Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device, relates to the technical field of communication, and can improve the measurement flexibility, reduce the measurement redundancy and reduce the measurement overhead when a terminal measures a synchronization signal block (SSB). The method comprises: after establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection, a terminal acquires first information and second information, the first information being used for indicating at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of a first satellite, and the second information being used for indicating at least one SSB of a second satellite; and the terminal selects at least one SSB from the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite to perform SSB measurement according to the first information and the second information.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0002] In a communication system, a network device can send synchronization signal block (SSB) configuration information to a terminal, and the terminal performs SSB measurement according to the received SSB configuration information.

[0003] Among them, the network device can enable the terminal to perform SSB measurement through reference signal resource configuration based on SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC).

[0004] However, the SSB measurement configuration based on SMTC is not flexible enough, which can cause excessive measurement redundancy of the terminal and increase the measurement overhead of the terminal. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and device, which can improve the flexibility of measurement, reduce measurement redundancy and reduce measurement overhead when the terminal performs SSB measurement.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication function in the terminal (such as a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or system in package (SIP) chip containing a Modem core). For example, the method comprises: after establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection, obtaining first information and second information, the first information being used to indicate at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of a first satellite; the second information being used to indicate at least one SSB of a second satellite; determining at least one SSB to be measured according to the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0007] Based on the first aspect, when the network side configures the SSB measurement for the terminal, the network side can send the SSB measurement configuration corresponding to the terminal to the terminal after the terminal establishes the RRC connection, and in the case that the terminal is in the connected state. The SSB measurement configuration configured by the network side for the terminal in the present application is terminal-level, such as indicating at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite to the terminal. Compared with broadcasting all SSB measurement configurations corresponding to the cell or beam through the cell-level or beam-level SMTC configuration, the flexibility of the SSB measurement configuration can be improved, and the signaling overhead can be reduced. When the terminal performs SSB measurement, the terminal can determine at least one SSB to be measured from the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite, thereby improving the flexibility and accuracy of the SSB measurement, reducing the measurement redundancy, reducing the measurement overhead, and reducing the measurement power consumption of the terminal.

[0008] In a possible design, the first information and the second information are acquired by: sending position information of the terminal; and receiving the first information and the second information; wherein the first information and the second information are determined according to the position information of the terminal.

[0009] Based on the possible design, the terminal can send its own position information to the network side device, so that the network side device can more accurately determine a limited number of deterministic SSBs to be measured (such as the first SSB corresponding to the position information of the terminal, the second SSB corresponding to the region adjacent to the terminal in the first satellite, and at least one SSB corresponding to the region adjacent to the terminal in the second satellite) around the terminal, thereby improving the flexibility and accuracy of the SSB measurement configuration and reducing the signaling overhead.

[0010] In a possible design, the first information and the second information are acquired by: receiving first RRC signaling; wherein the first RRC signaling includes the first information and the second information; or receiving first non-access stratum (NAS) signaling; wherein the first NAS signaling includes the first information and the second information.

[0011] Based on the possible design, the network side device can send the terminal-level first information and the second information to the terminal through RRC signaling or NAS signaling when the terminal is in the connected state.

[0012] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending first indication information; wherein the first indication information is used to indicate to update one or more of the following: the first information, or the second information; and acquiring updated first information and / or updated second information.

[0013] Based on the possible design, the terminal can update the first information and the second information, thereby avoiding inaccurate mobility management caused by SSB measurement deviation.

[0014] In a possible design, the first indication information is sent when a preset condition is met, where the preset condition includes at least one of the following: a distance between a center point of a region corresponding to the first SSB and the terminal is greater than a distance between a center point of a region corresponding to another SSB and the terminal, the distance between the center point of the region corresponding to the first SSB and the terminal is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the terminal determines, according to coverage range information of the region corresponding to the first SSB, that the terminal has moved out of the coverage range of the region corresponding to the first SSB, the terminal determines, according to a measurement result of the SSB, that an optimal SSB has changed from the first SSB to another SSB, or the terminal determines that the terminal has changed from a center region of the first satellite to an edge region of the first satellite, where the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to location information of the terminal.

[0015] Based on this possible design, the terminal can perceive the SSB measurement configuration change based on one or more of the above conditions, and can update the first information and the second information in a timely manner, thereby avoiding inaccurate mobility management caused by SSB measurement deviation.

[0016] In a possible design, the first indication information is sent, including: sending a random access request, where the random access request includes the first indication information, and the first indication information is a preamble related to updating one or more of the following: the first information or the second information; or sending second RRC signaling, where the second RRC signaling includes the first indication information; or sending second NAS signaling, where the second NAS signaling includes the first indication information.

[0017] Based on this possible design, the terminal can request updating of the first indication information through a random access request, or RRC signaling, or NAS signaling when in a connected state.

[0018] In a possible design, the method further includes: determining measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured; performing measurement on the at least one SSB to be measured within the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured, to obtain a measurement result; and sending the measurement result.

[0019] Based on this possible design, the terminal can assist the network side device in beam switching by reporting the measurement result to the network side device. The terminal can enable subsequent procedures such as cell reselection and cell switching based on the measurement result.

[0020] In a possible design, when the at least one SSB to be measured includes at least one SSB of a first satellite, the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured is determined, including: determining the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured according to measurement time information of the first SSB and a transmission period of the SSB, where the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to location information of the terminal.

[0021] In a possible design, in a case where the at least one SSB to be measured includes at least one SSB of the second satellite, the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured is determined according to the measurement time information of the first SSB, the transmission period of the SSB, the ephemeris information of the second satellite, and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite; and the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured is determined.

[0022] Based on the above two possible designs, when measuring the SSB of the first satellite, the terminal can determine the measurement time information of the SSB of the first satellite according to the first SSB and the transmission period of the SSB. When measuring the SSB of the second satellite, the measurement time information of the SSB of the second satellite can be determined in combination with the ephemeris information of the second satellite and the preset offset of the second satellite. The measurement flexibility is improved, the measurement redundancy is reduced, and the measurement cost is reduced.

[0023] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be applied to a network side, for example, a network side device or a communication module in the network side device, or a circuit or chip (such as a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a Modem core) responsible for communication functions in the network side device. For example, the method includes: determining first information and second information after the terminal establishes an RRC connection, and sending the first information and the second information to the terminal; wherein the first information is used to indicate at least one SSB of a first satellite; and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of a second satellite.

[0024] Based on the second aspect, when the network side configures SSB measurement for the terminal, the network side can send the SSB measurement configuration corresponding to the terminal to the terminal after the terminal establishes an RRC connection, in a case where the terminal is in a connected state. That is, the SSB measurement configuration configured by the network side for the terminal in this application is a terminal-level SSB measurement configuration, such as indicating at least one SSB of a first satellite and at least one SSB of a second satellite to the terminal. Compared with broadcasting all SSB measurement configurations corresponding to a cell or a beam through a cell-level or beam-level SMTC configuration, the flexibility of the SSB measurement configuration is improved, and the signaling cost is reduced.

[0025] In a possible design, the network side device can be a core network device, or a network device with a base station function. The network device can be a device set on the ground, or a non-ground device such as a satellite or a drone, without limitation.

[0026] In a possible design, after the terminal establishes an RRC connection, the position information of the terminal is obtained, and the first information and the second information are determined according to the position information of the terminal.

[0027] Based on the possible design, the network-side device determines the first information and the second information corresponding to the terminal according to the location information of the terminal, which can more accurately determine a limited number of SSBs (e.g., the first SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal, the second SSB corresponding to the region adjacent to the first SSB in the first satellite, and at least one SSB corresponding to the region adjacent to the first SSB in the second satellite) to be measured with certainty around the terminal, improves the flexibility and accuracy of SSB measurement configuration, and reduces signaling overhead.

[0028] In a possible design, the first information and the second information are sent to the terminal, including: sending first RRC signaling to the terminal; wherein the first RRC signaling includes the first information and the second information; or sending first NAS signaling to the terminal; wherein the first NAS signaling includes the first information and the second information.

[0029] Based on the possible design, the network-side device can send the terminal-level first information and the second information to the terminal in the connected state through RRC signaling or NAS signaling.

[0030] In a possible design, the measurement result is received from the terminal; wherein the measurement result is determined according to at least one SSB of at least one SSB of the first satellite and the second satellite.

[0031] Based on the possible design, the terminal can assist the network-side device in beam switching by reporting the measurement result to the network-side device. The terminal can enable subsequent processes such as cell reselection and cell switching according to the measurement result.

[0032] In a possible design, the first indication information is received from the terminal; wherein the first indication information is used to indicate to update one or more of the following: the first information, or the second information; and the updated first information and / or the updated second information are sent to the terminal according to the location information of the terminal.

[0033] Based on the possible design, the terminal can request the network-side device to update the first information and the second information through the first indication information, avoiding inaccurate mobility management caused by SSB measurement deviation.

[0034] In a possible design, the first indication information is received from the terminal, including: receiving a random access request from the terminal; wherein the random access request includes the first indication information, and the first indication information is a preamble related to updating one or more of the following: the first information, or the second information; or receiving second RRC signaling from the terminal; wherein the second RRC signaling includes the first indication information; or receiving second NAS signaling from the terminal; wherein the second NAS signaling includes the first indication information.

[0035] Based on the possible design, the terminal can request the update of the first indication information through a random access request, or RRC signaling, or NAS signaling when in the connected state.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible design, the at least one SSB of the first satellite includes a first SSB; or the at least one SSB of the first satellite includes the first SSB and at least one second SSB; where the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal, and the second SSB corresponds to an area adjacent to an area corresponding to the first SSB.

[0037] Based on the possible design, the network-side device can indicate, to the terminal according to the location information of the terminal, a limited number of SSBs (for example, the first SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal and the second SSB corresponding to an adjacent area) around the terminal to be measured, thereby improving the flexibility of SSB measurement configuration and reducing signaling overhead.

[0038] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible design, the at least one SSB of the second satellite corresponds to an area adjacent to an area corresponding to the first SSB.

[0039] Based on the possible design, when the network-side device indicates the SSBs of the second satellite to the terminal, the network-side device can indicate, according to the location information of the terminal, the SSBs corresponding to an area adjacent to an area corresponding to the first SSB, thereby improving the flexibility of SSB measurement configuration and reducing signaling overhead.

[0040] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible design, the second information is used to indicate one or more of the following: a difference between a preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and a preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, a difference between identification information of the first satellite and identification information of the second satellite, measurement configuration information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite, coverage range information of an area corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite, or location order information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite; where the location order information is used to indicate a geographical location relationship between coverage ranges of the areas corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0041] Based on the possible design, by indicating, through the second information, the difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, the terminal can determine the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite according to the difference. Alternatively, by indicating, through the second information, the difference between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite, the terminal can determine the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite according to the difference.

[0042] With reference to the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible design, the second information includes one or more of the following: difference information between a preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and a preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, difference information between identification information of the first satellite and identification information of the second satellite, index information of at least one SSB of the second satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to at least one SSB of the second satellite, measurement time information corresponding to at least one SSB of the second satellite, and position sequence information of at least one SSB of the second satellite; the position sequence information is used to indicate a geographical position relationship between coverage ranges of regions corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0043] Based on the possible design, multiple possible designs are provided for the design of the second information. With reference to the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible design, the first information is used to indicate one or more of the following: measurement configuration information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite, or position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite; the position sequence information is used to indicate a geographical position relationship between coverage ranges of regions corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite.

[0044] With reference to the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible design, the first information includes one or more of the following: index information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite, measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite, or position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite; the position sequence information is used to indicate a geographical position relationship between coverage ranges of regions corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite.

[0045] Based on the two possible designs, multiple possible designs are provided for the design of the first information.

[0046] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a communication system comprising a terminal-side device and a network-side device. The terminal-side device can be a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip (such as a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a Modem core) responsible for communication functions in the terminal. The network-side device can be a network-side device or a communication module in the network-side device, or a circuit or chip (such as a Modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a Modem core) responsible for communication functions in the network-side device. For example, the method comprises: determining, by the network-side device, first information and second information after the terminal establishes an RRC connection, and sending the first information and the second information to the terminal; and determining, by the terminal, at least one SSB to be measured according to at least one SSB of a first satellite and at least one SSB of a second satellite. The first information is used to indicate at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of the first satellite, and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0047] The detailed description of the first information or the second information can refer to the detailed description of various possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect, and the technical effects brought by the various possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the various possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated.

[0048] Optionally, the terminal-side device can also be used to implement the method described in various possible designs of the first aspect, and the technical effects brought by the various possible designs of the first aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the various possible designs of the first aspect, which will not be repeated.

[0049] Optionally, the network-side device can also be used to implement the method described in various possible designs of the second aspect, and the technical effects brought by the various possible designs of the second aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the various possible designs of the second aspect, which will not be repeated.

[0050] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which can be applied to the terminal of the first aspect to implement the functions performed by the terminal. The communication device can be a terminal, a chip or a chip system or a system on chip, etc. The communication device can perform the functions of the terminal through hardware, or perform the functions through corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the functions. For example, a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module can independently complete the transceiving operations described below, or can cooperate with the processing module to complete the transceiving operations. Correspondingly, the processing module can also independently complete the processing operations described below, or can cooperate with the transceiver module to complete the processing operations, which is not limited.

[0051] The transceiver module is configured to acquire first information and second information after establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection, the first information being used to indicate at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of the first satellite, and the second information being used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0052] Optionally, the transceiver module and the processing module of the communication apparatus in the fourth aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in any possible design of the first aspect, and the specific implementation can be referred to the detailed description in the method examples, and the beneficial effects can also be referred to the foregoing description.

[0053] In the fifth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which can be applied to the network-side device in the second aspect to implement the functions performed by the network-side device. The communication apparatus can be the network-side device, a chip or a chip system or a system on chip, etc. of the network-side device. The communication apparatus can implement the functions performed by the network-side device through hardware or through corresponding software executed by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions. For example, the transceiver module and the processing module. The transceiver module can independently complete the transceiving operations described below, or can cooperate with the processing module to complete the transceiving operations. Correspondingly, the processing module can independently complete the processing operations described below, or can cooperate with the transceiver module to complete the processing operations. No limitation is imposed.

[0054] The processing module is configured to determine first information and second information after the terminal establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection, and the transceiver module is configured to send the first information and the second information to the terminal. The first information is used to indicate at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of the first satellite, and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0055] Optionally, the transceiver module and the processing module of the communication apparatus in the fifth aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in any possible design of the second aspect, and the specific implementation can be referred to the detailed description in the method examples, and the beneficial effects can also be referred to the foregoing description.

[0056] In the sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication apparatus, which includes one or more processors, and the one or more processors are configured to run computer programs or instructions, and when the one or more processors execute the computer programs or instructions, the communication method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is executed.

[0057] In a possible design, the communication apparatus further includes one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, and the one or more memories are configured to store the computer program or the instructions. In a possible implementation, the memories are located outside the communication apparatus. In another possible implementation, the memories are located inside the communication apparatus. In embodiments of this application, the processor and the memories can also be integrated into one device, i.e., the processor and the memories can also be integrated together. In a possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is configured to receive information and / or send information.

[0058] In a possible design, the communication apparatus further includes one or more communication interfaces coupled to the one or more processors, and the one or more communication interfaces are configured to communicate with other modules outside the communication apparatus.

[0059] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a communication apparatus, which includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit. The interface circuit is configured to input and / or output information. The logic circuit is configured to perform the communication method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, process and / or generate information according to the information.

[0060] In an eighth aspect, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions or programs. When the computer instructions or programs are run on a computer, the communication method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is performed.

[0061] In a ninth aspect, this application provides a computer program product containing computer instructions. When the computer instructions are run on a computer, the communication method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is performed.

[0062] In a tenth aspect, this application provides a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the communication method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is performed.

[0063] In an eleventh aspect, this application provides a chip, which includes a processor and a memory. The memory is coupled to the processor and is configured to store programs or instructions. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the communication method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is performed.

[0064] The technical effects brought by any one of the sixth aspect to the eleventh aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0065] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which can include a communication device for performing the communication device as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and a communication device for performing the communication device as described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0066] Figure 1 An application scenario diagram of an NTN network provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] Figure 2 A transmission mode diagram of an SSB beam provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] Figure 3 A satellite coverage range diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] Figure 4 An arrangement pattern diagram of an SSB provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] Figure 5 A mobility management diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 6 A measurement time window diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 7 A measurement time window diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] Figure 8 A diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] Figure 9 A diagram of an NTN communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] Figure 10 A diagram of an NTN communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] Figure 11 A diagram of an NTN communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] Figure 12 A diagram of a random access procedure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] Figure 13 A diagram of a mapping relationship between a region and an SSB provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] Figure 14 A diagram of coverage range information of a region corresponding to an SSB provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Figure 15 A flow chart of a communication method provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0081] Figure 16 A schematic diagram of a mapping relationship between a region and an SSB provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0082] Figure 17 A schematic diagram of a mapping relationship between a region and an SSB provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0083] Figure 18 A schematic diagram of a mapping relationship between a region and an SSB provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0084] Figure 19 A composition diagram of a communication device provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0085] Figure 20 A schematic diagram of a communication device provided for an embodiment of the application;

[0086] Figure 21 A composition diagram of a communication device provided for an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0087] Before describing the embodiments of the application, the technical terms related to the embodiments of the application are described.

[0088] Non-terrestrial network (NTN): refers to a network that uses radio frequency resources on platforms such as satellite platforms (including low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, middle earth orbit (MEO) satellites, geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, or high altitude platform stations (HAPS) to provide communication services. Compared with a ground cellular network (such as a 5th generation (5G) new radio (NR) communication system), an NTN network has characteristics such as wider coverage, higher path loss, larger delay, faster speed, and lower cost. As a supplement and extension of a ground network, an NTN can achieve the purpose of seamless coverage in a wide area that cannot be achieved by a wired telephone network and a ground mobile communication network, and effectively solve the problem of Internet access in areas where communication infrastructure is scarce. For example, when a large number of satellites are arranged in LEO, through reasonable constellation construction, seamless coverage of the ground can be achieved, and the round-trip transmission delay between data on the satellite and the ground terminal can also be greatly reduced to tens of milliseconds compared with GEO satellites. With the use of high-frequency bands, multi-point beams, and frequency reuse technologies, the communication capabilities of satellites have been significantly improved, and the unit wideband cost has been reduced, so as to meet the demand for high information rate services. Compared with a ground 5G network and submarine optical fiber cables and other communication infrastructure, an NTN also has a significant cost advantage. Modern small satellites have low development and manufacturing costs, and software-defined technology can further extend the on-orbit satellite service life.

[0089] For example, as shown in Figure 1 The application scenarios of an NTN network include one or more of the following: broadband access in remote areas (such as home broadband access, rural education, broadcast television, etc.), broadband access in large transportation (such as aircraft, high-speed rail, and ocean vessels, etc.), temporary network applications (such as emergency rescue, temporary bandwidth demand, scientific exploration, etc.), government and enterprise private networks (such as remote area expansion, vertical management network, etc.), telecommunications enterprise backbone interconnection (such as remote sites, temporary site construction, etc.), Internet of Things (such as disaster monitoring, unattended areas, etc.), and the like.

[0090] Satellite synchronization signal block (SSB) broadcast beam: A communication system relies on a number of different direction broadcast beams to issue SSBs to users for terminal synchronization in the initial access stage. Compared with ground networks, the coverage area is wider, the transmission loss is larger, and the moving speed is faster, which is a significant feature of NTN networks. Unlike the ground system, which defines a maximum of 8 SSBs in the frequency range 1 (FR1) or a maximum of 64 SSBs in FR2 corresponding to the broadcast beams that can cover the service range of a single network device, the number of broadcast beams required by NTN networks can reach hundreds or even thousands. Taking a NTN network with an orbit height of 600 km as an example, the service range of a single satellite can reach hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. In order to overcome the path loss caused by the transmission distance and ensure the quality of communication services, satellites generally use large-scale antenna arrays to provide higher array gain, but at the same time, the main lobe of the beam is narrower. For example, the coverage radius of a 3 dB beam width is only a few dozen kilometers, and the coverage area is about a few hundred square kilometers, so using narrow beams to complete seamless coverage of the service range of a single satellite requires thousands of beams. Further, even if the beam is processed to a certain extent, in order to ensure the gain level, hundreds of beams (such as 256 beams) are also needed to achieve coverage.

[0091] For example, 8 SSBs can be sent in the first 2 ms of every 20 ms, and the overall sending mode of 256 SSB beams can be as shown in Figure 2 , wherein the 256 SSB beams can be divided into 32 groups (Group), 8 SSBs for one group, and one group lasts for 20 ms, so a total of 640 ms, in each group, only the first 2 ms contains SSBs, and the remaining 18 ms sends normal data.

[0092] Considering that satellites fly in orbits and maintain a certain specific relative relationship between orbits, as shown in Figure 3 , when each satellite covers a rectangular area, seamless coverage of the overall constellation can be ensured. In addition, terminals can perform beam management and mobility management within the satellite service time. Taking the above rectangular coverage as an example, assuming that the satellite corresponds to 256 SSB beams, the service range of the satellite can be evenly divided into 256 areas, and each SSB beam covers a corresponding area, then the SSB arrangement pattern can be as shown in Figure 4 . According to a certain arrangement pattern, the area position on the ground actually covered by the satellite SSB beam can be referred to as the SSB coverage pattern.

[0093] Beam management and mobility management: In a communication system, the movement of a terminal can cause the terminal to select and switch between different beams or cells of one network device, or between different network devices. Especially in an NTN system, because the satellite moves very fast, the terminal will frequently select and switch between multiple beams or multiple satellites, so beam management and mobility management are particularly important.

[0094] When the terminal is in a non-connected state (such as an IDLE state / INACTIVE state), movement can cause the terminal to reselect between beams or cells; when the terminal is in a connected state, movement can cause the terminal to switch between beams or cells. The judgment of beam reselection and switching depends on beam management, and the judgment of cell reselection and switching-related states depends on mobility management.

[0095] Beam management generally includes a pairing process between beams, and the terminal obtains the direction of the transmit and receive beams for data transmission, signal reception, link recovery, and other related processes through beam management. In a communication system, the reference signal used for beam management includes at least one of the following: SSB, or channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS). The embodiments of the present application take SSB as an example for illustration.

[0096] Mobility management mainly refers to the measurement process related to radio resource management (RRM), and the mobility signaling process triggered based on the measurement results. In mobility management, the network device or network side can issue an RRM measurement task to the terminal, including two basic measurement configurations: ① Measurement object: specifies the frequency band to be measured, the form of the reference signal, and the time domain position of the reference signal to be measured, etc. ② Measurement reporting: specifies the conditions for triggering measurement, and the way to report the measurement results, etc. If the center frequencies of the SSBs of the two measurement cells are the same when performing RRM measurement, and the subcarrier spacing is also the same, the measurement between the two cells is called intra-frequency measurement, otherwise it is called inter-frequency measurement. Like beam management, in a communication system, the reference signal that can be used for RRM measurement also has SSB and CSI-RS, and the embodiments of the present application take SSB-based mobility management as an example for illustration.

[0097] SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC): For SSB-based mobility management, since SSBs are not continuous in time domain in most cases, the terminal does not need to search and measure SSBs continuously in time domain when making measurements, but only needs to operate within the time window in which the SSBs can be locked. Therefore, the communication protocol introduces the concept of SMTC in the measurement configuration issued by the network side. SMTC is configured at intervals according to a certain period in time domain (such as a minimum period of 5 ms and a maximum period of 160 ms), and its measurement window maintains a fixed duration (such as a minimum of 1 ms and a maximum of 5 ms). From the perspective of measurement, the terminal will only search and measure SSBs within the measurement window of SMTC, and consider that SSBs outside SMTC do not exist. The network side will configure an SMTC for each SSB measurement frequency point. For intra-frequency measurement, multiple cells that need to measure SSBs are included in this SMTC, which is issued to the terminal by the network side of the serving cell. In addition, the network side can also configure another SMTC with a shorter period for individual cells on the SSB frequency point, but the measurement window of the two SMTCs needs to remain consistent in time.

[0098] Specifically, in the 5G NR communication system, the network device or network side mainly enables the terminal to make SSB measurements in the non-connected state and the connected state through reference signal resource configuration and SMTC configuration. Among them, the reference signal resource configuration is used for beam management, and the SMTC configuration is used for mobility management. In beam management, for the terminal in the non-connected state, the SSB resources to be measured are indicated by the signaling parameters (such as “ssb-PositionsInBurst”) in the system information block 1 (SIB1) (the terminal measures all SSBs in a period by default), and for the terminal in the connected state, the SSB index to be measured can be indicated by the measurement resource configuration in the radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In mobility management, such as Figure 5As shown, the SMTC configuration of the terminal in the non-connected state is mainly configured in the intra-frequency cell reselection information "intraFreqCellReselectionInfo" of SIB2 and the inter-frequency carrier frequency information "InterFreqCarrierFreqInfo" of SIB4, which can be configured in a cell level or a region level and is delivered by the network side broadcast; the SMTC configuration of the terminal in the connected state is mainly configured in the measurement object "MeasObjectNR" in the RRC signaling, which can be configured in a user level, that is, the parameters configured for each user are different. The terminal can obtain the SSB measurement configuration of the serving cell and the adjacent cell according to the received SMTC configuration, and select the optimal SSB to initiate an access request or report a measurement result to the network device.

[0099] Based on the above description of SMTC, the NR protocol defines four kinds of SMTC, namely SMTC1-4.

[0100] Among them, SMTC1 is defined as the main measurement configuration, including three parameters, namely periodicity, offset and duration. Among them, the periodicity specifies the frequency of the terminal measuring the SSB. The offset specifies the starting time position of the terminal measuring the SSB, so that the starting time position of the measurement = the starting frame number time position of the measurement period + the offset time, and the measurement period is not more than the configured period. The duration controls the time window length of the terminal measuring the SSB. SMTC2 mainly includes a cell list (such as a physical cell identifier list (PCI-list)) and a period. Compared with SMTC1, SMTC2 only measures the SSB for some specific cells, and the period is generally shorter than SMTC1, but the same offset and duration are multiplexed with SMTC1. SMTC3, compared with SMTC1 and SMTC2, not only separately configures the period, offset, duration and cell list, but also specifies the SSB index to be measured, but is generally used in the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) scene.

[0101] In the NTN system, the SSB beam of the satellite is more, which will greatly lengthen the search and measurement time of the SSB of the terminal in the beam management and mobility management. In addition, for example, Figure 6As shown, because the distances from the serving satellite and the adjacent satellite to the terminal are different, the time delays of the SSB transmissions of the serving satellite and the adjacent satellite to the terminal are also different, and if the same offset configuration is used, the SSB of the adjacent satellite may not be measured within the configured duration, resulting in measurement failure. Based on this, in view of the current situation that different satellites have different time delays, SMTC4 configuration is added, that is, in order to ensure the feasibility of SSB measurement of the adjacent satellite, a longer measurement window time can be configured for the adjacent satellite through SMTC4.

[0102] Among them, SMTC4 contains a cell list and an offset, and for each cell list, one offset can be configured, and up to 3 cell lists can be configured. Compared with SMTC1, the network side generally calculates the arrival time delay of different satellites according to the positions of the satellites and the terminal, and configures the corresponding satellite cell list and offset in SMTC4 to ensure that the SSB of the adjacent satellite can be detected by the terminal at the corresponding time position. As for the period and duration, SMTC4 is shared with SMTC1. In addition, the NR protocol also configures the parameter of the SSB to be measured "ssb-ToMeasure" on the basis of the SMTC window, which further reduces the number of SSBs to be measured by specifying the SSB index to be measured.

[0103] Among the above four SMTC configurations, for the NTN scenario, because the number of SSB beams of the satellite is relatively large, and the SSB beams are sent in segments as shown in Figure 2 In order to ensure that the SSB to be measured by the terminal can be included in the configured SMTC window, the values of the period, offset and duration of SMTC can be extended. However, the extended SMTC window will cause excessive measurement redundancy of the terminal for a long time, and the measurement overhead will increase significantly.

[0104] For example, as shown in Figure 2 Taking 256 SSBs corresponding to a satellite as an example, the scanning period of the 256 SSBs is 640ms, and they are sent in segments, with a maximum of 8 SSBs sent every 20ms. The SSBs to be measured by the terminal may span multiple different 20ms. In order to ensure that the terminal can measure all SSBs completely, the network side needs to configure a very long measurement time for the terminal, which will cause excessive measurement redundancy of the terminal and increase the measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0105] In order to solve the above technical problems, when the network side configures the SMTC window for the terminal, multiple offsets can be configured in the window to support the terminal to start multiple measurement windows at different starting points, that is, to use intermittent short windows for SSB measurement, thereby reducing measurement redundancy and reducing measurement overhead.

[0106] For example, the network side can increase multiple offset values in SMTC4 in the following way:

[0107] SSB-MTC4-r17 ::= {

[0108] pci-List-r17: {PCI0}

[0109] offset1: 0,

[0110] offset2: 40,

[0111] offset3: 80,

[0112] duration: 2ms}

[0113] Wherein, pci-List represents a physical cell identifier list. offset represents a bias, used to indicate the starting time position of the terminal measuring SSB. duration represents the duration, used to control the time window length of the terminal measuring SSB. By configuring 3 offset starts, 0ms, 40ms, and 80ms respectively, and duration is 2ms, the measurement time window configuration as shown in Figure 7 can be realized, so that the terminal can measure the required measurement SSB in 0-2ms, 40-42ms, and 80-82ms, saving the measurement overhead of extending the length of the measurement time window to ensure measurement. Compared with configuring only one offset (such as 0ms) and extending the duration length to 82ms, the measurement overhead of the terminal can be reduced on the basis of enabling the terminal to measure the required SSB.

[0114] However, in the above scheme, for the terminal in the connected state, the network side issues SMTC, and the terminal needs to completely use the intermittently opened short window for measurement according to the SMTC indication, which means that the terminal needs to frequently switch between measurement and sleep, and the power consumption overhead is large.

[0115] In addition, for the terminal in the idle state, since the network side does not have the location information of the terminal, the network side cannot accurately indicate, and the network side can perform beam-level configuration for each SSB beam, and broadcast the measurement configuration corresponding to each SSB beam, but this will cause the signaling overhead of the system message to be broadcast to be too large, exceeding the allowed capacity. Alternatively, the network side can configure offset as the upper and lower limits in all beam sets, and configure according to the maximum, so as to ensure that all terminals have the required SSB in the configured measurement time window, but a large amount of redundant measurement will occur, resulting in large measurement overhead of the terminal.

[0116] In summary, how to reduce the measurement power consumption of the terminal, reduce measurement redundancy and reduce measurement overhead when the terminal performs SSB measurement has become a technical problem to be solved.

[0117] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, in which the terminal can obtain first information and second information after establishing an RRC connection, the first information is used to indicate at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of a first satellite, and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of a second satellite; and the terminal selects at least one SSB from the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite for SSB measurement according to the first information and the second information.

[0118] In the embodiments of the present application, when the network side configures SSB measurement for the terminal, the network side can send the SSB measurement configuration corresponding to the terminal to the terminal after establishing an RRC connection with the terminal, that is, the SSB measurement configuration configured by the network side for the terminal in the present application is terminal-level, such as indicating at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite to the terminal, compared with broadcasting all SSB measurement configurations corresponding to the cells or beams through cell-level or beam-level SMTC configuration, the flexibility of the SSB measurement configuration can be improved, and the signaling overhead can be reduced. When the terminal performs SSB measurement, the terminal can determine at least one SSB to be measured from the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite, the flexibility and accuracy of the SSB measurement can be improved, and the measurement redundancy can be reduced, the measurement overhead can be reduced, and the measurement power consumption of the terminal can be reduced.

[0119] The implementation of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in combination with the drawings of the specification.

[0120] The communication method provided in this application can be used in any communication system, such as a third-generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a long-term evolution (LTE) system, or a 5G communication system, a hybrid LTE and 5G network system, an NR system, an NR vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system, a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT) system, a narrow band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC), enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC), and various types of future communication systems. It can also be an NTN system (such as a satellite communication system), a non-3GPP communication system, etc., without limitation.

[0121] The following is based on Figure 8 Taking an example, the communication system provided in the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0122] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown below. Figure 8 As shown, the communication system may include terminals, network equipment, and core network equipment.

[0123] in, Figure 8The terminal in the specification can be a device with wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be provided in the device, can allow a user to access a network, and is a device for providing voice and / or data connectivity to a user. The terminal can be located within the beam / cell coverage of a network device and be provided with communication services by the network device. The terminal can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a subscriber unit, a terminal device, or a mobile station (MS) or a mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; can be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); and can be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, etc.), without limitation.

[0124] For example, the terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a computer with wireless transceiver function. The terminal can also be a user station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile terminal, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, a user device, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device, a processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in Internet of Things, a household appliance, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a road side unit (RSU), a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability, a smart connected vehicle, a drone with UAV-to-UAV (U2U) communication capability, a terminal in future network, or a terminal in future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., without limitation.

[0125] wherein, Figure 8The network device in the embodiments of the present application can be any device deployed in an access network and capable of wireless communication with a terminal, can also be a chip or chip system that can be arranged in the above device, can also be a logical node or a logical module or a function implemented in software, and is mainly responsible for functions such as wireless physical control, resource scheduling, radio resource management, quality of service management, data compression and encryption, wireless access control, and mobility management. Specifically, the network device can be a device supporting wired access or a device supporting wireless access.

[0126] The plurality of network devices can support networks of the same technology or networks of different technologies. The network device can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited transmission reception points (TRPs). The plurality of network devices can be the same type of base station or different types of base stations. The base station can communicate with the terminal or communicate with the terminal through a relay station. The terminal can communicate with a plurality of base stations supporting different technologies, for example, the terminal can communicate with a base station supporting an LTE network, or communicate with a base station supporting a 5G network, and can also support dual connectivity with the base station supporting the LTE network and the base station supporting the 5G network.

[0127] Exemplary network devices can be composed of one or more access network (AN) / radio access network (RAN) nodes. AN / RAN nodes can be various types of base stations such as satellite base stations, gNBs, TRPs, eNodeBs (eNBs), radio network controllers (RNCs), NodeBs, base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), home base stations (e.g., home eNodeBs or home NodeBs, H(e)NBs), macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, femto base stations, relay stations, balloon stations, drone stations, wireless backhaul nodes, base band units (BBUs), or wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access points (APs), etc. It can be understood that network devices can be ground-based devices or non-ground-based devices (e.g., satellites, drones, high-altitude communication devices, etc.). In addition, in communication systems using different wireless access technologies, the names of network devices with base station functions can be different, which is not limited in the present application.

[0128] In yet another example, network devices can include a BBU and a remote radio unit (RRU). The BBU and RRU can be placed in different locations, for example, the RRU is pulled away and placed in a high traffic area, and the BBU is placed in a central machine room. The BBU and RRU can also be placed in the same machine room. The BBU and RRU can also be different components under the same rack.

[0129] In still another example, network devices can also be devices including a centralized unit (CU) node, or including a distributed unit (DU) node, or including a CU node and a DU node. For example, network devices can be divided into a CU and a DU from a logical function perspective, and the functions of part of the protocol layers are controlled by the CU, and the rest or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can be included in the same network element, such as a BBU. Furthermore, the centralized unit CU can also be divided into a control plane (CU-CP) and a user plane (CU-UP).

[0130] In another example, the network device can also be a device including a radio unit (RU), or including a CU, a DU and a RU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, included in a RRU, an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0131] It can be understood that the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names in different systems, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU (open CU), the DU can also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU. For the convenience of description, the CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU are taken as examples for description in the present application. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in the present application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0132] wherein, Figure 8 The core network device in the network device can be configured to transmit data of a terminal transmitted by the network device to a data network. Specifically, the core network device can be configured to implement user registration, access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, charging and other services. The core network device can be composed of one or more functional units. For example, the core network device can be divided into control plane and data plane functional entities. The control plane functional entities can include mobility management network elements, session management network elements, etc., and the data plane functional entities can include user plane network elements, etc.

[0133] The mobility management network element is mainly responsible for signaling processing, for example: access control, mobility management, attachment and detachment, gateway selection and other functions. When the mobility management network element provides services for a session in the terminal, it can provide the session with control plane storage resources to store session identifiers, session management network element identifiers associated with the session identifiers, etc. The session management network element mainly completes the session management functions of terminal internet protocol (IP) address allocation, user plane network element selection, charging and quality of service (QoS) policy control. The user plane network element mainly performs specific data forwarding of the user plane and generates bills based on traffic conditions. At the same time, it also functions as a data plane anchor.

[0134] Optionally, the core network device can further include a policy control network element, a network exposure network element, etc. The policy control network element is used for policy management of charging policy and QoS policy. The network exposure network element is used for exposing services and capabilities of 3GPP network functions to an application function network element, and meanwhile, the application function network element can provide information to the 3GPP network functions.

[0135] Based on the above description of the communication system, for example, taking the communication system as an NTN communication system, the NTN communication system can include a transparent forwarding scenario based on satellite communication and a regenerative mode scenario based on satellite communication.

[0136] For example, as shown in Figure 9 For the transparent forwarding scenario based on satellite communication, the terminal can communicate with the ground base station and the core network device through the satellite and the NTN gateway. In this scenario, the satellite mainly plays a role of frequency conversion and forwarding, which is equivalent to an analog radio frequency repeater. Specifically, the satellite can copy the NR Uu wireless interface signal from the feeder link (the link between the NTN gateway and the satellite) to the service link (the link between the satellite and the terminal), and vice versa. The satellite wireless interface transmission on the feeder link is the NR Uu interface signal, and the satellite does not terminate the NR Uu interface signal, but copies the signal to the service link. The NTN gateway can support all necessary functions of forwarding all NR Uu interface signals. Different satellites can be connected to the same ground base station.

[0137] In another example, for the regenerative mode scenario based on satellite communication, the terminal can communicate with the ground network based on the satellite and the NTN gateway. In this scenario, the satellite can have part or all of the processing functions of the base station, as shown in Figure 10 As shown in Figure 11 The satellite can include a DU and communicate with the CU and the core network device set on the ground through the NTN gateway. The satellite can implement regeneration of signals received from the ground, that is, the satellite can transmit the NR Uu wireless interface signal between the terminal and the satellite on the service link, and transmit the satellite wireless interface signal between the NTN gateway and the satellite on the feeder link. The NTN gateway transmits the satellite wireless interface signal transmitted by the satellite to the ground network.

[0138] It should be noted that the terminal, the network device, and the core network device in the embodiments of the present application can be one or more chips, or a SOC, etc. Figures 8 to 11 The example drawings only include a limited number of devices. Figures 8 to 11 The names of various devices and the names of various links are not limited, except Figures 8 to 11In addition to the names shown, each device, each link can be named other names, not limited.

[0139] In addition, before describing the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms related to the embodiments of the present application are described:

[0140] RRC connection: the terminal can refer to Figure 12 Through the random access procedure, the network device establishes an RRC connection: after the terminal performs cell search, it synchronizes with the cell, acquires the SSB and the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) broadcast by the network device, decodes the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) content by detecting an SSB resource block, acquires timing information, and the terminal can also acquire the information of CORESET 0 according to the content in the master information block (MIB) broadcast by the network device, further acquires the location information of SIB 1, and acquires the random access channel (RACH) configuration information, the uplink and downlink initial bandwidth part (BWP) configuration, the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configuration information and other information by solving SIB 1 information. Further, the terminal can send a physical random access channel (PRACH) through Msg1 on the corresponding RACH resource, and the network device receives the PRACH to acquire the SSB index and the corresponding beam ID, and then the network device can send a random access response (RAR) message to the terminal through Msg2. After the terminal receives the RAR message, it can report its own identification information to the network device through Msg3 to initiate an RRC establishment request, and then the network device can send Msg4 to the terminal to respond to the RRC establishment. After the terminal successfully decodes Msg4, it can send an acknowledgement (ACK) frame to the network device as a response to Msg4 to complete the establishment of the RRC connection.

[0141] Region: can be a geographical area or range, an administrative area or range, or a wave position, etc. Among them, the wave position refers to the coverage range of the satellite beam mapping to the ground, or is described as the projection range of the beam on the ground. The satellite can move or adjust the weight of the antenna so that the satellite sends the beam to different directions, corresponding to different coverage ranges.

[0142] With the deployment of a large number of satellites, in order to improve the effectiveness and simplicity of satellite beam management, the ground control center can divide the overall ground range covered by the satellite into a plurality of fixed-size regions (also referred to as ground regions), each region corresponding to a wave position, and all regions are assigned non-repeating numbers. The size of each region can be set to be the same as the coverage size of the SSB beam, facilitating periodic scanning of the satellite. The specific location and number of each region can be pre-stored in the satellite, terminal, or ground network device, or periodically issued by the ground control center or core network device. Within a period of time, a satellite will cover the same number of regions as the number of SSB beams, so there is a one-to-one mapping relationship between the SSB index and the region number. The mapping relationship can be maintained by the ground control center and sent to one or more of the satellite, terminal, ground network device, and core network device.

[0143] For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the ground is divided into 1024 regions, and the satellite corresponds to 256 SSB beams with indexes 0-255. The 256 SSB beams can be one-to-one corresponding to the 256 regions on the ground. Figure 13

[0144] Optionally, the coverage range information of the region can be beam coverage range information or wave position coverage range information. The beam coverage range information can include one or more of the following: scanning order of the spatial coverage range of the plurality of beams, coverage geographical area of the spatial coverage range of the plurality of beams, spatial filtering parameters of the spatial coverage range of the plurality of beams, shape information of the spatial coverage range of the plurality of beams.

[0145] Alternatively, the beam coverage range information can also include one or more of the following: coverage radius or coverage diameter of a beam in the plurality of beams, center point and / or beam center angle of a beam in the plurality of beams, coverage angle information of a beam in the plurality of beams.

[0146] The coverage angle information can include one or more of the following: beam coverage angle of the beam projected on the ground, beam coverage angle of the beam projected to a reference surface at a predetermined height, beam angle or beam width angle of the beam when emitted from the network device.

[0147] For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the beam coverage range information can include one or more of the following: radius R, position information C(x, y) of the beam center point, where x represents longitude and y represents latitude. Figure 14

[0148] ​​Alternatively, the beam coverage information can also include parameters related to a beam scanning pattern of the plurality of beams. The parameters related to the beam scanning pattern can include one or more of the following: shape information of the plurality of beams, a number of long-side beams of a rectangular coverage area of the plurality of beams, a number of short-side beams of the rectangular coverage area, a number of beams per circle in the case of a circular scanning of the beam scanning pattern, a number of beams of a square side length in the case of a square scanning of the beam scanning pattern, position information of a starting number beam, a scanning manner of the plurality of beams, a coverage radius or a coverage diameter of a beam in the plurality of beams.

[0149] The description of the beam coverage range information is similar to the description of the beam coverage information, and is not described herein.

[0150] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described below in combination with Figures 8 to 14 , and the following Figure 15 .

[0151] It can be understood that the processing performed by a single execution subject (terminal, or network device, or core network device) shown in the embodiments of the present application can also be divided into processing performed by multiple execution subjects, which can be logically and / or physically separated, and is not limited. In addition, the message name or parameter name in the message exchanged between the devices in the embodiments of the present application is only an example, and other names can also be used in the specific implementation, and is not limited. The actions, terms, etc. involved in the embodiments of the present application can be mutually referenced, and are not limited.

[0152] Figure 15 A flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in Figure 15 , and the method can include the following steps.

[0153] In step 1501, the network side device determines the first information and the second information after the terminal establishes an RRC connection.

[0154] The network side device can be a core network device, or a network device with a base station function. The network device can be a device arranged on the ground, or a non-ground device such as a satellite or a drone, and is not limited.

[0155] The network side device determines the first information and the second information after the terminal establishes an RRC connection, which can also be understood as: the network side device determines the first information and the second information after the terminal is in a connected state (or an RRC connected state), or the network side device determines the first information and the second information after establishing a communication connection with the terminal, or the network side device determines the first information and the second information after the terminal accesses the network side device, and is not limited.

[0156] Optionally, before determining the first information and the second information, in a possible implementation, the network-side device can obtain the location information of the terminal after the terminal establishes the RRC connection, and determine the first information and the second information according to the location information of the terminal.

[0157] Optionally, the network-side device can obtain the location information of the terminal at any time after the RRC connection establishment with the terminal is completed, and determine the first information and the second information according to the location information of the terminal, which is not limited. For example, the network-side device can obtain the location information of the terminal when the RRC connection establishment with the terminal is completed, and determine the first information and the second information according to the location information of the terminal. Alternatively, the network-side device can also obtain the location information of the terminal periodically after the RRC connection establishment with the terminal is completed, and determine the first information and the second information according to the location information of the terminal. Alternatively, the network-side device can also obtain the location information of the terminal before the terminal performs cell selection or cell switching after the RRC connection establishment with the terminal is completed, and determine the first information and the second information according to the location information of the terminal, so that the terminal performs SSB measurement according to the first information and the second information, and facilitates subsequent operations such as cell selection or cell switching, which is not limited.

[0158] For example, the network-side device can obtain the location information of the terminal according to any one of the following two possible designs:

[0159] In the first possible design, taking the network-side device as a network device for example, the network device can obtain the location information of the terminal based on a positioning process, or the terminal can actively report its own location information to the network device.

[0160] The positioning process of the terminal can be triggered by the network device or the core network device, for example, the network device can send a positioning request to the terminal to request the terminal to report its own location information, or the core network device can send a positioning request to the terminal through the network device to request the terminal to report its own location information. When the terminal reports its own location information, it can directly report its own location information, or report the measurement result of the measurement on the reference signal sent by the network device, and the network device can determine the location information of the terminal according to the measurement result, or the core network device can determine the location information of the terminal according to the measurement result reported by the terminal and send it to the network device. Alternatively, the network device can also measure the reference signal sent by the terminal, and determine the location information of the terminal according to the measurement result. The specific positioning process can refer to the related description in the communication protocol, which is not repeated here.

[0161] For example, the network device can send a "coarseLocationRequest" information element to the terminal to request the terminal to report its location information after the terminal establishes an RRC connection with the network device. The terminal can carry its location information in a "coarseLocationInfo" information element and send it to the network device.

[0162] In a second possible design, the network device is taken as an example of a core network device. The core network device can obtain the location information of the terminal based on a positioning procedure, or the terminal can actively report its location information to the core network device.

[0163] Similar to the first possible design, the terminal or the network device can send the location information of the terminal to the core network device, or the core network device can determine the location information of the terminal based on a positioning procedure.

[0164] Based on the description of the location information of the terminal, the network device can determine the first information and the second information according to the location information of the terminal.

[0165] The first information can be used to indicate at least one SSB of the first satellite, and the second information can be used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite. The first satellite can be a satellite corresponding to the location information of the terminal, that is, the terminal is located within the coverage range of the first satellite, and the first satellite can also be referred to as a home satellite. The second satellite can be a satellite adjacent to the first satellite, that is, the coverage range of the second satellite is adjacent to the coverage range of the first satellite, and the second satellite can also be referred to as a neighbor satellite.

[0166] Possible implementation manners of the first information are as follows.

[0167] The first information can be used to indicate one or more of the following: measurement configuration information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite, or position sequence information of at least one SSB of the first satellite.

[0168] For example, the measurement configuration information of at least one SSB of the first satellite can include one or more of the following: index information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, or measurement time information corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite.

[0169] Based on this, the first information can include one or more of the following: index information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite, measurement time information corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite, or position sequence information of at least one SSB of the first satellite.

[0170] The network side device can determine the index information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite according to a mapping manner (mapping manner one, or mapping manner two, or mapping manner three) of the region and the SSB index predefined by a communication protocol or preconfigured.

[0171] It can be understood that, different from the network side device carrying the index information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite in the first information to display the measurement configuration information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite, the network side device can also carry the region number and the preset offset of the first satellite in the first information based on the mapping manner one, and the terminal determines the index information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite based on the mapping manner one to implicitly indicate the measurement configuration information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite. Alternatively, the network side device can also carry the region number and the identification information of the first satellite in the first information based on the mapping manner two, and the terminal determines the index information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite based on the mapping manner two to implicitly indicate the measurement configuration information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite.

[0172] Mapping manner one: the preset offset of each satellite is planned, and the SSB index corresponding to the satellite is determined according to the preset offset of the satellite, for example, SSB index = (region number + preset offset of satellite) mod N, N represents the maximum value of the SSB index.

[0173] Mapping manner two: the SSB index corresponding to the satellite is determined according to the identification information of the satellite, for example, SSB index = (region number + identification information of satellite) mod N, N represents the maximum value of the SSB index.

[0174] Mapping manner three: different satellites can define a set of mapping rules of the region and the SSB index, but need to meet the following conditions to ensure that the SSBs corresponding to the same region in the satellite overlapping coverage are different in the SSB index of different satellites, and avoid SSB measurement interference: 1) adjacent regions should not be mapped to the same SSB index; 2) the center point distance of two regions mapped to the same SSB index should be as far as possible; 3) according to the coverage range and shape of a single satellite, the SSB indexes on the coverage region should be as different as possible.

[0175] It can be understood that the description of the mapping manner of the region and the SSB index can refer to the related description of Figure 16 , Figure 17 and Figure 18 , which will not be repeated here.

[0176] Exemplarily, taking the aforementioned mapping manner one as an example, assuming that N is 256 and the preset offset of the first satellite is 2, if the region number corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite corresponding to the terminal includes {12}, the SSB index corresponding to the region with the region number 12 is equal to (12+2)mod 256=14, that is, the SSB index of at least one SSB of the first satellite corresponding to the terminal includes {14}.

[0177] In another example, taking the aforementioned mapping manner one as an example, assuming that N is 256 and the preset offset of the first satellite is 2, if the region number corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite corresponding to the terminal includes {12, 13, 14}, the SSB index corresponding to the region with the region number 12 is equal to (12+2)mod 256=14, the SSB index corresponding to the region with the region number 13 is equal to (13+2)mod 256=15, and the SSB index corresponding to the region with the region number 14 is equal to (14+2)mod 256=16, that is, the SSB index of at least one SSB of the first satellite corresponding to the terminal includes {14, 15, 16}.

[0178] The measurement time information can include measurement time, measurement period, or information that can be used to indicate measurement time, such as measurement time offset.

[0179] The position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the first satellite can be used to indicate the geographical position relationship between the coverage ranges of the regions corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite. By carrying the position sequence information in the first information, the terminal can determine the specific coverage range of the region corresponding to the at least one SSB of the first satellite indicated by the first information.

[0180] Based on the above description of the first information, the at least one SSB of the first satellite indicated by the first information is described with reference to the following two possible designs:

[0181] In the first possible design, the at least one SSB of the first satellite includes a first SSB.

[0182] The first SSB is an SSB corresponding to the position information of the terminal (i.e., the terminal is located in the coverage range of the region corresponding to the first SSB).

[0183] When the network side device indicates the at least one SSB of the first satellite through the first information, the network side device can indicate all SSBs of the first satellite through the first information, and the terminal can determine the first SSB corresponding to itself from the SSBs indicated by the first information when receiving the first information.

[0184] For example, when the network-side device indicates all SSBs of the first satellite to the terminal through the first information, the terminal can determine the first SSB as the first SSB corresponding to the first information.

[0185] Alternatively, when the network-side device indicates at least one SSB of the first satellite through the first information, the network-side device can also indicate only the first SSB. Compared with the network-side device indicating all SSBs of the first satellite through the first information, the signaling overhead can be reduced, and the processing complexity of the terminal can be reduced.

[0186] In a second possible design, the at least one SSB of the first satellite includes the first SSB and at least one second SSB.

[0187] The first SSB is an SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal (i.e., the terminal is located in the coverage range of the area corresponding to the first SSB), and the area corresponding to the second SSB is adjacent to the area corresponding to the first SSB.

[0188] In a first possible implementation, when the network-side device indicates the first SSB and the at least one second SSB through the first information, the network-side device can indicate all SSBs of the first satellite through the first information. When the terminal receives the first information, the terminal can determine the first SSB and the at least one second SSB corresponding to the terminal from the SSBs indicated by the first information.

[0189] For example, when the network-side device indicates all SSBs of the first satellite to the terminal through the first information, the terminal can determine the first SSB as the first SSB corresponding to the first information. The terminal can also determine the at least one second SSB according to the coverage range information of the area corresponding to the first SSB and the coverage range information of the area corresponding to the other SSBs.

[0190] The coverage range information of the area corresponding to the SSB can be pre-configured in the terminal, or can be sent by the network-side device to the terminal. For example, the network-side device can send the coverage range information of the area corresponding to the SSB to the terminal through the first information, or can send the coverage range information of the area corresponding to the SSB to the terminal through other information, which is not limited.

[0191] In another example, when the network-side device indicates all SSBs of the first satellite to the terminal through the first information, the terminal can determine the first SSB corresponding to the terminal as the first SSB in the information of all SSBs. The terminal can also determine at least one second SSB according to the position sequence information of the plurality of SSBs, and the position sequence information of the plurality of SSBs can be used to indicate the geographical position relationship between the coverage ranges of the areas corresponding to the plurality of SSBs.

[0192] The position sequence information of the plurality of SSBs can be preconfigured in the terminal, or can be sent by the network-side device to the terminal. For example, the network-side device can send the position sequence information of the plurality of SSBs to the terminal through the first information, or can send the position sequence information of the plurality of SSBs to the terminal through other information, which is not limited.

[0193] In another example, the network-side device can also determine the first SSB corresponding to the terminal and the information of at least one second SSB as the first n information of all SSBs. Thus, when the terminal receives the first information, the terminal can determine the SSB corresponding to the first information as the first SSB, and determine the SSBs corresponding to the second to nth information as at least one second SSB, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0194] In a second possible implementation, when the network-side device indicates the first SSB and at least one second SSB through the first information, the network-side device can also only indicate the first SSB and at least one second SSB. Compared with the first possible implementation, the signaling overhead can be reduced, and the processing complexity of the terminal can be reduced.

[0195] For example, when the network-side device indicates the first SSB and at least one second SSB to the terminal through the first information, the network-side device can sequentially indicate the information of the first SSB and the information of at least one second SSB. Thus, when the terminal receives the first information, the terminal can determine the SSB corresponding to the first information as the first SSB, and determine the SSBs corresponding to the other information as at least one second SSB.

[0196] In another example, when the network-side device indicates the first SSB and at least one second SSB to the terminal through the first information, the network-side device can indicate the first SSB and at least one second SSB according to the position sequence of each SSB. Thus, when the terminal receives the first information, the terminal can determine the first SSB and at least one second SSB according to the position sequence information of the SSBs.

[0197] The possible implementation of the second information is as follows:

[0198] The second information can be used to indicate one or more of the following: a difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, a difference between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite, measurement configuration information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite, or position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0199] For example, the measurement configuration information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite can include one or more of the following: index information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite, or measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0200] Accordingly, the second information can include one or more of the following: difference information between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, difference information between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite, index information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite, coverage range information of a region corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite, measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite, or position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0201] When the second information indicates the difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, the terminal can determine the preset offset of the second satellite according to the difference, and then determine the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite according to the preset offset of the second satellite based on the mapping manner I. Alternatively, the terminal can also determine the SSB index of the same region in the second satellite according to the SSB index of the same region in the first satellite within the overlapping coverage range of the first satellite and the second satellite based on the difference. That is, the network side device can implicitly indicate the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite by indicating the difference. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, taking the difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite as 3 as an example, assuming that the SSB index of the same region in the first satellite within the overlapping coverage range of the first satellite and the second satellite is SSB17, SSB16, and SSB31, since the difference is 3, it can be determined that the SSB index of the same region in the second satellite is SSB20, SSB19, and SSB34. Figure 18

[0202] ​The difference between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite indicated by the second information can enable the terminal to determine the identification information of the second satellite according to the difference, and then determine the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite according to the identification information of the second satellite based on the above-mentioned mapping mode two. Alternatively, the terminal can also determine the SSB index of the same area in the second satellite in the first satellite based on the difference, according to the SSB index of the same area in the first satellite in the overlapping coverage range of the first satellite and the second satellite. That is, the network side device can implicitly indicate the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite by indicating the difference. For example, as shown in Figure 18 the difference between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite is 3, it is assumed that the SSB indexes of the same area in the first satellite in the overlapping coverage range of the first satellite and the second satellite are SSB17, SSB16 and SSB31. Since the difference is 3, it can be determined that the SSB indexes of the same area in the second satellite are SSB20, SSB19 and SSB34.

[0203] The network side device can determine the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite based on the above-mentioned mapping mode one, or mapping mode two, or mapping mode three, and display the index of the at least one SSB of the second satellite to the terminal through the second information.

[0204] The measurement time information can include measurement time, measurement period or measurement time offset, and the like, which can be used to indicate the measurement time.

[0205] The position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite can be used to indicate the geographical position relationship between the coverage ranges of the areas corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite. By carrying the position sequence information in the second information, the terminal can determine the specific coverage range of the areas corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite indicated by the second information. For example, as shown in Figure 18 the position sequence information of the at least one SSB of the second satellite indicates that the sequence from left to right and from top to bottom, the network side device can indicate the at least one SSB of the second satellite to the terminal in the following order: SSB20, SSB19, SSB34.

[0206] Based on the above description of the second information, the area corresponding to the at least one SSB of the second satellite is adjacent to the area corresponding to the first SSB.

[0207] In a first possible design, when the network device indicates at least one SSB of the second satellite through the second information, the network device can indicate all SSBs of the second satellite through the second information, and the terminal can determine the SSBs corresponding to the regions adjacent to the region of the first SSB in the second satellite from all the SSBs of the second satellite indicated by the second information.

[0208] For example, when the network device indicates all SSBs of the second satellite to the terminal through the second information, the network device can take the SSBs corresponding to the regions adjacent to the region of the first SSB in the second satellite as the first m pieces of information in the information of all SSBs of the second satellite. In this way, when the terminal receives the second information, the terminal can determine the first m pieces of SSBs as the SSBs corresponding to the regions adjacent to the region of the first SSB in the second satellite. Alternatively, the terminal can also determine the SSBs corresponding to the regions adjacent to the region of the first SSB in the second satellite according to the coverage range information of the region corresponding to the first SSB and the coverage range information of the regions corresponding to the respective SSBs of the second satellite. Alternatively, the terminal can also determine the SSBs corresponding to the regions adjacent to the region of the first SSB in the second satellite according to the position sequence information of the SSBs of the second satellite.

[0209] In a second possible design, the second information can also indicate only the SSBs corresponding to the regions adjacent to the region of the first SSB in the second satellite. Compared with the first possible design, the second possible design can reduce signaling overhead and reduce the processing complexity of the terminal.

[0210] In the above description of the first information and the second information, the network device can determine the index of at least one SSB of the first satellite and the index of at least one SSB of the second satellite according to the mapping relationship between the region and the SSB. The mapping relationship is described in detail as follows:

[0211] To prevent the index of the SSB to be measured by the terminal from frequently changing with the movement of the satellite, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a scenario of a fixed region on the ground, that is, a SSB coverage pattern design scheme based on the region on the ground. In this scheme, the mapping relationship between the number of the fixed region on the ground and the index of the SSB is always unchanged.

[0212] For example, according to the upper limit N of the index of the SSB, each SSB index can be repeatedly mapped according to certain criteria. The mapping principles are as follows: adjacent regions should not be mapped to the same SSB index; the distance between the center points of the two regions mapped to the same SSB index should be as far as possible; and according to the coverage range and shape of a single satellite, the SSB indexes on the coverage region of the single satellite should be as different as possible.

[0213] For example, taking a single satellite corresponding to 256 SSBs as an example, as shown in FIG. 2, the index of each SSB is repeatedly mapped according to certain criteria. Figure 16As shown, each rectangle represents a region, and the number inside the rectangle represents the SSB index. A one-to-one mapping can be established between all regions and 256 SSBs. When the coverage area of ​​a single satellite is approximately rectangular, the 256 mutually adjacent regions corresponding to SSBs 0 to 255 can form a rectangle that is essentially consistent with the satellite's coverage area. Furthermore, using such a rectangle (e.g....) Figure 16 The dashed rectangle in the image represents an SSB overlay pattern unit. Repeating the mapping configuration across all regions yields the following result: Figure 16 The diagram shows that the entire area on the ground corresponds to multiple SSB coverage pattern units configured by repeated mapping, thus ensuring that the SSB indices of adjacent areas are different, and that the distance between the center points of areas corresponding to the same SSB index is as far as possible. At any given time, each satellite can cover areas with 256 different SSB indices.

[0214] From the terminal's perspective, since the mapping relationship between the region and the SSB index remains unchanged, for a quasi-stationary terminal, when its geographical location remains unchanged or changes by no more than one region size, the SSB index that needs to be measured also remains unchanged. Therefore, for such a quasi-stationary terminal, the network-side equipment can send the first and second information only once to save signaling overhead.

[0215] However, the SSB index determined based on the above scheme will result in the same SSB index for the same area corresponding to the local satellite and the neighboring satellite within the overlapping coverage range. When the local satellite and the neighboring satellite transmit SSB at the same time, measurement interference will occur.

[0216] like Figure 17 As shown, each rectangle represents a region, and the number inside the rectangle represents the SSB index. It can be seen that the coverage area of ​​satellite 1 includes the region filled with pattern 1 and pattern 2, and the coverage area of ​​satellite 2 includes the region filled with pattern 2 and pattern 3. The SSB indices corresponding to the same region within the overlapping coverage area of ​​satellite 1 and satellite 2 (i.e., the region filled with pattern 2) are the same. This will cause terminals located in the region within the overlapping coverage area to receive SSB signals from satellite 1 and satellite 2 at the same time, resulting in interference.

[0217] Based on this, the mapping rules between regions and SSB indexes can be adjusted to avoid SSB measurement interference in areas within the overlapping coverage of satellites.

[0218] For example, the mapping relationship between a region and an SSB index can be determined by referring to any of the following three mapping methods:

[0219] Mapping mode one, the preset offset of each satellite can be planned, and the SSB index corresponding to the satellite is determined according to the preset offset of the satellite, for example, SSB index = (region number + preset offset of the satellite) mod N.

[0220] Wherein, the ground can be divided into several fixed size regions, and all regions are assigned with non-repeating region numbers. For example, the ground can be divided into 1024 regions, and the corresponding region numbers are 0-1023.

[0221] Wherein, the preset offset corresponding to different satellites is different. For example, the preset offset corresponding to satellites 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 respectively; or the preset offset corresponding to satellites 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 respectively, without limitation.

[0222] Wherein, N represents the maximum value of the SSB index. For example, N can be 256.

[0223] For example, as shown in FIG. 1, Figure 18 As shown in FIG. 1, each rectangle represents a region, and the numbers in the rectangle represent the SSB index. As can be seen, the coverage range of satellite 1 includes the region filled with pattern 1 and pattern 2, the coverage range of satellite 2 includes the region filled with pattern 2 and pattern 3, and the overlapping coverage range of satellite 1 and satellite 2 is the region filled with pattern 2. Taking the preset offset corresponding to satellite 1 as 2, the preset offset corresponding to satellite 2 as 5, and N as 256 as an example, for the same region in the overlapping coverage range of satellite 1 and satellite 2, such as the region numbered 271, 270, and 285, the corresponding SSB index in satellite 1 can be 17 (i.e. (271+2) mod 256), 16 (i.e. (270+2) mod 256), and 31 (i.e. (285+2) mod 256), and the corresponding SSB index in satellite 2 can be 20 (i.e. (271+5) mod 256), 19 (i.e. (270+5) mod 256), and 34 (i.e. (285+5) mod 256), so as to ensure that the SSB corresponding to the same region in the overlapping coverage range of the satellites is different in the SSB index in different satellites, and avoid SSB measurement interference.

[0224] Mapping mode two, the SSB index corresponding to the satellite can be determined according to the identification information of the satellite, for example, SSB index = (region number + identification information of the satellite) mod N.

[0225] Wherein, N represents the maximum value of the SSB index. For example, N can be 256.

[0226] Since the identification information of different satellites is different, according to the second possible design, it can be ensured that the SSBs corresponding to the same area in the overlapping coverage of different satellites are different in SSB index in different satellites, so as to avoid SSB measurement interference.

[0227] The third mapping manner is that different satellites can define a set of mapping rules of area and SSB index, but need to meet the following conditions to ensure that the SSBs corresponding to the same area in the overlapping coverage of different satellites are different in SSB index in different satellites, so as to avoid SSB measurement interference: 1) adjacent areas should not be mapped to the same SSB index; 2) the center point distance of two areas mapped to the same SSB index should be as far as possible; 3) according to the coverage range and shape of a single satellite, the SSB indexes on its coverage area should be as different as possible.

[0228] Based on the above description of the mapping relationship between the area and the SSB index, the network side device can determine the first information (indicating at least one SSB of the first satellite) and the second information (indicating at least one SSB of the second satellite) according to the position information of the terminal based on the mapping relationship between the area and the SSB index.

[0229] Step 1502, the network side device sends the first information and the second information to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal receives the first information and the second information from the network side device after establishing the RRC connection.

[0230] For example, the network side device can send the first information and the second information to the terminal by referring to any one of the following two possible designs.

[0231] In the first possible design, taking the network device as an example, the network device can carry the first information and the second information in the RRC signaling (such as the first RRC signaling) to send to the terminal.

[0232] The network device can send the first information and the second information to the terminal by adding a new RRC signaling, or the network device can also send the first information and the second information to the terminal by RRC reconfiguration signaling, which is not limited.

[0233] For example, taking the network device sending the first information and the second information to the terminal by adding a new RRC signaling as an example, the RRC signaling can include the following contents:

[0234]

[0235] Wherein, SSBpattern represents the first information, SSB index represents the index of the SSB indicated by the first information, the first index is the index of the SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal, and if the first information further includes at least one second SSB, the indexes of the at least one second SSB can be given in order from left to right and from top to bottom. Taking the SSBindex corresponding to the location information of the terminal as SSB0 for example, the indexes of the at least one second SSB in order are SSB241, SSB1, SSB17, SSB240, SSB16, SSB255, SSB15 and SSB31. Coverageinfo represents the coverage range information of the area corresponding to each SSB. Through the first information, the terminal can uniquely determine at least one SSB (including the first SSB or further including at least one second SSB) of the first satellite and the accurate position corresponding thereto.

[0236] Wherein, NeighborInfo represents the second information, PCI-List represents the identification information of the second satellite, and Offset-List represents the difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite. Through the second information, the terminal can uniquely determine at least one SSB of the second satellite and the accurate position corresponding thereto.

[0237] In the second possible design, taking the network side device as a core network device for example, the core network device can carry the first information and the second information in a non access stratum (NAS) signaling (such as a first NAS signaling) and send to the terminal.

[0238] Wherein, the NAS signaling can be transmitted from the core network device to the network device through a container, and then transmitted from the network device to the terminal. Optionally, the core network device can carry the NAS signaling including the first information and the second information in a downlink information transmission (DLInformationTransfer) message and issue to the terminal.

[0239] Alternatively, the network side device can send the first information and the second information to the terminal respectively, that is, the network side device can carry the first information and the second information in different signaling and send to the terminal.

[0240] For example, the network side device can carry the first information in an RRC signaling or a NAS signaling and send to the terminal, and carry the second information in a SIB 19 and send to the terminal.

[0241] In addition, unlike the network-side equipment mentioned above which sends first and second information to the terminal to indicate at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite based on a pre-configured mapping relationship between regions and SSBs, the terminal can also determine at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite itself based on a pre-configured mapping relationship between regions and SSBs.

[0242] Step 1503: The terminal determines at least one SSB to be measured based on at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0243] Among them, at least one SSB to be measured is an SSB of at least one SSB of the first satellite and an SSB of at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0244] Specifically, the terminal can determine at least one SSB to be measured from at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite according to its actual communication needs.

[0245] For example, when the terminal is not moving, the terminal can use the first SSB as the SSB to be measured. Optionally, the terminal can also select one or more SSBs from each of the second SSBs and at least one SSB of the second satellite as the SSB to be measured, so as to prepare for cell handover or beam switching by measuring the one or more SSBs when the signal quality is poor.

[0246] In another example, when the terminal moves, it can use the first SSB as the SSB to be measured. The terminal can also determine one or more SSBs to be measured based on its own movement trajectory and the coverage information of the area corresponding to each second SSB and at least one SSB of the second satellite, in order to prepare for cell handover or beam handover.

[0247] For example, such as Figure 18 As shown, taking SSB0 as the SSB corresponding to the area where the terminal is located, the second SSB of the first satellite may include: SSB241, SSB1, SSB17, SSB240, SSB16, SSB255, SSB15, and SSB31; at least one SSB of the second satellite may include: SSB20, SSB19, and SSB34. Assuming the terminal determines that it is currently moving towards the coverage area corresponding to SSB16 based on its own movement trajectory, the terminal can use SSB16 of the first satellite and SSB19 of the second satellite as the SSBs to be measured.

[0248] After identifying at least one SSB to be measured, the terminal can also determine the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured.

[0249] In a case where the at least one SSB to be measured includes at least one SSB of the first satellite, the terminal can determine the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured according to the measurement time information of the first SSB and the transmission period of the SSB.

[0250] In a case where the at least one SSB to be measured includes at least one SSB of the second satellite, the terminal can determine the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured according to the measurement time information of the first SSB, the transmission period of the SSB, the ephemeris information of the second satellite, and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite.

[0251] The measurement time information can include a measurement period, a measurement bias, a measurement duration, etc., without limitation.

[0252] Optionally, the measurement period of the at least one SSB to be measured can be a multiple of a default SSB measurement period.

[0253] Optionally, the terminal can measure the at least one SSB to be measured within the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured, obtain a measurement result, and send the measurement result to the network side device.

[0254] The terminal can assist the network side device in beam switching by reporting the measurement result to the network side device. The terminal can enable subsequent procedures such as cell reselection and cell switching according to the measurement result.

[0255] Specifically, after the terminal reports the measurement result to the network side device, if the current optimal SSB of the terminal is replaced, the network side device can subsequently determine the scheduling beam of the terminal based on the replaced optimal SSB; or if the terminal measures a better SSB signal quality of a neighbor satellite, the terminal can subsequently perform a cell reselection or cell switching procedure according to the measured optimal neighbor satellite SSB. Further, the terminal can start an initial access procedure of the neighbor satellite according to the optimal neighbor satellite SSB, initiate random access, etc., without limitation.

[0256] Based on the above Figure 15In the method, when the network side configures the SSB measurement for the terminal, the network side can send the SSB measurement configuration corresponding to the terminal to the terminal after the terminal establishes the RRC connection, and the terminal is in the connected state. In this application, the SSB measurement configuration configured by the network side for the terminal is terminal-level, that is, the network side can indicate a limited number of deterministic SSBs around the terminal according to the location information of the terminal, such as at least one SSB of the satellite corresponding to the current location of the terminal (such as the first satellite) and at least one SSB of the adjacent satellite (such as the second satellite). Compared with the SSB measurement configuration of all SSBs corresponding to the cell or beam broadcast by the cell-level or beam-level SMTC configuration, the flexibility of the SSB measurement configuration can be improved, and the signaling overhead can be reduced. When the terminal performs SSB measurement, the terminal can determine at least one SSB to be measured from the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite, thereby improving the flexibility and accuracy of the SSB measurement, reducing the measurement redundancy, reducing the measurement overhead, and reducing the measurement power consumption of the terminal.

[0257] Based on the above Figure 15 In the method, optionally, when the network side device determines that the terminal is located at the edge of the satellite, the network side device can send the first information and the second information to the terminal according to the location information of the terminal. Or, when the network side device determines that there is at least one area in the area adjacent to the area corresponding to the first SSB, which is the overlapping coverage area of the first satellite and the second satellite, the network side device can send the first information and the second information to the terminal according to the location information of the terminal.

[0258] It can be understood that when the network side device determines that the terminal is located in the non-edge area of the satellite, the network side device can send the first information to the terminal without sending the second information to the terminal, so as to reduce the signaling overhead. Or, when the network side device determines that there is no overlapping coverage area of the first satellite and the second satellite in the area adjacent to the area corresponding to the first SSB, the network side device can send the first information to the terminal according to the location information of the terminal without sending the second information to the terminal, so as to reduce the signaling overhead.

[0259] Correspondingly, when the network side device sends the first information to the terminal without sending the second information to the terminal, the terminal can determine at least one SSB to be measured according to the first information and perform measurement, and send the measurement result to the network side device.

[0260] In addition, for the foregoing manner in which the terminal determines the SSB measurement configuration based on the cell-level or beam-level SMTC configuration of the cell broadcast by the network-side device through the system message, after the terminal receives the system message containing the SSB measurement configuration once, the terminal generally no longer updates the system message, unless the network-side device initiates paging to the terminal using the paging resource and instructs the terminal to receive the system message again. Considering the movement of the satellite or the terminal, the SSB corresponding to the position of the terminal at different moments can be different, and the corresponding measurement window and SSB index to be measured and other parameters are also different. If the terminal continues to use the original SSB measurement configuration, it will cause deviation in measuring the SSB, thereby causing inaccurate mobility judgment, for example, failure to camp due to cell reselection error.

[0261] For example, when the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the area corresponding to the first SSB, if the terminal still uses the foregoing first information and second information to perform SSB measurement, it will cause measurement error. For another example, taking that the terminal is located in the central area of the satellite as an example, the network-side device can send the first information to the terminal. When the satellite moves and causes the terminal to move from the central area of the satellite to the edge area of the satellite (i.e., the overlapping coverage area with the neighboring satellite), if the terminal still uses the foregoing first information to perform SSB measurement, it will cause the terminal to be unable to measure the neighboring satellite, thereby causing handover failure.

[0262] Based on this, the foregoing method can be used to send the terminal-level SSB measurement configuration (including one or more of the first information or the second information) to the terminal by the network-side device. In addition, the terminal can also update one or more of the following information: the first information or the second information, so that the terminal can timely perceive the change in the measurement configuration caused by the movement of the terminal or the satellite and update it in time, thereby avoiding inaccurate mobility management caused by deviation in SSB measurement. Figure 15

[0263] Among them, the terminal can send first indication information to the network-side device to indicate to update one or more of the following information: the first information or the second information. When the network-side device receives the first indication information sent by the terminal, it can send the updated first information and / or the updated second information to the terminal.

[0264] Optionally, the terminal can send the first indication information when a preset condition is met.

[0265] Among them, the preset condition can include at least one of the following first to fifth examples:

[0266] In the first example, in a case where the distance between the terminal and the center point of the area corresponding to the first SSB is greater than the distance between the terminal and the center point of the area corresponding to other SSBs, the terminal can send the first indication information to the network-side device.

[0267] ​In the second example, in a case where a distance between the terminal and a center point of the area corresponding to the first SSB is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the terminal can send the first indication information to the network side device.

[0268] The preset threshold can be a maximum value or a minimum value of the center point of the area and an edge position of the area. The preset threshold can be determined by the terminal itself or indicated by the network side device.

[0269] Optionally, the network side device can carry the preset threshold in one or more of the following signaling to indicate to the terminal: system message (such as SIB1, SIB19), RRC signaling, or NAS signaling, etc., without limitation.

[0270] In the third example, in a case where the terminal determines that the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the area corresponding to the first SSB according to the coverage range information of the area corresponding to the first SSB, the terminal can send the first indication information to the network side device.

[0271] In the fourth example, in a case where the terminal determines that the optimal SSB changes from the first SSB to another SSB according to the measurement result of the SSB, the terminal can send the first indication information to the network side device.

[0272] The terminal can determine the optimal SSB according to the signal quality, such as determining the SSB with the strongest signal quality as the optimal SSB.

[0273] For example, the strength of the signal quality can be represented by one or more of the following parameters: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), signal noise ratio (SNR), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), reference signal strength indication (RSSI), etc., without limitation.

[0274] In the fifth example, in a case where the terminal determines that the terminal changes from a center area of the first satellite to an edge area of the first satellite, the terminal can send the first indication information to the network side device.

[0275] When the terminal moves, the terminal can change from the center area of the first satellite to the edge area of the first satellite. Alternatively, when the first satellite moves, the terminal can change from the center area of the first satellite to the edge area of the first satellite.

[0276] For example, the terminal can calculate the distance between the terminal and the first satellite or the elevation angle of the terminal according to the position information of the terminal and the ephemeris information received from the network side device. If the distance is greater than a certain threshold or the elevation angle is less than a certain threshold, the terminal can determine that it is currently located in the edge area of the first satellite.

[0277] It should be noted that the above various thresholds can be pre-set by the terminal or indicated by the network side device. For example, the threshold information can be carried in the system message SIB1, or in other system messages (such as SIB19). Alternatively, the threshold information can also be issued through RRC signaling or core network NAS signaling after initial RRC connection establishment, to realize the setting of terminal-level threshold.

[0278] It can be understood that when the terminal does not move, but only changes from the center area of the first satellite to the edge area of the first satellite due to the movement of the first satellite, the terminal can only request the second information from the network side device to reduce the signaling overhead.

[0279] Based on the above description of the first indication information, the terminal can send the first indication information to the network side device when in a connected state.

[0280] In a first possible design, taking the network side device as an example, the terminal can carry the first indication information in a random access request to send to the network device.

[0281] The first indication information can be a preamble related to updating one or more of the following information: the first information, or the second information.

[0282] Specifically, the first indication information can be assigned a specified preamble. The terminal carries the specified preamble in the random access request to request the network device to issue the updated first information and / or the updated second information. After receiving the random access request, the network device can send Msg2 to respond to the terminal. When the RAPID in Msg2 is consistent with the preamble index sent by the terminal, it is considered that the network device has received the request of the terminal. Then the network device can send the updated first information and / or the updated second information to the terminal through RRC signaling.

[0283] In a second possible design, taking the network side device as an example, the terminal can carry the first indication information in an RRC signaling (such as a second RRC signaling) to send to the network device.

[0284] Exemplarily, the terminal can add an on-demand SSB pattern information element "ondemandSSBpattern" in RRC signaling, and indicate to the network device that the terminal needs to acquire the updated first information and / or the updated second information by setting the value of the information element to 0 or 1.

[0285] A third possible design, taking a core network device as an example, the terminal can carry the first indication information in NAS signaling (such as second NAS signaling) to the core network device.

[0286] Exemplarily, the terminal can report the first indication information by using an uplink information transmission ULInformationTransfer message, where a dedicated NAS message information element DedicatedNAS-Message is used to transmit terminal-specific (UE-specific) NAS layer information to the core network device, and the terminal can place the first indication information in the information element. When the core network device receives the first indication information placed in the information element DedicatedNAS-Message, the core network device can send the updated first information and / or the updated second information to the terminal through a downlink information transmission DLInformationTransfer message.

[0287] Based on the above description of the acquisition method of the updated first information or the updated second information, when the terminal is in the non-connected state, if the terminal determines that it needs to acquire the updated first information and / or the updated second information according to the foregoing description, the terminal can first restore itself to the connected state, and then send the first indication information to the network device to acquire the updated first information and / or the updated second information.

[0288] When the terminal acquires the updated first information and / or the updated second information, the terminal can refer to the foregoing description Figure 15 According to the updated first information and / or the updated second information, determine at least one SSB to be measured, measure the at least one SSB to be measured in the measurement time information corresponding to the at least one SSB to be measured, obtain a measurement result, and send the measurement result to the network device.

[0289] It should be noted that each embodiment of the present application can be implemented independently or in combination, and is not limited. If there is no special description and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions provided in different embodiments of the present application are consistent and can be mutually referenced. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0290] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject can execute part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also execute other operations or various modifications of the operations. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order from the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0291] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between devices. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above functions, each device comprises a hardware structure and / or a software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0292] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional modules of each device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or software functional module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. Actual implementation can have another division method.

[0293] In the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, Figure 19 A communication device 190 is shown, which can execute the above-mentioned Figures 15 to 18 The actions performed by the terminal, or the network device, or the core network device in the method shown above, all related contents of each step involved in the method embodiment can be referred to the function description of the corresponding functional module, and the technical effects that can be obtained are referred to the above method embodiment, which will not be described here.

[0294] The communication apparatus 190 can include at least one processing module 1902. Optionally, the communication apparatus 190 can further include at least one transceiver module 1901, which can also be referred to as an interface module. For example, the communication apparatus 190 can be a communication device, or a chip or other combination device or component with the above functions of the communication apparatus applied in the communication device. When the communication apparatus 190 is a communication device, the transceiver module 1901 can be a transceiver, which can include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, etc. The processing module 1902 can be a processor (or processing circuit), for example, a baseband processor, which can include one or more CPUs. When the communication apparatus 190 is a component with the above functions of the communication apparatus, the transceiver module 1901 can be a radio frequency unit. The processing module 1902 can be a processor (or processing circuit), for example, a baseband processor. When the communication apparatus 190 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1901 can be an input / output interface of a chip (for example, a baseband chip). The processing module 1902 can be a processor (or processing circuit) of the chip system, which can include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1901 in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component. The processing module 1902 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component (or processing circuit).

[0295] For example, the transceiver module 1901 can be configured to perform all the transceiver operations performed by the communication apparatus in the embodiments shown in the above Figures 15 to 18 and / or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. The processing module 1902 can be configured to perform all the operations performed by the communication apparatus in the embodiments shown in the above Figures 15 to 18 and / or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein, except for the transceiver operations.

[0296] For example, in the case where the communication apparatus 190 is configured to perform the actions performed by the terminal in the above Figures 15 to 18 method, the communication apparatus 190 can obtain the first information and the second information by the transceiver module 1901 after the processing module 1902 establishes the RRC connection, and determine the at least one SSB to be measured according to the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite by the processing module 1902. Alternatively, the first information and the second information can be obtained by the processing module 1902, and the at least one SSB to be measured can be determined according to the at least one SSB of the first satellite and the at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0297] In another example, in the case where the communication apparatus 190 is configured to perform the actions performed by the terminal in the above Figures 15 to 18In the case of the actions performed by the network device or the core network device in the method shown, the communication apparatus 190 can determine the first information and the second information by the processing module 1902 after the terminal establishes the RRC connection, and transmit the first information and the second information to the terminal by the transceiver module 1901.

[0298] In the above two examples, the first information is used to indicate at least one SSB of the first satellite; and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite.

[0299] As another implementable manner, Figure 19 The transceiver module 1901 in the communication apparatus 190 can be replaced by a transceiver, which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1901; and the processing module 1902 can be replaced by a processor, which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1902. Further, Figure 19 The communication apparatus 190 shown can further include a memory.

[0300] Alternatively, when the processing module 1902 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1901 is replaced by a transceiver, the communication apparatus 190 related by the embodiments of the present application can also be Figure 20 The communication apparatus 200 shown. Wherein the processor can be a logic circuit 2001, and the transceiver can be an interface circuit 2002. Further, Figure 20 The communication apparatus 200 shown can further include a memory 2003.

[0301] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication apparatus 2100, as Figure 21 The communication apparatus 2100 can be a dual connectivity device or a chip or system on chip in the dual connectivity device; or can be a core network device or a chip or system on chip in the core network device. As Figure 21 The communication apparatus 2100 includes a processor 2101, a transceiver 2102 and a communication line 2103.

[0302] Further, the communication apparatus 2100 can further include a memory 2104. Wherein the processor 2101, the memory 2104 and the transceiver 2102 can be connected through the communication line 2103.

[0303] The processor 2101 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 2101 can also be other devices that have processing capabilities, such as a circuit, a device, or a software module, without limitation.

[0304] The transceiver 2102 is configured to communicate with another device or another communication network. The other communication network can be an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), or the like. The transceiver 2102 can be a module, a circuit, a transceiver, or any device that can realize communication.

[0305] The communication line 2103 is configured to transmit information between components included in the communication device 2100.

[0306] The memory 2104 is configured to store instructions. The instructions can be a computer program.

[0307] The memory 2104 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or another type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions, or a random access memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or another optical disk storage, an optical disk storage (including a compact disc, a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc, a Blu-ray disc, and the like), a magnetic disk storage medium, or another magnetic storage device, without limitation.

[0308] It should be noted that the memory 2104 can exist independently of the processor 2101, or can be integrated with the processor 2101. The memory 2104 can be used to store instructions or program codes or some data, etc. The memory 2104 can be located within the communication apparatus 2100, or can be located outside the communication apparatus 2100, which is not limited. The processor 2101 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 2104, so as to implement the communication method provided by the embodiments described below.

[0309] In an example, the processor 2101 can include one or more CPUs, for example, CPU0 and CPU1 in the CPU 2102. Figure 21

[0310] As an optional implementation, the communication apparatus 2100 includes a plurality of processors, for example, in addition to the processor 2101 in the CPU 2102, the communication apparatus 2100 can further include a processor 2107. Figure 21

[0311] As an optional implementation, the communication apparatus 2100 further includes an output device 2105 and an input device 2106. For example, the input device 2106 is a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone or a joystick, and the output device 2105 is a display screen, a speaker, etc.

[0312] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 2100 can be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system or a device having a similar structure in the Figure 21 In addition, the constituent structures shown in the Figure 21 do not constitute a limitation on the communication apparatus, and the communication apparatus can include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or combine some components, or different arrangement of components. Figure 21

[0313] In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0314] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0315] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program, which can implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0316] ​​​The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium. All or part of the processes of the above method embodiments can be instructed by a computer program to relevant hardware to complete, the program can be stored in the above computer readable storage medium, and the program can include the processes of the above method embodiments when executed. The computer readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including a data sending terminal and / or a data receiving terminal) of any of the above embodiments, for example, a hard disk or a memory of the terminal. The computer readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the terminal, for example, a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card and the like. Further, the computer readable storage medium can include both the internal storage unit and the external storage device of the terminal. The computer readable storage medium is used to store the above computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal. The computer readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0317] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification of the present application, claims and drawings are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a specific order. "First", "second" are only for description purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present embodiment, unless otherwise stated, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0318] In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or can optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product or device.

[0319] It should be understood that in the present application, "at least one" means one or more. "Multiple" means two or more. "At least two" means two or three and more. "And / or" is used to describe the relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean that there are three cases: only A, only B, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. "When" and "if" both mean that under certain objective circumstances, the corresponding processing will be done, not limited to time, and does not require a judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0320] In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example or illustration. Any embodiment or design presented as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner, which facilitates understanding.

[0321] In the present application, "sending information to (a terminal)" can be understood as the destination of the information is the terminal. It can include direct or indirect sending of information to the terminal. "Receiving information from (a terminal)" can be understood as the source of the information is the terminal, which can include direct or indirect receiving of information from the terminal. The information between the source and the destination of the information sending may be processed as necessary, such as format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source.

[0322] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, only the above division of functional modules is taken as an example. In actual application, the above functions can be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0323] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method can be implemented by other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, for example, the division of the modules or units is merely a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another apparatus, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units or components shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, apparatuses or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0324] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can be one physical unit or a plurality of physical units, that is, can be located in one place or can be distributed to a plurality of different places. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0325] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0326] The integrated unit, if realized in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or all or part of the technical scheme. The software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing an apparatus (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, a chip, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk and various program code storage media.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: After establishing a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection, first information and second information are acquired, wherein the first information is used to indicate at least one Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) of the first satellite; and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite. Based on at least one SSB of the first satellite and at least one SSB of the second satellite, determine at least one SSB to be measured.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, At least one SSB of the first satellite includes the first SSB; or The first satellite has at least one SSB, including a first SSB and at least one second SSB; Wherein, the first SSB is the SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal, and the area corresponding to the second SSB is adjacent to the area corresponding to the first SSB.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The region corresponding to at least one SSB of the second satellite is adjacent to the region corresponding to the first SSB.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The second information is used to indicate one or more of the following: the difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, the difference between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite, the measurement configuration information of at least one SSB of the second satellite, the coverage information of the area corresponding to at least one SSB of the second satellite, or the position order information of at least one SSB of the second satellite. The location order information is used to indicate the geographical location relationship between the coverage areas of at least one SSB of the second satellite.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The second information includes one or more of the following: the difference between the preset offset corresponding to the first satellite and the preset offset corresponding to the second satellite, the difference between the identification information of the first satellite and the identification information of the second satellite, the index information of at least one SSB of the second satellite, the coverage information of the area corresponding to at least one SSB of the second satellite, the measurement time information corresponding to at least one SSB of the second satellite, and the position order information of at least one SSB of the second satellite. The location order information is used to indicate the geographical location relationship between the coverage areas of at least one SSB of the second satellite.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The first information is used to indicate one or more of the following: measurement configuration information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, coverage information of the area corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite, or positional order information of at least one SSB of the first satellite; The location order information is used to indicate the geographical location relationship between the coverage areas of at least one SSB of the first satellite.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The first information includes one or more of the following: index information of at least one SSB of the first satellite, coverage information of the area corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite, measurement time information corresponding to at least one SSB of the first satellite, or position sequence information of at least one SSB of the first satellite. The location order information is used to indicate the geographical location relationship between the coverage areas of at least one SSB of the first satellite.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The acquisition of the first information and the second information includes: Send the terminal's location information; The system receives the first information and the second information; wherein the first information and the second information are determined based on the location information of the terminal.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a first indication message, wherein the first indication message is used to indicate updating one or more of the following: the first information, or the second information; Get the updated first information and / or the updated second information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The sending of the first indication information includes: When the preset conditions are met, send the first indication information; The preset conditions include at least one of the following: The distance between the terminal and the center point of the area corresponding to the first SSB is greater than the distance between the center points of the terminal and the areas corresponding to other SSBs; the distance between the terminal and the center point of the area corresponding to the first SSB is greater than or equal to a preset threshold; the terminal determines that it has moved out of the coverage area of ​​the area corresponding to the first SSB based on the coverage information of the area corresponding to the first SSB; the terminal determines that the optimal SSB has changed from the first SSB to another SSB based on the measurement results of the SSB; or the terminal determines that it has changed from the central area of ​​the first satellite to the edge area of ​​the first satellite. Wherein, the first SSB is the SSB corresponding to the location information of the terminal.

11. A communication method, characterized in that, include: After the terminal establishes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection, the first and second information are determined. The first information and the second information are sent to the terminal; wherein the first information is used to indicate at least one synchronization signal block (SSB) of the first satellite; and the second information is used to indicate at least one SSB of the second satellite.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, After establishing an RRC connection on the terminal, determining the first information and the second information includes: After establishing an RRC connection on the terminal, the location information of the terminal is obtained; The first information and the second information are determined based on the location information of the terminal.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive first indication information from the terminal; wherein the first indication information is used to indicate updating one or more of the following: the first information, or the second information; Based on the location information of the terminal, send updated first information and / or updated second information to the terminal.

14. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-10, or includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 11-13.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs that, when executed on a computer, cause the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-10 to be executed, or cause the communication method as described in any one of claims 11-13 to be executed.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes computer instructions; when some or all of the computer instructions are executed on a computer, they cause the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-10 to be executed, or cause the communication method as described in any one of claims 11-13 to be executed.

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