Method for configuring scheduling-free resources and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a scheduling-free resource configuration method and a communication device. The method and the communication device can be applied to a scheduling-free resource configuration scene of a non-ground network or a ground network. In the method, a network device determines an indication sequence, the indication sequence being used for indicating a scheduling-free resource (i.e., a first scheduling-free resource) which can be used for scheduling-free transmission in scheduling-free resources of a terminal device. And the network equipment sends first information to the terminal equipment, wherein the first information is used for indicating the determination of the sequence. After the terminal equipment determines the indication sequence according to the first information, scheduling-free transmission is carried out on the first scheduling-free resource determined from the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side according to the indication sequence, so that transmission failure caused by scheduling transmission of the terminal equipment in a coverage blind area can be avoided.

Description

Method for configuring scheduling-free resources and communication device Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to a non-terrestrial network, and more specifically, to a method for configuring scheduling-free resources and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) have distinct characteristics compared to traditional terrestrial networks. One of these characteristics is their extremely large cell areas, typically ranging from 100 to 1000 kilometers in diameter. Faced with such large cell areas, NTNs often employ different approaches than terrestrial networks to achieve cell coverage. First, to mitigate free-space loss, NTNs use large-scale antenna arrays to weight signals, concentrating signal energy within a smaller area. This creates a beam-like signal (called a simulated beam, or simply beam) to ensure transmission quality. Second, NTNs divide cells into multiple virtual sub-cells (approximately 10 to 20 km in diameter). Each virtual cell corresponds to a beam. Due to the large number of virtual sub-cells (hundreds to thousands) and the limited number of antennas at base stations, NTNs struggle to simultaneously cover all virtual sub-cells. Therefore, base stations employ periodic beam scanning to achieve regional coverage. This periodic beam scanning approach can result in a terminal device being located in an area where no base station beam is directed at it at certain times, placing the terminal device in a coverage blind spot.

[0003] Grant-free transmission (GF) will be one of the future NTN transmission solutions for reducing transmission latency. Based on the existing grant-free transmission mechanism, unless the base station indicates a change in grant-free resources through signaling reconfiguration or scheduling, the system or terminal device defaults to the UE's grant-free resources being always in effect. However, due to the aforementioned coverage blind spots, a large number of grant-free resources will be ineffective based on the service duration of a single satellite. If a terminal uses grant-free resources for grant-free transmission in a coverage blind spot, transmission failure will occur, affecting overall transmission latency.

[0004] Some known solutions avoid the impact of coverage blind spots on transmission efficiency by binding time-related scheduling-free resource parameters with NTN beam scanning period, scanning time, etc., and setting scheduling-free resources with different periods and durations for different beams.

[0005] However, because each beam has a different service time and different parameters for its non-scheduled resources, each beam requires specific signaling to indicate its use. Thousands of beams require an enormous amount of signaling. Furthermore, if this solution is adopted, given the multiple configurations and high signaling overhead, the configuration of non-scheduled resources may be sent to the terminal and fixed during the radio resource control (RRC) configuration phase. Reconfiguring these non-scheduled resources via downlink control information (DCI) would result in a signaling storm. Therefore, existing solutions are not ideal for addressing the problem of non-scheduled transmission failures caused by NTN coverage blind spots, and alternative solutions are urgently needed.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a method and a communication device for configuring scheduling-free resources, which help to avoid transmission failure caused by scheduling-free transmission of terminal devices in NTN coverage blind areas.

[0008] In a first aspect, a method for configuring scheduling-free resources is provided, which is applied to a first communication device, such as a terminal, a processor, a chip, a chip system, or a logical node or logic module capable of implementing some or all terminal device functions. The following description uses the first communication device as an example, and the method includes:

[0009] receiving first information from a second communication device;

[0010] determining a first indication sequence according to the first information;

[0011] determining, based on the first indication sequence, a first non-scheduled resource among the non-scheduled resources of the first communication device that can be used for scheduling-free transmission;

[0012] The scheduling-free transmission is performed using the first scheduling-free resource.

[0013] In the technical solution of the present application, a second communication device sends first information to a first communication device. The first information is used by the first communication device to determine a first indication sequence. The first indication sequence indicates the scheduling-free resources of the first communication device that can be used for scheduling-free transmission. That is, based on the scheduling-free resources configured by the second communication device, the first communication device can determine the scheduling-free resources that can be used for scheduling-free transmission (or data transmission, GF transmission, CG transmission, etc.) among the scheduling-free resources configured by the second communication device according to the first indication sequence, which helps to avoid transmission failure caused by the first communication device performing scheduling-free transmission in a network-side coverage blind spot.

[0014] In addition, compared with binding the time-related scheduling-free resource parameters with the NTN beam scanning scheme and time to avoid the impact of coverage blind spots on transmission efficiency, the technical solution of the present application helps to reduce signaling overhead.

[0015] In addition, the flexibility of reconfiguring the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side through an indication sequence is higher, which can better adapt to the time-varying characteristics of NTN. The scheduling-free resources can be reconfigured according to actual needs, which can improve the utilization efficiency of the scheduling-free resources.

[0016] Taking the UE and the base station as an example, the UE can determine whether these scheduling-free resources configured by the network side are available based on the information of the scheduling-free resources configured by the network side, and then combine the indication sequence configured by the network for the UE (or the sub-cell where the UE is located), and then ignore the unavailable scheduling-free resources and only perform scheduling-free transmission on the available scheduling-free resources. This can avoid the transmission failure caused by the UE using invalid scheduling-free resources for data transmission in the coverage blind area. In addition, the flexibility of reconfiguring the scheduling-free resources through the indication sequence in this application is high, and it does not bring about large signaling overhead, which is conducive to the reasonable allocation and timely adjustment of scheduling-free resources, as well as improving resource utilization efficiency, and can better adapt to network needs.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers;

[0018] The determining a first indication sequence according to the first information includes:

[0019] Obtaining an identifier of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the first communication device is located;

[0020] The first indicator sequence corresponding to the identifier of the first reference signal is determined from the multiple indicator sequences according to the identifier of the first reference signal and the mapping relationship.

[0021] Based on this implementation, the UE can determine the identifier of the first reference signal corresponding to its sub-cell based on local information, and determine its own first indication sequence in combination with the mapping relationship sent by the base station. Usually, the mapping relationship is sent to all UEs in the cell by the network device through multicast or broadcast. The UE determines the first indication sequence of its sub-cell based on local information, which can save the signaling overhead of the network device sending the indication sequence. Especially for mobile UEs, when the UE's sub-cell is switched, the UE can switch the indication sequence on its own to ensure the continuity of GF transmission.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signals, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the first communication device is located;

[0023] The determining a first indication sequence according to the first information includes:

[0024] The first indicator sequence is determined from the multiple indicator sequences according to the identification information of the first reference signal and the mapping relationship.

[0025] Based on this implementation, for low-power UEs, the base station can determine the identification information of the first reference signal (or beam) corresponding to the sub-cell where the UE is located, and send it to the UE along with the mapping relationship. The UE determines its own first indication sequence based on the identification information of the first reference signal sent by the base station and the mapping relationship, which helps reduce the UE's power consumption.

[0026] In a second aspect, a method for configuring scheduling-free resources is provided, which is applied to a second communication device, such as a network device, a chip, a chip system, or a logical node or logic module capable of implementing some or all of the network device functions. The following description uses the second communication device as an example of a network device. The method includes:

[0027] Determining a first indication sequence, where the first indication sequence is used to indicate a first non-scheduled resource that can be used for scheduling-free transmission among the scheduling-free resources of the first communication device;

[0028] First information is sent to the first communication device, where the first information is used by the first communication device to determine the first indication sequence.

[0029] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first indication sequence is determined based on a scheduling-free transmission requirement of a sub-cell where the first communication device is located or a decision of the second communication device regarding the scheduling-free transmission.

[0030] This implementation allows for highly flexible indicator sequence design. When determining the indicator sequence for a sub-cell, the network can increase or decrease the number of available non-scheduled resources based on the sub-cell's increased or decreased demand for non-scheduled transmissions. Alternatively, the network can adjust the number of available non-scheduled resources based entirely on network-side decisions.

[0031] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first information includes one or more of the following:

[0032] the first indicator sequence;

[0033] the length of the first indicator sequence;

[0034] Generation parameters of the first indication sequence, the generation parameters including one or more of the following: a time domain starting point of at least one of the first scheduling-free resources, a duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource, the number of the first scheduling-free resources, and a derivation parameter of the time domain starting point of the at least one first scheduling-free resource parameter;

[0035] identification information of the first indication sequence;

[0036] a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the first communication device is located, the multiple indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence;

[0037] Mapping relationship information between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, where each indicator sequence in the multiple indicator sequences corresponds to one reference signal identifier in the multiple reference signal identifiers;

[0038] multiple indicator sequences, each of which corresponds to a plurality of reference signal identifiers;

[0039] Generation parameters of multiple indicator sequences and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the terminal device is located, the multiple indicator sequences respectively corresponding to multiple reference signals, the multiple indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence;

[0040] Generation parameters of respective ones of a plurality of indicator sequences, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence.

[0041] Based on this implementation method, the network side can send different first information in different scenarios to implement the sending of the indication sequence. For example, when the base station is under a large load, the base station can choose to send the generation parameters of the indication sequence to some UEs with strong computing power, allowing the UE to calculate the indication sequence by itself and finally determine the indication sequence of its own sub-cell; or for some low-power UEs, the base station directly sends the index of the indication sequence corresponding to the UE (such as the first indication sequence) to it to reduce the computing power consumption of the UE; for example, the base station sends the mapping relationship, or sends the generation parameters of the indication sequence, etc., compared with directly sending the indication sequence, the amount of data required for the transmission of the indication sequence can be compressed. Therefore, these implementation methods can meet the needs of various scenarios.

[0042] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first information includes mapping relationship information between multiple indication sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, and the mapping relationship information includes a mapping relationship or an index of the mapping relationship.

[0043] In this implementation, the mapping relationship information can refer to either the mapping relationship between the reference signal identifier and the indicator sequence itself or the index of the mapping relationship. Assuming that the mapping relationship has been pre-configured and stored in the UE, the network device indicates the mapping relationship by sending the mapping relationship index, which can further reduce the signaling overhead of the network device sending the mapping relationship.

[0044] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first information also includes effective time information of the first indication sequence, and the effective time information indicates the effective moment when the first scheduling-free resource determined based on the first indication sequence is applied to the scheduling-free transmission.

[0045] In this implementation, the situation where the network equipment reconfigures the unscheduled resources is taken into consideration, such as temporarily reconfiguring the unscheduled resources based on an emergency situation, and advancing the effective time so that the UE can parse and adjust the signaling used for reconfiguration.

[0046] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first communication device receives configuration information of the scheduling-free resources of the first communication device from the second communication device, wherein the configuration information of the scheduling-free resources and the first information are carried in one or more signalings.

[0047] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first information is carried in one or more signaling messages.

[0048] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first information is sent via unicast, multicast, or broadcast.

[0049] In certain implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect, the scheduling-free resources include resources from one of the following domains, or include joint resources from multiple domains: time domain, frequency domain, space domain, or code domain.

[0050] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device. In one design, the communication device may include a module for performing the method / operation / step / action described in the first or second aspect. The module may be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In one design, the communication device may include a processing module and a communication module.

[0051] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communications device, comprising a processor configured to implement the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, or any implementation of the first or second aspect. The processor is coupled to a memory configured to store instructions and data. When the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, or any implementation of the first or second aspect, can be implemented.

[0052] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory. Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface, which is used for the device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, hardware circuit, bus, module, pin or other type of communication interface.

[0053] In one example, the communication device may be a network device, such as an access network device, or may be a device, module, or chip disposed in the network device, or may be a device that can be used in conjunction with the network device.

[0054] In another example, the communication device may be a terminal device, or may be a device, module, chip, etc. provided in the terminal device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the terminal device.

[0055] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication system comprising a first communication device and a second communication device.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, the present application also provides a computer program, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0057] In the seventh aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or to execute the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0058] In an eighth aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is run on a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or executes the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0059] In the ninth aspect, the present application also provides a chip, which is used to read a computer program stored in a memory, execute the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or execute the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect; or, the chip includes a circuit for executing the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or executing the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

[0060] In a tenth aspect, the present application further provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a device to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or to execute the method provided in the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect. In one possible design, the chip system also includes a memory, which is used to store programs and data necessary for the device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0061] The technical effects of the solutions provided in the second to tenth aspects above can be referred to the corresponding description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a beam scanning scheme in a satellite network.

[0063] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing a large number of failures of scheduling-free resources when scheduling-free transmission is applied to the NTN network.

[0064] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0065] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the combination of the mask sequence and the NTN beam scanning scheme provided in this application and applied to scheduling-free transmission.

[0066] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of configuring scheduling-free resources provided in this application.

[0067] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the technical solution provided in this application applied to the NTN scheduling-free transmission scenario.

[0068] FIG7 is a schematic diagram showing the effect of a mask sequence on scheduling-free resources.

[0069] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a UE performing scheduling-free transmission and scheduling-free feedback signaling monitoring according to a mask sequence.

[0070] FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in this application.

[0071] FIG10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1100 provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0072] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0073] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of this application, the relevant technologies involved in the embodiments of this application are introduced.

[0074] Non-terrestrial networks are a crucial component of 5G and future networks. They are defined as networks or network segments that utilize airborne or spaceborne vehicles to carry transmission equipment, relay nodes, or base stations. Compared to traditional terrestrial networks, the most significant characteristic of non-terrestrial networks is that their base stations are located in the air or space. A key characteristic of NTNs compared to terrestrial networks is their extremely large cell areas. Cell diameters typically range from 100 to 1000 kilometers. Faced with such large cell areas, base stations typically employ periodic beam scanning to achieve regional coverage, as shown in Figure 1.

[0075] See Figure 1, which illustrates the NTN beam scanning solution. At one point in time (e.g., t0), the base station constructs a set of beams directed at several virtual sub-cells, such as the sub-cell labeled t0. At the next point in time (e.g., t1), it constructs another set of beams directed at a different set of virtual sub-cells, such as the sub-cell labeled t1. Once all virtual cells have achieved coverage within a certain timeframe, the base station restarts a new round of beam scanning.

[0076] According to the aforementioned periodic scanning coverage mode, the subcell marked as t0 has no directional beam transmitted by the base station at time t1. This means that the UE cannot receive the base station's signal at this time. Conversely, the base station cannot receive the UE's signal (without beam gain, the signal received by the base station is extremely weak and basically cannot be demodulated properly). In other words, the UE is in a coverage blind spot. Due to the large number of virtual cells, the NTN beam scanning cycle is very long, so the actual communication time available for each virtual cell is very short.

[0077] Given the characteristics of NTNs, scheduling-based and dynamic grant-based service transmission struggles to meet service latency requirements. Therefore, scheduling-free and dynamic grant-free transmission (Grant Free, GF) will be one of the future NTN transmission solutions for reducing transmission latency. There are two main types of grant-free transmission: one that completes uplink data transmission during random access, such as the two-step random access (2-step RA) introduced in 5G; and the other that involves direct data transmission, such as semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) in LTE, transmission based on preconfigured uplink resources (PUR), and configured grant (CG) transmission in 5G. The common feature of these two types of GF transmission is that, before uplink transmission, the terminal does not need to obtain the time-frequency resources and transmission parameters for data transmission by monitoring the base station's dynamic grant. Instead, it uses preconfigured time-frequency resources and transmission parameters to send data to the base station. The time-frequency resources and transmission parameters used for data transmission are usually configured by the base station through high-level signaling such as system information (SI) or terminal-specific (UE-specific) RRC signaling. The difference between these two types of GF transmission is that in 2-step RA, the terminal also sends a random access preamble to the base station while sending data. That is, the terminal's data and the random access preamble are in the same uplink message. The function of the random access preamble is to synchronize the terminal with the base station in the uplink. In direct data transmission, the terminal does not need to send a random access preamble to the base station. Therefore, direct transmission is more suitable for situations where the terminal and the base station have already completed uplink synchronization.

[0078] GF transmission can eliminate the signaling overhead and latency associated with dynamic authorization, improving transmission efficiency. However, direct application to NTNs presents problems, as shown in Figure 2, which illustrates the large-scale failure of scheduling-free resources when scheduling-free transmission is applied to NTNs. This is because in existing scheduling-free transmission mechanisms, unless the base station indicates changes in scheduling-free resources through signaling reconfiguration, scheduling transfer, or other signaling, the system or UE defaults to the UE's scheduling-free resources being always in effect. However, for NTNs, which use beam scanning for time-division coverage, the base station does not always serve the UE. This can lead to transmission failures during the base station's non-service hours, impacting overall transmission latency. Calculated based on the service time of a single beam, a large number of scheduling-free resources will be ineffective, hindering scheduling-free transmission.

[0079] Existing scheduling-free mechanisms define the period and duration of scheduling-free resources through signaling. Therefore, some proposals, when applied to NTNs, can bind the time-related parameters of scheduling-free resources to the NTN beam scanning period and time. Different periods and durations of scheduling-free resources can be assigned to different beams to mitigate the impact of coverage blind spots on transmission efficiency. However, this solution has significant signaling overhead and insufficient time-variability.

[0080] To this end, this application provides a method for configuring scheduling-free resources, which helps solve the problem of scheduling-free transmission failure caused by NTN beam scanning. In addition, it can reduce signaling overhead and make the configuration of scheduling-free resources more flexible, which can better adapt to the time-varying characteristics of NTN.

[0081] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, including but not limited to satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communications, NT systems such as drones, integrated communication and navigation (IcaN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), ultra-dense low-orbit satellite communication systems, and systems that integrate satellite communication and cellular systems. Among them, cellular network systems may include: long term evolution (LTE) systems, fifth generation (5G) communication systems, new radio (NR) systems, sixth generation (6G) communication systems, or other communication systems that will evolve in the future.

[0082] The following uses a satellite communication system as an example to illustrate the technical solution of this application.

[0083] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The satellite communication system includes satellite 101, satellite 102, satellite 103 and terminal equipment. Each satellite can provide services to the terminal equipment through multiple beams, such as communication services, navigation services and positioning services. Satellite 103 is connected to the ground station equipment. The satellite uses multiple beams to cover the service area, and different beams can communicate through one or more of time division, frequency division and space division. The satellite communicates wirelessly with the terminal equipment through broadcast communication signals and navigation signals. The satellite can communicate wirelessly with the ground station equipment. The ground station equipment can be a device in the core network (CN) of the existing mobile communication architecture or a device in the core network of the future mobile communication architecture, a device for connecting the satellite and the core network, or a relay device for satellite communication.

[0084] Furthermore, satellite communication systems can include transparent and non-transparent satellite architectures. Transparent transmission, also known as bent-pipe transmission, involves only frequency conversion and amplification of the signal on the satellite, making the satellite transparent to the signal, as if it were non-existent. Non-transparent transmission, also known as regenerative (on-board access / processing) transmission, involves the satellite embodying some or all of the base station functionality. For example, satellites 101 and 102 in Figure 3 represent non-transparent satellite architectures, while satellite 103 represents a transparent satellite architecture. Furthermore, satellites can operate in either quasi-Earth-fixed or satellite-fixed modes.

[0085] The terminal devices mentioned in the embodiments of the present application include various communication kits (which may include, for example, an antenna, a power supply module, cables, and a Wi-Fi module) with wireless communication capabilities, handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. Specifically, they may refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The terminal device may also be a communication module with satellite communication capabilities, a satellite phone or its components, a very small aperture terminal (VSAT), a wireless modem, a machine type communication device, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. It may also be a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a terminal in self-driving, a terminal in remote medical, a terminal in a smart grid, a terminal in transportation safety, a terminal in a smart city, a terminal in a smart home, or a terminal device in a future communication network, etc. Of course, the terminal device in this application may also refer to a chip, a modem, a system on a chip (SoC) or a communication platform that may include a radio frequency (RF) part, which is mainly responsible for the relevant communication functions in the device.

[0086] Network devices may also include, but are not limited to, evolved node Bs (eNBs), baseband units (BBUs), access points (APs) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, transmission points (TPs), or transmission reception points (TRPs). The network device may also be a gNB, TRP, or TP in a 5G system, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system. Furthermore, the network device may be a network node that constitutes a gNB or TP, such as a BBU or a distributed unit (DU). Alternatively, the network device may be a device that performs network-side functions in a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), an Internet of Vehicles (IoV) communication system, or other communication systems.

[0087] The satellites mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be LEO satellites, medium orbit earth satellites (MEO) satellites, geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites, and the like.

[0088] Optionally, the satellite mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a satellite base station, and may also include an orbital receiver or repeater for relaying information, or a network-side device mounted on a satellite.

[0089] In the technical solution of the present application, the concept of mask is first introduced on communication resources.

[0090] A mask is a flag defined on a communication resource that enables transmission. For example, when mask = 1, the communication resource can be used for data transmission; when mask = 0, the communication resource cannot be used for data transmission. When multiple communication resources are indicated by masks, a mask sequence (herein referred to as an indication sequence) is formed. Each value in the mask sequence indicates whether the corresponding communication resource can be used for data transmission.

[0091] Optionally, communication resources include but are not limited to: time domain resources, frequency domain resources, time-frequency resources, code domain resources and space domain resources, or joint resources of at least two of the above domains, etc. The technical solution provided by this application is described below using time-frequency resources as an example.

[0092] Exemplarily, the mask sequence may be an enable switch indication of multiple different frequency domain resources at the same time; or an enable switch indication of the same frequency domain resource at different times; or an enable switch indication of different frequency domain resources at different times.

[0093] In the present application, the design of the mask sequence is very flexible. For example, it can be determined based on the scheduling-free transmission requirements of the geographical area where the UE is located, or based on the decision of the network device for scheduling-free transmission.

[0094] After the concept of mask is introduced for communication resources, it can be applied to NTN networks. Mask sequences are introduced for scheduling-free resources in NTN networks to enable intermittent transmission of scheduling-free resources. In other words, mask sequences are introduced for scheduling-free resources in NTN networks to indicate whether the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side can ultimately be used for scheduling-free transmission.

[0095] Furthermore, the mask sequence in the NTN network can be related to the NTN's beam scanning scheme. Specifically, when the network side serves a virtual cell, the virtual cell's non-scheduled resources can be used for non-scheduled transmission during the service time, that is, the mask sequence corresponding to the virtual cell's non-scheduled resources = 1; when the network side no longer serves the virtual cell, the virtual cell's non-scheduled resources cannot be used for non-scheduled transmission or are disabled during the non-service time, that is, the mask sequence corresponding to the virtual cell's non-scheduled resources = 0.

[0096] It can be seen that when the mask sequence is associated with the beam scanning scheme of NTN, the effect shown in Figure 4 will be achieved.

[0097] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the combination of the mask sequence and NTN beam scanning scheme provided by this application for scheduling-free transmission. During the service time of a beam, all scheduling-free resources in the sub-cell served by the beam correspond to mask = 1 and can be used for scheduling-free transmission. When the beam leaves the sub-cell, all scheduling-free resources in the sub-cell become invalid, that is, mask = 0, and cannot be used for scheduling-free transmission.

[0098] It should be understood that the mask configuration corresponding to the scheduling-free resource is independent of the specific scheduling-free resource and is configured by the network equipment. In other words, the same scheduling-free resource uses different masks in different virtual cells (or virtual cell groups); different scheduling-free resources within the same virtual cell (or virtual cell group) use the same mask.

[0099] Based on the above introduction, it can be known that the configuration of the mask sequence is independent of the scheduling-free resources. Therefore, in the technical solution of the present application, the network side can indicate the scheduling-free resources on the UE side that can ultimately be used for scheduling-free transmission through the configuration signaling of the scheduling-free resources and the configuration signaling of the mask sequence, that is, two sets of configuration signaling. From the UE side, according to the configuration signaling of the scheduling-free resources, the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side can be known. Then, according to the configuration signaling of the mask sequence, the scheduling-free resources that can be used for scheduling-free transmission are determined from the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side. That is, not all scheduling-free resources configured on the network side may be used for scheduling-free transmission, and the specific needs need to be determined in combination with the mask sequence.

[0100] See Figure 5, which is a schematic flow chart for configuring scheduling-free resources provided in this application. Optionally, method 500 can be performed by a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device can be a terminal device, a chip, or a chip system, and the second communication device can be a network device, a chip, or a chip system. The following description takes the first communication device as a terminal device and the second communication device as a network device as an example.

[0101] 510. The terminal device receives first information from the network device.

[0102] The first information may be sent by the network device in a unicast, multicast or broadcast manner. The network device may select a corresponding sending manner based on the specific information included in the first information, as illustrated in the following embodiments.

[0103] 520. The terminal device determines a first indication sequence according to the first information.

[0104] Optionally, the first indication sequence is a mask sequence, specifically a mask sequence corresponding to the sub-cell where the UE is located. The first mask sequence is configured by the network device based on some factors, including but not limited to the scheduling-free transmission requirement of the sub-cell where the UE is located, the scheduling-free transmission decision of the network side, etc.

[0105] 530. The terminal device provides a first indication sequence to determine a first scheduling-free resource among the scheduling-free resources of the terminal device that can be used for scheduling-free transmission.

[0106] Among them, the first scheduling-free resource includes the scheduling-free resource configured by the network device for the terminal device and can be used for scheduling-free transmission. In combination with the concept of mask proposed in this application, the first scheduling-free resource can also refer to the scheduling-free resource with mask=1. In other words, the first indication sequence indicates the scheduling-free resources that can be used for scheduling-free transmission in the scheduling-free resources of the terminal device, or the first indication sequence indicates the scheduling-free resources that cannot be used for scheduling-free transmission in the scheduling-free resources of the terminal device, or the first indication sequence indicates the scheduling-free resources that can be used for scheduling-free transmission and the scheduling-free resources that cannot be used for scheduling-free transmission in the scheduling-free resources of the terminal device.

[0107] 540. The terminal device performs the scheduling-free transmission based on the first scheduling-free resource.

[0108] In the technical solution of the present application, the network device sends a first information to the terminal device, and the first information is used by the terminal device to determine a first indication sequence, and the first indication sequence indicates the scheduling-free resources of the terminal device that can be used for scheduling-free transmission. That is, based on the scheduling-free resources configured by the network device, the terminal device can determine the scheduling-free resources that can be used for scheduling-free transmission (or data transmission, GF transmission, CG transmission, etc.) in the scheduling-free resources configured by the network device according to the first indication sequence, which helps to avoid the transmission failure caused by scheduling-free transmission of the terminal device in the network side coverage blind area. In addition, compared with binding the time-related scheduling-free resource parameters with the NTN beam scanning scheme and time to avoid the impact of coverage blind areas on transmission efficiency, the technical solution of the present application helps to reduce signaling overhead. In addition, the flexibility of reconfiguring the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side through an indication sequence is higher, and it will not cause signaling storms. It can better adapt to the time-varying characteristics of NTN, and can reconfigure the scheduling-free resources according to actual needs, which can improve the utilization efficiency of scheduling-free resources.

[0109] When the technical solution provided in the present application is applied to the NTN beam scanning scenario, the design of the mask sequence and the specific implementation of the network device indicating the mask sequence to the terminal device are as illustrated in Figure 6.

[0110] See FIG6 , which is a schematic diagram of the technical solution provided by this application applied to an NTN scheduling-free transmission scenario.

[0111] 601. The network device determines a beam-based mask sequence.

[0112] Specifically, the network device determines the corresponding mask sequence for different beams. For example, the network device determines the mask sequence scheme i corresponding to beam i, so that when beam i serves a certain area, the scheduling-free resources in that area can be used for scheduling-free transmission; otherwise, the scheduling-free resources in that area are invalid, and UEs in that area cannot perform scheduling-free transmission on these scheduling-free resources.

[0113] As an example, the mask sequence can be a bit sequence with a bit length of N, such as (b1(i),…,b N (i)).

[0114] In one implementation, the mask sequence can be applied to N different time units of beam i. j When (i) = 1, 1≤j≤N and there are scheduling-free resources in the jth time unit, the scheduling-free resources in the jth time unit are valid and can be used for scheduling-free transmission; when b j (i)=0,1≤j≤N and there are scheduling-free resources in the jth time unit, then the scheduling-free resources in the jth time unit are invalid and cannot be used for scheduling-free transmission. When there are no scheduling-free resources in the jth time unit, then b j The value of (i) is invalid for scheduling-free resources.

[0115] In another implementation, the mask sequence can be applied to the scheduling-free resources of N time units of beam i. j (i)=1,1≤j≤N, indicating that the scheduling-free resource of the jth time unit is valid and can be used for scheduling-free transmission; when b j (i)=0, 1≤j≤N, indicating that the scheduling-free resource of the jth time unit is invalid and cannot be used for scheduling-free transmission.

[0116] There are many ways to generate a mask sequence. Some examples are given below.

[0117] (1) Predefined.

[0118] The network device and the UE predefine multiple mask sequences, which are stored on the UE side.

[0119] Taking N=8 as an example, the pre-stored mask sequence can be:

[0120] Sequence 1: 10000000

[0121] Sequence 2: 01000000

[0122] Sequence 3: 00100000

[0123] …

[0124] (2) Root sequence + shift.

[0125] The network device sends the root sequence to all UEs in the cell through pre-defined or signaling broadcasts. Different shift information is broadcast to UEs in different beams to generate their own mask sequences.

[0126] Taking N = 8 as an example, assume that the root sequence predefined by the network device or broadcast through signaling is 10000000. At the same time, the network device uses 8 beams to periodically scan the cell. The base station serves beam 1 at time 0, beam 2 at time 1, and so on. The time shift of the mask sequence for beam 1 is 0, the time shift of the mask sequence for beam 2 is 1, and so on. The resulting mask sequence corresponding to each of the 8 beams is:

[0127] Beam 1: 10000000;

[0128] beam2:01000000;

[0129] beam3:00100000;

[0130] …

[0131] Beam 8:00000001.

[0132] (3) Generated according to the mapping relationship.

[0133] Assume that in the mask sequence, the position of mask=1 is determined according to the following formula: (a1(i),…,a1(i)+Δn i -1,a2(i),…,a2(i)+Δn i -1,…,a k (i),…,a k (i)+Δn i -1) (1)

[0134] Among them, a l (i) represents the starting point of the first mask = 1, Δn i Indicates the number of times mask=1 lasts. Assuming that the scheduling-free resource that can be used for transmission is called the first scheduling-free resource, the formula (1) includes these parameters: the length of the first indication sequence, the time domain starting point of at least one first scheduling-free resource, the duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource, and the number of first scheduling-free resources (i.e., k). Among them, the duration of any first scheduling-free resource can be based on the granularity of a time unit. The time unit can be, for example, a time slot. At this time, the duration of the first scheduling-free resource is the number of time slots that the first scheduling-free resource lasts. This application does not limit the use of other time granularities.

[0135] According to the above formula (1), a position set can be determined, and the position set is defined as ε i , then when j belongs to ε i When , mask = 1, otherwise mask = 0, which can be expressed by the following formula (2):

[0136] In this implementation, if the mapping relationship is pre-agreed, the network device can generate the parameters, for example (a1(i), a2(i)…a k (i)) and Δn i UE determines ε based on the generation parameters and mapping relationship issued by the network device i , and then determine the corresponding mask sequence b j (i). For example, if (a1(i), a2(i)…a k (i)) There is a connection, such as a l (i)=a1(i)+c i ×(l-1), the parameters sent by the network device can be further compressed to c i , k and Δt i Among them, c i is a derived parameter of the time domain starting point of the first scheduling-free resource, and k is the number of first scheduling-free resources corresponding to the first indicator sequence. For example, if the first indicator sequence acts on N time units, k represents the number of available time units in the N time units, that is, k time units can be used for scheduling-free transmission.

[0137] In the above example, when the mask sequence is applied to time, the granularity of the time unit can be a slot or a larger time interval. The time the mask sequence applies to can be an absolute value or relative to a reference time.

[0138] When the mask sequence is applied to the scheduling-free resource, the granularity of the mask sequence can be a single GF transmission or a group of GF resources including K GF transmissions.

[0139] See Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of the mask sequence acting on the scheduling-free resources. As shown in Figure 7, for the scheduling-free resources CG1 and CG2 configured on the network side, when different mask sequences are combined with CG1 and CG2 respectively, the CG resources available for scheduling-free transmission are different.

[0140] In one example, the network side configures mask sequence 1 = 101 for beam group 1 and mask sequence 2 = 010 for beam group 2. Assume that both mask sequence 1 and mask sequence 2 act on N time units, where N = 3, which are recorded as time unit 1 to time unit 3. As described above, when the value of the mask corresponding to a time unit in the mask sequence is 1, and there are scheduling-free resources in the time unit, the scheduling-free resources in the time unit are valid and can be used for scheduling-free transmission; when the value of the mask corresponding to a time unit in the mask sequence is 0, and there are scheduling-free resources in the time unit, the scheduling-free resources in the time unit are invalid and cannot be used for scheduling-free transmission. Therefore, mask sequence 1 acts on 3 time units, where the mask value of time unit 1 and time unit 3 are both 1. Therefore, the scheduling-free resources in time unit 1 and time unit 3 are available, and the mask value of time unit 2 is 0, and the scheduling-free resources in time unit 2 are not available. Mask sequence 2 is applied to three time units, where the mask value for time unit 2 is 1. Therefore, the scheduling-free resources within time unit 2 are available, while the scheduling-free resources within time units 1 and 3 are unavailable. Therefore, based on mask sequences 1 and 2, the UE determines that the scheduling-free resources (e.g., CG1 and CG2) configured on the network side that can be used for scheduling-free transmission are the gray-filled portion in Figure 7(a).

[0141] In another example, both mask sequence 1 and mask sequence 2 act on N scheduling-free resources. For example, mask sequence 1 acts on 3 scheduling-free resources, mask sequence 1 = 101, so every 3 scheduling-free resources are grouped together, the first scheduling-free resource and the third scheduling-free resource in the group are available, and the second scheduling-free resource is not available. The UE can determine whether each CG1 / CG2 that appears periodically can be used for scheduling-free transmission based on mask sequence 1. Mask sequence 2 is similar, mask sequence 2 = 101, and every 3 scheduling-free resources are grouped together, the first scheduling-free resource and the third scheduling-free resource in the group are unavailable, and the second scheduling-free resource is available. The UE can determine whether each CG1 / CG2 that appears periodically can be used for scheduling-free transmission based on mask sequence 2. This example can be seen in (b) of Figure 7.

[0142] In embodiments related to mask sequences and NTN beam scanning schemes, mask sequences are directly related to beams, with one beam corresponding to one mask sequence. The mapping relationship between beams and mask sequences can be shown in Table 1.

[0143] Table 1

[0144] Since the network device can serve multiple virtual cells at the same time, the mask sequences of the multiple beams serving the multiple virtual cells are the same, that is, the mask sequences of the multiple beams with the same service time are the same. For example, the mapping relationship between the beam and the mask sequence can be shown in Table 2.

[0145] Table 2

[0146] As shown in Table 2, beam 1, identifier 3, and beam 7 correspond to the same mask sequence, and beam 2, beam 5, and beam 8 correspond to the same mask sequence.

[0147] Optionally, the beam can be represented by various signal-related identifiers in the communication protocol, and the mapping relationships shown in Table 1 and Table 2 can also be replaced by mapping relationships between signal-related identifiers and mask sequences.

[0148] For example, in the NR system, the beam can be represented by the following identifiers:

[0149] Resource index of the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), index of the synchronous signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), resource index of the sounding reference signal (SRS), and resource index of the tracking reference signal (TRS).

[0150] In addition, a beam generally corresponds to a DMRS port, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), or an SRS resource indicator (SRI) (used for uplink data transmission). Therefore, different beams can also be represented by different DMRS ports, TCIs, or SRIs. Taking SSB as an example, assuming that beam information is bound to the SSB, the mapping relationship between the beam and the mask sequence can be represented by the mapping relationship between the SSB and the mask sequence, as shown in Table 3.

[0151] Table 3

[0152] 602. The network device sends first information, where the first information is used by the UE to determine a first mask sequence (ie, a first indication sequence).

[0153] Optionally, due to the multiple generation methods of the mask sequence, the network device can send different information to the UE in different generation methods. The UE can determine the mask sequence of its sub-cell based on the information sent by the network device, which is referred to as the first indication sequence or the first mask sequence in this article.

[0154] (1) The network device sends the first mask sequence or the index of the first mask sequence (or identification information).

[0155] In some scenarios, for UE power saving or other reasons, the network device can determine its corresponding first mask sequence based on the UE's reported information. Optionally, the UE's reported information includes but is not limited to beam information (or information of a signal bound to the beam information), location information, measurement information, etc., so that the network device can infer the identifier of the beam in which the UE is located (hereinafter referred to as the beam identifier) ​​based on the reported information.

[0156] For example, when the UE reports beam information (or information of a signal bound to the beam information), the network device determines the first mask sequence corresponding to the UE based on the beam information or information of the signal bound to the beam, and the mapping relationship between the beam identifier and the mask sequence (or the mapping relationship between the signal identifier and the mask sequence).

[0157] When the UE reports location information, the network device can define the geographical area where the UE is located based on the location information. Based on the mapping relationship between the geographical area and the beam, the network device determines the beam identifier corresponding to the geographical area where the UE is located, and then determines the first mask sequence based on the beam identifier. Optionally, the area where the UE is located can refer to the sub-cell where the UE is located. Optionally, the mapping relationship between the geographical area and the beam can also be a mapping relationship between the sub-cell and the beam.

[0158] When the UE reports measurement information (such as the optimal beam measurement result of SSB), the network device will compare it with the UE's previous beam measurement result and modify the TCI-State information of the reference signal information (such as TRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, etc.) co-located with the SSB Index QCL, mainly including modifying the beam identifier of the corresponding scheduling-free resource and determining a new mask sequence based on the new beam identifier.

[0159] After determining the first mask sequence, the network device may directly send the first mask sequence to the UE through signaling.

[0160] Alternatively, if the UE has pre-stored multiple mask sequences and their respective indexes, the network device may also send the index of the first mask sequence to the UE.

[0161] (2) The network device sends the mask sequence generation parameters to the UE (or UE group).

[0162] For example, when the mask sequence can be generated through an agreed generation relationship, the network device can send the generation parameters of the mask sequence to the UE. For example, if the mask sequence can be determined based on the root sequence + shift information, and the root sequence has been pre-stored in the UE, and the generation relationship is a time offset, then the generation parameter is a specific time shift value. For another example, the mask sequence can be generated based on the mapping relationship described above, and the generation parameters may include one or more of the following:

[0163] The length of the first indicator sequence, the time domain starting point of at least one first scheduling-free resource (for example, a1(i), a2(i) ... a k (i)), the duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource (e.g., Δn i ), the number of first scheduling-free resources (e.g., parameter k in the above formula (1)), the derived parameter of the time domain starting point of the at least one first scheduling-free resource (e.g., c i ), and an indication method of the indication sequence, etc. The indication method of the indication sequence may include indicating that the indication sequence acts on N time units or N scheduling-free resources, where N is the length of the indication sequence and N is a positive integer.

[0164] (3) The network device sends multiple mask sequences and index information of the beam (or beam-bound signal) corresponding to the first mask sequence.

[0165] For example, the network device may first send mask sequences corresponding to different beams, and then determine and send corresponding beam (or signal) index values ​​according to the UE's reporting information.

[0166] (4) The network device may send down generation parameters of multiple mask sequences and index information of the beam (or beam-bound signal) corresponding to the first mask sequence.

[0167] For example, when the mask sequence can be generated using an agreed generation relationship, the network device sends multiple generation parameters corresponding to the mask sequence to the UE, and then determines and sends the corresponding beam (or signal) index value based on the UE's reported information.

[0168] (5) The network device can choose to send multiple mask sequences to the UE.

[0169] For example, the network device may also choose to send mask sequences corresponding to different beams (or beam-bound signals) to the UE, that is, send multiple mask sequences. The UE independently determines the corresponding first mask sequence based on local information. For example, the UE may determine the beam information corresponding to the sub-cell in which it is located based on local information, and then the mask sequence corresponding to the beam information (i.e., the first mask sequence).

[0170] (6) The network device may choose to send multiple mask sequence generation parameters to the UE.

[0171] When the mask sequence can be generated using the agreed generation relationship, the network device sends the generation parameters corresponding to multiple mask sequences to the UE. After the UE locally calculates multiple mask sequences based on the generation relationship and generation parameters, it then determines the corresponding mask sequence (i.e., the first mask sequence) based on local information.

[0172] (7) The network device sends mapping relationships between multiple mask sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, as well as identification information of the first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the UE is located. The multiple mask sequences include the first mask sequence.

[0173] The UE determines, based on the identification information of the first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the UE is located and according to a mapping relationship, a first mask sequence corresponding to the identification information of the first reference signal.

[0174] (8) The network device sends mapping relationship information of multiple mask sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers. Optionally, the mapping relationship information can be the mapping relationship itself or the index of the mapping relationship.

[0175] For example, the network device sends down the mapping relationship, and the UE determines the first reference signal identifier corresponding to the sub-cell in which it is located, and then determines the first mask sequence based on the mapping relationship. Alternatively, the mapping relationship between multiple mask sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers is pre-configured, pre-defined by the protocol, or pre-agreed. In this implementation, the network device can send down the index of the first mask sequence corresponding to the UE, and the UE can determine the first mask sequence based on the index of the first mask sequence. This implementation method can reduce the signaling overhead of the network device sending the mapping relationship.

[0176] Regardless of the above-mentioned delivery form, the signaling carrying the first information and the signaling configuring the scheduling-free resources may be delivered together or independently.

[0177] When the network device sends the signaling carrying the first information, it may use RRC-Signaling signaling or DCI signaling.

[0178] The form in which the network device sends the first information can be broadcast signaling to all UEs, multicast signaling to a specific group of UEs (such as a UE group under the same beam), or unicast signaling to a specific UE, without limitation.

[0179] 603. The UE determines a first mask sequence according to the first information.

[0180] Specifically, the UE parses the signaling carrying the first information to obtain a first mask sequence corresponding to the UE.

[0181] According to various specific implementations of the network device sending the first information in step 602, the UE also adopts different methods to determine the first mask sequence.

[0182] For example, if the first information sent by the network device is the first mask sequence (or the network device directly sends the first mask sequence itself), the UE uses the first mask sequence as the mask sequence corresponding to the GF resource of the UE after confirming that the signaling carrying the first information is sent to itself.

[0183] For another example, if the first information sent by the network device is the generation parameter corresponding to the first mask sequence, after the UE confirms that the signaling carrying the first information is sent to itself, it generates a corresponding mask sequence (i.e., the first mask sequence) as the mask sequence corresponding to the UE's GF resource according to the agreed generation relationship and the received generation parameters.

[0184] For another example, if the first information sent by the network device includes multiple mask sequences and index information of the beam corresponding to the first mask sequence, after the UE confirms that the signaling carrying the first information is sent to itself, the UE determines the first mask sequence as the mask sequence corresponding to its GF resource from the multiple mask sequences received based on the index information of the beam corresponding to the first mask sequence.

[0185] For another example, if the network device sends down the first information including the generation parameters of multiple mask sequences and the index information of the beam corresponding to the first mask sequence, after the UE confirms that the signaling carrying the first information is sent to itself, the UE first generates multiple mask sequences based on the generation relationship and the received generation parameters, and then determines the first mask sequence from the determined multiple mask sequences as the mask sequence corresponding to its GF resource based on the index information of the beam.

[0186] For another example, if the first information sent down by the network device includes the mapping relationship between multiple mask sequences and different beams (or signals bound to beam information), after the UE confirms that the signaling carrying the first information is sent to itself, the UE determines the first mask sequence based on the beam information known to itself. Specifically, when the network side sends down the mapping relationship between beam information and mask sequence, the beam information can come from the beam identifier directly indicated by the network side, or it can be the beam information obtained by the UE based on the signal bound to the beam information. Alternatively, when the network side sends down the mapping relationship between the signal bound to the beam information and the mask sequence, the UE determines the mask sequence based on the signal identifier bound to the beam information. Taking the SSB signal as an example, the UE determines the optimal SSB signal it uses by measuring the signal quality obtained by different SSB signals, and determines the corresponding mask sequence based on the identifier of the optimal SSB signal, which is the first mask sequence.

[0187] For another example, if the first information sent by the network device includes generation parameters of multiple mask sequences, after the UE confirms that the signaling carrying the first information is sent to itself, the UE first calculates multiple mask sequences based on the generation relationship and generation parameters; then the UE determines the first mask sequence from the multiple mask sequences determined by calculation based on its own known beam information.

[0188] For another example, if the first information sent by the network device is a mapping relationship between multiple mask sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, as well as the identification information of the first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the UE is located, the UE determines the first mask sequence corresponding to the identification information of the first reference signal based on the identification information and the mapping relationship of the first reference signal.

[0189] For another example, if the first information sent by the network device is an index of a mapping relationship (eg, an index corresponding to a first mask sequence), where the mapping relationship is pre-configured by the network device, pre-defined by the protocol, or pre-agreed upon, the UE determines the first mask sequence based on the index of the mapping relationship.

[0190] 604. The UE performs scheduling-free transmission according to the determined first indication sequence.

[0191] Specifically, based on the first indication sequence, the UE can determine a first non-scheduled resource that can be used for non-scheduled transmission among the non-scheduled resources corresponding to the first sub-cell in which the UE is located. When the UE has a non-scheduled transmission requirement, the non-scheduled transmission is performed on the first non-scheduled resource. It should be understood that the UE uses part or all of the first non-scheduled resources for non-scheduled transmission based on the non-scheduled transmission requirement, and the use of part or all of the first non-scheduled resources depends on how much data needs to be sent and / or received on the UE side.

[0192] Taking the mask sequence acting on a time slot as an example, the UE performs CG transmission and monitors the corresponding scheduling-free feedback signaling in the time slot where mask = 1 in the first mask sequence according to the first mask sequence. If the mask sequence acts on a scheduling-free resource, the UE will perform scheduling-free transmission on the scheduling-free resource with mask = 1 among the N scheduling-free resources affected by the mask sequence.

[0193] Refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of the UE performing scheduling-free transmission and scheduling-free feedback signaling monitoring according to the mask sequence. As shown in Figure 8, exemplarily, if the mask sequence acts on the time slot, the UE uses the scheduling-free resources to transmit data in the time slot of mask=1. When entering the time slot of mask=0, the UE stops data transmission. At this time, even if a new transmission demand arrives, it will wait until the next time slot of mask=1 to transmit. If the starting point of the UE's data transmission (for example, the starting point of transmitting data 0) + the timer exceeds the time interval corresponding to the current multiple time slots of mask=1, the UE needs to continue to monitor the feedback results of the scheduling-free transmission in the time interval corresponding to the next multiple time slots of mask=1. It should be understood that the timer is used to determine the time of receiving feedback signaling for the data.

[0194] In addition, this application also takes into account that due to the wide coverage area of ​​the NTN network, the UE density and transmission requirements of different ground areas are different. Therefore, there may be a situation where some ground areas have high business demands and some ground areas have low business demands. At this time, the mask sequence can be used to reallocate the scheduling-free resources of some ground areas to improve resource utilization efficiency. For example, when the business demand of some ground areas increases, the network equipment can reallocate the scheduling-free resources of the ground area and increase the number of mask=1 in the mask sequence corresponding to the ground area; and when the business demand of the ground area decreases, the network equipment can reduce the number of mask=1 in the mask sequence corresponding to the ground area by reallocating again. In addition, the network equipment can reconfigure the scheduling-free resources of some ground areas based on its own load. For example, when the load of the network equipment is too large, the network equipment can reduce the number of masks with a value of 1 in the mask sequence to reduce its own load.

[0195] In summary, after the network device indicates the first indication sequence to the UE, based on some other reasons, such as an increase or decrease in the service demand in the ground area where the UE is located, or a change in the load of the network device, the network device needs to indicate a new indication sequence (called a second indication sequence or a second mask sequence) to the UE to reconfigure the scheduling-free resources in the ground area where the UE is located.

[0196] For example, the second mask sequence can be that the network device models the service needs of different ground areas and predicts and adjusts different mask sequences for different ground areas. For example, some ground areas are deserts / sparsely populated areas with large areas and large UE bases, but no ground coverage. Therefore, the b in the sequence j b with (i)=1 j (i) The number should be as large as possible to meet the above-mentioned ground area communication service requirements. If the ground area belongs to a dense urban area with good ground coverage, then the possibility of using NTN scheduling-free resources for transmission in this ground area is relatively low. j The number of (i)=1 can be appropriately reduced to leave more resources for desert / sparsely populated ground areas.

[0197] The second mask sequence configuration can be that when the network device detects that the demand for scheduling-free transmission services in certain ground areas is strong (for example, in an emergency such as an earthquake or disaster relief), the network device sends a temporary mask sequence and temporarily configures the mask sequences corresponding to the scheduling-free resources in other ground areas to a low activation mode (i.e., a large number of original b j Most of the areas where (i) = 1 are configured as 0, leaving only a small amount of b j (i) = 1) or in a temporary deactivation mode (i.e., all the original b j (i) = 1 is modified to b j (i) = 0), a large number (all) of the scheduling-free resources are exclusively used by the ground area with high demand.

[0198] At this time, the network device may send the second mask sequence (or other information used to determine the second mask sequence) to the relevant ground area, and the UE in the area determines the scheduling-free resources according to the second mask sequence.

[0199] For the convenience of description, the information used to determine the second mask sequence is referred to as second information in this document.

[0200] To ensure that the second mask sequence can take effect in a timely manner, the signaling carrying the second information may also carry information about the effective time. For example, it may take effect from a certain system time. The time value may be an absolute value or a relative value. After obtaining the second mask sequence, the UE adjusts the scheduling-free transmission accordingly. If the signaling carrying the second information does not carry information about the effective time, the UE immediately uses the second mask sequence to enable scheduling-free transmission; if the signaling carrying the second information carries information about the effective time, the UE starts to enable the second mask sequence to enable scheduling-free transmission after the effective time.

[0201] Optionally, there may be multiple specific implementations of the network device sending the second information for the UE to determine the second mask sequence. For reference, multiple implementations of the network device sending the first information for the UE to determine the first mask sequence in FIG6 may be used, which will not be repeated for brevity.

[0202] The second information may also be sent to the UE in a unicast, multicast or broadcast manner, without limitation. In addition, the signaling carrying the second information may also be DCI or RRC signaling.

[0203] The process of UE parsing the signaling carrying the second information can refer to the process description of UE parsing the signaling carrying the first information, which will not be repeated here.

[0204] It can be seen that, based on the knowledge of the scheduling-free resources configured on the network side, combined with the network-configured indication sequence for the UE (or the sub-cell where the UE is located), the UE can determine whether these scheduling-free resources are available, and then ignore the unavailable scheduling-free resources, and only perform scheduling-free transmission on the available scheduling-free resources, thereby avoiding the transmission failure caused by the UE using invalid scheduling-free resources for data transmission in the coverage blind area. In addition, the flexibility of reconfiguring the scheduling-free resources through the indication sequence in this application is high, and at the same time, it does not bring about large signaling overhead, which is conducive to the reasonable allocation and timely adjustment of scheduling-free resources, as well as improving resource utilization efficiency.

[0205] The above is a detailed description of the method for configuring scheduling-free transmission resources provided by this application. The following introduces the communication device provided by this application.

[0206] Referring to FIG. 13 , the present application provides a communication device 1000 .

[0207] The communication device 1000 includes a processing module 1001 and a communication module 1002. The communication device 1000 can be a terminal device, or a communication device applied to or used with a terminal device and capable of implementing a method executed by the terminal device, such as a chip, a chip system, or a circuit. Alternatively, the communication device 1000 can be a network device, or a communication device applied to or used with a network device and capable of implementing a method executed by the network device, such as a chip, a chip system, or a circuit.

[0208] The communication module may also be referred to as a transceiver module, transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. The processing module may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing unit, or processing device. Optionally, the communication module is used to perform the sending and receiving operations of the terminal device or network device in the above method. The device used to implement the receiving function in the communication module can be considered a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function in the communication module can be considered a sending unit. That is, the communication module includes a receiving unit and a sending unit.

[0209] When the communication device 1000 is applied to a terminal device, the processing module 1001 can be used to implement the processing function of the terminal device in each embodiment described in FIG. 3 to FIG. 8 , and the communication module 1002 can be used to implement the transceiver function of the terminal device in each embodiment described in FIG. 3 to FIG. 8 .

[0210] When the communication device 1000 is applied to a network device, the processing module 1001 can be used to implement the processing function of the network device in each embodiment described in Figures 3 to 8, and the communication module 1002 can be used to implement the transceiver function of the network device in each embodiment described in Figures 3 to 8.

[0211] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned communication module and / or processing module can be implemented as a virtual module. For example, the processing module can be implemented as a software functional unit or a virtual device, and the communication module can be implemented as a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing module or the communication module can also be implemented as a physical device. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the communication module can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface that performs input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing module is an integrated processor, microprocessor, integrated circuit or logic circuit, etc.

[0212] The division of modules in the embodiments of the device of the present application is illustrative and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. In addition, the functional modules in the various examples of the present application may be integrated into a processor, or may exist separately physically, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The above-mentioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0213] 10 , the present application further provides a communication device 1100. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may be a chip or a chip system. Optionally, in the present application, a chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0214] The communication device 1100 can be used to implement the functions of any network element (for example, a terminal device or a network device) in the communication system described in the above examples. The communication device 1100 may include at least one processor 1110. Optionally, the processor 1110 is coupled to a memory, and the memory may be located within the device, or the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be located outside the device. For example, the communication device 1100 may also include at least one memory 1120. The memory 1120 stores the necessary computer programs, computer programs or instructions and / or data for implementing any of the above examples; the processor 1110 may execute the computer program stored in the memory 1120 to complete the method in any of the above examples.

[0215] The communication device 1100 may also include a communication interface 1130, through which the communication device 1100 can exchange information with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface 1130 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, pin, or other type of communication interface. When the communication device 1100 is a chip-type device or circuit, the communication interface 1130 in the device 1100 may also be an input-output circuit that can input information (or receive information) and output information (or send information); the processor is an integrated processor, microprocessor, integrated circuit, or logic circuit, and the processor can determine output information based on input information.

[0216] Coupling in this application refers to an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. Processor 1110 may operate in conjunction with memory 1120 and communication interface 1130. This application does not limit the specific connection medium between the processor 1110, memory 1120, and communication interface 1130.

[0217] Optionally, as shown in FIG10 , the processor 1110, the memory 1120, and the communication interface 1130 are interconnected via a bus 1140. The type of bus 1140 is not limited. For example, the bus 1140 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, FIG10 shows only one bus, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0218] Optionally, the memory and processor in the above-mentioned device embodiments may be physically independent units, or the memory and the processor may be integrated together, which is not limited herein.

[0219] In addition, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the network device or terminal device in each method embodiment of the present application are executed.

[0220] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer program code or instructions. When the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the network device or terminal device in the various method embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0221] In this application, a processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in this application may be directly executed by a hardware processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0222] In this application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in this application may also be a circuit or any other device that can implement a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0223] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1100 can be applied to a network device. Specifically, the communication device 1100 can be a network device, or a device that can support the network device to implement the corresponding functions of the network device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The memory 1120 stores computer programs (or instructions) and / or data that implement the functions of the network device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The processor 1110 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 1120 to complete the method performed by the network device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The communication interface in the communication device 1100 can be used to interact with a terminal device, send information to the terminal device, or receive information from the terminal device.

[0224] In another possible implementation, the communication device 1100 can be applied to a terminal device. Specifically, the communication device 1100 can be a terminal device, or a device that can support a terminal device and implement the functions of the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The memory 1120 stores a computer program (or instruction) and / or data that implements the functions of the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The processor 1110 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 1120 to complete the method performed by the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned examples. The communication interface in the communication device 1100 can be used to interact with a network device, send information to the network device, or receive information from the network device.

[0225] Based on the above embodiments, the present application further provides a communication system, including a network device and a terminal device. The communication system can implement the method for configuring scheduling-free resources provided in the embodiments shown in FIG3 to FIG8 .

[0226] The technical solutions provided in this application can be implemented in whole or in part through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in this application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a terminal device, an access network device, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium.

[0227] In this application, under the premise of no logical contradiction, the examples can reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments can reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples can reference each other.

[0228] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0229] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0230] The multiple (items) involved in the embodiments of the present application refer to two (items) or more than two (items). "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe each object in this disclosure, these objects should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish each object from each other.

[0231] The term "comprise" and any variations thereof mentioned in the embodiments of this application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include other steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0232] In addition, words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any method or design described in this application as "exemplarily" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other methods or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0233] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0234] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0235] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0236] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0237] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for configuring scheduling-free resources, characterized in that: Applied to a first communication device, comprising: receiving first information from a second communication device; Determine a first indication sequence according to the first information; Based on the first indication sequence, determining a first non-scheduled resource that can be used for scheduling-free transmission among the scheduling-free resources of the first communication device; The scheduling-free transmission is performed using the first scheduling-free resource.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first indication sequence is determined according to a scheduling-free transmission requirement of a sub-cell where the first communication device is located or a decision of the second communication device regarding the scheduling-free transmission.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first information includes one or more of the following: the first indicator sequence; the length of the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of the first indication sequence, the generation parameters comprising one or more of the following: a time domain starting point of at least one of the first scheduling-free resources, a duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource, the number of the first scheduling-free resources, and a derivation parameter of the time domain starting point of the at least one first scheduling-free resource; identification information of the first indication sequence; a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the first communication device is located, the multiple indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Mapping relationship information between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, each indicator sequence in the multiple indicator sequences corresponds to one reference signal identifier in the multiple reference signal identifiers; A plurality of indicator sequences, wherein the plurality of indicator sequences correspond to a plurality of reference signal identifiers respectively; Generation parameters of each of a plurality of indicator sequences and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the terminal device is located, the plurality of indicator sequences respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference signals, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of respective ones of a plurality of indicator sequences, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first information includes mapping relationship information between the multiple indication sequences and the multiple reference signal identifiers, and the mapping relationship information includes a mapping relationship or an index of the mapping relationship.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first information also includes effective time information of the first indication sequence, where the effective time information indicates an effective moment when the first scheduling-free resource determined based on the first indication sequence is applied to the scheduling-free transmission.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first information includes a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers; The determining a first indication sequence according to the first information includes: Acquire an identifier of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the first communication device is located; Determine the first reference signal from the multiple indication sequences according to the identifier of the first reference signal and the mapping relationship The first indication sequence corresponding to the identifier of the reference signal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first information includes a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signals, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the first communication device is located; The determining a first indication sequence according to the first information includes: The first indicator sequence is determined from the multiple indicator sequences according to the identification information of the first reference signal and the mapping relationship.

8. A method for configuring scheduling-free resources, characterized in that: Applied to a second communication device, comprising: Determine a first indication sequence, where the first indication sequence is used to indicate a first non-scheduled resource that can be used for scheduling-free transmission among the scheduling-free resources of the first communication device; First information is sent to the first communication device, where the first information is used by the first communication device to determine the first indication sequence.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first indication sequence is determined according to a scheduling-free transmission requirement of a sub-cell where the first communication device is located or a decision of the second communication device regarding the scheduling-free transmission.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that The first information includes one or more of the following: the first indicator sequence; the length of the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of the first indication sequence, the generation parameters comprising one or more of the following: a time domain starting point of at least one of the first scheduling-free resources, a duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource, the number of the first scheduling-free resources, and a derivation parameter of a time domain starting point of the at least one first scheduling-free resource parameter; identification information of the first indication sequence; a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the first communication device is located, the multiple indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Mapping relationship information between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, each indicator sequence in the multiple indicator sequences corresponds to one reference signal identifier in the multiple reference signal identifiers; A plurality of indicator sequences, wherein the plurality of indicator sequences correspond to a plurality of reference signal identifiers respectively; Generation parameters of each of a plurality of indicator sequences and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the terminal device is located, the plurality of indicator sequences respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference signals, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of respective ones of a plurality of indicator sequences, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first information includes mapping relationship information between the multiple indication sequences and the multiple reference signal identifiers, and the mapping relationship information includes a mapping relationship or an index of the mapping relationship.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The first information also includes effective time information of the first indication sequence, where the effective time information indicates an effective moment when the first scheduling-free resource determined based on the first indication sequence is applied to the scheduling-free transmission.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A communication module, configured to receive first information from a second communication device; Processing modules for: Determine a first indication sequence according to the first information; Based on the first indication sequence, determining a first non-scheduled resource that can be used for scheduling-free transmission among the scheduling-free resources of the first communication device; The communication module and the processing module are further configured to use the first scheduling-free resource to perform the scheduling-free transmission.

14. The communication device according to claim 13, wherein: The first indication sequence is determined according to a scheduling-free transmission requirement of a sub-cell where the communication device is located or a decision of the second communication device regarding the scheduling-free transmission.

15. The communication device according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that: The first information includes one or more of the following: the first indicator sequence; the length of the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of the first indication sequence, the generation parameters comprising one or more of the following: a time domain starting point of at least one of the first scheduling-free resources, a duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource, the number of the first scheduling-free resources, and a derivation parameter of a time domain starting point of the at least one first scheduling-free resource parameter; identification information of the first indication sequence; a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the first communication device is located, the multiple indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Mapping relationship information between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, each indicator sequence in the multiple indicator sequences corresponds to one reference signal identifier in the multiple reference signal identifiers; A plurality of indicator sequences, wherein the plurality of indicator sequences correspond to a plurality of reference signal identifiers respectively; Generation parameters of each of a plurality of indicator sequences and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the terminal device is located, the plurality of indicator sequences respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference signals, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of respective ones of a plurality of indicator sequences, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence.

16. The communication device according to claim 15, characterized in that The first information includes mapping relationship information between the multiple indication sequences and the multiple reference signal identifiers, and the mapping relationship information includes a mapping relationship or an index of the mapping relationship.

17. The communication device according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that: The first information also includes effective time information of the first indication sequence, where the effective time information indicates an effective moment when the first scheduling-free resource determined based on the first indication sequence is applied to the scheduling-free transmission.

18. The communication device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that: The first information includes a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers; The processing module is used for: Acquire an identifier of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the communication device is located; The first indicator sequence corresponding to the identifier of the first reference signal is determined from the multiple indicator sequences according to the identifier of the first reference signal and the mapping relationship.

19. The communication device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that: The first information includes a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signals, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to the sub-cell where the communication device is located; The processing module is used for: The first indicator sequence is determined from the multiple indicator sequences according to the identification information of the first reference signal and the mapping relationship.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processing module, configured to determine a first indication sequence, wherein the first indication sequence is used to indicate a first non-scheduled resource that can be used for non-scheduled transmission among the non-scheduled resources of the first communication device; The communication module is used to send first information to the first communication device, where the first information is used by the first communication device to determine the first indication sequence.

21. The communication device according to claim 20, characterized in that The first indication sequence is determined according to a scheduling-free transmission requirement of a sub-cell where the first communication device is located or a decision of the communication device regarding the scheduling-free transmission.

22. The communication device according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that: The first information includes one or more of the following: the first indicator sequence; the length of the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of the first indication sequence, the generation parameters comprising one or more of the following: a time domain starting point of at least one of the first scheduling-free resources, a duration of the at least one first scheduling-free resource, the number of the first scheduling-free resources, and a derivation parameter of a time domain starting point of the at least one first scheduling-free resource parameter; identification information of the first indication sequence; a mapping relationship between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the first communication device is located, the multiple indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Mapping relationship information between multiple indicator sequences and multiple reference signal identifiers, each indicator sequence in the multiple indicator sequences corresponds to one reference signal identifier in the multiple reference signal identifiers; A plurality of indicator sequences, wherein the plurality of indicator sequences correspond to a plurality of reference signal identifiers respectively; Generation parameters of each of a plurality of indicator sequences and identification information of a first reference signal corresponding to a sub-cell where the terminal device is located, the plurality of indicator sequences respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference signals, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence; Generation parameters of respective ones of a plurality of indicator sequences, the plurality of indicator sequences including the first indicator sequence.

23. The communication device according to claim 22, characterized in that The first information includes mapping relationship information between the multiple indication sequences and the multiple reference signal identifiers, and the mapping relationship information includes a mapping relationship or an index of the mapping relationship.

24. The communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 23, characterized in that: The first information also includes effective time information of the first indication sequence, where the effective time information indicates an effective moment when the first scheduling-free resource determined based on the first indication sequence is applied to the scheduling-free transmission.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the processor is used to call computer program instructions stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

26. A chip, characterized in that: It includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive data and / or information and transmit the received data and / or information to the processor, and the processor processes the data and / or information to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, or the method as described in any one of claims 8 to 12.

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

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

29. A communication system, characterized in that: The method comprises the communication device according to any one of claims 13 to 19 and / or the communication device according to any one of claims 20 to 24.

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