Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device. The terminal side device sends first information to the network side device, the first information is used for indicating a first satellite set, and satellites included in the first satellite set are candidate cooperative satellites determined by the terminal side device. The terminal side device receives second information, the second information is used for indicating a second satellite set, and the second satellite set is determined according to the first satellite set. And the terminal side device sends the measurement results of the N satellites to the network side device. The terminal side device receives third information, the third information is used for indicating that the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device is the first satellite, and the first satellite belongs to the N satellites. According to the embodiment of the invention, the cooperative satellites are configured for the terminal side device based on the related information of the terminal side device, so that measurement overhead and configuration overhead can be reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular to a communication method and device. BACKGROUND

[0002] Future satellite systems have two main features, i.e., large-scale constellation and high-gain antenna, which provide a prerequisite for multi-satellite joint transmission. Multi-satellite joint transmission can not only improve spectrum efficiency, but also improve throughput, and has good application prospects.

[0003] In the multi-satellite joint transmission technology, a serving satellite and a cooperating satellite need to be configured for a user equipment (UE) to realize multi-satellite joint transmission. However, there is no method for configuring a cooperating satellite for a UE at present, so multi-satellite joint transmission cannot be realized. SUMMARY

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device for configuring a cooperating satellite for a terminal-side device to realize multi-satellite joint transmission.

[0005] In a first aspect, a first communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal-side device, for example, also referred to as a terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a terminal equipment, or other equipment including a terminal equipment function, or a circuit, or a chip system (or, a chip, for example, a modem chip, also referred to as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core, or other functional module) capable of realizing the function of a terminal equipment, which is, for example, arranged in a terminal equipment. The method comprises: sending first information to a network-side device, the first information being used to indicate a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperating satellites determined by the terminal-side device, M being a positive integer; receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate a second satellite set, the second satellite set including information of N satellites, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set; sending measurement results of the N satellites to the network-side device; and receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate that a cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device is a first satellite, the first satellite belonging to the N satellites.

[0006] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal-side device can first determine the first satellite set, the network-side device determines the second satellite set in combination with the first satellite set, and the terminal-side device can measure the second satellite set to configure the cooperating satellite for the terminal-side device. It can be seen that the embodiments of the present application provide a method for configuring the cooperating satellite for the terminal-side device, so that the multi-satellite joint transmission mechanism can be implemented. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application can configure the cooperating satellite for the terminal-side device based on the first satellite set, the first satellite set is determined by the terminal-side device, and the satellites included in the first satellite set have a relatively large probability to be the cooperating satellite for the terminal-side device. The second satellite set is determined according to the first satellite set, which means that the terminal-side device can measure the satellites that can be the cooperating satellite with a relatively large probability, without measuring too many satellites, so as to reduce the measurement overhead of the terminal-side device. In addition, the network-side device determines the second satellite set according to the first satellite set, and the satellites included in the second satellite set have a relatively large probability to be the cooperating satellite for the terminal-side device, that is, the satellites determined by the network-side device are more targeted. Compared with the way that the network-side device does not determine the satellites according to the information of the terminal-side device, the number of satellites determined by the network-side device in the embodiments of the present application can be reduced, so that the network-side device configures fewer satellites to be measured for the terminal-side device, thereby saving the configuration overhead of the network-side device.

[0007] In an optional embodiment, the method further comprises: determining the first satellite set according to one or more of the following: the attitude information of the terminal-side device; the antenna gain corresponding to the elevation angle and / or the azimuth angle of the antenna of the terminal-side device; the position information of the terminal-side device; the position information of at least one satellite, the at least one satellite including the M satellites; or, at least one gain threshold corresponding to at least one satellite, the at least one satellite including the M satellites. The terminal-side device can determine the first satellite set according to one or more of the above information, or can determine the first satellite set according to other information, which is not limited.

[0008] In an optional implementation, the first satellite set includes a second satellite, wherein, in the first attitude of the terminal-side device, the second satellite is located in a direction corresponding to a first elevation angle and / or a first azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device, and an antenna gain corresponding to the first elevation angle and / or the first azimuth angle of the antenna of the terminal-side device is greater than or equal to a gain threshold value corresponding to the second satellite. A manner is provided for the terminal-side device to determine a first satellite set (or, to determine a satellite in the first satellite set), satellites in the first satellite set can cover the terminal-side device together with a service satellite of the terminal-side device, so that these satellites meet the condition of being cooperative satellites; in addition, when serving the terminal-side device, the satellites in the first satellite set have a relatively large antenna gain corresponding to the terminal-side device, which helps to improve the communication quality of the terminal-side device.

[0009] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving a gain threshold value corresponding to a third satellite, the gain threshold value corresponding to the third satellite belonging to the at least one gain threshold value, the third satellite belonging to the first satellite set; and / or receiving a signal quality threshold value, determining a gain threshold value corresponding to a fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value, the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite belonging to the at least one gain threshold value, the fourth satellite belonging to the first satellite set. The terminal-side device can calculate all gain threshold values of the first satellite set by itself, or receive all gain threshold values from other devices, or calculate part of the gain threshold values by itself and receive part of the gain threshold values from other devices, which is more flexible.

[0010] In an optional implementation, determining the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value includes: determining the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value and an EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite. A manner is provided for the terminal-side device to calculate a gain threshold value, in addition to which the terminal-side device can calculate a gain threshold value according to other manners (for example, other parameters).

[0011] In an optional implementation, determining the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value includes: determining a plurality of gain threshold values of the fourth satellite in a first time period according to the signal quality threshold value; and determining a minimum value in the plurality of gain threshold values as the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite. Some or all parameters used to calculate a gain threshold value can change over time, so the terminal-side device can calculate one or more threshold values of a satellite in a first time period, and then determine a gain threshold value of the satellite according to the one or more threshold values, so as to improve the accuracy of the determined gain threshold value.

[0012] In an optional implementation, the first information is used to indicate the first satellite set, including: the first information is used to indicate the association between K satellite sets and K indexes, wherein each of the K satellite sets corresponds to one attitude of the terminal-side device, the first satellite set is included in the K satellite sets, and K is a positive integer. For example, different attitudes of the UE can correspond to different satellites (or satellite sets), and optionally, the first information can indicate the association between K satellite sets and K indexes. Each of the K satellite sets can correspond to one attitude of the UE, and the attitudes corresponding to different satellite sets can be different.

[0013] In an optional implementation, the second information includes an index corresponding to the second satellite set; or, the second information includes information of the N satellites. The second information can include information of the N satellites, so that the indication is more explicit; or, the second information can also include an index of the second satellite set, without necessarily including information of the N satellites, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0014] In an optional implementation, before sending the first information to the network-side device, the method further includes: determining to update the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device based on the signal quality of the serving satellite and / or the fifth satellite of the terminal-side device being less than or equal to a first threshold; and / or, determining to update the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite; wherein the fifth satellite is the original cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device. For example, if the terminal-side device determines that the signal quality of the serving satellite and / or the original cooperative satellite is poor, and / or determines that the original cooperative satellite does not meet the condition of providing services, the terminal-side device can determine to update the cooperative satellite. It can be understood that the scheme provided in the embodiments of the present application can be triggered when the terminal-side device has a demand, so that the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is more targeted.

[0015] In an optional implementation, the determining the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite comprises: determining, based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite, that one or more of an elevation angle of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a second threshold, a distance between the fifth satellite and the terminal-side device is greater than or equal to a third threshold, or a remaining service time of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a fourth threshold; and determining, according to the one or more, the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device to be updated. If the elevation angle of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that the communication quality between the terminal-side device and the fifth satellite is likely to be poor, or that the fifth satellite is likely to be unable to continue to serve the terminal-side device; if the distance between the fifth satellite and the terminal-side device is greater than or equal to the third threshold, it indicates that the distance between the fifth satellite and the terminal-side device is far, and the communication quality between the terminal-side device and the fifth satellite is likely to be poor, or that the fifth satellite is likely to be unable to continue to serve the terminal-side device; and if the remaining service time of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to the fourth threshold, it indicates that the fifth satellite is about to stop serving the terminal-side device. Therefore, for these cases, the terminal-side device can determine the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device to be updated, so as to improve the communication quality of the terminal-side device, or to ensure that the terminal-side device can continue to be covered by the network.

[0016] In a second aspect, a second communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network-side device, for example, also referred to as a network device. The network device is, for example, a network equipment, or other equipment including a function of the network equipment, or a circuit, or a chip system (or, a chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the function of the network equipment, which is, for example, arranged in the network equipment. The network equipment, for example, includes a core network equipment and / or an access network equipment. The network equipment is, for example, a satellite, or located on a satellite. The network equipment is, for example, a serving network equipment of a terminal equipment. The method comprises: receiving first information, the first information being used to indicate a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperative satellites determined by a terminal-side device, M being a positive integer; sending second information, the second information being used to indicate a second satellite set, the second satellite set including information of N satellites, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set; receiving measurement results of the N satellites; and sending third information to the terminal-side device, the third information being used to indicate that a cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device is a first satellite, the first satellite belonging to the N satellites.

[0017] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending information of the first satellite set to a central processing node; and receiving information of the second satellite set from the central processing node. The central processing node can manage each satellite, for example, the central processing node can obtain information of each satellite, and thus the second satellite set determined by the central processing node is more accurate.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending, to each of the M satellites, request information for requesting the each satellite to serve as a cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device; receiving, from the each satellite, response information for indicating whether the each satellite allows to serve as the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device; and determining the second satellite set according to the response information. In this implementation, the network-side device can determine the second satellite set through interaction with each satellite without the help of a central processing node, and thus this implementation does not have to rely on a central architecture (for example, an architecture including a central processing node), has lower requirements on application scenarios, and is suitable for a wider range of applications.

[0019] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the terminal-side device, a gain threshold corresponding to a service satellite of the terminal-side device; or sending, to the terminal-side device, a signal quality threshold for determining a gain threshold corresponding to at least one satellite, the at least one satellite including the M satellites.

[0020] In an optional implementation, the first information is used to indicate the first satellite set, including: the first information is used to indicate an association relationship between K satellite sets and K indexes, each of the K satellite sets corresponds to one attitude of the terminal-side device, and the first satellite set is included in the K satellite sets, K being a positive integer.

[0021] In an optional implementation, the second information is used to indicate the second satellite set, including: the second information includes an index corresponding to the second satellite set; or the second information includes information of the N satellites.

[0022] As to the technical effects brought by the second aspect or various optional implementations, reference can be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0023] In a third aspect, a third communication method is provided. This method can be applied to a central processing node-side device, for example, also referred to as a central processing node. The central processing node is, for example, a network-side device or a terminal-side device, or other device that includes the functions of a network-side device or a terminal-side device, or a circuit, or a chip system (or chip) or other functional module. The chip system or functional module can implement the functions of the network-side device or the terminal-side device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, provided in the network-side device or the terminal-side device. The network-side device includes, for example, core network equipment and / or access network equipment. The network-side device is, for example, a satellite, or is located on a satellite, or may be located on the ground. The method includes: receiving information about a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information about M satellites, the M satellites being candidate collaborative satellites determined by the terminal-side device, where M is a positive integer; and sending information about a second satellite set to the network-side device, the second satellite set being determined based on the first satellite set, the second satellite set including information about N satellites, where N is a positive integer.

[0024] In an optional embodiment, the second satellite set is determined based on one or more of the following information: load information of the M satellites; resource usage information of the M satellites; or interference information of the M satellites.

[0025] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the third aspect or various optional implementations, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the first aspect or the corresponding implementations, and / or reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the second aspect or the corresponding implementations.

[0026] In a fourth aspect, a fourth communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal-side device, for example, also referred to as a terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a terminal device, or other device including terminal device functions, or a circuit, or a chip system (or chip, such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip including a modem core) or other functional module. The chip system or functional module can implement the functions of the terminal device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, provided in the terminal device. The method includes: receiving first information indicating a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, where M is a positive integer; determining that N satellites of the M satellites are available satellites, where N is an integer less than or equal to M and greater than 0; sending measurement results of the N satellites to a network-side device; and receiving second information indicating a first satellite of the N satellites, where the first satellite is a cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device.

[0027] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application configures the terminal-side device with cooperative satellites, so that the multi-satellite joint transmission mechanism can be implemented. Moreover, the terminal-side device in the embodiments of the present application can screen the satellites to be measured configured by the network-side device, so that the satellites measured by the terminal-side device can be the satellites that have a relatively large probability of serving the terminal-side device, thereby improving the success rate of configuring the cooperative satellites. Moreover, the terminal-side device can measure the satellites that can be the cooperative satellites with a relatively large probability, without measuring too many satellites, thereby reducing the measurement overhead of the terminal-side device.

[0028] In an optional implementation, determining N satellites from the M satellites as available satellites comprises: determining the N satellites from the M satellites as available satellites according to one or more of the following information: attitude information of the terminal-side device; antenna gain corresponding to an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device; position information of the terminal-side device; position information of the M satellites; or, M gain thresholds. The terminal-side device can determine the available satellites according to one or more of the above, or can determine the available satellites according to other information, which is not limited herein.

[0029] In an optional implementation, sending the measurement results of the N satellites to the network-side device comprises: sending M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites to the network-side device, wherein N measurement results are the measurement results of the N satellites, and M-N measurement results are virtual values; or, sending M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites to the network-side device, wherein M-N measurement results correspond to first indication information, and N measurement results correspond to second indication information or do not correspond to the first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is unavailable, and the second indication information being used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is available. For example, the terminal-side device can not measure M-N satellites, and only needs to send virtual measurement results (for example, virtual values) of the M-N satellites to the network-side device, so that the network-side device can determine that the M-N satellites are unavailable according to the virtual values, and the measurement overhead and the reporting overhead of the terminal-side device are saved. Alternatively, the terminal-side device can also measure the M-N satellites, for example, the terminal-side device can send M measurement results to the network-side device, but the M-N measurement results can correspond to the first indication information, so that the network-side device can explicitly determine that the M-N satellites are unavailable.

[0030] In a fifth aspect, a fifth communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network-side device, for example, a network device. The network device is, for example, a network equipment, or other equipment including the function of the network equipment, or a circuit, or a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the function of the network equipment, for example, arranged in the network equipment. The network equipment includes, for example, a core network equipment and / or an access network equipment. The network equipment is, for example, a satellite, or located on a satellite. The network equipment is, for example, a serving network equipment of a terminal device. The method includes: sending first information, the first information being used to indicate a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, M being a positive integer; receiving measurement results of N satellites in the M satellites; and sending second information, the second information being used to indicate a first satellite in the N satellites, the first satellite being a cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device.

[0031] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending information of a second satellite set to a central processing node; and receiving information of the first satellite set from the central processing node. The central processing node can manage each satellite, for example, the central processing node can obtain information of each satellite, and thus the first satellite set determined by the central processing node is more accurate.

[0032] In an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending request information to each satellite in at least one satellite, the request information being used to request the each satellite to be a cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device; receiving response information from the each satellite, the response information being used to indicate whether the each satellite allows to be the cooperative satellite of the terminal-side device; and determining the first satellite set according to the response information, wherein the M satellites belong to the at least one satellite. In this implementation, the network-side device can determine the first satellite set through interaction with each satellite without the aid of a central processing node, and thus this implementation does not have to rely on a centralized architecture (for example, an architecture including a central processing node) and has a lower requirement on application scenarios and a wider application range.

[0033] In an optional implementation, receiving the measurement results of the N satellites in the M satellites includes: receiving M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites, N measurement results in the M measurement results being measurement results of the N satellites, and M-N measurement results in the M measurement results being virtual values; or receiving M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites, M-N measurement results in the M measurement results corresponding to first indication information, and N measurement results in the M measurement results corresponding to second indication information or not corresponding to the first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that a corresponding measurement result is unavailable, and the second indication information being used to indicate that a corresponding measurement result is available.

[0034] As to the technical effects brought by the optional implementation of the fifth aspect, reference can be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the fourth aspect or the corresponding implementation.

[0035] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the terminal-side apparatus of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the terminal-side apparatus. For example, the communication apparatus has the functions of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, which can be implemented by software or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The communication apparatus is, for example, a terminal device, or another device including the functions of the terminal device, or a chip system (or a chip or a circuit) or another functional module, which can implement the functions of the terminal device, and which is, for example, arranged in the terminal device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also sometimes referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also sometimes referred to as a transceiver module). The transceiver unit can implement the sending function and the receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be referred to as a sending unit (also sometimes referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be referred to as a receiving unit (also sometimes referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is referred to as a transceiver unit and can implement the sending function and the receiving function. Alternatively, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send, to the network-side apparatus, first information used to indicate a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperating satellites determined by the terminal-side apparatus, and M being a positive integer; the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive second information used to indicate a second satellite set, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is further configured to send, to the network-side apparatus, measurement results of the N satellites; and the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is further configured to receive third information used to indicate that the cooperating satellite of the terminal-side apparatus is a first satellite, the first satellite belonging to the N satellites.

[0037] In an optional implementation, the first satellite set is determined according to one or more of the following: attitude information of the terminal-side device; an antenna gain corresponding to an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device; position information of the terminal-side device; position information of at least one satellite, the at least one satellite including the M satellites; or at least one gain threshold value corresponding to at least one satellite, the at least one satellite including the M satellites.

[0038] In an optional implementation, the first satellite set includes a second satellite, wherein, in a first attitude of the terminal-side device, the second satellite is located in a direction corresponding to a first elevation angle and / or a first azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device, and an antenna gain corresponding to the first elevation angle and / or the first azimuth angle of the antenna of the terminal-side device is greater than or equal to a gain threshold value corresponding to the second satellite.

[0039] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is further configured to receive a gain threshold value corresponding to a third satellite, the gain threshold value corresponding to the third satellite belonging to the at least one gain threshold value, the third satellite belonging to the first satellite set; and / or, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is further configured to receive a signal quality threshold value, and the processing unit is configured to determine a gain threshold value corresponding to a fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value, the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite belonging to the at least one gain threshold value, the fourth satellite belonging to the first satellite set.

[0040] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is configured to determine the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value by: determining the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value and an EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite.

[0041] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is configured to determine the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value by: determining a plurality of gain threshold values of the fourth satellite within a first time period according to the signal quality threshold value; and determining a minimum value in the plurality of gain threshold values as the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite.

[0042] In an optional implementation, the first information is used to indicate a first satellite set, including: the first information is used to indicate an association relationship between K satellite sets and K indexes, wherein each satellite set in the K satellite sets corresponds to one attitude of the terminal-side device, the first satellite set is included in the K satellite sets, and K is a positive integer.

[0043] In an optional implementation, the second information includes an index corresponding to the second satellite set; or, the second information includes information of the N satellites.

[0044] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is configured to determine to update the cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device before the transceiving unit sends the first information to the network-side device, based on that the signal quality of the serving satellite and / or the fifth satellite of the terminal-side device is less than or equal to a first threshold; and / or, the processing unit is configured to determine to update the cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device before the transceiving unit sends the first information to the network-side device, based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite; wherein the fifth satellite is the original cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device.

[0045] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is configured to determine to update the cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite, by: determining, based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite, that one or more of the following conditions is met: the elevation angle of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a second threshold, the distance between the fifth satellite and the terminal-side device is greater than or equal to a third threshold, or the remaining service time of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a fourth threshold; and determining to update the cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device according to the one or more conditions.

[0046] In an optional implementation, the communication device further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is coupled to the storage unit and executes programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the terminal-side device described in any of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the network-side apparatus of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the network-side apparatus. For example, the communication apparatus has the functions of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, e.g., the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, which can be implemented in software, or in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware. The communication apparatus can be, for example, a network device, or another device with network device functions, or a chip system (or chip or circuit) or another functional module that can implement the functions of the network device, e.g., the chip system or functional module is arranged in a network device. The network device can be, for example, a core network device and / or an access network device. The network device can be, for example, a satellite, or located on a satellite. The network device can be, for example, a serving network device of a terminal device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also referred to as a transceiver module). For details of the implementation of the transceiver unit, refer to the related description of the sixth aspect.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate a first satellite set, and the first satellite set includes information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperative satellites determined by a terminal-side apparatus, and M being a positive integer; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send second information, where the second information is used to indicate a second satellite set, and the second satellite set is determined according to the first satellite set; the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is further configured to receive measurement results of the N satellites; and the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is further configured to send third information to the terminal-side apparatus, where the third information is used to indicate that a cooperative satellite of the terminal-side apparatus is a first satellite, and the first satellite belongs to the N satellites.

[0049] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is further configured to send information of the first satellite set to a central processing node; and the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is further configured to receive information of the second satellite set from the central processing node.

[0050] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is further used to send request information to each of the M satellites, wherein the request information is used to request each satellite to serve as a collaborative satellite of the terminal side device; the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is further used to receive response information from each satellite, wherein the response information is used to indicate whether each satellite is allowed to serve as a collaborative satellite of the terminal side device; and the processing unit is used to determine the second satellite set based on the response information.

[0051] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is further used to send a gain threshold corresponding to the service satellite of the terminal side device to the terminal side device; or, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is further used to send a signal quality threshold to the terminal side device, and the signal quality threshold is used to determine a gain threshold corresponding to at least one satellite, and the at least one satellite includes the M satellites.

[0052] In an optional embodiment, the first information is used to indicate a first satellite set, including: the first information is used to indicate an association relationship between K satellite sets and K indexes, wherein each satellite set in the K satellite sets corresponds to a posture of the terminal side device, the first satellite set is included in the K satellite sets, and K is a positive integer.

[0053] In an optional implementation, the second information is used to indicate the second satellite set, including: the second information includes an index corresponding to the second satellite set; or the second information includes information of the N satellites.

[0054] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the functions of the terminal side device described in any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the central processing node of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the central processing node. For example, the communication apparatus has the functions of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, e.g., the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, which can be implemented in software, or in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware. The communication apparatus can be, for example, a network device, or another device with network device functions, or a chip system (or chip or circuit) or another functional module that can implement the functions of the network device, e.g., the chip system or functional module is arranged in the network device. The network device can be, for example, a satellite, or located on a satellite, or located on the ground. Alternatively, the communication apparatus can be, for example, a terminal device, or another device with terminal device functions, or a chip system (or chip or circuit) or another functional module that can implement the functions of the terminal device, e.g., the chip system or functional module is arranged in the terminal device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, refer to the related description of the sixth aspect.

[0056] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive information of a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperative satellites determined by a terminal-side device, M being a positive integer; and the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send information of a second satellite set to a network-side device, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set, the second satellite set including information of N satellites, N being a positive integer.

[0057] In an optional implementation, the second satellite set is determined according to one or more of the following: load information of the M satellites; resource usage information of the M satellites; or interference information of the M satellites.

[0058] In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is configured to be coupled to the storage unit and execute programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication apparatus to perform the functions of the central processing node of any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0059] In a ninth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the terminal-side apparatus of any one of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect. The communication apparatus has the functions of the terminal-side apparatus. For example, the communication apparatus has the functions of any one of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect, and can include modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of any one of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect, which can be implemented by software or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The communication apparatus can be, for example, a terminal device, or another device having functions of a terminal device, or a chip system (or a chip or a circuit) or another functional module, which can implement the functions of a terminal device, and which can be arranged in a terminal device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, refer to the related description of the sixth aspect.

[0060] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate a first satellite set, and the first satellite set includes information of M satellites, where M is a positive integer; the processing unit is configured to determine N satellites in the M satellites as available satellites, where N is an integer less than or equal to M and greater than 0; the transceiver unit (or the sending unit) is configured to send measurement results of the N satellites to a network-side apparatus; and the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is further configured to receive second information, where the second information is used to indicate a first satellite in the N satellites, and the first satellite is a cooperative satellite of the terminal-side apparatus.

[0061] In an optional implementation, the processing unit is configured to determine N satellites in the M satellites as available satellites by determining the N satellites in the M satellites as available satellites according to one or more of the following information: attitude information of the terminal-side apparatus; an antenna gain corresponding to an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side apparatus; position information of the terminal-side apparatus; position information of the M satellites; or M gain thresholds.

[0062] In an optional implementation, the transceiver (or the receiving unit) is configured to send the measurement results of the N satellites to the network-side device by sending M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites to the network-side device, where N measurement results are the measurement results of the N satellites, and M-N measurement results are virtual values; or the transceiver (or the receiving unit) is configured to send the measurement results of the N satellites to the network-side device by sending M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites to the network-side device, where M-N measurement results correspond to the first indication information, and N measurement results correspond to the second indication information or do not correspond to the first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is unavailable, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is available.

[0063] In an optional implementation, the communication device further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is coupled to the storage unit and executes programs or instructions in the storage unit to enable the communication device to perform the functions of the terminal-side device in any of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect.

[0064] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device can be the network-side device in any of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect. The communication device has the functions of the network-side device. For example, the communication device has the functions of any of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect, for example, the communication device includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations described in any of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The communication device is, for example, a network device, or another device including the functions of the network device, or a chip system (or a chip or a circuit) or another functional module, which can implement the functions of the network device, and is, for example, arranged in the network device. The network device includes, for example, a core network device and / or an access network device. The network device is, for example, a satellite, or is located on a satellite. The network device is, for example, a serving network device of a terminal device. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver (also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver, refer to the related description of the sixth aspect.

[0065] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is used to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate a first satellite set, and the first satellite set includes information of M satellites, where M is a positive integer; the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is used to receive measurement results of N satellites among the M satellites; the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is also used to send second information, where the second information is used to indicate a first satellite among the N satellites, and the first satellite is a collaborative satellite of the terminal side device.

[0066] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is further used to send information of the second satellite set to the central processing node; the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is further used to receive information of the first satellite set from the central processing node.

[0067] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or, the sending unit) is further used to send request information to each satellite of at least one satellite, wherein the request information is used to request each satellite to serve as a collaborative satellite of the terminal side device; the transceiver unit (or, the receiving unit) is further used to receive response information from each satellite, wherein the response information is used to indicate whether each satellite is allowed to serve as a collaborative satellite of the terminal side device; and the processing unit is used to determine the first satellite set based on the response information, wherein the M satellites belong to the at least one satellite.

[0068] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is used to receive measurement results of N satellites out of the M satellites in the following manner: receiving M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites, where N measurement results are measurement results of the N satellites, and MN measurement results are virtual values; or, the transceiver unit (or the receiving unit) is used to receive measurement results of N satellites out of the M satellites in the following manner: receiving M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites, where MN measurement results correspond to first indication information, where N measurement results correspond to second indication information or do not correspond to the first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is unavailable, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is available.

[0069] In an optional embodiment, the communication device also includes a storage unit (sometimes also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is used to couple with the storage unit and execute the program or instructions in the storage unit, enabling the communication device to perform the functions of the network side device described in any one of the fourth to fifth aspects above.

[0070] In an eleventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a memory and one or more processors. The memory is configured to store part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary to implement the functions related to the first aspect or the fourth aspect described above. The one or more processors are configured to execute the computer program or instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect or the fourth aspect described above.

[0071] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus further comprises an interface circuit, and the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components through the interface circuit.

[0072] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus further comprises the memory.

[0073] The communication apparatus described above can be a terminal, or a communication module in the terminal, or a chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or an SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module.

[0074] In a twelfth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a memory and one or more processors. The memory is configured to store part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary to implement the functions related to the second aspect or the fifth aspect described above. The one or more processors are configured to execute the computer program or instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect or the fifth aspect described above.

[0075] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus further comprises an interface circuit, and the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components through the interface circuit.

[0076] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus further comprises the memory.

[0077] The communication apparatus described above can be a network device, or a communication module in the network device, or a chip responsible for communication functions in the network device, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or an SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module.

[0078] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises a memory and one or more processors. The memory is configured to store part or all of a computer program or instructions necessary to implement the functions related to the third aspect described above. The one or more processors are configured to execute the computer program or instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in any possible design or implementation of the third aspect described above.

[0079] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus further includes an interface circuit, and the processor is configured to communicate with other apparatuses or components via the interface circuit.

[0080] In a possible design of the communication apparatus, the communication apparatus further includes the memory.

[0081] The communication apparatus described above can be a terminal, or a communication module in the terminal, or a chip responsible for communication function in the terminal, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or an SoC or SIP chip including a modem module. Alternatively, the communication apparatus described above can be a network device, or a communication module in the network device, or a chip responsible for communication function in the network device, such as a modem chip (also referred to as a baseband chip) or an SoC or SIP chip including a modem module.

[0082] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, including a network-side apparatus, where the network-side apparatus is configured to perform the method performed by the network-side apparatus in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect. For example, the network-side apparatus can be implemented by the communication apparatus in the seventh aspect or the twelfth aspect.

[0083] Optionally, the communication system further includes a central processing node, where the central processing node is configured to perform the method performed by the central processing node in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect. For example, the central processing node can be implemented by the communication apparatus in the eighth aspect or the thirteenth aspect.

[0084] Optionally, the communication system further includes a terminal-side apparatus, where the terminal-side apparatus is configured to perform the method performed by the terminal-side apparatus in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect. For example, the terminal-side apparatus can be implemented by the communication apparatus in the sixth aspect or the eleventh aspect.

[0085] In a fifteenth aspect, another communication system is provided, including a network-side apparatus, where the network-side apparatus is configured to perform the method performed by the network-side apparatus in any one of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect. For example, the network-side apparatus can be implemented by the communication apparatus in the tenth aspect or the twelfth aspect.

[0086] Optionally, the communication system further includes a terminal-side apparatus, where the terminal-side apparatus is configured to perform the method performed by the terminal-side apparatus in any one of the fourth aspect to the fifth aspect. For example, the terminal-side apparatus can be implemented by the communication apparatus in the ninth aspect or the eleventh aspect.

[0087] In a sixteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program or instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the method performed by the terminal-side device or the network-side device or the central processing node in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0088] In a seventeenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which when executed by a computer, cause the method in the above aspects to be implemented.

[0089] In an eighteenth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, the processor being configured to call and execute instructions from the interface, so that the chip system implements the method in the above aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0090] Figure 1 An application scenario for an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] Figure 2 And Figure 3 Flowcharts of two communication methods provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another device provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0094] In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0095] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of a noun, unless otherwise specified, represents "a singular noun or a plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. For example, A / B represents A or B. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0096] The ordinal numbers such as "first", "second", and the like used in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish a plurality of objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, time sequence, priority, or importance of the plurality of objects. In addition, the numbering of steps in each embodiment introduced in the present application is only to distinguish different steps, and is not used to limit the order of the steps.

[0097] In the following, some terms or concepts in the embodiments of the present application are explained and described, so as to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art.

[0098] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device is a device with wireless transceiving function, which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (for example, a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device (for example, a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.) built in the above devices. The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, including but not limited to the following scenarios: sensing scenarios, cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, unmanned aerial vehicle, robot, indoor commercial scenarios (such as mobile phone screen projection, file sharing, mobile phone to VR glasses video transmission) and other scenarios. When the terminal device is applied to V2X, it can also be referred to as a V2X device, for example, a smart car, a digital car, an unmanned car, a self-driving car, a pure EV, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a range extended EV (REEV), a plug-in HEV (PHEV), a new energy vehicle, a road site unit (RSU), etc. The terminal device can also be a device in D2D communication, for example, a water meter, a gas meter, etc.

[0099] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an internet of things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important part of future information technology development. Its main technical feature is to connect objects through communication technology and network, so as to realize the intelligent network of man-machine interconnection and object-object interconnection.

[0100] As introduced above, various terminal devices can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices if they are located on a vehicle (for example, placed in or installed in a vehicle), and the vehicle-mounted terminal device is also referred to as an on-board unit (OBU). The terminal device of the present application can also be an on-board module, an on-board module group, an on-board component, an on-board chip or an on-board unit built in a vehicle as one or more components or units, and the vehicle can implement the method of the present application through the built-in on-board module, on-board module group, on-board component, on-board chip or on-board unit.

[0101] The terminal device can also be referred to as a UE, a terminal, an access station, a UE station, a remote station, a wireless communication device, or a user device, etc.

[0102] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal-side device, which is also referred to as a terminal device. The terminal device can be a terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the terminal device is taken as an example of the terminal device to describe the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, for the convenience of description, the terminal device is taken as an example of a UE in the embodiments of the present application.

[0103] The network device in the embodiments of the present application, for example, includes an access network device and / or a core network device. The access network device is a device with wireless transceiving function, used for communicating with the terminal device. The access network device includes but is not limited to a base station (base transceiver station (BTS), Node B, evolved Node B (eNodeB) / eNB, or the next generation Node B (gNodeB) / gNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station evolved from the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, and the like. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small station, a relay station, and the like. Multiple base stations can support a network of the same access technology or a network of different access technologies. A base station can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points. The access network device can also be a wireless controller, a central unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The access network device can also be a server and the like. For example, the network device in the V2X technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The following describes the access network device by taking a base station as an example. The base station can communicate with the terminal device or communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. The terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations in different access technologies. The core network device is used to implement mobile management, data processing, session management, policy and charging, and the like. The names of devices implementing core network functions in systems of different access technologies can be different, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. Taking the 5th generation (5G) system as an example, the core network device includes, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), a user plane function (UPF), and the like.

[0104] In the CU-DU architecture, the network device can include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), and the like. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0105] In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open RAN (ORAN) system, the CU can also be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU can also be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), the CU-CP can also be referred to as an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), the CU-UP can also be referred to as an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and the RU can also be referred to as an open RU (O-RU). For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU are taken as examples for description in the embodiments of the present application. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0106] Optionally, in various embodiments of the present application, if the network device is a distributed architecture, for example, the network device includes a CU and a DU, or includes a CU-CP, a CU-UP, and a DU, the network device sends information to the UE, and specifically, the DU included in the network device can send information to the UE; the network device receives information from the UE, and specifically, the DU included in the network device can receive information from the UE.

[0107] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the function of the network device can be a network side device, which is also referred to as a network device. The network device can be a network equipment or a device capable of supporting the network equipment to implement the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the network equipment. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the network equipment is taken as an example (for example, the device for implementing the function of the access network equipment is taken as the access network equipment, and the device for implementing the function of the core network equipment is taken as the core network equipment), and the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described.

[0108] The technical features related to the embodiments of the present application are introduced below.

[0109] Future satellite systems have two main features, i.e., large-scale constellation and high-gain antenna. For large-scale constellation, Starlink Gen2 is expected to send 30,000 satellites, and currently Starlink has about 5,000+ satellites in orbit. Therefore, a ground UE can see multiple satellites at the same time, for example, in the mid-high latitude zone, a UE can be covered by nearly 20 satellites at the same time. For high-gain antenna, for example, some companies provide satellites that can install antenna arrays as high as 64 square meters. Due to the high gain of the satellite side antenna, the carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) provided can be as high as 20 dB.

[0110] Large-scale constellation and high-gain antenna provide a prerequisite for multi-satellite multi-input multi-output (MIMO), which can include multi-satellite joint transmission. Multi-satellite joint transmission can greatly improve the transmission rate of the UE, which can include two aspects. One aspect is the improvement of spectral efficiency, for example, under the condition of the same transmission power, the same number of antennas, and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), multi-satellite joint transmission can obtain higher spectral efficiency compared with single-satellite transmission. Another aspect is the improvement of throughput, which can improve the throughput compared with single-satellite transmission.

[0111] In the multi-satellite joint transmission technology, in addition to communicating with the service satellite of the UE, the UE can also communicate with other satellites (referred to as cooperative satellites), and the service satellite and the cooperative satellite can perform joint transmission to the UE. Therefore, it is necessary to configure the service satellite and the cooperative satellite for the UE. However, there is no method for configuring the cooperative satellite for the UE at present, so the multi-satellite joint transmission cannot be implemented.

[0112] In view of this, in the embodiments of the present application, the UE can first determine the first satellite set, the network device determines the second satellite set in combination with the first satellite set, and the UE can configure the cooperative satellite for the UE through the measurement of the second satellite set. It can be seen that the embodiments of the present application provide a method for configuring the cooperative satellite for the UE, so that the multi-satellite joint transmission mechanism can be implemented. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application can configure the cooperative satellite for the UE based on the first satellite set, the first satellite set is determined by the UE, and the satellites included in the first satellite set have a relatively large probability of being able to serve as the cooperative satellite for the UE; the second satellite set is determined according to the first satellite set, which means that the UE can measure the satellites that can serve as the cooperative satellite in a relatively large probability, without measuring too many satellites, thereby reducing the measurement overhead of the UE. In addition, the network device determines the second satellite set according to the first satellite set, and the satellites included in the second satellite set have a relatively large probability of being able to serve as the cooperative satellite for the UE, that is, the satellites determined by the network device are more targeted, compared with the way in which the network device does not determine the satellites according to the information of the UE, the number of satellites determined by the network device in the embodiments of the present application can be reduced, therefore, the network device configures fewer satellites to be measured for the UE, thereby saving the configuration overhead of the network device.

[0113] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied in a fourth generation (4G) mobile communication system, such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, or can be applied in a 5G system, such as a new radio (NR) system, or can also be applied in a next generation mobile communication system or other similar communication system, such as a sixth generation (6G) system, or can be applied in an existing satellite mobile communication technology system, and the specific application is not limited. The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied in a non-terrestrial network (NTN), or can also be applied in a non-NTN, such as a ground cellular network, for example, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied in a scenario in which multiple network devices or multiple cells perform joint transmission. In addition, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be applied in a D2D scenario, such as an NR-D2D scenario, or applied in a V2X scenario, such as an NR-V2X scenario. For example, the embodiments of the present application can be used in the fields of factory manufacturing, whole-house intelligence, intelligent driving, assisted driving, intelligent networked vehicles, or indoor commercial scenarios.

[0114] Please refer to Figure 1 , which is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of the embodiments of the present application, Figure 1 , which is an NTN scenario. In Figure 1In some embodiments, the 5G system is taken as an example. The UE on the ground accesses the network through 5G NR. The access network device (for example, a 5G base station) can be deployed on a satellite, or the satellite can be regarded as an access network device. The access network device can communicate with the core network device (for example, an AMF, an SMF, a UPF, and the like in the core network in FIG. 1) on the ground through a wireless link. The UE can be served by multiple access network devices. For example, the access network device 1 and the access network device 2 in FIG. 1 can serve the UE. For example, the access network device 1 and the access network device 2 correspond to different satellites. This scenario can be multi-satellite joint transmission. In addition, if there are multiple satellites, there can be a wireless link between the satellites, so that signaling interaction and / or user data transmission can be completed between the satellites. The features of the network elements and the like involved are described below. Figure 1 Figure 1 Figure 1

[0115] The core network can implement user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, charging, and the like. The core network can include multiple functional units, for example, multiple core network devices. The multiple core network devices can include control plane devices and data plane devices. For example, one core network device is an AMF, which is responsible for user access management, security authentication, mobility management, and the like. For another example, another core network device is a UPF, which is responsible for managing transmission of user plane data, traffic statistics, and the like. For another example, still another core network device is an SMF, which is responsible for session management of the UE. The SMF can allocate resources for a session of the UE, release resources, and the like.

[0116] The ground station is responsible for forwarding signaling and service data between the satellite base station and the core network, such as a 5G core network.

[0117] Figure 1 The 5G NR in FIG. 1 can be used as a wireless link between the UE and the access network device. In some embodiments, the 5G NR in FIG. 1 can be replaced by another wireless communication link, such as a 6G communication link. Figure 1

[0118] The Xn interface is an interface between the access network devices, which can be used for signaling interaction between the access network devices.

[0119] The next generation (NG) interface is an interface between the access network device and the core network device, which can be used for signaling of a non-access stratum (NAS) of the core network and the like, and service data of a user, and the like.

[0120] ​​​​The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application, the steps represented by dashed lines are optional steps. In the various embodiments of the present application, the concepts of “association relationship” and “correspondence relationship” can be replaced with each other. The various embodiments of the present application can be applied to the network architecture shown in Figure 1 For example, the UE described in the various embodiments of the present application can be the UE shown in Figure 1 The network device described in the various embodiments of the present application can be a serving network device of the UE, for example, the network device can be a serving satellite of the UE, or located on the serving satellite of the UE, or located on other devices in communication connection with the serving satellite of the UE. The network device is, for example, the access network device 1 or the access network device 2 shown in Figure 1 If the network device is the access network device 1 shown in Figure 1 , the access network device 2 shown in Figure 1 may be a cooperative network device of the UE; or if the network device is the access network device 2 shown in Figure 1 , the access network device 1 shown in Figure 2 may be a cooperative network device of the UE. The cooperative network device can be a cooperative satellite of the UE, or can be located on the cooperative satellite of the UE, for example, the cooperative satellite configured by the method of the embodiments of the present application.

[0121] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, please refer to Index , which is a flowchart of the method.

[0122] S201, the UE sends first information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information.

[0123] The first information is included in, for example, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or included in media access control (MAC) layer signaling, or included in physical layer signaling, or can be included in signaling of other protocol layers.

[0124] The first information can indicate information of M satellites, for example, the first information comprises information of M satellites, for example, the information of the M satellites belongs to the first satellite set, and it can also be considered that the first information indicates the first satellite set. Alternatively, the first information can comprise an index of the first satellite set, which indicates that the first information indicates the first satellite set. M is a positive integer. The M satellites can be candidate cooperation satellites determined by the UE. When the network device determines and configures cooperation satellites for the UE, the cooperation satellites can be determined and configured according to the M candidate cooperation satellites reported by the UE, so that the determined and configured cooperation satellites can provide services for the UE. Optionally, the information of a satellite comprises, for example, an identity of the satellite, for example, an identity number (ID) of the satellite, and / or other information capable of representing the satellite. For example, the other information capable of representing the satellite comprises one or more of an index of the satellite, ephemeris information of the satellite, a physical cell identifier (PCI) of a cell provided by the satellite, or information for indicating resources of the satellite. Optionally, the information for indicating resources of a satellite is, for example, a control resource set resource pool index (CORESETPoolIndex) corresponding to the satellite, which can represent frequency domain resources of the satellite, for example, indicating resource blocks (RBs) of the satellite.

[0125] Optionally, the UE can determine the first satellite set according to one or more of the following: attitude information of the UE, an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of an antenna of the UE corresponding to an antenna gain, position information of the UE, position information of at least one satellite, or at least one gain threshold. The at least one satellite can comprise M satellites. The at least one gain threshold can correspond to the at least one satellite, for example, the at least one gain threshold corresponds to the at least one satellite one by one.

[0126] For example, the UE can determine a directional diagram of the UE, or a non-ideal directional diagram, which is not limited in name, and the directional diagram can indicate an antenna gain corresponding to an antenna attitude of the UE, for example, the directional diagram comprises a correspondence between the antenna attitude and the antenna gain of the UE. Optionally, the antenna attitude can be represented by parameters such as an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of the antenna, for example, the directional diagram comprises a correspondence between the elevation angle and / or the azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE and the antenna gain, or the directional diagram can indicate an antenna gain corresponding to an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE. For reference, Table 1 is an example of the directional diagram.

[0127] Table 1

[0128] 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 0 a a a a b b b b b d d d c 30 a a a a b b b b b d c c d 60 a a a a c c b e e d c c d 90 e e e e c c c c c c c d d 120 e e e e c c c c c c d d d 150 e e e e e e c c c c d d d 180 d d d d d d d d d d d d d

[0129] a-e in Table 1 represent different antenna gains, the horizontal number represents the azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, and the vertical number represents the elevation angle of the antenna of the UE. For example, the antenna gain corresponding to the azimuth angle 0° and the elevation angle 30° of the antenna of the UE is a, and the other items are similar. Table 1 is only an example of the radiation pattern, and the radiation pattern determined by the UE can include one or more items in Table 1, or can also include other items not given in Table 1.

[0130] Optionally, the radiation pattern can also include the attitude information of the UE. For example, in the radiation pattern, the attitude information of the UE, the antenna attitude of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE have a corresponding relationship. Alternatively, the attitude information of the UE can not be included in the radiation pattern, but the attitude information of the UE, the antenna attitude of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE can still have a corresponding relationship. Taking the antenna attitude of the UE as an example, which is represented by the elevation angle and / or the azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, the attitude information of the UE, the elevation angle and / or the azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE have a corresponding relationship. For example, the antenna gain corresponding to different attitudes of the UE and the same elevation angle and / or azimuth angle can be the same or different; for another example, the antenna gain corresponding to the same attitude of the UE and different elevation angles and / or azimuth angles can be the same or different. Optionally, the UE can determine the attitude information of the UE through a sensor (for example, one or more of an attitude sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer), or can also determine the attitude information of the UE through other manners, which are not limited. Optionally, the attitude of the UE can be represented by a corresponding parameter (alternatively, the attitude information of the UE can include a corresponding parameter), for example, including one or more of a heading parameter, a pitch parameter, or a roll parameter. The heading parameter represents the angle of rotation around the Z axis, the pitch parameter represents the angle of rotation around the Y axis, and the roll parameter represents the angle of rotation around the X axis. Optionally, the heading parameter represents the angle of rotation around the Z axis, the pitch parameter represents the angle of rotation around the X axis, and the roll parameter represents the angle of rotation around the Y axis.

[0131] For example, the UE determines that the satellite in the certain direction covers the UE, and the satellite includes the serving satellite of the UE and other satellites, which indicates that the satellite in the certain direction has the possibility to be the cooperative satellite.

[0132] If the satellite in the certain direction has the possibility to be the cooperative satellite, the UE can determine the satellite as the candidate cooperative satellite, or determine the satellite belongs to the M satellites, for example, the UE can add the information of the satellite to the first satellite set, which is relatively simple. Alternatively, the UE can further combine at least one gain threshold to determine whether the satellite is the candidate cooperative satellite. For example, if the satellite in the certain direction has the possibility to be the cooperative satellite, the UE can determine whether the antenna gain corresponding to the satellite in the direction pattern is greater than or equal to the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite, and the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite belongs to the at least one gain threshold. If the antenna gain corresponding to the satellite in the direction pattern is greater than or equal to the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite, the UE can determine the satellite as the candidate cooperative satellite, or determine the satellite belongs to the M satellites, for example, the UE can add the information of the satellite to the first satellite set; or if the antenna gain corresponding to the satellite in the direction pattern is less than the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite, the UE can determine the satellite is not the candidate cooperative satellite, or determine the satellite does not belong to the M satellites, for example, the UE does not add the information of the satellite to the first satellite set. The antenna gain corresponding to the satellite screened by the gain threshold is better, and the UE uses these satellites as the cooperative satellites, which can improve the communication quality of the UE.

[0133] Through the above process, the UE determines the M satellites, or determines the first satellite set.

[0134] The gain threshold can also be referred to as a gain threshold, for example, represented as GNT UE,thresgThe UE can obtain the at least one gain threshold in various manners. For example, the UE can receive the at least one gain threshold; or the UE can calculate the at least one gain threshold; or the UE can receive part of the at least one gain threshold and calculate the rest of the at least one gain threshold. For example, the UE can receive a gain threshold corresponding to a third satellite and calculate a gain threshold corresponding to a fourth satellite, both of which belong to the at least one gain threshold.

[0135] If the UE receives the gain threshold, the gain threshold corresponding to a certain satellite can be sent to the UE by the satellite, and the UE can receive the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite from the satellite. For example, the satellite has served the UE before, and the satellite can send the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite when serving the UE, for example, by unicast or broadcast, etc. Alternatively, the gain threshold corresponding to a certain satellite can also be sent to the UE by the serving satellite of the UE. For example, the satellites can interact with each other through inter-satellite links (ISLs), and the at least one gain threshold corresponds to at least one satellite. Some or all of the at least one satellite can send the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite to the serving satellite of the UE, and the serving satellite can send the gain thresholds of the satellites, for example, by unicast or broadcast, etc.

[0136] Alternatively, if the UE calculates the gain threshold, the UE can calculate according to a signal quality threshold, which can be used for at least one satellite. For example, the UE can determine the gain threshold corresponding to each of some or all of the at least one satellite according to the signal quality threshold. The signal quality threshold can be an SNR threshold, or can also be a threshold of other parameters used to represent signal quality. Taking the signal quality threshold as an SNR threshold as an example, the signal quality threshold can be represented as SNR broadcast The signal quality threshold can be predefined by a protocol, or can also come from a network device (for example, the serving satellite of the UE). For example, the network device can send the signal quality threshold by unicast or broadcast, etc.

[0137] For example, the fourth satellite is any one of the at least one satellite corresponding to the at least one gain threshold, or represents any one of the at least one satellite for which the UE calculates the gain threshold. Optionally, the UE determining the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold can include: the UE determining the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold and an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) density corresponding to the fourth satellite. The EIRP density corresponding to one satellite can be transmitted by the satellite to the UE, for example, the satellite has ever served the UE, and the satellite can transmit the EIRP density corresponding to the satellite during serving the UE, for example, in a unicast or broadcast manner. Alternatively, the satellites can interact through the ISL, and a certain satellite can transmit the EIRP density corresponding to the satellite to the serving satellite of the UE, which is transmitted by the serving satellite of the UE, for example, in a unicast or broadcast manner. That is, the EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite can come from the fourth satellite or from the serving satellite of the UE.

[0138] As an optional implementation of the UE determining the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold and the EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite, the UE can determine the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold, the EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite, and loss information. Optionally, the loss information can include a path loss (for example, a free space path loss (FSPL)) between the fourth satellite and the UE, and / or other losses in addition to the path loss. For example, the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite can satisfy the following relationship:

[0139] GNT UE,thresh = SNR broadcast - EIRP density + k + FSPL + Loss all (Formula 1)

[0140] wherein GNT UE,thresh represents the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite; SNR broadcast represents the signal quality threshold; EIRP density represents the EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite; k represents a Boltzmann constant, for example, k = -228.6 dBW / K / Hz; FSPL is related to one or more of a carrier frequency corresponding to the fourth satellite, a location of the UE, or a location of the fourth satellite; and Loss all represents the relevant loss, for example, Loss all includes polarization loss and / or rain attenuation, etc.

[0141] If the fourth satellite corresponds to a gain threshold related to the FSPL, and the FSPL corresponding to one satellite can change over time due to the movement of the satellite, it can also be considered that the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite changes over time. For this purpose, optionally, when determining the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite, the UE can determine the gain threshold of the fourth satellite in a first time period, for example, one or more gain thresholds can be determined, and the UE can determine the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the one or more gain thresholds. For example, the UE can determine the minimum value of the one or more gain thresholds as the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite; or the UE can determine the maximum value of the one or more gain thresholds as the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite; or the UE can determine any value of the one or more gain thresholds as the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite; or the UE can determine the average value of the one or more gain thresholds as the gain threshold corresponding to the fourth satellite, for example, the average value is an arithmetic average or a weighted average, etc.

[0142] As introduced in the foregoing, the UE can determine the first satellite set according to the attitude of the UE, for example, even if the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the UE antenna are the same, and the attitude of the UE is different, the corresponding antenna gain can be the same or different, therefore, different UE attitudes can correspond to corresponding satellites, for example, the satellites corresponding to different UE attitudes are the same or different. The UE can add the information of the satellites corresponding to various attitudes of the UE to the first satellite set, that is, the aforementioned first satellite set can include the information of the satellites corresponding to various attitudes of the UE; or the UE can also add the information of the satellites corresponding to different attitudes of the UE to different satellite sets respectively, and the aforementioned first satellite set can include the information of the satellites corresponding to one attitude of the UE.

[0143] Reference can be made to Table 2 for an example of the association relationship between the attitude of the UE and the information of the satellite (or the satellite set).

[0144] Table 2

[0145] Satellite information Satellite 1, Satellite 2, Satellite 5 1 Satellite 1, Satellite 2 2 Satellite 3, Satellite 5, Satellite 6, Satellite 7 …… …… P Figure 3

[0146] Each item in Table 2 can correspond to one attitude of the UE, for example, satellite 1, satellite 2, satellite 5 in the second row correspond to one attitude of the UE, and satellite 1, satellite 2 in the third row correspond to another attitude of the UE. The index in Table 2 represents the index of the satellite set to which the corresponding satellite information belongs, or represents the index of the attitude of the UE. The association relationship between the attitude of the UE and the information of the satellite determined by the UE in the embodiments of the present application can include one or more items in Table 2, or can also include other items in addition to Table 2, or can not include Table 2 but include other items, wherein one row in Table 2 is regarded as an item.

[0147] If the UE determines the satellite corresponding to different postures of the UE, or the UE adds the information of the satellite corresponding to different postures of the UE into different satellite sets respectively, optionally, the first information can indicate the association between the K satellite sets and the K indexes. Each of the K satellite sets can correspond to one posture of the UE, and the postures corresponding to different satellite sets can be different. The first satellite set can be included in the K satellite sets, for example, as one of the K satellite sets, and the first satellite set corresponds to one posture of the UE. K is a positive integer.

[0148] Optionally, the UE can perform S201 under a corresponding condition, for example, the UE determines to add a cooperative satellite under the corresponding condition, or determines to update a cooperative satellite (for example, the UE has been originally configured with a cooperative satellite, and the cooperative satellite can be updated at present), S201 can be performed. Optionally, if the signal quality of the serving satellite of the UE and / or the fifth satellite is less than or equal to the first threshold, the UE can determine to add or update the cooperative satellite of the UE, or perform S201; and / or, the UE can determine to update the cooperative satellite of the UE based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite, or perform S201. The fifth satellite is, for example, the original cooperative satellite of the UE, and the number of the fifth satellite can be one or more.

[0149] For example, if the signal quality of the serving satellite of the UE and / or the fifth satellite is less than or equal to the first threshold, indicating that the signal quality of the serving satellite of the UE and / or the fifth satellite is poor, and the UE can not obtain good service, the UE can add or update the cooperative satellite to obtain better communication quality.

[0150] For example, the UE can determine one or more of the following based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite: an elevation angle of the fifth satellite, a distance between the fifth satellite and the UE, or a remaining service time of the fifth satellite. The remaining service time of the fifth satellite refers to a remaining service time of the fifth satellite for the UE. The UE can determine to update the cooperative satellite of the UE if one or more of the following are satisfied: the elevation angle of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a second threshold, the distance between the fifth satellite and the UE is greater than or equal to a third threshold, or the remaining service time of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a fourth threshold. If the elevation angle of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that the communication quality between the UE and the fifth satellite can be poor, or that the fifth satellite can not be able to continue to serve the UE; if the distance between the fifth satellite and the UE is greater than or equal to the third threshold, it indicates that the distance between the fifth satellite and the UE is far, and the communication quality between the UE and the fifth satellite can be poor, or that the fifth satellite can not be able to continue to serve the UE; if the remaining service time of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to the fourth threshold, it indicates that the fifth satellite will stop serving the UE soon. Therefore, for these cases, the UE can determine to update the cooperative satellite of the UE to improve the communication quality of the UE, or to ensure that the UE can continue to be covered by the network.

[0151] At S202, the network device sends second information. Correspondingly, the UE receives the second information. For example, the network device can send the second information in a unicast manner.

[0152] The second information is included in, for example, RRC signaling, or MAC layer signaling, or physical layer signaling, or signaling of another protocol layer.

[0153] The second information can indicate information of N satellites. For example, the second information includes information of N satellites, and the information of the N satellites, for example, belongs to a second satellite set. Therefore, the second information can be considered to indicate the second satellite set. Alternatively, the second information can include an index of the second satellite set, which indicates that the second information indicates the second satellite set.

[0154] The N satellites can be determined according to M satellites, or the second satellite set can be determined according to the first satellite set. For example, the network device receives the first information, determines the M satellites according to the first information, and then determines the N satellites according to the M satellites. The N satellites are satellites to be measured by the UE.

[0155] The network device determines the N satellites in multiple ways.

[0156] As an optional implementation for the network device to determine the N satellites, the network device can determine the N satellites by means of a central processing node, which can also be referred to as a centralized architecture determination manner. The central processing node can be a node for managing the satellites, or a node for coordination among the satellites. The central processing node can be a satellite, or located on a satellite, or can also belong to a ground network, for example, a ground service station, or an access network device or a core network device located on the ground, and the like. Among them, the satellite as the central processing node is, for example, a serving satellite of the UE, or another satellite. If the central processing node is the serving satellite of the UE, or is located on the serving satellite of the UE, and the network device in the embodiment of the present application is the serving satellite of the UE or is located on the serving satellite of the UE, therefore, in this case, the network device determines the N satellites by means of the central processing node, which is actually the network device determining the N satellites, and does not need to perform the interaction process between the network device and the central processing node as described below.

[0157] For example, the network device sends information of M satellites, for example, information of a first satellite set, to the central processing node. After receiving the information of the M satellites (or receiving the information of the first satellite set), the central processing node can determine the N satellites, or determine a second satellite set, and then send information of the N satellites, or information of the second satellite set, to the network device. The N satellites can be a subset of the M satellites. Optionally, the central processing node can determine the N satellites according to one or more of the following: load information of the M satellites, resource usage information of the M satellites, or interference information of the M satellites.

[0158] The load information of a satellite can indicate the load condition of the satellite, and the load of the satellite can include, for example, UEs served by the satellite. For example, if the load of a certain satellite in the M satellites is heavy, the central processing node can determine that the satellite is not a candidate cooperative satellite, for example, the satellite is not added to the N satellites, or the satellite is not added to the second satellite set.

[0159] The resource usage information of a satellite can include, for example, beam usage information of the satellite, and can also include usage information of other resources of the satellite, such as hardware resources and / or software resources, and the like. A satellite can provide one or more beams, and the beam usage information can include usage information of part or all of the one or more beams. For example, a satellite can provide 8 beams in total, and the beam usage information of the satellite indicates that all the 8 beams are occupied, so the satellite has no beam available for covering the UE. In this case, the central processing node can determine that the satellite is not a candidate cooperative satellite, for example, the satellite is not added to the N satellites, or the satellite is not added to the second satellite set.

[0160] The interference information of a satellite can indicate the interference situation of the satellite, for example, the interference information of a satellite can represent the interference situation of the satellite. For example, if the interference information of a satellite indicates that the satellite is interfered heavily, or indicates that the signal transmitted by the satellite and / or the signal received by the satellite is interfered heavily, the satellite can not be able to provide a good service quality for the UE, in this case, the central processing node can determine that the satellite is not a candidate cooperating satellite, for example, the satellite is not added to the N satellites, or the satellite is not added to the second satellite set.

[0161] For example, if a satellite satisfies one or more of the following, the central processing node can determine that the satellite is a candidate cooperating satellite, for example, the satellite is added to the N satellites, or the satellite is added to the second satellite set: the satellite is lightly loaded (for example, the number of loads is less than or equal to a certain threshold), the satellite has available resources, or the satellite is interfered less (for example, less than or equal to a certain threshold).

[0162] It is introduced above that the first information can indicate the association between the K satellite sets and the K indexes, and the first satellite set belongs to the K satellite sets. In this case, the network device can send the information of the K satellite sets to the central processing node, and the central processing node can determine H satellite sets, H can be less than or equal to K, for example, H = K, the H satellite sets can correspond to the K satellite sets one by one, and the second satellite set can belong to the H satellite sets, for example, be one of the H satellite sets. For example, the central processing node can determine whether each satellite in each satellite set A1 of the K satellite sets can be a candidate cooperating satellite. According to the above determination manner, for example, the central processing node can determine a corresponding satellite set A2 for any satellite set A1 of the K satellite sets, where the satellite set A2 includes a subset of the satellites included in the satellite set A1, for example, the satellite set A1 is the first satellite set, and the satellite set A2 is the second satellite set. Therefore, the central processing node can determine a corresponding satellite set for each satellite set of the K satellite sets, that is, the central processing node can determine H satellite sets. The central processing node can send the information of the H satellite sets to the network device, and the network device can receive the information of the H satellite sets.

[0163] As another optional implementation for the network device to determine the N satellites, the network device can determine the N satellites by itself, which can also be referred to as a distributed architecture determination manner. For example, the network device determines M satellites according to the first information, the network device can send request information to each of the M satellites, which can request the satellite to be a cooperative satellite of the UE. For example, the network device sends the request information to a satellite, which can request the satellite to be a cooperative satellite of the UE. The satellite receiving the request information can determine whether the satellite can be a cooperative satellite of the UE, and send response information to the network device, which can indicate that the satellite allows (or can; or agrees) to be a cooperative satellite of the UE, or indicates that the satellite does not allow (or cannot; or does not agree) to be a cooperative satellite of the UE. The network device receiving the response information from the M satellites can determine the N satellites. For example, if the response information from a satellite indicates that the satellite allows to be a cooperative satellite of the UE, the network device can determine the satellite as a candidate cooperative satellite, for example, add the satellite to the N satellites, or add the satellite to the second satellite set; for another example, if the response information from a satellite indicates that the satellite does not allow to be a cooperative satellite of the UE, the network device can determine the satellite not to be a candidate cooperative satellite, for example, not to add the satellite to the N satellites, or not to add the satellite to the second satellite set.

[0164] Optionally, a satellite can determine whether the satellite allows to be a cooperative satellite of the UE according to one or more of the following: load information of the satellite, resource usage information of the satellite, or interference information of the satellite. The determination manner of the satellite can be similar to the determination manner of the central processing node, which will not be described in detail.

[0165] It is introduced above that the first information can indicate the association between the K satellite sets and the K indexes, and the first satellite set belongs to the K satellite sets. In this case, for each satellite set in the K satellite sets, the network device can determine whether each satellite in the satellite set can be a candidate cooperative satellite, so that the network device can determine H satellite sets, H can be less than or equal to K, for example, H = K, the H satellite sets can correspond to the K satellite sets one by one, and the second satellite set can belong to the H satellite sets, for example, the H satellite sets. For example, for any satellite set A1 in the K satellite sets, the network device can determine whether each satellite in the satellite set A1 can be a candidate cooperative satellite, and according to the above determination manner, the network device can determine a corresponding satellite set A2 for the satellite set A1, where the satellites included in the satellite set A2 are a subset of the satellites included in the satellite set A1. For example, the satellite set A1 is the first satellite set, and the satellite set A2 is the second satellite set. Therefore, for each satellite set in the K satellite sets, the network device can determine a corresponding satellite set, that is, the network device can determine H satellite sets.

[0166] If the network device determines the H satellite sets (determined by the network device itself or indicated by the central processing node), optionally, the second information can include H indexes corresponding to the H satellite sets. In this way, the network device does not need to issue the information of the satellite sets, and the signaling overhead can be saved. Alternatively, the second information can include the information of the satellites included in each satellite set in the H satellite sets, so that the indication is more explicit. Alternatively, the second information can include the indexes of part of the satellite sets in the H satellite sets, and the information of the satellites included in the remaining satellite sets in the H satellite sets.

[0167] For example, in the H satellite sets, part of the satellite sets have not changed compared to the satellite sets indicated by the first information, and the second information can include the indexes of the part of the satellite sets. For example, the first information indicates that a satellite set C1 includes the information of satellite 1 and the information of satellite 2, and the network device determines that a satellite set C2 corresponding to the satellite set C1 also includes the information of satellite 1 and the information of satellite 2. Therefore, the second information can indicate the index of the satellite set C2 (which is actually the index of the satellite set C1). For another example, in the H satellite sets, part of the satellite sets have changed compared to the satellite sets indicated by the first information, and the second information can include the information of the satellites included in the part of the satellite sets. For example, the first information indicates that a satellite set D1 includes the information of satellite 1 and the information of satellite 2, and the network device determines that a satellite set D2 corresponding to the satellite set D1 includes the information of satellite 1 and the information of satellite 3, but does not include the information of satellite 2. Therefore, the second information can indicate the information of satellite 1 and the information of satellite 3.

[0168] S203, the UE sends the measurement results of the N satellites to the network device.

[0169] After receiving the second information, the UE can measure the satellites indicated by the second information and obtain measurement results. The UE can send the measurement results to the network device. For example, the second information indicates the second satellite set, and the UE can measure the N satellites and send the measurement results of the N satellites to the network device. For another example, the second information indicates the H satellite set, and the UE can measure the satellites included in the H satellite set and send the measurement results to the network device. The measurement result of one satellite may, for example, include the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) and / or the reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) corresponding to the satellite.

[0170] S204, the network device sends third information. Correspondingly, the UE receives the third information.

[0171] The third information can indicate the cooperative satellite of the UE. For example, the cooperative satellite indicated by the third information is the first satellite, and the third information includes the information of the first satellite. The first satellite can belong to the N satellites, or if the second information indicates the H satellite set, the first satellite can belong to the satellites included in the H satellite set. The number of cooperative satellites indicated by the third information can be one or more, that is, the number of satellites included in the first satellite can be one or more.

[0172] Optionally, the third information can indicate the information of the first satellite, or the third information can also indicate an index of a third satellite set including the first satellite. The third satellite set includes one or more satellite sets, for example, the one or more satellite sets belong to the K satellite sets, or the one or more satellite sets belong to the H satellite sets. For example, the first satellite is all satellites included in the part or all satellite sets indicated by the first information, or is all satellites included in the part or all satellite sets indicated by the second information, the third information can include the index of the part or all satellite sets, and does not need to include the information of the specific first satellite. For example, a satellite set E in the H satellite sets includes satellite 1 and satellite 2, and the first satellite also includes satellite 1 and satellite 2, the third information can indicate the index of the satellite set E, and does not need to indicate the information of the satellite 1 and the information of the satellite 2. For another example, a satellite set F in the H satellite sets includes satellite 1, a satellite set G in the H satellite sets includes satellite 2 and satellite 3, and the first satellite includes satellite 1, satellite 2 and satellite 3, the third information can indicate the index of the satellite set F and the index of the satellite set G, and does not need to indicate the information of the satellite 1, the information of the satellite 2 and the information of the satellite 3. This indication manner can reduce signaling overhead.

[0173] For example, the network device receives the measurement result, and can determine the cooperative satellite of the UE according to the measurement result. For example, the network device can take the satellite with the best measurement result as the cooperative satellite of the UE, or the network device can take the satellite corresponding to the measurement result greater than or equal to the fifth threshold as the cooperative satellite of the UE, or the network device can also determine the cooperative satellite of the UE in combination with other factors, and the manner in which the network device determines the cooperative satellite is not limited. After the network device determines the cooperative satellite, the network device can indicate the UE, so that the UE accepts the service provided by the cooperative satellite. Optionally, the network device can also send information to the cooperative satellite (for example, the first satellite), the information indicating that the first satellite is the cooperative satellite of the UE, so that the first satellite can start to provide service for the UE, for example, the first satellite can jointly transmit with the serving satellite of the UE to the UE.

[0174] In the embodiments of the present application, the UE can first determine the first satellite set, the network device determines the second satellite set in combination with the first satellite set, and the UE can be configured with the cooperative satellite through measurement of the second satellite set. It can be seen that the embodiments of the present application provide a method for configuring the UE with the cooperative satellite, so that the multi-satellite joint transmission mechanism can be implemented. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application can configure the UE with the cooperative satellite based on the first satellite set, the first satellite set is determined by the UE, and the satellites included in the first satellite set have a relatively large probability of serving as the cooperative satellite of the UE; the second satellite set is determined according to the first satellite set, which means that the UE can measure the satellites that can serve as the cooperative satellite with a relatively large probability, without measuring too many satellites, so that the measurement overhead of the UE can be reduced. In addition, the network device does not need to configure the UE to measure too many satellites, so that the configuration overhead of the network device can be saved.

[0175] Another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be introduced below, please refer to Figure 2 for the flowchart of the method.

[0176] S301, the network device sends first information. Correspondingly, the UE receives the first information.

[0177] The first information can indicate the information of M satellites, for example, the first information includes the information of M satellites, for example, the information of the M satellites belongs to the first satellite set, so the first information can also be considered to indicate the first satellite set. Alternatively, the first information can include the index of the first satellite set, which indicates that the first information indicates the first satellite set. M is a positive integer. The content included in the information of the satellite can refer to the embodiments shown in Figure 2 .

[0178] The M satellites can be satellites to be measured by the network device. Alternatively, the network device can determine the M satellites by itself. For example, the network device can send request information to each of the at least one satellite respectively, and the request information can request the satellite to be a cooperative satellite of the UE. For example, the network device sends the request information to a satellite, and the request information can request the satellite to be a cooperative satellite of the UE. The satellite receiving the request information can determine whether the satellite can be a cooperative satellite of the UE, and send response information to the network device, and the response information can indicate that the satellite allows (or can; or agrees) to be a cooperative satellite of the UE, or indicates that the satellite does not allow (or cannot; or does not agree) to be a cooperative satellite of the UE. The network device receiving the response information from the at least one satellite can determine the M satellites. For example, if the response information from a satellite indicates that the satellite allows to be a cooperative satellite of the UE, the network device can determine the satellite as a candidate cooperative satellite, for example, add the satellite to the M satellites, or add the satellite to the first satellite set; for another example, if the response information from a satellite indicates that the satellite does not allow to be a cooperative satellite of the UE, the network device can determine that the satellite is not a candidate cooperative satellite, for example, does not add the satellite to the M satellites, or does not add the satellite to the first satellite set. How the satellite determines whether the satellite allows to be a cooperative satellite of the UE can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 2 .

[0179] Alternatively, another way for the network device to determine the M satellites by itself includes that the network device can determine the M satellites according to the position of the UE and the position of the at least one satellite, without performing signaling interaction with the M satellites, and this way is relatively simple.

[0180] Alternatively, the network device can determine the M satellites by means of a central processing node. The central processing node can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 2 . For example, the network device sends information of the at least one satellite to the central processing node. The central processing node receiving the information of the at least one satellite can determine the M satellites, or determine the first satellite set, and then send information of the M satellites, or information of the first satellite set to the network device. The M satellites can be a subset of the at least one satellite. How the central processing node determines the M satellites can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 2 .

[0181] S302, the UE determines N satellites in the M satellites as available satellites. N is an integer less than or equal to M and greater than or equal to 0.

[0182] Optionally, the UE can determine N satellites from M satellites as available satellites according to one or more of the following, or determine available satellites from M satellites according to one or more of the following: attitude information of the UE, antenna gain corresponding to the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, position information of the UE, position information of M satellites, or M gain thresholds.

[0183] For example, the UE can determine a UE’s directional diagram, or a non-ideal directional diagram, which is not limited by name, that can indicate antenna gain corresponding to the antenna attitude of the UE, e.g., the directional diagram includes a correspondence between the antenna attitude of the UE and the antenna gain. Optionally, the antenna attitude can be represented by parameters such as the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the antenna, e.g., the directional diagram includes a correspondence between the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE and the antenna gain. Optionally, the directional diagram can also include the attitude information of the UE, e.g., in the directional diagram, the attitude information of the UE, the antenna attitude of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE have a correspondence therebetween. Taking the antenna attitude of the UE as an example represented by the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, the attitude information of the UE, the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE have a correspondence therebetween. Alternatively, the attitude information of the UE can also not be included in the directional diagram, and the attitude information of the UE, the antenna attitude of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE can still have a correspondence therebetween. For more information about the directional diagram, please refer to the embodiments shown in Figure 4

[0184] For example, the UE’s directional diagram represents a correspondence between the attitude information of the UE, the elevation angle and / or azimuth angle of the antenna of the UE, and the antenna gain of the UE, and the UE can determine whether there are certain satellites from M satellites in a certain direction corresponding to a certain attitude of the UE and a certain elevation angle and / or azimuth angle, or determine whether the UE is covered by certain satellites from M satellites in a certain direction corresponding to a certain attitude of the UE and a certain elevation angle and / or azimuth angle. For example, if the UE determines that it is covered by a satellite in a certain direction, and the satellite does not belong to M satellites, it indicates that there is no available satellite in the direction, and the UE can continue to determine the next direction; or if the UE determines that it is covered by a satellite in a certain direction, and the satellite includes satellite a from M satellites, but the UE is not covered by the serving satellite of the UE in the direction, it indicates that satellite a cannot be used as a cooperating satellite, or that satellite a is not available, and the UE can continue to determine the next direction; or if the UE determines that it is covered by a satellite in a certain direction, and the satellite includes satellite b from M satellites, and the UE is also covered by the serving satellite of the UE in the direction, it indicates that satellite b has the possibility of being used as a cooperating satellite, or that satellite b is an available satellite.​

[0185] The UE can determine the available satellites in the manner as described above; or, optionally, the UE can also refer to the gain threshold corresponding to the satellite when determining the available satellites. For example, for satellite b in the above example, the UE can further determine whether the antenna gain corresponding to satellite b in the pattern is greater than or equal to the gain threshold corresponding to satellite b, and the gain threshold corresponding to satellite b belongs to at least one gain threshold. If the antenna gain corresponding to the satellite b in the pattern is greater than or equal to the gain threshold corresponding to satellite b, the UE can determine that satellite b is an available satellite, or determine that satellite b is a satellite to be measured; or, if the antenna gain corresponding to satellite b in the pattern is less than the gain threshold corresponding to satellite b, the UE can determine that the satellite is unavailable, or determine that the satellite does not need to be measured. The antenna gain corresponding to the satellites selected according to the gain threshold is better, and using these satellites as cooperative satellites of the UE can improve the communication quality of the UE.

[0186] S303: The UE sends measurement results of N satellites to the network device.

[0187] The UE determines that N satellites among the M satellites are available satellites, indicating that MN satellites among the M satellites are unavailable satellites. Optionally, the UE may not measure these MN satellites to reduce UE power consumption; or the UE may perform measurements on these MN satellites.

[0188] The UE measures N satellites and obtains N measurement results. S302 may include the UE sending the N measurement results to the network device, which may be sent in different ways.

[0189] As an optional implementation for the UE to send N measurement results to the network device, the UE can send M measurement results to the network device, the M measurement results corresponding to M satellites, for example, the M measurement results one-to-one corresponding to the M satellites. Among the M measurement results, N measurement results are measurement results of the N satellites, for example, any one of the N measurement results can be the RSRP and / or RSRQ of the corresponding satellite, etc. In addition, there are also M-N measurement results in the M measurement results, which can be invalid values, for example, the invalid values can be default values or virtual values. For example, any one of the M-N measurement results can be obtained according to the N measurement results, for example, the N measurement results include the measurement result a of satellite 2, any one of the M-N measurement results can be the sum of the measurement result a and an offset, and the offset can be a negative number, so that the value of the any one measurement result is smaller (even negative), which indicates that the any one measurement result is invalid. For example, the M satellites include satellite 1-satellite 5, and the N satellites include satellite 2 and satellite 4. The UE can send 5 measurement results to the network device, which include the measurement result of satellite 2 and the measurement result of satellite 4, and also include the measurement results of satellite 1, satellite 3 and satellite 5. The measurement results of satellite 1, 3 and 5 are, for example, the sum of the measurement result of satellite 2 and an offset. For another example, any one of the M-N measurement results can be a default value, which can be small or even negative, indicating that the any one measurement result is invalid. If the UE sends N measurement results to the network device in this way, the UE can not measure M-N satellites, which can save the measurement power consumption of the UE.

[0190] Alternatively, as another optional implementation of sending N measurement results to the network device, the UE can send M measurement results to the network device, the M measurement results corresponding to M satellites, for example, the M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites in one-to-one correspondence. Among the M measurement results, M-N measurement results are measurement results corresponding to M-N satellites, and optionally, each of the M-N measurement results can correspond to first indication information. Wherein, the first indication information can indicate that the measurement result corresponding to the first indication information is invalid or unusable, and therefore the M-N measurement results correspond to the first indication information, indicating that the M-N measurement results are invalid or unusable. Among the M-N measurement results, there are also N measurement results which are measurement results of N satellites, and the N measurement results are usable, for example, any one of the N measurement results can be the RSRP and / or RSRQ of the corresponding satellite. Optionally, the N measurement results can not correspond to the first indication information, or each of the N measurement results can correspond to second indication information, and the second indication information can indicate that the measurement result corresponding to the second indication information is valid or usable, and therefore the N measurement results correspond to the second indication information, indicating that the N measurement results are valid or usable. Optionally, the second indication information is, for example, a flag (FLAG)-enable, and the first indication information is, for example, a FLAG-disabled. For example, the M satellites include satellite 1-satellite 5, and the N satellites include satellite 2 and satellite 4. The UE can send 5 measurement results to the network device, which are measurement results of satellite 1-satellite 5, wherein the measurement results of satellite 1, 3 and 5 correspond to the first indication information respectively, and the measurement results of satellite 2 and 4 do not correspond to the first indication information or correspond to the second indication information. If the UE sends N measurement results to the network device in this way, the UE can also perform measurement on M-N satellites; or the UE can also not perform measurement on M-N satellites, and each of the M-N measurement results can be a virtual value or a default value. By not measuring M-N satellites, the measurement power consumption of the UE can be saved.

[0191] S304, the network device sends second information. Correspondingly, the UE receives the second information.

[0192] The second information can indicate the cooperative satellite of the UE, for example, the cooperative satellite indicated by the second information is the first satellite, for example, the second information includes the information of the first satellite. The first satellite can belong to the N satellites. The number of cooperative satellites indicated by the second information can be one or more, that is, the number of satellites included in the first satellite can be one or more.

[0193] For example, the network device receives the measurement result, and can determine the cooperative satellite of the UE according to the measurement result. For example, the network device can determine the cooperative satellite of the UE according to N measurement results. For example, the network device can determine the satellite corresponding to the best measurement result in the N measurement results as the cooperative satellite of the UE, or the network device can determine the satellite corresponding to the measurement result greater than or equal to the fifth threshold value in the N measurement results as the cooperative satellite of the UE, or the network device can determine the cooperative satellite of the UE in combination with other factors, and the manner in which the network device determines the cooperative satellite is not limited. After the network device determines the cooperative satellite, the network device can instruct the UE to accept the service provided by the cooperative satellite. Optionally, the network device can also send information to the cooperative satellite (for example, the first satellite), and the information indicates that the first satellite is the cooperative satellite of the UE, so that the first satellite can start to provide the service for the UE, for example, the first satellite can jointly transmit with the serving satellite of the UE to the UE.

[0194] The method for configuring the cooperative satellite for the UE is provided in the embodiments of the present application, so that the multi-satellite joint transmission mechanism can be implemented. Moreover, the UE in the embodiments of the present application can filter the satellites to be measured configured by the network device, so that the satellites measured by the UE can be the satellites with a greater probability of serving the UE, and the success rate of configuring the cooperative satellite is improved. Moreover, the UE can measure the satellites that can be the cooperative satellites with a greater probability, and does not need to measure too many satellites, so that the measurement cost of the UE can be reduced.

[0195] Figure 2 A structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application is given. The communication apparatus 400 can be the UE or the circuitry of the UE in the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 2 , used to implement the method corresponding to the UE in the method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 400 can be the network device or the circuitry of the network device in the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 2 , used to implement the method corresponding to the network device in the method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 400 can be the central processing node or the circuitry of the central processing node in the embodiments shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4 , used to implement the method corresponding to the central processing node in the method embodiments. For example, one circuitry is a chip system.

[0196] The communication apparatus 400 comprises at least one processor 401. The processor 401 can be used for internal processing of the apparatus, and can implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, the processor 401 comprises instructions. Optionally, the processor 401 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, can be located in different physical positions, and can be located on different integrated circuits. Optionally, different processors can be integrated in one or more processors, for example, integrated on one or more integrated circuits.

[0197] Optionally, the communication apparatus 400 comprises one or more memories 403 for storing instructions. Optionally, the memory 403 can also store data. The processor and the memory can be separately arranged, or can be integrated together.

[0198] Optionally, the communication apparatus 400 comprises a communication line 402 and at least one communication interface 404. Since the memory 403, the communication line 402 and the communication interface 404 are optional, they are represented by dashed lines in the figure. Figure 2

[0199] Optionally, the communication apparatus 400 can further comprise a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver can be used to send information to other apparatuses or receive information from other apparatuses. The transceiver can be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to realize the transceiving function of the communication apparatus 400 through the antenna. Optionally, the transceiver comprises a transmitter and a receiver. Illustratively, the transmitter can be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver can be used to convert a radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0200] The processor 401 can comprise a general central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs of the solutions of the present application.

[0201] The communication line 402 can comprise a path for transmitting information between the above-mentioned components.

[0202] The communication interface 404 uses any transceiver-like device for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wired access network, etc. ​

[0203] The memory 403 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory 403 can exist independently and be connected to the processor 401 through the communication line 402. Alternatively, the memory 403 can be integrated with the processor 401.

[0204] The memory 403 is configured to store computer-executed instructions for implementing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 401 is configured to control the execution of the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 403. Figure 3 OrThe steps performed by the UE or the network device or the central processing node in the embodiments shown in the drawings. Figure 4 Optionally, the computer-executed instructions in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as application program codes, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0205] In a specific implementation, as an example, the processor 401 can include one or more CPUs, such as the CPU0 and the CPU1 in the

[0206] Figure 4 In a specific implementation, as an example, the communication apparatus 400 can include multiple processors, such as the processor 401 and the processor 405 in the

[0207] In a specific implementation, as an example, the communication apparatus 400 can include multiple processors, such as the processor 401 and the processor 405 in the Figure 4 Each of these processors can be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. Here, the processor can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0208] When Figure 5When the device shown is a chip, for example, a chip of a UE, a chip of a network device, or a chip of a central processing node, the chip includes a processor 401 (which may also include a processor 405), a communication circuit 402, and a communication interface 404. Optionally, the chip may include a memory 403. Specifically, the communication interface 404 may be an input interface, a pin, or a circuit. The memory 403 may be a register, a cache, etc. The processor 401 and the processor 405 may be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0209] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the device according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a device. The device 500 may be a UE, a network device, or a central processing node involved in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, or a chip in a UE, a chip in a network device, or a chip in a central processing node. The device 500 includes a processing unit 502 and a transceiver unit 501.

[0210] It should be understood that the apparatus 500 can be used to implement the steps performed by the UE or the network device or the central processing node in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. The relevant features can be referred to above. Figure 3 or Figure 5 The embodiments shown are not described in detail here.

[0211] Optional, Figure 4 The functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 501 and the processing unit 502 can be realized by Figure 5 The processor 401 in the embodiment calls the computer execution instruction stored in the memory 403 to implement. Or, Figure 4 The function / implementation process of the processing unit 502 can be achieved by Figure 5 The processor 401 in the embodiment calls the computer execution instruction stored in the memory 403 to implement the above. Figure 4 The function / implementation process of the transceiver unit 501 can be achieved by Figure 1 This is achieved by the communication interface 404 in .

[0212] Optionally, when the apparatus 500 is a chip or a circuit, the function / implementation process of the transceiver unit 501 can also be implemented by a pin or a circuit, etc. Optionally, the transceiver unit 501 can include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, the sending unit is used to implement the sending function, and the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function; or the transceiver unit 501 can be an integral module, which can implement the sending function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 501 can be implemented by a transceiver.

[0213] The application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed, the method executed by the UE or the network device or the central processing node in the foregoing method embodiments is implemented. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the application can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or the part that contributes or part of the technical solutions. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of the application. The storage medium includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0214] The application further provides a computer program product, which includes computer program codes, when the computer program codes are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method executed by the UE or the network device or the central processing node in any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0215] The embodiments of the application further provide a processing apparatus, which includes a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method executed by the UE or the network device or the central processing node related to any of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0216] In the embodiments described above, all or some of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or some of the embodiments can be implemented 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 into and executed by a computer, all or some of the procedures or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. 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 a website, a computer, a server or a data center to another website, computer, server or data center through a wired (for example, coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. 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, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media sets. The available media can be a magnetic medium (for example, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0217] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented or performed by a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, optionally, the general purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0218] The steps of methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, a software unit executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an EEPROM, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium in the art. The storage medium can be connected to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC, which can be located in the terminal device. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium can also be located in different components of the terminal device.

[0219] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operations steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing device to generate a computer implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable data processing device provide a process for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart Figure 1 one flowchart or multiple flowcharts and / or blocks ​ one block or multiple blocks.

[0220] The contents of various embodiments of the present application can be mutually referred to, and the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0221] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the UE and / or the network device and / or the central processing node can perform part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of various operations can also be performed in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the various steps can be performed in different orders according to the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all the operations in the embodiments of the present application are performed.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a terminal-side device, and the method comprises: sending first information to a network-side device, the first information being used to indicate a first satellite set, the first satellite set comprising information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperating satellites determined by the terminal-side device, M being a positive integer; receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate a second satellite set, the second satellite set comprising information of N satellites, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set; sending measurement results of the N satellites to the network-side device; receiving third information, the third information being used to indicate that a cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device is a first satellite, the first satellite belonging to the N satellites.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first satellite set is determined according to one or more of the following: attitude information of the terminal-side device; antenna gain corresponding to an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device; position information of the terminal-side device; position information of at least one satellite, the at least one satellite comprising the M satellites; or at least one gain threshold value corresponding to at least one satellite, the at least one satellite comprising the M satellites.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: the first satellite set comprises a second satellite, wherein, in a first attitude of the terminal-side device, the second satellite is located in a direction corresponding to a first elevation angle and / or a first azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device, and an antenna gain corresponding to the first elevation angle and / or the first azimuth angle of the antenna of the terminal-side device is greater than or equal to a gain threshold value corresponding to the second satellite.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving a gain threshold value corresponding to a third satellite, the gain threshold value corresponding to the third satellite belonging to the at least one gain threshold value, the third satellite belonging to the first satellite set; and / or receiving a signal quality threshold value, determining a gain threshold value corresponding to a fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value, the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite belonging to the at least one gain threshold value, the fourth satellite belonging to the first satellite set.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, Determining a gain threshold value corresponding to a fourth satellite according to a signal quality threshold value comprises: determining the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite according to the signal quality threshold value and an EIRP density corresponding to the fourth satellite.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, Determining a gain threshold value corresponding to a fourth satellite according to a signal quality threshold value comprises: determining a plurality of gain threshold values of the fourth satellite within a first time period according to the signal quality threshold value; determining a minimum value of the plurality of gain threshold values as the gain threshold value corresponding to the fourth satellite.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The first information used to indicate the first satellite set comprises: the first information being used to indicate an association relationship between K satellite sets and K indexes, wherein each satellite set in the K satellite sets corresponds to an attitude of the terminal-side device, the first satellite set being included in the K satellite sets, K being a positive integer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: the second information comprises an index corresponding to the second satellite set; or, The second information includes information of the N satellites.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, Before sending the first information to the network side device, the method further includes: determining to update the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device based on that the signal quality of the serving satellite and / or the fifth satellite of the terminal side device is less than or equal to a first threshold value; and / or, determining to update the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite; The fifth satellite is the original cooperative satellite of the terminal side device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, Determining to update the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite includes: determining one or more of that the elevation angle of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a second threshold value, the distance between the fifth satellite and the terminal side device is greater than or equal to a third threshold value, or the remaining service time of the fifth satellite is less than or equal to a fourth threshold value based on the ephemeris information of the fifth satellite; updating the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device according to the one or more.

11. A communication method, comprising: The method is applied to a network side device, and the method includes: receiving first information, the first information being used to indicate a first satellite set, the first satellite set including information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperative satellites determined by a terminal side device, M being a positive integer; sending second information, the second information being used to indicate a second satellite set, the second satellite set including information of N satellites, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set; receiving measurement results of the N satellites; sending third information to the terminal side device, the third information being used to indicate that the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device is a first satellite, the first satellite belonging to the N satellites.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further includes: sending information of the first satellite set to a central processing node; receiving information of the second satellite set from the central processing node.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further includes: sending request information to each of the M satellites, the request information being used to request the each satellite as the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device; receiving response information from the each satellite, the response information being used to indicate whether the each satellite allows to be the cooperative satellite of the terminal side device; determining the second satellite set according to the response information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: sending a gain threshold value corresponding to the serving satellite of the terminal side device to the terminal side device; or, sending a signal quality threshold value to the terminal side device, the signal quality threshold value being used to determine a gain threshold value corresponding to at least one satellite, the at least one satellite including the M satellites.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that, The first information used to indicate the first satellite set includes: The first information is used to indicate an association relationship between K satellite sets and K indexes, each of the K satellite sets corresponding to one attitude of the terminal side device, the first satellite set being included in the K satellite sets, K being a positive integer.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The second information used to indicate the second satellite set includes: The second information includes an index corresponding to the second satellite set; or, The second information includes information of the N satellites.

17. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a central processing node, and the method includes: receiving information of a first satellite set, the first satellite set comprising information of M satellites, the M satellites being candidate cooperating satellites determined by a terminal-side device, M being a positive integer; sending information of a second satellite set to a network-side device, the second satellite set being determined according to the first satellite set, the second satellite set comprising information of N satellites, N being a positive integer.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, the second satellite set is determined according to one or more of the following information: load information of the M satellites; resource usage information of the M satellites; or interference information of the M satellites.

19. A method of communication, comprising: the method is applied to a terminal-side device, and the method comprises: receiving first information, the first information being used for indicating a first satellite set, the first satellite set comprising information of M satellites, M being a positive integer; determining N satellites among the M satellites as available satellites, N being an integer less than or equal to M and greater than 0; sending measurement results of the N satellites to a network-side device; receiving second information, the second information being used for indicating a first satellite among the N satellites, the first satellite being a cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, determining N satellites among the M satellites as available satellites comprises: determining the N satellites among the M satellites as available satellites according to one or more of the following information: attitude information of the terminal-side device; antenna gain corresponding to an elevation angle and / or an azimuth angle of an antenna of the terminal-side device; position information of the terminal-side device; position information of the M satellites; or M gain thresholds.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein, sending measurement results of the N satellites to a network-side device comprises: sending M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites to the network-side device, N measurement results among the M measurement results being measurement results of the N satellites, and M-N measurement results among the M measurement results being virtual values; or sending M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites to the network-side device, M-N measurement results among the M measurement results corresponding to first indication information, and N measurement results among the M measurement results corresponding to second indication information or not corresponding to the first indication information, the first indication information being used for indicating that a corresponding measurement result is unavailable, and the second indication information being used for indicating that a corresponding measurement result is available.

22. A method of communication, comprising: the method is applied to a network-side device, and the method comprises: sending first information, the first information being used for indicating a first satellite set, the first satellite set comprising information of M satellites, M being a positive integer; receiving measurement results of N satellites among the M satellites; sending second information, the second information being used for indicating a first satellite among the N satellites, the first satellite being a cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, the method further comprises: sending information of a second satellite set to a central processing node; receiving information of the first satellite set from the central processing node.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein, the method further comprises: sending request information to each satellite among at least one satellite, the request information being used for requesting the each satellite to be a cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device; receiving response information from the each satellite, the response information being used for indicating whether the each satellite allows to be the cooperating satellite of the terminal-side device; determining the first satellite set according to the response information, wherein the M satellites belong to the at least one satellite.

25. The method of any one of claims 22-24, wherein, receiving measurement results of N satellites of the M satellites, including: receiving M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites, wherein N measurement results are measurement results of the N satellites, and M-N measurement results are virtual values; or receiving M measurement results corresponding to the M satellites, wherein M-N measurement results correspond to first indication information, and N measurement results correspond to second indication information or do not correspond to the first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is unavailable, and the second indication information being used to indicate that the corresponding measurement result is available.

26. A communications device, characterized by The communication device includes a module for performing the method of any one of claims 1-10, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 11-16, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 17-18, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 19-21, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 22-25.

27. A communications device, characterized by The communication device includes a processor for performing the method of any one of claims 1-10, or performing the method of any one of claims 11-16, or performing the method of any one of claims 17-18, or performing the method of any one of claims 19-21, or performing the method of any one of claims 22-25.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium is used to store a computer program, when the computer program runs on a computer, so that the method of any one of claims 1-10 is executed, or the method of any one of claims 11-16 is executed, or the method of any one of claims 17-18 is executed, or the method of any one of claims 19-21 is executed, or the method of any one of claims 22-25 is executed.

29. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product includes a computer program, when the computer program runs on a computer, so that the computer executes the method of any one of claims 1-10, or the computer executes the method of any one of claims 11-16, or the computer executes the method of any one of claims 17-18, or the computer executes the method of any one of claims 19-21, or the computer executes the method of any one of claims 22-25.

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