Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The communication method comprises: a terminal device receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information being used for indicating adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block SSB; the terminal equipment selects a first SSB for random access, wherein the first SSB is included in at least one SSB; and the terminal equipment sends a random access preamble to the network equipment at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, and the second SSB is determined according to the indication information and the first SSB. By adjusting the RO for sending the random access preamble, the random access failure caused by the fact that the random access preamble sent by the RO associated with the SSB for random access cannot be received by the network equipment is avoided.

Description

Communication method and communication device Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] Random access is the process by which a terminal device accesses a network. The random access process is the process from when the terminal device sends a random access preamble to attempt to access the network until a basic signaling connection is established with the network.

[0003] Currently, during the random access process, a terminal device may select a RO to send a preamble based on a selected synchronization signal block (Synchronization Signal and PBCH block, SSB) and a mapping relationship between the SSB and a random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO).

[0004] If beam squint occurs on the network device side, the terminal device may still select the RO corresponding to the random access SSB to send the preamble, which may cause the network device to fail to receive the preamble, resulting in the terminal device being unable to achieve random access. Therefore, how to achieve random access for terminal devices in the presence of beam squint becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication method to enable random access of a terminal device when the transmitting beam of an SSB and the receiving beam corresponding to an RO associated with the SSB point in different directions on the network device side.

[0007] In the first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a component of the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit). There is no limitation on this. For the sake of ease of description, the following is explained using the execution by the terminal device as an example.

[0008] The communication method includes: a terminal device receives indication information from a network device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB); the terminal device selects a first SSB for random access, wherein the first SSB is included in the at least one SSB; the terminal device sends a random access preamble code to the network device at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, wherein the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB.

[0009] The first SSB selected by the terminal device for random access can be understood as an SSB selected by the terminal device from multiple SSBs sent by the network device. Specifically, the terminal device can determine the first SSB for random access from multiple SSBs based on channel quality.

[0010] Based on the above technical solution, the terminal device does not send the random access preamble code to the RO associated with the first SSB used for random access, but sends the random access preamble code to the RO associated with the second SSB, and the second SSB is determined according to the first SSB and the indication information issued by the network device, so that the network device can receive the random access preamble code sent by the terminal device to the RO associated with the second SSB. It can be understood that in this technical solution, when determining the RO to send the random access preamble code, the terminal device no longer only considers the SSB used for random access, but also considers the indication information issued by the network device. The purpose of the network device issuing the indication information is to enable the terminal device to adjust the RO to send the random access preamble code, to avoid the terminal device determining the RO to send the random access preamble code only according to the SSB used for random access, and to send the random access preamble code, which causes the network device to be unable to receive the random access preamble code sent by the terminal device.

[0011] For example, when beam squint occurs on the network device side (for example, the transmitting beam of the first SSB sent by the network device and the receiving beam corresponding to the RO associated with the first SSB point in different directions), the network device sends an indication message so that the terminal device does not send the random access preamble code to the RO associated with the first SSB, but adjusts the RO that sends the random access preamble code, so that when beam squint occurs, the network device can still receive the random access preamble code sent by the terminal device.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: determining the random access timing RO corresponding to the second SSB based on the second SSB and system information, the system information indicating the relationship between the candidate synchronization signal block SSB and the candidate RO, and the candidate SSB includes the second SSB.

[0013] On the second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a network device, or it can also be executed by a component of the network device (such as a chip or circuit). There is no limitation on this. For the sake of ease of description, the following is explained using the example of execution by a network device.

[0014] The communication method includes: a network device sends indication information to a terminal device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB), and the at least one SSB includes a first SSB; the network device receives a random access preamble from the terminal device, wherein the random access preamble is sent at a random access opportunity (RO) associated with a second SSB, and the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB, and the first SSB is used for random access.

[0015] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which is used to execute the method provided in the first aspect.

[0016] The device includes: a receiving unit for receiving indication information from a network device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB); a processing unit for selecting a first SSB for random access, wherein the first SSB is included in the at least one SSB; and a sending unit for sending a random access preamble code to the network device at a random access opportunity (RO) associated with a second SSB, wherein the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB.

[0017] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is used to execute the method provided in the second aspect.

[0018] The communication device includes: a sending unit for sending indication information to a terminal device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block SSB, and the at least one SSB includes a first SSB; a receiving unit for receiving a random access preamble code from the terminal device, wherein the random access preamble code is sent at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, and the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB, and the first SSB is used for random access.

[0019] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the indication information is used to indicate the index correction value of each SSB among the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, wherein the first SSB is one of the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, and the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB.

[0020] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can instruct the terminal device how to determine the index of the second SSB based on the index of the first SSB used for random access by indicating the index correction value corresponding to each SSB. This technical solution is applicable to multiple terminal devices served by the network device. The network device can broadcast the indication information, and each of the multiple terminal devices served by the network device can independently determine the second SSB based on the selected first SSB for random access and the indication information. This solution can simplify the operation of the network device.

[0021] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB, including: the relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource is used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index correction value of the first SSB as the index of the second SSB, wherein the PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

[0022] Based on the above technical solution, the degree of beam squint is related to the frequency, so in the process of determining the index of the second SSB, the relationship between the frequency of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is taken into consideration, which can improve the accuracy of the solution.

[0023] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the indication information indicates the index correction value of the SSB whose index satisfies the first condition, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the index is greater than the first threshold, the index is less than the second threshold, or the absolute value of the difference between the index and the index of the reference SSB is greater than the third threshold; the reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

[0024] Based on the above technical solution, the indication information can indicate the index correction value of the SSB whose index meets certain conditions, for example, it can indicate the index correction value of the SSB whose index is within a certain range. That is to say, the index correction value corresponding to each SSB indicated by the indication information can be the index correction value of the SSB whose index meets certain conditions, and the index correction value of the SSB whose index does not meet the condition can be understood as 0, which can save the signaling overhead of the indication information to a certain extent.

[0025] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the indication information further indicates at least one SSB group, and the two SSBs included in the SSB group are associated SSBs.

[0026] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the index correction value of any one of the multiple SSBs satisfies the following conditions: the index of any one of the SSBs and the value determined by the index correction value are less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

[0027] Based on the above technical solution, in the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the index of the first SSB and the index correction value of the first SSB, it should be noted that the value determined by the index of the first SSB and the index correction value of the first SSB should not exceed the boundary of the index values ​​in the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, so as to avoid the terminal device being unable to determine the second SSB.

[0028] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the indication information is used to indicate the difference corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency differences, wherein the frequency difference is the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

[0029] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can indicate the difference values ​​corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency difference conditions. That is, the terminal device that selects the first SSB as the SSB for random access can determine the index of the second SSB based on the indication information. Compared with indicating the index correction value corresponding to each SSB, the signaling overhead of the indication information can be saved.

[0030] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the positive and negative values ​​of the frequency difference and the size relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as the difference between the index of the first SSB plus or minus the frequency difference, wherein the reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

[0031] Based on the above technical solution, the degree of beam squint is related to the direction of the reference beam, so considering the direction of the reference beam in the process of determining the index of the second SSB can improve the accuracy of the solution.

[0032] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the indication information is used to indicate the index difference between the index of the second SSB and the index of the first SSB.

[0033] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can directly instruct the terminal device to determine the second SSB based on the index difference between the indexes of the first SSB and the second SSB by indicating the index difference between the indexes of the first SSB and the second SSB, thereby improving the accuracy of the solution.

[0034] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the size relationship between the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource, and the size relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index difference as the index of the second SSB, wherein the reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

[0035] In combination with the first to fourth aspects, in certain implementations of the first to fourth aspects, the indication information includes a system information block SIB or OSI.

[0036] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a processor for executing the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0037] For the operations such as sending and measuring / receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or if they do not conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be understood as processor output and reception, input and other operations, and can also be understood as sending and receiving operations performed by the RF circuit and antenna. This application does not limit this.

[0038] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores program code for execution by a device, and the program code includes code for executing the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0039] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0040] In an eighth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor reads instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface and executes the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0041] Optionally, as an implementation method, the chip also includes a memory, in which a computer program or instruction is stored, and the processor is used to execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the processor is used to execute the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0042] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising the communication device described in the third aspect and the communication device described in the fourth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable.

[0044] FIG2 is a schematic flow chart of a four-step random access process.

[0045] FIG3 is a schematic flow chart of a two-step random access process.

[0046] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of achieving beam gain.

[0047] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of beam non-reciprocity.

[0048] FIG6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0049] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an indication information indicating adjustment of RO provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0050] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another type of indication information indicating adjustment of RO provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0051] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of yet another type of indication information indicating adjustment of RO provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] FIG10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 10 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 20 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0056] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), etc. The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication system. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication system or other communication systems.

[0057] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is first described in detail using the communication system shown in FIG1 as an example. FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. As shown in FIG1 , the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in FIG1 ; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 shown in FIG1 . The network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may communicate via a wireless link. Each communication device, such as the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, may be configured with multiple antennas. For each communication device in the communication system 100, the configured multiple antennas may include at least one transmitting antenna for sending signals and at least one receiving antenna for receiving signals. Therefore, communication between the communication devices in the communication system 100, such as the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, may be achieved through multi-antenna technology.

[0058] As an example and not a limitation, the network device and the terminal device in the scenario shown in Figure 1 can communicate in a variety of ways, such as communication between the network device and the terminal device through a point-to-point transmission method, communication between the network device and the terminal device through a multi-hop (or relay) transmission method, communication between multiple network devices and terminal devices through dual connectivity (DC) or multi-connection transmission methods, etc. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not impose any limitations on the communication method between the network device and the terminal device. For example, the transmission between the network device and the terminal device can be uplink, downlink, access link, backhaul link or sidelink, etc.

[0059] The terminal equipment in the embodiments of the present application may refer to an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a relay station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a user equipment (UE), a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. The terminal equipment may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0060] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, wearable devices may also be referred to as wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0061] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an IoT system. IoT is an important component of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network that interconnects humans and machines and things. In the embodiments of the present application, IoT technology can achieve massive connections, deep coverage, and terminal power saving through, for example, narrowband (NB) technology.

[0062] The network device in the embodiment of the present application can be any device with wireless transceiver capabilities for communicating with a terminal device. The device includes but is not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home evolved NodeB (HeNB, or home Node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It can also be a gNB in ​​a 5G system, such as NR, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0063] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some gNB functions, while the DU implements some gNB functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. Because RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and the AAU. It is understood that a network device can be a device that includes one or more of a CU node, a DU node, or an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be classified as a network device in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be classified as a network device in a core network (core network, CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or network device that can call and execute a program.

[0065] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0066] It should be understood that Figure 1 takes the communication between a network device and a terminal device as an example to simply illustrate a communication scenario to which the present application can be applied, and does not impose any restrictions on other scenarios to which the present application can be applied.

[0067] It should also be understood that FIG1 is merely a simplified schematic diagram for ease of understanding, and the communication system may further include other network devices or other terminal devices, which are not shown in FIG1 .

[0068] For example, the communication system may also include core network equipment for managing terminal equipment and network equipment configuration, such as access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, etc.

[0069] FIG1 is a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, some terms or concepts that may be involved in the embodiment of the present application are first briefly described.

[0070] 1. Random access process.

[0071] The random access process refers to the process from when the terminal device sends a random access preamble to try to access the network to when a basic signaling connection is established with the network.

[0072] It should be noted that before selecting a random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) to send a preamble, the terminal device needs to select an uplink carrier. For example, when a supplementary uplink (SUL) or normal uplink (NUL) is configured, the terminal device can choose to operate on the SUL or NUL.

[0073] After selecting an uplink carrier, the terminal device (e.g., a terminal device in an RRC connected state) may need to perform a partial bandwidth (BWP) selection operation. For example, when the active uplink BWP of the terminal device is not configured with an RO, the terminal device needs to switch the active uplink BWP to the initial uplink BWP.

[0074] After selecting the uplink carrier or BWP operation, the terminal device needs to select the random access (RA) type, which can be understood as the terminal device needs to choose whether to perform two-step random access (as shown in Figure 3 below, two-step random access is performed, which can also be called non-contention access) or four-step random access (as shown in Figure 2 below, four-step random access is performed, which can also be called contention access).

[0075] Furthermore, after determining the RA type, the terminal device needs to select RACH resources: the terminal device can select the RO to send the preamble based on the selected synchronization signal block (Synchronization Signal and PBCH block, SSB) and the mapping relationship between the SSB and the RO; or, the terminal device can select the preamble to send based on the selected SSB and the mapping relationship between the SSB and the preamble.

[0076] For example, one SSB may correspond to multiple ROs, or multiple SSBs may be mapped to one RO; for another example, one SSB may correspond to one or more preambles, and different SSBs may use different preambles.

[0077] Currently, random access is mainly divided into two categories: one is four-step random access and the other is two-step random access. For ease of understanding, the four-step random access process and the two-step random access process are respectively described in conjunction with Figures 2 and 3.

[0078] FIG2 is a schematic flow chart of a four-step random access process.

[0079] As can be seen from Figure 2, the four-step random access process may include the following steps:

[0080] S210, the terminal device sends a random access preamble code to the network device.

[0081] Exemplarily, the terminal device sends a random access preamble code to the network device on a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource and at a determined RO.

[0082] After receiving the random access preamble sent by the terminal device, the network device sends a random access response (RAR) to the terminal device based on the random access preamble. The random access process shown in Figure 2 also includes:

[0083] S220: The network device sends the RAR to the terminal device.

[0084] For example, the RAR sent by the network device to the terminal device includes indication information of uplink resources for sending message 3 (Msg3). It can be understood that after receiving the RAR, the terminal device can obtain the uplink resources for sending Msg3.

[0085] After receiving the RAR, the terminal device sends Msg3 based on the RAR. The random access process shown in Figure 2 also includes:

[0086] S230, the terminal device sends Msg3 to the network device.

[0087] Exemplarily, Msg3 may include layer 2 (L2) information and / or layer 3 (L3) information, for example, an RRC connection establishment request message; for example, a beam failure recovery (BFR) MAC control element (CE).

[0088] When the contention resolution of the terminal device is successful, the network device sends a contention resolution message to the terminal device. The random access process shown in FIG2 further includes:

[0089] S240: The network device sends a contention resolution message to the terminal device.

[0090] Exemplarily, the contention resolution message includes an identifier (ID) of the terminal device, wherein the contention resolution message may also be referred to as message 4 (Msg4). When it is determined from Msg3 that the random access is contention-based random access, information of the terminal devices that need to contend is stored, and when resolving contention through Msg4, contention resolution is performed on these competing terminal devices.

[0091] It should be noted that the above-mentioned Figure 2 in this application is only a schematic diagram provided for the convenience of explaining the four-step random access process, and does not constitute any limitation on the scope of protection of this application. For a specific description of the four-step random access process, please refer to the introduction in the current relevant technology.

[0092] FIG3 is a schematic flow chart of a two-step random access process.

[0093] As can be seen from FIG3 , the two-step random access process may include the following steps:

[0094] S310, the terminal device sends message A (message A, MsgA) to the network device.

[0095] The MsgA includes a preamble part and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) part. The preamble part is sent on the PRACH resource, and the PUSCH resource can carry L2 or L3 information, such as BFR MAC CE or RRC connection establishment request message.

[0096] After receiving the message A sent by the terminal device, the network device sends a RAR to the terminal device based on the message A. The random access process shown in FIG3 further includes:

[0097] S320, the network device sends message B (message B, MsgB) to the terminal device.

[0098] The MsgB message may contain a success RAR or a fallback RAR.

[0099] When the terminal device receives the fallback RAR, the terminal device needs to fall back to the four-step random access process, that is, send Msg3.

[0100] 2. Beam squint: Beam squint is a phenomenon in which broadband signal energy is not focused within the frequency band when a large-scale antenna array uses phase shifters to achieve beam steering. Specifically, if you want the signal energy sent by multiple antennas to be focused in a certain direction, you can achieve this by setting a certain phase compensation through the phase shifter. However, such phase compensation can only be applied to one frequency (usually the carrier center frequency), so that its signal energy is superimposed in the set direction. For signals other than this frequency, the direction of energy superposition is not the set direction, but has a certain offset. This phenomenon is called beam squint. Beam squint causes signals of different frequency components to converge in different directions.

[0101] 3. SSB: Consists of the Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS), and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). The PSS and SSS allow the UE to obtain timing information, frequency offset information, and cell ID. The PBCH allows the UE to obtain the radio frame number, align with the air interface, and schedule information for System Information Block 1 (SIB1).

[0102] 4. Beam gain: To overcome the severe propagation loss in high-frequency communications, communication systems are usually equipped with highly integrated large-scale antenna arrays to provide beam gain. For example, by adjusting the phase of different array elements, the transmitted electromagnetic waves can achieve energy superposition in a certain direction in space.

[0103] For ease of understanding, FIG4 is used to illustrate how to achieve beam gain by adjusting the phases of different array elements.

[0104] As can be seen from Figure 4, assuming that a departure angle of The plane wave of the antenna array is da , so the distance difference between adjacent array elements reaching the wave plane is The phase difference is:

[0105]

[0106] Here, c represents the speed of light, f is the frequency of the signal, and λ is the corresponding wavelength.

[0107] 5. Beam gain of narrowband signals: For narrowband signals, the frequency of the transmitted signal can be considered to be the carrier frequency, that is, f = f in the above formula 1-1 c When a phase shifter is used to reversely compensate the phase of the antenna's transmitted signal according to Δθ, all signals can be made to have the same phase when they arrive at the wave plane, thereby achieving the purpose of energy superposition.

[0108] 6. Beam gain of broadband signals: In millimeter wave / terahertz communications, due to their low spectral efficiency but abundant spectrum resources, it is usually necessary to transmit large-bandwidth signals to increase communication speed. Let B be the bandwidth of the broadband signal, then the frequency of the transmitted signal is:

[0109]

[0110] If each array element sends a signal with a frequency of f, at the departure angle The phase change in the direction can be expressed as a normalized vector:

[0111]

[0112] Where N is the number of array elements. From the above formula 1-3, it can be seen that the signal sent by each array element is at the departure angle The phase change in the direction is related to the frequency f, and the phase shifter used for compensation is usually considered to have no frequency selective response (compensating the same phase for signals of all frequencies). In actual engineering, phase compensation is often set according to the carrier center frequency to offset the difference between the departure angles of each signal. The phase changes in the direction. Such a normalized phase control coefficient vector is recorded as:

[0113]

[0114] Using a phase shifter, a signal with a frequency of f is shifted at the departure angle The normalized beam gain in the direction can be expressed as:

[0115]

[0116] The value of The maximum is achieved when decreases with the increase of .

[0117] The following conclusions can be drawn:

[0118] (1) When When , for any signal of f, the beam gain can reach the maximum, that is,

[0119] (2) When When f=f c The beam gain of the signal component can reach the maximum. For f≠f c The signal component, f deviates from f c The more, the smaller the beam gain. And, the beam departure angle The closer to ±90°, the greater f≠f c The greater the number of array elements N, the greater the reduction in the gain of the signal component. c The more obvious the signal component gain reduction is.

[0120] Therefore, if a large-scale phased array is used in The beam gain is achieved in the direction of The gain of the component gradually decreases with the increase of B. This results in the frequency bandwidth resource B effective in a specific direction being limited.

[0121] 7. Beam reciprocity: This refers to the fact that two different beams have the same or similar orientations, e.g., the orientation difference is less than a preset threshold, where the preset threshold includes, but is not limited to, 3dB, 4dB, etc. Beam reciprocity as used in this application can be understood as the fact that the beam used by the network device to transmit the SSB and the beam used to receive the preamble have the same or similar orientations.

[0122] 8. Beam Scanning: When a link is established between transceivers, the physical layer transmitter uses SSB as the downlink scanning beam transmission information. The receiver sequentially receives the SSB information transmitted by the transmitter on each receive beam. For N transmit beams and M receive beams, each of the N beams is transmitted M times from the transmitter, so that each transmit beam is received by M receive beams, completing one beam scan cycle. Through beam scanning, the transmitter and receiver establish a suitable beam pair for subsequent data transmission.

[0123] The above briefly introduces the scenarios to which the present application can be applied in combination with Figure 1, and introduces the basic concepts involved in the present application. From the random access process in the above basic concepts, it can be seen that RACH resource selection needs to take into account the SSB and the mapping relationship between SSB and PRACH resources.

[0124] One random access method involves using a beam scanning process to allow the network device to acquire a beam synchronized with the UE and establish communication with the UE using this beam. The network device then groups the SSBs into groups, with different SSBs corresponding to different PRACH resources. Once the UE synchronizes to a specific SSB, it must send a preamble on the PRACH resource and the corresponding RO for random access.

[0125] However, this random access method doesn't account for beam nonreciprocity. In high-frequency millimeter-wave arrays with large, narrow beams, beam squint can occur, leading to beam nonreciprocity. Figure 5 illustrates beam nonreciprocity, showing that the beam used by the network device to transmit SSBs and the beam used to receive RACH information (e.g., preamble) are oriented differently.

[0126] In the case of the aforementioned beam non-reciprocity, the network device cannot receive the RACH information and the UE cannot complete random access.

[0127] In order to avoid the problem that the above-mentioned random access method causes the UE to be unable to complete access, the present application provides a communication method to ensure normal access of the UE in the event of a beam squint phenomenon.

[0128] The embodiments shown below do not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be a terminal device or an access network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or access device that can call and execute the program.

[0129] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are made.

[0130] First, in this application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but it does not mean that the indication information must include A.

[0131] The information indicated by the indication information is referred to as the information to be indicated. During the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. The transmission period and / or transmission timing of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific transmission method is not limited in this application. The transmission period and / or transmission timing of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, according to a protocol, or can be configured by the transmitting device through sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0132] Second, "at least one" shown in the present application refers to one or more, and "a plurality of" refers to two or more. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second" and various digital numbers (for example, "#1", "#2", etc.) are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of each process below does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the objects described in this way can be interchanged where appropriate, so that the schemes other than the embodiments of the present application can be described. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "610", "620" are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the order of execution of steps.

[0133] Third, in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0134] Fourth, the term "storage" used in the embodiments of this application may refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be provided separately or integrated into an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories may also be provided in part separately and in part integrated into a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The memory may be any type of storage medium, and this application is not limited thereto.

[0135] Fifth, the "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, it may include an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems. This application does not limit this.

[0136] Sixth, the term "and / or" in this document simply describes a relationship between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0137] Seventh, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms “of”, “corresponding, relevant”, “corresponding” and “associate” can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent.

[0138] Eighth, in the embodiments of the present application, "under the circumstances", "when", and "if" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be pointed out that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent.

[0139] Below, without loss of generality, the method for random access provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail by taking the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example.

[0140] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method includes the following steps:

[0141] S611, the network device sends multiple SSBs to the terminal device, or the terminal device receives multiple SSBs from the network device.

[0142] Specifically, in this embodiment, the network device sends multiple SSBs to the terminal device through multiple beams. Each SSB includes an SSS, a PSS, and a PBCH. The terminal device can obtain timing information, frequency offset information, cell ID, and other information through the PSS and SSS; the terminal device can obtain the radio frame number through the PBCH, align with the air interface, and schedule some information of SIB1. The SSB also has corresponding identification information (such as index, identifier, etc.).

[0143] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a mapping relationship (e.g., a first mapping relationship) exists between the SSB and the RO. This can be understood as the terminal device being able to determine the RO corresponding to the SSB based on the first mapping relationship and the SSB. For example, the first mapping relationship is the relationship between the candidate SSB and the candidate RO. The first mapping relationship is included in the system information.

[0144] It should be understood that the process of the network device sending multiple SSBs to the terminal device is not described in detail in this embodiment. You can refer to the description of the network device sending multiple SSBs in the current random access related technology.

[0145] Furthermore, the terminal device may select a first SSB for random access from multiple SSBs sent by the network device. The method flow shown in FIG6 further includes:

[0146] S612, the terminal device selects the first SSB for random access.

[0147] Exemplarily, the network device uses SSB as the information transmitted by the downlink scanning beam. The terminal device receives the SSB information sent by the network device beam scanning on each receiving beam in turn. For N transmitting beams and M receiving beams, each of the N beams is sent M times from the network device, so that each transmitting beam is received by M receiving beams, completing a beam traversal scanning cycle. Through the scanning traversal of the beam, the network device and the terminal device establish a suitable beam pair, which can be understood as the network device sending the first SSB to the terminal device through the transmitting beam (e.g., the first beam) in the beam pair, and the terminal device synchronizes to the first SSB. The first SSB can be understood as the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access.

[0148] In addition, it should be noted that each of the multiple SSBs sent by the network device corresponds to (or is associated with, mapped, etc.) one or more ROs, and the terminal device can send a preamble on the RO associated with the SSB, that is, one SSB corresponds to one or more preambles, and different SSBs may correspond to different preambles.

[0149] As can be seen from the basic concepts introduced above, in high-frequency millimeter wave and terahertz bands with large system bandwidth, large array scale, and narrow beam, beam squint may occur, resulting in the beam transmitting the SSB and the beam receiving the terminal device's RACH information being non-reciprocal. If the terminal device sends RACH information (e.g., random access preamble) on the RO corresponding to the first SSB to initiate the access process, the network device may not receive the RACH information, and the terminal device may not be able to complete synchronous access. For ease of description, the following example uses the RACH information as the random access preamble.

[0150] In this embodiment, in order to enable the network device to accurately receive the random access preamble sent by the terminal device when the beam squint phenomenon occurs, the network device may instruct the terminal device to adjust the RO of sending the random access preamble through indication information. The method flow shown in FIG6 further includes:

[0151] S610: The network device sends instruction information to the terminal device, or the terminal device receives instruction information from the network device.

[0152] As a possible implementation manner, the network device may send SIB information to the terminal device, where the SIB information carries the indication information.

[0153] As another possible implementation manner, the network device may send other system information (OSI) to the terminal device, and the OSI information carries the indication information.

[0154] Specifically, in this embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one SSB, wherein the first SSB selected by the terminal device is one of the at least one SSB. The terminal device can adjust the RO for sending the random access preamble code according to the indication information.

[0155] Exemplarily, the indication information sent by the network device can be understood as the network device notifying the terminal device through the indication information that beam squint occurs, or in other words, the network device indicates through the indication information that the transmitting beam of the first SSB and the receiving beam of the RO corresponding to the first SSB are not reciprocal, or in other words, the network device indicates through the indication information that there is a deviation between the first SSB used for random access and the SSB used to determine the RO for sending the random access preamble code.

[0156] In addition, since there is a correspondence between SSB and beam, the above-mentioned indication information can also be understood as adjustment information of at least one beam, that is, the terminal device adjusts the RO for sending the random access preamble by adjusting the SSB or by adjusting the beam. For the sake of convenience, the following example uses the adjustment of the SSB to achieve the purpose of adjusting the RO for sending the Preamble as an example. If the indication information indicates to adjust the beam, the adjustment of the SSB can be replaced with the adjustment of the beam below, and no further explanation will be given.

[0157] Specifically, in this embodiment, the terminal device does not send a random access preamble on the RO associated with the first SSB, but adjusts the RO for sending the random access preamble according to the indication information sent by the network device, and sends the random access preamble to the network device on the adjusted RO. It can be understood that after the terminal device triggers random access, it selects the first SSB according to the channel quality and adjusts the first SSB according to the indication information to obtain the second SSB. Then, the RO for sending the random access preamble is determined according to the second SSB (for example, the terminal device determines the RO corresponding to the second SSB according to the second SSB and the system information, and the system information indicates the relationship between the candidate synchronization signal block SSB and the candidate RO, and the candidate SSB includes the second SSB). The method flow shown in Figure 6 also includes:

[0158] S620: The terminal device sends a random access preamble to the network device, or the network device receives a random access preamble from the terminal device.

[0159] Specifically, in this embodiment, the terminal device sends a random access preamble to the network device at a random access opportunity RO associated with the second SSB. The second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB.

[0160] Exemplarily, the difference between the direction of the transmit beam corresponding to the first SSB and the direction of the receive beam corresponding to the RO associated with the second SSB is less than a preset threshold. The preset threshold is a predefined value (e.g., 3dB), which can be understood as the best overlap between the transmit beam corresponding to the first SSB and the receive beam corresponding to the RO associated with the second SSB. This enables the network device to receive the random access preamble sent by the terminal device on the RO associated with the second SSB.

[0161] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the network device is able to detect the occurrence of beam squint and notify the terminal device through indication information to adjust the RO for sending the random access preamble code. After the terminal device adjusts the RO for sending the random access preamble code, the network device can successfully receive the random access preamble code in the receiving beam corresponding to the transmitting beam for sending the first SSB.

[0162] Specifically, in this embodiment, the indication information may indicate how to determine the second SSB based on the first SSB in different ways, including but not limited to the following ways:

[0163] Method 1: The indication information is used to indicate the index correction value corresponding to each SSB in multiple SSBs.

[0164] Among them, multiple SSBs are a set of SSBs broadcast by the network device, the SSB set includes a first SSB, and the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB.

[0165] It should be understood that different frequency bands have different beam squint effects. The greater the deviation of the beam pointing from the normal beam direction and / or the greater the frequency difference, the greater the beam squint effect. The frequency difference refers to the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code. In other words, the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB can take into account the degree to which the transmission beam of the first SSB deviates from the normal beam and / or the size of the frequency difference.

[0166] Exemplarily, the relationship between the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resources is used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index correction value of the first SSB to obtain the index of the second SSB.

[0167] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is greater than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB plus the index correction value of the first SSB is the index of the second SSB.

[0168] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is less than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB minus the index correction value of the first SSB is the index of the second SSB.

[0169] For another example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is lower than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is higher than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB minus the index correction value of the first SSB is the index of the second SSB.

[0170] For another example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is smaller than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is smaller than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB plus the index correction value of the first SSB is the index of the second SSB.

[0171] It should be noted that, in the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB, it is necessary to consider that the determined index of the second SSB cannot exceed the boundary of the index value, such as, the value determined by the index of the first SSB and the index correction value corresponding to the first SSB is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

[0172] In addition, it should be noted that the index correction value corresponding to the SSB indicated by the indication information in the above example is an absolute value, so the terminal device needs to determine whether to add or subtract the index correction value based on the frequency difference and the reference beam pointing. If the index correction value corresponding to the SSB indicated by the indication information is an actual value (e.g., adding is a positive value and subtracting is a negative value), the terminal device can determine the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB, without having to determine whether to add or subtract the index correction value corresponding to the first SSB.

[0173] For example, if the indication information indicates that the index correction value corresponding to the first SSB is "-1", then the index of the second SSB is the index of the first SSB minus 1; for another example, if the indication information indicates that the index correction value corresponding to the first SSB is "1", then the index of the second SSB is the index of the first SSB plus 1.

[0174] To facilitate understanding, a specific example is used to illustrate how the terminal device determines the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB.

[0175] Example 1:

[0176] The network device indicates the index correction values ​​corresponding to the five SSBs broadcast by the network device through indication information. For example, the five SSBs broadcast by the network device are SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and SSB#5, respectively. The transmission beam corresponding to SSB#3 is a beam in the normal direction. Assume that the index of SSB#1 is "1", the index of SSB#2 is "2", the index of SSB#3 is "3", the index of SSB#4 is "4", and the index of SSB#5 is "5", and the RO associated with SSB#1 is RO#1, the RO associated with SSB#2 is RO#2, the RO associated with SSB#3 is RO#3, the RO associated with SSB#4 is RO#4, and the RO associated with SSB#5 is RO#5. The index correction values ​​corresponding to SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and SSB#5 indicated by the network device through indication information can be:

[0177] The index correction value of the SSB whose index value is less than 3 or greater than 3 indicated by the indication information is 1. It can be understood that the index correction value of the SSB not indicated is 0. In this example, it can be understood that the network device indicates through the indication information that the index correction value corresponding to SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#4, and SSB#5 is 1, and the index correction value corresponding to SSB#3 is 0. Specifically, the adjustment method corresponding to Example 1 is shown in Figure 7, where the frequency difference refers to the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the SSB used for random access.

[0178] In this example, if the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access is SSB#2, the terminal device needs to determine the index of SSB' based on the index of SSB#2 and the index correction value corresponding to SSB#2 before determining the RO. The RO corresponding to the SSB' is the RO for sending the random access preamble code.

[0179] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by SSB#2, and the index of SSB#2 is less than the index of SSB#3, the index of SSB#2 minus the index correction value corresponding to SSB#2 is 1, and the terminal device sends a random access preamble code in RO#1 associated with SSB#1.

[0180] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is smaller than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by SSB#2, and the index of SSB#2 is smaller than the index of SSB#3, the index of SSB#2 plus the index correction value corresponding to SSB#2 is 3, and the terminal device sends a random access preamble code in RO#3 associated with SSB#3.

[0181] In this example, if the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access is SSB#5, the terminal device needs to determine the index of SSB' based on the index of SSB#5 and the index correction value corresponding to SSB#5 before determining the RO. The RO corresponding to the SSB' is the RO for sending the random access preamble code.

[0182] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by SSB#5, and the index of SSB#5 is greater than the index of SSB#3, the index of SSB#5 plus the index correction value corresponding to SSB#5 is 6, but the adjusted value is not allowed to exceed the boundary. In this example, it cannot be less than 1 or greater than 5. The terminal device sends a random access preamble code at RO#5 associated with SSB#5.

[0183] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is smaller than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by SSB#5, and the index of SSB#5 is greater than the index of SSB#3, the index of SSB#5 minus the index correction value corresponding to SSB#5 is 4, and the terminal device sends a random access preamble code in RO#4 associated with SSB#4.

[0184] In addition, in this example, the terminal device can also select other SSBs as the SSB for random access, which will not be explained one by one here.

[0185] It can be understood that the RO finally determined by the terminal device is related to the index of the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access, the index correction value corresponding to the SSB for random access, the relationship between the beam corresponding to the SSB for random access and the normal direction beam, and the relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the SSB for random access and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource.

[0186] For example, in the first approach, the network device may indicate the index correction value corresponding to each SSB through indication information in different indication methods, including but not limited to the following possible implementation methods:

[0187] As a possible implementation manner, the indication information indicates an index correction value of an SSB whose index is greater than a first threshold.

[0188] For example, the index correction value of the SSB whose index is greater than M indicated by the indication information is value #1, such as the index correction value of the SSB whose index is greater than 10 is 1, and the index correction value corresponding to the SSB not indicated by the indication information is 0.

[0189] As another possible implementation, the indication information indicates an index correction value of an SSB whose index is less than a second threshold.

[0190] For example, the index correction value of the SSB whose index is less than N indicated by the indication information is value #2, such as the index correction value of the SSB whose index is less than 5 is 2, and the index correction value corresponding to the SSB not indicated by the indication information is 0.

[0191] As another possible implementation method, the absolute value of the difference between the index indicated by the indication information and the index of the reference SSB is greater than a third threshold, wherein the reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

[0192] For example, the indication information indicates the index correction value of the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing deviation normal beam K beams.

[0193] Exemplarily, the index correction value corresponding to SSB can be a positive value, a negative value, or 0.

[0194] In addition, the existence of beam non-reciprocity can be considered to occur only when the beam pointing deviates from the normal beam direction to a certain extent. For some beams that conform to a certain rule (for example, the index difference between the index and the normal beam meets certain conditions), the index correction value corresponding to the SSB whose index meets certain conditions can be indicated by the indication information in the above-mentioned implementation methods, as well as the SSB range to which it is applicable. For example, the indication information indicates that the index correction value corresponding to the SSB with an index less than 5 or greater than 10 is 1, and the index correction value corresponding to the SSB with an index between 5 and 10 is 0 (which can be understood as there is no beam non-reciprocity for the 5 to 10 beams near the normal beam). However, for some SSBs that do not apply to this general value, for example, the SSB corresponding to the beam whose beam pointing is far from the normal, the indication information can specifically indicate its index correction value or the indication information can indicate the SSB and its associated SSB (for example, the indication information also indicates at least one SSB group, and the two SSBs included in the SSB group are associated SSBs). The indication information can also have other indication methods, which will not be explained one by one here.

[0195] Method 2: The indication information indicates the difference corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency differences.

[0196] For example, the format of the indication information in the second method is shown in Table 1 below:

[0197]

[0198] It should be noted that the correspondence indicated by the indication information in this application (e.g., the correspondence between the frequency difference and the difference corresponding to the frequency difference) is expressed in a tabular form for example only and does not limit the scope of protection of this application. The correspondence may also be expressed in other ways, for example, by corresponding codes; for example, by functions. Examples are not given here one by one.

[0199] It should be understood that different frequency bands have different beam squint effects. The greater the deviation of the beam pointing from the normal beam direction and / or the greater the frequency difference, the greater the beam squint effect. The frequency difference refers to the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code. In other words, the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB can take into account the degree to which the transmission beam of the first SSB deviates from the normal beam and / or the size of the frequency difference.

[0200] Exemplarily, the relationship between the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resources, as well as the relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as the difference between the index of the first SSB plus or minus the frequency difference, wherein the reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

[0201] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is greater than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB plus the difference corresponding to the frequency difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0202] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is less than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the difference between the index of the first SSB and the frequency difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0203] For another example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is lower than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is higher than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the difference between the index of the first SSB and the frequency difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0204] For another example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is smaller than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is smaller than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB plus the difference corresponding to the frequency difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0205] It should be noted that, in the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB, it is necessary to consider that the determined index of the second SSB cannot exceed the boundary of the index value, such as, the value determined by the difference between the index of the first SSB and the frequency difference is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

[0206] In addition, it should be noted that the difference indicated by the indication information in the above example is an absolute value, so the terminal device needs to determine whether to add or subtract the difference based on the frequency difference and the reference beam pointing. If the difference indicated by the indication information is an actual value (for example, adding is a positive value and subtracting is a negative value), the terminal device can determine the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB, without having to determine whether to add or subtract the difference corresponding to the frequency difference.

[0207] For example, if the indication information indicates that the difference value corresponding to the frequency difference #1 is "-1", then when the terminal device determines that the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB are frequency difference #1, the index of the second SSB is the index of the first SSB minus 1; for another example, if the indication information indicates that the difference value corresponding to the frequency difference #1 is "1", then when the terminal device determines that the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB are frequency difference #1, the index of the second SSB is the index of the first SSB plus 1.

[0208] To facilitate understanding, a specific example is given to illustrate how the terminal device determines the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB under method 2.

[0209] Example 2:

[0210] The five SSBs broadcast by the network device are SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and SSB#5 respectively. Among them, the transmission beam corresponding to SSB#3 is the beam in the normal direction. Assume that the index of SSB#1 is "1", the index of SSB#2 is "2", the index of SSB#3 is "3", the index of SSB#4 is "4", the index of SSB#5 is "5", and the RO associated with SSB#1 is RO#1, the RO associated with SSB#2 is RO#2, the RO associated with SSB#3 is RO#3, the RO associated with SSB#4 is RO#4, and the RO associated with SSB#5 is RO#5.

[0211] The network device determines that the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access is SSB#1. The network device can indicate, through indication information, the difference corresponding to SSB#1 under different frequency differences for this SSB#1.

[0212] For example, if the network device indicates, through indication information, the difference corresponding to SSB#1 under different frequency differences as shown in Table 1 above, then the terminal device can first determine the corresponding difference according to the value of the frequency difference. For example, if the terminal device determines that the value of the frequency difference is f1 <= fi < f2, the difference is 1. Further, after the terminal device determines the difference, it can determine whether to add or subtract the difference from the index of SSB#1 to obtain the index of SSB' according to the relationship between the beam corresponding to SSB#1 and the beam in the normal direction (such as the beam corresponding to SSB#3). The RO corresponding to this SSB' is the RO for transmitting the random access preamble.

[0213] For example, if the index of SSB#1 is greater than the index of SSB#3, then adding the difference to the index of SSB#1 gives the index of SSB' as 2, and the terminal device transmits the random access preamble in the RO#2 associated with SSB#2.

[0214] Specifically, the adjustment method corresponding to Example 2 is shown in Figure 8. Among them, the frequency difference refers to the difference between the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource and the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the SSB used for random access.

[0215] Method 3: The indication information indicates the index difference between the index of the second SSB and the index of the first SSB.

[0216] Exemplarily, the format of the indication information in Method 3 is shown in Table 2 below:

[0217] Index difference 1

[0218] It should be understood that different frequency bands have different beam squint effects. The greater the deviation of the beam pointing from the normal beam direction and / or the greater the frequency difference, the greater the beam squint effect. The frequency difference refers to the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code. In other words, the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB can take into account the degree to which the transmission beam of the first SSB deviates from the normal beam and / or the size of the frequency difference.

[0219] Exemplarily, the relationship between the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency points of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resources, as well as the relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index difference as the index of the second SSB, wherein the reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

[0220] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is greater than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB plus the index difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0221] For example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is greater than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is less than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB minus the index difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0222] For another example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is lower than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is higher than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB minus the index difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0223] For another example, when the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource is smaller than the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the index of the first SSB is smaller than the index of the SSB corresponding to the normal beam, the index of the first SSB plus the index difference is the index of the second SSB.

[0224] It should be noted that, in the process of the terminal device determining the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB, it is necessary to consider that the determined index of the second SSB cannot exceed the boundary of the index value, such as, the value determined by the index of the first SSB and the index difference is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

[0225] In addition, it should be noted that the index difference indicated by the indication information in the above example is an absolute value, so the terminal device needs to determine whether to add or subtract the index difference based on the frequency difference and the reference beam pointing. If the index difference indicated by the indication information is an actual value (e.g., adding is a positive value and subtracting is a negative value), the terminal device can determine the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB, without having to determine whether to add or subtract the index difference.

[0226] For example, if the indication information indicates that the index difference is "-1", the index of the second SSB is the index of the first SSB minus 1; for another example, if the indication information indicates that the index difference is "1", the index of the second SSB is the index of the first SSB plus 1.

[0227] To facilitate understanding, a specific example is given to illustrate how the terminal device determines the index of the second SSB based on the indication information and the index of the first SSB under method 2.

[0228] Example 3:

[0229] The five SSBs broadcast by the network device are SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and SSB#5, respectively. The transmitting beam corresponding to SSB#3 is a beam in the normal direction. Assume that the index of SSB#1 is "1", the index of SSB#2 is "2", the index of SSB#3 is "3", the index of SSB#4 is "4", and the index of SSB#5 is "5", and the RO associated with SSB#1 is RO#1, the RO associated with SSB#2 is RO#2, the RO associated with SSB#3 is RO#3, the RO associated with SSB#4 is RO#4, and the RO associated with SSB#5 is RO#5.

[0230] The network device determines that the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access is SSB#1, and the network device can indicate the index difference for SSB#1 through indication information.

[0231] For example, the network device indicates through the indication information that the index difference corresponding to SSB#1 is as shown in Table 2 above. The terminal device can determine whether the index of SSB#1 is the index of SSB' plus the index difference or minus the index difference based on the relationship between the beam corresponding to SSB#1 and the normal direction beam (such as the beam corresponding to SSB#3). The RO corresponding to the SSB' is the RO for sending the random access preamble code.

[0232] For example, if the index of SSB#1 is greater than the index of SSB#3, the index of SSB#1 plus the index difference is 2, and the terminal device sends a random access preamble code in RO#2 associated with SSB#2.

[0233] Specifically, the adjustment method corresponding to Example 3 is shown in Figure 9, where the frequency difference refers to the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the SSB used for random access.

[0234] Method 4: The indication information indicates that the second SSB is associated with the first SSB.

[0235] In method 4, after the terminal device receives the indication information, it sends a random access preamble code on the RO associated with the second SSB.

[0236] For example, the five SSBs broadcast by the network device are SSB#1, SSB#2, SSB#3, SSB#4, and SSB#5, respectively. The transmitting beam corresponding to SSB#3 is the beam in the normal direction. Assume that the RO associated with SSB#1 is RO#1, the RO associated with SSB#2 is RO#2, the RO associated with SSB#3 is RO#3, the RO associated with SSB#4 is RO#4, and the RO associated with SSB#5 is RO#5.

[0237] The network device determines that the SSB selected by the terminal device for random access is SSB#1. The network device can indicate that SSB#1 and SSB#2 are associated beams, and the terminal device can send a random access preamble code in RO#2 associated with SSB#2.

[0238] In the communication method shown in Figure 6, the terminal device does not send a random access preamble code to the RO associated with the first SSB used for random access, but sends a random access preamble code to the RO associated with the second SSB, and the second SSB is determined based on the first SSB and the indication information issued by the network device, so that the network device can receive the random access preamble code sent by the terminal device to the RO associated with the second SSB.

[0239] It should be understood that the size of the serial numbers of the above processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0240] It should also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships. For example, the embodiment shown in Figure 6 illustrates that the indication information can indicate how to determine the second SSB based on the first SSB through any one of the indication methods from method one to method four, which can be implemented separately, indicating that the network device can achieve the purpose of instructing the terminal device to adjust the RO for sending the random access preamble through any one of the indication methods. In addition, any multiple indication methods from method one to method four can be used in combination, and can also be understood as a combination of some steps in different embodiments, and this application does not limit it. For example, the network device can send indication information #1 and indication information #2 to the terminal device, wherein indication information #1 indicates the adjustment of the RO for sending the random access preamble through the indication method shown in the above method one, and indication information #2 indicates the adjustment of the RO for sending the random access preamble through the indication method shown in the above method two. The terminal device receives indication information #1 and indication information #2, and adjusts the RO for sending the random access preamble code according to the adjustment method indicated by indication information #2. It can be understood that the priority of indication information #1 is lower than the priority of indication information #2.

[0241] For example, the network device can send indication information #2 and indication information #3 to the terminal device, wherein indication information #2 indicates adjustment of the RO for sending the random access preamble code through the adjustment method shown in the above-mentioned method 2, and indication information #3 adjusts the RO for sending the random access preamble code through the adjustment method shown in the above-mentioned method 3 or method 4. The terminal device receives indication information #2 and indication information #3, and adjusts the RO for sending the random access preamble code according to the adjustment method indicated by indication information #3. It can be understood that the priority of indication information #2 is lower than the priority of indication information #3.

[0242] It should also be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the devices in the existing network architecture are mainly used as examples for illustrative description (such as terminal devices, network devices, etc.), and it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the specific form of the devices. For example, devices that can achieve the same functions in the future are applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0243] It is understandable that in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by devices (such as terminal devices, network devices) can also be implemented by components of the devices (such as chips or circuits).

[0244] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 6 to 9. The above communication method is mainly described from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. It is understood that in order to implement the above functions, the terminal device and the network device include the corresponding hardware structure and / or software modules for performing each function.

[0245] Those skilled in the art should be aware that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0246] The terminal device and network device provided in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 10 to 12. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, reference can be made to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, some contents are not repeated here.

[0247] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the network device can be divided into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module according to each function.

[0248] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 10 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 10 includes a transceiver module 11 and a processing module 12. The transceiver module 11 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 12 is used to process data. In other words, the transceiver module 11 is used to perform operations related to receiving and sending, while the processing module 12 is used to perform operations other than receiving and sending. The transceiver module 11 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0249] Optionally, the device 10 may further include a storage module 13, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 12 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the device implements the actions of the devices in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0250] In one design, the apparatus 10 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a component (such as a chip) of the terminal device.

[0251] The device 10 can implement the steps or processes executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver module 11 can be used to execute the transceiver-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 12 can be used to execute the processing-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0252] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 11 is used to receive indication information from a network device, where the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block SSB; the processing module 12 is used to select a first SSB for random access, where the first SSB is included in the at least one SSB; the transceiver module 11 is used to send a random access preamble code to the network device at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, where the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB.

[0253] When the device 10 is used to execute the method in FIG6 , the transceiver module 11 can be used to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method, such as steps S611 , S610 and S620 ; the processing module 12 can be used to execute the processing steps in the method, such as step S612 .

[0254] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0255] In another design, the apparatus 10 may correspond to the network device in the above method embodiment, or a component (such as a chip) of the network device.

[0256] The device 10 can implement the steps or processes executed by the network device in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver module 11 can be used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 12 can be used to perform the processing-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0257] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 11 is used to send indication information to the terminal device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block SSB, and the at least one SSB includes a first SSB; the transceiver module 11 is used to receive a random access preamble code from the terminal device, wherein the random access preamble code is sent at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, and the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB, and the first SSB is used for random access.

[0258] When the device 10 is used to execute the method in FIG6 , the transceiver module 11 may be used to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method, such as steps S611 , S610 and S620 ; the processing module 12 may be used to execute the processing steps in the method.

[0259] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0260] It should also be understood that the device 10 here is embodied in the form of a functional module. The term "module" here may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 10 may be specifically the mobile management network element in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the mobile management network element in the above-mentioned method embodiments; or, the device 10 may be specifically the terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0261] The apparatus 10 of each of the above-described solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the devices (such as terminal devices and network devices) in the above-described methods. This function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions; for example, the transceiver module can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the transmitting unit in the transceiver module can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver module can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing module, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0262] In addition, the transceiver module 11 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing module may be a processing circuit.

[0263] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 20 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Device 20 includes a processor 21, which is configured to execute computer programs or instructions stored in memory 22, or read data / signaling stored in memory 22, to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, there may be one or more processors 21.

[0264] Optionally, as shown in FIG11 , the device 20 further includes a memory 22 for storing computer programs or instructions and / or data. The memory 22 may be integrated with the processor 21 or may be separately provided. Optionally, there may be one or more memories 22.

[0265] Optionally, as shown in Figure 11, the device 20 further includes a transceiver 23, which is used to receive and / or send signals. For example, the processor 21 is used to control the transceiver 23 to receive and / or send signals.

[0266] As a solution, the apparatus 20 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device and the network device in the above various method embodiments.

[0267] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0268] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0269] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0270] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0271] 12 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 30 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip system 30 (or also referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 31 and an input / output interface 32.

[0272] The logic circuit 31 may be a processing circuit in the chip system 30. The logic circuit 31 may be coupled to a storage unit and call instructions in the storage unit so that the chip system 30 can implement the methods and functions of the various embodiments of the present application. The input / output interface 32 may be an input / output circuit in the chip system 30, outputting information processed by the chip system 30 or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 30 for processing.

[0273] As a solution, the chip system 30 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device and the network device in the above various method embodiments.

[0274] For example, the logic circuit 31 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the terminal device and the network device in the above method embodiment; the input / output interface 32 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the terminal device and the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0275] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the terminal device and the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments are stored.

[0276] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the methods performed by the terminal device and the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0277] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the aforementioned terminal device and network device.

[0278] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0279] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0280] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)). For example, the aforementioned available medium includes, but is not limited to, various media that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0281] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a terminal device and includes: receiving indication information from a network device, where the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB); selecting a first SSB for random access, the first SSB being included in the at least one SSB; At the random access opportunity RO associated with the second SSB, a random access preamble code is sent to the network device, and the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The indication information is used to indicate the index correction value of each SSB in the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, The first SSB is one of multiple SSBs sent by the network device, and the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB, including: The magnitude relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource is used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index correction value of the first SSB to obtain the index of the second SSB. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The indication information indicates the index correction value of the SSB whose index meets the first condition, The first condition includes at least one of the following: The index is greater than a first threshold, the index is less than a second threshold, or the absolute value of the difference between the index and the index of the reference SSB is greater than a third threshold; The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The indication information further indicates at least one SSB group, and the two SSBs included in the SSB group are associated SSBs.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that The index correction value of any SSB among the multiple SSBs satisfies the following conditions: The value determined by the index and index correction value of any one of the SSBs is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the difference corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency differences. Among them, the frequency difference is the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein The frequency difference and the magnitude relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as a difference between the index of the first SSB plus or minus the frequency difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the index difference between the index of the second SSB and the index of the first SSB.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The size relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource, and the size relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The indication information includes a system information block SIB or other system information OSI.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: According to the second SSB and system information, the random access timing RO corresponding to the second SSB is determined, the system information indicates the relationship between the candidate synchronization signal block SSB and the candidate RO, and the candidate SSB includes the second SSB.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a network device, including: Sending indication information to a terminal device, where the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB), where the at least one SSB includes a first SSB; receiving a random access preamble from the terminal device, The random access preamble is sent at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB, and the first SSB is used for random access.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The indication information is used to indicate the index correction value of each SSB in the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, The first SSB is one of multiple SSBs sent by the network device, and the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB, including: The magnitude relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource is used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index correction value of the first SSB to obtain the index of the second SSB. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein: The indication information indicates the index correction value of the SSB whose index meets the first condition, The first condition includes at least one of the following: The index is greater than a first threshold, the index is less than a second threshold, or the absolute value of the difference between the index and the index of the reference SSB is greater than a third threshold; The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The indication information further indicates at least one SSB group, and the two SSBs included in the SSB group are associated SSBs.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that The index correction value of any SSB among the multiple SSBs satisfies the following conditions: The value determined by the index and index correction value of any one of the SSBs is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, wherein The indication information is used to indicate the difference corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency differences. Among them, the frequency difference is the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The frequency difference and the magnitude relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as a difference between the index of the first SSB plus or minus the frequency difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the index difference between the index of the second SSB and the index of the first SSB.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The size relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource, and the size relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 22, characterized in that The indication information includes a system information block SIB or other system information OSI.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: include: a receiving unit, configured to receive indication information from a network device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB); a processing unit, configured to select a first SSB for random access, wherein the first SSB is included in the at least one SSB; A sending unit is used to send a random access preamble code to the network device at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, where the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB.

25. The device according to claim 24, wherein The indication information is used to indicate the index correction value of each SSB in the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, The first SSB is one of multiple SSBs sent by the network device, and the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB.

26. The device according to claim 25, characterized in that The index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB, including: The magnitude relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource is used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index correction value of the first SSB to obtain the index of the second SSB. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

27. The device according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that The indication information indicates the index correction value of the SSB whose index meets the first condition, The first condition includes at least one of the following: The index is greater than a first threshold, the index is less than a second threshold, or the absolute value of the difference between the index and the index of the reference SSB is greater than a third threshold; The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

28. The device according to claim 27, wherein The indication information further indicates at least one SSB group, and the two SSBs included in the SSB group are associated SSBs.

29. The device according to any one of claims 25 to 28, characterized in that The index correction value of any SSB among the multiple SSBs satisfies the following conditions: The value determined by the index and index correction value of any one of the SSBs is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

30. The device according to any one of claims 24 to 29, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the difference corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency differences. Among them, the frequency difference is the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

31. The device according to claim 30, wherein The frequency difference and the magnitude relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as a difference between the index of the first SSB plus or minus the frequency difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

32. The device according to any one of claims 24 to 31, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the index difference between the index of the second SSB and the index of the first SSB.

33. The device according to claim 32, wherein The size relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource, and the size relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

34. The device according to any one of claims 24 to 33, characterized in that The indication information includes a system information block SIB or other system information OSI.

35. The device according to any one of claims 24 to 34, characterized in that The processing unit is also used to determine the random access timing RO corresponding to the second SSB based on the second SSB and system information, the system information indicates the relationship between the candidate synchronization signal block SSB and the candidate RO, and the candidate SSB includes the second SSB.

36. A communication device, characterized in that include: a sending unit, configured to send indication information to a terminal device, where the indication information is used to indicate adjustment information of at least one synchronization signal block (SSB), where the at least one SSB includes a first SSB; a receiving unit, configured to receive a random access preamble from the terminal device, The random access preamble is sent at a random access opportunity RO associated with a second SSB, the second SSB is determined based on the indication information and the first SSB, and the first SSB is used for random access.

37. The device according to claim 36, wherein The indication information is used to indicate the index correction value of each SSB in the multiple SSBs sent by the network device, The first SSB is one of multiple SSBs sent by the network device, and the index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB.

38. The device according to claim 37, wherein The index correction value of the first SSB and the index of the first SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB, including: The magnitude relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource is used to determine the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index correction value of the first SSB to obtain the index of the second SSB. The PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

39. The device according to claim 37 or 38, characterized in that The indication information indicates the index correction value of the SSB whose index meets the first condition, The first condition includes at least one of the following: The index is greater than a first threshold, the index is less than a second threshold, or the absolute value of the difference between the index and the index of the reference SSB is greater than a third threshold; The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

40. The device according to claim 39, wherein The indication information further indicates at least one SSB group, and the two SSBs included in the SSB group are associated SSBs.

41. The device according to any one of claims 37 to 40, characterized in that The index correction value of any SSB among the multiple SSBs satisfies the following conditions: The value determined by the index and index correction value of any one of the SSBs is less than or equal to the index of the SSB with the largest index value, and greater than or equal to the index of the SSB with the smallest index value.

42. The device according to any one of claims 36 to 41, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the difference corresponding to the first SSB under different frequency differences. Among them, the frequency difference is the difference between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the physical random access channel PRACH resource and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB, and the PRACH resource is used to carry the random access preamble code.

43. The device according to claim 42, wherein The frequency difference and the magnitude relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as a difference between the index of the first SSB plus or minus the frequency difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

44. The device according to any one of claims 36 to 43, characterized in that The indication information is used to indicate the index difference between the index of the second SSB and the index of the first SSB.

45. The device according to claim 44, wherein The size relationship between the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the first SSB and the frequency point of the frequency band occupied by the PRACH resource, and the size relationship between the index of the first SSB and the index of the reference SSB are used to determine the index of the second SSB as the index of the first SSB plus or minus the index difference. The reference SSB is the SSB corresponding to the beam pointing in the normal direction.

46. ​​The device according to any one of claims 36 to 45, characterized in that The indication information includes a system information block SIB or other system information OSI.

47. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

48. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 13 to 23.

49. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises instructions, which, when the computer instructions are executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

50. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises instructions, which, when the computer instructions are executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 13 to 23.

51. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is installed in a communication device, and the chip includes a processor and a communication interface. When the processor reads instructions through the communication interface and runs, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

52. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is installed in a communication device, and the chip includes a processor and a communication interface. When the processor reads instructions through the communication interface and runs, the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 13 to 23.

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