Communication method and device, terminal equipment and network equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, terminal equipment and network equipment, and relates to the technical field of communication. For the situation that downlink coverage of a communication system is limited, downlink repeated transmission in the random access process is considered, so that downlink transmission quality is improved through the downlink repeated transmission, and downlink coverage enhancement is achieved. The RAR repeated transmission in the downlink repeated transmission is taken as an example, for the situation that terminal equipment has different equipment capabilities or communication requirements, the method and the device indicate the terminal equipment to have the capability of supporting the RAR repeated transmission through the first RACH resource in the transmission process of the random access request, or request the network equipment to carry out the RAR repeated transmission. Thus, the network equipment can perform RAR repeated transmission on the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can perform combination detection on the RAR received for multiple times through the RAR repeated transmission to improve the receiving performance, thereby improving the probability of correct receiving of the RAR and realizing downlink coverage enhancement in a random access process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus, terminal equipment, and network equipment. Background Art

[0002] Some communication systems (such as non-terrestrial networks (NTN) systems) may have limited downlink coverage. In such limited downlink coverage, the downlink signal quality may be poor, the channel estimation accuracy may be low, and the transmission quality may be poor, thereby reducing the downlink transmission quality of the communication system.

[0003] The random access process is a fundamental and important process in communication systems, enabling terminal devices and network equipment to establish communication connections or achieve uplink synchronization. However, when downlink coverage of communication systems is limited, further research is needed to improve downlink transmission quality during random access and enhance downlink coverage. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The first aspect is a communication method of the present application, comprising:

[0005] Acquire a first random access channel (RACH) resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of a random access response (RAR), or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform repeated transmission of the RAR;

[0006] The random access request message is sent using the first RACH resource.

[0007] As can be seen, in the face of limited downlink coverage of the communication system, this application considers RAR retransmission during the random access process, so as to improve downlink transmission quality and achieve downlink coverage enhancement through RAR retransmission. Specifically, based on the device capabilities or communication requirements of the terminal device, this application can indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR retransmission through the first RACH resource during the transmission of the random access request, or request the network device to perform RAR retransmission.

[0008] In this way, the network can use the first RACH resource to learn that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or request RAR repeated transmission, so that the network can carry out RAR repeated transmission to the terminal device. Through RAR repeated transmission, the terminal device can combine and detect the RARs received multiple times to improve the receiving performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0009] In some possible examples, obtaining a first RACH resource includes:

[0010] receiving resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources, where each of the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission;

[0011] A first RACH resource is determined from one or more RACH resources.

[0012] It can be seen that this embodiment can configure one or more RACH resources in the network through resource configuration information, and then during the transmission process of the random access request, use the first RACH resource in the one or more RACH resources to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, or request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0013] In this way, repeated RAR transmission ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect RARs received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0014] In some possible examples, each RACH resource in the one or more RACH resources corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval; wherein the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold;

[0015] Determining a first RACH resource from one or more PACH resources includes:

[0016] Get the measurement value of SSB signal quality;

[0017] According to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, a first RACH resource is determined from one or more PACH resources, where the first RACH resource is a RACH resource corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located.

[0018] It can be seen that the present application can introduce a correspondence between RACH resources and SSB signal quality intervals. In this way, after obtaining a measurement value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, and determine the first RACH resource corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located from the one or more RACH resources based on the correspondence.

[0019] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0020] Get the number of RAR repeated transmissions;

[0021] The RAR is received using the RAR retransmission number.

[0022] It can be seen that after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or requests RAR repeated transmission, the network device can use the RAR repeated transmission number to send RAR, and the terminal device can use the RAR repeated transmission number to receive RAR, so that the terminal device can combine and detect the RARs received multiple times to improve the receiving performance, increase the probability of correct RAR reception, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0023] Some possible examples for obtaining the number of RAR retransmissions include:

[0024] First indication information is received, where the first indication information is used to indicate a number of RAR repetition transmissions, and the RAR is received using the number of RAR repetition transmissions indicated by the first indication information.

[0025] It can be seen that after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or requests RAR repeated transmission, the number of RAR repeated transmissions is indicated by the first indication information, thereby realizing the network configuration of the number of RAR repeated transmissions. In this way, the network device can use the number of RAR repeated transmissions indicated by the first indication information to send RAR, and the terminal device can use the number of RAR repeated transmissions indicated by the first indication information to receive RAR, so that the terminal device can combine and detect the RARs received multiple times to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct RAR reception, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0026] In some possible examples, the first indication information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI.

[0027] In this way, after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or requests RAR repeated transmission, the network device can indicate to the terminal device a currently used RAR repeated transmission number from the multiple RAR repeated transmission numbers through a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI encrypted DCI, so that the terminal device can use this RAR repeated transmission number to receive RAR.

[0028] Some possible examples for obtaining the number of RAR retransmissions include:

[0029] The number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to the first RACH resource is obtained.

[0030] As can be seen, the present application can introduce a correspondence between RACH resources and the number of RAR repetition transmissions. In this way, after determining the first RACH resource, the terminal device can determine the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to the first RACH resource based on the correspondence. Therefore, after using the first RACH resource to send a random access request message, the terminal device can use the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to the first RACH resource to receive the RAR.

[0031] Some possible examples for obtaining the number of RAR retransmissions include:

[0032] One or more SSB signal quality intervals correspond to one or more RAR repetition transmission times;

[0033] Get the number of RAR retransmissions corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the SSB signal quality measurement value is located.

[0034] It can be seen that the present application can introduce a correspondence between the SSB signal quality interval and the number of RAR repetition transmissions. In this way, after obtaining the measured value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality is located based on the correspondence. In this way, after using the first RACH resource to send a random access request message, the terminal device can use the RAR repetition transmission number corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value is located to receive the RAR.

[0035] In some possible examples, if the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, then the terminal device has the capability to support message 4 repeated transmission or PDSCH repeated transmission after message 3.

[0036] It can be seen that, since RAR transmission and Msg4 transmission need to be performed in the 4-step random access, this embodiment can inform the network device through RACH resources that the terminal device supports both RAR repeated transmission and Msg4 repeated transmission.

[0037] The second aspect is a communication method of the present application, comprising:

[0038] Receiving a random access response RAR;

[0039] Message 3 is sent using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, where the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0040] As can be seen, in the face of limited downlink coverage of the communication system, this application considers repeated transmission of Message 4 in the random access process, so as to improve the downlink transmission quality and achieve enhanced downlink coverage through repeated transmission of Message 4. Specifically, based on the device capabilities or communication requirements of the terminal device, this application can use Message 3 (Msg3) to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Message 4, or request the network device to repeat transmission of Message 4.

[0041] In this way, the network can learn through Msg3 that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4 or request repeated transmission of message 4, so that the network can repeatedly transmit message 4 to the terminal device. Through repeated transmission of message 4, the terminal device can combine and detect messages 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of message 4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0042] In some possible examples, message 3 includes a first LCID;

[0043] The first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of message 4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of message 4.

[0044] It can be seen that this embodiment can use the first LCID of Msg3 to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or request the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0045] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0046] Obtain one or more LCIDs; each LCID in the one or more LCIDs is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or each LCID in the one or more LCIDs is used to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of message 4;

[0047] A first LCID is determined among the one or more LCIDs, the first LCID being one of the one or more LCIDs.

[0048] It can be seen that the terminal device can determine the first LCID among the one or more LCIDs, and then use the uplink resources scheduled by RAR to send Msg3 containing the first LCID, and the network device can receive the first LCID, thereby indicating through the first LCID that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or requesting the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0049] In some possible examples, each LCID in the one or more LCIDs corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, where the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold;

[0050] Determining a first LCID from one or more LCIDs includes:

[0051] Get the measurement value of SSB signal quality;

[0052] According to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, a first LCID is determined from one or more LCIDs, where the first LCID is the LCID corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located.

[0053] It can be seen that the present application can introduce a correspondence between LCID and SSB signal quality interval. In this way, after obtaining the measurement value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, and determine the first LCID corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located from the one or more LCIDs based on the correspondence.

[0054] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0055] Get the number of repeated transmissions of message 4;

[0056] Message 4 is received by repeating the transmission of message 4.

[0057] It can be seen that after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4 or requests repeated transmission of message 4, the network device can use the number of repeated transmissions of message 4 to send message 4, and the terminal device can use the number of repeated transmissions of message 4 to receive message 4, so that the terminal device can combine and detect the messages 4 received multiple times to improve the receiving performance, increase the probability of correct reception of message 4, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0058] In some possible examples, obtaining the number of repetitions of message 4 includes:

[0059] First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate the number of times message 4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0060] It can be seen that after the terminal device notifies the network device of its ability to support repeated transmission of Message 4 or requests repeated transmission of Message 4, the network device can indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Message 4 through the first information, thereby implementing network configuration of the number of repeated transmissions of Message 4. In this way, the network device can send Message 4 using the number of repeated transmissions of Message 4 indicated by the first information, and the terminal device can receive Message 4 using the number of repeated transmissions of Message 4 indicated by the first information, so that the terminal device can combine and detect Message 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct reception of Message 4, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0061] In some possible examples, the first information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RATI.

[0062] In this way, after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4 or requests repeated transmission of message 4, the network device can indicate to the terminal device a currently used number of message 4 repetition transmissions from the multiple number of message 4 repetition transmissions through a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI encrypted by C-RNTI or TC-RATI, so that the terminal device can use this number of message 4 repetition transmissions to receive message 4.

[0063] In some possible examples, the second information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RATI.

[0064] In this way, after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4 or requests repeated transmission of message 4, the network device can indicate to the terminal device a currently used number of message 4 repetition transmissions from the multiple number of message 4 repetition transmissions through a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI encrypted by C-RNTI or TC-RATI, so that the terminal device can use this number of message 4 repetition transmissions to receive message 4.

[0065] In some possible examples, obtaining the number of repetitions of message 4 includes:

[0066] Get the number of repeated transmissions of message 4 corresponding to the first LCID.

[0067] It can be seen that the present application can introduce a correspondence between an LCID and the number of repetitions of message 4. In this way, after determining the first LCID, the terminal device can determine the number of repetitions of message 4 corresponding to the first LCID from the one or more repetitions of message 4 based on the correspondence. Thus, after sending message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, the terminal device can receive message 4 using the number of repetitions of message 4 corresponding to the first LCID.

[0068] In some possible examples, obtaining the number of repetitions of message 4 includes:

[0069] One or more SSB signal quality intervals correspond to one or more message 4 repetition transmission times;

[0070] Obtain the number of repetitions of message 4 corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality is located.

[0071] It can be seen that the present application can introduce a correspondence between the SSB signal quality interval and the number of repetitions of Message 4. In this way, after obtaining the measured value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the number of repetitions of Message 4 corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value is located from the one or more repetitions of Message 4 based on this correspondence. In this way, after sending Message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, the terminal device can receive Message 4 using the number of repetitions of Message 4 corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value is located.

[0072] In some possible examples, the time domain position of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located is determined according to the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission is located.

[0073] In this way, when the terminal device knows the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repeated transmission is located, the terminal device can ensure the transmission of the Msg3 based on the time domain position of the PUSCH where the Msg3 after the last RAR is located.

[0074] In some possible examples, the processing time of message 3 is the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repetition transmission is located.

[0075] In this way, when the terminal device needs to transmit the Msg3 after the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission, the terminal device can have a minimum time to process the Msg3, thereby ensuring the transmission of the Msg3.

[0076] The third aspect is a communication method of the present application, comprising:

[0077] Sending resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources, where each of the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that a terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission, where the one or more RACH resources include a first RACH resource;

[0078] A random access request message is received using the first RACH resource.

[0079] In some possible examples, each RACH resource in one or more RACH resources corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval; wherein the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold.

[0080] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0081] Send RAR using the number of RAR retransmissions.

[0082] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0083] Send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the number of RAR repeated transmissions.

[0084] In some possible examples, the first indication information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI.

[0085] In some possible examples, the first RACH resource corresponds to the number of RAR repetition transmissions.

[0086] In some possible examples,

[0087] The SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality lies corresponds to the number of RAR repetition transmissions.

[0088] In some possible examples, if the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, then the terminal device has the capability to support message 4 repeated transmission or PDSCH repeated transmission after message 3.

[0089] A fourth aspect is a communication method of the present application, comprising:

[0090] Send RAR;

[0091] Message 3 is received using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, where the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0092] In some possible examples, message 3 includes a first LCID;

[0093] The first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of message 4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of message 4.

[0094] In some possible examples, the first LCID is among the one or more LCIDs;

[0095] Each LCID in the one or more LCIDs corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, and the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold.

[0096] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0097] Message 4 is sent using the number of message 4 repetitions.

[0098] In some possible examples, the method further includes:

[0099] Send first information, where the first information is used to indicate the number of times message 4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0100] In some possible examples, the first information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RATI.

[0101] In some possible examples, the first LCID corresponds to the number of repetitions of message 4.

[0102] In some possible examples,

[0103] The SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality lies corresponds to the number of repetitions of message 4.

[0104] In some possible examples, the time domain position of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located is determined according to the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission is located.

[0105] In some possible examples, the processing time of message 3 is the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repetition transmission is located.

[0106] A fifth aspect is a communication device of the present application, comprising:

[0107] an acquiring unit, configured to acquire a first random access channel (RACH) resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting repeated transmission of a random access response (RAR), or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform repeated transmission of the RAR;

[0108] A sending unit is configured to send a random access request message by using the first RACH resource.

[0109] The beneficial effects brought about by the technical solution of the fifth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the technical solution of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0110] A sixth aspect is a communication device of the present application, comprising:

[0111] A receiving unit, configured to receive the RAR;

[0112] The sending unit is used to send message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, where the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0113] The beneficial effects brought about by the technical solution of the sixth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the technical solution of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0114] A seventh aspect is a communication device of the present application, comprising:

[0115] a sending unit, configured to send resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources, each of the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that a terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission, the one or more RACH resources including a first RACH resource;

[0116] A receiving unit is configured to receive a random access request message using the first RACH resource.

[0117] The beneficial effects brought about by the technical solution of the seventh aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the technical solution of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0118] An eighth aspect is a communication device of the present application, comprising:

[0119] A sending unit, used for sending RAR;

[0120] The receiving unit is used to receive message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, where the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0121] The beneficial effects brought about by the technical solution of the eighth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought about by the technical solution of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0122] In the ninth aspect, the steps in the method designed in the first or second aspect are applied to a terminal device.

[0123] In the tenth aspect, the steps in the method designed in the third aspect or the fourth aspect are applied to a network device.

[0124] The eleventh aspect is a terminal device of the present application, comprising a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instructions stored on the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps in the method designed in the first or second aspect above.

[0125] The twelfth aspect is a network device of the present application, comprising a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instructions stored on the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps in the method designed in the third or fourth aspect above.

[0126] The thirteenth aspect is a chip of the present application, comprising a processor, wherein the processor executes the steps of the method designed in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0127] The fourteenth aspect is a chip module of the present application, comprising a transceiver component and a chip, wherein the chip comprises a processor, wherein the processor executes the steps in the method designed in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0128] The fifteenth aspect is a computer-readable storage medium of the present application, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the steps in the method designed in any one of the first aspect or the fourth aspect are implemented.

[0129] A sixteenth aspect is a computer program product of the present application, comprising a computer program or instructions, wherein when the computer program or instructions are executed, the steps of the method according to any one of aspects one through four are performed. Exemplarily, the computer program product may be a software installation package.

[0130] The beneficial effects brought about by the technical solutions of aspects 5 to 16 can be referred to the technical effects brought about by any one of the technical solutions of aspects 1 to 4, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0131] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an NTN communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] Figure 3 This is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] Figure 4 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an OFDM in an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of another OFDM structure according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] Figures 7 to 14 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0138] Figures 15 to 18 This is a block diagram of the functional units of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0139] Figure 19 A schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0140] Figure 20 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0141] It should be understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish between different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including," "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, software, product, or device comprising a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may also include steps or units not listed, or may also include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or devices.

[0142] The term "embodiment" as used in the embodiments of this application means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various locations in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to independent or alternative embodiments that are mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0143] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" or "at least one item" refers to one or more, and "a plurality" refers to two or more.

[0144] In the embodiments of this application, "and / or" describes the relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent the following three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " can indicate that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0145] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent the following seven situations: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, a, b, and c. Each of a, b, and c can be an element or a set containing one or more elements.

[0146] In the embodiments of the present application, the terms "of," "corresponding," "relevant," "corresponding," "associated," "related," and "mapped" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when no distinction is emphasized, the concepts or meanings to be expressed are consistent.

[0147] The “network” in the embodiments of the present application can be expressed as the same concept as the “system”, and the communication system is the communication network.

[0148] The "connection" in the embodiments of the present application refers to various connection methods such as direct connection or indirect connection to achieve communication between devices, and is not specifically limited to this.

[0149] The following is a detailed introduction to the relevant contents involved in the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

[0150] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various wireless communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) system, new radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, LTE on unlicensed spectrum (LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum, LTE-U) system, NR on unlicensed spectrum (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) system, non-terrestrial communication network (NTN) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), 6th generation (6G) communication system or other communication systems.

[0151] It should be noted that the number of connections supported by traditional communication systems is limited and easy to implement. With the development of communication technology, the communication system of the present application can not only support traditional communication systems, but also support device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication, etc. Therefore, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the above-mentioned communication systems.

[0152] For example, the embodiments of the present application can be applied to beamforming (beamforming), carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC) or standalone (SA) deployment scenarios, etc.

[0153] As another example, embodiments of the present application can be applied to communication scenarios using unlicensed spectrum. In embodiments of the present application, unlicensed spectrum can also be considered shared spectrum. Alternatively, embodiments of the present application can also be applied to licensed spectrum. Licensed spectrum can also be considered unshared spectrum.

[0154] For example, the network architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application can be found in Figure 1 .like Figure 1 As shown, communication system 10 may include network device 110 and terminal device 120. Terminal device 120 may communicate with network device 110 wirelessly. Furthermore, communication system 10 may also include servers or other devices. For example, communication system 10 may include other network devices in addition to network device 110. For another example, communication system 10 may include other terminal devices in addition to terminal device 120.

[0155] certainly, Figure 1 This is merely an example of a network architecture of a communication system and does not constitute a limitation on the network architecture of the communication system in the embodiments of the present application.

[0156]

Terminal equipment

[0157] A terminal device can be a device with transceiver functions and can also be called a terminal, user equipment (UE), remote terminal equipment (remote UE), relay UE, access terminal equipment, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, mobile device, user terminal equipment, intelligent terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, user terminal, user agent, or user device. It should be noted that a relay device is a terminal device that can provide relay forwarding services for other terminal devices (including remote terminal devices).

[0158] For example, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in unmanned autonomous driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

[0159] For another example, the terminal device can be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system (such as an NR communication system, a 6G communication system), or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile communication network (PLMN), etc., without specific limitation.

[0160] Optionally, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); can be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.).

[0161] Optionally, the terminal device may include a device with wireless communication function, such as a chip system, a chip, or a chip module. For example, the chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

[0162] Optionally, the terminal device of the embodiment of the present application can be a chip, a chip module, a device, a unit, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0163] Network equipment

[0164] A network device may be a device with transceiver functions and may be used to communicate with a terminal device.

[0165] Optionally, the network device may be responsible for radio resource management (RRM), quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption, data transmission and reception, etc. on the air interface side.

[0166] Optionally, the network device may include a base station (BS) in a communication system or a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) for providing wireless communication functions, that is, the network device may include a device in the RAN.

[0167] For example, the devices in the RAN may include an evolved node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE communication system, a next generation evolved node B (ng-eNB) in an NR communication system, a next generation node B (gNB) in an NR communication system, a master node (MN) in a dual-connection architecture, a second node or secondary node (SN) in a dual-connection architecture, etc., without specific limitation.

[0168] Optionally, the network device may include a device in a core network (CN).

[0169] For example, the equipment in the CN may include an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), etc.

[0170] Optionally, the network device may also be an access point (AP) in a WLAN, a relay station, a communication device in a future evolved PLMN network, a communication device in an NTN network, etc.

[0171] Optionally, the network device may include a device that provides wireless communication functionality for the terminal device, such as a chip system, a chip, or a chip module. For example, the chip system may include a chip, or may include other discrete devices.

[0172] Optionally, the network device may be a transmission and reception point (TRP).

[0173] Optionally, the network device can communicate with an Internet Protocol (IP) network, such as the Internet, a private IP network, or other data networks.

[0174] Optionally, the network device may include a single independent node to implement the aforementioned base station functions, or may include two or more independent nodes to implement the aforementioned base station functions. For example, the network device may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), such as a gNB-CU and gNB-DU. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the network device may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements a portion of the network device's functions, while the DU implements another portion of the network device's functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. In addition, the AAU may implement some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and related functions of the active antenna. Because RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information, in this network deployment, high-layer signaling (such as RRC signaling) can be considered to be generated by the CU and sent by the DU, or sent jointly by the DU and AAU. It is understood that network devices may include at least one of the CU, DU, and AAU. Furthermore, the CU may be classified as a RAN device, or as a core network device, without specific limitation.

[0175] Optionally, the network device may be any one of the multiple sites that perform coherent joint transmission (CJT) with the terminal device, or other sites outside the multiple sites, or other network devices that perform network communication with the terminal device, and there is no specific limitation on this. Among them, multi-site coherent collaborative transmission may be joint coherent transmission of multiple sites, or different data belonging to the same physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are sent from different sites to the terminal device, or multiple sites are virtualized into one site for transmission, or other forms of collaborative transmission. The sites in multi-site coherent collaborative transmission may be remote radio heads (RRHs), transmission and reception points (TRPs), network devices, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0176] Optionally, the network device may also be any one of the multiple sites that perform non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT) with the terminal device, or other sites outside the multiple sites, or other network devices that perform network communication with the terminal device, and there is no specific limitation on this. Among them, multi-site non-coherent collaborative transmission can be multiple sites joint non-coherent transmission, or different data belonging to the same PDSCH is sent from different sites to the terminal device, or different data belonging to the same PDSCH is sent from different sites to the terminal device, or other forms of non-cooperative transmission. The sites in multi-site non-coherent collaborative transmission can be RRHs, TRPs, network devices, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0177] Optionally, the network device can provide services for a cell, and the terminal device in the cell can communicate with the network device using transmission resources (such as spectrum resources). The cell can be a macro cell, a small cell, a metro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, or a femto cell.

[0178] Optionally, the network device described in the embodiments of the present application may be a chip, a chip module, a device, a unit, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0179]

NTN system

[0180] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to NTN systems, for example, satellite communication systems. In satellite communication systems, network devices usually communicate with ground terminal devices via satellites.

[0181] Compared with terrestrial communication systems, the NTN system has the characteristics of large coverage area and flexible networking, and can provide high-speed, high-reliability and low-latency communication for user terminals.

[0182] According to the orbital altitude of the satellite, the NTN system can be divided into the following three types: geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite communication system, also known as synchronous orbit satellite system; medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite communication system; low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication system.

[0183] A satellite may be a spacecraft that is a transmitter of a transparent payload (also known as a bent pipe payload) or a regenerative payload signal, that is, a transparent satellite or a regenerative satellite.

[0184] Satellites can be divided into transparent (also known as bent pipe payload) mode and regenerative mode according to their operating mode or payload.

[0185] When the satellite works in transparent transmission mode, it is a spacecraft that is a transmitter of transparent transmission payload signals and has the function of relaying and forwarding.

[0186] When the satellite operates in regeneration mode, it has data processing capabilities, base station (such as gNB) functions or partial base station functions. At this time, the satellite can be regarded as a base station.

[0187] It should be noted that satellites can be divided into GEO satellites, MEO satellites, LEO satellites and high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellites according to the different orbital altitudes.

[0188] The orbital altitude of GEO satellites is 35786km. Its main advantage is that it can remain stationary relative to the ground and provide a large coverage area. However, GEO satellite communications also have obvious disadvantages:

[0189] 1) GEO satellite orbits are far from the Earth, resulting in high free-space propagation losses, which limits the communication link budget. To increase transmit / receive gain, satellites need to be equipped with larger antennas.

[0190] 2) The communication transmission delay is large, reaching a round-trip delay of around 500ms, which cannot meet the needs of real-time services;

[0191] 3) GEO orbital resources are relatively limited, launch costs are high, and it cannot provide coverage for the Earth's polar regions.

[0192] MEO satellites orbit at altitudes between 2,000 and 35,786 km. Their advantage is that they can achieve global coverage with a relatively small number of satellites. However, their orbital altitude is higher than that of LEO satellites, and transmission latency is still greater than that of LEO satellite communications. Considering the advantages and disadvantages of MEO satellite communications, MEO satellites are primarily used for positioning and navigation.

[0193] LEO satellites operate at orbital altitudes between 300 and 2000 km. These altitudes are lower than those of MEO and GEO satellites, offering advantages such as reduced data transmission latency, minimal transmission loss, and relatively low launch costs. Consequently, LEO satellite communications have garnered widespread attention in recent years.

[0194] The orbital altitude of HEO satellites ranges from 400km to 50,000km.

[0195] A non-terrestrial network gateway (NTN gateway), which can be an earth station or gateway located on the ground, provides sufficient radio frequency (RF) power and RF sensitivity to connect ground-based equipment (such as network equipment) with satellites. The NTN gateway is a node in the transport network layer (TNL).

[0196] For example, an NTN system according to an embodiment of the present application is as follows: Figure 2 As shown in FIG. NTN communication system 20 may include terminal device 210, satellite 230, non-terrestrial network gateway 240, and network device 250. Terminal device 210, non-terrestrial network gateway 240, and network device 250 may be located on the surface of the Earth, while satellite 230 is located in Earth orbit. Satellite 230 may provide communication services to the geographic area covered by its signal and may communicate with terminal device 210 located within its signal coverage area.

[0197] In addition, terminal device 210 is located within the coverage area of ​​a beam or a cell, and the coverage area of ​​the beam or the cell includes a reference point 220. Furthermore, the communication link between terminal device 210 and satellite 230 is called a service link. The communication link between satellite 230 and non-terrestrial network gateway 240 is called a feeder link.

[0198] It should be noted that the non-terrestrial network gateway 240 and the network device 250 can be integrated into the same device or can be independent devices, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0199] The following describes in detail the downlink coverage enhancement of the random access process in the embodiment of the present application.

[0200] Random access process

[0201] The random access process is a basic and important process in communication systems. Through the random access process, terminal devices can establish a wireless link with network devices or achieve uplink synchronization.

[0202] The 4-step random access process includes the following four steps: random access request transmission, random access response (RAR) transmission, RAR-scheduled physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, and contention resolution.

[0203] "Transmission process of random access request"

[0204] The transmission of a random access request is step 1 of the 4-step random access process. In step 1, the terminal device sends a random access request message to the network device.

[0205] The random access request message may be referred to as message 1 (Msg1). Furthermore, the random access request message may include a random access preamble (RA preamble). The RA preamble's primary function may be to request access from a network device so that the network device can estimate the transmission delay between the network device and the terminal device based on the RA preamble and calibrate the uplink timing accordingly, and then indicate this to the terminal device via the RAR.

[0206] "RAR transfer process"

[0207] The transmission of the RAR is step 2 of the four-step random access process. In step 2, after receiving the random access request message, the network device can send the RAR to the terminal device via the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) payload. The RAR is also called Message 2 (Msg2).

[0208] In addition, the RAR may be obtained by scrambling a random access-radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI), and the value of the RA-RNTI may be determined according to the time-frequency resource position of the resource used to carry the RA preamble.

[0209] In step 2, after the terminal device sends the RA preamble, it can monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) within the RAR time window based on the RA-RNTI to obtain the DCI scrambled by the RA-RNTI. The terminal device then parses the PDSCH payload based on the DCI to obtain the RAR. If the RAR is not received within the RAR time window, the random access process is considered to have failed.

[0210] The RAR may include a time adjustment amount required for specifying uplink synchronization, uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, a temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI), etc.

[0211] The first two steps of the 4-step random access process mainly complete the uplink time synchronization, while the main purpose of the last two steps of the 4-step random access process is to assign a unique and legal identity to the terminal device for subsequent data transmission.

[0212] "RAR-Scheduled PUSCH Transmission Process"

[0213] The RAR-scheduled PUSCH transmission is step 3 in the 4-step random access process. In step 3, after the terminal device receives the RAR, the terminal device sends message 3 (Msg3) or the RAR-scheduled PUSCH to the network device on the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR.

[0214] Msg3 may include a common control channel (CCCH) service data unit (SDU) or a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) MAC CE for conflict resolution.

[0215] Conflict Resolution Process

[0216] Contention resolution is step 4 of the four-step random access process. In step 4, after the network device receives Msg3, it sends a PDSCH following Message 3 or Message 4 (Msg4) to the terminal device. The PDSCH following Message 3 or Msg4 carries a flag uniquely identifying the terminal device, indicating the winning terminal device. Other terminal devices that did not win the contention resolution process will re-initiate random access.

[0217]

Downlink coverage enhancement

[0218] Some communication systems may have limited downlink coverage. For example, in the NTN system, satellites can use beamforming technology to generate multiple beams for communication services. However, downlink coverage may be limited due to limited satellite capabilities or resources.

[0219] In the case where the downlink coverage of the communication system is limited, this embodiment considers downlink repeated transmission in the random access process, so as to improve the downlink transmission quality in the random access process through downlink repeated transmission and achieve downlink coverage enhancement.

[0220] The following embodiment specifically describes how to achieve downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process through the following solutions. These solutions may be related to each other or independent of each other, and the same contents between different solutions may be referenced to each other, which will not be described in detail.

[0221] [Scheme 1]

[0222] In "Solution 1", for downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process, this embodiment considers RAR repeated transmission, wherein RAR repeated transmission can be understood as the network device repeatedly transmitting the RAR multiple times.

[0223] Of course, RAR repeated transmission may also be referred to as Msg2 repeated transmission or Msg2 PDSCH repeated transmission, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0224] In this way, repeated RAR transmission enables the terminal device to combine and detect RARs received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0225] Because different terminal devices may have different capabilities, some may support RAR repeated transmission, while others may not. In this case, before performing RAR transmission, the terminal device in this embodiment can inform the network device that it supports RAR repeated transmission. Once the network device learns that the terminal device supports RAR repeated transmission, it can repeatedly transmit RAR to the terminal device, thereby enhancing downlink coverage through RAR repeated transmission.

[0226] Alternatively, because different terminal devices have different communication requirements, some terminal devices may require RAR retransmission, while other terminal devices may not. Terminal devices that require RAR retransmission may request the network device to perform RAR retransmission; terminal devices that do not require RAR retransmission may not request the network device to perform RAR retransmission.

[0227] In this case, before performing RAR transmission, the terminal device of this embodiment can request the network device to perform RAR retransmission. In this way, after the network device learns that the terminal device requests RAR retransmission, the network device can retransmit RAR to the terminal device, so as to achieve downlink coverage enhancement through RAR retransmission.

[0228] To sum up, in "Scheme 1", how the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, or how the terminal device requests the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission, this embodiment can be implemented through the "random access request transmission process".

[0229] This is because, in order to ensure the transmission of the random access request, the network device will configure RACH resources to the terminal device through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs, etc.) or high-layer signaling (such as RRC signaling), so that the terminal device can send Msg1 on the RACH resources, thereby realizing the use of RACH resources for random access requests. Among them, the "RACH resources" mentioned in this embodiment can be RACH time-frequency domain resources (such as PACH Occasion (RO)) or preamble code sequences, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0230] Based on this, since the network device can know the RACH resources where Msg1 is located, the RACH resources can be partitioned according to different features to support the initial access of some features. For example, by partitioning the RO according to different features, different ROs can be dedicated to different features. Alternatively, by partitioning the preamble code sequence associated with the RO according to different features, different preamble code sequences associated with the RO can be dedicated to different features. Therefore, in addition to traditional RACH resources, the network device may need to allocate a sufficient number of RACH resources for each RACH configuration dedicated to the RAR repeated transmission feature. When the terminal device uses the above resources to send PRACH, it means that the terminal device supports RAR repeated transmission.

[0231] That is, to support the RAR repeated transmission feature, this embodiment may define some RACH resources for indicating that a terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, or define some RACH resources for requesting a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission. Thus, when a terminal device uses these RACH resources to send a random request message, this indicates that the terminal device supports RAR repeated transmission. Thus, the RACH resources are used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, or to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0232] The following description will be made by taking the use of the first RACH resource by the terminal device as an example. Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 This is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0233] S310. Acquire a first RACH resource.

[0234] Among them, the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device supports RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request the network device to repeat RAR transmission, etc.

[0235] S320. Use the first RACH resource to send a random access request message.

[0236] It can be seen that this embodiment can use the first RACH resource during the transmission process of the random access request to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0237] In this way, repeated RAR transmission ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect RARs received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0238] Regarding how to obtain the first RACH resource, the network device of this embodiment can configure one or more RACH resources to the terminal device through system information or high-layer signaling, etc. Each of the one or more RACH resources can be used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources can be used to request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0239] In this way, the terminal device can determine the first RACH resource from the one or more RACH resources, and then use the first RACH resource to make a random access request, thereby indicating through the first RACH resource that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, or requesting the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0240] In some possible implementations, to determine the first RACH resource from the one or more RACH resources, this embodiment may adopt the following two methods:

[0241] One way is that the terminal device may randomly select a RACH resource from the one or more RACH resources as the first RACH resource.

[0242] Another way is that since the network device periodically broadcasts the synchronization signal block (SSB), the terminal device can obtain the measurement value of the SSB signal quality by measuring the SSB. The SSB signal quality can be the SSB reference signal received power (RSRP), the SSB received signal strength indicator (RSSI), the SSB signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), or the SSB reference signal received quality (RSRQ).

[0243] Based on this, the network device can configure the correspondence between each of the one or more RACH resources and an SSB signal quality interval to the terminal device through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs, etc.) or high-layer signaling. The SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing one or more SSB signal quality thresholds, and the SSB signal quality threshold can be network configured, pre-configured, or specified in a standard protocol.

[0244] For example, taking three RACH resources and two SSB signal quality thresholds as an example, the three RACH resources are RACH resource 1, RACH resource 2, and RACH resource 3, and the two SSB signal quality thresholds are SSB signal quality threshold X and SSB signal quality threshold Y, respectively, and X < Y. The two SSB signal quality thresholds can be divided into the following three SSB signal quality intervals: (-∞, X), [X, Y], and (Y, +∞). Then, the network device can configure RACH resource 1 to correspond to (-∞, X), RACH resource 2 to correspond to [X, Y], and RACH resource 3 to correspond to (Y, +∞).

[0245] In this way, after obtaining the measurement value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the SSB signal quality interval where the measurement value is located, and determine the first RACH resource corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval where the measurement value is located based on the correspondence between the RACH resource and the SSB signal quality interval.

[0246] For example, in the above example, taking the measured value of the SSB signal quality as M, and M∈[X,Y] as an example, since RACH resource 2 corresponds to the SSB signal quality interval [X,Y], RACH resource 2 is the first RACH resource.

[0247] The following uses the interaction between network devices and terminal devices as an example to illustrate. Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0248] S410. The network device sends resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources.

[0249] Each of the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources is used to request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission. The one or more RACH resources include a first RACH resource.

[0250] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the resource configuration information.

[0251] S420. The terminal device determines a first RACH resource from the one or more RACH resources.

[0252] S430. The terminal device uses the first RACH resource to send a random access request message.

[0253] Correspondingly, the network device uses the first RACH resource to receive the random access message.

[0254] It can be seen that this embodiment can configure one or more RACH resources through resource configuration information, and then during the transmission process of the random access request, use the first RACH resource among the one or more RACH resources to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, or request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0255] In this way, repeated RAR transmission ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect RARs received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0256] Optionally, the resource configuration information is carried by system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs) or higher layer signaling. In this way, one or more RACH resources are configured through system information or higher layer signaling.

[0257] Optionally, each of the one or more RACH resources corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, wherein the corresponding relationship may be configured through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs) or higher layer signaling.

[0258] In this way, since the network device periodically broadcasts the SSB, the terminal device can measure the SSB to obtain the measured value of the SSB signal quality and determine the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value lies. Then, the terminal device determines the first PACH resource corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value lies based on the correspondence between the RACH resource and the SSB signal quality interval, thereby indicating through the first RACH resource that the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, or requesting the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0259] [Scheme 2]

[0260] Based on the above "Solution 1", this embodiment can introduce the number of RAR retransmissions. In this way, the network device can use the number of RAR retransmissions to send the RAR, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0261] For example, if the number of RAR retransmissions is 2, it means that the network device retransmits the RAR twice.

[0262] For another example, the number of RAR repetition transmissions is 2, 4, 8, or 10.

[0263] It should be noted that in RAR retransmission, although the network device can use the RAR retransmission number to retransmit the RAR, the RAR retransmission number that may need to be used for some terminal devices may be more, while the RAR retransmission number that may need to be used for other terminal devices may be less.

[0264] For example, for a terminal device that has poor channel quality with a network device (such as the SSB signal quality of the terminal device is less than a preset threshold), due to the poor channel quality, the terminal device may need to repeat the RAR transmission more times, and thus need to receive more RARs, so as to improve the receiving performance by combining and detecting more received RARs so as to correctly receive the RARs.

[0265] However, for terminal devices that have better channel quality with network devices (such as the SSB signal quality of the terminal device is greater than a preset threshold), due to the better channel quality, the number of RAR repeated transmissions that may need to be used for the terminal device will be less, thereby reducing the number of RAR receptions to save receiving power consumption.

[0266] The following describes "Scheme 2" in detail from the following multiple perspectives.

[0267] Method A

[0268] In "Method A", the network device can first configure one or more RAR retransmission times to the terminal device through signaling or signals, and then after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support RAR retransmission or requests RAR retransmission, the network device can indicate a currently used RAR retransmission number from the one or more RAR retransmission times to the terminal device through signaling (such as DCI scrambled by random access-radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI)). In this way, the terminal device can know how many times the network device will retransmit the RAR, so that the terminal device can use the RAR retransmission number to receive the RAR. Of course, the network device will also configure the terminal device with resources for RAR retransmission, etc.

[0269] The following is an example of signaling or signaling for configuring one or more RAR repetition transmission times.

[0270] In some possible examples, SIB1 or other SIBs are used to indicate the number of RAR repetition transmissions.

[0271] For example, a spare bit or an existing field in SIB1 or other SIBs is used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions. For example, if the value of the spare bit is a first value (such as 0), it indicates that RAR retransmission is not performed. In this way, the terminal device does not need to receive RAR in accordance with the RAR retransmission method. If the value of the spare bit is a second value (such as 1), it indicates that the number of RAR retransmissions is L (L is a positive integer). The value of L can be pre-agreed by the protocol, configured by the network, or pre-configured.

[0272] For example, in the interaction between a network device and a terminal device, the network device sends SIB1 or other SIBs, which are used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives SIB1 or other SIBs. In this way, the network explicitly configures the number of RAR retransmissions through SIB1 or other SIBs.

[0273] In some possible examples, the SSB is used to indicate one or more RAR repetition transmission times.

[0274] For example, in the interaction between a network device and a terminal device, the network device sends an SSB, which indicates one or more RAR retransmission times. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the SSB. In this way, the network explicitly configures one or more RAR retransmission times through the SSB.

[0275] The following uses the SSB in 5G NR as an example. In 5G NR, the SSB consists of the primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The PBCH is used to carry the master information block (MIB).

[0276] In 5G NR, the time-frequency domain position of SSB is as follows: Figure 5As shown in the figure, in the time domain, the SSB contains 4 OFDM symbols, and the OFDM symbols are numbered 0 to 3; in the frequency domain, the SSB occupies 240 consecutive subcarriers, and the subcarriers are numbered 0 to 239. Among them, the time-frequency resource location of the PSS is the subcarrier numbers 56 to 182 of the OFDM symbol number 0; the time-frequency resource location of the SSS is the subcarrier numbers 56 to 182 of the OFDM symbol number 2; the time-frequency resource location of the PBCH is the subcarrier numbers 0 to 239 of the OFDM symbol number 1, the subcarrier numbers 0 to 47 and 192 to 239 of the OFDM symbol number 2, and the subcarrier numbers 0 to 239 of the OFDM symbol number 3.

[0277] In some possible examples, the MIB is used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions.

[0278] For example, a spare bit or existing field in the MIB is used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions. For example, if the spare bit is set to a first value (e.g., 0), the RAR is not to be retransmitted; if the spare bit is set to a second value (e.g., 1), the number of RAR retransmissions is L (L is a positive integer). The value of L can be pre-agreed by the protocol, configured by the network, or pre-configured.

[0279] For example, in the interaction between a network device and a terminal device, the network device sends the MIB, which is used to indicate the number of repeated RAR transmissions; in return, the terminal device receives the MIB. In this way, the network explicitly configures the number of repeated RAR transmissions through the MIB.

[0280] In some possible examples, one or more RAR repetition transmission times are indicated by an additional MIB carried by the PBCH.

[0281] For example, in the interaction between a network device and a terminal device, the network device sends an additional PBCH, and the MIB carried by the additional PBCH indicates one or more RAR retransmission times. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the additional PBCH. In this way, the network explicitly configures one or more RAR retransmission times through the additional PBCH.

[0282] Among them, the additional PBCH may refer to a PBCH additionally defined on the basis of the existing PBCH (such as the PBCH in the above-mentioned 5G NR).

[0283] For example, some unused subcarriers in the OFDM symbol of the existing SSB (such as the SSB in the 5G NR mentioned above) are used as time domain resources for the additional PBCH. That is, the additional PBCH is placed in the OFDM symbol of the existing SSB, or some unused subcarriers in the OFDM symbol of the existing SSB are added. The additional PBCH can be specified by the network configuration or protocol. For example, Figure 6As shown, the time-frequency resource locations of the additional PBCH are subcarrier numbers 192 to 239 of OFDM symbol number 0.

[0284] For another example, an unused time-frequency domain position outside the time-frequency domain position of the existing SSB is used as the time-frequency domain position of the additional PBCH. That is, the additional PBCH occupies a time-frequency domain position different from the existing SSB, or the additional PBCH occupies an unused time-frequency domain position outside the time-frequency domain position of the existing SSB as an additional PBCH. The additional PBCH may be configured by the network or specified by the protocol.

[0285] For another example, a time-frequency domain position that has a mapping relationship with the time-frequency domain position of the existing SSB is used as the time-frequency domain position of the additional PBCH. In other words, there is a mapping relationship between the time-frequency domain position of the additional PBCH and the time-frequency domain position of the existing SSB. The additional PBCH can be configured by the network or specified by the protocol.

[0286] It should be noted that the "existing SSB" appearing in this embodiment may refer to the SSB in 5G NR, the SSB in LTE, or the SSB that existed before the filing date of this application, etc., and there is no specific restriction on this.

[0287] In summary, the following uses the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example to illustrate "Method A". Figure 7 As shown, Figure 7 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0288] S710. The terminal device obtains a first RACH resource.

[0289] The first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0290] It should be noted that the method for the terminal device to obtain the first RACH resource can be referred to the above-mentioned "Solution 1", which will not be repeated here.

[0291] S720. The network device sends RAR retransmission information, where the RAR retransmission information is used to indicate a number of RAR retransmissions.

[0292] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR retransmission information.

[0293] It should be noted that, in combination with the above examples, in some possible examples, the RAR repetition transmission information can be carried by SIB1, other SIBs, SSBs, MIBs, or MIBs carried by additional PBCHs.

[0294] S730. The terminal device uses the first RACH resource to send a random access request message.

[0295] Correspondingly, the network device uses the first RACH resource to receive the random access request message.

[0296] S740. The network device sends the RAR using the RAR retransmission times indicated by the RAR retransmission information.

[0297] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR using the RAR retransmission times indicated by the RAR retransmission information.

[0298] As can be seen, in this embodiment, a RAR retransmission count can be configured using RAR retransmission information. Thus, the network device can use this RAR retransmission count to send the RAR, and the terminal device can use this RAR retransmission count to receive the RAR. This allows the terminal device to combine and detect multiple received RARs to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct RAR reception, and achieve enhanced downlink coverage during the random access process.

[0299] like Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0300] S810. The terminal device obtains a first RACH resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0301] It should be noted that the method for the terminal device to obtain the first RACH resource can be referred to the above-mentioned "Solution 1", which will not be repeated here.

[0302] S820. The network device sends RAR retransmission information, where the RAR retransmission information is used to indicate multiple RAR retransmission times.

[0303] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR retransmission information.

[0304] It should be noted that, in combination with the above examples, in some possible examples, the RAR repetition transmission information can be carried by SIB1, other SIBs, SSBs, MIBs, or MIBs carried by additional PBCHs.

[0305] S830. The terminal device uses the first RACH resource to send a random access request message.

[0306] Correspondingly, the network device uses the first RACH resource to receive the random access request message.

[0307] S840. The network device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a RAR repetition transmission number from the multiple RAR repetition transmission numbers.

[0308] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information.

[0309] In some possible examples, the first indication information may be a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI. Thus, after the terminal device notifies the network device of its capability to support RAR retransmission or requests RAR retransmission, the network device may indicate to the terminal device a currently used RAR retransmission number from among the multiple RAR retransmission numbers through the dedicated field or the existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI, so that the terminal device may use the RAR retransmission number to receive the RAR.

[0310] It should be noted that the dedicated field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI may refer to a newly added field in the existing DCI format, which may be dedicated to indicating the number of RAR retransmissions. Thus, the dedicated field may be used to indicate one RAR retransmission number from among multiple RAR retransmission numbers. For example, the dedicated field may be defined using the reserved bits of the existing DCI format. For another example, the dedicated field may be placed after the least significant bit of the system frame number (LSBs of SFN) field.

[0311] The existing fields in the RA-RNTI scrambled DCI may refer to fields that already exist and are used in the existing DCI format. For example, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field, the frequency domain resource assignment field, the time domain resource allocation field, the virtual resource block to physical resource block mapping (VRB-to-PRB mapping) field, etc. Therefore, this embodiment can reuse / utilize existing fields to indicate the number of RAR repeated transmissions. For example, the high or low bit of the frequency domain resource allocation field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of RAR repeated transmissions. For another example, the high or low bit of the MCS field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of RAR repeated transmissions. For another example, the high or low bit of the time domain resource allocation field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of RAR repeated transmissions.

[0312] S850. The network device sends the RAR using the number of RAR retransmissions indicated by the first indication information.

[0313] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR using the number of RAR retransmissions indicated by the first indication information.

[0314] As can be seen, in this embodiment, multiple RAR retransmission times can be configured using RAR retransmission information, and then a RAR retransmission time from the multiple RAR retransmission times can be indicated using the first indication information. In this way, the network device can use the RAR retransmission time indicated by the first indication information to send the RAR, and the terminal device can use the RAR retransmission time indicated by the first indication information to receive the RAR. This allows the terminal device to perform combined detection on the multiple received RARs to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct RAR reception, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0315]

Method B

[0316] In "Method B", the network device can wait until the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or requests RAR repeated transmission, and then indicate a RAR repeated transmission number to the terminal device through signaling (such as RA-RNTI encrypted DCI) so that the terminal device can use the RAR repeated transmission number to receive RAR.

[0317] The following uses the interaction between network devices and terminal devices as an example to illustrate "Method B". Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0318] like Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0319] S910. The terminal device obtains a first RACH resource.

[0320] The first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0321] It should be noted that the method for the terminal device to obtain the first RACH resource can be referred to the above-mentioned "Solution 1", which will not be repeated here.

[0322] S920. The terminal device uses the first RACH resource to send a random access request message.

[0323] S930. The network device sends second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate a number of RAR retransmissions.

[0324] In some possible examples, the second indication information may be located in a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI. In this way, after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission or requests RAR repeated transmission, the network device may indicate a RAR repeated transmission count to the terminal device through a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI, so that the terminal device can use the RAR repeated transmission count to receive the RAR.

[0325] It should be noted that the dedicated field in the RA-RNTI scrambled DCI may refer to a newly added field in the existing DCI format, which may be dedicated to indicating the number of RAR retransmissions. For example, the dedicated field may be defined using reserved bits in the existing DCI format. For another example, the dedicated field may be placed after the LSBs of the SFN field.

[0326] The existing fields in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI may refer to fields that already exist and are used in the existing DCI format. For example, the MCS field, the frequency domain resource allocation field, the time domain resource allocation field, the VRB-to-PRB mapping field, etc. Therefore, this embodiment can reuse / utilize existing fields to indicate the number of RAR repetition transmissions. For example, the high or low bit of the frequency domain resource allocation field can be reused / utilized to indicate the number of RAR repetition transmissions. For another example, the high or low bit of the MCS field can be reused / utilized to indicate the number of RAR repetition transmissions. For another example, the high or low bit of the time domain resource allocation field can be reused / utilized to indicate the number of RAR repetition transmissions.

[0327] S940. The network device sends the RAR using the number of RAR retransmissions indicated by the second indication information.

[0328] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR using the number of RAR retransmissions indicated by the second indication information.

[0329] As can be seen, in this embodiment, the second indication information can indicate a number of RAR retransmissions. In this way, the network device can use the number of RAR retransmissions indicated by the second indication information to send the RAR, and the terminal device can use the number of RAR retransmissions indicated by the second indication information to receive the RAR. This allows the terminal device to combine and detect multiple received RARs to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct RAR reception, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0330] Method C

[0331] In "Method C," this embodiment may introduce a correspondence between a parameter and one or more RAR retransmission times. Thus, a terminal device can determine the RAR retransmission times corresponding to the parameter value based on the parameter value and the correspondence, so that the terminal device can receive the RAR using the RAR retransmission times corresponding to the parameter value.

[0332] The following example illustrates the corresponding relationship between this parameter and the number of repeated transmissions of one or more RARs.

[0333] In some possible examples, one or more beams / SSBs may correspond to one or more RAR repetition transmission times, wherein different beams / SSBs may correspond to different RAR repetition transmission times, or different beam groups / SSB groups may correspond to different RAR repetition transmission times.

[0334] For example, in an NTN system, a satellite cell may include multiple beams, with different beams corresponding to different SSB indices, and different beams covering different areas. To this end, this embodiment may establish a correspondence between beams / SSBs and the number of RAR repetition transmissions. Assume that a satellite cell includes 8 beams, and each beam corresponds to an SSB index. The correspondence between the SSB index and the number of RAR repetition transmissions is shown in Table 1. In Table 1, the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to SSB1 and SSB2 (i.e., SSB1 and SSB2 form an SSB group) is 2, the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to SSB3 and SSB4 (i.e., SSB3 and SSB4 form an SSB group) is 4, the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to SSB5 and SSB6 (i.e., SSB5 and SSB6 form an SSB group) is 8, and the number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to SSB7 and SSB8 (i.e., SSB7 and SSB8 form an SSB group) is 10. In this way, when the beam used by the terminal device corresponds to SSB3, the terminal device can determine the number of RAR repeated transmissions corresponding to SSB3 based on the above correspondence, thereby configuring the number of RAR repeated transmissions.

[0335] Table 1

[0336] SSB Index RAR retransmission times 1,2 2 3,4 4 5,6 6 7,8 8

[0337] In some possible examples, the network device may configure the correspondence between RACH resources and RAR repetition times to the terminal device through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs), wherein different RACH resources may correspond to different RAR repetition times, or different RACH resource groups may correspond to different RAR repetition times.

[0338] It can be seen that after determining the first RACH resource, the terminal device can determine the RAR repetition transmission number corresponding to the first RACH resource from the one or more RAR repetition transmission numbers based on the corresponding relationship. In this way, after using the first RACH resource to send the random access request message, the terminal device can use the RAR repetition transmission number corresponding to the first RACH resource to receive the RAR.

[0339] In some possible examples, the network device may configure the terminal device with a corresponding relationship between one or more SSB signal quality regions and one or more RAR repetition transmission times through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs). Different SSB signal quality regions may correspond to different RAR repetition transmission times.

[0340] It can be seen that after obtaining the measurement value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the RAR repetition number corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval where the measurement value is located from the one or more RAR repetition numbers according to the corresponding relationship. In this way, after using the first RACH resource to send a random access request message, the terminal device can receive the RAR using the RAR repetition number corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval where the measurement value is located.

[0341] [Scheme 3]

[0342] In "Scheme 3", for downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process, this embodiment considers repeated transmission of the PDSCH after Msg3, or repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0343] The repeated transmission of the PDSCH after Msg3 can be understood as the network device repeatedly transmitting the PDSCH after Msg3 multiple times.

[0344] The repeated transmission of Msg4 can be understood as the network device repeatedly transmitting Msg4 (or Msg4 PDSCH) multiple times.

[0345] The following is a specific description of the repeated transmission of Msg4. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application can replace the repeated transmission of Msg4 with repeated transmission of PDSCH after Msg3, which will not be described in detail.

[0346] Because different terminal devices may have different device capabilities, some may support repeated Msg4 transmission, while others may not. In this case, before executing Msg4 transmission, the terminal device of this embodiment can inform the network device that it supports repeated Msg4 transmission. In this way, after the network device learns that the terminal device supports repeated Msg4 transmission, it can repeatedly transmit Msg4 to the terminal device, thereby achieving downlink coverage enhancement through repeated Msg4 transmission.

[0347] Alternatively, because different terminal devices have different communication requirements, some terminal devices may require repeated Msg4 transmission, while other terminal devices may not. Specifically, terminal devices requiring repeated Msg4 transmission may request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4; terminal devices not requiring repeated Msg4 transmission may not request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4.

[0348] In this case, before executing Msg4 transmission, the terminal device of this embodiment can request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4. In this way, after the network device learns that the terminal device requests to repeatedly transmit Msg4, the network device can repeatedly transmit Msg4 to the terminal device, thereby achieving downlink coverage enhancement through repeated Msg4 transmission.

[0349] To sum up, in "Scheme 3", how the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or how the terminal device requests the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4, this embodiment can be implemented through the "RAR scheduled PUSCH transmission process".

[0350] This is because, to ensure RAR-scheduled PUSCH transmission, the network device schedules uplink resources to the terminal device through the RAR so that the terminal device can use the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3. Since the network device can receive Msg3, this embodiment can consider using Msg3 to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0351] The following takes the interaction between terminal devices and network devices as an example. Figure 10 As shown, Figure 10 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps: S1010. The network device sends a RAR.

[0352] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR.

[0353] It should be noted that the RAR can schedule uplink resources. For example, the RAR includes uplink grant (UL grand) information, which can be used to schedule uplink resources.

[0354] S1020. The terminal device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3.

[0355] Among them, Msg3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or Msg3 is used to indicate that the terminal device supports repeated transmission of Msg4, or Msg3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4, or Msg3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4.

[0356] Correspondingly, the network device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to receive Msg3.

[0357] It can be seen that this embodiment can use Msg3 to indicate that the terminal device has the capability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or request the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0358] In this way, repeated transmission of Msg4 ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect Msg4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of Msg4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0359] In addition, since Msg3 can contain a logical channel identifier (LCID), this embodiment can define one or more LCIDs, and each of the one or more LCIDs is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or the one or more LCIDs are used to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0360] In this way, the terminal device can determine the first LCID among the one or more LCIDs, and then use the uplink resources scheduled by RAR to send Msg3 containing the first LCID, and the network device can receive the first LCID, thereby indicating through the first LCID that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or requesting the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0361] In some possible implementations, in order to determine the first LCID from the one or more LCIDs, this embodiment may adopt the following two methods:

[0362] One way is that the terminal device can randomly select an LCID from the one or more LCIDs as the first LCID.

[0363] Another way is that the network device can configure the correspondence between each of the one or more LCIDs and an SSB signal quality interval to the terminal device through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs), high-layer signaling (such as RRC signaling) or RAR. The SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold, and the SSB signal quality threshold can be network configuration, pre-configuration or standard protocol specification.

[0364] For example, take three LCIDs and two SSB signal quality thresholds as an example. The three LCIDs are LCID_1, LCID_2, and LCID_3, and the two SSB signal quality thresholds are SSB signal quality threshold X and SSB signal quality threshold Y, respectively, with X < Y. The two SSB signal quality thresholds can be divided into the following three SSB signal quality intervals: (-∞, X), [X, Y], and (Y, +∞). The network device can then configure LCID_1 to correspond to (-∞, X), LCID_2 to correspond to [X, Y], and LCID_3 to correspond to (Y, +∞).

[0365] In this way, after obtaining the measurement value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, and determine the first LCID corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located based on the correspondence between the LCID and the SSB signal quality interval.

[0366] In summary, the following uses the interaction between network devices and terminal devices as an example to illustrate "Solution 3". Figure 11 As shown, Figure 11 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0367] S1110. The network device sends a RAR.

[0368] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR.

[0369] S1120. The terminal device obtains one or more LCIDs.

[0370] Among them, each of the one or more LCIDs is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or each of the one or more LCIDs is used to indicate that the terminal device supports repeated transmission of Msg4, or each of the one or more LCIDs is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4, or each of the one or more LCIDs is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4.

[0371] It should be noted that the one or more LCIDs may be network configured, pre-configured or specified by a protocol.

[0372] S1130. The terminal device determines a first LCID from the one or more LCIDs.

[0373] Among them, the first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or the first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device supports repeated transmission of Msg4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4.

[0374] S1140. The terminal device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3, where Msg3 includes the first LCID.

[0375] Correspondingly, the network device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to receive Msg3.

[0376] It can be seen that this embodiment can indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or request the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4, by using Msg3 containing the first LCID during the RAR-scheduled PUSCH transmission process.

[0377] Optionally, each of the one or more LCIDs corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, wherein the corresponding relationship may be configured through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs), high-layer signaling, or RAR.

[0378] In this way, since the network device periodically broadcasts SSB, the terminal device can measure the SSB to obtain the measured value of the SSB signal quality and determine the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value is located. Then, the terminal device determines the first LCID corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value is located based on the correspondence between the one or more LCIDs and the one or more SSB signal quality intervals, thereby indicating through the first LCID that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or requesting the network device to perform repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0379] [Scheme 4]

[0380] Based on the above "Solution 3", this embodiment can introduce the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. In this way, the network device can use the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4 to send Msg4, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of Msg4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0381] For example, if the number of retransmissions of Msg4 is 2, it means that the network device retransmits Msg4 twice.

[0382] For another example, the number of repetitions of Msg4 transmission is 2, 4, 8 or 10.

[0383] It should be noted that, in the repeated transmission of Msg4, although the network device can use the Msg4 repeated transmission times to repeatedly transmit Msg4, the number of Msg4 repeated transmissions that may be needed for some terminal devices may be more Msg4, while the number of Msg4 repeated transmissions that may be needed for other terminal devices may be less Msg4.

[0384] For example, for a terminal device that has poor channel quality with a network device (such as the SSB signal quality of the terminal device is less than a preset threshold), due to the poor channel quality Msg4, the terminal device may need to use Msg4 for repeated transmission more times, so that more Msg4 needs to be received, so as to improve the receiving performance by combining and detecting more received Msg4s so as to correctly receive Msg4.

[0385] However, for terminal devices that have better channel quality with network devices (such as the SSB signal quality of the terminal device is greater than a preset threshold), due to the better channel quality, the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4 that may be needed for the terminal device Msg4 will be less, thereby reducing the number of Msg4 received to save receiving power consumption.

[0386] The following describes "Scheme 2" in detail from the following multiple perspectives.

[0387]

Method a

[0388] In "method a", the network device may first configure one or more Msg4 retransmission times to the terminal device through signaling or signal, and then after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support Msg4 retransmission or requests Msg4 retransmission, the network device may indicate a currently used Msg4 retransmission time from the one or more Msg4 retransmission times to the terminal device through signaling (such as cell-radionetwork temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or temporary cell-radionetwork temporary identifier (TC-RNTI) scrambled DCI) so that the terminal device can use the Msg4 retransmission time to receive Msg4.

[0389] The following is an example of signaling or signaling for configuring the number of repetition transmissions of one or more Msg4s.

[0390] In some possible examples, SIB1 or other SIBs are used to indicate the number of times Msg4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0391] For example, the spare bit or existing field in SIB1 or other SIBs is used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions. For example, if the value of the spare bit is the first value (such as 0), it indicates that Msg4 is not retransmitted. In this way, the terminal device does not need to receive RAR in accordance with the RAR retransmission method. If the value of the spare bit is the second value (such as 1), it indicates that the number of Msg4 retransmissions is S (S is a positive integer). The value of S can be pre-agreed by the protocol, network configuration, or pre-configuration.

[0392] For example, in the interaction between a network device and a terminal device, the network device sends SIB1 or another SIB, which is used to indicate the number of Msg4 retransmissions. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives SIB1 or another SIB. In this way, the network explicitly configures the number of Msg4 retransmissions through SIB1 or another SIB.

[0393] In some possible examples, SSB is used to indicate the number of repetitions of one or more Msg4 transmissions. It should be noted that the "SSB" can be found in the above "Method A" for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0394] In some possible examples, the MIB is used to indicate the number of times Msg4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0395] For example, a spare bit or existing field in the MIB is used to indicate the number of retransmissions of Msg4. For example, if the value of the spare bit is a first value (e.g., 0), it indicates that Msg4 is not retransmitted; if the value of the spare bit is a second value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the number of retransmissions of Msg4 is L (L is a positive integer). The value of L can be pre-agreed by the protocol, configured by the network, or pre-configured.

[0396] In some possible examples, the MIB carried by the additional PBCH indicates the number of repetition transmissions of one or more Msg4s. It should be noted that the details of the "additional PBCH" can be found in the above "method A", which will not be repeated here.

[0397] In summary, the following uses the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example to illustrate "Method A". Figure 10 As shown, Figure 12 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0398] S1210. The network device sends the RAR.

[0399] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR.

[0400] S1220. The network device sends retransmission information, where the retransmission information is used to indicate the number of retransmissions of a Msg4.

[0401] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the repeated transmission information.

[0402] It should be noted that, in combination with the above examples, in some possible examples, the repeated transmission information can be carried by SIB1, other SIBs, SSBs, MIBs, or MIBs carried by additional PBCHs.

[0403] S1230. The terminal device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3.

[0404] Among them, Msg3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Msg4, or Msg3 is used to indicate that the terminal device supports repeated transmission of Msg4, or Msg3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4, and Msg3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Msg4.

[0405] Correspondingly, the network device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to receive Msg3.

[0406] S1240. The network device sends Msg4 using the number of Msg4 retransmissions indicated by the retransmission information.

[0407] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg4 using the number of Msg4 retransmissions indicated by the retransmission information.

[0408] As can be seen, in this embodiment, a number of Msg4 retransmissions can be configured through retransmission information. In this way, the network device can use this number of retransmissions to send Msg4, and the terminal device can use this number of retransmissions to receive Msg4, so that the terminal device can combine and detect multiple received Msg4s to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct Msg4 reception, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement during the random access process.

[0409] like Figure 13 As shown, Figure 13 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0410] S1310. The network device sends the RAR.

[0411] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR.

[0412] S1320. The network device sends retransmission information, where the retransmission information is used to indicate the number of retransmissions of multiple Msg4s.

[0413] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the repeated transmission information.

[0414] It should be noted that, in combination with the above examples, in some possible examples, the repeated transmission information can be carried by SIB1, other SIBs, SSBs, MIBs, or MIBs carried by additional PBCHs.

[0415] S1330. The terminal device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3.

[0416] Correspondingly, the network device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to receive Msg3.

[0417] S1340. The network device sends first information, where the first information is used to indicate a Msg4 repetition transmission count from the multiple Msg4 repetition transmission counts.

[0418] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0419] In some possible examples, the first information may be located in a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by the C-RNTI or TC-RNTI. In this way, after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the capability to support Msg4 repeated transmission or requests Msg4 repeated transmission, the network device may indicate a currently used Msg4 repeated transmission number from the multiple Msg4 repeated transmission numbers to the terminal device through the dedicated field or the existing field in the DCI scrambled by the C-RNTI or TC-RNTI, so that the terminal device can receive Msg4 using the Msg4 repeated transmission number.

[0420] It should be noted that the dedicated field in the C-RNTI or TC-RNTI scrambled DCI may refer to a newly added field in the existing DCI format. This newly added field may be dedicated to indicating the number of Msg4 retransmission repetitions. In this way, the dedicated field may be used to indicate one Msg4 retransmission repetition number from among multiple Msg4 retransmission repetition numbers. For example, the dedicated field may be defined using reserved bits in the existing DCI format.

[0421] The existing fields in the C-RNTI or TC-RNTI scrambled DCI may refer to fields that already exist and are used in the existing DCI format. For example, the MCS field, the frequency domain resource allocation field, the time domain resource allocation field, the VRB-to-PRB mapping field, etc. Therefore, this embodiment can reuse / utilize existing fields to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. For example, the high or low bit of the frequency domain resource allocation field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. For another example, the high or low bit of the MCS field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. For another example, the high or low bit of the time domain resource allocation field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4.

[0422] S1350. The network device sends Msg4 using the number of Msg4 retransmissions indicated by the first information.

[0423] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg4 using the number of Msg4 retransmissions indicated by the first information.

[0424] It can be seen that in this embodiment, multiple Msg4 retransmission times can be configured through retransmission information first, and then one Msg4 retransmission time can be indicated from the multiple Msg4 retransmission times through the first information. In this way, the network device can use the Msg4 retransmission time indicated by the first information to send Msg4, and the terminal device can use the Msg4 retransmission time indicated by the first indication information to receive Msg4, so that the terminal device can combine and detect the multiple received Msg4s to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct Msg4 reception, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0425]

Method b

[0426] In "method b", the network device can wait until the terminal device informs the network device that it has the ability to support Msg4 repeated transmission or requests Msg4 repeated transmission, and then indicate a number of Msg4 repeated transmissions to the terminal device through signaling (such as C-RNTI or TC-RNTI encrypted DCI) so that the terminal device can receive Msg4 using the number of Msg4 repeated transmissions.

[0427] The following uses the interaction between network devices and terminal devices as an example to illustrate "method b". Figure 12 As shown, Figure 14 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0428] like Figure 14 As shown, Figure 14 This is a flow chart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0429] S1410. The network device sends RAR.

[0430] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RAR.

[0431] S1420. The terminal device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3.

[0432] Correspondingly, the network device uses the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to receive Msg3.

[0433] S1430. The network device sends a second message, where the second message is used to indicate the number of times a Msg4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0434] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second information.

[0435] In some possible examples, the second information may be a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RNTI. In this way, after the terminal device informs the network device that it has the capability to support repeated transmission of Msg4 or requests repeated transmission of Msg4, the network device may indicate a number of repeated transmissions of Msg4 to the terminal device through a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RNTI, so that the terminal device can receive Msg4 using the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4.

[0436] It should be noted that the dedicated field in the C-RNTI or TC-RNTI scrambled DCI may refer to a newly added field in the existing DCI format. This newly added field may be dedicated to indicating the number of Msg4 retransmission repetitions. In this way, the dedicated field may be used to indicate one Msg4 retransmission repetition number from among multiple Msg4 retransmission repetition numbers. For example, the dedicated field may be defined using reserved bits in the existing DCI format.

[0437] The existing fields in the C-RNTI or TC-RNTI scrambled DCI may refer to fields that already exist and are used in the existing DCI format. For example, the MCS field, the frequency domain resource allocation field, the time domain resource allocation field, the VRB-to-PRB mapping field, etc. Therefore, this embodiment can reuse / utilize existing fields to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. For example, the high or low bit of the frequency domain resource allocation field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. For another example, the high or low bit of the MCS field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4. For another example, the high or low bit of the time domain resource allocation field is reused / utilized to indicate the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4.

[0438] S1440. The network device sends Msg4 using the number of Msg4 retransmissions indicated by the second information.

[0439] Correspondingly, the network device receives Msg4 using the number of Msg4 retransmissions indicated by the second information.

[0440] It can be seen that in this embodiment, the second information can indicate the number of repeated transmissions of a Msg4. In this way, the network device can send Msg4 using the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4 indicated by the second information, and the terminal device can receive Msg4 using the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4 indicated by the second information, so that the terminal device can combine and detect Msg4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, increase the probability of correct reception of Msg4, and achieve downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0441]

Method c

[0442] In "Method c," this embodiment may introduce a correspondence between a parameter and one or more Msg4 retransmission times. Thus, the terminal device can determine the Msg4 retransmission times corresponding to the parameter value based on the correspondence, allowing the terminal device to receive Msg4 using the Msg4 retransmission times corresponding to the parameter value.

[0443] The following example illustrates the corresponding relationship between this parameter and the number of times one or more Msg4s are repeatedly transmitted.

[0444] In some possible examples, there is a correspondence between one or more beams / SSBs and one or more Msg4 repetition transmission times, wherein different beams / SSBs may correspond to different Msg4 repetition transmission times, or different beam groups / SSB groups may correspond to different Msg4 repetition transmission times.

[0445] In some possible examples, the network device may configure the correspondence between the LCID and the number of repeated transmissions of Msg4 to the terminal device through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs) or RAR. Different LCIDs may correspond to different numbers of repeated transmissions of Msg4, or different LCID groups may correspond to different numbers of repeated transmissions of Msg4.

[0446] It can be seen that after determining the first LCID, the terminal device can determine that the first LCID corresponds to one of the one or more Msg4 repetition transmission times based on the corresponding relationship, so that the terminal device can determine the Msg4 repetition transmission number corresponding to the first LCID. In this way, after using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR to send Msg3, the terminal device can receive Msg4 using the Msg4 repetition transmission number corresponding to the first LCID.

[0447] In some possible examples, the network device may configure the terminal device with a correspondence between one or more SSB signal quality areas and one or more Msg4 repetition transmission times through system information (such as SIB1 or other SIBs) or RAR. Different SSB signal quality areas may correspond to different Msg4 repetition transmission times.

[0448] It can be seen that after obtaining the measurement value of the SSB signal quality, the terminal device can determine the number of Msg4 repetition transmissions corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located from the one or more Msg4 repetition transmission times according to the corresponding relationship. In this way, after using the uplink resources scheduled by RAR to send Msg3, the terminal device can receive Msg4 using the number of Msg4 repetition transmissions corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located.

[0449] [Scheme 4]

[0450] In "Solution 4", this embodiment may consider that if the terminal device has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of RAR, then the terminal device also has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of Msg4.

[0451] In this way, the terminal device only needs to use the above-mentioned "Solution 1" to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission, and can simultaneously inform the network device that it has the ability to support Msg4 repeated transmission, without having to use the above-mentioned "Solution 3" separately to inform the network device that it has the ability to support Msg4 repeated transmission.

[0452] [Scheme 5]

[0453] In "Solution 5," this embodiment considers that the RAR mentioned in "Solution 3" is repeatedly transmitted by the network device. That is, the terminal device repeatedly receives the RAR to obtain the uplink resources scheduled by the repeatedly transmitted RAR, and then uses the uplink resources scheduled by the repeatedly transmitted RAR to send Msg3. The network device or terminal device can use "Solution 2" to repeatedly transmit the RAR.

[0454] In some possible implementations, since the network device will use the RAR retransmission number to repeatedly transmit multiple RARs, for the Msg3 sent by the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR using repeated transmission, the time domain position of the PUSCH where the Msg3 is located can be determined based on the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repeated transmission is located.

[0455] Table 2

[0456] index PUSCH mapping type <![CDATA[k2]]> 1 Type A j 2 Type A j 3 Type A j 4 Type B j 5 Type B j 6 Type B j 7 Type B j 8 Type A j+1 9 Type A j+1 10 Type A j+1 11 Type A j+2 12 Type A j+2 13 Type A j+2 14 Type B j 15 Type A j+3 16 Type A j+3

[0457] In this way, when the terminal device knows the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repeated transmission is located, the terminal device can ensure the transmission of the Msg3 based on the time domain position of the PUSCH where the Msg3 after the last RAR is located.

[0458] For example, taking the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR is located as time slot n, the time domain position of the PUSCH where the Msg3 is located can be time slot n+k2+Δ+2 μ ·K cell,offset Among them, the value of k2 is shown in Table 2; the value of j is shown in Table 3; the value of Δ is shown in Table 4; K cell,offset Provided by high-level parameters (such as parameter cellSpecificKoffset). If high-level parameters are not provided, K cell,offset =0.

[0459] Table 3

[0460] <![CDATA[μ PUSCH ]]> j 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 5 11 6 21

[0461] Table 4

[0462] <![CDATA[μ PUSCH ]]> Δ 0 2 1 3 2 4 3 6 5 24 6 48

[0463] In some possible implementations, since the network device will use the RAR retransmission times to repeatedly transmit multiple RARs, for the Msg3 sent by the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR with repeated transmission, the processing time of the Msg3 can be the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repeated transmission is located.

[0464] In this way, when the terminal device needs to transmit the Msg3 after the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission, the terminal device can have a minimum time to process the Msg3, thereby ensuring the transmission of the Msg3.

[0465] For example, the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repeated transmission is located can be N T,1 +N T,2 +0.5 milliseconds. Of which, N T,1 Indicates the duration of N1 symbols corresponding to the PDSCH processing time of the terminal device processing capability 1 when the PDSCH DMRS is additionally configured; N1 is the smaller SCS configuration corresponding to the PDSCH; N T,2Represents the duration of N2 symbols corresponding to the PUSCH preparation time for the terminal device processing capability 1; N2 is the smaller SCS configuration corresponding to PUSCH.

[0466] The following is an example description of the functional units of a communication device of this embodiment.

[0467] The above mainly introduces the solution of the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the method side. It is understandable that, in order to implement the above functions, the terminal device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiment disclosed herein, this embodiment can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this embodiment.

[0468] The embodiments of the present application can divide the terminal device into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software program module. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods can be used.

[0469] In the case of an integrated unit, Figure 15 15 is a block diagram of the functional units of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 1500 includes an acquiring unit 1501 and a sending unit 1502.

[0470] Optionally, the acquisition unit 1501 may be a module unit for acquiring and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0471] Optionally, the sending unit 1502 may be a module unit for sending and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0472] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a storage unit for storing computer program codes or instructions executed by the communication device 1500. The storage unit may be a memory.

[0473] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may be a chip or a chip module.

[0474] Optionally, the acquiring unit 1501 and the sending unit 1502 may be integrated into the same unit or into different units.

[0475] For example, the acquiring unit 1501 and the sending unit 1502 may be integrated into a communication unit, which may be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or the like.

[0476] For another example, the acquiring unit 1501 and the sending unit 1502 may be integrated into a processing unit.

[0477] It should be noted that the processing unit can be a processor or controller, for example, a baseband processor, a baseband chip, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this embodiment. The processing unit can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0478] Optionally, the communication device 1500 is used to execute any step performed by the terminal device / chip / chip module, etc. in the above method embodiment.

[0479] In specific implementation, the acquisition unit 1501 and the sending unit 1502 are used to execute any step in the above method embodiment, and when executing an action such as sending, other units may be selectively called to complete the corresponding operation.

[0480] An acquiring unit 1501 is configured to acquire a first RACH resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that a terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission;

[0481] The sending unit 1502 is configured to send a random access request message by using a first RACH resource.

[0482] As can be seen, in the face of limited downlink coverage of the communication system, this application considers RAR retransmission during the random access process, so as to improve downlink transmission quality and achieve downlink coverage enhancement through RAR retransmission. In particular, in the face of terminal devices having different device capabilities or communication requirements, this embodiment can use the first RACH resource during the transmission process of the random access request to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR retransmission, or request the network device to perform RAR retransmission.

[0483] In this way, the network can use the first RACH resource to learn that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or request RAR repeated transmission, so that the network can carry out RAR repeated transmission to the terminal device. Through RAR repeated transmission, the terminal device can combine and detect the RARs received multiple times to improve the receiving performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0484] It should be noted that Figure 15 The specific implementation of each operation in the embodiment can be found in the description of the method embodiment shown above, and will not be detailed here.

[0485] In some possible examples, in terms of acquiring the first RACH resource, the acquiring unit 1501 is configured to:

[0486] receiving resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources, where each of the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission;

[0487] A first RACH resource is determined from one or more RACH resources.

[0488] In some possible examples, each RACH resource in the one or more RACH resources corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval; wherein the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold;

[0489] In determining the first RACH resource from one or more PACH resources, the acquiring unit 1501 is configured to:

[0490] Get the measurement value of SSB signal quality;

[0491] According to the SSB signal quality interval where the measurement value is located, a first RACH resource is selected from one or more PACH resources, where the first RACH resource is a RACH resource corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval where the measurement value is located.

[0492] In some possible examples, after using the first RACH resource to send the random access request message, the acquiring unit 1501 is further configured to:

[0493] Get the number of RAR repeated transmissions;

[0494] The RAR is received using the RAR retransmission number.

[0495] In some possible examples, in terms of obtaining the number of RAR repetition transmissions, the obtaining unit 1501 is configured to:

[0496] First indication information is received, where the first indication information is used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions.

[0497] In some possible examples, the first indication information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI.

[0498] In some possible examples, in terms of obtaining the number of RAR repetition transmissions, the obtaining unit 1501 is configured to:

[0499] The number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to the first RACH resource is obtained.

[0500] In some possible examples, in terms of obtaining the number of RAR repetition transmissions, the obtaining unit 1501 is configured to:

[0501] Get the number of RAR retransmissions corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the SSB signal quality measurement value is located.

[0502] In some possible examples, if the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, then the terminal device has the capability to support message 4 repeated transmission or PDSCH repeated transmission after message 3.

[0503] The following is an example description of the functional units of another communication device of this embodiment.

[0504] In the case of an integrated unit, Figure 16 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of functional units of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 1600 includes a receiving unit 1601 and a sending unit 1602 .

[0505] Optionally, the receiving unit 1601 may be a module unit for receiving and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0506] Optionally, the sending unit 1602 may be a module unit for sending and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0507] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may further include a storage unit for storing computer program codes or instructions executed by the communication device 1600. The storage unit may be a memory.

[0508] Optionally, the communication device 1600 may be a chip or a chip module.

[0509] Optionally, the receiving unit 1601 and the sending unit 1602 may be integrated into the same unit or into different units.

[0510] For example, the receiving unit 1601 and the sending unit 1602 may be integrated into a communication unit, which may be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or the like.

[0511] For another example, the receiving unit 1601 and the sending unit 1602 may be integrated into a processing unit.

[0512] It should be noted that the processing unit can be a processor or controller, for example, a baseband processor, a baseband chip, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this embodiment. The processing unit can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0513] Optionally, the communication device 1600 is used to execute any step executed by the chip / chip module / terminal device, etc. in the above method embodiment.

[0514] In specific implementation, the receiving unit 1601 and the sending unit 1602 are used to execute any step in the above method embodiment, and when executing an action such as sending, other units may be selectively called to complete the corresponding operation.

[0515] Receiving unit 1601, configured to receive RAR;

[0516] The sending unit 1602 is used to send message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR. Message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0517] It can be seen that this embodiment can use Msg3 to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0518] In this way, repeated transmission of message 4 ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect message 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of message 4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0519] It should be noted that Figure 16 The specific implementation of each operation in the embodiment can be found in the description of the method embodiment shown above, and will not be detailed here.

[0520] In some possible examples, message 3 includes a first LCID;

[0521] The first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0522] In some possible examples, before sending the message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, the receiving unit 1601 is further configured to:

[0523] Obtain one or more LCIDs; each LCID in the one or more LCIDs is used to indicate the terminal device's ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or each LCID in the one or more LCIDs is used to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of message 4;

[0524] A first LCID is determined among the one or more LCIDs, the first LCID being one of the one or more LCIDs.

[0525] In some possible examples, each LCID in the one or more LCIDs corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, where the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold;

[0526] To determine a first LCID from one or more LCIDs, the receiving unit 1601 is configured to:

[0527] Get the measurement value of SSB signal quality;

[0528] According to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, a first LCID is determined from one or more LCIDs, where the first LCID is the LCID corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located.

[0529] In some possible examples, after sending message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, the receiving unit 1601 is further configured to:

[0530] Get the number of repeated transmissions of message 4;

[0531] Message 4 is received by repeating the transmission of message 4.

[0532] In some possible examples, in terms of obtaining the number of repetition transmissions of message 4, the receiving unit 1601 is configured to:

[0533] First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate the number of times message 4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0534] In some possible examples, the first information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RATI.

[0535] In some possible examples, in terms of obtaining the number of repetition transmissions of message 4, the receiving unit 1601 is further configured to:

[0536] Get the number of repeated transmissions of message 4 corresponding to the first LCID.

[0537] In some possible examples, in terms of obtaining the number of repetition transmissions of message 4, the receiving unit 1601 is further configured to:

[0538] One or more SSB signal quality intervals correspond to one or more message 4 repetition transmission times;

[0539] Obtain the number of repetitions of message 4 corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality is located.

[0540] In some possible examples, the time domain position of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located is determined according to the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission is located.

[0541] In some possible examples, the processing time of message 3 is the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repetition transmission is located.

[0542] The following is an example description of the functional units of another communication device of this embodiment.

[0543] In the case of an integrated unit, Figure 17FIG. 1 is a block diagram of functional units of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 1700 includes a sending unit 1701 and a receiving unit 1702 .

[0544] Optionally, the sending unit 1701 may be a module unit for sending and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0545] Optionally, the receiving unit 1702 may be a module unit for receiving and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0546] Optionally, the communication device 1700 may further include a storage unit for storing computer program codes or instructions executed by the communication device 1700. The storage unit may be a memory.

[0547] Optionally, the communication device 1700 may be a chip or a chip module.

[0548] Optionally, the sending unit 1701 and the receiving unit 1702 may be integrated into the same unit or into different units.

[0549] For example, the sending unit 1701 and the receiving unit 1702 may be integrated into a communication unit, which may be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or the like.

[0550] For another example, the sending unit 1701 and the receiving unit 1702 may be integrated into a processing unit.

[0551] It should be noted that the processing unit can be a processor or controller, for example, a baseband processor, a baseband chip, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this embodiment. The processing unit can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0552] Optionally, the communication device 1700 is used to execute any step performed by the chip / chip module / network device, etc. in the above method embodiment.

[0553] In specific implementation, the sending unit 1701 and the receiving unit 1702 are used to execute any step in the above method embodiment, and when executing an action such as sending, other units may be selectively called to complete the corresponding operation. Detailed description is given below.

[0554] A sending unit 1701 is configured to send resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources, where each of the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that a terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or each of the one or more RACH resources is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission, where the one or more RACH resources include a first RACH resource;

[0555] The receiving unit 1702 is configured to receive a random access request message using a first RACH resource.

[0556] It can be seen that in the face of limited downlink coverage of the communication system, this application considers RAR repeated transmission in the random access process, so as to improve the downlink transmission quality through RAR repeated transmission and achieve downlink coverage enhancement. Among them, in the face of terminal devices with different device capabilities or communication requirements, this application can indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission through the first RACH resource during the transmission process of the random access request, or request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0557] In this way, the network can use the first RACH resource to learn that the terminal device has the ability to support RAR repeated transmission or request RAR repeated transmission, so that the network can carry out RAR repeated transmission to the terminal device. Through RAR repeated transmission, the terminal device can combine and detect the RARs received multiple times to improve the receiving performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0558] It should be noted that Figure 17 The specific implementation of each operation in the embodiment can be found in the description of the method embodiment shown above, and will not be detailed here.

[0559] In some possible examples, each RACH resource in the one or more RACH resources corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval; wherein the one or more SSB signal quality intervals are obtained by dividing one or more SSB signal quality thresholds.

[0560] In some possible examples, after receiving the random access request message using the first RACH resource, the sending unit 1701 is further configured to:

[0561] Send RAR using the number of RAR retransmissions.

[0562] In some possible examples, the sending unit 1701 is further configured to:

[0563] Send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the number of RAR repeated transmissions.

[0564] In some possible examples, the first indication information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the RA-RNTI-scrambled DCI.

[0565] In some possible examples, the first RACH resource corresponds to the number of RAR repetition transmissions.

[0566] In some possible examples, the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality lies corresponds to the number of RAR repetition transmissions.

[0567] In some possible examples, if the terminal device has the capability to support RAR repeated transmission, then the terminal device has the capability to support message 4 repeated transmission or PDSCH repeated transmission after message 3.

[0568] The following is an example description of the functional units of another communication device of this embodiment.

[0569] In the case of an integrated unit, Figure 18 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of functional units of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 1800 includes a sending unit 1801 and a receiving unit 1802 .

[0570] Optionally, the sending unit 1801 may be a module unit for sending and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0571] Optionally, the receiving unit 1802 may be a module unit for receiving and processing signals, information, etc., and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0572] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a storage unit for storing computer program codes or instructions executed by the communication device 1800. The storage unit may be a memory.

[0573] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may be a chip or a chip module.

[0574] Optionally, the sending unit 1801 and the receiving unit 1802 may be integrated into the same unit or into different units.

[0575] For example, the sending unit 1801 and the receiving unit 1802 may be integrated into a communication unit, which may be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or the like.

[0576] For another example, the sending unit 1801 and the receiving unit 1802 may be integrated into a processing unit.

[0577] It should be noted that the processing unit can be a processor or controller, for example, a baseband processor, a baseband chip, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute the various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this embodiment. The processing unit can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, etc.

[0578] Optionally, the communication device 1800 is used to execute any step performed by the chip / chip module / network device, etc. in the above method embodiment.

[0579] In specific implementation, the sending unit 1801 and the receiving unit 1802 are used to execute any step in the above method embodiment, and when executing an action such as sending, other units may be selectively called to complete the corresponding operation. Detailed description is given below.

[0580] A sending unit 1801 is configured to send a RAR;

[0581] The receiving unit 1802 is used to receive message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR. Message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0582] As can be seen, in the face of limited downlink coverage of the communication system, this application considers the repeated transmission of Message 4 in the random access process, so as to improve the downlink transmission quality and achieve enhanced downlink coverage through the repeated transmission of Message 4. In particular, in the face of terminal devices with different device capabilities or communication requirements, this application can use Message 3 (Msg3) to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Message 4, or request the network device to repeat transmission of Message 4.

[0583] In this way, the network can learn through Msg3 that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4 or request repeated transmission of message 4, so that the network can repeatedly transmit message 4 to the terminal device. Through repeated transmission of message 4, the terminal device can combine and detect messages 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of message 4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0584] In some possible examples, message 3 includes a first LCID;

[0585] The first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of message 4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to perform repeated transmission of message 4.

[0586] In some possible examples, the first LCID is among the one or more LCIDs;

[0587] Each LCID in the one or more LCIDs corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, and the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing an SSB signal quality threshold;

[0588] In some possible examples, after receiving message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, the sending unit 1801 is further configured to:

[0589] Message 4 is sent using the number of message 4 repetitions.

[0590] In some possible examples, before sending message 4 using the number of repetitions of message 4, the sending unit 1801 is further configured to:

[0591] Send first information, where the first information is used to indicate the number of times message 4 is repeatedly transmitted.

[0592] In some possible examples, the first information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by C-RNTI or TC-RATI.

[0593] In some possible examples, the first LCID corresponds to the number of repetitions of message 4.

[0594] In some possible examples, the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality lies corresponds to the number of repeated transmissions of message 4.

[0595] In some possible examples, the time domain position of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located is determined according to the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission is located.

[0596] In some possible examples, the processing time of message 3 is the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repetition transmission is located.

[0597] The following embodiment illustrates the structure of a terminal device.

[0598] See also Figure 19 , Figure 19 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the terminal device 1900 may include a processor 1910 , a memory 1920 , and a communication bus for connecting the processor 1910 and the memory 1920 .

[0599] Optionally, the memory 1920 includes but is not limited to random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), and the memory 1920 is used to store the program code executed by the terminal device 1900 and the data transmitted.

[0600] Optionally, the terminal device 1900 further includes a communication interface for receiving and sending data.

[0601] Optionally, the terminal device 1900 may be the first terminal device mentioned above.

[0602] Optionally, the processor 1910 may be one or more CPUs. When the processor 1910 is a CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0603] Optionally, the processor 1910 may be a baseband chip, a chip, a CPU, a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component or any combination thereof.

[0604] In some possible implementations, the processor 1910 in the terminal device 1900 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction 1921 stored in the memory 1920 to perform the following operations:

[0605] Acquire a first RACH resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission;

[0606] The random access request message is sent using the first RACH resource.

[0607] It can be seen that this embodiment can use the first RACH resource during the transmission process of the random access request to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or request the network device to perform RAR repeated transmission.

[0608] In this way, repeated RAR transmission ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect RARs received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct RAR reception and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0609] In some possible implementations, the processor 1910 in the terminal device 1900 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction 1921 stored in the memory 1920 to perform the following operations:

[0610] Receive RAR; use the uplink resources scheduled by RAR to send message 3, message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or message 3 is used to request the network device to repeat transmission of message 4.

[0611] As can be seen, this embodiment can use Msg3 to indicate that the terminal device has the capability to support repeated transmission of Message 4, or to request the network device to repeatedly transmit Message 4. In this way, repeated transmission of Message 4 ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect Message 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of Message 4 and achieving enhanced downlink coverage during the random access process.

[0612] It should be noted that the specific implementation of each operation can adopt the corresponding description of the method embodiment shown above, and the terminal device 1900 can be used to execute the above method embodiment of this embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0613] The following embodiment illustrates the structure of a network device.

[0614] See also Figure 20 , Figure 20 2000 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the network device 2000 includes a processor 2010 , a memory 2020 , and a communication bus for connecting the processor 2010 and the memory 2020 .

[0615] Optionally, the memory 2020 includes but is not limited to RAM, ROM, EPROM or CD-ROM, and the memory 2020 is used to store relevant instructions and data.

[0616] Optionally, the network device 2000 further includes a communication interface for receiving and sending data.

[0617] Optionally, the processor 2010 may be one or more CPUs. When the processor 2010 is a CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0618] Optionally, the processor 2010 may be a baseband chip, a chip, a CPU, a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component or any combination thereof.

[0619] In some possible implementations, the processor 2010 in the network device 2000 is configured to execute a computer program or instruction 2021 stored in the memory 2020 to perform the following operations:

[0620] Send RAR;

[0621] Message 3 is received using the uplink resources scheduled by RAR. Message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0622] It can be seen that this embodiment can use Msg3 to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0623] In this way, repeated transmission of message 4 ensures that the terminal device can combine and detect message 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of message 4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0624] In some possible implementations, the processor 2010 in the network device 2000 is used to execute a computer program or instruction 2021 stored in the memory 2020 to perform the following operations: sending a RAR; receiving a message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, wherein the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

[0625] As can be seen, in the face of limited downlink coverage of the communication system, this application considers the repeated transmission of Message 4 in the random access process, so as to improve the downlink transmission quality and achieve enhanced downlink coverage through the repeated transmission of Message 4. In particular, in the face of terminal devices with different device capabilities or communication requirements, this application can use Message 3 (Msg3) to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of Message 4, or request the network device to repeat transmission of Message 4.

[0626] In this way, the network can learn through Msg3 that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4 or request repeated transmission of message 4, so that the network can repeatedly transmit message 4 to the terminal device. Through repeated transmission of message 4, the terminal device can combine and detect messages 4 received multiple times to improve reception performance, thereby increasing the probability of correct reception of message 4 and achieving downlink coverage enhancement in the random access process.

[0627] It should be noted that the specific implementation of each operation can adopt the corresponding description of the method embodiment shown above, and the network device 2000 can be used to execute the above method embodiment of this embodiment, which will not be described in detail.

[0628] The following embodiment provides examples to illustrate other related contents.

[0629] Optionally, the above method embodiments may be applied to or within a terminal device. In other words, the execution subject of the above method embodiments may be a terminal device, a chip, a chip module, or a module, etc., without any specific limitation.

[0630] Optionally, the above method embodiment can be applied to or in a network device. In other words, the execution subject of the above method embodiment can be a network device, a chip, a chip module or a module, etc., without specific limitation.

[0631] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, including a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps described in the above method embodiment.

[0632] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip module, including a transceiver component and a chip, wherein the chip includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instructions stored on the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps described in the above method embodiment.

[0633] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, which implements the steps described in the above method embodiment when executed.

[0634] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which implement the steps described in the above method embodiment when executed.

[0635] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including the above-mentioned terminal device and the above-mentioned network device.

[0636] It should be noted that, for the above-mentioned various embodiments, for the sake of simplicity of description, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations. Those skilled in the art should be aware that the present application is not limited by the order of actions described, because some steps in the embodiments of the present application can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. In addition, those skilled in the art should also be aware that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions, steps, modules or units involved are not necessarily required by the embodiments of the present application. In the above-mentioned embodiments, the embodiments of the present application each have their own emphasis on the description of each embodiment. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant description of other embodiments.

[0637] The steps of the method or algorithm described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a terminal device or a management device. Of course, the processor and storage medium can also be present in a terminal device or a management device as discrete components.

[0638] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in one or more of the above examples, the functions described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in whole or in part by 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 the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. 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 (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0639] The modules / units included in the devices and products described in the above embodiments may be software modules / units, hardware modules / units, or partly software modules / units and partly hardware modules / units. For example, for the devices and products applied to or integrated in the chip, the modules / units included therein may all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, or at least part of the modules / units may be implemented in the form of software programs, which run on the processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules / units may be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for the devices and products applied to or integrated in the chip module, the modules / units included therein may all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units may be located in the same component (such as chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least part of the modules / units may be It is implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated in the terminal equipment, the various modules / units contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (for example, chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal equipment, or, at least some modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the terminal equipment, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

[0640] The specific implementation methods described above further illustrate the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific implementation method of the embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Acquire a first random access channel (RACH) resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has the capability of supporting repeated transmission of a random access response (RAR), or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform repeated transmission of the RAR; The random access request message is sent using the first RACH resource.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The acquiring of the first RACH resource includes: Receive resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information is used to configure one or more RACH resources, where each PACH resource in the one or more RACH resources is used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, or where each PACH resource in the one or more RACH resources is used to request a network device to perform RAR repeated transmission; A first RACH resource is determined from the one or more RACH resources.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that Each RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources corresponds to a synchronization signal block SSB signal quality interval; wherein the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold; The determining a first RACH resource from the one or more PACH resources includes: Get the measurement value of SSB signal quality; The first RACH resource is determined from the one or more RACH resources according to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, where the first RACH resource is a RACH resource corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: Get the number of RAR repeated transmissions; The RAR is received using the RAR retransmission number.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The obtaining of the number of RAR repeated transmissions includes: First indication information is received, where the first indication information is used to indicate the number of RAR retransmissions.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first indication information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the downlink control information DCI scrambled by the random access radio network temporary identifier RA-RNTI.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The obtaining of the number of RAR retransmissions includes: The number of RAR repetition transmissions corresponding to the first RACH resource is obtained.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The obtaining of the number of RAR retransmissions includes: Get the number of RAR retransmissions corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the SSB signal quality measurement value is located.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that If the terminal device has the capability of supporting RAR repeated transmission, then the terminal device has the capability of supporting message 4 repeated transmission or physical downlink shared channel PDSCH repeated transmission after message 3.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving a random access response RAR; Message 3 is sent using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, and the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The message 3 includes a first logical channel identifier LCID; The first LCID is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the first LCID is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Obtain one or more LCIDs, each of the one or more LCIDs being used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting repeated transmission of message 4, or each of the one or more LCIDs being used to request a network device to perform repeated transmission of message 4; The first LCID is determined among the one or more LCIDs, the first LCID being one of the one or more LCIDs.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that Each RACH resource in the one or more LCIDs corresponds to an SSB signal quality interval, where the SSB signal quality interval is obtained by dividing the SSB signal quality threshold; The determining the first LCID among the one or more LCIDs comprises: Get the measurement value of SSB signal quality; According to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located, the first LCID is determined from the one or more LCIDs, where the first LCID is the LCID corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measurement value is located.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Get the number of repeated transmissions of message 4; Message 4 is received by repeating the transmission of message 4.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The acquisition of the number of retransmissions of message 4 includes: First information is received, where the first information is used for the number of repetitions of message 4.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first information is a dedicated field or an existing field in the DCI scrambled by the cell radio network temporary identity C-RNTI or the temporary cell radio network temporary identity TC-RATI.

17. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The acquisition of the number of retransmissions of message 4 includes: Obtain the number of repeated transmissions of message 4 corresponding to the first LCID.

18. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The obtaining of the number of RAR retransmissions includes: Obtain the number of repetitions of message 4 corresponding to the SSB signal quality interval in which the measured value of the SSB signal quality is located.

19. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 18, characterized in that: The time domain position of the physical uplink shared channel PUSCH where the message 3 is located is determined according to the time domain position of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the repeated RAR transmission is located.

20. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 19, characterized in that: The processing time of the message 3 is the minimum time between the first symbol of the PUSCH where the message 3 is located and the last symbol of the PDSCH where the last RAR of the RAR repeated transmission is located.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: include: an acquiring unit, configured to acquire a first random access channel (RACH) resource, where the first RACH resource is used to indicate that the terminal device has a capability of supporting repeated transmission of a random access response (RAR), or the first RACH resource is used to request a network device to perform repeated transmission of the RAR; A sending unit is configured to send a random access request message by using the first RACH resource.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A receiving unit, configured to receive a random access response RAR; The sending unit is used to send message 3 using the uplink resources scheduled by the RAR, where the message 3 is used to indicate that the terminal device has the ability to support repeated transmission of message 4, or the message 3 is used to request the network device to repeatedly transmit message 4.

23. A terminal device comprising a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instruction stored in the memory, characterized in that: The processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or 10 to 20.

24. A chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, characterized in that: The processor executes the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or 10 to 20 through the communication interface.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or 10 to 20 are performed.

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