Communication method, terminal, network device, communication system and storage medium

Abstract

The invention relates to a communication method, a terminal, network equipment, a communication system and a storage medium. The communication method comprises: a terminal receiving indication information sent by a network device, the indication information being used for indicating a transmission configuration indication TCI state, the TCI state corresponding to a use time, the use time being a time when the terminal uses the TCI state. Through the embodiment of the invention, the use time of the network equipment and the terminal for the TCI state can be kept consistent, so that the communication efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a communication method, a terminal, a network device, a communication system, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In New Radio (NR), especially in operating frequency range 2, beam-based transmission and reception are required to ensure coverage.

[0003] During beam management, the terminal can perform beam prediction based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model. However, the network device does not know whether the terminal has predicted the optimal beam on the terminal side based on the AI model, resulting in inconsistent usage times between the network device and the terminal based on the transmission configuration indication (TCI) state. Summary of the Invention

[0004] How to make the usage time of network devices and terminals consistent for TCI status is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0005] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a terminal, a network device, a communication system, and a storage medium.

[0006] According to the first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method is proposed, which includes: a terminal receives indication information sent by a network device, the indication information is used to indicate a transmission configuration indication TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time when the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0007] According to the second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method is proposed, which includes: a network device sends indication information to a terminal, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a TCI state, wherein the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time when the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0008] According to the third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal is proposed, comprising: a transceiver module for receiving indication information sent by a network device, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a transmission configuration indication TCI state, wherein the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time during which the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0009] According to the fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a network device is proposed, including: a transceiver module, used to send indication information to a terminal, the indication information is used to indicate a TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time when the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal is proposed, comprising: one or more processors; wherein the processor is configured to execute the communication method of the first aspect.

[0011] According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a network device is proposed, comprising: one or more processors; wherein the processor is configured to execute the communication method of the second aspect.

[0012] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication system is proposed, including a terminal and a network device, wherein the terminal is configured to implement the communication method of the first aspect, and the network device is configured to implement the communication method of the second aspect.

[0013] According to an eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage medium is proposed, wherein the storage medium stores instructions, and is characterized in that when the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0014] According to a ninth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer program is proposed. When the computer program is executed by a communication device, the communication device executes the communication method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0015] Through the embodiment of the present disclosure, the network device sends indication information to the terminal, which is used to indicate the TCI state. The TCI state corresponds to the usage time of the terminal using the TCI state, which can achieve consistency in the usage time of the TCI state between the network device and the terminal, thereby improving communication efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following drawings required for describing the embodiments are introduced. The following drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure and do not impose specific limitations on the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 2 It is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 3A It is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 3B It is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 4A It is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 4B It is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5 It is an interactive schematic diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 6A It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 6B It is a structural diagram of the network device proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 7A It is a structural diagram of the communication device proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 7B It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the chip proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a terminal, a network device, a communication system, and a storage medium.

[0029] In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a communication method, which includes: a terminal receives indication information sent by a network device, the indication information is used to indicate a transmission configuration indication TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time when the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the network device sends indication information to the terminal, which is used to indicate the TCI state. The TCI state corresponds to the usage time of the terminal using the TCI state, which can achieve consistency in the usage time of the TCI state between the network device and the terminal, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0031] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the indication information is also used to indicate the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the indication information sent by the network device to the terminal is used to indicate the TCI state and the usage time corresponding to the TCI state. The terminal can use the usage time indicated by the indication information as the usage time corresponding to the TCI state, so that the network device and the terminal can maintain consistency in the usage time of the TCI state, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0033] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the TCI state includes a first TCI state and / or a second TCI state, the usage time indicated by the indication information includes a first usage time and / or a second usage time, the first TCI state corresponds to the first usage time, the second TCI state corresponds to the second usage time, and the first usage time is less than or equal to the second usage time.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the indication information sent by the network device to the terminal is used to indicate the TCI status and the usage time corresponding to the TCI status. The usage time corresponding to the TCI status may include the first usage time or the second usage time, that is, the TCI status can correspond to different usage times, thereby improving the flexibility of the usage time indication.

[0035] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first TCI state satisfies at least one of the following: the first TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on the media access control element MAC CE; the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are reference signal resources in the first set, and the reference signal resources in the first set are reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement; the first TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence AI model, and the output of the AI model includes the optimal receiving beam or the optimal transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the first TCI state; the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is in a quasi-co-location relationship with at least one reference signal resource in the second set, and the reference signal resources in the second set are reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement.

[0036] In the above embodiment, when the TCI state meets one of the above conditions, the TCI state can correspond to a shorter first usage time, thereby adapting to communication scenarios with shorter usage time and improving communication efficiency.

[0037] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the second TCI state satisfies at least one of the following: the second TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE; the second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE; the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources in the third set, and the reference signal resources in the third set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for measurement to the terminal; the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources other than the fourth set, and the reference signal resources in the fourth set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for measurement to the terminal; the second TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence AI model, and the output of the AI model does not include the optimal receive beam or the optimal transmit beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state; the second TCI state is different from the first TCI state.

[0038] In the above embodiment, when the TCI state satisfies one of the above conditions, the TCI state may correspond to a longer second usage time, thereby adapting to a communication scenario in which the terminal requires a longer usage time.

[0039] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method also includes: the terminal sends first information to the network device, the first information including at least one of the following: the usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; wherein each reference signal resource in the at least one reference signal resource corresponds to a TCI state, and the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource is the usage time of the TCI state corresponding to each reference signal resource.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the terminal reports at least one of the usage time, the number of usage times, and the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource to the network device, which enables the network device and the terminal to maintain consistency in the usage time corresponding to the reference signal resource, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0041] In the above embodiment, the usage time corresponding to the reference signal resource is the usage time corresponding to the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource, which can ensure that the network device and the terminal maintain consistency in the usage time corresponding to the TCI state of the reference signal resource, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0042] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in the beam report reported by the terminal.

[0043] In the above embodiment, the terminal reports at least one of the usage time, the number of usage times, and the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource included in the beam report to the network device, which can enable the network device and the terminal to maintain consistency in the usage time corresponding to the reference signal resources in the beam report, thereby saving communication resources and improving communication efficiency.

[0044] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the usage time corresponding to the first information is one usage time, and the usage time corresponding to the at least one reference signal resource is all the one usage time.

[0045] In the above embodiment, the usage time reported by the terminal is one usage time, and the TCI state corresponding to each reference signal resource corresponds to the single usage time, which can save communication resources.

[0046] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the usage time includes multiple usage times, and the multiple usage times include a third usage time and a fourth usage time; when the reference signal resource belongs to the second set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the third usage time; when the reference signal resource does not belong to the second set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the fourth usage time; the second set is a reference signal resource set configured by the network device for measurement, and the third usage time is less than or equal to the fourth usage time.

[0047] In the above embodiment, the usage time reported by the terminal may include multiple usage times, the reference signal resources belonging to the fifth set correspond to a shorter third usage time, and the reference signal resources not belonging to the fifth set correspond to a longer fourth usage time, which can improve the flexibility of reporting the usage time.

[0048] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the terminal can determine the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to the first TCI state; the terminal does not determine the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to the second TCI state.

[0049] In the above embodiment, when the terminal is known or the terminal is able to determine the receiving beam or transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a shorter usage time, which can improve communication efficiency; when the terminal is unknown to the receiving beam or transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a longer usage time, which can adapt to communication scenarios where the terminal requires a longer usage time.

[0050] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a communication method, where a network device sends indication information to a terminal, where the indication information is used to indicate a TCI state, where the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and where the usage time is the time the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0051] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the indication information is also used to indicate the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0052] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the TCI state includes a first TCI state and / or a second TCI state, the usage time indicated by the indication information includes a first usage time and / or a second usage time, the first TCI state corresponds to the first usage time, the second TCI state corresponds to the second usage time, and the first usage time is less than or equal to the second usage time.

[0053] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the first TCI state satisfies at least one of the following: the first TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on the media access control element MAC CE; the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are reference signal resources in the first set, and the reference signal resources in the first set are reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement; the first TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence AI model, and the output of the AI model includes the optimal receiving beam or the optimal transmitting beam of the terminal corresponding to the first TCI state; the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are in a quasi-co-location relationship with at least one reference signal resource in the second set, and the reference signal resources in the second set are reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement.

[0054] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the second TCI state satisfies at least one of the following: the second TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE; the second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE; the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources in the third set, and the reference signal resources in the third set are reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement; the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources other than the fourth set, and the reference signal resources in the fourth set are reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement; the second TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence AI model, and the output of the AI model does not include the optimal receive beam or the optimal transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the second TCI state; the second TCI state is different from the first TCI state.

[0055] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the method also includes: the network device receives first information sent by the terminal, the first information including at least one of the following: the usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; wherein each reference signal resource in the at least one reference signal resource corresponds to a TCI state, and the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource is the usage time of the TCI state corresponding to each reference signal resource.

[0056] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in the beam report reported by the terminal.

[0057] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in the beam report reported by the terminal.

[0058] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the usage time includes multiple usage times, and the multiple usage times include a third usage time and a fourth usage time; when the reference signal resource belongs to the second set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the third usage time; when the reference signal resource does not belong to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the fourth usage time; the fifth set is a reference signal resource set configured by the network device for measurement, and the third usage time is less than or equal to the fourth usage time.

[0059] In combination with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the terminal can determine the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to the first TCI state; the terminal does not determine the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to the second TCI state.

[0060] In the third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a terminal, including: a transceiver module, used to receive indication information sent by a network device, the indication information is used to indicate a transmission configuration indication TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time when the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0061] In the fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a network device, including: a transceiver module, used to send indication information to a terminal, the indication information is used to indicate a TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time the terminal uses the TCI state.

[0062] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a terminal, comprising: one or more processors; wherein the processor is used to execute the communication method of the first aspect.

[0063] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a network device, comprising: one or more processors; wherein the processor is used to execute the communication method of the second aspect.

[0064] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a communication system, including a terminal and a network device, wherein the terminal is configured to implement the communication method of the first aspect, and the network device is configured to implement the communication method of the second aspect.

[0065] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a storage medium storing instructions, wherein the storage medium is characterized in that when the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0066] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a program product. When the program product is executed by a communication device, the communication device executes the method described in the optional implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0067] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a computer program, which, when executed by a communication device, enables the communication device to execute any one of the above-mentioned communication methods.

[0068] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a chip or a chip system, wherein the chip or chip system includes a processing circuit configured to execute the method described in the optional implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0069] It is understandable that the aforementioned network functions, terminals, communication systems, storage media, program products, computer programs, chips, or chip systems are all used to execute the methods proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved can refer to the beneficial effects of the corresponding methods and will not be repeated here.

[0070] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication method, a terminal, a network device, a communication system, and a storage medium. In some embodiments, the terms communication method, information sending method, information receiving method, etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0071] The embodiments of the present disclosure are not exhaustive and are merely illustrative of some embodiments, and are not intended to be a specific limitation on the scope of protection of the present disclosure. In the absence of contradiction, each step in a certain embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a certain embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily exchanged. In addition, the optional implementation methods in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; in addition, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined. For example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments.

[0072] In each embodiment of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified or provided for by logic, the terms and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form a new embodiment based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0073] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0074] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, elements expressed in the singular, such as "a", "an", "the", "above", "said", "the", "the", etc., may mean "one and only one", or "one or more", "at least one", etc. For example, when using articles such as "a", "an", "the" in English in translation, the noun following the article may be understood as a singular expression or a plural expression.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, “plurality” refers to two or more.

[0076] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one," "one or more," "a plurality of," "multiple," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0077] In some embodiments, descriptions such as "at least one of A and B," "A and / or B," "A in one case, B in another case," or "in response to one case A, in response to another case B" may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed); and in some embodiments, A and B (both A and B are executed). The above is also applicable when there are more branches such as A, B, and C.

[0078] In some embodiments, "A or B" and other descriptions may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed). The above is also applicable when there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc.

[0079] The prefixes such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to distinguish different description objects and do not constitute any restriction on the position, order, priority, quantity or content of the description objects. For the statement of the description object, please refer to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and no unnecessary restriction should be constituted due to the use of prefixes. For example, if the description object is a "field", the ordinal number before the "field" in the "first field" and the "second field" does not limit the position or order between the "fields". "First" and "second" do not limit whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they limit the order of the "first field" and the "second field". For another example, if the description object is a "level", the ordinal number before the "level" in the "first level" and the "second level" does not limit the priority between the "levels". For another example, the number of description objects is not limited by the ordinal number and can be one or more. Taking "first device" as an example, the number of "devices" can be one or more. In addition, the objects modified by different prefixes can be the same or different. For example, if the description object is "device", then the "first device" and the "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different; for another example, if the description object is "information", then the "first information" and the "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their contents can be the same or different.

[0080] In some embodiments, “including A,” “comprising A,” “used to indicate A,” and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

[0081] In some embodiments, terms such as "in response to...", "in response to determining...", "in the case of...", "at the time of...", "when...", "if...", "if...", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0082] In some embodiments, terms such as "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "not less than", "more than", "more than or equal to", "not less than", "higher than", "higher than or equal to", "not less than", and "above" can be replaced with each other, and terms such as "less than", "less than or equal to", "not greater than", "less than", "less than or equal to", "not more than", "lower than", "lower than or equal to", "not higher than", and "below" can be replaced with each other.

[0083] In some embodiments, devices, etc. can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to the names recorded in the embodiments. Terms such as "device", "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", and "subject" can be used interchangeably.

[0084] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as devices included in the network (eg, access network equipment, core network equipment, etc.).

[0085] In some embodiments, the terms "access network device (AN device)", "radio access network device (RAN device)", "base station (BS)", "radio base station" "fixed station", "node", "access point", "transmission point (TP)", "reception point (RP)", "transmission and / or reception point (TRP)" "panel", "antenna panel", "antenna array", "cell", "macro cell", "small cell", "femto cell", "pico cell", "sector", "cell group", "serving cell", "carrier", "component carrier", "bandwidth part (BWP)" and the like may be used interchangeably.

[0086] In some embodiments, the terms "terminal", "terminal device", "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal" "mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0087] In some embodiments, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device can be replaced by a terminal. For example, the various embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to a structure in which the communication between the access network device, the core network device, or the network device and the terminal is replaced by communication between multiple terminals (for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, it is also possible to set the structure in which the terminal has all or part of the functions of the access network device. In addition, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" can also be replaced by terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, uplink channels, downlink channels, etc. can be replaced by side channels, and uplinks, downlinks, etc. can be replaced by side links.

[0088] In some embodiments, the terminal may be replaced by an access network device, a core network device, or a network device. In this case, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device may have a structure that has all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0089] In some embodiments, obtaining data, information, etc. may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the data is obtained.

[0090] In some embodiments, data, information, etc. may be obtained with the user's consent.

[0091] In addition, each element, each row, or each column in the table of the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the combination of any elements, any rows, and any columns can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0092] In NR, especially when the communication band is in frequency range 2, beam-based transmission and reception are required to ensure coverage due to the rapid attenuation of high-frequency channels.

[0093] During beam management, the network device configures a reference signal resource set for beam measurement. The terminal measures the reference signal resources in this reference signal resource set and reports the IDs of some of the stronger reference signal resources, along with the corresponding layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) and / or layer 1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR), to the network device.

[0094] In related technologies, it is assumed that a network device configures a reference signal resource set that includes X reference signal resources, each corresponding to a different transmit beam of the network device. For each reference signal resource, a terminal needs to use all receive beams to measure the reference signal, obtain the beam measurement qualities corresponding to all receive beams, and determine one or more best beam measurement qualities. Therefore, the terminal needs to measure M*N beam pairs. Here, M represents the number of transmit beams of the network device, and N represents the number of receive beams of the terminal.

[0095] In some embodiments, a process for implementing beam prediction based on an AI (Artificial Intelligence) model and / or AI function is provided. An AI function can be considered to be one or more AI models that implement the same function or purpose.

[0096] In some embodiments, the AI model used for beam prediction can be referred to as a beam prediction model. Of course, it can also be referred to as a beam prediction AI model, a prediction AI model, a predicted beam model, etc. This disclosure does not limit the names of such AI models.

[0097] In some embodiments, when the beam prediction model is a spatial prediction, the terminal measures the L1-RSRP of set B (which may also include the beam or beam pair ID) and inputs it into the beam prediction model. The beam prediction model can predict the L1-RSRP of the best beam and / or beam pair in set A, and / or the identifier of the best beam and / or beam pair in set A.

[0098] The relationship between set B and set A can include the following two types:

[0099] The first relationship is that set B is a subset of set A. For example, if set A contains 32 reference signal resources (each reference signal resource corresponds to a beam direction), then set B contains N partial reference signal resources, for example, set B contains 8 reference signal resources out of the 32 reference signal resources, that is, N = 8.

[0100] The second relationship is that set B is a wide beam and set A is a narrow beam. For example, set A contains 32 reference signal resources (each reference signal resource corresponds to a beam direction, and the 32 reference signal resources cover a direction of 120 degrees). And set B contains another Y reference signal resources, for example, Y = 8. These Y reference signal resources also cover a direction of 120 degrees, that is, the beam direction of each reference signal resource in set B covers the beam directions of multiple reference signal resources in set A. It can be understood that the 32 / Y reference signal resources in set A and the one reference signal resource in set B are in a quasi-co-location (QCL) Type D relationship.

[0101] It should be understood that the examples of the first and second relationships described above only describe the transmit beam case. When considering beam pairs consisting of transmit and receive beams, the terminal's receive beams must also be considered. For example, if there are 32 transmit beams and 4 receive beams, then set A consists of 32*4 beam pairs, and set B can consist of 32 beam pairs, 16 beam pairs, and so on.

[0102] If there is no need to monitor the performance of the AI model, assuming that the AI model has been trained in advance, then during the derivation process based on the AI model, the network device only needs to periodically send the reference signal on the reference signal resources in set B (for example, based on the first period). The terminal then measures the L1-RSRP of the reference signal on the reference signal resources in set B and inputs it into the beam prediction model, which can output the L1-RSRP corresponding to the reference signal resources of set A or output the strongest one or more reference signal resource IDs or beam IDs among the 32 reference signal resources in set A.

[0103] If the performance of the AI model needs to be monitored, the network device periodically sends the reference signal of set A on the basis of periodically sending set B (for example, based on the second period, where the second period is greater than the first period). The terminal measures the reference signal on the reference signal resource of set B, inputs the measurement result into the AI model, obtains the predicted beam information, and reports it to the network device; at the same time, the terminal also measures the L1-RSRP of the reference signal on all reference signal resources in set A, and reports the measurement result of set A or the reference signal resource ID corresponding to the best beam in set A obtained based on the measurement result of set A as the beam information obtained by the traditional method to the network device.

[0104] It can be understood that if set B is a subset of set A, it is equivalent to that the terminal only needs to measure all beams or beam pairs of set A.

[0105] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "terminal-side model" and "AI model deployed on the terminal" can be used interchangeably. The terms "network device-side model" and "AI model deployed on the network device" can be used interchangeably.

[0106] In some implementations, when the beam prediction model uses time-domain prediction, the terminal measures the L1-RSRP of set B at a historical time, inputs the measurement into the AI model, and predicts the L1-RSRP of set A at a future time or the ID of the best beam in set A. In addition to the two aforementioned relationships between set B and set A, there is another relationship in which set B and set A are identical.

[0107] If beam prediction is performed based on the AI model, the reference signal at future times may not be sent; that is, beam information can be obtained based on the AI model output and reported to the network device.

[0108] If AI model performance monitoring is performed based on methods described in related technologies, reference signals for future time periods must also be transmitted. The terminal then measures these reference signals and obtains beam information, which is then reported to the network device. Therefore, when monitoring model performance, as with spatial beam prediction, the network device must periodically transmit the transmit beams in Set B and Set A, and the terminal must measure all beams or beam pairs in Set B and Set A.

[0109] The beam prediction method based on the AI model can reduce the number of beams or beam pairs measured by the terminal. For example, the number of beam pairs that the terminal originally needs to measure is M*N (where M is the number of beams transmitted by the network device and N is the number of beams received by the terminal). If the AI model is used, for spatial beam prediction, the terminal only needs to measure a portion of the M*N beam pairs, such as 1 / 8, 1 / 4, etc. of the M*N beam pairs. The beam measurement quality of these beam pairs is then input into the AI model to output the beam information of the M*N beam pairs. For time-domain beam prediction, the terminal can measure the beam quality of beam pairs at historical times and predict the beam information of beam pairs at future times based on the AI model. Of course, the input and output of the AI model can also ignore the beam quality or beam ID of the beam pair and only consider the beam quality or beam ID of the downlink transmit beam, that is, the AI model is based on the downlink beam, not the beam pair.

[0110] For the AI model on the terminal side, if the AI model on the terminal side is trained by the terminal side itself, then in addition to predicting the optimal K (K is a positive integer, and K is less than or equal to M) downlink transmit beams and / or the corresponding Layer 1 reference signal receiving power (L1-RSRP) of the network device, the AI model on the terminal side can also predict the optimal terminal-side receive beam (Rx beam). However, whether the terminal side can predict the optimal terminal-side receive beam (Rx beam) is unknown to the network device. For different receive beams (Tx beam), if the terminal side knows its corresponding Rx beam, then when the network device indicates that a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state corresponds to the reference signal (RS) identity document (ID) corresponding to the Tx beam, the terminal can directly receive based on the known Rx beam. If the terminal does not know its corresponding Rx beam, then when the network device indicates that a TCI state should correspond to the RSID corresponding to the Tx beam, the terminal does not know which Rx beam to use for reception. In this case, the terminal may need a longer time to receive the RS. Specifically, the terminal uses different RX beams to receive the RS and find the optimal RX beam. After finding the optimal RX beam, the terminal then uses the optimal RX beam to receive the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) / Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or other RSs sent by the network device. The difference between the two is that the TCI state has a longer application time.

[0111] Therefore, how to make network devices and terminals determine the same value for the usage time of the TCI state is a technical problem that needs to be solved.

[0112] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication method, in which a network device sends indication information to a terminal, where the indication information is used to indicate a TCI state. The TCI state corresponds to the usage time of the TCI state used by the terminal, so that the network device and the terminal can maintain consistency in the usage time of the TCI state, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0113] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0114] like Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 100 includes a terminal 101 and a network device 102 .

[0115] In some embodiments, the terminal 101 may be a user equipment (UE), and the terminal 101 may include, for example, a mobile phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things device, a car with communication function, a smart car, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, and at least one of a wireless terminal device in a smart home, but is not limited thereto.

[0116] In some embodiments, the network device 102 may be a functional network element in a core network device. The core network device may be a device including a first network element, a second network element, etc., or may be multiple devices or a device group, each including all or part of the first network element, the second network element, etc. The network element may be virtual or physical. The core network may include, for example, at least one of an evolved packet core (EPC), a 5G core network (5GCN), and a next generation core (NGC).

[0117] In some embodiments, the network device 102 may include at least one of an access network device and a core network device.

[0118] In some embodiments, the access network device is, for example, a node or device that accesses a terminal to a wireless network. The access network device may include an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation evolved NodeB (ng-eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a node B (NB), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved nodeB (HeNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base band unit (BBU), a mobile switching center, a base station in a 6G communication system, an open base station (Open RAN), a cloud base station (CloudRAN), a base station in other communication systems, and at least one of an access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

[0119] In some embodiments, the technical solution of the present disclosure can be applied to the Open RAN architecture. In this case, the interfaces between or within the access network devices involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be transformed into internal interfaces of the Open RAN, and the processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be implemented through software or programs.

[0120] In some embodiments, the access network device can be composed of a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), where the CU can also be called a control unit. The CU-DU structure can be used to split the protocol layer of the access network device, with the functions of some protocol layers centrally controlled by the CU, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers distributed in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU, but is not limited to this.

[0121] In some embodiments, a core network device may be a device including one or more network elements, or may be multiple devices or device groups, each including all or part of the one or more network elements. The network element may be virtual or physical. The core network may include, for example, at least one of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a 5G Core Network (5GCN), and a Next Generation Core (NGC).

[0122] It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0123] The following embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to Figure 1 The communication system 100, or a portion thereof, is shown but is not limited thereto. Figure 1 The entities shown in C are examples. The communication system may include Figure 1 All or part of the subject, and may also include Figure 1 The number and form of other subjects are arbitrary, each subject can be physical or virtual, the connection relationship between the subjects is illustrative, the subjects can be connected or disconnected, and the connection can be in any way, which can be direct or indirect, wired or wireless.

[0124] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), future radio access (FRA), new radio access technology (RAT), new radio (NR), new radio access (NX), future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, Device-to-Device (D2D) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), systems utilizing other communication methods, and next-generation systems based on and extending these methods. Furthermore, multiple systems may be combined (for example, a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G).

[0125] Figure 2 FIG. 1 is an interactive diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 As shown, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0126] Step S2101: The network device sends instruction information to the terminal.

[0127] In some embodiments, the terminal receives indication information sent by the network device.

[0128] In some embodiments, the indication information is used to indicate a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state.

[0129] In some embodiments, the indication information is used to indicate one or more TCI states.

[0130] In some embodiments, the TCI state includes at least one of a unified TCI state, a joint TCI state, a downlink (DL) TCI state, and an uplink (UL) TCI state.

[0131] In some embodiments, the TCI status may indicate a reference signal resource identifier corresponding to at least one of quasi co-location (QCL) types A, B, C, and D. QCL Type A, Type B, Type C, and Type D correspond to the following parameters, respectively.

[0132] -'TypeA': {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}

[0133] -'TypeB':{Doppler shift,Doppler spread}

[0134] -'TypeC':{Doppler shift,average delay}

[0135] -'TypeD': {SpatialRx parameter}

[0136] In some embodiments, the TCI status corresponds to the application time, that is, the TCI status has a corresponding relationship with the application time.

[0137] In some embodiments, the usage time may also be referred to as the adoption time or the application time.

[0138] In some embodiments, the usage time refers to the time during which the terminal uses (or adopts) the TCI state.

[0139] In some embodiments, the correspondence between the TCI status and the usage time may be pre-specified in the protocol.

[0140] In some embodiments, the indication information is used to indicate the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0141] In some embodiments, the indication information is used to indicate one or more TCI states and the usage time corresponding to the one or more TCI states respectively.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the indication information sent by the network device to the terminal can indicate the TCI status and its corresponding usage time. The terminal can use the usage time indicated by the indication information as the usage time of the TCI status, thereby achieving consistency in the usage time corresponding to the TCI status between the network device and the terminal.

[0143] In some embodiments, the usage time indicated by the indication information may include one or more usage times.

[0144] In some embodiments, the usage time indicated by the indication information may include a first usage time and / or a second usage time, wherein the first usage time is less than or equal to the second usage time. For example, the usage time indicated by the indication information may include the first usage time, that is, the usage time corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the indication information is the first usage time. For example, the usage time indicated by the indication information may include the second usage time, that is, the usage time corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the indication information is the second usage time. For example, the usage time indicated by the indication information may include the first usage time and the second usage time, that is, the usage time corresponding to a part of the TCI state in the TCI state indicated by the indication information is the first usage time, and the usage time corresponding to another part of the TCI state is the second usage time.

[0145] In some embodiments, the indication information may include at least one of Radio Resource Control (RRC), Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) and Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0146] In some embodiments, the first usage time is shorter and the second usage time is longer.

[0147] In some embodiments, specific values or specific intervals of the first usage time and the second usage time may be configured by the network device or agreed upon by a protocol.

[0148] In some embodiments, the TCI state may include a first TCI state and / or a second TCI state.

[0149] In some embodiments, the TCI state corresponding to the first usage time may be referred to as a first TCI state, and the TCI state corresponding to the second usage time may be referred to as a second TCI state.

[0150] In some embodiments, the first TCI state may correspond to the receiving beam or transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the known TCI state of the terminal. That is, if the terminal knows (or has obtained or determined or can obtain or can determine) the receiving beam or transmitting beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, then the TCI state corresponds to the first TCI state, and the TCI state corresponds to the first usage time. Among them, the terminal can determine the receiving beam or transmitting beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, which means that the terminal has the ability to determine the above-mentioned receiving beam or transmitting beam. Whether the current terminal has determined the above-mentioned receiving beam or transmitting beam is not limited in this disclosure.

[0151] In some embodiments, the terminal determines a first beam to be used by the terminal, where the first beam is the beam corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the indication information, and the TCI state includes the first TCI state. The terminal determining the first beam to be used by the terminal can be understood as the terminal knowing (or having obtained or determined) the receive beam or transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device.

[0152] In some embodiments, the first beam is the (best) receive beam or transmit beam of the terminal.

[0153] In some embodiments, the second TCI state may correspond to a terminal-side receive beam or transmit beam corresponding to a terminal-side TCI state that is unknown to the terminal. That is, if the terminal does not know (or has not obtained or determined) the receive beam or transmit beam corresponding to the terminal-side TCI state indicated by the network device, then the TCI state corresponds to the second TCI state, and the TCI state corresponds to the second usage time. The terminal not knowing the receive beam or transmit beam may mean that the terminal currently does not know the receive beam or transmit beam.

[0154] In some embodiments, the terminal has not determined a second beam to be used by the terminal, where the second beam is the beam corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the indication information, and the TCI state includes the second TCI state. The fact that the terminal has not determined the second beam to be used by the terminal can be understood as the terminal knowing (or having obtained or determined) the terminal-side receive beam or transmit beam corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device.

[0155] In some embodiments, the second beam is the (best) receive beam or transmit beam of the terminal.

[0156] In some embodiments, when the terminal knows the (optimal) receive beam or transmit beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a shorter first usage time. Subsequent measurements are not required at the terminal, and the terminal can communicate based on the known (optimal) receive beam or transmit beam on the terminal side, so the usage time corresponding to the TCI state is shorter. Optionally, the beam can be referred to as at least one of beam, QCL Type D, spatial relation information, spatial Rx parameter, receive filter, transmit filter, and spatial setting.

[0157] In some embodiments, if the terminal does not know the (optimal) receive beam or transmit beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state, the TCI state corresponds to a longer second usage time. In this case, the terminal needs to measure and obtain the (optimal) receive beam or transmit beam on the terminal side for communication, so the usage time corresponding to the TCI state is longer.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first TCI state corresponding to the first usage time satisfies at least one of the following:

[0159] A. The first TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE.

[0160] B. The reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are reference signal resources in the first set. The reference signal resources in the first set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement.

[0161] C. The first TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and the output of the AI model includes the optimal receiving beam or the optimal transmitting beam of the terminal (or terminal side) corresponding to the TCI state.

[0162] D. The reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state has a QCLType D relationship with at least one reference signal resource in the second set, and the reference signal resources in the second set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement.

[0163] In some embodiments, the first set and the second set may be the same or different.

[0164] In some embodiments, the first TCI state may be a TCI state activated by the network device based on a MAC CE, and the terminal may track and record the best receive beam (Rx beam) and / or best transmit beam (Tx beam) on the terminal side corresponding to the first TCI state.

[0165] In some embodiments, the first TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, and the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are reference signal resources in the first set. The reference signal resources in the first set may be reference signal resources configured by the network device for measurement to the terminal. The first set may be the aforementioned set B, or greater than set B. The reference signal resources in the first set may be reference signal resources required for AI model input on the terminal side. That is to say, before performing AI model derivation (application), the terminal has measured the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state and obtained the corresponding optimal receive beam and / or optimal transmit beam on the terminal side.

[0166] In some embodiments, the first TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, and the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is a reference signal resource in the second set, and the terminal measures the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state, but fails to obtain the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to it, and the model can derive the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to it. That is to say, before the AI model is deduced (applied), the terminal has measured the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state. Although the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to it is not obtained, the model can derive the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the first TCI state.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, and the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are not reference signal resources in the first set, but the terminal obtains the terminal-side optimal receive beam or optimal transmit beam corresponding to the first TCI state based on AI model derivation. In other words, the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state can be reference signal resources obtained based on the AI model derivation output, that is, the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state can be reference signal resources in the aforementioned set A, and the terminal can obtain the terminal-side optimal receive beam or optimal transmit beam corresponding to the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state based on AI model derivation.

[0168] In some embodiments, the first TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, and the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is not the reference signal resource in the first set, but the reference signal resource in set A (which can be called the sixth set), but the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is in a QCL relationship with a certain reference signal resource in the first set, that is, the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is the same as the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to a certain reference signal resource in the first set. Since the terminal knows the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the reference signal resources in the first set, it is equivalent to the terminal also knowing the best receiving beam and / or best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state.

[0169] In some embodiments, the second TCI state corresponding to the second usage time satisfies at least one of the following: A, B, C, D, E, and F:

[0170] A. The second TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE.

[0171] B. The second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE.

[0172] C. The reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources in the third set. The reference signal resources in the third set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement.

[0173] D. The reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources outside the fourth set. The reference signal resources in the fourth set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement.

[0174] E. The second TCI state is the TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and the output of the AI model does not include the optimal receive beam or transmit beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state.

[0175] F. The second TCI state is a TCI state other than the first TCI state (or, the second TCI state is different from the first TCI state).

[0176] In some embodiments, the third set and the fourth set may be the same or different.

[0177] In some embodiments, any two sets among the first set, the second set, the third set, and the fourth set may be the same or different.

[0178] In some embodiments, the second TCI state may be a TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, but the terminal does not track and record the best receiving beam or the best transmitting beam on the terminal side corresponding to the second TCI state.

[0179] In some embodiments, the second TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, and the reference signal resource corresponding to the second TCI state is a reference signal resource in the third set, and the terminal measures the reference signal resource corresponding to the second TCI state but fails to obtain the corresponding optimal receiving beam or optimal transmitting beam on the terminal side. For example, the terminal obtains the L1-RSRP corresponding to the reference signal resource in the third set as a model input based on other receiving beam assumptions. For example, the terminal is based on a fixed receiving beam, or a random receiving beam, or based on the optimal receiving beam corresponding to the last measurement obtained in the last measurement. In other words, the terminal does not use all receiving beams to perform measurements on each reference signal resource in the third set to find the optimal receiving beam for each reference signal resource.

[0180] In some embodiments, the second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE, and the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are not reference signal resources in the fourth set, but reference signal resources in set A (which may be referred to as the sixth set). However, the model on the terminal side cannot derive the optimal receive beam and / or optimal transmit beam on the terminal side corresponding to the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state. In other words, the model on the terminal side only derives the reference signal resources corresponding to the optimal transmit beam on the network device side.

[0181] In some embodiments, the second TCI state may be any TCI state other than the first TCI state.

[0182] Step S2102: The terminal determines the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0183] In some embodiments, the terminal may determine the usage time corresponding to the TCI state based on the indication information.

[0184] In some embodiments, the indication information indicates the usage time corresponding to the TCI state, and the terminal can directly use the usage time indicated by the indication information as the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0185] In some embodiments, the indication information may indicate the type of the TCI status, and there is a correspondence between the type of the TCI status and the usage time. The terminal may determine the usage time corresponding to the TCI status based on the indication information and the correspondence. For example, if the indication information indicates that the type of the TCI status is the first type, then based on the correspondence between the type of the TCI status and the usage time, the usage time corresponding to the first type is determined as the first usage time.

[0186] In some embodiments, when the terminal knows the (optimal) receiving beam or transmitting beam of the terminal (or terminal side) corresponding to the TCI state, the terminal can determine that the TCI state corresponds to the first usage time.

[0187] In some embodiments, when the terminal is unknown about the (best) receiving beam or transmitting beam of the terminal (or terminal side) corresponding to the TCI state, the terminal may determine that the TCI state corresponds to the second usage time.

[0188] In some embodiments, the terminal may determine the adoption time corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device based on the correspondence between the TCI state and the adoption time. The correspondence between the TCI state and the adoption time may be specified by the protocol or indicated by the network device.

[0189] In some embodiments, step S2102 is optional and may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0190] Step S2103: The terminal sends first information to the network device.

[0191] In some embodiments, the network device receives first information sent by the terminal.

[0192] In some embodiments, the first information includes at least one of the following: a usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; a number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; and a number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource.

[0193] For example, the terminal may send the usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource to the network device.

[0194] For example, the terminal may send the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource to the network device, and the network device may determine the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource based on the correspondence between the preset number of usage times and the time value.

[0195] For example, the terminal may send the number of the usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource to the network device, that is, the terminal may report the number of the usage time corresponding to the reference signal resource to the network device. The network device may determine the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource based on a pre-set correspondence between the usage time number and the time value.

[0196] In some embodiments, a network device sends indication information to a terminal, where the indication information indicates a TCI state. The terminal may determine a use time corresponding to the TCI state and send the use time, the number of use times, or the number of use times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource to the network device. The at least one reference signal resource sent by the terminal to the network device corresponds to the TCI state in the indication information sent by the network device.

[0197] In some embodiments, the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource sent by the terminal to the network device may be the usage time corresponding to the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource. That is, the usage time corresponding to a reference signal resource is the same as the usage time corresponding to the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource.

[0198] In some embodiments, the at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in a beam report reported by the terminal.

[0199] In some embodiments, the beam report may include at least one of a reference signal resource identifier, L1-RSRP, and L1-SINR.

[0200] In some embodiments, when the terminal reports a beam report to the network device, the beam report may include at least the usage time corresponding to the reference signal resource or the number of usage times or the number of usage times.

[0201] In some embodiments, when a terminal reports an AI function or AI model supported by the terminal to a network device, the terminal may report the usage time, the number of usage times, or the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource output by the AI function or AI model. Optionally, the terminal may report the AI function or AI model supported by the terminal based on UE capability signaling.

[0202] In some embodiments, the usage time sent by the terminal to the network device can be a single usage time, that is, the number of usage times can be 1, that is, the usage time includes one usage time, that is, the usage time corresponding to the first information is one usage time. At this time, the TCI state corresponding to each reported reference signal resource corresponds to the usage time. Among them, each reported reference signal resource can be a reference signal resource included in the beam report, or a reference signal resource output by an AI function or AI model. For example, a beam report may include one or more reference signal resources, but only includes one usage time. That is, the usage time corresponding to one or more reference signal resources included in the beam report is the same.

[0203] In some embodiments, the usage time sent by the terminal to the network device may include multiple usage times, that is, the number of usage times may be greater than or equal to 2, that is, the usage time corresponding to the first information includes multiple usage times. The multiple usage times may include a third usage time and a fourth usage time, wherein the third usage time is less than or equal to the fourth usage time. For example, a beam report may include one or more reference signal resources and multiple usage times. That is, the usage times corresponding to the one or more reference signal resources included in the beam report may be different. Optionally, each reference signal resource in the beam report corresponds to a corresponding reported usage time, but the usage times corresponding to different reference signal resources may be the same or different; or the number of reference signal resources in the beam report is greater than the number of reported usage times, for example, a part of the reference signal resources corresponds to the third usage time, and another part of the reference signal resources corresponds to the fourth usage time.

[0204] In some embodiments, the third usage time may be the same as or different from the first usage time. The fourth usage time may be the same as or different from the second usage time.

[0205] In some embodiments, when a reference signal resource belongs to a fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to a third usage time; when a reference signal resource does not belong to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to a fourth usage time. The fifth set is a set of reference signal resources configured by the network device for measurement. For example, the fifth set may be the aforementioned set B, or may be larger than the aforementioned set B.

[0206] In some embodiments, the fifth set may be the same as or different from any one of the first set, the second set, the third set, and the fourth set.

[0207] For example, the terminal reports two usage times to the network device, or the number of usage times reported by the terminal to the terminal is 2. Then, there are two types of usage times corresponding to the reference signal resources corresponding to the optimal transmit beam of the network device derived based on the AI model, or there are two types of usage times corresponding to the reference signal resources included in the beam report: the reference signal resources in the fifth set are one usage time, that is, the terminal obtains the optimal receive beam or the optimal transmit beam on the terminal side through measurement; the reference signal resources not in the fifth set are another usage time, that is, the terminal does not obtain the optimal receive beam or the optimal transmit beam on the terminal side.

[0208] In some embodiments, when the terminal reports two usage times to the network device, or the number of usage times reported by the terminal to the network device is 2, the network device can determine which usage time the reference signal resource corresponds to based on whether the reference signal resource is in the fifth set.

[0209] In some embodiments, the time value corresponding to the usage time of each of the above TCI states can be configured by the network or agreed upon by the protocol.

[0210] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure enables the network device and the terminal to maintain consistency in the usage time of the TCI state, thereby ensuring that the network device and the terminal can update the TCI state at the same time.

[0211] The communication method involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S2101 to S2103. For example, step S2101 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, step S2102 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, step S2103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, steps S2101+S2102 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, steps S2102+S2103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and steps S2101+S2103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0212] In some embodiments, steps S2102 and S2103 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0213] In some embodiments, steps S2101 and S2102 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0214] In some embodiments, step S2102 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0215] In some embodiments, see Figure 2Other optional implementations recorded before or after the corresponding description.

[0216] In some embodiments, the terms "reference signal resource," "beam," and "beam pair" may be used interchangeably.

[0217] In some embodiments, the names of information, etc. are not limited to the names described in the embodiments, and terms such as "information", "message", "signal", "signaling", "report", "configuration", "indication", "instruction", "command", "channel", "parameter", "domain", "field", "symbol", "symbol", "codeword", "codebook", "codeword", "codepoint", "bit", "data", "program", and "chip" can be used interchangeably.

[0218] In some embodiments, terms such as "moment", "time point", "time", and "time position" can be replaced with each other, and terms such as "duration", "period", "time window", "window", and "time" can be replaced with each other.

[0219] In some embodiments, "obtain", "get", "get", "receive", "transmit", "bidirectional transmission", "send and / or receive" can be interchangeable, and can be interpreted as receiving from other entities, obtaining from protocols, obtaining from higher layers, obtaining by self-processing, autonomous implementation, etc.

[0220] In some embodiments, terms such as "send", "transmit", "report", "download", "transmit", "bidirectional transmission", "send and / or receive" can be used interchangeably.

[0221] In some embodiments, terms such as "certain", "preset", "preset", "setting", "indicated", "a certain", "any", and "first" can be interchangeable. "Specific A", "preset A", "preset A", "setting A", "indicated A", "a certain A", "any A", and "first A" can be interpreted as A pre-specified in a protocol, etc., or as A obtained through setting, configuration, or indication, etc., or as specific A, a certain A, any A, or first A, etc., but not limited to this.

[0222] In some embodiments, the determination or judgment can be performed by a value represented by 1 bit (0 or 1), or by a true or false value (Boolean value (bool)) represented by true (true) or false (false), or by comparison of numerical values (for example, comparison with a predetermined value), but is not limited thereto.

[0223] In some embodiments, "not expecting to receive" can be interpreted as not receiving on time domain resources and / or frequency domain resources, or as not performing subsequent processing on the data after receiving it; "not expecting to send" can be interpreted as not sending, or as sending but not expecting the recipient to respond to the content sent.

[0224] Figure 3A FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3A As shown, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0225] Step S3101, obtain instruction information.

[0226] Optional implementations of step S3101 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2101, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0227] In some embodiments, the terminal receives indication information sent by the network device, but is not limited thereto, and may also receive indication information sent by other entities.

[0228] Step S3102: Determine the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0229] Optional implementations of step S3102 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2102, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0230] In some embodiments, the terminal determines the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0231] Step S3103, sending the first information.

[0232] Optional implementations of step S3103 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2103, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0233] In some embodiments, the terminal sends first information to the network device.

[0234] The communication method involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S3101 to S3103. For example, step S3101 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, step S3102 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, step S3103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, steps S3101+S3102 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, steps S3102+S3103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and steps S3101+S3103 can be implemented as an independent embodiment, but are not limited thereto.

[0235] In some embodiments, steps S3101 and S3102 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0236] In some embodiments, steps S3102 and S3103 are optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0237] In some embodiments, step S3102 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0238] Figure 3B FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3B As shown, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0239] Step S3201, obtain instruction information.

[0240] Optional implementations of step S3201 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2101, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0241] In some embodiments, the terminal receives first information sent by the network device.

[0242] Figure 4A FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4A As shown, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0243] Step S4101, sending instruction information.

[0244] Optional implementations of step S4101 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2101, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0245] In some embodiments, the network device sends indication information to the terminal.

[0246] Step S4102, obtaining first information.

[0247] Optional implementations of step S4102 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2103, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0248] In some embodiments, the network device receives first information sent by the terminal.

[0249] The communication method involved in the embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of steps S4101 to S4102. For example, step S4101 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, and step S4102 may be implemented as an independent embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0250] In some embodiments, step S4102 is optional, and one or more of these steps may be omitted or replaced in different embodiments.

[0251] Figure 4B FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4B As shown, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0252] Step S4201, sending instruction information.

[0253] Optional implementations of step S4201 can be found in Figure 2 Optional implementation of step S2101, and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved will not be described in detail here.

[0254] In some embodiments, the network device sends indication information to the terminal.

[0255] Figure 5 FIG. 1 is an interactive diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, which includes:

[0256] Step S5101: The network device sends instruction information to the terminal.

[0257] Optional implementations of step S5101 can be found in Figure 2 Step S2101 of FIG. 3 , step S3101 of FIG. 4 , and Figure 2 Other related parts in the embodiments involved in Figures 3 and 4 will not be repeated here.

[0258] In some embodiments, the above method may include the methods of the above embodiments of the communication system side, terminal side, network device side, etc., which will not be repeated here.

[0259] The embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a communication method to make the usage time of the TCI status determined by the network device and the terminal consistent, thereby ensuring that the network device and the terminal can update the TCI status at the same time.

[0260] In some embodiments, the terminal receives indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate the TCI status.

[0261] In some embodiments, the TCI state includes at least one of a unified TCI state, a joint TCI state, a downlink TCI state, and an uplink TCI state.

[0262] In some embodiments, the TCI state may indicate a reference signal resource identifier corresponding to at least one of QCL TypeA, TypeB, TypeC, and TypeD.

[0263] In some embodiments, the terminal determines a TCI state usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0264] In some embodiments, the indication information further indicates the TCI state type or directly indicates the TCI state usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0265] In some embodiments, the TCI state type and the TCI state usage time have a corresponding relationship, and the corresponding relationship is determined based on a preset protocol rule.

[0266] In some embodiments, the indication information may directly indicate the bit information corresponding to the TCI state usage time.

[0267] In some embodiments, the first type (also referred to as the first TCI state type) corresponds to the first TCI state usage time (also referred to as the first usage time), and the second type (also referred to as the second TCI state type) corresponds to the second TCI state usage time (also referred to as the second usage time).

[0268] In some embodiments, the first TCI state is used for a shorter time, and the second TCI state is used for a longer time.

[0269] In some embodiments, the indication information may include at least one of RRC, MAC CE and DCI.

[0270] In some embodiments, the first type is a terminal-side transmit beam (Rx beam) or receive beam (Tx beam) corresponding to the TCI state known to the terminal.

[0271] In some embodiments, the TCI state belonging to the first type may satisfy at least one of the following.

[0272] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state that has been activated by the network side based on the MAC CE, and the terminal will track and record the corresponding best Rx beam or Tx beam on the terminal side.

[0273] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network based on the MAC CE, but is a TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resources required for the terminal-side model input (e.g., the reference signal resources in set B). That is, before model derivation, the terminal side has measured the reference signal resources corresponding to the TCI state and obtained the corresponding terminal-side optimal Rx beam or Tx beam.

[0274] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network based on the MAC CE, but is a TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resources required for the terminal-side model input (e.g., reference signal resources in set B). That is, before model derivation, the terminal side has measured the reference signal resources corresponding to the TCI state, but has not obtained the corresponding terminal-side optimal Rx beam or Tx beam. However, the model can derive the terminal-side optimal Rx beam or Tx beam corresponding to the reference signal resources.

[0275] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated based on the MAC CE on the network side. It is not the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resources required for the terminal side model input (for example, the reference signal resources in set B), but the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set (for example, set A) corresponding to the terminal side model output, that is, the model can derive the terminal side optimal Rx beam or Tx beam corresponding to the reference signal resource.

[0276] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated based on the MAC CE on the network side. It is not the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource required for the terminal side model input (for example, the reference signal resource in set B), but the reference signal resource in the reference signal resource set (for example, set A) corresponding to the terminal side model output, but the reference signal resource is in a QCL relationship with a reference signal resource in set B, that is, the same as the Rx beam corresponding to a reference signal resource in set B, and the Rx beam corresponding to the reference signal resource in set B has been known by the measurement terminal.

[0277] In some embodiments, the second type is an Rx beam or Tx beam on the terminal side corresponding to the TCI state that the terminal is unknown to.

[0278] In some embodiments, the TCI state belonging to the second type may satisfy at least one of the following.

[0279] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state that has been activated on the network side based on the MAC CE, but the terminal has not tracked and recorded its corresponding terminal-side best Rx beam or Tx beam.

[0280] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network based on the MAC CE, but is the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resources required for the terminal-side model input (reference signal resources within set B). That is, before model derivation, the terminal has measured the reference signal resources corresponding to the TCI state, but has not obtained the corresponding terminal-side optimal Rx beam or Tx beam. For example, the terminal obtains the L1-RSRP corresponding to the reference signal resources within set B as model input based on other Rx beam assumptions. For example, based on a fixed Rx beam, a random Rx beam, or based on the best Rx beam corresponding to the last measurement obtained in the last measurement. In other words, the terminal did not measure each reference signal resource in set B using all Rx beams to find the best Rx beam for each reference signal resource, that is, the terminal did not perform sufficient measurements.

[0281] In some embodiments, the TCI state may be a TCI state other than the TCI state activated based on the MAC CE on the network side. It is not the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resources required for the terminal side model input (reference signal resources in set B), but the reference signal resources in the reference signal resource set (set A) corresponding to the terminal side model output. However, the model derivation cannot derive the terminal side's optimal Rx beam or Tx beam corresponding to the reference signal resource, but only derives the base station side's optimal Tx beam and / or corresponding L1-RSRP.

[0282] In some embodiments, the terminal reports the TCI state usage time corresponding to the TCI state to the network device.

[0283] In some embodiments, when reporting a supported functionality or model, the terminal reports the TCI state usage time corresponding to the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource output by the functionality or model. Optionally, the terminal may report the AI functionality or AI model supported by the terminal based on signaling of the UE capability.

[0284] In some embodiments, for a function or a model, the TCI state usage time is one, or two, or more.

[0285] In some embodiments, when the TCI state usage time is one, the TCI state usage time of the TCI states corresponding to the reference signal resources corresponding to the best beam derived based on the function or model is the same.

[0286] In some embodiments, when there are two TCI state usage times, there are two types of TCI state usage times for the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource corresponding to the optimal transmit beam of the network device derived based on the function or model: for example, the reference signal resource is in set B, which is one TCI state usage time, that is, the optimal Rx beam or Tx beam on the terminal side is measured; the TCI state usage time is not in set B.

[0287] In some embodiments, when the terminal reports a beam report, it includes the usage time of the TCI state in the beam report.

[0288] In some embodiments, the beam report may include at least one of a reference signal resource identifier, L1-RSRP, and L1-SINR.

[0289] In some embodiments, one beam report may include one TCI state usage time, or two TCI state usage times, or multiple TCI state usage times.

[0290] In some embodiments, the beam report may only indicate the number of times the TCI state was used.

[0291] In some embodiments, when the TCI state usage time is one, the TCI state usage time of the TCI states corresponding to the reference signal resources in the beam report are all the same.

[0292] In some embodiments, when the TCI state usage time is two, there are two types of TCI state usage time for the TCI state corresponding to the reference signal resource in the beam report: for example, the reference signal resource is in set B, which is one TCI state usage time, that is, the best Rx beam or Tx beam on the terminal side is measured; the TCI state usage time is not in set B.

[0293] In some embodiments, when the TCI state usage time is two, the network device can know which reference signal resource corresponds to which TCI state usage time based on whether the reference signal resource is in set B.

[0294] In some embodiments, the beam report may indicate which TCI state usage time corresponds to each TCI state.

[0295] In some embodiments, the time value corresponding to the usage time of each TCI state mentioned above can be configured by the network or agreed upon by the protocol.

[0296] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure enables the network device and the terminal device to maintain consistency in the TCI status usage time, thereby ensuring that the network device and the terminal device can update the TCI status at the same time.

[0297] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, some or all of the steps and their optional implementations may be arbitrarily combined with some or all of the steps in other embodiments, or may be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementations of other embodiments.

[0298] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide an apparatus for implementing any of the above methods. For example, an apparatus is provided, comprising units or modules for implementing each step performed by a terminal in any of the above methods. For another example, another apparatus is provided, comprising units or modules for implementing each step performed by a network device (e.g., an access network device, a core network function node, a core network device, etc.) in any of the above methods.

[0299] It should be understood that the division of the various units or modules in the above device is only a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into a physical entity, or they can be physically separated. In addition, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of a processor calling software: for example, the device includes a processor, the processor is connected to a memory, and the memory stores instructions. The processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or implement the functions of the various units or modules of the above device, wherein the processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory is a memory within the device or a memory outside the device. Alternatively, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of hardware circuits, and the functions of some or all of the units or modules can be realized by designing the hardware circuits. The above-mentioned hardware circuits can be understood as one or more processors; for example, in one implementation, the above-mentioned hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the functions of some or all of the above units or modules are realized by designing the logical relationship of the components in the circuit; for example, in another implementation, the above-mentioned hardware circuit can be realized by a programmable logic device (PLD). Taking a field programmable gate array (FPGA) as an example, it can include a large number of logic gate circuits, and the connection relationship between the logic gate circuits is configured by a configuration file, thereby realizing the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. All units or modules of the above devices can be realized in the form of software called by the processor, or in the form of hardware circuits, or in part by software called by the processor, and the rest by hardware circuits.

[0300] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor is a circuit with signal processing capabilities. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction reading and execution capabilities, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through the logical relationship of a hardware circuit. The logical relationship of the above-mentioned hardware circuit is fixed or reconfigurable. For example, the processor is a hardware circuit implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In a reconfigurable hardware circuit, the process of the processor loading a configuration document to implement the hardware circuit configuration can be understood as the process of the processor loading instructions to implement the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. In addition, it can also be a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as ASIC, such as a neural network processing unit (NPU), a tensor processing unit (TPU), a deep learning processing unit (DPU), etc.

[0301] Figure 6A This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6A As shown, terminal 6100 may include a transceiver module 6101. In some embodiments, transceiver module 6101 is configured to receive indication information sent by a network device, the indication information being used to indicate a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state. The TCI state corresponds to a usage time, which is the time the terminal uses the TCI state. Optionally, the transceiver module is configured to execute at least one of the steps (e.g., step S2101 and step S2103, but not limited thereto) performed by the terminal in any of the above methods, and is not further described here.

[0302] In some embodiments, the indication information is further used to indicate the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

[0303] In some embodiments, the TCI state includes a first TCI state and / or a second TCI state, the usage time indicated by the indication information includes a first usage time and / or a second usage time, the first TCI state corresponds to the first usage time, the second TCI state corresponds to the second usage time, and the first usage time is less than or equal to the second usage time.

[0304] In some embodiments, the first TCI state satisfies at least one of the following:

[0305] The first TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on the media access control element MAC CE; the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are the reference signal resources in the first set, and the reference signal resources in the first set are the reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement; the first TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence AI model, and the output of the AI model includes the optimal receiving beam or the optimal transmitting beam of the terminal corresponding to the first TCI state; the reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are in a quasi-co-location relationship with at least one reference signal resource in the second set, and the reference signal resources in the second set are the reference signal resources configured by the network device to the terminal for measurement.

[0306] In some embodiments, the second TCI state satisfies at least one of the following: the second TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE; the second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on MAC CE; the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources in a third set, and the reference signal resources in the third set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for measurement to the terminal; the reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources other than a fourth set, and the reference signal resources in the fourth set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for measurement to the terminal; the second TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence AI model, and the output of the AI model does not include the optimal receive beam or the optimal transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the second TCI state; the second TCI state is different from the first TCI state.

[0307] In some embodiments, the transceiver module is also used to send first information to the network device, and the first information includes at least one of the following: the usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; wherein each reference signal resource in the at least one reference signal resource corresponds to a TCI state, and the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource is the usage time of the TCI state corresponding to each reference signal resource.

[0308] In some embodiments, the at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in the beam report reported by the terminal.

[0309] In some embodiments, the usage time corresponding to the first information is one usage time, and the usage time corresponding to the at least one reference signal resource is all the one usage time.

[0310] In some embodiments, the usage time corresponding to the first information includes multiple usage times, and the multiple usage times include a third usage time and a fourth usage time; when the reference signal resource belongs to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the third usage time; when the reference signal resource does not belong to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the fourth usage time; the fifth set is a reference signal resource set configured by the network device for measurement, and the third usage time is less than or equal to the fourth usage time.

[0311] In some embodiments, the terminal can determine the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to a first TCI state; the terminal does not determine the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to a second TCI state.

[0312] In some embodiments, the terminal may further include a processing module for executing at least one of the processing steps (such as step S2102, but not limited thereto) performed by the terminal in any of the above methods, which will not be repeated here.

[0313] Figure 6B This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the network device proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6BAs shown, network device 6200 may include a transceiver module 6201. In some embodiments, transceiver module 6201 is configured to send indication information to a terminal, where the indication information indicates a TCI state, where the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time the terminal uses the TCI state. Optionally, the transceiver module is configured to perform at least one of the steps (e.g., step S2101 and step S2103, but not limited thereto) performed by the network device in any of the above methods, and is not further described here.

[0314] In some embodiments, the transceiver module is further used to receive at least one of the following items sent by the terminal: the usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; and the number of usage times corresponding to at least one reference signal resource.

[0315] In some embodiments, the network device may further include a processing module for executing at least one of the processing steps performed by the network device in any of the above methods, which will not be described in detail here.

[0316] In some embodiments, the processing module can be a single module or can include multiple submodules. Optionally, the multiple submodules respectively execute all or part of the steps required to be executed by the processing module. Optionally, the processing module can be interchangeable with the processor.

[0317] Figure 7A 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 7100 proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Communication device 7100 can be a network device (e.g., an access network device, a core network device, etc.), a terminal (e.g., a user device, etc.), a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports a network device to implement any of the above methods, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports a terminal to implement any of the above methods. Communication device 7100 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiments.

[0318] like Figure 7A As shown, the communication device 7100 includes one or more processors 7101. The processor 7101 can be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, for example, a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor can be used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and the central processing unit can be used to control the communication device (such as a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute programs, and process program data. Optionally, the communication device 7100 is used to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, one or more processors 7101 are used to call instructions to enable the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods.

[0319] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more transceivers 7102. When the communication device 7100 includes one or more transceivers 7102, the transceiver 7102 performs at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above method (for example, step S2101 and step S2103, but not limited thereto), and the processor 7101 performs at least one of the other steps (for example, step S2102, but not limited thereto). In an optional embodiment, the transceiver may include a receiver and / or a transmitter, and the receiver and transmitter may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, interface circuit, and interface may be interchangeable, the terms transmitter, transmitting unit, transmitter, and transmitting circuit may be interchangeable, and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, and receiving circuit may be interchangeable.

[0320] In some embodiments, the communication device 7100 further includes one or more memories 7103 for storing data. Alternatively, all or part of the memories 7103 may be located outside the communication device 7100. In alternative embodiments, the communication device 7100 may include one or more interface circuits 7104. Optionally, the interface circuits 7104 are connected to the memories 7103 and may be configured to receive data from the memories 7103 or other devices, or to send data to the memories 7103 or other devices. For example, the interface circuits 7104 may read data stored in the memories 7103 and send the data to the processor 7101.

[0321] The communication device 7100 described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 7100 described in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 7100 may not be limited thereto. Figure 7A The communication device may be an independent device or a part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: 1) an independent integrated circuit IC, or a chip, or a chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the above IC collection may also include a storage component for storing data and programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, a terminal device, an intelligent terminal device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handheld device, a mobile unit, an in-vehicle device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

[0322] Figure 7B 7200 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the chip 7200 proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. For the case where the communication device 7100 can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to Figure 7B The structure of the chip 7200 is shown, but is not limited to this.

[0323] The chip 7200 includes one or more processors 7201. The chip 7200 is configured to execute any of the above methods.

[0324] In some embodiments, chip 7200 further includes one or more interface circuits 7202. Alternatively, terms such as interface circuit, interface, and transceiver pins may be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, chip 7200 further includes one or more memories 7203 for storing data. Alternatively, all or part of memory 7203 may be located external to chip 7200. Optionally, interface circuit 7202 is connected to memory 7203 and may be used to receive data from memory 7203 or other devices, or may be used to send data to memory 7203 or other devices. For example, interface circuit 7202 may read data stored in memory 7203 and send the data to processor 7201.

[0325] In some embodiments, the interface circuit 7202 performs at least one of the communication steps (e.g., step S2101 and step S2103, but not limited thereto) of the aforementioned method. The interface circuit 7202 performing the communication steps (e.g., step S2101 and step S2103, but not limited thereto) of the aforementioned method, for example, means that the interface circuit 7202 performs data exchange between the processor 7201, chip 7200, memory 7203, or a transceiver device. In some embodiments, the processor 7201 performs at least one of the other steps (e.g., step S2102, but not limited thereto).

[0326] The modules and / or devices described in various embodiments, such as virtual devices, physical devices, and chips, can be arbitrarily combined or separated according to circumstances. Optionally, some or all steps can also be performed collaboratively by multiple modules and / or devices, which is not limited here.

[0327] The present disclosure also proposes a storage medium having instructions stored thereon. When the instructions are executed on the communication device 7100, the communication device 7100 executes any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but is not limited thereto and may also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium, but is not limited thereto and may also be a temporary storage medium.

[0328] The present disclosure also provides a program product, which, when executed by the communication device 7100, enables the communication device 7100 to perform any of the above methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product.

[0329] The present disclosure also proposes a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform any one of the above methods.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The terminal receives indication information sent by the network device, where the indication information is used to indicate a transmission configuration indication TCI state, where the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time the terminal uses the TCI state.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The indication information is also used to indicate the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The TCI state includes a first TCI state and / or a second TCI state, and the usage time indicated by the indication information includes a first usage time and / or a second usage time. The first TCI state corresponds to the first usage time, the second TCI state corresponds to the second usage time, and the first usage time is less than or equal to the second usage time.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first TCI status satisfies at least one of the following: The first TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on a media access control element MAC CE; The reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are reference signal resources in a first set, where the reference signal resources in the first set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement; The first TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and an output of the AI model includes an optimal receive beam or an optimal transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the first TCI state; The reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is in a quasi-co-location relationship with at least one reference signal resource in the second set, and the reference signal resource in the second set is a reference signal resource configured by the network device for measurement by the terminal.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that The second TCI status satisfies at least one of the following: The second TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE; The second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE; The reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources in a third set, and the reference signal resources in the third set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement; The reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources outside a fourth set, and the reference signal resources in the fourth set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement; The second TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and an output of the AI model does not include an optimal receive beam or an optimal transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the second TCI state; The second TCI state is different from the first TCI state.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The terminal sends first information to the network device, where the first information includes at least one of the following: a usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the amount of usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; a number of a usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; Each reference signal resource in the at least one reference signal resource corresponds to a TCI state, and the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource is the usage time of the TCI state corresponding to each reference signal resource.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in the beam report reported by the terminal.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that The usage time corresponding to the first information is one usage time, and the usage time corresponding to the at least one reference signal resource is all the one usage time.

9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that The usage time corresponding to the first information includes multiple usage times, and the multiple usage times include a third usage time and a fourth usage time; When the reference signal resource belongs to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the third usage time; When the reference signal resource does not belong to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the fourth usage time; The fifth set is a reference signal resource set configured by the network device for measurement, and the third usage time is less than or equal to the fourth usage time.

10. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that The terminal can determine a transmit beam or a receive beam of the terminal corresponding to a TCI state indicated by the network device, where the TCI state corresponds to a first TCI state; The terminal has not determined the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to the second TCI state.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The network device sends indication information to the terminal, where the indication information is used to indicate a TCI state. The TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time during which the terminal uses the TCI state.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The indication information is also used to indicate the usage time corresponding to the TCI state.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The TCI state includes a first TCI state and / or a second TCI state, and the usage time indicated by the indication information includes a first usage time and / or a second usage time. The first TCI state corresponds to the first usage time, the second TCI state corresponds to the second usage time, and the first usage time is less than or equal to the second usage time.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The first TCI status satisfies at least one of the following: The first TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on a media access control element MAC CE; The reference signal resources corresponding to the first TCI state are reference signal resources in a first set, where the reference signal resources in the first set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement; The first TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and an output of the AI model includes an optimal receive beam or an optimal transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the first TCI state; The reference signal resource corresponding to the first TCI state is in a quasi-co-location relationship with at least one reference signal resource in the second set, and the reference signal resource in the second set is a reference signal resource configured by the network device for measurement by the terminal.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The second TCI status satisfies at least one of the following: The second TCI state is a TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE; The second TCI state is a TCI state other than the TCI state activated by the network device based on the MAC CE; The reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources in a third set, and the reference signal resources in the third set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement; The reference signal resources corresponding to the second TCI state are reference signal resources outside a fourth set, and the reference signal resources in the fourth set are reference signal resources configured by the network device for the terminal for measurement; The second TCI state is a TCI state derived by the terminal based on an artificial intelligence (AI) model, and an output of the AI model does not include an optimal receive beam or an optimal transmit beam of the terminal corresponding to the second TCI state; The second TCI state is different from the first TCI state.

16. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The network device receives first information sent by the terminal, where the first information includes at least one of the following: a usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; the amount of usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; a number of a usage time corresponding to at least one reference signal resource; Each reference signal resource in the at least one reference signal resource corresponds to a TCI state, and the usage time corresponding to each reference signal resource is the usage time of the TCI state corresponding to each reference signal resource.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The at least one reference signal resource is a reference signal resource included in the beam report reported by the terminal.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The usage time corresponding to the first information is one usage time, and the usage time corresponding to the at least one reference signal resource is all the one usage time.

19. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that The usage time corresponding to the first information includes multiple usage times, and the multiple usage times include a third usage time and a fourth usage time; When the reference signal resource belongs to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the third usage time; When the reference signal resource does not belong to the fifth set, the reference signal resource corresponds to the fourth usage time; The fifth set is a reference signal resource set configured by the network device for measurement, and the third usage time is less than or equal to the fourth usage time.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that The terminal can determine a transmit beam or a receive beam of the terminal corresponding to a TCI state indicated by the network device, where the TCI state corresponds to a first TCI state; The terminal has not determined the transmitting beam or receiving beam of the terminal corresponding to the TCI state indicated by the network device, and the TCI state corresponds to the second TCI state.

21. A terminal, characterized in that: include: The transceiver module is used to receive indication information sent by the network device, where the indication information is used to indicate the transmission configuration indication TCI state, and the TCI state corresponds to a usage time, which is the time the terminal uses the TCI state.

22. A network device, characterized in that: include: The transceiver module is used to send indication information to the terminal, where the indication information is used to indicate the TCI state. The TCI state corresponds to a usage time, and the usage time is the time the terminal uses the TCI state.

23. A terminal, characterized in that: include: one or more processors; The terminal is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

24. A network device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors; The network device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

25. A communication system, characterized in that: The invention comprises a terminal and a network device, wherein the terminal is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the network device is configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

26. A storage medium storing instructions, characterized in that: When the instruction is executed on a communication device, the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

27. A program product, characterized in that include: A computer program, which, when executed by a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

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