A communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a communication method and device, the method comprises the following steps: receiving first information from a network device, the first information is used for determining the time length of a delay window, the time length of the delay window is used for indicating the maximum tolerance time from the start of a trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event, the trigger event is that the quality of a first beam is measured M times in a measurement window of the first beam in a beam set, and the quality of the first beam is greater than the quality of a currently used beam by a first threshold, the beam set comprises N reporting beams, M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1; based on the time length of the delay window, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission occasion is selected to send second information to the network device, and the second information is used for requesting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource. By adopting the embodiment of the application, the signaling overhead can be reduced, and the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] In the beam management process, the network (NW) can configure or activate frequent periodic or semi-persistent beam reporting (e.g., N optimal beams and their corresponding physical layer reference signal receiving power (L1-RSRP)), or trigger frequent aperiodic beam reporting to promptly obtain the optimal or preferred beam for data or control transmission. However, this results in significant uplink and signaling overhead. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that reduces signaling overhead and improves the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal device or a communication module in a terminal device, or a circuit or chip in a terminal device responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core or a system-in-package (SIP) chip). Taking the application of this method to a terminal device as an example, the method includes:

[0005] The system receives first information from a network device. This first information is used to determine the duration of a delay window. The duration of the delay window indicates the maximum tolerance time from the start of a trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is defined as the measurement of the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam being greater than a first threshold M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and N is an integer greater than 1. Based on the duration of the delay window, the system selects a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission timing to send second information to the network device. This second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0006] By configuring the duration of the delay window, when the terminal device measures the quality of the first beam M times within the measurement window of the first beam, and the difference between the quality of the currently used beam and the quality of the first beam is greater than a first threshold, the delay window of the first beam is opened. Within the duration of the delay window of the first beam, the second information is sent at a PUCCH transmission time, and the request for PUSCH resources to report the beam measurement report is delayed. For example, the second information can be sent at the last PUCCH transmission time or after the second beam has reached its full instance count. This allows the beam measurement reports of multiple beams to be reported with a single request for PUCCH resources, thereby reducing signaling overhead, improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting, and avoiding indefinite delays or even the expiration of beam measurement reports.

[0007] In one possible design, the first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

[0008] In one possible design, the first information also includes the duration of the delay window. The duration of the delay window is obtained directly from the first information.

[0009] In one possible design, the duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period. The duration of the delay window is determined by other parameters in the first information (e.g., the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period).

[0010] In one possible design, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1. That is, the larger M and the larger the first threshold, the shorter the duration of the delay window; the smaller M and the smaller the first threshold, the longer the duration of the delay window.

[0011] In one possible design, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1. That is, the larger the PUCCH period, the larger the delay window duration; the smaller the PUCCH period, the smaller the delay window duration.

[0012] In one possible design, a reference signal is received from the network device; based on the reference signal, the quality of the first beam is measured; when the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold M times within the measurement window of the first beam, the start time of the delay window of the first beam is determined.

[0013] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam, and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

[0014] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0015] In one possible design, when the first condition is met, the second information is sent to the network device at the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam; or, when the first condition is met, the second information is sent to the network device at a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0016] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0017] If the first condition is met, the second information is sent at the last PUCCH transmission time or after a PUCCH transmission time. This allows multiple beam measurement reports to be submitted by requesting PUCCH resources once, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving the efficiency of beam measurement report submission. It also avoids indefinite delays or even the expiration of beam measurement reports.

[0018] In one possible design, a first indication information is received from the network device, the first indication information indicating a PUSCH resource; a beam measurement report is sent to the network device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource, and the beam measurement report includes beam measurement reports for the first beam and beam measurement reports for the second beam. If a first condition is met, after delaying the PUCCH transmission timing to request PUSCH resources, beam measurement reports for multiple beams are carried on a single PUSCH resource, reducing signaling overhead and improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting.

[0019] In one possible design, a disable timer is started, and during the duration of the disable timer, the reporting of beam measurement reports for the first beam and the second beam is stopped. After reporting beam measurement reports for the first and second beams via the same PUSCH resource, provided a first condition is met, the reporting of beam measurement reports for the first and second beams is stopped by starting a disable timer for the first beam and simultaneously disabling PUCCH transmission after the trigger events of the first and second beams begin, thereby reducing the number of disable timers used.

[0020] In one possible design, when the first condition is not met, the second information is sent to the network device at the most recent PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam; wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the measured quality of the second beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold X times, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured quality of the second beam is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0021] If the first condition is not met, the second information is sent at the most recent PUCCH transmission time to achieve timely reporting of beam measurement reports and improve beam update efficiency.

[0022] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be applied to the network side, such as a network device or a communication module within a network device, or a circuit or chip in the network device responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip). Taking the application of this method to a network device as an example, the method includes:

[0023] Send first information to the terminal device, the first information being used to determine the duration of a delay window, the duration of which indicates the maximum tolerance time from the start of a trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event, the trigger event being measured as M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set, the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam being greater than a first threshold, the beam set including N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1; receive second information sent by the terminal device during the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission timing, wherein the PUCCH transmission timing is selected based on the duration of the delay window, and the second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0024] By configuring the duration of the delay window, when the terminal device measures the quality of the first beam M times within the measurement window of the first beam, and the difference between the quality of the currently used beam and the quality of the first beam is greater than a first threshold, the delay window of the first beam is opened. Within the duration of the delay window of the first beam, the second information is sent at a PUCCH transmission time, and the request for PUSCH resources to report the beam measurement report is delayed. For example, the second information can be sent at the last PUCCH transmission time or after the second beam has reached its full instance count. This allows the beam measurement reports of multiple beams to be reported with a single request for PUCCH resources, thereby reducing signaling overhead, improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting, and avoiding indefinite delays or even the expiration of beam measurement reports.

[0025] In one possible design, the first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

[0026] In one possible design, the first information also includes the duration of the delay window. This allows the terminal device to directly obtain the duration of the delay window from the first information.

[0027] In one possible design, the duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period. This allows the terminal device to determine the duration of the delay window using other parameters in the first information (e.g., the first threshold, M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period).

[0028] In one possible design, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1. That is, the larger M and the larger the first threshold, the shorter the duration of the delay window; the smaller M and the smaller the first threshold, the longer the duration of the delay window.

[0029] In one possible design, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1. That is, the larger the PUCCH period, the larger the delay window duration; the smaller the PUCCH period, the smaller the delay window duration.

[0030] In one possible design, a reference signal is sent to the terminal device for measuring the quality of the first beam; wherein the start time of the delay window of the first beam is the time when the quality of the first beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold.

[0031] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam, and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

[0032] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0033] In one possible design, if the first condition is met, the second information transmitted by the terminal device during the last PUCCH transmission within the delay window of the first beam is received; or

[0034] If the first condition is met, the second information sent by the terminal device within the delay window of the first beam, delayed by one PUCCH transmission time, is received.

[0035] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0036] Under the condition of meeting the first condition, the terminal device selects the last PUCCH transmission time or delays the PUCCH transmission time to send the second information, so as to report the beam measurement reports of multiple beams by requesting PUCCH resources once, thereby reducing signaling overhead, improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting, and avoiding indefinite delay or even expiration of beam measurement reports.

[0037] In one possible design, a first indication message is sent to the terminal device, the first indication message indicating a PUSCH resource; a beam measurement report is received from the terminal device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource, and the beam measurement report includes beam measurement reports for the first beam and beam measurement reports for the second beam. If a first condition is met, after delaying the PUCCH transmission timing to request the PUSCH resource, beam measurement reports for multiple beams are carried on a single PUSCH resource, reducing signaling overhead and improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting.

[0038] In one possible design, if the first condition is not met, the second information sent by the terminal device at the most recent PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam is received;

[0039] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0040] If the first condition is not met, the terminal device selects the most recent PUCCH transmission time to send the second information, so as to realize timely reporting of beam measurement reports and improve beam update efficiency.

[0041] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device that performs the functions described in the first aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the operations involved in the first aspect. These modules, units, or means can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The communication device may be, for example, a terminal device or a communication module within a terminal device, or a circuit or chip (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip) within a terminal device responsible for communication functions. The device includes:

[0042] A receiving module is configured to receive first information from a network device. The first information is used to determine the duration of a delay window. The duration of the delay window is used to indicate the maximum tolerance time from the start of a trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is defined as the measurement of the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam being greater than a first threshold within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set M times. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0043] The sending module is used to select the timing of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission based on the duration of the delay window and send second information to the network device. The second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0044] In one possible design, the first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

[0045] In one possible design, the first information may also include the duration of the delay window.

[0046] In one possible design, the processing module is configured to determine the duration of the delay window based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number N of the reporting beams, and the PUCCH period.

[0047] In one possible design, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1.

[0048] In one possible design, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1.

[0049] In one possible design, a receiving module is used to receive reference signals from the network device;

[0050] The processing module is used to measure the quality of the first beam based on the reference signal; when the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold when measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam, the starting time of the delay window of the first beam is determined.

[0051] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam, and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

[0052] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0053] In one possible design, the transmitting module is configured to send the second information to the network device at the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam when a first condition is met; or, when the first condition is met, send the second information to the network device after delaying by one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0054] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0055] In one possible design, a receiving module is configured to receive first indication information from the network device, the first indication information being used to indicate PUSCH resources;

[0056] A sending module is used to send a beam measurement report to the network device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource, and the beam measurement report includes a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam.

[0057] In one possible design, a processing module is configured to initiate a disable timer, during the duration of which the reporting of beam measurement reports for the first beam and the second beam is stopped.

[0058] In one possible design, the transmitting module is configured to send the second information to the network device at the most recent PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam when the first condition is not met.

[0059] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0060] The operation and beneficial effects of this communication device can be found in the method and beneficial effects described in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0061] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device that performs the functions described in the second aspect above. For example, the communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the operations involved in the second aspect. These modules, units, or means can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of both. The communication device may be, for example, a network device or a communication module within a network device, or a circuit or chip (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip containing a modem core, or a system-in-package (SIP) chip) within a network device responsible for communication functions. The device includes:

[0062] A sending module is used to send first information to a terminal device. The first information is used to determine the duration of a delay window. The duration of the delay window is used to indicate the maximum tolerance time from the start of a trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is when the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set, which is greater than a first threshold. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0063] The receiving module is configured to receive second information sent by the terminal device during the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission timing, wherein the PUCCH transmission timing is selected based on the duration of the delay window, and the second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0064] In one possible design, the first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

[0065] In one possible design, the first information may also include the duration of the delay window.

[0066] In one possible design, the duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period.

[0067] In one possible design, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1.

[0068] In one possible design, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1.

[0069] In one possible design, a transmitting module is configured to transmit a reference signal to the terminal device, the reference signal being used to measure the quality of the first beam;

[0070] Wherein, the start time of the delay window of the first beam is the time when the mass of the first beam measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold.

[0071] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam, and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

[0072] In one possible design, the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0073] In one possible design, the receiving module is configured to receive the second information transmitted by the terminal device during the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, provided that a first condition is met; or, provided that the first condition is met, receive the second information transmitted by the terminal device after a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0074] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0075] In one possible design, the sending module is used to send first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate PUSCH resources;

[0076] A receiving module is configured to receive a beam measurement report from the terminal device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource and includes a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam.

[0077] In one possible design, the receiving module is configured to receive the second information transmitted by the terminal device at the most recent PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam, if the first condition is not met.

[0078] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0079] The operation and beneficial effects of this communication device can be found in the method and beneficial effects described in the second aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0080] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes one or more processors. Optionally, it also includes a memory for storing part or all of the computer programs or instructions necessary for implementing the functions involved in the first aspect above. The one or more processors can execute the computer programs or instructions, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect above.

[0081] In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, through which the processor communicates with other devices or components.

[0082] In one possible design, the communication device may also include the memory.

[0083] The aforementioned communication device may be a terminal device, a communication module in a terminal device, or a chip in a terminal device that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip that contains a modem module.

[0084] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes one or more processors. Optionally, it also includes a memory for storing part or all of the computer programs or instructions necessary for implementing the functions involved in the second aspect above. The one or more processors can execute the computer programs or instructions, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above.

[0085] In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, through which the processor communicates with other devices or components.

[0086] In one possible design, the communication device may also include the memory.

[0087] The aforementioned communication device may be a network device, a communication module in a network device, or a chip in a network device that is responsible for communication functions, such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip that contains a modem module.

[0088] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when executed, causes the method described in any one of the first to second aspects to be implemented.

[0089] Eighthly, this application provides a computer program product including a computer program that, when executed, causes the method described in any one of the first to second aspects to be implemented.

[0090] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system including a terminal device and a network device. The terminal device is used to perform the steps in the first aspect described above, and the network device is used to perform the steps in the second aspect described above.

[0091] In a tenth aspect, a chip or chip system is provided, the chip or chip system including at least one processor and a communication interface for communicating with external or internal devices, the processor for implementing the methods of the above aspects.

[0092] In one possible design, the chip may further include a memory storing computer programs or instructions, which the processor executes, either from the stored computer programs or instructions or derived from other programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor implements the methods described above.

[0093] In one possible design, the chip can be integrated into a terminal device or a network device. Attached Figure Description

[0094] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system;

[0095] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture;

[0096] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the application framework of the RAN intelligent controller (RIC) module under the O-RAN architecture;

[0097] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the triggering and reporting signaling for a single beam.

[0098] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the triggering and reporting signaling for multiple beams;

[0099] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0100] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0101] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0102] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0103] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0104] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0105] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0106] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this application without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0107] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" as described in this application mean that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," "in still other embodiments," etc., appearing in different parts of this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more, but not all, embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0108] In this application, "for indicating" can include both direct and indirect indication. When describing an indication message as indicating A, it can include whether the indication message directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but does not necessarily mean that the indication message carries A.

[0109] In this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more (including two). Furthermore, in the embodiments of this application, "first," "second," and various numerical designations (e.g., "#1," "#2," etc.) are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The sequence numbers of the processes below do not imply an order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application. It should be understood that the objects described in this way can be interchanged where appropriate to describe solutions other than those in the embodiments of this application. Moreover, in the embodiments of this application, terms such as "S410" are merely identifiers for descriptive convenience and do not limit the order of execution steps.

[0110] In this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0111] In the implementation of this application, "protocol" may refer to standard protocols in the field of communications, such as the NR protocol and related protocols applied in future communication systems, and this application does not limit it.

[0112] In the embodiments of this application, "under the circumstances" can also be replaced with "when..." or "if...". It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, the meanings they express are the same.

[0113] In this article, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. Additionally, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0114] In this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, and "send information" can include direct transmission or indirect transmission through other units or modules. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, and "receive information" can include direct reception from YY or indirect reception from YY through other units or modules. Furthermore, "send" can also be understood as the "output" of a chip interface, and "receive" can be understood as the "input" of a chip interface. In other words, "send" or "receive" can occur between devices, such as network devices and terminal devices transmitting or receiving data via an air interface, or they can occur within a device, such as transmitting or receiving data between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within a device via a bus, wiring, or interface.

[0115] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, and LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as 6th generation mobile communication systems. Furthermore, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems.

[0116] like Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system. The communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as... Figure 1 The network device 110 shown; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as Figure 1The terminal devices 120 and 130 are shown. Network device 110 can communicate with the terminal devices (such as terminal devices 120 and 130) via a wireless link. Communication devices in this communication system, for example, network device 110 and terminal device 120, can communicate via multi-antenna technology.

[0117] It should be understood that Figure 1 This is a simplified illustration for ease of understanding only. The communication system may also include other network devices or other terminal devices. Figure 1 It is not shown in the drawing. It should also be understood that... Figure 1 The communication system 100 shown is only an example of an application scenario of this application embodiment. This application can also be applied to communication between any two devices, for example, communication between terminal devices, or communication between network devices.

[0118] It should be noted that, Figure 1 This is a simplified illustration for ease of understanding only. For example, the communication system may also include other devices, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices. Figure 1 The figures are not shown. In practical applications, this communication system may include multiple network devices or multiple terminal devices. This application does not limit the number of network devices and terminal devices included in the communication system.

[0119] In this application embodiment, the network device is an access device that allows a terminal device to wirelessly access a mobile communication system, such as an access network (AN) device, like a base station. The network device can also refer to a device that communicates with the terminal device over the air interface. The network device can include an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A); it can also include a next-generation nodeB (gNB) in a 5G NR system; or it can include an access node in a Wi-Fi system; or it can be a relay station, vehicle-mounted equipment, or equipment in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs), D2D networks, machine-to-machine (M2M) networks, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, or network equipment in PLMN networks. This application embodiment does not limit the specific technology or device form used in the network device.

[0120] Network devices can also be servers, etc. For example, in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology, the network device can be a roadside unit (RSU). The following explanation uses a base station as an example. A base station can communicate with a terminal device, or it can communicate with a terminal device through a relay station. A terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations using different access technologies.

[0121] In this embodiment, the terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, capable of sending signals to or receiving signals from network devices. The terminal device may include user equipment (UE), sometimes also referred to as a terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication device, or user device, etc. The terminal device is used to connect people, things, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, including but not limited to the following: cellular communication, D2D, V2X, 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 wearables, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, and other scenarios. For example, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, VR terminal, AR terminal, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in autonomous driving, smart speaker in IoT network, wireless terminal device in telemedicine, wireless terminal device in smart grid, wireless terminal device in transportation safety, wireless terminal device in smart city, or wireless terminal device in smart home, etc. As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of this application, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices or smart wearable devices, etc., and are a general term for devices that apply wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. The various terminal devices described above, if located in a vehicle (e.g., placed inside or installed inside a vehicle), can all be considered as in-vehicle terminal devices, which are also called on-board units (OBUs). The terminal device of this application may also be an on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit that is built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the method of this application through the built-in on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit.

[0122] In this application embodiment, the communication device used to implement the network device function can be a network device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing that function, such as a chip system. This device can be installed within the network device. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the example of a network device being used to implement the network device function is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0123] Network devices and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and satellites. This application does not limit the scenario in which the network devices and terminal devices are located. Furthermore, terminal devices and network devices can be hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or software functions running on general-purpose hardware, such as virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform), or entities that include dedicated or general-purpose hardware devices and software functions. This application does not limit the specific form of the terminal devices and network devices.

[0124] like Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture. An O-RAN system may include... Figure 2 Other components besides those shown. Access network equipment (RAN, such as eNB, gNB, or next-generation access network equipment) communicates with core network (CN) equipment via backhaul links and with user equipment (UE) via air interfaces.

[0125] Specifically, the baseband unit (BBU) in the access network equipment communicates with the core network equipment via a backhaul link, while the radio unit (RU) in the access network equipment communicates with at least one UE via an air interface. The BBU communicates with at least one RU via a fronthaul link; the BBU and RU may or may not be co-located. The BBU includes at least one control unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU), which can communicate via at least one midhaul link.

[0126] In some examples, the CU is a logical node carrying the radio resource control (RRC) layer, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and other control functions of the access network equipment. The CU connects to network nodes such as the core network through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as E2 interfaces. Optionally, the CU may have some core network functions. The CU (e.g., the PDCP layer and higher layers) connects to the DU (e.g., the radio link control (RLC) layer and lower layers) through interfaces, which can be interfaces such as the F1 interface. In some examples, these interfaces (e.g., the F1 interface) can provide control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane) functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message transmission, etc.). F1AP is the application protocol of the F1 interface, defining the F1 signaling procedures in some examples. The F1 interface supports control plane F1-C and user plane F1-U.

[0127] In some examples, the CU can be split into a control unit-control plane (CU-CP) and a control unit-user plane (CU-UP). The CU-CP is a logical node carrying the RRC layer and the control plane part of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP-C) layer, used to implement the CU's control plane functions. The CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement control plane functions. These network elements in the core network can be access and mobility function (AMF) network elements, such as the access and mobility management function (AMF) in a 5G system. The AMF network element is responsible for mobility management in the mobile network, such as terminal device location updates, terminal device registration with the network, and terminal device handover. The CU-UP is a logical node carrying the SDAP layer and the user plane part of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP-U) layer, used to implement the CU's user plane functions. The CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network used to implement user plane functions. In the core network, network elements used to implement user plane functions, such as the user plane function (UPF) in a 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in terminal devices. The above configuration of CU and DU is merely an example; the functions of CU and DU can be configured as needed. For example, CU or DU can be configured to have more protocol layer functions, or to have only some protocol layer processing functions. For instance, some RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions above the RLC layer can be placed in the CU, while the remaining RLC layer functions and protocol layer functions below the RLC layer can be placed in the DU. Furthermore, the functions of CU or DU can be divided according to service type or other system requirements, such as by latency, placing functions that need to meet low latency requirements in the DU and functions that do not need to meet such latency requirements in the CU.

[0128] In some examples, a DU is a logical node carrying the radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, higher physical layer (Higher PHY) layer, and other functions. In some examples, a DU can control at least one RU. The DU connects to the RU through interfaces, which can be fronthaul interfaces. In some examples, the Higher PHY layer includes the PHY layer processing, such as forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0129] In some examples, the RU is a logical node that carries both lower physical layer (PHY) and radio frequency (RF) processing. In some examples, the RU can be a 3GPPTRP, a remote radio head (RRH), or other similar entity. In some examples, the Low-PHY includes portions of the PHY processing, such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), digital beamforming, and filtering. The RU communicates with one or more UEs via a radio link.

[0130] The DU and RU can be co-located or not. The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information via a lower-layer split-control, user, and synchronization (LLS-CUS) interface through a fronthaul link. LLS-CUS may include LLS-C and LLS-U interfaces that provide the control plane (C-Plane) and user plane (U-Plane), respectively. In some examples, the control plane (C-Plane) refers to real-time control between the DU and RU. The DU and RU exchange management information via an LLS-M interface on the fronthaul link; the management plane (M-Plane) refers to non-real-time management operations between the DU and RU.

[0131] DUs and RUs can work together to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of DUs and RUs can be configured in various ways depending on the design. For example, a DU can be configured to implement baseband functions, and an RU can be configured to implement mid-RF functions. Another example is that a DU can be configured to implement higher-level functions in the PHY layer, and an RU can be configured to implement lower-level functions in the PHY layer, or both lower-level and RF functions. Higher-level functions in the physical layer can include a portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the MAC layer, while lower-level functions in the physical layer can include another portion of the physical layer's functions that are closer to the mid-RF side.

[0132] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples.

[0133] like Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an application framework for a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) module under an O-RAN architecture. The communication system includes RICs. These RICs include near-real-time RICs (near-RT RICs) and non-real-time RICs (non-RT RICs).

[0134] The near real-time RIC is used for model training and inference. For example, it can be used to train an artificial intelligence (AI) model and then use that AI model for inference. The near real-time RIC can obtain network-side and / or terminal-side information from RAN nodes (e.g., CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and / or RU) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or inference data. Optionally, the near real-time RIC can deliver inference results to RAN nodes and / or terminals. Optionally, inference results can be exchanged between CU and DU, and / or between DU and RU. For example, the near real-time RIC delivers the inference result to the DU, and the DU sends it to the RU.

[0135] The non-real-time RIC is used for model training and inference. For example, it is used to train an AI model and then use that model for inference. The non-real-time RIC can obtain network-side and / or terminal-side information from RAN nodes (e.g., CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and / or RU) and / or terminals. This information can be used as training data or inference data, and the inference results can be delivered to RAN nodes and / or terminals. Optionally, inference results can be exchanged between CU and DU, and / or between DU and RU; for example, the non-real-time RIC delivers the inference results to the DU, which then forwards them to the RU.

[0136] The near real-time RIC and non-real-time RIC can also be set up as separate network elements. Optionally, the near real-time RIC and non-real-time RIC can also be part of other devices. For example, the near real-time RIC can be set in the RAN node (e.g., in CU, DU), while the non-real-time RIC can be set in the OAM, cloud server, core network device, or other network device.

[0137] (1) Beam

[0138] A beam is a communication resource. A beam can be wide, narrow, or other types. The technology used to form a beam can be beamforming or other techniques. Beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming, analog beamforming, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming. Different beams can be considered different resources. The same or different information can be transmitted through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered as a single beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and detection signals, etc. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the signal strength distribution in different directions of space after a signal is transmitted through an antenna, and a receive beam can refer to the signal strength distribution in different directions of space of the wireless signal received from the antenna. It is understandable that one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be considered as a set of antenna ports. In protocols, beams can also be represented by spatial filters.

[0139] (2) Reference signal

[0140] According to the LTE / NR protocol, at the physical layer, uplink communication includes the transmission of uplink physical channels and uplink signals. Uplink physical channels include the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), etc. Uplink signals include the Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), the PUCCH Demodulation Reference Signal (PUCCH-DMRS), the PUSCH-DMRS, the Phase Noise Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), the Uplink Positioning Reference Signal (UPRS), etc. Downlink communication includes the transmission of downlink physical channels and downlink signals. Downlink physical channels include the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. Downlink signals include the primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondary synchronization signal (SSS), physical downlink control channel demodulation reference signal PDCCH-DMRS, physical downlink shared channel demodulation reference signal PDSCH-DMRS, PTRS, channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), cell reference signal (CRS), time / frequency tracking reference signal (TRS), LTE or NR positioning signal (positioning RS), etc.

[0141] In traditional beam management procedures, the NW (Network Controller) can configure / activate frequent periodic or semi-persistent beam reports (e.g., N best beams and their corresponding L1-RSRPs), or trigger frequent aperiodic beam reports to promptly obtain the best or preferred beam for data / control transmission. However, this results in significant uplink reporting and control signaling overhead. Since the user equipment (UE) is more aware of beam quality changes, the NW may not be able to determine when to trigger aperiodic beam reports. By leveraging UE-initiated / event-driven (UEI / ED) beam reporting, the NW can update the link / beam quality for communication with the UE in a timely manner without consuming excessive resources and power. Therefore, the UEI / ED beam reporting method is proposed. The UE-initiated beam reporting process can provide beam reports more promptly while reducing reporting overhead. Therefore, how to reasonably define events and efficiently send beam reports is crucial in UEI / ED beam management.

[0142] In the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), RAN1 has clarified that in UEI / ED beam management, Event-2 supports the following: within a time window, if the number of Event-2 instances of at least one identical new beam is greater than or equal to the number of triggering instances M, a UE-initiated beam report is sent. An Event-2 instance is defined as a new beam triggering Event-2 instance if the L1-RSRP value of the new beam reaches a threshold superior to the current beam. When a new beam trigger event occurs, the UE sends a UE-initiated report indicator (UEIRI) through the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to request physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources from the NW (mode-A), or notifies the NW that a beam report is about to be sent (mode-B), and carries the beam report in subsequent PUSCH messages.

[0143] However, the timing of UEIRI transmission after a trigger event is uncertain, and the PUCCH period is not only determined by UE-initiated beam management (UEIBM) but also by other scheduling requirements. Furthermore, parameters such as the number of reporting beams (N) and the number of trigger instances (M) configured by the NW can indirectly indicate the NW's requirement for UE to send reports. For example, when N and M are large, the NW tends to report after the UE has performed sufficient measurements. Although the current protocol explicitly starts a timer to disable beam reports after they are sent to avoid frequent triggering, the timer disables only the beam that triggered the event and cannot restrict the reporting behavior of other beams that triggered the event. This can lead to the UE frequently reporting beam reports triggered by different beams when the PUCCH period is too short. Since the number of reports (N) and the quality of the triggering beam are both relatively good, the content of the reports is similar, resulting in frequent beam reporting and low efficiency and high resource consumption.

[0144] like Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the triggering and reporting signaling for a single beam. On the UE side, there are multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities. The main steps include: the base station configures UEIBM parameters for the UE, where the UEIBM parameters may include at least one of the following: the number of reported beams N, the instance count M, or the duration of the measurement window. Optionally, the base station may send the beam measurement set and PUCCH period to the UE. Next, the base station sends a reference signal to the UE, such as SSB or CSI-RS. When the UE measures that the quality of beam B1 minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold, beam B1 triggers an Event-2 instance at the first moment, opening the measurement window for beam B1. Within the measurement window of beam B1, the reference signal continues to be measured. When the measured quality of beam B1 minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold, it is determined that beam B1 has reached its full count. During PUCCH transmission, the UE sends a UEIRI request for PUSCH resources (mode-A) or notifies the base station that it will soon occupy PUSCH resources (mode-B). The base station then sends a DCI or notification information to the UE. The DCI is used to allocate PUSCH resources, and the indication information indicates the UE's PUSCH resource carrying within X symbols after the PUCCH transmission. Next, the UE sends a beam measurement report to the base station, which is carried on the PUSCH resources. Finally, the UE starts a timer to disable beam B1, prohibiting the transmission of PUCCH trigger events for beam B1 during the timer's duration.

[0145] like Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5This is a flowchart illustrating the triggering and reporting signaling for multiple beams. On the UE side, there are multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities. The main steps include: The base station configures UEIBM parameters for the UE, where the UEIBM parameters may include at least one of the following: the number of reported beams N, the instance count M, or the duration of the measurement window. Optionally, the base station may send the beam measurement set and PUCCH period to the UE. Next, the base station sends a reference signal to the UE, such as SSB or CSI-RS. When the UE measures that the quality of beam B1 minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold, beam B1 triggers an Event-2 instance at the first moment, opening the measurement window for beam B1. When the UE measures that the quality of beam B2 minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, beam B2 triggers an Event-2 instance at the first moment, opening the measurement window for beam B2.

[0146] Within the measurement window of beam B1, the reference signal continues to be measured. When the measured quality of beam B1 minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that beam B1 has reached the full instance count. During the PUCCH transmission, the UE sends a UEIRI request for PUSCH resources (mode-A) or notifies the base station that it will soon occupy PUSCH resources (mode-B). After that, the base station sends a first DCI or a first indication information to the UE. The first DCI is used to allocate PUSCH resource 1, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the UE will carry PUSCH resource 1 within X symbols after the PUCCH transmission.

[0147] Within the measurement window of beam B2, the reference signal continues to be measured. When the measured quality of beam B2 minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that beam B2 has reached its full count. During PUCCH transmission, the UE sends a UEIRI requesting PUSCH resources (mode-A) or notifying the base station that it will soon occupy PUSCH resources (mode-B). Afterwards, the base station sends a second DCI or second indication information to the UE. The second DCI is used to allocate PUSCH resource 2, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the UE will carry PUSCH resource 2 within X symbols after the PUCCH transmission.

[0148] Then, the UE sends a measurement report for beam B1 to the base station. This beam B1 measurement report is carried on PUSCH resource 1. The UE starts a timer to disable beam B1, and during the timer's duration, it disables the transmission of PUCCH trigger events for beam B1. The UE then sends a measurement report for beam B2 to the base station. This beam B2 measurement report is carried on PUSCH resource 2. The UE starts a timer to disable beam B2, and during the timer's duration, it disables the transmission of PUCCH trigger events for beam B2.

[0149] As can be seen from the above process, when there are many PUCCH transmission opportunities, the UE selects the nearest PUCCH transmission opportunity to report UEIRI or notify the base station that it will occupy PUSCH resources, which results in frequent sending of similar beam reports, leading to low efficiency in beam measurement report reporting and high signaling overhead.

[0150] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the embodiments of this application provide the following solutions.

[0151] like Figure 6 As shown, Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method mainly includes the following steps:

[0152] S601, the terminal device receives first information from the network device, the first information being used to determine the duration of the delay window.

[0153] Specifically, network devices can send the first information to terminal devices via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0154] The first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1. The first threshold can be eventThreshold-r19. The Z beams to be measured are the beams configured by the network device for the terminal device that need to be measured. The reporting beams can be the beams among the Z beams to be measured that need to report measurement results, where Z can be greater than or equal to N, and N can be equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, ... Different measurement window durations can be configured for different beams to be measured, or the same measurement window duration can be configured. Similarly, different disable timer runtimes can be configured for different reporting beams, or the same disable timer runtime can be configured.

[0155] It should be noted that the first information can be carried in the same signaling message, allowing network devices to send the first information to terminal devices at the same time using the same signaling message. Alternatively, the first information can be carried in different signaling messages, allowing network devices to send the first information to terminal devices at different times using different signaling messages.

[0156] The duration of the delay window indicates the maximum tolerance time from the start of a triggered event to its expiration. The triggered event is defined as the measurement within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set showing that the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold M times. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. When the number of reporting beams N equals 1 (i.e., there is only one reporting beam), no delay window needs to be set.

[0157] Specifically, the terminal device can receive a reference signal from the network device and measure the quality of the first beam based on the reference signal. When the quality of the first beam measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, the start time of the delay window of the first beam is determined. The reference signal can be an SSB or a CSI-RS signal.

[0158] The delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window and T_expired is the duration of the delay window. The delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities. The terminal device can select a PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam to initiate the process of reporting beam measurement reports.

[0159] Furthermore, when the terminal device first measures that the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold, this is recorded as an instance. At this time, the measurement window for the first beam is opened, and the reference signal is received to measure the quality of the first beam within the measurement window. When the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is measured to be greater than the first threshold M times within the measurement window, the M instance count is reached. At this time, the trigger event for the first beam begins, and the delay window for the first beam opens. The terminal device can choose the PUCCH transmission timing to initiate the beam measurement report reporting process within the duration of the delay window after the trigger event begins. If the delay window duration is exceeded, the process of initiating the beam measurement report reporting process by choosing the PUCCH transmission timing is not allowed.

[0160] The following explains how to determine the duration of the delay window.

[0161] In one implementation, the first information further includes the duration of the delay window. That is, the duration of the delay window can be added to the first information, and the terminal device can obtain the duration of the delay window from the first information. The duration of the delay window depends on other parameters of the first information (e.g., M and a first threshold). Generally, network devices tend to configure the delay window duration to be shorter than the measurement window duration. If the network device configures a larger M and a larger first threshold, it is considered that the triggering event is infrequent, and a smaller delay window duration can be configured. Conversely, if the network device configures a smaller M and a larger first threshold, it is considered that the triggering event is frequent, and a larger delay window duration can be configured.

[0162] Optionally, different delay window durations can be configured for different reporting beams; or, the same delay window duration can be configured for different reporting beams.

[0163] In another implementation, the duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period.

[0164] It should be noted that when the number of reporting beams N equals 1, i.e., there is only one reporting beam, no delay window needs to be set. The terminal device can initiate the beam measurement report reporting process by selecting the most recent PUCCH transmission time after the trigger event begins. When the number of reporting beams N is greater than 1, the terminal device can select the PUCCH transmission time based on the delay window to initiate the beam measurement report reporting process.

[0165] For example, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1. That is, the larger M is and the larger the first threshold is, the shorter the duration of the delay window; the smaller M is and the smaller the first threshold is, the longer the duration of the delay window.

[0166] For example, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1. That is, the larger the PUCCH period, the larger the delay window duration, and the smaller the PUCCH period, the smaller the delay window duration.

[0167] For example, as shown in Table 1, which lists the agreed-upon parameters between the terminal device and the network device, different values ​​for M, the first threshold, N, and the PUCCH period correspond to different values ​​for T_expired. The terminal device can obtain the M, first threshold, N, and PUCCH period from the first information and look up the corresponding T_expired value in the table. When M=1,2,3,4, the first threshold is 0-7 (dB), N=1, and the PUCCH period is 80ms, T_expired=0ms. When M=5,6,7,8, the first threshold is 8-15 (dB), N=2, and the PUCCH period is 10ms, T_expired=60ms. Other values ​​are similar and will not be described in detail here.

[0168] Table 1

[0169]

[0170] S602, the terminal device selects the PUCCH transmission timing based on the duration of the delay window and sends the second information to the network device. The second information is used to request PUSCH resources.

[0171] Specifically, when the first condition is met, the terminal device sends the second information to the network device at the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, and the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal device at the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam. Alternatively, when the first condition is met, the terminal device sends the second information to the network device at a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, and the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal device at a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0172] Optionally, when the first condition is not met, the terminal device selects the most recent PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam to send the second information to the network device, and the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal device within the most recent PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0173] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the measured mass of the second beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold, i.e., X is close to M; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold (used to assess the urgency of switching).

[0174] For example, if after the delay window of the first beam is opened, the measured quality of the second beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold X times, X is close to M, and the quality of the second beam measured most recently is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam, the terminal device can determine whether the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam. If the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam, and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than a third threshold, the terminal device can wait for the second beam to complete the M instance count, select the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, or delay one PUCCH transmission opportunity to send the second information to the network device.

[0175] If the end time of the measurement window of the second beam exceeds the last PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam, it is also possible to wait for the second beam to complete the M instance count. If the second beam has not completed the M instance count by the last PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam, it is not necessary to wait for the second beam to complete the instance count, and the second information can be sent at the last PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam.

[0176] If, after the delay window of the first beam is opened, the measured quality of the third beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, X is close to M, and the most recently measured quality of the third beam is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam, the terminal device can determine whether the end time of the measurement window of the third beam is within the delay window of the first beam. If the end time of the measurement window of the third beam is within the delay window of the first beam, and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold, the terminal device can wait for the third beam to complete the M instance count, select the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, or delay by one PUCCH transmission opportunity to send the second information to the network device.

[0177] For example, if, after the delay window of the first beam is opened, the measured quality of the second beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold (X times), X is close to M, and the most recently measured quality of the second beam is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam, the terminal device can determine whether the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam. If the end time of the measurement window of the second beam exceeds the delay window of the first beam, then there is no need to wait for the second beam to accumulate M instances; the second information can be sent at the most recent PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam. Alternatively, if the quality of the currently used beam is lower than a third threshold, it indicates that a beam measurement report needs to be reported promptly for rapid beam switching.

[0178] The second piece of information can be UEIRI or notification information. Terminal devices can obtain PUSCH resources in the following two ways:

[0179] Mode A: The terminal device can send a UEIRI to the network device, which is used to request PUSCH resources. After receiving the UEIRI, the network device sends a first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information can be a DCI, which is used to indicate the allocated PUSCH resources. The PUSCH period can be the same as the PUCCCH period.

[0180] Mode B: The terminal device can send a notification message to the network device to inform the network device that it will soon occupy PUSCH resources. After receiving the notification message, the network device sends a first indication message to the terminal device. The first indication message is used to indicate that PUSCH resource carrying will be performed within Y symbols after sending PUSCH, where Y is an integer greater than 0.

[0181] After receiving the first indication information, the terminal device sends a beam measurement report to the network device. This beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource. Under a first condition, the beam measurement report includes a beam measurement report for the first beam and a beam measurement report for the second beam. The second beam can be the N beams with the highest quality among the Z most recently measured beams, thus enabling the reporting of beam measurement reports for multiple beams with a single PUSCH resource request. If the first condition is not met, the beam measurement report only includes a beam measurement report for the first beam.

[0182] Optionally, after sending a beam measurement report to the network device, the terminal device can start a disable timer. If the first condition is met, the first and second beams share a single disable timer. During the duration of the disable timer, both the first and second beams are prohibited from sending PUCCH messages after the trigger event begins, and the reporting of beam measurement reports for both beams is stopped, thereby reducing the number of disable timers used. If the first condition is not met, during the duration of the disable timer, sending PUCCH messages after the trigger event begins is prohibited, and the reporting of beam measurement reports for the first beam is stopped.

[0183] Optionally, if the terminal device sends the second information to the network device after delaying a PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, but the second beam has not yet reached the M instance count, in this case, the disable timer should not constrain the second beam. That is, the trigger event of the second beam can be started within the runtime of the disable timer of the first beam, and a request for PUSCH resources at the PUCCH transmission opportunity dominated by the second beam can be sent. Optionally, if there are beam measurement reports of multiple beams (including the first beam) in a beam measurement report, and multiple beams have reached the M instance count, then the disable timer of the first beam is started, prohibiting multiple beams from requesting PUSCH resources at the PUCCH transmission opportunity.

[0184] In this embodiment, by configuring the duration of the delay window, when the terminal device measures the quality of the first beam M times minus the quality of the currently used beam within the measurement window of the first beam and it is greater than a first threshold, the delay window of the first beam is opened. Within the duration of the delay window of the first beam, the second information is sent at a PUCCH transmission time, and the request for PUSCH resources to report the beam measurement report is delayed. For example, the second information can be sent at the last PUCCH transmission time or after the second beam has reached the full number of instances. This allows the beam measurement reports of multiple beams to be reported by requesting PUCCH resources once, thereby reducing signaling overhead, improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting, and avoiding indefinite delays or even the expiration of beam measurement reports.

[0185] The following describes the specific implementation process of the terminal device requesting PUSCH resources when there are multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities between the terminal device and the network device, and when the delay window of the first beam also includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0186] like Figure 7 As shown, Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method mainly includes the following steps:

[0187] S701, the network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

[0188] The first information is used to determine the duration of the delay window. The duration of the delay window indicates the maximum tolerance time from the start of the trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is defined as the measurement of the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam being greater than a first threshold M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0189] The first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1. The first threshold can be eventThreshold-r19. The Z beams to be measured are the beams configured by the network device for the terminal device that need to be measured. The reporting beams can be the beams among the Z beams to be measured that need to report measurement results, where Z can be greater than or equal to N, and N can be equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, ... Different measurement window durations can be configured for different beams to be measured, or the same measurement window duration can be configured. Similarly, different disable timer runtimes can be configured for different reporting beams, or the same disable timer runtime can be configured.

[0190] In one implementation, the first information further includes the duration of the delay window. That is, the duration of the delay window can be added to the first information, and the terminal device can obtain the duration of the delay window from the first information.

[0191] In another implementation, the duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period.

[0192] The specific implementation method of S701 is the same as that of S601. The implementation process of S701 can be referred to the implementation process of S601, and will not be repeated here.

[0193] S702, the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device.

[0194] Specifically, the network device can use Z beams to be measured to send reference signals to the terminal device at multiple different times, and the terminal device can use Z beams to be measured to receive the reference signals at multiple different times, and perform measurements on each of the Z beams to be measured.

[0195] S703: When the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, the measurement window for the first beam is opened.

[0196] When the terminal device first measures that the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, it is recorded as an instance. At this time, the measurement window of the first beam is opened, and the reference signal is received and the mass of the first beam is measured within the measurement window of the first beam.

[0197] S704: When the mass of the second beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, the measurement window for the second beam is opened.

[0198] When the terminal device first measures that the mass of the second beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, it is recorded as an instance. At this time, the measurement window of the second beam is opened, and the reference signal is received and the mass of the second beam is measured within the measurement window of the second beam.

[0199] S705, when the mass of the first beam measured M times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold within the measurement window of the first beam, the delay window of the first beam is opened.

[0200] Specifically, when the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold after M measurements within the measurement window of the first beam, the M instances are counted. At this time, the trigger event of the first beam begins, the delay window of the first beam is opened, and then the process of reporting the beam measurement report is initiated when the PUCCH transmission timing is selected within the delay window of the first beam.

[0201] It can be seen that after the terminal device opens the delay window of the first beam, there are multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities within the delay window of the first beam, including PUCCH transmission opportunity #1 and PUCCH transmission opportunity #2. Therefore, the terminal device can determine whether the first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set has been opened; the measured mass of the second beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold X times, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold, that is, X is close to M; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0202] For example, if after the delay window of the first beam is opened, the measured quality of the second beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, X is close to M, and the quality of the second beam measured most recently is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam, the terminal device can determine whether the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam. If the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam, and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold, the terminal device does not select the most recent PUCCH transmission time #1 to initiate the process of reporting the beam measurement report, but continues to wait for the second beam to reach the M instance count.

[0203] S706, when the mass of the second beam measured M times within the measurement window of the second beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, the triggering event of the second beam is determined to begin.

[0204] Specifically, when the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold after M measurements within the measurement window of the second beam, the M instance count is reached, and the trigger event for the second beam begins. After the trigger event for the second beam begins, the delay window of the first beam also includes PUCCH transmission opportunity #2. Therefore, the terminal device determines to select PUCCH transmission opportunity #2 to initiate the process of reporting the beam measurement report.

[0205] S707, the terminal device sends a second message to the network device.

[0206] Specifically, the terminal device can choose to send the second information to the network device at the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam; or, it can delay sending the second information to the network device by one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam. For example, if the terminal device chooses to send the second information to the network device at PUCCH transmission opportunity #2 instead of at the most recent PUCCH transmission opportunity #1, it is equivalent to delaying the sending by one PUCCH transmission opportunity.

[0207] The second piece of information can be a UEIRI, which is used to request PUSCH resources. Alternatively, the second piece of information can be a notification message, which is used to notify the network device that it will soon occupy PUSCH resources.

[0208] S708, the network device sends the first instruction information to the terminal device.

[0209] The first instruction information is used to indicate the PUSCH resource.

[0210] Mode A: The terminal device can send a UEIRI to the network device. After receiving the UEIRI, the network device sends a first indication information to the terminal device. The first indication information can be a DCI, which is used to indicate the allocated PUSCH resources. The PUSCH period can be the same as the PUCCCH period.

[0211] Mode B: The terminal device can send a notification message to the network device. After receiving the notification message, the network device sends a first indication message to the terminal device. The first indication message is used to indicate that PUCCH resource carrying should be performed within Y symbols after sending PUCCH, where Y is an integer greater than 0.

[0212] S709, the terminal device sends a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam to the network device.

[0213] The beam measurement reports for the first and second beams are carried on the PUSCH resource. This allows for the reporting of beam measurement reports for multiple beams with a single request to the PUSCH resource.

[0214] S710, Terminal device starts a timer that prevents startup.

[0215] The first and second beams share a single disable timer. During the duration of the disable timer, PUCCH transmission is prohibited after the trigger events of the first and second beams begin, and beam measurement reports for both beams are stopped, thereby reducing the number of disable timers used.

[0216] In this embodiment, by configuring the duration of the delay window, when the mass of the first beam measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold, the delay window of the first beam is opened. If the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities, after the second beam has accumulated enough instances, the delay PUCCH transmission opportunity is selected to send the second information. This enables the reporting of beam measurement reports for multiple beams by requesting PUCCH resources once, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving the efficiency of beam measurement report reporting.

[0217] The following describes the scenario where there are few opportunities for PUCCH transmission between the terminal device and the network device.

[0218] like Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method mainly includes the following steps:

[0219] S801, the network device sends the first information to the terminal device.

[0220] S802, the network device sends a reference signal to the terminal device.

[0221] S803: When the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, the measurement window for the first beam is opened.

[0222] S804: When the mass of the second beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, the measurement window for the second beam is opened.

[0223] The specific implementation methods of S801-S804 are the same as those of S701-S704. The specific implementation methods of S801-S804 can be referred to the specific implementation methods of S701-S704, which will not be repeated here.

[0224] S805: When the mass of the first beam measured M times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold within the measurement window of the first beam, the delay window of the first beam is opened.

[0225] Specifically, when the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold after M measurements within the measurement window of the first beam, the M instances are counted. At this time, the trigger event of the first beam begins, the delay window of the first beam is opened, and then the process of reporting the beam measurement report is initiated when the PUCCH transmission timing is selected within the delay window of the first beam.

[0226] As can be seen, due to the limited number of PUCCH transmission opportunities between the terminal device and the network device, after the terminal device opens the delay window of the first beam, there is only one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, such as PUCCH transmission opportunity #1. Therefore, the terminal device does not need to determine whether the first condition is met to determine whether to send the second information to the network device on PUCCH transmission opportunity #1, and does not need to delay requesting PUSCH resources.

[0227] S806, the terminal device sends a second message to the network device.

[0228] Specifically, the terminal device may send a second message to the network device during PUCCH transmission (#1). This second message may be a UEIRI, which requests PUSCH resources. Alternatively, the second message may be a notification message, used to inform the network device that it will soon occupy PUSCH resources.

[0229] Optionally, if the second beam has also reached the M instance count before PUCCH transmission timing #1, the second information can be used to request PUSCH resources for carrying beam measurement reports for both the first and second beams. If the second beam has not reached the M instance count before PUCCH transmission timing #1, the second information can be used to request PUSCH resources for carrying beam measurement reports only for the first beam. The following explanation assumes the second beam has not reached the M instance count.

[0230] S807, the network device sends the first instruction information to the terminal device.

[0231] The first instruction information is used to indicate the PUSCH resource.

[0232] S808, the terminal device sends a beam measurement report of the first beam to the network device.

[0233] The beam measurement report for the first beam is carried on the PUSCH resource.

[0234] S809, the terminal device starts the first beam disable timer.

[0235] Specifically, during the runtime of the first beam's disable timer, PUCCH is prohibited from being sent after the first beam trigger event begins, and beam measurement reports for the first beam are stopped. However, PUCCH can be sent and beam measurement reports for the second beam can be reported after the second beam trigger event begins.

[0236] In this embodiment, by configuring the duration of the delay window, the delay window for the first beam is activated when the mass of the first beam measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than a first threshold. When the delay window of the first beam includes only one PUCCH transmission opportunity, there is no need to delay requesting PUSCH resources, thus avoiding beam measurement report expiration and the inability to update the beam in a timely manner.

[0237] It is understood that, in the above-described method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the terminal device can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used in the terminal device, and the methods and operations implemented by the network device can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used in the network device.

[0238] This application embodiment can divide terminal devices or network devices into functional modules according to the above method examples. For example, each function can be divided into its own functional modules, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules can be implemented in hardware or software functional modules. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. The following description uses the division of functional modules according to each function as an example.

[0239] The above, combined with Figures 6-8 The methods provided in the embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Figures 9 to 10 This application provides a detailed description of the communication device provided in its embodiments. It should be understood that the descriptions of the device embodiments correspond to the descriptions of the method embodiments; therefore, any content not described in detail here will be referred to the method embodiments above, and for the sake of brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0240] Please see Figure 9 , Figure 9This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device can implement the steps or processes executed by the terminal device corresponding to the method embodiments described above. In one possible design, the communication device may include a receiving module 901, a processing module 902, and a sending module 903. Optionally, the communication device may further include a storage module for storing device program code and / or data.

[0241] The communication device can be the terminal-side device in the above embodiments, such as a terminal device or a communication module in a terminal device, or a circuit or chip in a terminal device that is responsible for communication functions.

[0242] The receiving module 901 is configured to receive first information from the network device. The first information is used to determine the duration of the delay window. The duration of the delay window is used to indicate the maximum tolerance time from the start of the trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is that the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set, which is greater than a first threshold. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0243] The sending module 903 is used to select the timing of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission based on the duration of the delay window and send second information to the network device. The second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0244] Optionally, the first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

[0245] Optionally, the first information may also include the duration of the delay window.

[0246] Optionally, the processing module 902 is configured to determine the duration of the delay window based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number N of the reporting beams, and the PUCCH period.

[0247] Optionally, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1.

[0248] Optionally, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1.

[0249] Optionally, the receiving module 901 is used to receive reference signals from the network device;

[0250] The processing module 902 is used to measure the quality of the first beam based on the reference signal; when the quality of the first beam minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold when measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam, the starting time of the delay window of the first beam is determined.

[0251] Optionally, the delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam, and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

[0252] Optionally, the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0253] Optionally, the sending module 903 is configured to send the second information to the network device at the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam when the first condition is met; or, when the first condition is met, send the second information to the network device at a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0254] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0255] Optionally, the receiving module 901 is configured to receive first indication information from the network device, the first indication information being used to indicate PUSCH resources;

[0256] The transmitting module 903 is used to transmit a beam measurement report to the network device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource, and the beam measurement report includes a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam.

[0257] Optionally, the processing module 902 is used to start a disable timer to stop reporting the beam measurement reports of the first beam and the second beam during the runtime of the disable timer.

[0258] Optionally, the sending module 903 is used to send the second information to the network device at the most recent PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam when the first condition is not met.

[0259] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0260] In one possible design, when the communication device is a terminal device or a communication module within a terminal device, the functions of the receiving module 901 and the transmitting module 903 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit. The function of the processing module 902 can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a modem chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip containing a modem core.

[0261] In one possible design, when the communication device is a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a terminal device, such as a modem chip or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a modem core, the functions of the receiving module 901 and the transmitting module 903 can be implemented by the interface circuit or data transceiver circuit on the aforementioned chip. The function of the processing module 902 can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores.

[0262] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also be referenced accordingly. Figures 6-8 The corresponding description of the method embodiments shown above describes the methods and functions performed by the terminal device in the above embodiments.

[0263] Please see Figure 10 , Figure 10This is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. This communication device can implement the steps or processes executed by the network device corresponding to those described in the method embodiments above. In one possible design, the communication device may include a sending module 1001 and a receiving module 1002. Optionally, the communication device may further include a storage module for storing device program code and / or data.

[0264] The communication device can be a network-side device as described in the above embodiments, such as a network device or a communication module in a network device, or a circuit or chip in a network device that is responsible for communication functions.

[0265] The sending module 1001 is used to send first information to the terminal device. The first information is used to determine the duration of the delay window. The duration of the delay window is used to indicate the maximum tolerance time from the start of the trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is that the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set, which is greater than a first threshold. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1.

[0266] The receiving module 1002 is used to receive second information sent by the terminal device during the transmission of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), wherein the transmission timing is selected based on the duration of the delay window, and the second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0267] Optionally, the first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

[0268] Optionally, the first information may also include the duration of the delay window.

[0269] Optionally, the duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period.

[0270] Optionally, when the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the corresponding duration of the delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1.

[0271] Optionally, when the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1.

[0272] Optionally, the transmitting module 1001 is used to transmit a reference signal to the terminal device, the reference signal being used to measure the quality of the first beam;

[0273] Wherein, the start time of the delay window of the first beam is the time when the mass of the first beam measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold.

[0274] Optionally, the delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam, and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

[0275] Optionally, the delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

[0276] Optionally, the receiving module 1002 is configured to receive the second information sent by the terminal device during the last PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam, provided that the first condition is met; or, provided that the first condition is met, receive the second information sent by the terminal device after a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam.

[0277] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0278] Optionally, the sending module 1001 is used to send first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate PUSCH resources;

[0279] The receiving module 1002 is configured to receive a beam measurement report from the terminal device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource and includes a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam.

[0280] Optionally, the receiving module 1002 is configured to receive the second information sent by the terminal device at the most recent PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam if the first condition is not met.

[0281] The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

[0282] In one possible design, when the communication device is a network device or a communication module within a network device, the functions of the transmitting module 1001 and the receiving module 1002 can be implemented by transceiver circuitry. Optionally, the communication device may also include a processing module, the functions of which can be implemented by one or more processors. Specifically, the processor may include a modem chip, or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip or a SIP chip containing a modem core.

[0283] In one possible design, when the communication device is a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in a network device, such as a modem chip or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or SIP chip containing a modem core, the functions of the transmitting module 1001 and the receiving module 1002 can be implemented by the interface circuitry or data transceiver circuitry on the aforementioned chip. Optionally, the communication device may also include a processing module, the functions of which can be implemented by a circuit system in the aforementioned chip that includes one or more processors or processor cores.

[0284] It should be noted that the implementation of each module can also be referenced accordingly. Figures 6-8 The corresponding description of the method embodiments shown indicates that the methods and functions performed by the network device in the above embodiments are executed.

[0285] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application. This terminal device can be applied to, for example... Figures 1-3In the system shown, the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments are executed, or the steps or processes executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0286] like Figure 11 As shown, the terminal device includes a processor 1101 and a transceiver 1102. The transceiver 1102 includes a transmitter 1121, a receiver 1122, and an antenna 1123. The receiver 1122 can be used to receive transmission control information through the antenna 1123, and the transmitter 1121 can be used to send transmission feedback information to the network device through the antenna 1123. Optionally, the terminal device also includes a memory 1103. The processor 1101, transceiver 1102, and memory 1103 can communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and / or data signals. The memory 1103 is used to store computer programs, and the processor 1101 is used to call and run the computer programs from the memory 1103 to control the transceiver 1102 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the terminal device may also include an antenna for transmitting uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 1102 via wireless signals.

[0287] The aforementioned processor 1101 can be with Figure 9 Corresponding to the processing module, the processor 1101 and the memory 1103 can be integrated into a processing device. The processor 1101 is used to execute the program code stored in the memory 1103 to achieve the above functions. In specific implementation, the memory 1103 can also be integrated into the processor 1101 or independent of the processor 1101.

[0288] The transceiver 1102 described above can be used with Figure 9 The transmitting and receiving modules in the transceiver unit correspond to each other and can also be called a transceiver unit or transceiver module. The transceiver 1102 may include a receiver (or receiver circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter circuit). The receiver is used to receive signals, and the transmitter is used to transmit signals.

[0289] It should be understood that Figure 11 The terminal device shown can achieve Figures 6-8 The methods illustrated in the embodiments involve various processes of the terminal device. The operations and / or functions of each module in the terminal device are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0290] The processor 1101 described above can be used to execute the actions implemented internally by the terminal device as described in the preceding method embodiments, while the transceiver 1102 can be used to execute the actions described in the preceding method embodiments of sending data to or receiving data from the network device by the terminal device. Please refer to the descriptions in the preceding method embodiments for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0291] The processor 1101 can be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor 1101 can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, etc. The terminal device may also include a communication bus, which can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. The communication bus is used to realize the connection and communication between these components. In this embodiment, the transceiver 1102 is used for signaling or data communication with other node devices. The memory 1103 may include volatile memory, such as nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), phase change RAM (PRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), etc., and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory devices, such as NOR flash memory or NAND flash memory, semiconductor devices, such as solid-state disk (SSD), etc. Optionally, the memory 1103 may also be at least one storage device located remotely from the aforementioned processor 1101. Optionally, the memory 1103 may also store a set of computer program code or configuration information. Optionally, the processor 1101 may also execute the program stored in the memory 1103. The processor can cooperate with the memory and transceiver to execute any of the methods and functions of the terminal device in the above-described embodiments.

[0292] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in an embodiment of this application. This network device can be applied to, for example... Figures 1-3 In the system shown, the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments are executed, or the steps or processes executed by the network device in the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0293] like Figure 12 As shown, the network device includes a processor 1201 and a transceiver 1202. The transceiver 1202 includes a transmitter 1221, a receiver 1222, and an antenna 1223. The transmitter 1221 can be used to send transmission control information to a terminal device via the antenna 1223, and the receiver 1222 can be used to receive transmission feedback information sent by the terminal device via the antenna 1223. Optionally, the network device also includes a memory 1203. The processor 1201, transceiver 1202, and memory 1203 can communicate with each other through internal connection paths to transmit control and / or data signals. The memory 1203 stores computer programs, and the processor 1201 calls and runs the computer programs from the memory 1203 to control the transceiver 1202 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, the network device may also include an antenna for transmitting uplink data or uplink control signaling output by the transceiver 1202 via wireless signals.

[0294] The processor 1201 and the memory 1203 can be integrated into a single processing device. The processor 1201 executes the program code stored in the memory 1203 to achieve the aforementioned functions. In specific implementations, the memory 1203 can be integrated into the processor 1201 or be independent of the processor 1201.

[0295] The transceiver 1202 described above can be used with Figure 10 The receiving module and transmitting module in the transceiver unit correspond to each other and can also be called a transceiver unit or transceiver module. The transceiver 1202 may include a receiver (or receiver circuit) and a transmitter (or transmitter circuit). The receiver is used to receive signals, and the transmitter is used to transmit signals.

[0296] It should be understood that Figure 12 The network device shown can achieve Figures 6-8 The methods illustrated in the embodiments involve various processes of the network device. The operations and / or functions of each module in the network device are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0297] The processor 1201 described above can be used to execute the actions implemented internally by the network device as described in the preceding method embodiments, while the transceiver 1202 can be used to execute the actions described in the preceding method embodiments of sending data from the network device to the terminal device or receiving data from the terminal device. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the preceding method embodiments; they will not be repeated here.

[0298] The processor 1201 can be any of the processors mentioned above. The network device may also include a communication bus, which can be a PCI bus (Peripheral Component Interconnect Standard) or an EISA bus (Extended Industry Standard Architecture). The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The communication bus is used to enable communication between these components. In this embodiment, the transceiver 1202 is used for signaling or data communication with other devices. The memory 1203 can be any of the memory types mentioned above. Optionally, the memory 1203 can also be at least one storage device located remotely from the processor 1201. The memory 1203 stores a set of computer program code or configuration information, and the processor 1201 executes the program in the memory 1203. The processor can cooperate with the memory and transceiver to execute any of the methods and functions of the network device in the above embodiments.

[0299] This application also provides a chip system including a processor for supporting terminal devices or network devices to implement the functions involved in any of the above embodiments, such as generating or processing the first information involved in the above methods.

[0300] In one possible design, the chip system may further include a memory for storing necessary computer programs and data for the terminal device or network device. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete components. The inputs and outputs of the chip system correspond to the receiving and transmitting operations of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiment, respectively.

[0301] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform... Figures 6-8 The method of any one of the embodiments shown.

[0302] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer-readable medium storing a computer program, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform... Figures 6-8 The method of any one of the embodiments shown.

[0303] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks (SSDs)).

[0304] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive first information from a network device, the first information being used to determine the duration of a delay window, the duration of the delay window being used to indicate the maximum tolerance time from the start of a trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event, the trigger event being that the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set, which is greater than a first threshold, the beam set including N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1; Within the duration of the delay window following the start of the triggering event, a second message is sent to the network device at the selected time of transmission of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). The second message is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources, which are used to report beam measurement reports.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

3. The method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The first information also includes the duration of the delay window.

4. The method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: The duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period.

5. The method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, When the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the duration of the corresponding delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the duration of the corresponding delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1.

6. The method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, When the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1.

7. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive reference signals from the network device; The quality of the first beam is measured based on the reference signal; When the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam and is greater than the first threshold, the starting time of the delay window of the first beam is determined.

8. The method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

9. The method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The step of selecting the timing for transmitting the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) to the network device within the delay window after the triggering event begins includes: When the first condition is met, the second information is sent to the network device during the last PUCCH transmission within the delay window of the first beam; or When the first condition is met, the second information is sent to the network device with a delay of one PUCCH transmission opportunity within the delay window of the first beam; The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

11. The method as described in claim 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive first indication information from the network device, the first indication information being used to indicate PUSCH resources; A beam measurement report is sent to the network device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource, and the beam measurement report includes a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam.

12. The method as described in claim 11, characterized in that, After sending the beam measurement report to the network device, the method further includes: Start a disable timer, and stop reporting the beam measurement reports of the first beam and the second beam within the duration of the disable timer.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The step of selecting the timing for transmitting the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) to the network device within the delay window after the triggering event begins includes: If the first condition is not met, the second information is sent to the network device at the nearest PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam. The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the mass of the second beam measured X times minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the measured mass of the second beam is greater than or equal to the mass of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is within the delay window of the first beam; and the mass of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

14. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send first information to the terminal device. The first information is used to determine the duration of the delay window. The duration of the delay window is used to indicate the maximum tolerance time from the start of the trigger event to the expiration of the trigger event. The trigger event is that the mass of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam in the beam set, which is greater than a first threshold. The beam set includes N reporting beams, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and N is an integer greater than 1. The terminal device receives second information sent during the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission timing, wherein the PUCCH transmission timing is selected within the duration of the delay window after the start of the triggering event, and the second information is used to request Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources, wherein the PUSCH resources are used to report beam measurement reports.

15. The method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The first information includes at least one of the following: the first threshold, the M and Z beams to be measured, the number N of the reporting beams, the PUCCH period, the duration of the measurement window, or the runtime of the disable timer, where Z is an integer greater than 1.

16. The method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, The first information also includes the duration of the delay window.

17. The method as described in claim 15, characterized in that, The duration of the delay window is determined based on at least one of the first threshold, the M, the number of reporting beams N, and the PUCCH period.

18. The method as described in claim 17, characterized in that, When the first threshold is a0 and M is b0, the duration of the corresponding delay window is y0; when the first threshold is a1 and M is b1, the duration of the corresponding delay window is y1, wherein when a0 is greater than a1 and b0 is greater than b1, y0 is less than y1.

19. The method as described in claim 17, characterized in that, When the PUCCH period is c0, the corresponding delay window duration is x0; when the PUCCH period is c1, the corresponding delay window duration is x1, wherein when c0 is greater than c1, x0 is greater than x1.

20. The method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: A reference signal is sent to the terminal device, the reference signal being used to measure the quality of the first beam; Wherein, the start time of the delay window of the first beam is the time when the mass of the first beam measured M times within the measurement window of the first beam minus the mass of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold.

21. The method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The delay window of the first beam is [T_active, T_active + T_expired], where T_active is the start time of the delay window of the first beam and T_expired is the duration of the delay window.

22. The method as described in claim 21, characterized in that, The delay window of the first beam includes multiple PUCCH transmission opportunities.

23. The method according to any one of claims 14-22, characterized in that, The second information received by the terminal device during the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission includes: If the first condition is met, the second information transmitted by the terminal device during the last PUCCH transmission within the delay window of the first beam is received; or If the first condition is met, the second information sent by the terminal device within the delay window of the first beam, delayed by one PUCCH transmission time, is received. The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

24. The method as described in claim 23, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first indication message to the terminal device, the first indication message being used to indicate PUSCH resources; Receive a beam measurement report from the terminal device, wherein the beam measurement report is carried on the PUSCH resource, and the beam measurement report includes a beam measurement report of the first beam and a beam measurement report of the second beam.

25. The method according to any one of claims 14-22, characterized in that, The second information received by the terminal device during the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission includes: If the first condition is not met, the second information sent by the terminal device at the most recent PUCCH transmission time within the delay window of the first beam is received; The first condition includes at least one of the following: the measurement window of the second beam in the beam set is open; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device X times minus the quality of the currently used beam is greater than the first threshold, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than M, and the difference between X and M is less than the second threshold; the quality of the second beam measured by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the quality of the first beam; the end time of the measurement window of the second beam is located within the delay window of the first beam; and the quality of the currently used beam is not lower than the third threshold.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a memory and a processor, the memory being used to store a computer program, and the processor running the computer program to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13 or any one of claims 14-25.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-13 or any one of claims 14-25 to be implemented.

28. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being used to communicate with external or internal devices, and the processor being used to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-13 or any one of claims 14-25.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed, the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-13 or any one of claims 14-25 is implemented.

30. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-13, and the network device is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 14-25.

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