (PHY) layer signaling, for example, includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0116] Second, in the embodiments of the present application, the first, second, and various numerical numbers are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, to distinguish different indication information. For another example, the first duration and the second duration are only for distinguishing different time lengths and do not limit their sequence. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and terms such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit to be different.

[0117] Third, in the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if", and "when" all refer to that in a certain objective situation, the device (such as a terminal device or an access network device) will perform corresponding processing, which does not limit time, and does not require the device (such as a terminal device or an access network device) to have a judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean there are other limitations.

[0118] Meanwhile, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Exactly speaking, using words such as "exemplary" or "for example" aims to present relevant concepts in a specific way for easy understanding.

[0119] Finally, the network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly explaining the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0120] To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, take the Figure 1 communication system shown in the following as an example to detail the communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application. Exemplarily, Figure 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0121] As Figure 1 shown, the communication system includes a network device and multiple terminal devices communicating with the network device. Optionally, the communication system may further include a core network device communicating with the network device.

[0122] Among them, the core network device referred to in the embodiments of the present application is a device deployed in the core network to provide services for terminal devices. In systems adopting different radio access technologies, the names of core network devices with similar radio communication functions may be different. For example, when the communication method of the embodiments of the present application is applied to a 5G system, the core network device may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a session management function (SMF) network element, a user plane function (UPF) network element, etc. Among them, the UPF network element processes user plane data. The AMF network element and the SMF network element process control plane signaling. When the precoding method of the embodiments of the present application is applied to an LTE system, the core network device may be a mobility management entity (MME). For the convenience of description only, in the embodiments of the present application, the above-mentioned devices that can provide services for terminal devices are collectively referred to as core network devices.

[0123] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device may also be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) node, an access network device, a RAN entity, an access node, etc. It is located on the network side of the above communication system, used to help the terminal device achieve wireless access, and is a device with wireless transceiver functions or a chip or chip system that can be set in the device. The network device includes but is not limited to: base station, evolved NodeB (eNodeB), access point (AP), transmission reception point (TRP), next generation NodeB (gNB), next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, base station in a future mobile communication system, or access node in a Wi-Fi system, etc. The network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, a wireless controller in an open radio access network (ORAN) or a centralized radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an in-vehicle device, etc. For example, the access network device in V2X technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the network device in the present application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The network device in the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0124] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist the terminal device in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node may be a central unit (CU), a DU, a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU may be set separately, or may also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0125] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU may also be referred to as O-CU (Open CU), the DU may also be referred to as O-DU, the CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, the CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and the RU may also be referred to as O-RU. For the convenience of description, in this application, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are used as examples for description. Any unit among the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0126] As pointed out above, all or some of the functional modules of the network device can be deployed on an airborne platform or a satellite, or on other forms of communication devices at high altitudes. Correspondingly, the network device can refer to an airborne platform, a satellite, or other similar devices that connect the terminal device to the network device. Among them, the airborne platform can include at least one of the following: a satellite, a drone, or a hot air balloon.

[0127] In the embodiments of this application, the form of the network device is not limited. The device for implementing the functions of the network device can be the network device; it can also be a device that can support the network device to implement such functions, such as a chip system. This device can be installed in the network device or used in combination with the network device.

[0128] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device is a terminal with a wireless transceiver function that accesses the above communication system, or a chip or chip system that can be disposed in the terminal. The terminal device may also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), user device, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile device, remote station, remote terminal, mobile equipment, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, an in-vehicle terminal, an RSU with terminal functions, etc. The terminal device of the present application may also be an in-vehicle module, in-vehicle module group, in-vehicle component, in-vehicle chip, or in-vehicle unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units, and the vehicle can implement the method provided by the present application through the built-in in-vehicle module, in-vehicle module group, in-vehicle component, in-vehicle chip, or in-vehicle unit.

[0129] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal device. The device for implementing the functions of the terminal device may be the terminal device; or it may be a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the functions, such as a chip system. The device may be installed in the terminal device or used in matching with the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0130] In Figure 1 the shown system architecture, the system further includes a ground gateway and a data network (DN). Here, the interface for the terminal device to communicate with the access network device may be an air interface or Uu interface. The interface for the access network device to communicate with the ground gateway may be an NG interface. The interface for the ground gateway to communicate with the core network device may be an NG interface. The core network device may be only connected to the ground gateway. At this time, the access network device may be connected to the core network device through the ground gateway, specifically as Figure 1As shown. The core network device can be connected to more than one terrestrial gateway. At this time, the access network device can be connected to the core network device through any one of the more than one terrestrial gateways ( Figure 1 not shown). The core network device (such as a UPF network element) can communicate with entities or network elements in the DN through an interface (such as an N6 interface).

[0131] It should be noted that the above only lists some ways of communication between network elements, and other network elements can also communicate through certain connection methods, which will not be elaborated here in the embodiments of the present application.

[0132] It should be pointed out that the solution in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names can also be replaced with the names of the corresponding functions in other communication systems.

[0133] Next, Figure 2 the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be specifically described.

[0134] Exemplarily, Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. This communication method is described by taking the communication between Figure 1 the network device and the terminal device shown as an example. Of course, the entity that executes the actions of the terminal device in this method can also be a device / module in the terminal device, such as a chip, a processor, a processing unit, etc. in the terminal device; the entity that executes the actions of the network device in this method can also be a device / module in the network device, such as a chip, a processor, a processing unit, etc. in the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0135] As Figure 2 shown, this communication method includes:

[0136] S201. The terminal device sends the first information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information from the terminal device.

[0137] S202. The network device sends the second information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second information from the network device. Among them, the second information is determined according to the first information.

[0138] Next, S201 and S202 above will be described in detail respectively:

[0139] Regarding the above S201:

[0140] Among them, the first piece of information may be information used to indicate the time interval between two GNSS measurements for determining the oscillator frequency offset adjustment by the terminal device. For example, the first piece of information may include first indication information, and the first indication information may be used to indicate the interval duration (hereinafter referred to as the first interval duration) between the execution of the first GNSS measurement to adjust the oscillator frequency offset and the execution of the second GNSS measurement to adjust the oscillator frequency offset. The first GNSS measurement and the second GNSS measurement refer to two consecutive GNSS measurements. The second GNSS measurement can be considered as a GNSS measurement after the first GNSS measurement. The first interval duration is also the time interval between the two GNSS measurements for adjusting the oscillator frequency offset. It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the first GNSS measurement may refer to the first GNSS measurement or a non-first GNSS measurement, and this is not limited.

[0141] Adjusting the oscillator frequency offset mainly means that the terminal device updates or determines the oscillator frequency offset according to the measured downlink frequency offset, the GNSS information and ephemeris information calculated based on a GNSS measurement, and performs oscillator compensation according to the oscillator frequency offset, so that the remaining oscillator frequency offset after compensation does not exceed the error requirement. Among them, the downlink frequency offset is obtained by the terminal device through measuring the downlink reference signal. The downlink reference signal such as DMRS, channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), positioning reference signal (PRS), etc. The downlink frequency offset includes two parts: Doppler frequency offset and oscillator frequency offset. The GNSS information refers to the GNSS positioning information of the terminal device. The ephemeris information may include one or more of the semi-major axis of the satellite, eccentricity, orbital inclination, right ascension of the ascending node, argument of perigee, mean anomaly, and reference time, etc., and this is not limited.

[0142] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may calculate the first interval duration according to one or more of the error requirement of the oscillator frequency offset, the hardware capability of the oscillator, the performance of the GNSS module in the terminal device (such as positioning accuracy), etc. For example, at 1 time T, after the terminal device executes the first GNSS measurement to adjust the oscillator frequency offset, according to the error requirement of the oscillator frequency offset, the hardware capability of the oscillator, and the GNSS positioning accuracy in the terminal device, it calculates that the first interval duration is ΔT 1 , then the terminal device believes that it is necessary to execute the second GNSS measurement to adjust the oscillator frequency offset again at 2,f T 1 = T 1 +ΔT

[0143] In the embodiments of the present application, the first interval duration indicated by the first indication information may have the following possible understandings:

[0144] A possible understanding 1: It can be understood as how long the crystal oscillator frequency offset determined by the terminal device after adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset during one GNSS measurement (such as the first GNSS measurement) can be maintained or stabilized within the error requirement. If the duration exceeds this time, the adjusted crystal oscillator frequency offset will exceed the error requirement, that is, the next GNSS measurement (such as the second GNSS measurement) needs to be performed to readjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. At this time, the first interval duration can also be referred to as the stable duration of the crystal oscillator after adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset during one GNSS measurement.

[0145] A possible understanding 2: It can be understood as the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated by the terminal device during one GNSS measurement (such as the first GNSS measurement). Within the effective duration, the terminal device believes that the crystal oscillator frequency offset remains unchanged. When sending an uplink signal within this effective duration, crystal oscillator compensation is performed using the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated based on the first GNSS measurement to maintain uplink frequency synchronization. If the effective duration is exceeded, the next GNSS measurement (such as the second GNSS measurement) needs to be performed to recalculate the crystal oscillator frequency offset. At this time, the first interval duration can also be referred to as the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated during one GNSS measurement.

[0146] That is to say, it can be considered that the first indication information indicates the ability of the crystal oscillator to remain stable after one adjustment of the crystal oscillator frequency offset by the terminal device. Within the first interval duration indicated by the first indication information, the terminal device can consider that there is no need to perform GNSS measurement to calculate the Doppler frequency offset for uplink frequency synchronization. Instead, uplink frequency synchronization is performed based on the Doppler frequency offset determined by the measured downlink frequency offset and the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated from the first GNSS measurement. It can be considered that within the first interval duration, the terminal device knows the downlink frequency offset and the crystal oscillator frequency offset and calculates the Doppler frequency offset to achieve uplink frequency synchronization.

[0147] In a possible scenario, the first interval duration, that is, the stable duration of the crystal oscillator or the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset, is affected by environmental changes, such as temperature. If the crystal oscillator is in an environment with a higher temperature, the first interval duration may become shorter; conversely, the first interval duration may become longer. In this scenario, the terminal device will update the first interval duration according to the impact of environmental changes on the first interval duration and report the updated first interval duration to the network device again, so that the network device can adjust the first duration in a timely manner. For the specific description of the first duration, reference can be made to the relevant description in S202 below, which will not be elaborated here.

[0148] Optionally, the first information may also be information for instructing the terminal device to determine GNSS measurements for two times of adjusting the timing advance. For example, the first information may further include second indication information, that is, the first information may include the first indication information and the second indication information, and the second indication information may be used to indicate the interval duration (hereinafter simply referred to as the second interval duration) between the execution of the first GNSS measurement for adjusting the timing advance and the execution of the second GNSS measurement for adjusting the timing advance. In this design solution, the first GNSS measurement and the second GNSS measurement may be used to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset (frequency offset) and the timing advance (time offset), and the second interval duration is the time interval of the GNSS measurements for the terminal device to determine two times of adjusting the timing advance.

[0149] Adjusting the timing advance mainly refers to that the terminal device determines, re - determines or updates the TA adjustment amount (such as T in the above - mentioned related technology description 2) according to the GNSS information and the ephemeris information calculated from a GNSS measurement (such as the first GNSS measurement). TA,UE-specific ) to determine or re - determine or update the TA adjustment amount (such as T in the above - mentioned related technology description 2). TA ) For other timing advances for determining the TA adjustment amount, it can be considered unchanged.

[0150] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may calculate the second interval duration according to one or more of the relative moving speed of the terminal device relative to the network device (such as a satellite), the relative position of the terminal device relative to the network device, the GNSS positioning accuracy, and the error requirement of the periodic advance amount.

[0151] For example, at time T 1 , after the terminal device executes the first GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance, according to the relative moving speed of the terminal device relative to the network device, the GNSS positioning accuracy, and the error requirement of the periodic advance amount, it calculates that the second interval duration is ΔT 2 . Then the terminal device considers that it is necessary to execute the second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance again at time T 2,t = T 1 +ΔT 2 . At this time, it can be understood that after the terminal device executes the first GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance at time T 1 , the time for executing the second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset is calculated as T 2,f , and the time for executing the second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance is calculated as T 2,t .

[0152] That is to say, in the embodiments of the present application, the first GNSS measurement for adjusting the timing advance is the same GNSS measurement as the first GNSS measurement for adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset. However, after the first GNSS measurement adjustment, the execution times of the second GNSS measurement for determining the distance to the next adjustment of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the second GNSS measurement for determining the distance to the next adjustment of the timing advance by the terminal device may be different, that is, the second interval duration may be the same as or different from the first interval duration.

[0153] Similar to the above first interval duration, the second interval duration indicated by the second indication information can be understood as the effective duration of the timing advance calculated by the terminal device in performing a GNSS measurement (such as the first GNSS measurement). Within the effective duration, the terminal device believes that the timing advance remains unchanged. When sending an uplink signal within this effective duration, the timing offset compensation is performed using the timing advance calculated based on the first GNSS measurement to maintain uplink time synchronization. When the effective duration is exceeded, the next GNSS measurement (such as the second GNSS measurement) needs to be performed to recalculate the timing advance. At this time, the second interval duration can also be referred to as the effective duration of the timing advance calculated by a GNSS measurement.

[0154] Within the second interval duration, the terminal device can consider that there is no need to perform a GNSS measurement to calculate the timing advance for uplink timing synchronization, but use the timing advance adjusted by the first GNSS measurement for uplink time synchronization. Thus, after the terminal device calculates the first interval duration and the second interval duration by performing the first GNSS measurement, the first indication information and the second indication information can be respectively sent to the network device by being included in the first information.

[0155] In a possible implementation, the first indication information and the second indication information can be sent separately, for example, the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in different messages and sent.

[0156] In a possible implementation, the first information can be carried in an RRC establishment request (RRC setup request) message or an RRC connection establishment complete (RRC connection setup complete) message and sent. The RRC establishment request message can also be referred to as message (message, Msg) 3, and the RRC connection establishment complete message can also be referred to as Msg5. In addition, the first information can also be carried in signaling such as MAC CE and is not limited thereto.

[0157] In one possible implementation, the terminal device may actively report the first information after performing a GNSS measurement once. In addition, in one possible implementation, the terminal device may also report the first information according to the trigger of the network device, and there is no limitation on this. Exemplarily, the network device sends the third indication information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third indication information from the network device. The third indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the first information once after each GNSS measurement is completed.

[0158] Regarding the above S202:

[0159] The second information may be information used to indicate the maximum interval duration for which it is desired that the terminal device perform a GNSS measurement. The second information may be information determined (or rather, generated / obtained) according to the first information. For example, the network device determines the second information according to the first information. Among them, regarding the indication information carried in the above first information being different, the indication method of the second information is also correspondingly different, specifically including the following situations:

[0160] Situation 1: When the first information includes the first indication information, the second information is used to indicate that it is desired that the terminal device does not perform a GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within the first duration, and the first duration is determined according to the first indication information. That is to say, after the network device obtains the first information, it can determine the first duration according to the first indication information in the first information. The first duration is the duration for which it is desired that the terminal device does not perform a GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset.

[0161] Exemplarily, the network device may set the first duration to the first interval duration, or may also set the first duration to be shorter than the first interval duration, which is equivalent to triggering the terminal device to perform a GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset in advance. At this time, the setting of the first duration may consider the time required for the terminal device to perform a GNSS measurement once and the time required to calculate the crystal oscillator frequency offset according to the GNSS information, etc., and there is no limitation on this. At this time, the first duration can be expressed as ΔT a , 0 < T a ≤ΔT 1 .

[0162] In this case, when the network device configures the first duration to the terminal device in the form of the second information, it may also locally configure the first duration and synchronously trigger the first duration with the terminal device to not perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal within the first duration. The uplink signal includes an uplink data signal and an uplink reference signal. The uplink data signal is, for example, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, and the uplink reference signal is, for example, an SRS.

[0163] Scenario 2: When the first information includes the first indication information and the second indication information, there are the following two design solutions:

[0164] In a possible design solution 1, the second information can also be used to instruct the expected terminal device not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the first duration, that is, the second information is used to instruct the expected terminal device not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance within the first duration. In this design solution 1, the first duration can be the minimum of the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance. The effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset is determined according to the first indication information, and the effective duration of the timing advance is determined according to the second indication information.

[0165] That is to say, the network device determines the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset according to the first interval duration indicated by the first indication information in the first information, and determines the effective duration of the timing advance according to the second interval duration indicated by the second indication information. The minimum value of the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance can be used as the first duration. At this time, the first duration is the duration during which the expected terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance.

[0166] Exemplarily, the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset can be equal to the first interval duration or shorter than the first interval duration. The network device can consider the time required for the terminal device to perform a GNSS measurement and the time required to calculate the crystal oscillator frequency offset according to the GNSS information, etc., and there is no limit to this. Similarly, the effective duration of the timing advance can be equal to the second interval duration or shorter than the second interval duration. The network device considers the time required for the terminal device to perform a GNSS measurement and the time required to calculate the timing advance according to the GNSS information, etc., and there is no limit to this. At this time, the first duration can be expressed as ΔT a , 0 < ΔT a ≤ mn{ΔT 1 , ΔT 2}.

[0167] In this case, while the network device configures the first duration to the terminal device in the form of the second information, the first duration is also configured locally. The network device can also not perform frequency offset detection and time offset detection on the uplink signal within the first duration. In a possible implementation, the network device can send the second information to the terminal device by carrying it in signaling such as an RRC message or a MAC CE, and there is no limit to this.

[0168] In the embodiments of the present application, the network device performing frequency offset detection on the uplink signal may refer to the network device comparing the frequency obtained by performing frequency detection on the uplink signal with the expected frequency, and the obtained difference may be used as the adjustment amount for the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset. The network device performing timing offset detection on the uplink signal may be the network device comparing the arrival time of the uplink signal with the expected arrival time, and the obtained difference may be used as the adjustment amount for the terminal device to adjust the timing advance amount.

[0169] For the design solution 1 in the above-mentioned scenario 1 and scenario 2, in the embodiments of the present application, the first duration may be configured by the network device in the form of a timer, including local configuration and configuration for the terminal device. The trigger of the first duration may be triggered according to a preset rule, and the preset rule may be pre-configured or agreed upon by the protocol, or may also be determined through negotiation between the network device and the terminal device, and no limitation is made thereto. Thus, after the network device indicates the first duration to the terminal device in the form of the second information, the terminal device can trigger the execution or non-execution of GNSS measurement according to the second information.

[0170] In the embodiments of the present application, after receiving the second information, the terminal device may trigger the first duration and not perform GNSS measurement within the first duration. Correspondingly, after sending the second information, the network device may synchronously trigger the first duration with the terminal device and not perform frequency offset or frequency offset and timing offset detection on the uplink signal within the first duration. In a possible implementation, within the first time period with the duration of the first duration, the terminal device may determine not to perform GNSS measurement. Correspondingly, within the first time period with the duration of the first duration, when the first information includes the first indication information, the network device may determine not to perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal, or when the first information includes the first indication information and the second indication information, the network device may determine not to perform frequency offset and timing offset detection on the uplink signal. Among them, for the terminal device, the start time of the first time period is the moment of receiving the second information plus the first preset duration, and for the network device, the start time of the first time period is the moment of sending the second information plus the second preset duration.

[0171] Among them, the first preset duration may be pre-configured or agreed upon by the protocol, or may also be determined through negotiation between the network device and the terminal device, and no limitation is made thereto. The first preset duration may be represented as T Δ1 . In addition, the setting of the first preset duration may consider the computing power of the terminal device, environmental changes, communication bandwidth, transmission delay, etc., and no limitation is made thereto. In some possible cases, the value of the first preset duration may be 0, that is, when the terminal device receives the second information, it triggers the first duration, and the start time of the first time period is the moment of receiving the second information.

[0172] That is to say, starting from the moment when the terminal device receives the second information, after a first preset duration, the first duration is triggered. During this first duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement, and the start time of the first time period is the trigger moment of the first duration. Exemplarily, the terminal device receives the second information at time T 3 Then the terminal device determines that from time T 4 + T Δ1 until time T 4 + T Δ1 + ΔT a it will not perform GNSS measurement. That is, the first time period is T 4 + T Δ1 ~T 4 + T Δ1 + ΔT a , denoted as Timer1-ue. At this time, it can be considered that the terminal device triggers a timer Timer1-ue with a timing duration of the first duration.

[0173] The second preset duration is similar to the first preset duration. It can be pre-configured or agreed upon by the protocol, or can also be determined through negotiation between the network device and the terminal device, and no limitation is made in this regard. The second preset duration can be expressed as T Δ2 . In addition, the setting of the second preset duration can also consider the computing power of the terminal device, environmental changes, communication bandwidth, transmission delay, etc., and no limitation is made in this regard. In some possible cases, the value of the second preset duration can be 0, that is, when the network device sends the second information, the first duration is triggered, and the start time of the fifth time period is the moment when the second information is sent.

[0174] That is to say, starting from the moment when the network device sends the second information, after the second preset duration, it can synchronously trigger the first duration with the terminal device. Since the terminal device does not need to adjust the frequency offset or the frequency offset and time offset within the first duration, the network device can also not perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal within this first duration, and does not need to indicate frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device.

[0175] Moreover, within the first time period, when the first information includes the first indication information, when the terminal device sends an uplink signal, it can use the Doppler frequency offset obtained from the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated according to the measured downlink frequency offset and the first GNSS measurement for uplink frequency synchronization. When the first information includes the first indication information and the second indication information, when the terminal device sends an uplink signal, it can use the Doppler frequency offset obtained from the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated according to the measured downlink frequency offset and the first GNSS measurement for uplink frequency synchronization, and use the timing advance adjusted by the first GNSS measurement for uplink time synchronization.

[0176] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the setting of the first preset duration and the second preset duration can ensure that the time when the timers are triggered on both sides of the network device and the terminal device is aligned at both ends. At this time, the first preset duration and the second preset duration may be different. Therefore, for the network device and the terminal device, the calculation of the start time of the first time period on both sides may be different.

[0177] In some possible scenarios, the network device and the terminal device can align time in a frame-aligned manner. The time delay between the network device sending information and the terminal device receiving information can be ignored. The first preset duration and the second preset duration can be the same. At this time, the time when the timers are triggered at both ends can still be aligned. That is to say, in the embodiments of the present application, if the start time and the end time of the first time period on the network device side are aligned with those of the time period on the terminal device side, the following second time period, third time period, and fourth time period on the network side are also aligned with the second time period, third time period, and fourth time period on the terminal device side respectively.

[0178] After not performing GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance within the first time period with the duration of the first duration triggered by the terminal device, in a possible scenario 1, the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance again according to the trigger of the network device.

[0179] In this scenario 1, in a possible design 1, the network device can send frequency offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to readjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, or the network device can send frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to readjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance without performing GNSS measurement.

[0180] In this design 1, in a possible implementation 1, before the end of the first time period, the network device can detect the frequency offset or the frequency offset and the time offset of the uplink signal in advance, and send the frequency offset adjustment information or the frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can trigger the adjustment of the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance in advance before the end of the first time period without performing GNSS measurement.

[0181] Exemplarily, the network device may send the third information within the first time period. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the third information within the first time period. Wherein, when the first information includes the first indication information, the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and the third information includes the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter; when the first information includes the first indication information and the second indication information, the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, and the third information includes the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter. In the embodiments of the present application, the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter may be obtained by the network device detecting the frequency offset of the uplink signal within the first time period, and the timing advance adjustment parameter may be obtained by the network device detecting the time offset of the uplink signal within the first time period.

[0182] That is to say, the network device can trigger the end of the timer with the first duration (i.e., the first time period) locally started in advance, so as to detect the frequency offset or the frequency offset and time offset of the uplink signal, obtain the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter, and instruct the terminal device in the form of the third information, so as to trigger the end of the timer with the first duration started by the terminal device in advance, so that the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance before the end of the timer, without performing GNSS measurement adjustment.

[0183] Further, since the crystal oscillator adjusted based on this implementation 1 is in a stable state again, and the timing advance is also in a stable state, the network device and the terminal device can synchronously trigger the first duration again. For example, the network device can trigger the first duration again after sending the third information, and the terminal device can trigger the first duration again after receiving the third information. After triggering the first duration again, the execution actions of the network device and the terminal device can refer to the above process, which will not be elaborated here.

[0184] In a possible implementation 2, after the end of the first time period, the network device may send frequency offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to re-adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, or the network device may send frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to re-adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance without performing GNSS measurement.

[0185] Exemplarily, within the second preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, the network device may send the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, within the first preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, the terminal device may receive the third information from the network device. The specific descriptions of the first preset duration and the second preset duration may refer to the above descriptions, and the specific description of the third information may refer to the relevant descriptions in the above implementation 1, which will not be elaborated here.

[0186] That is to say, within the second preset duration starting from the end moment of the first time period, the network device performs frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal, obtains the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter, and indicates them to the terminal device in the form of the third information. Correspondingly, the terminal device starts waiting to receive the third information at the end moment of the first time period, receives the third information within the first preset duration starting from the end moment of the first time period, and adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency again, or the crystal oscillator frequency and the timing advance, according to the adjustment parameters indicated by the third information, without performing GNSS measurement adjustment. After adjustment, the crystal oscillator is in a stable state again, and the timing advance is also in a stable state.

[0187] Furthermore, the network device and the terminal device can trigger the first duration again. That is, within the first duration triggered again, the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement within the first duration. Correspondingly, within the first duration triggered again, the network device determines not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal, that is, there is no need to send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device.

[0188] Exemplarily, within the second time period with the duration of the first duration, the network device determines not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal. Correspondingly, within the second time period with the duration of the first duration, the terminal device determines not to perform GNSS measurement. Among them, for the network device, the start time of the second time period is the moment of sending the third information plus the second preset duration, and for the terminal device, the start time of the second time period is the moment of receiving the third information plus the first preset duration.

[0189] For example, the network device sends the third information at time T 5 Then the network device determines that from time T 5 +T Δ2 until time T 5 +T Δ2 +ΔT a it will not perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal. That is, the second time period is T 5 +T Δ2 ~T 5 +T Δ2 +ΔT a , denoted as Timer2-ran. At this time, it can be considered that the network device triggers a timer Timer2-ran with a timing duration of the first duration.

[0190] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third information at time T 6 Then the terminal device determines that from time T 6 +T Δ1 until time T6 +T Δ1 +ΔT a No GNSS measurement is performed at any time, that is, the second time period is T 6 +T Δ1 ~T 6 +T Δ1 +ΔT a , denoted as Timer2-ue. At this time, it can be considered that the terminal device triggers a timer Timer2-ue with a first duration.

[0191] In a possible design 2, the network device may not send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and timing offset adjustment information to trigger the terminal device to adjust. The network device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance by triggering the terminal device to perform GNSS measurement. Similar to the above design 2, the network device can trigger within the first time period, that is, trigger in advance, or can trigger after the first time period. Different from the above design 2, the third information in design 2 is used to instruct the terminal device to perform GNSS measurement, which will not be elaborated here.

[0192] After the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance within the first time period with a first duration triggered above, in a possible scenario 2, the terminal device can actively trigger to perform GNSS trigger to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance again.

[0193] In this scenario 2, in a possible design 1, at the end of the first time period, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement. That is to say, the terminal device defaults to trigger to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance when the timer ends.

[0194] In this design 1, there are the following situations: The network device does not send the third information within the first time period, so the terminal device does not receive the third information. At this time, the network device can default that the terminal device performs GNSS measurement at the end of the first time period; or, the network device sends the third information within the first time period, but the terminal device does not receive the third information. Therefore, the terminal device can actively trigger to perform GNSS measurement at the end of the first time period. In other words, in some possible situations, it can be replaced by: within the first time period, the terminal device does not receive the third information, so that at the end of the first time period, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement.

[0195] Optionally, after performing GNSS measurement, the terminal device can inform the network device through indication information, so that the network device can trigger the first duration again according to the indication information.

[0196] After the terminal device performs GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, or adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance at the end of the first time period, the adjusted crystal oscillator is in a stable state again, and the timing advance is also in a stable state. Further, the terminal device can trigger the first duration again, and does not perform GNSS measurement within the triggered first duration until the end of the triggered first duration when GNSS measurement is performed. That is to say, the terminal device can continuously repeat triggering the timer according to the above process.

[0197] In a possible design 2, within the third time period, if the terminal device does not receive the third piece of information, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement at the end of the third time period. Herein, the third time period is the first time period plus the first preset duration. That is to say, if the terminal device does not receive the third piece of information from the network device from the start to the end of the first time period, the terminal device can wait for a period of time after the end of the first time period to determine whether it can receive the third piece of information from the network device. If the third piece of information is still not received after waiting for a period of time, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement. After the adjustment, the terminal device can trigger the first duration again. For example, the triggering moment is the moment when the crystal oscillator frequency offset is completed, or the moment when the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance are completed. There is no limitation on this.

[0198] In this design 2, there are still the following situations: The network device does not send the third piece of information within the third time period, so the terminal device does not receive the third piece of information. At this time, the network device defaults that the terminal device performs GNSS measurement at the end of the third time period, or the terminal device notifies the network device that it has performed GNSS measurement at the end of the third time period, so that the network device can trigger the first duration again. Or, the network device sends the third piece of information within the third time period, but the terminal device does not receive the third piece of information. At this time, the terminal device can also notify the network device that it has performed GNSS measurement at the end of the third time period, so that the network device can trigger the first duration again.

[0199] The above two scenarios describe the process of how the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance again after receiving the second piece of information to start the first duration. In a possible scenario 3, after the terminal device starts the first duration according to the second piece of information, it may not refrain from performing GNSS measurement as expected by the network device within the first duration, but performs GNSS measurement within the first duration, which can be considered as ending the first duration in advance. At this time, the terminal device needs to notify the network device that it has performed GNSS measurement within the first duration and restart or re-trigger the first duration.

[0200] Exemplarily, within the first time period, if the terminal device performs GNSS measurement, the terminal device may send the fourth information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the fourth information from the terminal device within the first time period. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period. That is to say, if the terminal device performs GNSS measurement within the first time period, the terminal device needs to inform the network device.

[0201] In a possible implementation, the fourth information may directly indicate whether the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period through 1 bit. For example, a value of 0 indicates that the terminal device has not performed GNSS measurement within the first time period, and a value of 1 indicates that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period.

[0202] In another possible implementation, the fourth information may indirectly indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period. For example, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate the remaining time until the terminal device performs the second GNSS measurement. That is to say, the fourth information indicates the remaining time until the next GNSS measurement. If the terminal device has not performed GNSS measurement within the first time period, the remaining time is equal to the second interval duration. If the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period, the remaining time is less than the second interval duration. Thus, the network device compares the remaining time indicated by the fourth information with the second interval duration to determine whether the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period.

[0203] Furthermore, after the terminal device performs GNSS measurement within the first time period, it is necessary to re-trigger the first duration. Correspondingly, after receiving the fourth information, the network device also needs to re-trigger the first duration. In a possible implementation, within the fourth time period with a duration of the first duration, the terminal device determines not to perform GNSS measurement, and the network device determines not to detect the uplink signal. Similarly, for the terminal device, the start time of the fourth time period is the time when the fourth information is sent plus the first preset duration; for the network device, the start time of the fourth time period is the time when the fourth information is received plus the second preset duration.

[0204] For the above-mentioned scenario 2, in a possible design solution 2, the second piece of information can also be used to instruct the expected terminal device not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the second time period, that is, the second piece of information is used to instruct the expected terminal device not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within the first time period, and to instruct the expected terminal device not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the second time period. The first time period is determined according to the first indication information, and the second time period is determined according to the second indication information. That is to say, the network device configures two time periods, namely the first time period and the second time period, for the terminal device. The relevant description of the first time period can refer to the relevant description of the effective time period of the crystal oscillator frequency offset above, and the relevant description of the second time period can refer to the effective time period of the timing advance above, which will not be elaborated here. In the embodiments of this application, the network device can configure the two time periods in the form of timers. For example, timer 1 corresponds to the first time period, and timer 2 corresponds to the second time period. It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, the trigger moments of the first time period and the second time period are the same.

[0205] After receiving the second piece of information, the terminal device can trigger the first time period and the second time period, and does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within the first time period, and does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the second time period. Correspondingly, after sending the second piece of information, the network device does not perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal within the first time period, and does not perform time offset detection on the uplink signal within the second time period. Among them, for the terminal device, the start time of the first time period and the start time of the second time period are the time of sending the second piece of information plus the second preset time period. For the network device, the start time of the first time period and the start time of the second time period are the time of receiving the second piece of information plus the first preset time period. In addition, the relevant descriptions of the first preset time period and the second preset time period can refer to the relevant descriptions in design solution 1 in the above scenarios 1 and 2, which will not be elaborated here.

[0206] That is to say, for the network device, the trigger moments of the first time period and the second time period are the time of sending the second piece of information plus the second preset time period. The network device does not need to detect the frequency offset to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within the first time period, and does not need to detect the time offset to instruct the terminal device to adjust the timing advance within the second time period, which can reduce the complexity of the network receiving the uplink signal; for the terminal device, the trigger moments of the first time period and the second time period are the time of receiving the second piece of information plus the first preset time period. The terminal device does not need to perform GNSS measurement within the first time period and the second time period, which can reduce GNSS measurement and reduce energy consumption.

[0207] During the first time period, when the terminal device sends an uplink signal, it can use the Doppler frequency offset obtained from the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated based on the measured downlink frequency offset and the first GNSS measurement to perform uplink frequency synchronization; during the second time period, when the terminal device sends an uplink signal, it can use the timing advance adjusted by the first GNSS measurement to perform uplink time synchronization. It should be understood that during the time period when the first time period and the second time period overlap, when the terminal device sends an uplink signal, it can use the Doppler frequency offset obtained from the crystal oscillator frequency offset calculated based on the measured downlink frequency offset and the first GNSS measurement to perform uplink frequency synchronization, and use the timing advance adjusted by the first GNSS measurement to perform uplink time synchronization, that is, uplink time-frequency synchronization.

[0208] After the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset during the first time period with a first duration and does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance during the second time period with a second duration, there are still the three scenarios described in Design Scheme 1 of the above Scenario 1 and Scenario 2. However, in Design Scheme 2 of Scenario 2, since the first duration and the second duration may not be equal, there is a situation where one timer finishes timing and executes GNSS measurement first, but the other timer has not finished timing yet. To reduce the number of GNSS measurements, if the amount to be adjusted corresponding to the timer that has not finished timing changes too much, the terminal device can execute GNSS measurement after the timer that finishes timing first ends timing or adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance simultaneously according to the adjustment instruction of the network device. Or, when a certain timer among the two timers ends first, it is default that the terminal device executes GNSS measurement or adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance simultaneously according to the adjustment instruction of the network device.

[0209] The following separately describes the above three scenarios for the two cases where the first duration is less than the second duration and the first duration is greater than or equal to the second duration.

[0210] I. In the case where the first duration is less than the second duration, that is, the second duration is greater than the first duration:

[0211] In a possible Scenario 1, the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance again according to the trigger of the network device.

[0212] Similar to Design Scheme 1 of the above Scenario 1 and Scenario 2, in a possible Design 1, the network device can send frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to re-adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance without performing GNSS measurement.

[0213] In Design 1, in a possible implementation 1, before the end of the first time period, the network device can detect the frequency offset and timing offset of the uplink signal in advance and send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and timing offset adjustment information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can trigger the adjustment of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance in advance before the end of the first time period without performing GNSS measurements.

[0214] Exemplarily, within the first time period, the network device can send the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, within the first time period, the terminal device can receive the third information from the network device. The third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. The third information may include a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter, and the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter can be obtained by the network device detecting the frequency offset and timing offset of the uplink signal within the first time period. Thus, the terminal device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance before the end of the first time period according to the third information without performing GNSS measurement adjustment.

[0215] In a possible implementation 2, after the end of the first time period, the network device can send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and timing offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to re-adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance without performing GNSS measurements.

[0216] Exemplarily, within the second preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, the network device can send the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, within the first preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, the terminal device can receive the third information from the network device. The specific description of the third information can refer to the relevant description in the above implementation 2 and will not be elaborated here.

[0217] For the above Implementations 1 and 2, after the adjustment is completed, further, the network device and the terminal device can trigger the first duration and the second duration again synchronously. Exemplarily, within the fifth time period with a duration of the first duration, the network device can determine not to detect the frequency offset of the uplink signal, and within the sixth time period with a duration of the second duration, the network device can determine not to detect the time-frequency offset of the uplink signal. Correspondingly, within the fifth time period with a duration of the first duration, the terminal device can determine not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and within the sixth time period with a duration of the second duration, the terminal device can determine not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. For the network device side, the start times of the fifth time period and the sixth time period are the time of sending the third information plus the second preset duration, and for the terminal device, the start times of the fifth time period and the sixth time period are the time of receiving the third information plus the first preset duration.

[0218] In a possible Design 2, the network device may also trigger the terminal device to adjust without sending frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and timing offset adjustment information. The network device may trigger the terminal device to perform GNSS measurements to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. Similar to the above Design 1, the network device may trigger during the first time period, i.e., trigger in advance, or may trigger after the first time period. Different from the above Design 1, the third information in Design 2 is used to instruct the terminal device to perform GNSS measurements, which will not be elaborated here.

[0219] In a possible Scenario 2, the terminal device may actively trigger to perform GNSS triggering to readjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance.

[0220] In this Scenario 2, in a possible Design 1, at the end of the first time period, the terminal device may determine to perform GNSS measurements to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance. That is to say, the timing duration for adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset is less than the timing duration for adjusting the timing advance. The terminal device performs GNSS to simultaneously adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance when the timer with a shorter timing duration expires.

[0221] In this Design 1, there are still the following situations: The network device does not send the third information during the first time period, so the terminal device does not receive the third information. At this time, the network device may default that the terminal device performs GNSS measurements at the end of the first time period; or, the network device sends the third information during the first time period, but the terminal device does not receive the third information. Therefore, the terminal device may actively trigger to perform GNSS measurements at the end of the first time period. In other words, in some possible situations, it can be replaced by: During the first time period, the terminal device does not receive the third information, so at the end of the first time period, the terminal device may determine to perform GNSS measurements.

[0222] Optionally, after performing GNSS measurements, the terminal device may inform the network device through indication information, so that the network device can trigger the first duration and the second duration again according to the indication information.

[0223] Furthermore, after performing GNSS measurements, the terminal device may also trigger the first duration and the second duration again. Exemplarily, during a third time period with a duration of the first duration, the terminal device determines not to perform GNSS measurements to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and during a fourth time period with a duration of the second duration, the terminal device determines not to perform GNSS measurements to adjust the timing advance. Among them, the start times of the third time period and the fourth time period may be the time of the last (the most recent) GNSS measurement plus a first preset duration.

[0224] In a possible Design 2, if the terminal device does not receive the third information from the network device from the start to the end of the first time period, the terminal device can also wait for a period of time after the end of the first time period to determine whether it can receive the third information from the network device. If the third information is still not received after waiting for a period of time, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement. The specific implementation process can refer to the relevant description of Design 2 in Scenario 2 above, and will not be elaborated here. After adjustment, the terminal device can trigger the first duration and the second duration again. For example, the trigger time is the time when the crystal oscillator frequency offset and timing advance are adjusted, and this is not limited.

[0225] In a possible Scenario 3, if the terminal device performs GNSS measurement within the first time period, the terminal device can send the fourth information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the fourth information from the terminal device within the first time period. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period. The specific description of the fourth information can refer to the relevant description of the fourth information in Design 1 of Scenarios 1 and 2 above, and will not be elaborated here. That is, if the terminal device performs GNSS measurement within the first time period, the terminal device needs to inform the network device.

[0226] Further, after the terminal device performs GNSS measurement, it needs to trigger the first duration and the second duration again. Correspondingly, after receiving the fourth information, the network device also needs to trigger the first duration and the second duration again. Exemplarily, within the seventh time period with a duration of the first duration, the terminal device can determine not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset, and within the eighth time period with a duration of the second duration, the terminal device can determine not to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance. The start times of the seventh time period and the eighth time period are the time when the fourth information is sent plus the first preset duration.

[0227] Correspondingly, within the seventh time period with a duration of the first duration, the network device can determine not to perform frequency offset detection on the uplink signal, and within the eighth time period with a duration of the second duration, the network device can determine not to perform time offset detection on the uplink signal. The start times of the seventh time period and the eighth time period are the time when the fourth information is sent plus the first preset duration.

[0228] It should be understood that the specific implementation processes in the three scenarios of Design 2 in Scenario 2 can all refer to the specific implementation processes in the three scenarios of Design 1 in Scenarios 1 and 2, and will not be elaborated here. The difference from them is that it is necessary to judge the magnitudes of the two durations, perform relevant actions within the short duration, and trigger the two durations simultaneously to reduce the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurement.

[0229] II. When the first duration is greater than or equal to the second duration, that is, the second duration is less than or equal to the first duration:

[0230] In this case, there are still the above three scenarios. The difference from the case where the first duration is less than the second duration is that relevant actions are performed based on the second time period as the judgment criterion, as follows:

[0231] In Design 1 of one possible Scenario 1 above, in one possible implementation 1, before the end of the second time period, the network device can detect the frequency offset and time offset of the uplink signal in advance and send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can trigger the adjustment of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance in advance before the end of the second time period without performing GNSS measurement. Exemplarily, within the second time period, the network device can send the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, within the second time period, the terminal device can receive the third information from the network device. Among them, the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance. The third information may include the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter, and the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter can be obtained by the network device detecting the frequency offset and time offset of the uplink signal within the second time period.

[0232] In one possible implementation 2, after the end of the second time period, the network device can send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to re-adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance without performing GNSS measurement. Exemplarily, within the second preset duration starting from the end of the second time period, the network device can send the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, within the first preset duration starting from the end of the second time period, the terminal device can receive the third information from the network device.

[0233] In Design 2 of one possible Scenario 1 above, the network device can also not send frequency offset adjustment information or frequency offset and time offset adjustment information to trigger the terminal device to adjust. The network device can adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance by triggering the terminal device to perform GNSS measurement. Similar to the above Design 1, the network device can trigger within the second time period, that is, trigger in advance, or trigger after the second time period. Different from the above Design 1, the third information in Design 2 is used to instruct the terminal device to perform GNSS measurement, which will not be elaborated here.

[0234] In Design 1 of one possible Scenario 2 above, at the end moment of the second time period, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance.

[0235] In Design 2 of the above possible Scenario 2, if the terminal device does not receive the third information from the network device from the start to the end of the second time period, the terminal device can also wait for a period of time after the end of the second time period to determine whether it can receive the third information from the network device. If the third information is still not received after waiting for a period of time, the terminal device can determine to perform GNSS measurement.

[0236] In the above possible Scenario 3, if the terminal device performs GNSS measurement during the second time period, the terminal device can send the fourth information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the fourth information from the terminal device during the second time period. The fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement during the second time period. For the specific description of the fourth information, reference can be made to the relevant description of the fourth information in Design 1 of the above Scenario 1 and Scenario 2, which will not be elaborated here. That is to say, if the terminal device performs GNSS measurement during the second time period, the terminal device needs to inform the network device.

[0237] It should be understood that in the case where the first duration is greater than or equal to the second duration, the specific implementation processes of the network device and the terminal device in various scenarios can refer to the relevant descriptions where the first duration is less than the second duration, which will not be elaborated here.

[0238] In Design 2 of the above Scenario 2, the network device configures two timing durations (the first duration and the second duration) for the terminal device according to the first information to instruct the terminal device to trigger the two timing durations and not perform GNSS measurement within the timing durations, which can reduce the frequency of the terminal device performing GNSS measurement, thereby reducing energy consumption.

[0239] Figure 2 For the shown communication method, the network device configures the timing duration, such as the first duration or the first duration and the second duration, for the terminal device according to the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset indicated by the first information reported by the terminal device or the effective durations of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, so that the terminal device can still maintain the uplink frequency or uplink time-frequency synchronization without performing GNSS measurement within the configured timing duration, which can reduce the number of times the terminal device performs GNSS measurement, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the terminal device. Moreover, the network device can also not perform frequency offset or time-frequency offset detection within the timing duration to give the terminal device a closed-loop adjustment instruction, reducing the frequency of the network device detecting the uplink signal frequency offset and reducing the signaling overhead.

[0240] In each of the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the network device may also be implemented by components applicable to the network device (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, a logic module, or software); the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device may also be implemented by components applicable to the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, a logic module, or software).

[0241] The above mainly introduces the solutions provided in this application. Correspondingly, this application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement various methods in the above method embodiments. The communication device may be the network device in the above method embodiments, or a device including the network device, or a component applicable to the network device, such as a chip or a chip system. Or, the communication device may be the terminal device in the above method embodiments, or a device including the terminal device, or a component applicable to the terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system.

[0242] In some embodiments, in order to implement the above functions, the communication device includes corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, combining the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0243] The embodiments of this application can divide the communication device into functional modules according to the above method embodiments. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of this application is illustrative, only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0244] Taking the communication device as the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiments as an example, Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of this application. As Figure 3 shown, the communication device 300 includes: a processing module 301 and a transceiver module 302. Among them, the processing module 301 is used to execute the processing functions of the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 302 is used to execute the transceiver functions of the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0245] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the function descriptions of the corresponding functional modules, and will not be elaborated here.

[0246] Since the communication device 300 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects it can obtain can refer to the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated here.

[0247] In a possible design solution, in the embodiments of the present application, the transceiver module 302 may include a receiving module and a transmitting module ( Figure 3 not shown in the figure). Among them, the transmitting module and the receiving module are respectively used to implement the transmitting function and the receiving function of the communication device 300.

[0248] In a possible design solution, the communication device 300 may further include a storage module ( Figure 3 not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 301 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 300 can execute Figure 2 the functions of the network device or the terminal device in the method shown in the figure.

[0249] In some embodiments, the processing module 301 involved in the communication device 300 may be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components, and may be a processor or a processing unit; the transceiver module 302 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components, and may be a transceiver or a transceiver unit.

[0250] Exemplarily, Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application. The communication device may be a network device or a terminal device, or may be a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be disposed in the network device or the terminal device. As Figure 4 shown, the communication device 400 may include a processor 401. In a possible design solution, the communication device 400 may further include a memory 402 and / or a transceiver 403. Among them, the processor 401 is coupled to the memory 402 and the transceiver 403, and may be connected through a communication bus, for example.

[0251] Next, in combination with Figure 4 specific introductions will be made to the respective components of the communication device 400:

[0252] Among them, the processor 401 is the control center of the communication device 400, which can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 401 includes one or more central processing units (CPUs), and can also be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application. For example: one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0253] In a possible design solution, the processor 401 can execute various functions of the communication device 400 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 402 and calling data stored in the memory 402.

[0254] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 401 may include one or more CPUs, such as Figure 4 the CPU0 and CPU1 shown in

[0255] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 400 may also include multiple processors, such as Figure 4 the processor 401 and the processor 404 shown in

[0256] Each of these processors can be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. Here, the processor can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0257] In a possible design, the memory 402 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or may also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 402 may be integrated with the processor 401 or may exist independently and be coupled to the processor 401 through the interface circuit of the communication device 400 ( Figure 4 not shown in the figure), and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations thereto.

[0258] The transceiver 403 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if the communication device 400 is a terminal device, the transceiver 403 may be used for communication with an access network device or with another terminal device. Another example is that if the communication device 400 is a network device, the transceiver 403 may be used for communication with a terminal device or with another network device.

[0259] In a possible design, the transceiver 403 may include a receiver and a transmitter ( Figure 4 not shown separately). Among them, the receiver is used to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0260] In a possible design, the transceiver 403 may be integrated with the processor 401 or may exist independently and be coupled to the processor 401 through the interface circuit of the communication device 400 ( Figure 4 not shown in the figure), and the embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations thereto.

[0261] It should be noted that Figure 4 the structure of the communication device 400 shown in the figure does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. The actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different component layout.

[0262] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 400 may refer to the technical effects of the method described in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated here.

[0263] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program or instruction is stored, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the functions of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0264] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, and when the computer program product is executed by a computer, the functions of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0265] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired manner (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or a wireless manner (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more media integrated therein. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0266] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are executed in a hardware or software manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present application.

[0267] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments and will not be elaborated herein.

[0268] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections of the devices or units can be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0269] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or they can be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0270] In addition, in each embodiment of the present application, the functional units can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0271] If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or an access network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical discs and other various media that can store program codes.

[0272] Although the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize other variations of the disclosed embodiments upon reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the singular "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions recited in the claims. Certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims, but this does not indicate that these measures cannot be combined to produce favorable results.

[0273] Although the present application has been described in connection with specific features and their embodiments, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the present application as defined by the appended claims, and are considered to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these changes and modifications.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, comprising: sending first information to a network device, the first information including first indication information for indicating an interval duration between a terminal device performing a first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement to adjust a crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset; receiving second information from the network device, the second information being used to indicate that it is desired that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within a first duration, the first duration being determined according to the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the first information further includes second indication information for indicating an interval duration between the terminal device performing the first GNSS measurement to adjust a timing advance and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance, and the second information is further used to indicate that it is desired that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the first duration.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, the first duration is the minimum value of the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance, the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset is determined according to the first indication information, and the effective duration of the timing advance is determined according to the second indication information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 3, characterized in that, the method further comprises: within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform GNSS measurement, the starting time of the first time period being the time of receiving the second information plus a first preset duration.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, the method further comprises: within a first preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, receiving third information from the network device, the third information being used to indicate that the terminal device adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, the third information including a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter; within a second time period with a duration of the first duration, determining not to perform GNSS measurement, the starting time of the second time period being the time of receiving the third information plus a first preset duration.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, the method further comprises: at the end of the first time period, determining to perform GNSS measurement.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, the determining to perform GNSS measurement at the end of the first time period includes: within the first time period, not receiving third information for indicating that the terminal device adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset or adjusts the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, the third information including a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter; at the end of the first time period, determining to perform GNSS measurement.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, the method further comprises: During a third time period, no third information is received, where the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, the third information includes a crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and a timing advance adjustment parameter, and the third time period is the first time period plus a first preset duration; At the end moment of the third time period, it is determined to perform GNSS measurement.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, the method further includes: During a first time period with a duration of the first duration, send fourth information to the network device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement during the first time period, and the start time of the first time period is the moment of receiving the second information plus a first preset duration; During a fourth time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform GNSS measurement, and the start time of the fourth time period is the moment of sending the fourth information plus a first preset duration.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, the fourth information is specifically used to indicate the remaining time for the terminal device to perform the second GNSS measurement.

11. A communication method, characterized in that, the method includes: Receive first information from a terminal device, where the first information includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing a first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and performing a second GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset; Send second information to the terminal device, where the second information is used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset within a first duration, and the first duration is determined according to the first information.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, the first information further includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate the interval duration between the terminal device performing the first GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance and performing the second GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance, and the second information is further used to indicate that it is expected that the terminal device does not perform GNSS measurement to adjust the timing advance within the first duration.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, the first duration is the minimum of the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the effective duration of the timing advance, the effective duration of the crystal oscillator frequency offset is determined according to the first indication information, and the effective duration of the timing advance is determined according to the second indication information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11-13, characterized in that, the method further includes: During a first time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal, and the start time of the first time period is the moment of sending the second information plus a second preset duration.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, the method further includes: Within a second preset duration starting from the end of the first time period, a third piece of information is sent to the terminal device, where the third piece of information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, and the third piece of information includes the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter; Within a second time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal, and the start time of the second time period is the time when the third piece of information is sent plus the second preset duration.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the method further includes: Within a third time period, it is determined not to send the third piece of information to the terminal device, where the third piece of information is used to instruct the terminal device to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset or to adjust the crystal oscillator frequency offset and the timing advance, and the third piece of information includes the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter or the crystal oscillator frequency offset adjustment parameter and the timing advance adjustment parameter, and the third time period is the first time period plus the second preset duration.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 - 13, wherein, the method further includes: Within a first time period with a duration of the first duration, a fourth piece of information is received from the terminal device, where the fourth piece of information is used to indicate that the terminal device has performed GNSS measurement within the first time period, and the start time of the first time period is the time when the second piece of information is sent plus the second preset duration; Within a fourth time period with a duration of the first duration, it is determined not to perform frequency offset detection or frequency offset and time offset detection on the uplink signal, and the start time of the fourth time period is the time when the fourth piece of information is received plus the second preset duration.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, the fourth piece of information is specifically used to indicate the remaining time for the terminal device to perform the second GNSS measurement.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 18, wherein, the first piece of information is carried and sent in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) establishment request message or an RRC connection establishment complete message.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 - 19, wherein, the interval duration between adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing the first GNSS measurement and adjusting the crystal oscillator frequency offset by performing the second GNSS measurement is related to the temperature.

21. A communication device, wherein, it includes a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 - 10, 19 - 20 or 11 - 20.

22. A communication device, wherein, it includes: a processor; The processor is used to run a computer program or instruction so that the method according to any one of claims 1 - 10, 19 - 20 or 11 - 20 is implemented.

23. A communication chip, wherein, instructions are stored therein, and when the chip runs on a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 - 10, 19 - 20 or 11 - 20 is implemented.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, the storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method described in any one of claims 1-10, 19-20 or 11-20 is implemented.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that, it includes computer program code, and when the computer program code runs on a communication device, the communication device implements the method described in any one of claims 1-10, 19-20 or 11-20.

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