Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, which can improve the PBCH receiving performance of a narrowband terminal while saving the overhead of a common channel. The method comprises the following steps: an RAN node determines the length of a coding bit sequence of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) according to a first numerical value E1, determines the coding bit sequence according to the length of the coding bit sequence and an information bit sequence of the PBCH, determines M symbols of the PBCH according to the coding bit sequence, and maps the first M1 symbols in the M symbols to a first time frequency resource, and mapping the remaining M-M1 symbols to a second time frequency resource, wherein M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Wherein the first numerical value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order, and M1 is the number of effective resource elements RE in the first time-frequency resource. The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource form a PBCH time-frequency resource. The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource are not overlapped. And the first type of terminal acquires the first M1 symbols mapped on the first time-frequency resource, and the second type of terminal acquires the M symbols mapped on the PBCH time-frequency resource.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] The services of the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system mainly include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services, and massive machine type communication (mMTC) services.

[0003] mMTC typically requires low energy consumption, low cost, low speed, and enhanced coverage. Narrower bandwidth is the most direct way to reduce terminal costs. Therefore, based on different services, a communication system may have multiple terminals with different bandwidths, such as eMBB terminals and reduced capability (RedCap) terminals. RedCap terminals have a smaller bandwidth than eMBB terminals.

[0004] Typically, for different types of terminals, the network side can send dedicated physical broadcast channels (PBCH) for terminal access. Although this solution effectively guarantees the performance of initial access of narrowband terminals, it significantly increases the overhead of the network side's public channels.

[0005] However, if the narrowband terminal is made to directly receive the PBCH currently designed for the eMBB terminal in order to save overhead, the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal will be greatly deteriorated. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus that can improve the PBCH reception performance of narrowband terminals.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a RAN node, or by a module applied to the RAN node (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node. The method includes: determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) according to a first value E1; determining the coded bit sequence according to the length of the coded bit sequence and the information bit sequence of the PBCH; determining M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence; mapping the first M1 symbols of the M symbols to a first time-frequency resource, and mapping the remaining M - M1 symbols to a second time-frequency resource, where M1 is the number of valid Resource Elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource, and M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Among them, the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order. The first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource. The PBCH time-frequency resource consists of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource. The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap.

[0008] Based on this solution, when the RAN node determines the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the length of the coded bit sequence is determined according to the number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry. The number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry is the first value, and the product of the number of valid REs in the first time-frequency resource and the modulation order can be understood as the number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry. Therefore, it can be considered that all the information bits of the PBCH can be mapped (or carried) on the first time-frequency resource. Thus, when the first M1 symbols of the M symbols of the PBCH are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, if the narrowband terminal can receive the information carried on the first time-frequency resource, it can enable the narrowband terminal to demodulate the complete system information with a higher probability, thereby improving the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal, such as reducing the SNR operating point of the narrowband terminal for receiving the PBCH and improving the reception quality of the PBCH. In addition, the wideband terminal can receive the complete PBCH on the PBCH time-frequency resource, that is, there is no need to send the PBCH separately for the narrowband terminal and the wideband terminal, which can save the overhead of the common channel.

[0009] In a possible design, the length of the coded bit sequence is 2 n , where n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is the first value.

[0010] In a possible design, n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

[0011] In a possible design, determining M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence includes: determining a first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a first sequence, where the length E of the first sequence is the product of the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q; scrambling the first sequence and performing Q-order modulation on the scrambled first sequence to obtain the M symbols of the PBCH, where M is the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0012] In a possible design, determining a first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and a first sequence includes: determining a second sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a second sequence, where the length of the second sequence is a first value E1; repeating the second sequence times to obtain a third sequence, where E represents the length of the first sequence, represents rounding up X; and taking the first E elements of the third sequence as the first sequence.

[0013] In a possible design, the second sequence satisfies:

[0014] f sub,i = y mod(i,N)

[0015] where f sub,i represents the i-th element of the second sequence, i = 0, 1,..., E1 - 1, and y mod(i,N) represents the mod(i, N)-th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N.

[0016] In a possible design, the first sequence satisfies:

[0017] f = y mod(i,N)

[0018] where f i represents the i-th element of the first sequence, i = 0, 1,..., E - 1, and y mod(i,N) represents the mod(i, N)-th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N.

[0019] In a possible design, M satisfies:

[0020] M = E / Q

[0021] where E represents the length of the first sequence, the M symbols are obtained by scrambling and Q-order modulating the first sequence, and Q represents the modulation order; and / or, M1 satisfies:

[0022] M1 = E1 / Q

[0023] Wherein, E1 represents the first value, and Q represents the modulation order.

[0024] In a possible design, the valid REs are the REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource except for the REs used to map the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

[0025] In a possible design, the bandwidth of the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal; the bandwidth of the PBCH time-frequency resource is greater than the maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal and less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth of the second type of terminal.

[0026] Based on this possible design, the bandwidth of the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal, enabling the first type of terminal to receive all the information on the first time-frequency resource, that is, ensuring that the first type of terminal can receive the first M1 symbols of the PBCH, thereby improving the PBCH receiving performance of the first type of terminal. In addition, the bandwidth of the PBCH time-frequency resource is less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth of the second type of terminal, which can ensure the PBCH receiving performance of the second type of terminal.

[0027] In a possible design, the first time-frequency resource is the common PBCH time-frequency resource for the first type of terminal and the second type of terminal, and the second time-frequency resource is the PBCH time-frequency resource exclusive to the second type of terminal relative to the first type of terminal.

[0028] Based on this possible design, the first type of terminal can receive all the information on the first time-frequency resource, that is, ensuring that the first type of terminal can receive the first M1 symbols of the PBCH, improving the PBCH receiving performance of the first type of terminal; and enabling the second type of terminal to receive the complete PBCH on the complete PBCH time-frequency resource, ensuring the PBCH receiving performance of the second type of terminal.

[0029] In a possible design, the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource are continuous in the frequency domain.

[0030] In a possible design, the mapping order of the first M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is the same as the mapping order of the remaining M - M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource.

[0031] Based on this possible design, the mapping order of the PBCH symbols on the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the same, which can reduce the processing complexity of the RAN node and the terminal.

[0032] In a possible design, the mapping order of the first M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is: first, the subcarrier index increases from low to high, and then the time-domain symbol index increases from low to high.

[0033] In a possible design, the union of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbol occupied by the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) time-frequency resource.

[0034] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a first type of terminal, or by a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) applied to the first type of terminal, or can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first type of terminal. The method includes: obtaining M1 symbols of the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), where M1 is the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource; determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to a first value E1, where the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order; determining the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence; and determining the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence. Among them, the M1 symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, the first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource, the PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource, and the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. The M1 symbols are the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH, and the remaining M - M1 symbols among the M symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource. M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Among them, the technical effects brought by the second aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the first aspect above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0035] In a possible design, the length of the coded bit sequence is 2 n , where n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is the first value.

[0036] In a possible design, n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

[0037] In a possible design, determining the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence includes: demodulating the M1 symbols to obtain a fourth sequence; descrambling the fourth sequence to obtain a fifth sequence, the length of the fifth sequence being the first value E1; determining a sixth sequence according to the fifth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence, the length of the sixth sequence being equal to the length of the coded bit sequence; and performing sub-block deinterleaving on the sixth sequence to obtain the coded bit sequence.

[0038] In a possible design, the sixth sequence is composed of the first N elements of the fifth sequence, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

[0039] In a possible design, the union of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0040] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a second type of terminal, or by a module (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) applied to the second type of terminal, or can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second type of terminal. The method includes: obtaining M symbols of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH); determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to a first value E1, where the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order, and M1 is the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource; determining the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence; and determining the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence. Among them, the M symbols are mapped to the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, and the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. M1 consecutive symbols among the M symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, and the remaining M - M1 symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource. M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Among them, the technical effects brought by the third aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the first aspect above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0041] In a possible design, the length of the coded bit sequence is 2 n , where n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is the first value.

[0042] In a possible design, n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

[0043] In a possible design, determining the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence includes: demodulating the M symbols to obtain a seventh sequence; descrambling the seventh sequence to obtain an eighth sequence, where the length E of the eighth sequence is the product of the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q; determining a ninth sequence according to the eighth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence, where the length of the ninth sequence is equal to the length of the coded bit sequence; and performing sub-block deinterleaving on the ninth sequence to obtain the coded bit sequence.

[0044] In a possible design, the ninth sequence is composed of the first N elements of the eighth sequence, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

[0045] In a possible design, the union of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0046] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing various methods. The communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the implementation of the methods. The module, unit, or means can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions.

[0047] In some possible designs, the communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module can be used to implement the processing functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation manners thereof. The transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module, which are respectively used to implement the receiving function and the transmitting function in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation manners thereof.

[0048] In some possible designs, the transceiver module may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device is caused to execute the methods described in any of the aspects.

[0050] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is used to communicate with modules outside the communication device; the processor is used to execute computer programs or instructions, so that the communication device executes the methods described in any of the aspects.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including: at least one processor; the processor is used to execute computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device executes the methods described in any of the aspects. The memory may be coupled to the processor, or may be independent of the processor.

[0052] In an eighth aspect, a communication device (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a chip system) is provided. The communication device includes a processor for implementing the functions involved in any of the first to third aspects.

[0053] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data.

[0054] In some possible designs, when the device is a chip system, it may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0055] It can be understood that the communication device provided in the fourth to eighth aspects can be the RAN node in the first aspect, or a module or unit (such as a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) that executes the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect one by one, or a module or unit that can be used in combination with the RAN node, or may also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node.

[0056] Alternatively, the communication device can be the first type of terminal in the second aspect, or a module or unit (such as a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) that executes the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the second aspect one by one, or a module or unit that can be used in combination with the first type of terminal, or may also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first type of terminal.

[0057] Alternatively, the communication device can be the second type of terminal in the third aspect, or a module or unit (such as a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) that executes the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the third aspect one by one, or a module or unit that can be used in combination with the second type of terminal, or may also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second type of terminal.

[0058] In a ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When it runs on the communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0059] In a tenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided. When it runs on the communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0060] In an eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes an RAN node, a first type of terminal, and a second type of terminal. The RAN node is used to execute the method described in the first aspect and any possible design thereof. The first type of terminal is used to execute the method described in the second aspect and any possible design thereof. The second type of terminal is used to execute the method described in the third aspect and any possible design thereof.

[0061] Among them, for the technical effects brought by any design manner in the fourth to eleventh aspects, reference can be made to the technical effects brought by different design manners in the first to third aspects, which will not be elaborated here. Description of the Drawings

[0062] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a time-frequency resource grid provided for this application;

[0063] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the time-frequency position of a PBCH provided for this application;

[0064] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a narrowband terminal receiving a PBCH provided for this application;

[0065] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the performance of a narrowband terminal and a traditional terminal receiving a PBCH provided for this application;

[0066] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided for this application;

[0067] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the process flow of a communication method provided for this application;

[0068] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the process flow of a communication method provided for this application;

[0069] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource provided for this application;

[0070] Figure 9 A mapping schematic diagram provided for this application;

[0071] Figures 10 - 12 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided for this application. Detailed implementation manners

[0072] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in this application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Among them, A and B can be singular or plural.

[0073] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" means two or more than two. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0074] In addition, for the convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the terms "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present relevant concepts in a specific manner for easy understanding.

[0076] It can be understood that the "embodiments" mentioned throughout the specification mean that specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiments are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It can be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the magnitude of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0077] It can be understood that in the present application, both "when..." and "if" refer to corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, not limited to time, and do not require a judgment action during implementation, nor does it mean the existence of other limitations.

[0078] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application can, in some scenarios, be implemented independently without relying on other features, such as the current solution they are based on, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. In some scenarios, they can also be combined with other features according to requirements. Correspondingly, the devices given in the embodiments of the present application can also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be elaborated here.

[0079] In the present application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between various embodiments can be referred to each other. In the various embodiments of the present application, if there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships. The embodiments of the present application described below do not constitute a limitation to the protection scope of the present application.

[0080] To facilitate the understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the related technologies of the present application is given as follows first.

[0081] 1. New Radio (NR):

[0082] The fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication technology NR is a brand-new air interface design based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and it is also the basis for the next-generation cellular communication technology. The services of NR mainly include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services, ultra-reliability low-latency communication (URLLC) services, and massive machine type communication (mMTC) services.

[0083] In NR, the basic unit in the frequency domain is a subcarrier, and the subcarrier spacing (SCS) can be 15 kHz, 30 kHz, etc. In the physical layer of NR, the unit of the uplink or downlink frequency domain resource is a resource block (RB), and each RB consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

[0084] Exemplarily, the NR downlink time-frequency resource grid is as Figure 1 shown. Among them, represents the number of downlink RBs. Each element on the resource grid is called a resource element (RE), and the RE is the smallest physical resource, which includes a subcarrier within one OFDM symbol. The uplink time-frequency resource grid is similar to the downlink time-frequency resource network and will not be elaborated here.

[0085] 2. Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel Block (SS / PBCH block, SSB):

[0086] In NR, the SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The master information block (MIB) is carried in the PBCH.

[0087] In the time domain, an SSB occupies 4 consecutive OFDM symbols, which are numbered from 0 to 3 in ascending order of time. In the frequency domain, an SSB occupies 240 consecutive subcarriers, which are numbered from 0 to 239 in ascending order of frequency.

[0088] It should be noted that the numbers of the 4 OFDM symbols are relative to the starting position of the SSB in the time domain, and the numbers of the 240 subcarriers are relative to the starting position of the SSB in the frequency domain. Exemplarily, the mapping methods of the PSS, SSS, PBCH, and the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH are shown in Table 1.

[0089] Table 1

[0090]

[0091]

[0092] Among them, the DMRS of the PBCH is mapped to one subcarrier out of every 4 subcarriers. v represents the offset of the subcarrier used for mapping the DMRS among every 4 subcarriers. For example, the value of v can be 0, 1, 2, 3, which respectively represent mapping the DMRS to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th subcarriers among every 4 subcarriers.

[0093] Based on Table 1, the structure of the SSB can be as Figure 2 shown. Among them, the PBCH occupies 3 OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupies the subcarriers numbered 0 - 239 in the frequency domain corresponding to the OFDM symbols numbered 1 and 3, and occupies the subcarriers numbered 0 - 47 and 192 - 239 in the frequency domain corresponding to the OFDM symbol numbered 2.

[0094] In addition, the mapping order of the modulation symbols obtained based on the information carried by the PBCH on the time - frequency resources occupied by the PBCH follows the rule of "frequency domain first, then time domain". Based on the example in Table 1 and Figure 1 , first, the modulation symbols are mapped to the subcarriers numbered 0 - 239 in ascending order of subcarrier number on OFDM symbol 1, then the modulation symbols are mapped to the subcarriers numbered 0 - 47 and 192 - 239 in ascending order of subcarrier number on OFDM symbol 2, and finally the modulation symbols are mapped to the subcarriers numbered 0 - 239 in ascending order of subcarrier number on OFDM symbol 3.

[0095] 3. Internet of Things (IoT):

[0096] The Internet of Things (IoT) is the "Internet of interconnected things". It extends the user side of the Internet to any object-to-object connection, enabling information exchange and communication between any objects. Such a communication method is also called machine type communications (MTC). Among them, the communication nodes are called IoT terminals or IoT devices. Typical IoT applications include various aspects such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X), smart communities, industrial inspection and monitoring, intelligent meter reading, smart grids, smart agriculture, intelligent transportation, smart homes, and environmental detection.

[0097] Since the IoT needs to be applied in various scenarios, such as from outdoor to indoor, from ground to underground, many special requirements are put forward for the design of the IoT. For example, since IoT terminals in some scenarios are applied in environments with poor coverage, such as electricity meters and water meters which are usually installed indoors or even in basements where the wireless network signal is very poor, technologies for enhanced coverage are needed to solve this problem. Or, since the number of IoT terminals in some scenarios is much larger than the number of devices for human-to-human communication, that is, large-scale deployment is required, it is required to obtain and use IoT terminals at a very low cost. Or, since the data packets transmitted by IoT terminals in some scenarios are very small and not sensitive to latency, it is required to support IoT terminals with low rates. Or, in most cases, IoT terminals are powered by batteries, but at the same time, in many scenarios, IoT terminals are required to be able to work for more than ten years without battery replacement, which requires IoT terminals to work with extremely low power consumption.

[0098] That is to say, MTC has requirements such as enhanced coverage, low cost, low rate, and low power consumption. And a narrower bandwidth is the most direct way to reduce the terminal cost. Therefore, there may be various terminals with different bandwidths in the network. For example, in the 4th generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE) system, there are traditional LTE terminals and narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT); in the NR system, there are enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) terminals and reduced capability (RedCap) terminals.

[0099] In the LTE system, the network side sends the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) separately for traditional LTE terminals and NB-IoT terminals. Although this solution effectively guarantees the performance of NB-IoT terminal initial access, it greatly increases the overhead of the network side public signal. Therefore, in future IoT systems, the ideal goal is still a unified design for wide and narrow bands, that is, the network side sends a set of PBCH for the access of broadband terminals and narrowband terminals.

[0100] However, in the NR system, if a narrowband terminal directly receives the PBCH designed for traditional terminals (such as eMBB terminals), the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal will deteriorate significantly.

[0101] Exemplarily, taking the subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz as an example, Figure 2 the bandwidth occupied by the shown PBCH design is 7.2 megahertz (MHz). If there is a narrowband terminal with a bandwidth of 3 MHz in the system (both the radio frequency and baseband bandwidth are 3 MHz), then this narrowband terminal can only receive part of the PBCH. For example Figure 3 as shown in (a) of Figure 3 , it receives the information on 72 subcarriers (6 RBs, bandwidth 2.16 MHz) at the low-frequency edge occupied by the existing PBCH; or, as Figure 4 shown in (b) of

[0102] See Figure 4 , when a narrowband terminal with a bandwidth of 3 MHz receives 72 subcarriers at the center of the PBCH, the block error rate (BLER) is 1 at any signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) operating point, that is, this narrowband terminal cannot work properly when receiving the information on 72 subcarriers at the center of the PBCH.

[0103] In addition, when a narrowband terminal with a bandwidth of 3 MHz receives 72 subcarriers at the low-frequency edge of the PBCH, at a BLER of 10 -2 , the SNR operating point is 16.0 decibels (dB). However, in fact, a narrowband terminal with a bandwidth of 3 MHz can receive the information on 192 resource elements (REs) on 72 subcarriers at the low-frequency edge (excluding DMRS, it can receive the modulation symbols of the PBCH on 144 REs. When the PBCH uses QPSK modulation, a total of 288 bits of encoded information are received). A traditional terminal can receive the complete PBCH, that is, receive the information on 576 REs occupied by the PBCH (excluding DMRS, it can receive the modulation symbols of the PBCH on 432 REs. When the PBCH uses QPSK modulation, a total of 864 bits of encoded information are received).

[0104] That is to say, compared with the traditional terminal, this narrowband terminal with a bandwidth of 3 MHz loses 1 / 3 of the resources, that is, loses 1 / 3 of the encoded information. From the perspective of resource conversion, the ideal performance difference between the narrowband terminal and the traditional terminal when losing 1 / 3 of the resources should be 4.7 dB. But from Figure 4From the results, the performance difference between the narrowband terminal and the traditional terminal reaches 13.2 dB, that is, the reception performance of the narrowband terminal deteriorates significantly.

[0105] Based on this, the present application provides a communication method. When the RAN node determines the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the length of the coded bit sequence is determined according to the number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry. Therefore, it can be considered that all the information bits of the PBCH can be mapped (or carried) on the first time-frequency resource. And the RAN maps the first M1 symbols of the M symbols of the PBCH to the first time-frequency resource, and maps the remaining M - M1 symbols to the second time-frequency resource. The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource constitute the PBCH time-frequency resource. If the narrowband terminal can receive the information carried on the first time-frequency resource, it can enable the narrowband terminal to obtain relatively complete system information, thereby improving the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal.

[0106] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be used in various communication systems. The communication system can be a third generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a 4G system such as an LTE system, a 5G system such as an NR system, a system of mixed networking of LTE and 5G, a non-terrestrial network (NTN), or other next-generation communication systems, such as a 5.5G system, a sixth generation (6G) system, etc. The communication system can also be a non-3GPP communication system, without limitation.

[0107] Among them, the above-mentioned communication systems applicable to the present application are only illustrative examples. The communication systems applicable to the present application are not limited to this. The communication systems provided by the present application do not impose any limitations on the solutions of the present application. It is hereby uniformly explained and will not be repeated hereinafter.

[0108] Figure 5 To show a possible and non-limiting system schematic diagram. As Figure 5 shown, the communication system 50 includes a radio access network (RAN) 500 and a core network (CN) 600. The RAN 500 includes at least one RAN node (such as Figure 5 510a and 510b in Figure 5 , collectively referred to as 510) and at least one terminal (such as Figure 5 520a - 520j in

[0109] The terminals in the embodiments of the present application may include a first type of terminal and a second type of terminal. Among them, the maximum operating bandwidth / maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal is less than that of the second type of terminal. The second type of terminal may also be referred to as a traditional terminal or a general terminal or a non-capability-reduced terminal or a normal terminal.

[0110] Exemplarily, the maximum operating bandwidth / maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal may be 5 MHz or 3 MHz. Of course, it may also be other bandwidths, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereto. The first type of terminal may include a reduced-capability (RedCap) terminal, an enhanced RedCap (eRedCap) terminal, an NR light terminal, a long range radio (LoRa) terminal, an NB-IoT terminal, a Weightless terminal, a Sigfox terminal, other narrowband IoT terminals, etc. The second type of terminal may be an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) terminal.

[0111] In Figure 5 In the shown communication system, the terminal 520 is connected to the RAN node 510 wirelessly. The RAN node 510 is connected to the core network 600 wirelessly or wiredly. The core network device in the core network 600 and the RAN node 510 in the RAN 500 may be different physical devices respectively, or may be the same physical device integrating the core network logical function and the radio access network logical function.

[0112] The RAN 500 may be a 3GPP-related cellular system. For example, a 4G or 5G mobile communication system, or an evolved system for the future (such as a 6G mobile communication system). The RAN 500 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 500 may also be a communication system integrating two or more of the above systems.

[0113] The RAN node 510, sometimes also referred to as an access network device or an access network apparatus, a RAN entity or an access node, etc., constitutes a part of the communication system to help the terminal achieve wireless access. The multiple RAN nodes 510 in the communication system 10 may be of the same type of node or different types of nodes. In some scenarios, the roles of the RAN node 510 and the terminal 520 are relative. For example, Figure 5The intermediate network element 520i can be a helicopter or a drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminals 520j accessing the RAN 500 through the network element 520i, the network element 520i is a base station; but for the base station 510a, the network element 520i is a terminal. The RAN nodes 510 and the terminals 520 are sometimes both called communication devices, such as Figure 5 The intermediate network elements 510a and 510b can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and the network elements 520a - 520j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions

[0114] In a possible scenario, the RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The RAN node can be a macro base station (such as Figure 5 510a in Figure 5 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 510b in

[0115] ), a relay node or a donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an in - vehicle device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in this application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node in this application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the RAN node functions.In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes cooperate to assist a terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement partial functions of a base station. For example, the RAN node can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0116] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, the CU can also be called an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be called an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be called an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be called an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be called an O-RU. For the convenience of description, in this application, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are used as examples for description. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0117] The terminal can also be called a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. The terminal can be widely applied to various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0118] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiments of this application is for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0119] The following Figure 5 Taking the interaction between a terminal and a RAN node as an example in the communication system shown below, the communication method provided by the embodiments of this application will be described. It should be noted that in the following embodiments of this application, the message names, the names of various parameters, or the names of various information between the terminal and the RAN node are only examples, and in other embodiments, they can also be other names. The method provided by this application does not make specific limitations in this regard.

[0120] It can be understood that in the embodiments of this application, the terminal or the RAN node can execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of this application can also execute other operations or various deformations of the operations. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is possible not to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application.

[0121] It can be understood that in this application, the RAN node and the terminal are used as an example of the execution subject of this interaction schematic, but this application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction schematic. For example, the method executed by the RAN node in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the RAN node (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor), and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the RAN node; the method executed by the terminal in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the terminal (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor), and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0122] Referring to Figure 6 , which is a flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of this application. The communication method may include the following steps:

[0123] S601. The RAN node determines the length N of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the first value E1.

[0124] Among them, the first numerical value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order Q of PBCH, or it can also be understood that the first numerical value E1 is the number of bits carried in the first time-frequency resource. M1 is the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource. The modulation order of PBCH can be understood as the modulation order used when modulating PBCH. For the convenience of description, hereinafter, the modulation order of PBCH is simply referred to as the modulation order. Exemplarily, the modulation order is determined by the modulation method adopted by the RAN node when modulating PBCH, and the modulation method may include QPSK, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), such as 16-QAM, 64-QAM, etc. For example, when the modulation method is QPSK, the modulation order is 2; when the modulation method is 16-QAM, the modulation order is 4.

[0125] Among them, the first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource. The PBCH time-frequency resource consists of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource. The frequency-domain positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. Exemplarily, the PBCH time-frequency resource can be understood as the time-frequency resource occupied by PBCH.

[0126] In a possible implementation manner, the valid RE can be understood as the REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource except for the REs used to map the reference signal. The reference signal is DMRS or the reference signal may include but is not limited to DMRS. At this time, M1 is equal to the total number of REs in the first time-frequency resource minus the number of REs in the first time-frequency resource used to map the reference signal. Or, the valid RE can be understood as the REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource used to map the symbols of PBCH; or, the valid RE can be understood as the REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource except for the REs not used to map the PBCH symbols. The REs not used to map the PBCH symbols may include the REs used to map the reference signal or idle REs (such as REs set to 0).

[0127] It can be understood that the symbol of PBCH refers to the complex symbol obtained after modulating the modulation symbol or bit, or the complex symbol obtained after scrambling and modulating the bit. In the following embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the symbol refers to the modulation symbol or complex symbol.

[0128] It should be noted that the modulation symbol / complex symbol and the OFDM symbol are two different concepts. The modulation symbol / complex symbol carries information, and the OFDM symbol represents the resource in the time domain.

[0129] In a possible implementation, the frequency-domain positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap, which can be understood as: the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap, or the resource blocks (RBs) occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. That the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap can also be understood as: the indexes of the subcarriers included in the first time-frequency resource are different from the indexes of the subcarriers included in the second time-frequency resource.

[0130] In a possible implementation, the union of the OFDM symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbol occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource. Exemplarily, the OFDM symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource may partially overlap or completely overlap. In the case of complete overlap, it can be considered that the OFDM symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource are the same.

[0131] In a possible implementation, the bandwidth of the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth / maximum operating bandwidth of the first type of terminal, that is, the first type of terminal has the ability to receive all the information on the first time-frequency resource. The bandwidth of the PBCH time-frequency resource is greater than the maximum receiving bandwidth / maximum operating bandwidth of the first type of terminal and less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth / maximum operating bandwidth of the second type of terminal. That is, the first type of terminal cannot receive all the information on the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the second type of terminal has the ability to receive all the information on the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0132] In a possible implementation, the first time-frequency resource can be understood as the common PBCH time-frequency resource of the first type of terminal and the second type of terminal, and the second time-frequency resource can be understood as the PBCH time-frequency resource exclusive to the second type of terminal relative to the first type of terminal. Exemplarily, the common PBCH time-frequency resource can be understood as the PBCH time-frequency resource that both the first type of terminal and the second type of terminal can receive. The PBCH time-frequency resource exclusive to the second type of terminal relative to the first type of terminal can be understood as the PBCH time-frequency resource that the second type of terminal can receive but the first type of terminal cannot support or use.

[0133] S602. The RAN node determines the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the length M of the coded bit sequence and the information bit sequence of the PBCH.

[0134] Exemplarily, the information bit sequence includes payload bits (e.g., scrambled payload bits) and cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits. The CRC bits can also be referred to as CRC check bits. The RAN node scrambles the payload bits to obtain the scrambled payload bits. Then, the CRC bits are obtained according to the scrambled payload bits and the CRC generating polynomial of the PBCH. Then, the RAN node can encode the information bit sequence according to the length of the encoded bit sequence to obtain the encoded bit sequence.

[0135] S603. The RAN node determines M symbols of the PBCH according to the encoded bit sequence. M is a positive integer greater than 1. Exemplarily, M is the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the time-frequency resource of the PBCH.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the M symbols of the PBCH can also be referred to as the PBCH symbol set or symbol sequence. The M symbols can be represented as d PBCH (0), d PBCH (1), d PBCH (2), …, d PBCH (M - 1).

[0137] Exemplarily, the RAN node can perform sub-block interleaving on the encoded bit sequence, perform bit selection on the interleaved sequence according to the length of the encoded bit sequence, and then scramble and modulate the output sequence of the bit selection to obtain the M symbols of the PBCH. The detailed implementation of step S603 will be described in subsequent embodiments and will not be elaborated here. Exemplarily, sub-block interleaving and bit selection can be collectively referred to as rate matching.

[0138] S604. The RAN node maps the first M1 symbols of the M symbols of the PBCH to the first time-frequency resource, and maps the remaining M - M1 symbols to the second time-frequency resource. M1 is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0139] In a possible implementation, M1 is the number of valid REs in the first time-frequency resource, M1 = E1 / Q, E1 is a first value, and Q is the modulation order. M - M1 is the number of valid REs in the second time-frequency resource. The first M1 symbols of the PBCH are mapped to the M1 valid REs in the first time-frequency resource, and the remaining M - M1 symbols are mapped to the M - M1 valid REs in the second time-frequency resource.

[0140] Exemplarily, the RAN node can first determine the number of valid REs in the first time-frequency resource as M1. Then, based on the M1, it determines the symbols mapped to the first time-frequency resource, that is, determines that the symbols mapped to the first time-frequency resource are the first M1 symbols of the PBCH.

[0141] In a possible implementation manner, after step S604, the communication method provided by this application further includes the following step S605:

[0142] S605. The RAN node sends the PBCH. Correspondingly, the first type of terminal receives a part of the PBCH, and the second type of terminal receives the PBCH.

[0143] It can be understood that the first type of terminal receives a part of the PBCH on the first time-frequency resource, or in other words, the first type of terminal receives the part of the PBCH carried on the first time-frequency resource. The second type of terminal receives the complete PBCH on the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0144] Optionally, the RAN node sending the PBCH can also be understood as the RAN node sending a radio signal carrying the PBCH. After step S604, the RAN node can sequentially perform digital-to-analog conversion, inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), adding a cyclic prefix (CP), etc. on the symbols carried on all subcarriers of each OFDM symbol of the PBCH time-frequency resource to obtain a radio signal carrying the PBCH.

[0145] Optionally, the first type of terminal receiving a part of the PBCH can also be understood as receiving a radio signal carrying a part of the PBCH, that is, receiving the radio signal on the first time-frequency resource, and this radio signal carries a part of the PBCH; or it can be understood as demodulating a part of the PBCH or detecting a part of the PBCH. The second type of terminal receiving the PBCH can also be understood as receiving a radio signal carrying the PBCH, or demodulating the PBCH or detecting the PBCH.

[0146] As Figure 7 shown, after the first type of terminal receives a part of the PBCH on the first time-frequency resource, the following steps S606a - S609a can be performed; after the second type of terminal receives the PBCH on the PBCH time-frequency resource, the following steps S606b - S609b can be performed:

[0147] S606a. The first type of terminal obtains M1 symbols of the PBCH.

[0148] Among them, the M1 symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, that is, the first type of terminal obtains the M1 symbols mapped on the first time-frequency resource. The first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource, and the frequency-domain positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. The M1 symbols are the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH, and the remaining M - M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH are mapped to the second time-frequency resource. Further, the union of the OFDM symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource. Reference can be made to the relevant description in step S601 above, and details are not repeated here.

[0149] Optionally, the first type of terminal obtaining the M1 symbols mapped on the first time-frequency resource can be understood as: the first type of terminal obtains the M1 symbols from the wireless signal on the first time-frequency resource. For example, the first type of terminal can successively perform down-conversion, analog-to-digital converter (ADC), serial-to-parallel conversion (S->P), fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the time-domain signal carried on each OFDM symbol, etc. on the wireless signal received on the first time-frequency resource to obtain the M1 symbols mapped on the first time-frequency resource.

[0150] As a possible implementation, the first type of terminal does not need to determine M1 before step S606a. The first type of terminal can obtain the M1 symbols of the PBCH because the RAN node maps (or sends) the M1 symbols of the PBCH on the first time-frequency resource. That is, the number of symbols of the PBCH obtained by the first type of terminal is determined by the number of symbols mapped by the RAN node on the first time-frequency resource. After the first type of terminal receives and processes the wireless signal on the first time-frequency resource, it knows the number of symbols of the PBCH it obtains.

[0151] S607a. The first type of terminal determines the length N of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the first value E1.

[0152] Among them, the first value E1 is the product of the number M1 of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q. Reference can be made to the relevant description in step S601. The method for determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the first value E1 will be described in detail in subsequent embodiments, and details are not given here.

[0153] S608a. The first type of terminal determines the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols of the PBCH and the length N of the coded bit sequence.

[0154] Exemplarily, the first type of terminal can demodulate and descramble the M1 symbols to obtain a sequence with a length of a first value E1. Based on the sequence with a length of the first value E1 and the length of the coded bit sequence, a sequence with a length equal to N is obtained. Then, sub-block deinterleaving is performed on the sequence with a length equal to N to obtain the coded bit sequence. The detailed implementation of step S608a will be described in subsequent embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0155] S609a. The first type of terminal determines the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence.

[0156] Exemplarily, the first type of terminal can perform channel decoding on the coded bit sequence to obtain the information bit sequence. The information bit sequence includes scrambled payload bits and CRC bits, which can be referred to the description in step S602. Subsequently, the CRC bits are used to check the scrambled payload bits. After successful verification, the scrambled payload bits are obtained. Subsequently, the first type of terminal descrambles the scrambled payload bits to obtain the payload bits and accesses the network according to the information indicated by the payload bits.

[0157] S606b. The second type of terminal obtains M symbols of the PBCH.

[0158] Among them, the M symbols are mapped to the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the PBCH time-frequency resource consists of a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, and the frequency-domain positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. The first M1 symbols among the M symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, and the remaining M - M1 symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource. Further, the union of the OFDM symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbol occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource. The relevant description in step S601 above can be referred to and will not be elaborated here.

[0159] Optionally, the second type of terminal obtaining the M symbols of the PBCH can be understood as: the second type of terminal obtains the M symbols from the radio signal carrying the PBCH on the PBCH time-frequency resource. For example, the second type of terminal can successively perform down-conversion, ADC, serial-to-parallel conversion, FFT of the time-domain signal carried on each OFDM symbol, etc. on the radio signal received on the PBCH time-frequency resource to obtain the M symbols of the PBCH.

[0160] As a possible implementation, the second type of terminal does not need to determine M and M1 before step S606b. The reason that the second type of terminal can obtain M symbols of the PBCH is that the RAN node maps (or transmits) M symbols of the PBCH in the time-frequency resources of the PBCH. Moreover, since the RAN node maps the first M1 symbols to the first time-frequency resource and the remaining M - M1 symbols to the second time-frequency resource, the second type of terminal obtains M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource and M - M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource.

[0161] Optionally, the second type of terminal can first obtain all the symbols (i.e., M symbols) on the PBCH time-frequency resource, and then, based on the mapping rule (i.e., the first M1 symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource and the remaining M - M1 symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource), according to the M1 symbols obtained on the first time-frequency resource and the M - M1 symbols obtained on the second time-frequency resource, recover the complete M symbols in the same transmission order. For example, the second type of terminal can concatenate (or splice) the M1 symbols obtained on the first time-frequency resource and the M - M1 symbols obtained on the second time-frequency resource to obtain the complete M symbols.

[0162] S607b. The second type of terminal determines the length N of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the first value E1.

[0163] Wherein, the first value E1 is the product of the number M1 of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q. Reference can be made to the relevant description in step S601. The method for determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the first value E1 will be described in detail in subsequent embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0164] S608b. The second type of terminal determines the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols of the PBCH and the length N of the coded bit sequence.

[0165] Exemplarily, the second type of terminal can demodulate and descramble the M symbols to obtain a sequence with a length of the second value E. According to the sequence with a length of the second value E and the length of the coded bit sequence, a sequence with a length equal to N is obtained, and then the sub-block deinterleaving is performed on the sequence with a length equal to N to obtain the coded bit sequence. Wherein, the second value E is the product of the number M of valid resource elements (REs) in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q, that is, M = E / Q. The second value E can be understood as the number of information bits that the PBCH time-frequency resource can carry. The detailed implementation of step S608b will be described in subsequent embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0166] S609b. The second type of terminal determines the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence.

[0167] Exemplarily, the second type of terminal can perform channel decoding on the coded bit sequence to obtain an information bit sequence (including scrambled payload bits and CRC bits), then use the CRC bits to check the scrambled payload bits, and obtain the scrambled payload bits after successful verification. Subsequently, the second type of terminal descrambles the scrambled payload bits to obtain payload bits, and accesses the network according to the information indicated by the payload bits.

[0168] Based on this solution, when the RAN node determines the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the length of the coded bit sequence is determined according to the number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry. The number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry is the first value. The product of the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource and the modulation order can be understood as the number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry. Therefore, it can be considered that all the information bits of the PBCH can be mapped (or carried) on the first time-frequency resource. Thus, when the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, if the narrowband terminal can receive the information carried on the first time-frequency resource, it can enable the narrowband terminal to demodulate the complete system information with a higher probability, improve the reception quality of the PBCH, and further improve the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal.

[0169] Above, the overall process of the communication method provided in this application has been described. Next, the specific implementation of each step in the above method will be introduced in detail.

[0170] In a possible implementation manner, the above first time-frequency resource or the above second time-frequency resource can be understood as two types of time-frequency resources. The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource are continuous in the frequency domain, or rather, the first time-frequency resource includes a plurality of subcarriers that are continuous in the frequency domain. The second time-frequency resource can be understood as the resource in the PBCH time-frequency resource except the first time-frequency resource, that is, the resource in the PBCH time-frequency resource except the first time-frequency resource can be collectively referred to as the second time-frequency resource. The subcarriers occupied by the second time-frequency resource can be continuous or discontinuous, which is not limited.

[0171] As a possible example, the frequency-domain resource of the first time-frequency resource is a partial frequency-domain resource at the low-frequency edge of the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the frequency-domain resource of the second time-frequency resource is the remaining frequency-domain resource of the PBCH time-frequency resource. Taking the time-frequency resource represented as (k, l), where k represents the subcarrier index and l represents the OFDM symbol index as an example, assuming that the PBCH time-frequency resource is as shown in Table 1, that is, the PBCH time-frequency resource is represented as (0 to 239, 1), (0 to 47, 2), (192 to 239, 2), and (0 to 239, 3), then the OFDM symbol numbers and subcarrier numbers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as shown in Table 2. Correspondingly, the schematic diagram of the positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as shown in Figure 8 Figure (a) in. Exemplarily, in the embodiments of the present application, the number can also be referred to as an index or a serial number, and the three can be replaced with each other.

[0172] Table 2

[0173]

[0174] That is, the first time-frequency resource can be represented as (0 to 71, 1), (0 to 47, 2), and (0 to 71, 3), and the second time-frequency resource can be represented as (72 to 239, 1), (192 to 239, 2), and (72 to 239, 3).

[0175] Taking the PBCH time-frequency resource and the position of the DMRS in the PBCH as shown in Table 1 as an example, the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource is 432. Among them, the valid RE refers to the RE other than the RE occupied by the DMRS. If the modulation order Q is 2, for example, the modulation method is quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), then the second value E = 432 × 2 = 864.

[0176] When the first time-frequency resource is represented as (0 to 71, 1), (0 to 47, 2), and (0 to 71, 3) and the position of the DMRS in the PBCH is as shown in Table 1, the number of valid REs in the first time-frequency resource is 144. If the modulation order Q is 2, for example, the modulation method is QPSK, then the first value E1 = 144 × 2 = 288.

[0177] When the second time-frequency resource is represented as (72 to 239, 1), (192 to 239, 2), and (72 to 239, 3) and the position of the DMRS in the PBCH is as shown in Table 1, the number of valid REs in the second time-frequency resource is 288. Taking the modulation order Q = 2 as an example, the number of valid REs in the second time-frequency resource is (E - E1) / 2 = 288.

[0178] As another possible example, the frequency-domain resources of the first time-frequency resource are part of the frequency-domain resources at the high-frequency edge of the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the frequency-domain resources of the second time-frequency resource are the remaining frequency-domain resources of the PBCH time-frequency resource. Assuming that the PBCH time-frequency resource is as shown in Table 1, the OFDM symbol numbers and subcarrier numbers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as shown in Table 3. Correspondingly, the schematic diagrams of the positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as shown in Figure 8 subfigure (b) in

[0179] Table 3

[0180]

[0181] That is, the first time-frequency resource can be expressed as (167-239, 1), (192-239, 2), and (167-239, 3), and the second time-frequency resource can be expressed as (0-166, 1), (0-47, 2), and (0-166, 3).

[0182] The above Table 2 and Table 3 are illustrated by taking the number of subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource as 72 as an example. Of course, the number of subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource can also be other values, such as 144. In the case where the first time-frequency resource occupies 144 subcarriers, taking the PBCH time-frequency resource as shown in Table 1 as an example, there can be three cases of the OFDM symbol numbers and subcarrier numbers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource as shown in Table 4, Table 5, and Table 6.

[0183] Table 4

[0184]

[0185] Table 5

[0186]

[0187]

[0188] Table 6

[0189]

[0190] In the scenarios shown in the above Table 3 - Table 6, the number of valid REs in the first time-frequency resource, the first value E1, the second value E, etc. can all be calculated based on the position of the DMRS in the PBCH shown in Table 1, which will not be elaborated here.

[0191] Regarding the above steps S601, S607a, and S607b, the RAN node or the terminal determines the length N of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the first value E1:

[0192] In a possible implementation, the length N of the encoded bit sequence is 2 n . Herein, n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is a first value E1. That is, calculate the length 2 of the encoded bit sequence n When taking the value of n in, the value of the length of the rate-matched output sequence substituted is equal to the first value.

[0193] Optionally, n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n. Exemplarily, the minimum code rate refers to the minimum code rate of channel coding. The minimum code rate, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n may be predefined by the protocol, or may be preconfigured by the RAN node, and the present application does not make specific limitations thereon.

[0194] Exemplarily, the calculation process of the value of n is as follows:

[0195] 1) If and K / E1 < B, then Otherwise wherein, A and B are constants, for example, A = 9 / 8, B = 9 / 16. K is equal to the length of the information bit sequence of PBCH.

[0196] Taking that the OFDM symbol numbers and subcarrier numbers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as shown in Table 2, the number of valid REs in the first time-frequency resource is 144, the modulation order Q is 2, the first value E1 = 144×2 = 288, A = 9 / 8, B = 9 / 16, the length of the information bit sequence is 56, the information bit sequence includes payload bits and CRC bits, wherein the length of the payload bits is 32 and the length of the CRC bits is 24, that is, K = 56 as an example, then n1 = 8.

[0197] 2) wherein, R min represents the minimum code rate, and the value is a predefined value, for example, the value can be predefined by the protocol or the RAN node. Taking K = 56, R min = 1 / 8 as an example, n2 = 9.

[0198] 3) Determine n max , n min . Herein, n max represents the maximum value of n, n min represents the minimum value of n, and the values are all predefined values, for example, the values can be predefined by the protocol or the RAN node. Exemplarily, n max = 9, n min = 5.

[0199] 4) n = max{min{n1, n2, n max}, n min}. Based on the above example, n = 8, and the length N of the coded bit sequence is 2 8 = 256.

[0200] In a possible implementation, in the above step S603, the RAN node determines M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence, which may include S6031 - S6032:

[0201] S6031. Determine a first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of the first sequence, where the length of the first sequence is a second value E.

[0202] As a possible implementation, the RAN node may perform sub - block interleaving on the coded bit sequence to obtain an interleaved sequence, denoted as y0, y1,..., y N . Then, perform bit selection on the interleaved sequence according to the length of the coded bit sequence to determine the first sequence. Exemplarily, there may be the following two cases when performing bit selection:

[0203] Case 1. The length of the bit selection is a first value E1.

[0204] In this case 1, the RAN node may determine a second sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of the second sequence. Among them, the length of the second sequence is the first value E1, and the second sequence can be understood as the output sequence of the bit selection.

[0205] Exemplarily, when the length E1 of the output sequence of the bit selection is greater than the length N of the coded bit sequence, the second sequence satisfies:

[0206] f sub,i = y mod(i,N) [[ID=]4]

[0207] where, f sub,i represents the i - th element of the second sequence, i = 0, 1,..., E1 - 1, that is, the second sequence can be expressed as [[ID=]38] y mod(i,N) represents the mod(i, N) - th element of the coded bit sequence after sub - block interleaving, and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N. N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

[0208] Since the first value E1 is the number of information bits that the first time - frequency resource can carry, and the first time - frequency resource is a part of the PBCH time - frequency resource, it is necessary to repeat according to the second sequence to obtain a first sequence with a length of e to send the first sequence on the PBCH time - frequency resource. That is, after the RAN node determines the second sequence, the following steps may also be executed:

[0209] Repeat the second sequence times, and obtain the third sequence, where E represents the length of the first sequence, Indicates rounding X upwards;

[0210] Take the first E elements of the third sequence as the first sequence.

[0211] For example, taking the length of the coded bit sequence N=256, the first value E1=288, and the second value E=864 as an example, the above process can be as follows: the 256-bit sequence y0, y1, ..., y after the sub-block interleaving is 255 The first 32 bits are concatenated in the sequence y0,y1,…,y 255 After that, the bit selection output sequence f with a length of 288 is obtained sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,f sub,2 ,…,f sub,287 . Match the rate output sequence f sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,f sub,2 ,…,f sub,287 repeat After that, take the first 864 bits as the first sequence, that is, the first sequence is f sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,…,f sub,287 ,f sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,…,f sub,287 ,f sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,…,f sub,287 .

[0212] Case 2: The length of the bit selection is the second value E. Alternatively, the length of the bit selection output sequence is the second value E.

[0213] In this second case, the bit selection output sequence is the first sequence. Exemplarily, when the length E1 of the bit selection output sequence is greater than the length N of the coded bit sequence, the second sequence satisfies:

[0214] f i =y mod(i,N)

[0215] Among them, f i Represents the i-th element of the first sequence, i = 0, 1, ..., E-1. mod(i,N) It represents the mod(i, N)th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, where mod(i, N) represents the modulus of i over N. N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

[0216] Exemplarily, taking the length N = 256 of the coded bit sequence and the second value E = 864 as an example, based on the above process, the first sequence can be expressed as f0, f1, f2, …, f 863 .

[0217] S6032. Scramble the first sequence, and perform Q-order modulation on the scrambled first sequence to obtain M symbols of the PBCH, where M is the number of valid REs in the time-frequency resource of the PBCH.

[0218] Exemplarily, the modulation order Q = 2. Correspondingly, the modulation method can be QPSK. Of course, it can also be other modulation methods with a modulation order of 2, which is not limited. In addition, the modulation order Q can also have other values, which are not specifically limited in this application.

[0219] In a possible implementation manner, when performing rate matching according to Case 1 in the above step S6031, the M1 symbols mapped to the first time-frequency resource are not necessarily the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH. For example, these M1 symbols can also be M1 symbols obtained by scrambling and modulating any second sequence.

[0220] In a possible implementation manner, in the above step S604, the mapping order of the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH on the first time-frequency resource is the same as the mapping order of the remaining M - M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource. Of course, the mapping order of the M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource and the mapping order of the remaining M - M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource can also be different.

[0221] As a possible implementation, the mapping order of the M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is as follows: first, the subcarrier index is from low to high, and then the OFDM symbol index is from low to high. Exemplarily, taking the schematic diagram of the positions of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource as shown in Figure 8 (a) in it, M1 = 144, M = 432, and the M symbols of the PBCH are represented as d PBCH (0), …, d PBCH (431) as an example, the RAN node maps the first 144 symbols d PBCH (0), …, d PBCH (143) to the valid REs of the first time-frequency resource in the order of first (0~71,1), then (0~47,2), and finally (0~71,3), and maps the remaining 288 symbols d PBCH (144), …, d PBCH (431) to the valid REs in the second time-frequency resource in the order of first (72~239,1), then (192~239,2), and finally (72~239,3).

[0222] As another possible implementation, the mapping order of M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is: first the subcarrier index from high to low, then the OFDM symbol index from high to low; or, first the subcarrier index from low to high, then the OFDM symbol index from high to low; or, first the subcarrier index from high to low, then the OFDM symbol index from low to high.

[0223] Among them, the mapping order of the remaining M-M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource can refer to the mapping order of the M1 symbol on the first time-frequency resource, and will not be repeated here.

[0224] For example, the position diagram of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is as follows: Figure 8 As shown in (a), M1=144, M=432 as an example, when rate matching is performed according to case 1 in step S6031, the sequence corresponding to the symbols mapped on the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as follows Figure 9 When rate matching is performed according to case 2 in step S6031, the sequence corresponding to the symbols mapped on the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource can be as follows: Figure 9 As shown in (b) in .

[0225] See also Figure 9 (a) in the figure, the 256-bit sequence y0,y1,…,y after sub-block interleaving 255 The first 32 bits are concatenated in the sequence y0,y1,…,y 255 After that, the rate matching output sequence f with a length of 288 is obtained sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,f sub,2 ,…,f sub,287 , map the sequence to the first time-frequency resource. Then match the rate to the output sequence f sub,0 ,f sub,1 ,f sub,2 ,…,f sub,287 The data is copied twice and mapped to the second time-frequency resource.

[0226] See also Figure 9 (b) in the example, the rate matching output sequence f0,f1,f2,…,f 863 The first 288 bits are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, and the remaining bits are mapped to the second time-frequency resource.

[0227] In another possible implementation, the RAN node determining the M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence in step S603 may include S603A-S603C:

[0228] S603A. Determine the first sequence based on the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of the first sequence, where the length of the first sequence is the second value E. For the implementation of the above step S6031, reference can be made and will not be elaborated here.

[0229] S603B. Perform bit interleaving on the first sequence.

[0230] In a possible way, bit interleaving can be understood as: swapping the first E1 bits among the E bits of the first sequence to the coded bit numbers or indices corresponding to the first time-frequency resource, and swapping the remaining E - E1 bits to the bit numbers or indices corresponding to the second time-frequency resource.

[0231] Exemplarily, taking the first time-frequency resource as the time-frequency resource at the low-frequency edge of the PBCH time-frequency resource, for example, if the first time-frequency resource occupies 72 subcarriers, then E1 is equal to 288; the coded bit numbers or indices corresponding to the first time-frequency resource are 0 - 107, 360 - 431, and 504 - 611, and the coded bit numbers or indices corresponding to the second time-frequency resource are 108 - 359, 432 - 503, and 612 - 863. Therefore, the RAN node swaps the first 288 bits among the 864 bits of the first sequence to the positions of the bit numbers or indices 0 - 107, 360 - 431, and 504 - 611, and swaps the latter 576 bits of the coded bits to the positions of the bit numbers or indices 108 - , 432 - 503, and 612 - 863.

[0232] S603C. Scramble the first sequence after bit interleaving, and perform Q-order modulation on the scrambled first sequence to obtain M symbols of the PBCH, where M is the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0233] Among them, the first sequence after bit interleaving is the sequence obtained after performing the above step S603B. The first sequence after scrambling is the sequence obtained by scrambling the sequence obtained after performing the above step S603B. For the specific implementation of S603C, reference can be made to the relevant description of the above step S6032 and will not be elaborated here.

[0234] It should be noted that when the RAN node determines M symbols of the PBCH based on the above steps S603A - S603C, the above step S604 can be replaced by:

[0235] S604'. Map the M symbols of the PBCH to the PBCH time-frequency resource in the first order. Among them, the first order is: first the subcarrier index from low to high, and then the OFDM symbol index from low to high.

[0236] That is, the M symbols of the PBCH are represented as dPBCH (0), d PBCH (1), d PBCH (2), …, d PBCH When it is (M - 1), the mapping order of the M symbols d PBCH (0), d PBCH (1), d PBCH (2), …, d PBCH On the first time - frequency resource, the mapping order of (M - 1) is as follows: first, the sub - carrier index increases from low to high, and then the OFDM symbol index increases from low to high.

[0237] Based on this method, after the coded bits are scrambled and modulated, the modulation symbols with high bit weights will be mapped to the time - frequency resources received by the narrow - band terminal, so that the narrow - band terminal has a greater probability of demodulating the complete system information, thereby improving the PBCH reception performance of the narrow - band terminal.

[0238] In a possible implementation manner, in step S608a above, the first - type terminal determines the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols of the PBCH and the length EN of the coded bit sequence, which may include:

[0239] a) Demodulate the M1 symbols to obtain a fourth sequence. The length of the fourth sequence is a first value E1. Exemplarily, the first - type terminal demodulates the M1 symbols according to the modulation method (such as QPSK) adopted by the RAN node. The modulation method can be predefined by the protocol or can be pre - configured by the RAN node, without limitation.

[0240] b) Descramble the fourth sequence to obtain a fifth sequence. The length of the fifth sequence is the first value E1. That is, the first - type terminal receives E1 bits on the first time - frequency resource.

[0241] c) Determine a sixth sequence according to the fifth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence. The length of the sixth sequence is equal to the length N of the coded bit sequence.

[0242] Exemplarily, the sixth sequence can be composed of the first N elements of the fifth sequence, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence. Or, the sixth sequence satisfies:

[0243]

[0244] where y i represents the i - th element of the sixth sequence, i = 0, 1, …, N - 1, represents the mod(i, E1) - th element of the fifth sequence, N represents the length of the coded bit sequence, and mod(i, E1) represents the remainder of i divided by E1.

[0245] d) Perform sub-block deinterleaving on the sixth sequence to obtain an encoded bit sequence, where the length of the encoded bit sequence is N.

[0246] After step d), step S609a may be performed to obtain payload bits and access the network according to the system information indicated by the payload bits. For relevant descriptions in step S609a above, they will not be elaborated here.

[0247] In a possible implementation manner, in the above step S608b, for the second type of terminal to determine the encoded bit sequence according to the M symbols of the PBCH and the length N of the encoded bit sequence, it may include:

[0248] A) Demodulate the M symbols to obtain a seventh sequence. The length of the seventh sequence is a second value E. Exemplarily, the second type of terminal demodulates the M symbols according to the modulation method (such as QPSK) adopted by the RAN node.

[0249] B) Descramble the seventh sequence to obtain an eighth sequence. The length of the eighth sequence is a second value E. That is, the second type of terminal receives E bits on the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0250] C) Determine a ninth sequence according to the eighth sequence and the length of the encoded bit sequence. The length of the ninth sequence is equal to the length N of the encoded bit sequence.

[0251] Exemplarily, the ninth sequence may be composed of the first N elements of the eighth sequence, where N represents the length of the encoded bit sequence. Or, the ninth sequence satisfies:

[0252] y i =f mod(i,E)

[0253] where y i represents the i-th element of the ninth sequence, i = 0, 1,..., N - 1, and f mod(i,E) represents the mod(i, e)-th element of the eighth sequence, N represents the length of the encoded bit sequence, and mod(i, E) represents the remainder of i divided by E.

[0254] D) Perform sub-block deinterleaving on the ninth sequence to obtain an encoded bit sequence.

[0255] After step D), step S609b may be performed to obtain payload bits and access the network according to the system information indicated by the payload bits. For relevant descriptions in step S609b above, they will not be elaborated here.

[0256] Based on the above solution, the RAN node determines the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to the number of information bits that the first time-frequency resource can carry. Therefore, it can be considered that all the information bits of the PBCH can be mapped (or carried) on the first time-frequency resource. Thus, when the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, if the narrowband terminal can receive the information carried on the first time-frequency resource, it can enable the narrowband terminal to demodulate the complete system information with a higher probability, thereby improving the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal. In addition, the PBCH reception performance of the broadband terminal is not lost.

[0257] For example, taking the subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz as an example, and the OFDM symbols and subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource are shown in Table 2. When the BLER is 10 -2 %, the SNR of the second type of terminal receiving the PBCH, the SNR of the first type of terminal receiving the PBCH when the PBCH is designed according to the current NR method, and the SNR of the first type of terminal receiving the PBCH when the PBCH is designed according to the method of this application are shown in Table 7.

[0258] Table 7

[0259]

[0260] It can be seen from Table 7 that when the BLER is 10 -2 %, the SNR operating point of the first type of terminal receiving the PBCH is reduced from 16 dB to 8.7 dB, and the performance is improved by about 7 dB, significantly improving the PBCH reception performance of the narrowband terminal, and the performance of the broadband terminal receiving the PBCH is not lost, realizing the integrated narrowband and broadband PBCH design and reducing the common overhead of the PBCH on the network side.

[0261] The above describes the communication method provided by this application. In addition, this application also provides a communication device for implementing the functions described in the above method embodiments.

[0262] It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the communication device includes the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, combining the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving the hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0263] Embodiments of the present application can divide the communication device into functional modules according to the above method embodiments. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, merely a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0264] Figure 10 FIG. shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 100. The communication device 100 includes a processing module 1001 and a transceiver module 1002. The communication device 100 can be used to implement the functions of the above RAN node or the first type of terminal or the second type of terminal.

[0265] In some embodiments, the communication device 100 may further include a storage module ( Figure 10 not shown in the figure) for storing program instructions and data.

[0266] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1002, which can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to implement the sending and / or receiving functions. The transceiver module 1002 can be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0267] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1002 may include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to execute the receiving and sending steps performed by the RAN node or the first type of terminal or the second type of terminal in the above method embodiments, and / or to support other processes described in this document; the processing module 1001 can be used to execute the processing steps performed by the RAN node or the first type of terminal or the second type of terminal in the above method embodiments, and / or to support other processes described in this document.

[0268] When the communication device 100 is used to implement the functions of the RAN node:

[0269] A processing module 1001 is configured to determine the length of the coded bit sequence of the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) according to a first value E1; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the coded bit sequence according to the length of the coded bit sequence and the information bit sequence of the PBCH; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence; the processing module 1001 is further configured to map the first M1 symbols among the M symbols to a first time-frequency resource, and map the remaining M - M1 symbols to a second time-frequency resource, where M1 is the number of valid Resource Elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource, and M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Among them, the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order. The first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource. The PBCH time-frequency resource consists of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource. The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap.

[0270] Optionally, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence, including: the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine a first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a first sequence, where the length E of the first sequence is the product of the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q; the processing module 1001 is further configured to scramble the first sequence and perform Q-order modulation on the scrambled first sequence to obtain M symbols of the PBCH, where M is the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0271] Optionally, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of the first sequence, including: the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine a second sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a second sequence, where the length of the second sequence is the first value E1; the processing module 1001 is further configured to repeat the second sequence times to obtain a third sequence, where E represents the length of the first sequence, represents rounding up X; the processing module 1001 is further configured to use the first E elements of the third sequence as the first sequence.

[0272] Optionally, the second sequence satisfies:

[0273] f sub,i = y mod(i,N)

[0274] where f sub,i represents the i-th element of the second sequence, i = 0, 1,..., E1 - 1, and y mod(i,N) represents the mod(i, N)-th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence, and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N.

[0275] Optionally, the first sequence satisfies:

[0276] f i = y mod(i,N)

[0277] where f i represents the i-th element of the first sequence, i = 0, 1, …, E - 1, and y mod(i,N) represents the mod(i, N)-th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, N represents the length of the coded bit sequence, and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N.

[0278] Optionally, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to transmit the PBCH.

[0279] When the communication device 100 is used to implement the functions of a first type of terminal, in a possible implementation:

[0280] The processing module 1001 is configured to obtain M1 symbols of the physical broadcast channel PBCH, where M1 is the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to a first value E1, where the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence. Among them, the M1 symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, the first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource, the PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource, and the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. The M1 symbols are the first M1 symbols among the M symbols of the PBCH, and the remaining M - M1 symbols among the M symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource, and M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1.

[0281] Optionally, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence, including: the processing module 1001 is further configured to demodulate the M1 symbols to obtain a fourth sequence; the processing module 1001 is further configured to descramble the fourth sequence to obtain a fifth sequence, where the length of the fifth sequence is the first value E1; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine a sixth sequence according to the fifth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence, where the length of the sixth sequence is equal to the length of the coded bit sequence; and perform sub-block deinterleaving on the sixth sequence to obtain the coded bit sequence.

[0282] Optionally, the sixth sequence is composed of the first N elements of the fifth sequence, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

[0283] Optionally, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to receive the PBCH.

[0284] When the communication device 100 is configured to implement the functions of a second type of terminal, in a possible implementation:

[0285] The processing module 1001 is configured to obtain M symbols of the physical broadcast channel PBCH; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to a first value E1, where the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order, and M1 is the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence. Among them, the M symbols are mapped to the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, and the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. M1 consecutive symbols among the M symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, and the remaining M - M1 symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource, where M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1.

[0286] Optionally, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence, including: the processing module 1001 is further configured to demodulate the M symbols to obtain a seventh sequence; the processing module 1001 is further configured to descramble the seventh sequence to obtain an eighth sequence, where the length E of the eighth sequence is the product of the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q; the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine a ninth sequence according to the eighth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence, where the length of the ninth sequence is equal to the length of the coded bit sequence; the processing module 1001 is further configured to perform sub-block deinterleaving on the ninth sequence to obtain the coded bit sequence.

[0287] Optionally, the ninth sequence is composed of the first N elements of the eighth sequence, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

[0288] Optionally, the transceiver module 1002 is configured to receive the PBCH.

[0289] When the communication device 100 is configured to implement the functions of a RAN node or a first type of terminal or a second type of terminal:

[0290] Optionally, the length of the coded bit sequence is 2 n , and n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is a first value.

[0291] Optionally, n is determined based on the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

[0292] Optionally, the valid REs are the REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource other than those used to map the demodulation reference signal DMRS.

[0293] Optionally, the bandwidth of the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal; the bandwidth of the PBCH time-frequency resource is greater than the maximum receiving bandwidth of the first type of terminal and less than or equal to the maximum receiving bandwidth of the second type of terminal.

[0294] Optionally, the first time-frequency resource is the common PBCH time-frequency resource for the first type of terminal and the second type of terminal, and the second time-frequency resource is the dedicated PBCH time-frequency resource for the second type of terminal relative to the first type of terminal.

[0295] Optionally, the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource are continuous in the frequency domain.

[0296] Optionally, the mapping order of the first M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is the same as the mapping order of the remaining M - M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource.

[0297] Optionally, the mapping order of the first M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is as follows: first, the subcarrier index increases from low to high, and then the time-domain symbol index increases from low to high.

[0298] Optionally, the union of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource.

[0299] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the function descriptions of the corresponding functional modules, and will not be elaborated here.

[0300] In this application, the communication device 100 can be presented in the form of integrating and dividing each functional module. Here, a "module" can refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and a memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0301] In some embodiments, when Figure 10When the communication device 100 in [the context] is a chip or a chip system, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver module 1002 can be implemented through the input / output interface (or communication interface) of the chip or chip system, and the functions / implementation processes of the processing module 1001 can be implemented through the processor (or processing circuit) of the chip or chip system.

[0302] Since the communication device 100 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects it can obtain can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0303] As a possible product form, the first type of terminal, the second type of terminal, or the RAN node described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented using the following: one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, any other suitable circuits, or any combination of circuits capable of performing the various functions described throughout the present application.

[0304] As another possible product form, the first type of terminal, the second type of terminal, or the RAN node described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a general bus architecture. For ease of explanation, refer to Figure 11 , Figure 11 is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device 1100 provided in the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1100 includes a processor 1101 and a transceiver 1102. The communication device 1100 can be a first type of terminal, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device 1100 can be a second type of terminal, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device 1100 can be a RAN node, or a chip or module therein. Figure 11 Only the main components of the communication device 1100 are shown. In addition to the processor 1101 and the transceiver 1102, the communication device may further include a memory 1103 and an input / output device (not shown in the figure).

[0305] Optionally, the processor 1101 is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, and control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process the data of the software programs, so as to implement the methods provided in the above method embodiments. The memory 1103 is mainly used to store software programs and data. The transceiver 1102 may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for the conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and the processing of radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used to receive and transmit radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input / output device, such as a touch screen, a display screen, a keyboard, etc., is mainly used to receive data input by the user and output data to the user.

[0306] Optionally, the processor 1101, the transceiver 1102, and the memory 1103 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0307] After the communication device is powered on, the processor 1101 may read the software program in the memory 1103, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be wirelessly transmitted, after the processor 1101 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted, it outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1101. The processor 1101 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0308] In another implementation, the radio frequency circuit and the antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuit and the antenna may be independent of the communication device and arranged in a remote manner.

[0309] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art can conceive that the above communication device 100 may adopt Figure 11 the form of the communication device 1100 shown.

[0310] As an example, Figure 10 the function / implementation process of the processing module 1001 in Figure 11 can be implemented by the processor 1101 in the communication device 1100 shown calling the computer executable instructions stored in the memory 1103. Figure 10 the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1002 in Figure 11 can be implemented by the transceiver 1102 in the communication device 1100 shown.

[0311] As another possible product form, the first type of terminal or the second type of terminal or the RAN node in this application may adopt Figure 12 the composition structure shown, or include Figure 12 the components shown. Figure 12 FIG. is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device 1200 provided by this application. The communication device 1200 may be the first type of terminal or a chip or system-on-chip in the first type of terminal; or, the communication device 1200 may be the second type of terminal or a chip or system-on-chip in the second type of terminal; or, it may be a RAN node or a module or chip or system-on-chip in the RAN node.

[0312] Such as Figure 12As shown, the communication device 1200 includes at least one processor 1201 and at least one communication interface ( Figure 12 merely exemplary in Figure 12 to include one communication interface 1204 and one processor 1201 as an example for illustration). Optionally, the communication device 1200 may further include a communication bus 1202 and a memory 1203.

[0313] The processor 1201 may be a general - purpose central processing unit (CPU), a general - purpose processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a PLD, or any combination thereof. The processor 1201 may also be other devices with processing functions, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0314] The communication bus 1202 is used to connect different components in the communication device 1200 so that different components can communicate. The communication bus 1202 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. This bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For the sake of representation, Figure 12 only a thick line is used to represent it in the figure, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0315] The communication interface 1204 is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks. Exemplarily, the communication interface 1204 may be a module, a circuit, a transceiver, or any device capable of realizing communication. Optionally, the communication interface 1204 may also be an input - output interface located within the processor 1201 to realize the signal input and signal output of the processor.

[0316] The memory 1203 may be a device with storage functions, used to store instructions and / or data. Among them, the instructions may be computer programs.

[0317] Exemplarily, the memory 1203 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and / or instructions, or a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and / or instructions. It may also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, without limitation.

[0318] It should be noted that the memory 1203 may exist independently of the processor 1201 or may be integrated with the processor 1201. The memory 1203 may be located inside the communication device 1200 or outside the communication device 1200, without limitation. The processor 1201 can be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1203 to implement the methods provided in the following embodiments of the present application.

[0319] As an alternative implementation, the communication device 1200 may further include an output device 1205 and an input device 1206. The output device 1205 communicates with the processor 1201 and can display information in various ways. For example, the output device 1205 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector, etc. The input device 1206 communicates with the processor 1201 and can receive user input in various ways. For example, the input device 1206 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, etc.

[0320] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art can conceive that the Figure 10 shown communication device 100 may adopt the Figure 12 form of the shown communication device 1200.

[0321] [[ID=> Figure 10 The function / implementation process of the processing module 1001 in Figure 12 can be implemented by the processor 1201 in the shown communication device 1200 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1203.​Figure 10 The function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1002 in Figure 12 can be implemented by the communication interface 1204 in the communication device 1200 shown in

[0322] It should be noted that Figure 12 the structure shown does not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal or RAN node. For example, in some other embodiments of the present application, the terminal or RA node may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or split certain components, or have different component arrangements. The components shown in the figure can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0323] In some embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device, which includes a processor for implementing the method in any of the above method embodiments.

[0324] As a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory is used to store necessary computer programs and data. The computer program may include instructions, and the processor may call the instructions stored in the computer program in the memory to instruct the communication device to execute the method in any of the above method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be in the communication device.

[0325] As another possible implementation, the communication device further includes an interface circuit, which is a code / data read / write interface circuit for receiving computer execution instructions (the computer execution instructions are stored in the memory, and may be directly read from the memory or may pass through other devices) and transmitting them to the processor.

[0326] As yet another possible implementation, the communication device further includes a communication interface for communicating with modules outside the communication device.

[0327] It can be understood that the communication device may be a chip or a chip system. When the communication device is a chip system, it may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations in this regard.

[0328] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program or instructions are stored. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the functions in any of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0329] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions in any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0330] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments and will not be elaborated herein.

[0331] It can be understood that the systems, devices, and methods described in this application can also be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections of the devices or units can be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0332] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, that is, they can be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0333] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0334] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired manner (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wirelessly (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more integrated media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state drive (SSD)), etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the computer can include the device described above.

[0335] Although the present application has been described in conjunction with various embodiments, however, in the process of implementing the claimed present application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by viewing the accompanying drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions recited in the claims. Certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0336] Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and their embodiments, it is obvious that various modifications and combinations can be made without departing from the scope of the present application. Accordingly, the present specification and the drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the present application defined by the appended claims, and are considered to have covered any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these changes and modifications.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) according to a first value E1; the first value E1 is the product of M1 and the modulation order of the PBCH, where M1 is the number of valid Resource Elements (REs) in a first time-frequency resource; the first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the PBCH time-frequency resource consists of the first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource, and the subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap; Determining the coded bit sequence according to the length of the coded bit sequence and the information bit sequence of the PBCH; Determining M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence; Mapping the first M1 symbols among the M symbols to the first time-frequency resource, and mapping the remaining M - M1 symbols to the second time-frequency resource, where M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The length of the encoded bit sequence is 2 n , where n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is the first value.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The determining the M symbols of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence includes: Determining a first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a first sequence, where the length E of the first sequence is the product of the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q; Scrambling the first sequence and performing Q-order modulation on the scrambled first sequence to obtain the M symbols of the PBCH, where M is the number of valid REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The determining the first sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a first sequence includes: Determining a second sequence according to the coded bit sequence, the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of a second sequence, where the length of the second sequence is the first value E1; Repeat the second sequence times to obtain a third sequence, where E represents the length of the first sequence, represents rounding up X; Taking the first E elements of the third sequence as the first sequence.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The second sequence satisfies: f sub，i = y mod(i，N) where f sub，i represents the i-th element of the second sequence, i = 0, 1, ..., E1 - 1, and y mod(i，N) represents the mod(i, N)-th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, N represents the length of the coded bit sequence, and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first sequence satisfies: f i = y mod(i，N) where f i represents the i-th element of the first sequence, i = 0, 1, ..., E - 1, and y mod(i，N) represents the mod(i, N)-th element of the coded bit sequence after sub-block interleaving, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence, and mod(i, N) represents the remainder of i divided by N.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The M satisfies: M = E / Q where E represents the length of the first sequence, the M symbols are obtained by scrambling and performing Q-order modulation on the first sequence, and Q represents the modulation order.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The valid REs are the REs in the PBCH time-frequency resource except for the REs used to map the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS).

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The bandwidth of the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to the maximum reception bandwidth of a first type of terminal; the bandwidth of the PBCH time-frequency resource is greater than the maximum reception bandwidth of the first type of terminal and less than or equal to the maximum reception bandwidth of a second type of terminal.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The first time-frequency resource is the common PBCH time-frequency resource of the first type of terminal and the second type of terminal, and the second time-frequency resource is the dedicated PBCH time-frequency resource of the second type of terminal relative to the first type of terminal.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource are continuous in the frequency domain.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that The mapping order of the first M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is the same as the mapping order of the remaining M - M1 symbols on the second time-frequency resource.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The mapping order of the first M1 symbols on the first time-frequency resource is as follows: first, the subcarrier indices are arranged from low to high, and then the time-domain symbol indices are arranged from low to high.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that The union of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource.

16. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Obtaining M1 symbols of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), where the M1 symbols are mapped to a first time-frequency resource. The first time-frequency resource belongs to the PBCH time-frequency resource, and the PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of the first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource. The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. Among them, the M1 symbols are the first M1 symbols of the M symbols of the PBCH, and the remaining M - M1 symbols of the M symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource. M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to a first value E1, where the first value E1 is the product of the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource and the modulation order. Determining the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence. Determining the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The length of the encoded bit sequence is 2 n , where n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is the first value.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 - 18, characterized in that, The determining the coded bit sequence according to the M1 symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence includes: Demodulating the M1 symbols to obtain a fourth sequence. Descrambling the fourth sequence to obtain a fifth sequence, and the length of the fifth sequence is the first value E1. Determining a sixth sequence according to the fifth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence, and the length of the sixth sequence is equal to the length N of the coded bit sequence. Performing sub-block deinterleaving on the sixth sequence to obtain the coded bit sequence.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The sixth sequence is composed of the first N elements of the fifth sequence, and N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

21. The method according to any one of claims 16 - 20, characterized in that, The union of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource.

22. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Obtaining M symbols of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), where the M symbols are mapped to the PBCH time-frequency resource. The PBCH time-frequency resource is composed of a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource. The subcarriers occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap. Among them, M1 consecutive symbols of the M symbols are mapped to the first time-frequency resource, and the remaining M - M1 symbols are mapped to the second time-frequency resource. M and M1 are positive integers greater than 1. Determining the length of the coded bit sequence of the PBCH according to a first value E1, where the first value E1 is the product of the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the first time-frequency resource and the modulation order. Determine the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence; Determine the information bit sequence of the PBCH according to the coded bit sequence.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The length of the coded bit sequence is 2 n , where n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence, and the length of the rate-matched output sequence is the first value.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The n is determined according to the length of the rate-matched output sequence and at least one of the following: the minimum code rate, the length of the information bit sequence of the PBCH, the minimum value of n, or the maximum value of n.

25. The method according to any one of claims 22 - 24, characterized in that, The determining the coded bit sequence according to the M symbols and the length of the coded bit sequence includes: Demodulate the M symbols to obtain a seventh sequence; Descramble the seventh sequence to obtain an eighth sequence, where the length E of the eighth sequence is the product of the number of valid resource elements (REs) in the PBCH time-frequency resource and the modulation order Q; Determine a ninth sequence according to the eighth sequence and the length of the coded bit sequence, where the length of the ninth sequence is equal to the length N of the coded bit sequence; Perform sub-block deinterleaving on the ninth sequence to obtain the coded bit sequence.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein The ninth sequence consists of the first N elements of the eighth sequence, where N represents the length of the coded bit sequence.

27. The method according to any one of claims 22-26, characterized in that, The union of the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols occupied by the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource is the OFDM symbols occupied by the PBCH time-frequency resource.

28. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor; the processor is configured to run a computer program or instruction to cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-15, or to cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 16-21, or to cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 22-27.

29. A chip or chip system, characterized in that, The chip or chip system includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the memory is configured to store a program or instruction. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the method according to any one of claims 1-15 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 16-21 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 22-27 is caused to be executed.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or a program. When the computer instructions or program run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1-15 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 16-21 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 22-27 is caused to be executed.

31. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1-15 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 16-21 is caused to be executed, or the method according to any one of claims 22-27 is caused to be executed.

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