Downlink measurement method and communication device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a downlink measurement method and a communication device. And the user equipment determines a first downlink carrier from the resident downlink carrier set, and performs downlink measurement on the to-be-measured downlink carrier when cross-carrier downlink measurement needs to be performed. In a cross-carrier downlink measurement period, downlink communication on a first downlink carrier is suspended, and downlink communication on a second downlink carrier is maintained. Therefore, the user equipment can perform scheduling and transmission with the network equipment through the uninterrupted second downlink carrier, thereby improving the communication efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a downlink measurement method and a communication device. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of wireless communication, network equipment and user equipment (UE) communicate downlink via downlink component carrier (DLCC). In order to understand the channel status of DLCC in adjacent sectors for mobility management, it is necessary to switch frequencies to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements of DLCC in neighboring sectors.

[0003] Currently, network equipment configures periodic measurement intervals when a UE joins the network. When a UE needs to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements, it can measure the DL CC to be measured within the measurement interval. During cross-carrier downlink measurements, the UE autonomously decides to switch the capability of a certain active DL CC to the DL CC to be measured, in order to perform downlink measurements on the DL CC and thus understand the channel status of the DL CC to be measured. Furthermore, during this period, communication between the UE and the network equipment for all DL CCs is interrupted.

[0004] Because downlink communication between the network device and the UE is interrupted on all DL CCs during cross-carrier downlink measurements, the data transmission efficiency between the network device and the UE is reduced during cross-carrier downlink measurements. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a downlink measurement method and communication device for improving communication efficiency.

[0006] In a first aspect, this application provides a downlink measurement method, which can be performed by a terminal device or by a component of the terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system). Taking a user equipment (UE) as an example, the UE determines a first downlink carrier from a set of residing downlink carriers and performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured. When the UE performs cross-carrier downlink measurement, downlink communication on the first downlink carrier is suspended, while downlink communication on a second downlink carrier in the set of residing downlink carriers is maintained.

[0007] Optionally, the user equipment (UE) may switch the downlink receiving channel of the first downlink carrier to the downlink carrier under test for cross-carrier downlink measurement. Optionally, the user equipment performing cross-carrier downlink measurement can be understood as the user equipment performing cross-carrier downlink measurement during the period of cross-carrier downlink measurement, or the user equipment performing cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier under test. It is understood that when the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement, the cross-carrier downlink measurement time may include the time spent measuring on the downlink carrier under test, or the cross-carrier downlink measurement time may include the time spent measuring on the downlink carrier under test and the switching time of the downlink receiving channel before and after that measurement time. Optionally, the downlink receiving channel may refer to a downlink radio frequency channel or a downlink baseband channel, or downlink receiving capability. Optionally, suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier includes stopping, pausing, or interrupting downlink communication on the first downlink carrier. Optionally, maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of residing downlink carriers can be understood as not affecting downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of residing downlink carriers.

[0008] Optionally, downlink communication may refer to receiving and / or processing one or more of downlink control, downlink data, and downlink reference signals. Optionally, the downlink reference signal may include one or more of the following: channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), positioning reference signal (PRS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal, and synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB). Optionally, both the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier belong to the set of resident carriers, that is, both are resident downlink carriers (downlink carriers currently operating or activated by the user equipment).

[0009] In this application, during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the user equipment can determine the first downlink carrier based on a method agreed upon with the network equipment. This allows the network equipment and the terminal equipment to understand the alignment of the first downlink carrier used for measurement, thereby selectively suspending downlink communication with the network equipment on the first downlink carrier for measurement while maintaining downlink communication with the network equipment on the second downlink carrier. Therefore, the network equipment can schedule and transmit data to the user equipment using the uninterrupted second downlink carrier, achieving the technical effect that the network equipment and the user equipment can still communicate normally during cross-carrier downlink measurement, thus improving communication efficiency.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the user equipment determining the first downlink carrier from the set of camped downlink carriers includes the user equipment determining the first downlink carrier based on first information.

[0011] Optionally, the user equipment determines the handover time between each camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set and the downlink carrier to be measured based on the first information, or determines the handover time between any two downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. This can be understood as the first information being used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to handover to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, where the first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured. And / or, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to handover to other frequency bands in the first frequency band set, or in other words, the first information is used to determine the handover time required for a downlink carrier in each frequency band in the first frequency band set to handover to a downlink carrier in another frequency band in the first frequency band set. And / or, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier within a frequency band in the first frequency band set to handover to other downlink carriers within that frequency band. Among them, the downlink carriers in the stationed downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on part or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set, and the first frequency band set includes the frequency bands where the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located.

[0012] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier supported by the user equipment to switch to another downlink carrier among the supported downlink carriers. In this case, the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are some or all of the downlink carriers supported by the user equipment.

[0013] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required to switch a downlink carrier on each frequency band supported by the user equipment to a downlink carrier on another frequency band within the supported frequency bands. Here, the frequency bands containing the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are some or all of the frequency bands supported by the user equipment.

[0014] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier within the same frequency band supported by the user equipment to switch to other downlink carriers within that frequency band. Here, the frequency bands containing the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are some or all of the frequency bands supported by the user equipment. It is understood that the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers with the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0015] In this embodiment, when the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, based on the switching time in the first information, it can select the downlink carrier with the shortest required switching time as the first downlink carrier, or select the downlink carrier located in the frequency band with the shortest required switching time as the first downlink carrier. This minimizes the time required for cross-carrier downlink measurement and reduces the impact on downlink communication between the network device and the user equipment during cross-carrier downlink measurement. In this way, the network device and the terminal device can understand the alignment of the switched downlink carrier, thereby ensuring that communication on the second downlink carrier is not affected and improving communication performance.

[0016] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, or it can also be used to determine the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. Here, a downlink carrier combination is a combination of any two downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set.

[0017] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of downlink carrier combinations between different frequency bands within each frequency band combination in the first frequency band set, or the priority of downlink carriers in other frequency bands corresponding to downlink carriers within each frequency band of each frequency band combination in the first frequency band set. The downlink carriers in the residing downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

[0018] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier combination within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set, or the priority of each downlink carrier within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set corresponding to other downlink carriers within that frequency band, wherein the downlink carriers in the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set. It is understood that the priority of each downlink carrier combination within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set may be the same, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set may be the same; in this case, the same priority does not need to be indicated separately. Optionally, the first frequency band set includes the frequency band where the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located. Optionally, the first downlink carrier set includes the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured.

[0019] Optionally, when the first information is used to determine the priority of the downlink carrier combination, the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the highest priority camped downlink carrier, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs, and the downlink carrier to be measured and the first downlink carrier form a downlink carrier combination. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority, or that the handover priority is the highest. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be the camped downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the lowest priority camped downlink carrier, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that the priority for maintaining communication is the lowest.

[0020] Optionally, when the first information is used to determine the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is the highest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, and the first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camping downlink carrier set. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority, or the handover priority is the highest. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be the lowest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, "lowest priority" means the lowest priority for maintaining communication.

[0021] Optionally, the first information can be reported together with the user equipment's capability information when the user equipment joins the network, or it can be reported separately.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the user equipment will also send first information to the network equipment.

[0023] In this embodiment, when the user equipment (UE) makes the decision on which camped downlink carrier's downlink receiving channel to switch, the first information is also used by the network device to determine the first downlink carrier from the camped downlink carrier set, so as to achieve alignment between the UE and the network device. This allows the network device to achieve alignment with the UE regarding which camped downlink carrier's downlink receiving channel to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured, avoiding resource waste caused by the network device not knowing which camped downlink carrier's downlink receiving channel has been switched off and still performing resource scheduling on that camped downlink carrier.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the user equipment may further receive second information from the network device and determine the first downlink carrier from the set of residing downlink carriers based on the second information. It is understood that this implementation is applicable to situations where the network device decides how to determine the first downlink carrier.

[0025] In this embodiment, when the network device takes the lead in determining how to identify the first downlink carrier, the user equipment (UE) determines the first downlink carrier based on the network device's second information. This means the network device takes the lead in deciding which downlink receiving channel to switch to. Conversely, when the UE determines the first downlink carrier based on its own first information, this means the UE takes the lead in deciding which downlink receiving channel to switch to. Regardless of whether the decision is made by the network device or the UE, alignment can be achieved by sending information to each other.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the second information includes network configuration information indicating the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set; or, the network configuration information indicating the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. This can be understood as the user equipment selecting the downlink carrier with the highest priority from multiple camped downlink carriers as the first downlink carrier based on the priority indicated by the network configuration information.

[0027] In one possible implementation, when network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the highest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. The first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camping downlink carrier set. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority, or that the handover priority is the highest. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be the lowest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that the priority for maintaining communication is the lowest.

[0028] In one possible implementation, when network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the highest priority camped downlink carrier, where the downlink carrier to be measured is located. The downlink carrier to be measured and the first downlink carrier form a downlink carrier combination, and the first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camped downlink carrier set. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority, or that the handover priority is the highest. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be the camped downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the lowest priority camped downlink carrier, where the downlink carrier to be measured is located. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that the priority for maintaining communication is the lowest.

[0029] Optionally, the network configuration information can be determined based on the first information. This can be understood as the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, being configured according to the handover time indicated in the first information. Optionally, the handover time can be the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to handover to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, or it can be the handover time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to handover to other frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the second information includes first indication information, and the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the first indication information, wherein the indication information directly indicates the first downlink carrier.

[0031] Optionally, the indication information is carried in medium access control-control element (MAC CE) signaling or downlink control information (DCI) signaling. Of course, the indication information can also be carried in other signaling or separate signaling.

[0032] Optionally, when the cross-carrier downlink measurement performed by the user equipment on the downlink carrier to be measured is a semi-static measurement or an aperiodic measurement, or when the CSI-RS of the cross-carrier downlink measurement performed by the user equipment on the downlink carrier to be measured is a semi-static CSI-RS or an aperiodic CSI-RS, or when the measurement report corresponding to the cross-carrier downlink measurement performed by the user equipment on the downlink carrier to be measured is a semi-static measurement report or an aperiodic measurement report, the user equipment can determine the first downlink carrier based on the indication information. Optionally, the first indication information is carried in the signaling that triggers the semi-static measurement or aperiodic measurement, or triggers the semi-static CSI-RS or an aperiodic CSI-RS, or triggers the semi-static measurement report or an aperiodic measurement report, or is carried in the signaling that indicates the residing downlink carrier or the residing downlink carrier switching. This can be understood as follows: when configuring network equipment, in addition to periodic measurements, it can also be configured to perform semi-static or aperiodic measurements, and issue MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling to instruct semi-static or aperiodic CSI-RS, or issue signaling to instruct user equipment to report measurement reports semi-statically or aperiodically. The instruction information can then be sent to the user equipment along with these signaling messages, allowing the user equipment to determine the first downlink carrier based on this instruction information.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the second information further includes second indication information, which indicates one of multiple configurations. When the network configuration information sent by the network device to the user equipment indicates multiple configurations, the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the configuration indicated by the network configuration information and the second indication information. The network configuration information indicates multiple configurations, each configuration including at least one carrier combination, or other corresponding downlink carriers for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set; the second indication information indicates one of the multiple configurations. Optionally, the second indication information is carried in signaling indicating a camped downlink carrier or a camped downlink carrier handover.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the network device and the user equipment can directly determine the first downlink carrier based on one or more preset rules. This implementation eliminates the need for additional signaling for alignment, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is determined based on historical measurement results, which include measurements of the camped downlink carriers in the set of camped downlink carriers. This can be understood as determining the first downlink carrier based on the channel conditions of the camped downlink carriers as represented by the measurement results.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is the downlink carrier with the worst measurement result among the set of downlink carriers. This can be understood as follows: when there are multiple downlink carriers, the downlink carrier with the worst channel conditions represented by the measurement result is determined as the first downlink carrier.

[0037] In this embodiment, since the first downlink carrier needs to interrupt communication during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the impact of determining the downlink carrier with the worst channel conditions as the first downlink carrier is smaller than determining the downlink carrier with the better channel conditions as the first downlink carrier. This allows for priority to ensure normal communication on the downlink carrier with the better channel conditions, thereby achieving better communication performance.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is determined based on the timing advance group (TAG) to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is a camped downlink carrier within the set of camped downlink carriers that belongs to the same timing advance group (TAG) as the downlink carrier to be measured. This can be understood as camped downlink carriers in the same TAG having the same timing, allowing the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements at a precise time-domain location, avoiding continuous searching for the timing of the downlink carrier to be measured, and improving measurement efficiency.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is an unoccupied or non-idle downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers.

[0041] In this embodiment, an unoccupied downlink carrier refers to a camped DLCC that is not scheduled for transmission, or an unoccupied downlink carrier refers to a camped downlink carrier with an occupancy rate less than or equal to a set threshold or with the lowest occupancy rate. The first downlink carrier is an unoccupied downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers. During cross-carrier downlink measurement, this can prevent the downlink carriers used by the user equipment for transmission from being switched, thus avoiding a significant impact on transmission performance.

[0042] A non-idle downlink carrier refers to a downlink carrier with a busy rate greater than or equal to a preset threshold or the highest busy rate; alternatively, a non-idle downlink carrier refers to a downlink carrier with an idle rate less than or equal to a preset threshold or the lowest idle rate. A higher busy rate on a non-idle downlink carrier indicates that its resources are being heavily contested by other user equipment. Selecting a non-idle downlink carrier with a higher busy rate as the first downlink carrier prevents user equipment from competing for resources with other user equipment on that carrier.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is the camping downlink carrier where the signaling indicating the camping downlink carrier, or indicating the camping downlink carrier switching, or triggering cross-carrier downlink measurement is located.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is a non-anchor downlink carrier or a secondary cell downlink carrier in the set of camping downlink carriers. It is understood that the secondary cell downlink carrier refers to the downlink carrier corresponding to the secondary cell, or the secondary downlink carrier itself.

[0045] In this embodiment, the downlink carriers camped by the user equipment can be divided into primary cell downlink carriers and secondary cell downlink carriers based on their functions, or they can be divided into anchor downlink carriers and non-anchor downlink carriers. The primary cell downlink carrier or anchor downlink carrier needs to perform more functions, including those beyond load balancing, such as synchronization. Furthermore, since the first downlink carrier needs to interrupt communication during cross-carrier downlink measurement, designating the secondary cell downlink carrier or non-anchor downlink carrier, which requires fewer functions, as the first downlink carrier has a smaller impact on communication between the network equipment and the user equipment compared to designating the primary cell downlink carrier or anchor downlink carrier as the first downlink carrier. This allows for priority to ensure normal communication on the camped downlink carriers that require more functions, thus minimizing the impact on communication performance.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the user equipment (UE) sends first capability information to the network device. This first capability information indicates that the UE can support suspending downlink communication on a first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on a second downlink carrier within the residency set during cross-carrier downlink measurements. This can be understood as the UE informing the network device in advance of its supported capabilities, allowing the network device to conduct downlink communication with the UE based on the first capability information.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the user equipment (UE) sends second capability information to the network device, indicating that the UE supports a number of downlink carriers configured for it by the network device that is greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers the UE can support. It is understood that the number of downlink carriers the UE can support refers to the number of downlink carrier aggregations that the UE can support, or the number of downlink carriers for parallel downlink communication that the UE can support.

[0048] In this embodiment, if the number of downlink carriers configured for the user equipment by the network device is greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers in the downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier set may include a camped downlink carrier set and a non-camped downlink carrier set, and the downlink carrier set to be measured belongs to the non-camped downlink carrier set. The user equipment will inform the network device of its supported capabilities in advance, so that the network device can conduct downlink communication with the user equipment based on the second capability information. Based on the second capability information, the user equipment can flexibly switch between the downlink carriers configured for it by the network device, thereby fully improving the utilization rate of the configured downlink carriers.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the user equipment sends third capability information to the network device, the third capability information indicating that the number of downlink carriers supported by the user equipment is less than or equal to the number of uplink carriers that the user equipment can support.

[0050] In one possible implementation, performing cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured includes the user equipment performing cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured based on measurement information configured or indicated from the network device. The measurement information includes a first measurement interval, which instructs the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on its corresponding downlink carrier to be measured within the first measurement interval. Optionally, the first measurement interval is based on the timing of the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0051] In this embodiment, a measurement interval is configured for each downlink carrier. Therefore, when the downlink carrier to be measured is determined, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements within the first measurement interval configured for the downlink carrier. This makes the measurement more flexible.

[0052] In one possible implementation, the measurement interval further includes a second measurement interval. Within the second measurement interval, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. Downlink measurements on camped downlink carriers are called local downlink measurements, and downlink measurements on non-camped downlink carriers are called cross-carrier downlink measurements. It can be understood that the second measurement interval indicates that local downlink measurements and cross-carrier downlink measurements are performed within a unified second measurement interval. This can be understood as each downlink carrier performing downlink measurements sequentially according to a certain rule or order within the second measurement interval.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the measurement information further includes a cross-carrier channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or in other words, cross-carrier CSI-RS resources. The cross-carrier CSI-RS resources are used by the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured. Specifically, cross-carrier downlink measurement involves downlink measurements of the cross-carrier CSI-RS resources, while local carrier downlink measurement involves downlink measurements of the local carrier CSI-RS resources. Alternatively, cross-carrier downlink measurement can be understood as measuring the cross-carrier CSI-RS on a non-camped downlink carrier, while local carrier downlink measurement involves measuring the local carrier CSI-RS on the camped downlink carrier.

[0054] Optionally, for the same downlink carrier, the cross-carrier CSI-RS and the local carrier CSI-RS can be the same. That is, for the same downlink carrier, whether it's a local carrier downlink measurement or a cross-carrier downlink measurement, the measured CSI-RS is determined by the network device based on the same configuration. For example, the measured CSI-RS is configured based on the same RRC parameters.

[0055] Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS and the local carrier CSI-RS can be configured separately. This can be understood as the cross-carrier CSI-RS being configured independently of the local carrier CSI-RS. It can be understood that for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, both local carrier CSI-RS and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be configured. The local carrier CSI-RS is used for CSI-RS measurement of a downlink carrier when it is a camped downlink carrier; the cross-carrier CSI-RS is used for CSI-RS measurement of a downlink carrier when it is a non-camped downlink carrier. Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS refers to the CSI-RS configured for cross-carrier downlink measurements, or the CSI-RS actually measured during cross-carrier downlink measurements. This provides greater flexibility for user equipment during measurements.

[0056] Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS can also be determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured and the first interval. Alternatively, the cross-carrier CSI-RS can also be determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured and the timer. This implementation method, by setting the timing of the first interval or the timer, avoids the user equipment from performing carrier switching too frequently, reducing the impact of frequent carrier switching on the user equipment's data transmission performance.

[0057] Secondly, this application provides another downlink measurement method. This downlink measurement can be performed by a network device, which is a device used to communicate with terminal devices, or by a means (e.g., a chip system, hardware circuit, software module, or hardware circuit plus software module) capable of supporting the network device in implementing this function. This means can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device. Taking a network device as an example, the method includes: the network device determining a first downlink carrier from a set of residing downlink carriers of the user equipment. When the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured, the network device suspends downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintains downlink communication on a second downlink carrier in the set of residing downlink carriers.

[0058] In this embodiment, during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the network device can determine the first downlink carrier based on a pre-agreed method. This allows the network device and the terminal device to understand and align the first downlink carrier used for measurement, thereby selectively suspending downlink communication with the network device on the first downlink carrier for measurement while maintaining downlink communication with the user device on the second downlink carrier. Therefore, the network device can schedule and transmit data to the user device using the uninterrupted second downlink carrier, achieving the technical effect that the user device and the network device can still communicate normally during downlink measurement. Both the first and second downlink carriers belong to the set of resident carriers, i.e., both are resident downlink carriers (the downlink carrier currently operating or already activated by the user device).

[0059] Optionally, the user equipment performing cross-carrier downlink measurement can be understood as the period during which the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement, or the period during which the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured. It can be understood that when the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement, the cross-carrier downlink measurement time can include the time spent measuring on the downlink carrier to be measured, or the cross-carrier downlink measurement time can include the time spent measuring on the downlink carrier to be measured and the switching time of the downlink receiving channel before and after that measurement time. Optionally, the downlink receiving channel can refer to a downlink radio frequency channel, a downlink baseband channel, or downlink receiving capability. Optionally, suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier includes stopping, pausing, or interrupting downlink communication on the first downlink carrier. Optionally, maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of residing downlink carriers can be understood as not affecting downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of residing downlink carriers.

[0060] Optionally, downlink communication may refer to receiving and / or processing one or more of downlink control, downlink data, and downlink reference signals. Optionally, downlink reference signals may include one or more of CSI-RS, TRS, PT-RS, DMRS, PRS, PSS, SSS, and SSB. Optionally, both the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier belong to the set of resident carriers, that is, both are resident downlink carriers (downlink carriers currently operating or activated by the user equipment).

[0061] In one possible implementation, the network device determines second information, which includes network configuration information. The network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, wherein a downlink carrier combination is a combination of any two downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. Alternatively, the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. This can be understood as the network device selecting the downlink carrier with the highest priority from multiple camped downlink carriers as the first downlink carrier based on the priority indicated by the network configuration information.

[0062] In this embodiment, the network device determines the second information by deciding how to determine the first downlink carrier. Conversely, the network device determines the first downlink carrier based on the user equipment's first information by deciding which downlink receiving channel to switch to. Regardless of whether the decision is made by the network device or the user equipment, alignment is achieved by sending information to each other.

[0063] In one possible implementation, when network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the highest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. The first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camping downlink carrier set. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority, or that the handover priority is the highest. Optionally, the first downlink carrier may also be a camping downlink carrier in the lowest-priority downlink carrier combination containing camping downlink carriers, where the downlink carrier to be measured is located. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that the priority for maintaining communication is the lowest.

[0064] In one possible implementation, when the network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the highest priority downlink carrier combination containing the camped downlink carriers, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs. The downlink carrier to be measured and the first downlink carrier form a downlink carrier combination. Optionally, the first downlink carrier may also be the camped downlink carrier with the lowest priority among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, lowest priority means lowest priority for maintaining communication.

[0065] In one possible implementation, the network device may also receive first information from the user equipment and determine a first downlink carrier from the set of residing downlink carriers based on the first information. It is understood that this implementation is applicable to situations where the user equipment decides how to determine the first downlink carrier.

[0066] Optionally, the first information is used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to switch to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, where the first downlink carrier set includes the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured. And / or, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to switch to other frequency bands in the first frequency band set; or, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier within the frequency band of the first frequency band set to switch to other downlink carriers within that frequency band. Wherein, the downlink carriers in the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set, where the first frequency band set includes the frequency bands where the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set reside.

[0067] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, and / or, to determine the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. And / or, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of downlink carrier combinations between different frequency bands within each frequency band combination in the first frequency band set, or the priority of downlink carriers in other frequency bands corresponding to downlink carriers within each frequency band in the first frequency band set. Wherein, the downlink carriers in the residing downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

[0068] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier combination within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set, wherein the downlink carriers in the camped downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set. It is understood that the priority of each downlink carrier combination within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set may be the same, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier within the same frequency band of each frequency band in the first frequency band set may be the same; in this case, the same priority does not need to be indicated separately. Optionally, the first frequency band set includes the frequency band where the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located. Optionally, the first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured.

[0069] Optionally, the network configuration information can be determined based on the user equipment's first information. The user equipment can report its capability information to the network device, in which case it can report the first information. This can be understood as the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set indicated by the network configuration information, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, can be configured according to the handover time indicated in the first information. Optionally, the handover time can be the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to handover to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, or it can be the handover time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to handover to other frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

[0070] In one possible implementation, the network device also sends second information to the user equipment, which includes network configuration information. That is, the second information is used by the user equipment to determine a first downlink carrier from the set of camped downlink carriers, thereby achieving alignment between the user equipment and the network device. This allows the network device to align with the user equipment by deciding which camped downlink carrier's downlink receive channel to switch to the downlink carrier being measured, avoiding resource waste caused by the network device not knowing which camped downlink carrier's downlink receive channel has been switched off and still performing resource scheduling on that camped downlink carrier.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the second information further includes first indication information. That is, the network device can send the first indication information to the user equipment, enabling the user equipment to determine the first downlink carrier based on the first indication information, wherein the first indication information directly indicates the first downlink carrier. Optionally, the indication information is carried in MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling. Of course, the indication information can also be carried in other signaling or separate signaling.

[0072] Optionally, when the network device configures the cross-carrier downlink measurement performed on the downlink carrier to be measured as semi-static or aperiodic measurement, or when the network device configures the CSI-RS for the cross-carrier downlink measurement performed on the downlink carrier to be measured as semi-static or aperiodic CSI-RS, or when the network device configures the measurement report corresponding to the cross-carrier downlink measurement performed on the downlink carrier to be measured as semi-static or aperiodic report, the network device may send a first indication information to the user equipment. Optionally, the first indication information is carried in the signaling that triggers semi-static or aperiodic measurement, or triggers semi-static or aperiodic CSI-RS, or triggers semi-static or aperiodic measurement report, or is carried in the signaling that indicates the residing on the downlink carrier or the residing on the downlink carrier switching. This can be understood as the network device issuing MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling to indicate semi-static or aperiodic CSI-RS, or issuing signaling to instruct the user equipment to report measurement reports semi-statically or aperiodicly. Therefore, the indication information can be sent to the user equipment along with these signaling messages, and the user equipment can determine the first downlink carrier based on the indication information.

[0073] In one possible implementation, the second information further includes second indication information, which indicates one of at least one configuration. The user equipment can determine the first downlink carrier based on the network configuration information and the configuration indicated by the second indication information. The network configuration information indicates at least one configuration, each configuration including at least one carrier combination, or other corresponding downlink carriers for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set; the second indication information indicates one of the at least one configuration. Optionally, the second indication information is carried in signaling indicating a camped downlink carrier or a camped downlink carrier handover.

[0074] In one possible implementation, the network device and the user equipment can directly determine the first downlink carrier according to one or more preset rules in their communication protocol. This implementation eliminates the need for additional signaling for alignment, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0075] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is determined based on historical measurement results, which include measurements of the camped downlink carriers in the set of camped downlink carriers. This can be understood as determining the first downlink carrier based on the channel conditions of the camped downlink carriers as represented by the measurement results.

[0076] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is the downlink carrier with the worst measurement result among the set of downlink carriers. This can be understood as follows: when there are multiple downlink carriers, the downlink carrier with the worst channel conditions represented by the measurement result is determined as the first downlink carrier.

[0077] In this embodiment, since the first downlink carrier needs to interrupt communication during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the impact of determining the downlink carrier with the worst channel conditions as the first downlink carrier is smaller than determining the downlink carrier with the better channel conditions as the first downlink carrier. This allows for priority to ensure normal communication on the downlink carrier with the better channel conditions, thereby achieving better communication performance.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is determined based on the timing advance group (TAG) to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs.

[0079] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is a camped downlink carrier within the set of camped downlink carriers that belongs to the same timing advance group (TAG) as the downlink carrier to be measured. This can be understood as camped downlink carriers in the same TAG having the same timing, allowing the user equipment to perform downlink measurements at a precise time-domain location, avoiding continuous searching for the timing of the downlink carrier to be measured, and improving measurement efficiency.

[0080] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is an unoccupied or non-idle downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers.

[0081] In this embodiment, an unoccupied downlink carrier refers to a camped DLCC that is not scheduled for transmission, or an unoccupied downlink carrier refers to a camped downlink carrier with an occupancy rate less than or equal to a set threshold or with the lowest occupancy rate. The first downlink carrier is an unoccupied downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers. During cross-carrier downlink measurement, this can prevent the downlink carriers used by the user equipment for transmission from being switched, thus avoiding a significant impact on transmission performance.

[0082] A non-idle downlink carrier refers to a downlink carrier with a busy rate greater than or equal to a preset threshold or the highest busy rate; alternatively, a non-idle downlink carrier refers to a downlink carrier with an idle rate less than or equal to a preset threshold or the lowest idle rate. A higher busy rate on a non-idle downlink carrier indicates that its resources are being heavily contested by other user equipment. Selecting a non-idle downlink carrier with a higher busy rate as the first downlink carrier prevents user equipment from competing for resources with other user equipment on that carrier.

[0083] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is the camping downlink carrier where the signaling indicating the camping downlink carrier, or indicating the camping downlink carrier switching, or triggering cross-carrier downlink measurement is located.

[0084] In this embodiment, when the number of downlink carriers configured for the user equipment by the network device is greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers in the downlink carrier set, the user equipment can dynamically switch between the downlink carriers configured by the network.

[0085] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier resides on a non-anchor downlink carrier or a secondary cell downlink carrier in the downlink carrier set. It is understood that the secondary cell downlink carrier refers to the downlink carrier corresponding to the secondary cell, or simply the secondary downlink carrier.

[0086] In this embodiment, the downlink carriers camped by the user equipment can be divided into primary cell downlink carriers and secondary cell downlink carriers based on their functions, or they can be divided into anchor downlink carriers and non-anchor downlink carriers. The primary cell downlink carrier or anchor downlink carrier needs to perform more functions, including those beyond load balancing, such as synchronization. Furthermore, since the first downlink carrier needs to interrupt communication during cross-carrier downlink measurement, designating the secondary cell downlink carrier or non-anchor downlink carrier, which requires fewer functions, as the first downlink carrier has a smaller impact on communication between the network equipment and the user equipment compared to designating the primary cell downlink carrier or anchor downlink carrier as the first downlink carrier. This allows for priority to ensure normal communication on the camped downlink carriers that require more functions, thus minimizing the impact on communication performance.

[0087] In one possible implementation, the network device receives first capability information from the user equipment (UE). Upon joining the network, the UE sends this first capability information to the network device. This information indicates that the UE can support suspending downlink communication on a first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on a second downlink carrier within the residency downlink carrier set during cross-carrier downlink measurements. Essentially, the UE informs the network device of its supported capabilities in advance, allowing the network device to conduct downlink communication with the UE based on this first capability information.

[0088] In one possible implementation, the network device receives second capability information from the user equipment (UE). When the UE joins the network, it sends this second capability information to the network device. This information indicates that the UE supports a number of downlink carriers configured for it by the network device that is greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers the UE can support. It is understood that the number of downlink carriers the UE can support refers to the number of downlink carrier aggregations that the UE can support, or the number of downlink carriers for parallel downlink communication that the UE can support.

[0089] In this embodiment, if the number of downlink carriers configured for the user equipment by the network device is greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers in the downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier set may include a camped downlink carrier set and a non-camped downlink carrier set, and the downlink carrier set to be measured belongs to the non-camped downlink carrier set. The user equipment will inform the network device of its supported capabilities in advance, so that the network device can conduct downlink communication with the user equipment based on the second capability information. Based on the second capability information, the user equipment can flexibly switch between the downlink carriers configured for it by the network device, thereby fully improving the utilization rate of the configured downlink carriers.

[0090] In one possible implementation, the user equipment sends third capability information to the network device, the third capability information indicating that the number of downlink carriers supported by the user equipment is less than or equal to the number of uplink carriers that the user equipment can support.

[0091] In one possible implementation, the network device sends measurement information to the user equipment. The measurement information includes a first measurement interval, which instructs the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on its corresponding downlink carrier within the first measurement interval. Optionally, the first measurement interval is based on the timing of the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0092] In this embodiment, the network device configures a measurement interval for each downlink carrier separately. Therefore, when the downlink carrier to be measured is determined, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements within the first measurement interval configured for the downlink carrier. This makes the measurement more flexible.

[0093] In one possible implementation, the measurement interval further includes a second measurement interval. When configuring the measurement interval, the network device configures a unified measurement interval, i.e., the second measurement interval, for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. Within the second measurement interval, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. Measurements of the camped downlink carriers are called local downlink measurements, while downlink measurements of non-camped downlink carriers are called cross-carrier downlink measurements. It can be understood that the second measurement interval instructs local downlink measurements and cross-carrier downlink measurements to be performed within a unified second measurement interval; that is, each downlink carrier is measured sequentially according to a certain rule or order within the second measurement interval.

[0094] In one possible implementation, the measurement information further includes a cross-carrier channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or, in other words, cross-carrier CSI-RS resources. The cross-carrier CSI-RS resources are used by the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured. Specifically, cross-carrier downlink measurement involves downlink measurements of the cross-carrier CSI-RS resources, while local carrier downlink measurement involves downlink measurements of the local carrier CSI-RS. Alternatively, cross-carrier downlink measurement can be understood as measuring the cross-carrier CSI-RS on a non-camped downlink carrier, while local carrier downlink measurement involves measuring the local carrier CSI-RS on the camped downlink carrier.

[0095] Optionally, for the same downlink carrier, the cross-carrier CSI-RS and the local carrier CSI-RS can be the same. That is, for the same downlink carrier, whether it's a local carrier downlink measurement or a cross-carrier downlink measurement, the measured CSI-RS is determined by the network device based on the same configuration. For example, the measured CSI-RS is configured based on the same RRC parameters.

[0096] Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS and the local carrier CSI-RS can be configured separately. This can be understood as the cross-carrier CSI-RS being configured independently of the local carrier CSI-RS. It can be understood that for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, both local carrier CSI-RS and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be configured. The local carrier CSI-RS is used for CSI-RS measurement of a downlink carrier when it is a camped downlink carrier; the cross-carrier CSI-RS is used for CSI-RS measurement of a downlink carrier when it is a non-camped downlink carrier. Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS refers to the CSI-RS configured for cross-carrier downlink measurements, or the CSI-RS actually measured during cross-carrier downlink measurements. This provides greater flexibility for user equipment during measurements.

[0097] Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS can also be determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured and the first interval. Alternatively, the cross-carrier CSI-RS can also be determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured and the timer. This implementation method, by setting the timing of the first interval or the timer, avoids the user equipment from performing carrier switching too frequently, reducing the impact of frequent carrier switching on the user equipment's data transmission performance.

[0098] Thirdly, this application provides a communication device that includes methods for performing any of the embodiments described in the first aspect.

[0099] Fourthly, this application provides a communication device that includes units or modules for performing the methods described in any of the embodiments of the second aspect.

[0100] Fifthly, this application provides a communication device including a processor configured to perform the method described in any of the embodiments of the first aspect.

[0101] In a sixth aspect, this application provides a communication device including a processor configured to perform the method described in any of the embodiments of the second aspect.

[0102] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any of the embodiments of the first or second aspect.

[0103] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any of the embodiments of the first or second aspect.

[0104] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system, which includes a first device and a second device. The first device is used to perform the method described in any embodiment of the first aspect, and the second device is used to perform the method described in any embodiment of the second aspect. Attached Figure Description

[0105] Figure 1 An example diagram of the system architecture of the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0106] Figure 2 Another example diagram of the system architecture for the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0107] Figure 3 Another example diagram of the system architecture for the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0108] Figure 4 Another example diagram of the system architecture for the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0109] Figure 5 An example diagram illustrating an application scenario of the downlink measurement method provided in this application embodiment;

[0110] Figure 6 Another application scenario example diagram of the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0111] Figure 7A flowchart of a downlink measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0112] Figure 8 This is an example diagram showing the configuration of measurement information in an embodiment of this application;

[0113] Figure 9 This is another example diagram showing the configuration of measurement information in an embodiment of this application;

[0114] Figure 10 This is another example diagram showing the configuration of measurement information in an embodiment of this application;

[0115] Figure 11 This is one manifestation of priority in the embodiments of this application;

[0116] Figure 12 This is another manifestation of priority in the embodiments of this application;

[0117] Figure 13 This is another manifestation of priority in the embodiments of this application;

[0118] Figure 14 Another flowchart of the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0119] Figure 15 Another flowchart of the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0120] Figure 16 A schematic diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0121] Figure 17 Another schematic diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0122] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments.

[0123] The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. (if present) in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or sequence. It should be understood that such terms are interchangeable where appropriate so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0124] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone, where A and B can be single or multiple. Additionally, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. Furthermore, "at least one of the following" or similar expressions in this document are used to represent any combination of the listed items; for example, at least one of A, B, and / or C can represent the following six situations: A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B simultaneously, B and C simultaneously, A and C simultaneously, and A, B, and C simultaneously, where A, B, and C can be single or multiple.

[0125] To facilitate understanding, the following section first introduces the communication systems and application scenarios to which the downlink measurement method proposed in this application is applicable:

[0126] I. The following section introduces the communication system and equipment to which this application applies.

[0127] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, satellite communication systems, and future communication systems; or, the technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to integrated systems of the aforementioned multiple systems. Furthermore, the technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems, or other communication systems.

[0128] Furthermore, when considering Uu (UTRAN-to-UE) air interface transmission, the two parties in wireless communication include network equipment and user communication equipment; when considering SL air interface transmission, both the transmitting and receiving ends of wireless communication are user communication equipment. For different communication systems, the network equipment involved in the embodiments of this application can be a traditional macro base station (eNB) in traditional Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication systems; it can be a micro base station (eNB) in heterogeneous network (HetNet) scenarios; it can be a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio unit (RRU) in distributed base station scenarios; it can be a baseband pool (BBU pool) and a radio unit (RRU) in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios; and it can be a gNB in ​​future wireless communication systems. In the embodiments of this application, the user equipment can be a chip, an in-vehicle communication module, or other embedded communication modules, or it can be a user handheld communication device, including mobile phones, tablets, etc.

[0129] In the aforementioned communication system, one network element can send signals to or receive signals from another network element. These signals may include information, signaling, or data. The aforementioned network element can also be replaced by entities, network entities, devices, communication equipment, communication modules, nodes, communication nodes, etc. This disclosure uses a network element as an example. For instance, the communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device can send downlink signals to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device can send uplink signals to the network device. It is understood that the terminal device in this application can be replaced by a first network element, and the network device can be replaced by a second network element, both performing the corresponding downlink measurement method described in this disclosure.

[0130] For example, Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the downlink measurement method in embodiments of this application. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the communication system may include at least one network device, such as Figure 1 The network device 110 shown; the communication system may also include at least one terminal device, such as Figure 1 The terminal devices 120 and 130 are shown. Network device 110 can communicate with the terminal devices (such as terminal devices 120 and 130) via a wireless link, and terminal devices 120 and 130 can communicate directly via a side link. The communication devices in this system, for example, network device 110 and terminal device 120, can communicate using multi-antenna technology.

[0131] For example, Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 These are another example diagrams illustrating the system architecture of the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 2 As shown, the communication system may include at least one network device, such as Figure 2 The network access device 210 shown; the communication system may also include at least one terminal device, such as Figure 2 The terminal devices 220 and 230 are shown. Network access device 210 can communicate with the terminal devices (such as terminal devices 220 and 230) via a wireless link, and terminal devices 220 and 230 can communicate directly via a side link. Communication devices in this communication system, for example, network device 210 and terminal device 220, can communicate using multi-antenna technology.

[0132] For example, such as Figure 3 As shown, the communication system may include at least one network device 310; the communication system may also include at least one terminal device, such as... Figure 3The vehicle-mounted devices 320 and 330 are shown. Network device 310 and terminal devices (vehicle-mounted devices 320 and 330) can communicate via a wireless link, and vehicle-mounted devices 320 and 330 can communicate directly via a side link. Communication devices in this system, for example, network device 310 and vehicle-mounted device 320, can communicate using multi-antenna technology.

[0133] It should be understood that the embodiments of this application can also be applied to communication systems with direct terminal communication, and the communication system may include at least two terminal devices, such as... Figure 4 As shown, terminal device 410 and terminal device 420 communicate directly via a side link.

[0134] In this embodiment, the apparatus for implementing the functions of a network device can be a network device itself, or an apparatus capable of supporting the network device in implementing those functions (e.g., a chip system, hardware circuit, software module, or hardware circuit plus software module). This apparatus can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device. In this embodiment, only the apparatus for implementing the functions of an access network device is described as a network device, and this does not constitute a limitation on the solutions of this embodiment.

[0135] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, wireless terminal device, mobile terminal (MT) device, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station (MS), mobile station, remote station, remote terminal device, access terminal device, user terminal device, user agent, user equipment, wireless communication device, user agent, or user apparatus, etc. The terminal device can be a device that provides voice and / or data, such as a handheld device with wireless connectivity, vehicle-mounted device, etc. Currently, examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems or wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks, or future public land mobile communication networks. Terminal devices in a network (PLMN), etc., are not limited to this in the embodiments of this application.

[0136] In this embodiment, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device itself, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing those functions, such as a chip system, a vehicle communication module, or other embedded communication module. This device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete components. The terminal device can be located within the coverage area of ​​the network device, and terminal devices within the coverage area can also directly communicate with terminal devices outside the coverage area.

[0137] It should be noted that network devices and / or terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they can also be deployed in the air on airplanes, balloons, and satellites. This application does not limit the scenario in which the network devices and terminal devices are located. Furthermore, terminal devices and network devices can be hardware devices; they can also be software functions running on dedicated or general-purpose hardware, such as virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform); or they can be entities that include dedicated or general-purpose hardware devices and software functions. This application does not limit the specific form of terminal devices and network devices.

[0138] II. The following describes several application scenarios applicable to the embodiments of this application:

[0139] Based on the above communication system, this application uses network equipment and user equipment as the execution subjects for illustration, and does not limit the solution of this application embodiment. This application embodiment provides a downlink measurement method that enables network equipment and user equipment to maintain downlink communication on some downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurement.

[0140] In the field of communications, to expand transmission bandwidth and improve the transmission efficiency of user equipment (UE), UE can communicate with network devices through carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation (CA) involves multiple component carriers (CCs). CA includes uplink carrier aggregation and downlink carrier aggregation, and can be further divided into inter-band CA and intra-band CA. Inter-band CA means the aggregated CCs belong to different frequency bands; intra-band CA means the aggregated CCs belong to the same band. Specifically, intra-band CA is further divided into continuous and discontinuous types. Continuous means the aggregated CCs are continuous in the frequency domain, while discontinuous means the aggregated CCs are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0141] The first application scenario is that the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device is coupled with the number of DLCCs that the user device can support.

[0142] The number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user equipment is also coupled with the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support. It can be understood that if the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user equipment is less than or equal to the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support, that is, if the user equipment can support parallel communication with the network device on M DLCCs, then the network device configures less than or equal to M DLCCs for the user equipment. Here, the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support can be understood as the number of DLCCs that the user equipment is capable of supporting.

[0143] For example, such as Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an application scenario of the downlink measurement method provided in this application. The user equipment supports parallel communication on more than or equal to two DLCCs. The network device configures two DLCCs for the user equipment, namely (DLCC 0 and DLCC 1), and the user equipment communicates downlink with the network device through (DLCC 0 and DLCC 1).

[0144] Optionally, the number of uplink and downlink aggregated carriers supported by the user equipment is coupled. That is, if the user equipment supports uplink communication with X ULCCs, it must also support downlink communication with X or more DLCCs. Optionally, the number of uplink and downlink aggregated carriers supported by the user equipment is decoupled. That is, if the user equipment supports uplink communication with X ULCCs, it can support downlink communication with fewer than X DLCCs.

[0145] Optionally, for TDD band (uplink and downlink on the same frequency band) or FDD band (ULband and DLband are planned in pairs), the network equipment configures ULCC and DLCC in pairs for user equipment.

[0146] The second application scenario is to decouple the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device from the number of DLCCs that the user device can support.

[0147] Understandably, based on the first application scenario, the number or bandwidth of parallel transmissions on multiple communication channels (CCs) supported by the user equipment (UE) is primarily limited by the UE's capabilities. In other words, when the UE's downlink capability is limited, such as a limited number of downlink channels, the UE performs downlink reception or downlink processing simultaneously on a limited number of DLCCs based on the finite number of downlink channels. Optionally, the downlink reception channel can refer to a downlink radio frequency channel, a downlink baseband channel, or downlink reception capability.

[0148] However, in the future, user equipment (UEs) will need to support a greater number of ULCC aggregation capabilities to meet the increasing uplink demands. Supporting the same number of DLCC aggregation capabilities simultaneously would significantly increase the complexity and cost of UE implementation, placing higher demands on UE capabilities. Furthermore, considering the existence of UEs with different specifications, some low- to mid-range UEs may need to further reduce downlink capability requirements while still supporting a certain level of uplink communication performance.

[0149] Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of DLCCs (M) configured by the network device for the user equipment (UE) can also be decoupled from the number of DLCCs supported by the UE (N). This can be understood as the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the UE being greater than the number of DLCCs supported by the UE. That is, when M is greater than or equal to N, the network device and the UE can perform downlink communication on a portion of the configured downlink carriers. Furthermore, for cross-carrier downlink measurements, by implementing this embodiment, it is also possible to enable normal communication between the network device and the UE on a portion of the downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0150] For example, such as Figure 6 As shown, Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of another application scenario of the downlink measurement method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0151] refer to Figure 6 The user equipment (UE) supports parallel communication with the network device on two DLCCs, while the network device can configure four DLCCs for the UE (DLCC 0, DLCC 1, DLCC 2, and DLCC 3). Both the network device and the UE can select two DLCCs from these four for downlink communication; these two DLCCs can be called resident DLCCs. Optionally, downlink communication can include one or more of downlink control, downlink data, and downlink reference signals. For example, the UE can communicate downlink with the network device on the activated resident DLCCs (DLCC 0 and DLCC 2). By flexibly switching between the multiple DLCCs configured by the network device, the UE can achieve downlink communication on different DLCCs within the range of DLCCs supported by its capabilities. In this way, the UE can fully utilize the DLCCs configured by the network device for downlink communication and select appropriate DLCCs as resident DLCCs as needed to improve communication performance.

[0152] In the embodiments of this application, a resident DLCC refers to a currently working DLCC, an activated DLCC, or a DLCC in a receiving state, while a non-resident DLCC refers to a non-working DLCC, an inactive DLCC, or a DLCC in a non-receiving state.

[0153] Optionally, the downlink carrier to be measured is a non-resident DLCC.

[0154] In one possible implementation for the two application scenarios described above, a UL CC corresponds to an uplink cell, a DLCC corresponds to a downlink cell, and the corresponding ULCCs and DLCCs form a cell. Alternatively, it can be understood that the corresponding ULCCs and DLCCs form a cell. In this case, cross-carrier measurement can be understood as the handover between downlink cells.

[0155] In another possible implementation, at least one UL CC corresponds to one uplink cell, at least one DL CC corresponds to one downlink cell, and at least one corresponding UL CC and DL CC form a cell, or, as understood, at least one UL CC and its corresponding DL CC form a cell. For example, multiple UL CCs and their corresponding DL CCs form a cell. In this case, cross-carrier measurement can be a handover between downlink carriers within a cell, or a handover between downlink carriers between cells. For example, a handover between downlink carriers within a cell can also be a handover between subcells. Specific details are not limited here.

[0156] It is understandable that the uplink carrier can be a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and / or a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier.

[0157] Optionally, cell, carrier, frequency point, BWP, frequency band, RB set, etc. can be interchanged.

[0158] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application are not limited to the two application scenarios mentioned above. The two application scenarios mentioned above are exemplary. In practical applications, it is considered that any cross-carrier downlink measurement of downlink carriers can be implemented in the embodiments of this application, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. It can be understood that cross-carrier downlink measurement can also be expressed as inter-frequency measurement, cross-frequency domain resource measurement (such as cross-band measurement, cross-partial bandwidth BWP measurement), or cross-cell measurement or cross-frequency point measurement, etc. Optionally, the DLCC to be measured can also be the frequency point to be measured, the cell to be measured, the frequency domain resource to be measured (such as BWP or frequency band), etc. Optionally, the cell to be measured is a configured but inactive Scell, or, the cell to be measured is a configured and activated Scell ​​that is not currently performing downlink reception, or, the frequency point to be measured is another configured non-operating frequency point. It can be understood that the reason for being configured and activated but not currently performing downlink reception may be network configuration or user equipment capability constraints. It can be understood that the embodiments of this application can also be used in scenarios that require cross-carrier uplink transmission, for example, user equipment needs to perform uplink transmission on a non-resident uplink carrier.

[0159] Based on the above application scenarios, whether it's the first scenario where the user equipment needs to understand the channel conditions of other downlink carriers, or the second scenario where the user equipment needs to understand the channel conditions of non-resident DLCCs, downlink measurements can be performed on the downlink carrier to be measured through cross-carrier downlink measurement to obtain the measurement results. That is, during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the user equipment switches the downlink receive channel of a resident DLCC to the DLCC to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement. The DLCC to be measured is different from the resident DLCC being switched to; for example, the center frequency and / or subcarrier spacing of the DLCC to be measured are different from those of the resident DLCC being switched to. The specific implementation method is as follows:

[0160] For example, the network device can take the lead in deciding which DLCC to interrupt downlink communication during downlink measurement while maintaining normal downlink communication on other DLCCs. For instance, the decision to interrupt downlink communication on which DLCC to interrupt can be based on the network device's network configuration information or indication information. Alternatively, the user equipment can take the lead in deciding which DLCC to interrupt downlink communication during downlink measurement (or, in other words, which DLCC's downlink receive channel to be switched to the DLCC under test for cross-carrier downlink measurement), while maintaining normal downlink communication on other DLCCs. For instance, the decision to interrupt downlink communication on which DLCC to interrupt can be based on the user equipment's first information report. Alternatively, the network device and the user equipment can determine which DLCC to interrupt downlink communication based on one or more preset rules. These will be explained below:

[0161] Example 1: During cross-carrier downlink measurement, the user equipment decides which DLCC in the set of downlink carriers to suspend downlink communication, switches the downlink receiving channel of that DLCC to the DLCC to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement, and does not affect downlink communication on other DLCCs.

[0162] like Figure 7 As shown, Figure 7 This is a flowchart of a downlink measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application. The specific steps of the downlink measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application are as follows:

[0163] Step 701: The user equipment reports its capability information to the network equipment. The capability information includes first capability information and / or second capability information.

[0164] For example, when a user equipment (UE) joins the network, it reports its own capability information to the network device so that the network device can communicate downlink with the UE based on the capability information reported by the UE, or better align with the UE during cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0165] The capability information may include first capability information and / or second capability information. The first capability information indicates that, during cross-carrier downlink measurements, the user equipment supports suspending downlink communication with the network device on at least one downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set, while maintaining downlink communication with the network device on other downlink carriers in the camped carrier set. The second capability information indicates that the number of downlink carriers supported by the network configuration is greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers the user equipment can support.

[0166] In this embodiment of the application, the user equipment can report the first capability information and the second capability information to the network device in various ways, which are described below:

[0167] I. The first capability information is whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some residing downlink carriers or other downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements, or whether it does not affect downlink communication on some residing downlink carriers or other downlink carriers. Optionally, the first capability information can be reported separately for each band combination, or separately for each band, or separately for each carrier of each band in each band combination. These are explained below:

[0168] Intra-band cross-carrier downlink measurement refers to cross-carrier downlink measurement when the stationary downlink carrier in the stationary carrier set and the downlink carrier to be measured are located in the same frequency band. Inter-band cross-carrier downlink measurement refers to cross-carrier downlink measurement when the stationary downlink carrier in the stationary carrier set and the downlink carrier to be measured are located in different frequency bands.

[0169] 1. The first capability information for each frequency band combination shall be reported separately:

[0170] A. Different frequency band combinations shall report the following capability 1: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some resident downlink carriers when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements within and / or between any frequency bands in this frequency band combination;

[0171] In one possible implementation, the first capability information of different frequency band combinations in the first frequency band set can be reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency band combinations, capability 1 can be reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some residing downlink carriers when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements within and / or between any frequency bands in that frequency band combination.

[0172] Specifically, capability 1 refers to whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements within and / or between any frequency bands in a frequency band combination. The first and second downlink carriers are downlink carriers in the same frequency band combination.

[0173] For example, the first capability information of frequency band combination 1 and frequency band combination 2 are reported respectively. If frequency band combination 1 supports the above capability 1, the value 1 is reported; if frequency band combination 2 does not support the above capability 1, the value 0 is reported. Specifically, when the network device receives a value of 1 corresponding to capability 1 of frequency band combination 1, it is considered that all frequency bands and / or inter-frequency bands in frequency band combination 1 support downlink communication on some residing downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurement. Alternatively, it can be considered that all frequency bands and / or inter-frequency bands in frequency band combination 1 support downlink communication on all residing downlink carriers except those that need to be switched during cross-carrier downlink measurement.

[0174] B. Different frequency band combinations shall report the following capability 2: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some resident downlink carriers when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements on any frequency band in the frequency band combination;

[0175] In one possible implementation, first capability information within any frequency band of different frequency band combinations is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency band combinations, the following capability 2 is reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some resident downlink carriers when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements within any frequency band of that frequency band combination.

[0176] Specifically, capability 2 refers to whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers during cross-carrier measurements within any frequency band in the frequency band combination. Here, the first and second downlink carriers are the downlink carriers in the frequency band combination.

[0177] For example, the first capability information of frequency band combination 1 and frequency band combination 2 are reported respectively. If frequency band combination 1 supports capability 2, the value 1 is reported; if frequency band combination 2 does not support capability 2, the value 0 is reported. Specifically, when the network device receives a value of 1 corresponding to capability 2 of frequency band combination 1, it is considered that all frequency bands in frequency band combination 1 support downlink communication that maintains a portion of the residing downlink carriers in the upper frequency band during cross-carrier downlink measurement within the frequency band. It is understood that this implementation is applicable to cross-carrier downlink measurement within the frequency band, that is, cross-carrier downlink measurement when the residing downlink carriers in the residing downlink carrier set and the downlink carrier to be measured are located in the same frequency band.

[0178] C. Different frequency band combinations shall report the following capability 3: whether it supports the ability to maintain normal downlink communication of some resident downlink carriers when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements between any frequency bands within the frequency band combination;

[0179] In one possible implementation, first capability information between any frequency bands in different frequency band combinations is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency band combinations, the following capability 3 is reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some stationary downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements between any frequency bands within that frequency band combination. Specifically, capability 3 is whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the stationary downlink carrier set during cross-carrier measurements between any frequency bands within the frequency band combination. Here, the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier are the downlink carriers in that frequency band combination.

[0180] For example, the first capability information of frequency band combination 1 and frequency band combination 2 are reported respectively. If frequency band combination 1 supports the above-mentioned capability 3, the value 1 is reported; if frequency band combination 2 does not support the above-mentioned capability 3, the value 0 is reported. Specifically, when the network device receives a value of 1 corresponding to capability 3 of frequency band combination 1, it is considered that all frequency bands in frequency band combination 1 support downlink communication that still maintains a portion of the residing downlink carriers in the frequency band during inter-band cross-carrier downlink measurement. It is understood that this implementation is applicable to inter-band cross-carrier downlink measurement, that is, cross-carrier downlink measurement when the residing downlink carriers in the residing downlink carrier set and the downlink carrier to be measured are located in different frequency bands within the same frequency band combination.

[0181] Optionally, the user equipment may report one or more of capabilities 1, 2, and 3. This can be understood as the first capability information including one or more of capabilities 1, 2, and 3.

[0182] 2. The first capability information for each frequency band shall be reported separately:

[0183] In one possible implementation, the first capability information within different frequency bands is reported separately. That is, for different frequency bands, the following capability 4 is reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements within the frequency band. Specifically, whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements within the frequency band. Here, the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier are downlink carriers within the same frequency band. For example, the user equipment reports the first capability information of the downlink carriers in frequency band 1 and frequency band 2 to the network equipment respectively.

[0184] In another possible implementation, the first capability information for different frequency bands is reported separately. That is, for different frequency bands, the following capability 5 is reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some downlink carriers when a carrier within that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured for intra-band cross-carrier downlink measurement or inter-band cross-carrier downlink measurement. Specifically, whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the resident downlink carrier set when a carrier within that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement. Here, the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier are downlink carriers within the same frequency band. For example, the user equipment reports the first capability information of the downlink carriers in frequency band 1 and frequency band 2 to the network equipment respectively.

[0185] 3. The first capability information for each frequency band of each frequency band combination shall be reported separately:

[0186] In one possible implementation, the first capability information of different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, the following capability 6 is reported separately: whether it supports the ability to maintain normal downlink communication on some stationary downlink carriers when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements within a frequency band combination. Specifically, capability 6 is whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the stationary downlink carrier set when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements within a frequency band combination. The second downlink carrier can be any other stationary downlink carrier in the stationary downlink carrier set besides the first downlink carrier. Here, the first and second downlink carriers are downlink carriers within the same frequency band in the frequency band combination, and the stationary downlink carrier set can be all stationary downlink carriers within the same frequency band in the same frequency band combination.

[0187] For example, given frequency band combination 1 {band1, band2} and frequency band combination 2 {band2, band3}, which includes bands 2 and 3, the first capability information of band1, band2, band2, and band3 of frequency band combination 1 are reported respectively. If band2 of frequency band combination 1 supports the above capability 6, the value 1 is reported; if band2 of frequency band combination 2 does not support the above capability 6, the value 0 is reported. Specifically, when the network device receives a value of 1 corresponding to capability 6 for band2 in frequency band combination 1, it is considered that band2 of frequency band combination 1 supports downlink communication on the upper part of the downlink carrier during cross-carrier downlink measurement within the frequency band. It is understandable that capability 6 of the same frequency band (such as band2 above) in different frequency band combinations can be reported separately.

[0188] In another possible implementation, the first capability information of different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, the following capability 7 is reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some downlink carriers when a carrier within that frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured for intra-band cross-carrier downlink measurement or inter-band cross-carrier downlink measurement. Specifically, whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the resident downlink carrier set when a carrier within that frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement. For example, capability 7 for the same frequency band in different frequency band combinations can be reported separately.

[0189] 4. The first capability information of each carrier in each frequency band of each frequency band combination shall be reported separately.

[0190] In one possible implementation, the first capability information of different carriers in different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different carriers on different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, the following capability 8 is reported separately: whether it supports maintaining normal downlink communication on some stationary downlink carriers when a carrier in a frequency band within a frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement within the frequency band. Specifically, capability 8 is whether it supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the stationary downlink carrier set when a carrier in a frequency band within a frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement within the frequency band. The second downlink carrier can be any other stationary downlink carrier in the stationary downlink carrier set besides the first downlink carrier.

[0191] Optionally, the first capability information may also include the downlink carrier combination relationship among all downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, or the frequency band combination relationship among the frequency bands in which all downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set reside.

[0192] It is understandable that, for the above methods, maintaining normal communication of some camped downlink carriers can be either all camped downlink carriers in the camped downlink carrier set except for the switched camped downlink carriers, or a portion of the camped downlink carriers in the camped downlink carrier set except for the switched camped downlink carriers.

[0193] It is understandable that when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements, if the number of downlink carriers to be measured is equal to the number of camped downlink carriers, that is, if all downlink receiving channels of camped downlink carriers are used for cross-carrier downlink measurements of each downlink carrier to be measured, then normal communication on any camped downlink carrier will no longer be maintained.

[0194] It should be noted that the above capability information and / or different implementation methods can be combined with each other. Optionally, the above capability information and different implementation methods can be reported in the same user equipment capability or in multiple user equipment capabilities. For example, reporting in the same user equipment capability can be reported as different components of the same user equipment capability.

[0195] Second, the second capability information can report the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support for network device configuration and / or the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support.

[0196] Optionally, the second capability information includes the following capability 9: decoupling between whether the user equipment supports the number of DLCCs configured by the network device and the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support. This can be understood as whether the number of DLCCs supported by the user equipment is greater than the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support.

[0197] Optionally, the second capability information also includes the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support configured by the network device and / or the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support. This can be understood as the second capability information including whether the number of DLCCs supported by the user equipment is greater than the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support, the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support configured by the network device, and the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support, or one or more of these factors. Optionally, the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support configured by the network device and / or the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support may also be reported in other capability information, such as in the first capability information; this is not limited here.

[0198] Provided that the number of DLCCs that the user equipment supports configured by the network device is greater than the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support, the following explanations shall be provided for the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support configured by the network device and / or the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support:

[0199] 1. Report the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support for network device configuration and the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support.

[0200] For example, when a user equipment reports the second capability information, it reports both the number M of DLCCs that the user equipment can support configured by the network device and the number N of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support, and reports the aforementioned numbers separately. M is greater than or equal to N. For instance, if the network device receives a report from the user equipment showing M as 4 and N as 2, it assumes that it can configure a maximum of 4 DLCCs for the user equipment, and that the user equipment can support a total of 2 DLCCs.

[0201] 2. Report the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support.

[0202] For example, when a user equipment reports its second capability information, it reports the number N of DLCCs that its own capabilities can support, but does not report the number of DLCCs that the user equipment can support as configured by the network device. For instance, if the network device receives a report of N of 2 from the user equipment, it assumes that the user equipment can support 2 DLCCs. The number of DLCCs that the network device configures for the user equipment can be determined by the network device itself; for example, it can configure 4 DLCCs for the user equipment.

[0203] Optionally, the second capability information reporting can be done separately for each frequency band combination, or separately for each frequency band, or separately for each frequency band within each frequency band combination, or separately for each carrier within each frequency band of each frequency band combination. It is understood that different frequency band combinations can report different capabilities, or different frequency bands can report different capabilities, or each frequency band within each frequency band combination can report different capabilities. For example, when reporting separately for each frequency band, it can report whether the user equipment supports a number of DLCCs configured by the network device that is greater than the number of DLCCs the user equipment can support, and / or the number of DLCCs the user equipment can support configured by the network device, and / or the number of DLCCs that the user equipment itself can support. For details, please refer to the detailed description of the implementation method for the first capability information reporting; it will not be repeated here.

[0204] It is understood that the above-mentioned reporting methods are merely exemplary and do not constitute a limitation of this application in that it can only be reported in the above-mentioned ways. For example, embodiments of this application may also report the first capability information of all frequency bands using the same value, or other reporting methods, which are not limited here.

[0205] It should be noted that the first capability information and / or the second capability information and / or the first information can be reported in the same user equipment capability or in multiple user equipment capabilities. For example, when reported in the same user equipment capability, it can be reported as different components of the same user equipment capability. Optionally, the handover time or priority indicated in the first information can be reported separately. For a detailed explanation of the first information, please refer to the detailed description in step 704.

[0206] In one possible implementation, the user equipment may also report third capability information. This third capability information includes the decoupling of the number of uplink CCs and downlink CCs supported by the user equipment; that is, the supported number of downlink aggregated CCs may be different from the number of uplink aggregated CCs, or the supported number of downlink aggregated CCs may be less than the number of uplink aggregated CCs. It is understood that the third capability information includes one or more of the following: the user equipment supports a lower number of downlink aggregated CCs than the number of uplink aggregated CCs, the user equipment supports a lower number of downlink aggregated CCs, and the user equipment supports a higher number of uplink aggregated CCs.

[0207] Optionally, the third capability information may also include the number of CCs that the user equipment supports for parallel transmission and / or parallel reception. Specific reporting methods may include: based on decoupling the number of uplink CCs and downlink CCs supported by the user equipment, further reporting the number of CCs that can be simultaneously transmitted and / or received in parallel; or, reporting DL CC aggregation capability and UL CC aggregation capability separately, or reporting the number of CCs that can be simultaneously transmitted and received in parallel separately; or, based on reporting the number of carrier aggregation CCs supported by the user equipment, further reporting the number of CCs that can be simultaneously transmitted and / or received in parallel.

[0208] The downlink aggregated CC count and / or uplink aggregated CC count can also be reported in other capability information of the user equipment. For example, the downlink aggregated CC count is reported as 2 and the uplink aggregated CC count as 3. For specific reporting methods, please refer to the detailed introduction on the reporting of second capability information above, which will not be repeated here.

[0209] Step 702: The user equipment sends the first information to the network equipment.

[0210] Optionally, the first information is used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to handover to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier set including the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured.

[0211] Optionally, the first information is further used to determine the handover time required for a downlink carrier in each frequency band of the first frequency band set to handover to a downlink carrier in another frequency band of the first frequency band set. And / or, the first information can also be used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier within the frequency band of each frequency band of the first frequency band set to handover to another downlink carrier within that frequency band. Wherein, the downlink carriers in the camped downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set, and the first frequency band set includes the frequency bands where the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located.

[0212] Optionally, the first information can also be used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, or it can also be used to determine the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. Here, a downlink carrier combination is a combination of any two downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set.

[0213] Optionally, the downlink carrier to be measured is a non-resident DLCC.

[0214] In this embodiment of the application, in order to achieve alignment between the user equipment and the network device, that is, to further achieve the interruption of downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and the maintenance of downlink communication on the second downlink carrier without wasting the scheduling resources of the network device, the user equipment reports first information to the network device, so that the network device can also determine the first downlink carrier from the downlink carrier set based on the first information, thereby achieving alignment between the user equipment and the network device.

[0215] In other words, when the user equipment (UE) determines the first downlink carrier, the network equipment can learn which downlink receive channel residing in the DLCC will switch to the downlink carrier under test for cross-carrier downlink measurement by reporting the first information from the UE. The network equipment can then schedule transmissions for the UE on the second downlink carrier instead of the first downlink carrier during the cross-carrier downlink measurement. This avoids resource waste and performance degradation caused by the network equipment still scheduling resources on the first downlink carrier because it is unaware that the first downlink carrier has been interrupted.

[0216] For example, if the network device does not know which residing DLCC the user equipment will switch its downlink receive channel to the downlink carrier to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement, i.e., the network device does not know which residing DLCC has been interrupted, then during the cross-carrier downlink measurement, the network device may still be scheduling the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or transmitting the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on the original residing DLCC. However, the user equipment has already interrupted the original residing DLCC, causing the user equipment to be unable to receive PDCCH or PDSCH resources, affecting communication performance. Alternatively, to avoid the above scenario, the network device may choose not to perform downlink transmission on any residing DLCC during the measurement period, which will lead to resource waste and affect scheduling flexibility and downlink data transmission performance.

[0217] Understandably, the first information reported to the network device may also include other information, such as the address of the user equipment, the number of downlink receiving channels supported by the user equipment, etc., which are not specifically limited here.

[0218] Optionally, the first information can be reported together with the first capability information. Optionally, the user equipment can report the first information to the network equipment in various ways. The first information can be reported separately for each frequency band combination, or separately for each frequency band of each frequency band combination, or separately for each downlink carrier of each frequency band of each frequency band combination.

[0219] For detailed instructions on reporting methods, please refer to the relevant introduction to capability information reporting in step 701. The following is a brief explanation of the different reporting methods:

[0220] A. The first information for each frequency band combination is reported separately:

[0221] It should be noted that in this embodiment, each frequency band combination defines a switching time and / or priority, wherein each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands. This can be understood as follows: for each frequency band combination, the first information includes the switching time between downlink carriers within each frequency band of the frequency band combination, and / or the switching time between downlink carriers in different frequency bands within the frequency band combination, and / or the switching time between any downlink carriers in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or the priority between downlink carrier combinations in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of other downlink carriers in the corresponding frequency band of any downlink carrier in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of downlink carrier combinations between any frequency bands within the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of downlink carriers in other frequency bands corresponding to downlink carriers in any frequency band within the frequency band combination. These will be explained separately below:

[0222] a. The first information within and / or between any frequency bands of different frequency band combinations shall be reported separately.

[0223] In one possible implementation, first information within and / or between frequency bands of different frequency band combinations in the first frequency band set is reported respectively, wherein each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency band combinations in the first frequency band set, one or more of the following first information is reported respectively: the switching time between downlink carriers within and / or between frequency bands in the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of the downlink carrier combination within and / or between frequency bands in the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of the downlink carrier within any frequency band in the frequency band combination corresponding to other downlink carriers within that frequency band and / or the priority of the downlink carrier of any frequency band corresponding to the downlink carrier of other frequency bands.

[0224] For example, band combination 1 is {band1, band2}, and band combination 2 is {band3, band4}. The first information of band combination 1 and band combination 2 are reported respectively. Taking band combination 1 as an example, one or more of the following first information can be reported: the handover time between downlink carriers in band1 and the handover time between downlink carriers in band2, and / or the handover time between downlink carriers on band1 and downlink carriers on band2; and / or the priority between downlink carrier combinations in band1 and downlink carrier combinations in band2, and / or the priority between downlink carrier combinations formed by downlink carriers on band1 and downlink carriers on band2; and / or the priority of downlink carriers in band1 corresponding to other downlink carriers in band1 and the priority of downlink carriers in band2 corresponding to other downlink carriers in band2, and / or the priority of downlink carriers in band1 corresponding to downlink carriers in band2.

[0225] b. The first information within any frequency band of different frequency band combinations shall be reported separately.

[0226] In one possible implementation, first information within any frequency band of different frequency band combinations in the first frequency band set is reported respectively, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency band combinations in the first frequency band set, one or more of the following first information are reported respectively: the handover time between downlink carriers in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier combination in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or, the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carriers in any frequency band within the frequency band combination.

[0227] For example, band combination 1 is {band1, band2}, and band combination 2 is {band3, band4}. The first information of band combination 1 and band combination 2 is reported separately. Taking band combination 1 as an example, one or more of the following first information can be reported: the handover time between downlink carriers in band1 and the handover time between downlink carriers in band2; and / or, the priority between the downlink carrier combination in band1 and the downlink carrier combination in band2; and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier in band1 corresponding to other downlink carriers in band1 and the priority of the downlink carrier in band2 corresponding to other downlink carriers in band2.

[0228] c. The first information between any frequency bands of different frequency band combinations is reported separately.

[0229] In one possible implementation, first information between any frequency bands in different frequency band combinations within the first frequency band set is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency band combinations within the first frequency band set, one or more of the following first information is reported: the switching time between downlink carriers in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier combination in any frequency band within the frequency band combination, and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier of any frequency band within the frequency band combination corresponding to the downlink carrier of other frequency bands.

[0230] For example, frequency band combination 1 is {band1, band2}, and frequency band combination 2 is {band3, band4}. The first information of frequency band combination 1 and frequency band combination 2 are reported separately. Taking frequency band combination 1 as an example, one or more of the following first information can be reported: the handover time between the downlink carrier on band1 and the downlink carrier on band2; and / or, the priority between the downlink carrier combinations formed by the downlink carriers on band1 and band2; and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier in band1 corresponding to the downlink carrier in band2.

[0231] Optionally, the handover times between consecutive downlink carriers within the same or different frequency bands in a frequency band combination, and the handover times between non-consecutive downlink carriers within the same or different frequency bands in a frequency band combination, can be reported separately. Understandably, within the same frequency band combination, the handover times between downlink carriers in different frequency bands can be reported separately. For example, in the frequency band combination {band1, band2, band3}, the handover times between the downlink carriers of band1 and band2, and between the downlink carriers of band1 and band3, can be reported separately.

[0232] Optionally, the handover time between consecutive downlink carriers and the handover time between discontinuous downlink carriers can be different, or they can be defined separately, or they can be reported separately. For example, the first information includes the handover time between consecutive downlink carriers and / or the handover time between discontinuous downlink carriers within each frequency band of the frequency band combination. Another example is that the first information includes the handover time between consecutive downlink carriers and / or the handover time between discontinuous downlink carriers in different frequency bands of the frequency band combination. Yet another example is that the first information includes the handover time between consecutive downlink carriers and / or the handover time between discontinuous downlink carriers. Here, consecutive downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are continuous in the frequency domain, and discontinuous downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0233] B. Report separately for each frequency band:

[0234] In one possible implementation, the first information within each frequency band is reported separately. That is, for each frequency band, the following information is reported separately: the handover time between downlink carriers within the frequency band. Optionally, the handover time between consecutive downlink carriers within the frequency band and the handover time between non-consecutive downlink carriers within the frequency band can be reported separately.

[0235] In one possible implementation, the first information within different frequency bands of the first frequency band set is reported respectively. That is, for different frequency bands in the first frequency band set, one or more of the following first information are reported respectively: the switching time between any downlink carriers in the frequency band, wherein the camped downlink carrier and the downlink carrier to be measured are located in the same frequency band; and / or, the priority of any combination of downlink carriers in the frequency band; and / or, the priority of other downlink carriers in the frequency band corresponding to any downlink carrier in the frequency band.

[0236] For example, the first frequency band set includes band1 and band2, and the first information of band1 and band2 is reported separately. Taking band1 as an example, the user equipment can report one or more of the following first information: reporting the handover time between any downlink carriers within band1; and / or, reporting the priority between any combination of downlink carriers within band1; and / or, reporting the priority of the downlink carriers within band1 corresponding to other downlink carriers within band1. Understandably, the reporting of band2 is similar to that of band1, and will not be described in detail here.

[0237] Optionally, for different frequency bands in the first frequency band set, the following first information is reported respectively: the switching time between a downlink carrier in that frequency band and a downlink carrier in another frequency band when the downlink carrier in that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured; and / or, the switching time between a downlink carrier in that frequency band and other downlink carriers in that frequency band when the downlink carrier in that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, for different frequency bands in the first frequency band set, the following first information is reported respectively: the switching time between a downlink carrier in that frequency band and a downlink carrier in another frequency band when the downlink carrier in that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. It is understood that this does not distinguish whether other downlink carriers and the downlink carrier to be measured are located in the same frequency band or different frequency bands.

[0238] Optionally, the user equipment may also report the handover time required for a downlink carrier in each of the frequency bands supported by the user equipment to switch to a downlink carrier in another frequency band within the supported frequency bands, and / or the handover time required for each downlink carrier within the same frequency band of each of the supported frequency bands to switch to another downlink carrier within that frequency band. In this case, the frequency bands supported by the user equipment are some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set, and the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are some or all of the downlink carriers supported by the user equipment.

[0239] It should be noted that in this embodiment, a switching time is defined for each frequency band. This can be understood as follows: for different frequency bands, the first information includes the switching time between downlink carriers within that frequency band, or the switching time when the downlink carrier within that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0240] Optionally, the switching time between consecutive downlink carriers and the switching time between discontinuous downlink carriers can be different, or they can be defined separately, or they can be reported separately. For example, the first information includes the switching time between consecutive downlink carriers and / or the switching time between discontinuous downlink carriers within the frequency band. Continuous downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are continuous in the frequency domain, while discontinuous downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0241] C. Each frequency band of each frequency band combination shall be reported separately:

[0242] In one possible implementation, the first information of different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations is reported separately, with each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands. That is, for different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, one or more of the following first information is reported: the handover time between downlink carriers within that frequency band in the frequency band combination, wherein the downlink carrier to be measured and the camped downlink carrier are located in the same frequency band; and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier combination within that frequency band in the frequency band combination; and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier within that frequency band in the frequency band combination relative to other downlink carriers within that frequency band. Optionally, the handover time between consecutive downlink carriers within a frequency band in a frequency band combination and the handover time between non-consecutive carriers within a frequency band in a frequency band combination can be reported separately.

[0243] For example, band combination 1 is {band1, band2}, and band combination 2 is {band3, band4}. The first information for band1 and band2 of band combination 1 is reported separately. Taking band1 of band combination 1 as an example, one or more of the following first information can be reported: reporting the handover time between downlink carriers within band1; and / or, reporting the priority between downlink carrier combinations within band1; and / or, reporting the priority of the downlink carrier within band1 corresponding to other downlink carriers within band1. Understandably, the reporting of band2 of band combination 1, band3 of band combination 2, and band4 of band combination 2 can all refer to the example of band1 of band combination 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0244] Optionally, for each frequency band in each frequency band combination, the following first information is reported: the switching time between the downlink carrier to be measured and other downlink carriers in the frequency band when the downlink carrier in that frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured; and / or, the switching time between the downlink carrier to be measured and other downlink carriers in the frequency band of the frequency band combination when the downlink carrier in that frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, for each frequency band in each frequency band combination, the following first information is reported: the switching time between the downlink carrier in that frequency band of the frequency band combination and other downlink carriers when the downlink carrier in that frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. It is understood that no distinction is made between other downlink carriers and the downlink carrier to be measured being located in the same frequency band or different frequency bands in the same frequency band combination, or in different frequency band combinations.

[0245] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, each frequency band within each frequency band combination defines a separate switching time. This can be understood as follows: for each frequency band in each frequency band combination, the first information includes the switching time between downlink carriers within that frequency band of the frequency band combination, or the switching time between a downlink carrier within that frequency band of the frequency band combination and other downlink carriers when the downlink carrier is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. Each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands.

[0246] Optionally, the switching time between consecutive downlink carriers and the switching time between discontinuous downlink carriers can be different, or they can be defined separately, or they can be reported separately. For example, the first information includes the switching time between consecutive downlink carriers and / or the switching time between discontinuous downlink carriers within the same frequency band. As another example, the first information includes the switching time when any downlink carrier within the same frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured and the measurement spans consecutive carriers, and / or the switching time when a downlink carrier within the same frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured and the measurement spans discontinuous carriers. Here, consecutive downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are continuous in the frequency domain, and discontinuous downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0247] D. The first information of each carrier in each frequency band of each frequency band combination is reported separately:

[0248] In one possible implementation, the first information of different downlink carriers in different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations is reported separately, and each frequency band combination includes multiple frequency bands. That is, for different downlink carriers in different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, one or more of the following first information is reported respectively: the switching time of other downlink carriers in that frequency band when each downlink carrier in that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0249] For example, the first frequency band set includes band1, band2, band3, and band4. Frequency band combination 1 is {band1, band2}, and frequency band combination 2 is {band3, band4}. Taking (DLCC0, DLCC1) of band1 in frequency band combination 1 as an example, the first information of DLCC0 and DLCC1 can be reported respectively: when DLCC0 of band1 in frequency band combination 1 is used as the downlink carrier to be measured, the switching time of DLCC1 to DLCC0.

[0250] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the switching time is defined for each carrier of each frequency band in each frequency band combination. This can be understood as follows: for each downlink carrier of each frequency band in each frequency band of each frequency band combination, the first information includes the switching time when the downlink carrier is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. Each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands.

[0251] Optionally, the switching time between consecutive downlink carriers and the switching time between discontinuous downlink carriers can be different, or they can be defined separately, or they can be reported separately. For example, the first information includes the switching time when the downlink carrier within the frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured and is measured across consecutive carriers, and / or the switching time when the downlink carrier within the frequency band of the frequency band combination is used as the downlink carrier to be measured and is measured across discontinuous carriers. Here, consecutive downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are continuous in the frequency domain, and discontinuous downlink carriers refer to downlink carriers that are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0252] It should be noted that the above capability information and / or different implementation methods can be combined with each other. Optionally, the above capability information and different implementation methods can be reported in the same user equipment capability or in multiple user equipment capabilities. For example, reporting in the same user equipment capability can be reported as different components of the same user equipment capability.

[0253] It should be noted that the first piece of information can be reported together with the capability information in step 701, or separately. There is no necessary order between steps 702 and 701; they can be implemented simultaneously, or step 701 can be implemented first and then step 702, or vice versa. Understandably, steps 702 and 701 can be independent steps or the same step. For example, the first piece of information in step 702 can also be capability information, and it can be reported in the same capability information section as the first capability information and the second capability information section, or in different capability information sections. There is also no necessary order between steps 702 and steps 703 and 704. Step 704 can be implemented first and then step 702.

[0254] Step 703: The network device sends measurement information to the user equipment.

[0255] For example, when a user equipment (UE) performs cross-carrier downlink measurements, it needs to do so based on the network device's configuration, i.e., based on measurement information. This measurement information includes the measurement interval. In this way, the UE can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information.

[0256] Optionally, the measurement information may also include measurement configuration information. Optionally, the measurement configuration information includes one or more of the following: CSI-RS or CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS period, CSI-RS periodicity, CSI measurement report resources, CSI measurement report period, CSI measurement report periodicity, measurement interval, timer, and first interval. It is understood that the measurement configuration information described below may all be included in the measurement information.

[0257] When configuring measurement information, network devices can be implemented in at least three ways, depending on the different configuration methods. These methods are described below:

[0258] 1. Configuration for periodic measurements of network devices

[0259] It is understood that periodic measurement refers to the CSI-RS used for measurement in the measurement configuration information being periodic, and / or the CSI measurement report being periodic.

[0260] When a user equipment (UE) joins the network, it reports its initial capability information to the network equipment. At this time, the network equipment can also send the configured periodic measurement intervals to the UE. Therefore, when cross-carrier downlink measurements are required, the UE can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements every measurement period within the corresponding measurement interval without the need for additional signaling triggers.

[0261] It should be noted that when the network device is configured to perform periodic measurements, the actual execution order of step 703 is not limited. For example, when the network device is configured to perform periodic measurements, the network device can send the configured measurement information to the user equipment before step 702 or before step 701.

[0262] For example, when configuring measurement intervals and / or CSI-RS resources, network devices can configure each downlink carrier separately. This avoids frequent switching of downlink carriers, or multiple downlink carriers can be configured uniformly. These are explained below:

[0263] A. Configure measurement intervals separately:

[0264] The network device configures a measurement interval for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set; that is, each downlink carrier is configured with a separate measurement interval. Optionally, the measurement intervals for different downlink carriers can be the same. Optionally, the measurement interval is the time period or total duration for performing downlink measurements on that downlink carrier. Optionally, the measurement interval is the time period or total duration that includes performing downlink measurements on that downlink carrier as well as the handover intervals before and after.

[0265] For example, the measurement configuration information for the measurement interval includes one or more of the following: time-domain start position, measurement interval length, time-domain end position, and measurement interval period. Optionally, the time-domain start position can be determined based on the offset relative to a reference point, such as the offset relative to SFN0. The configuration of the measurement interval length needs to be reasonable, ensuring that the user equipment can complete the measurement within that time interval. The specific length is not limited here and can be determined based on the processing efficiency, measurement efficiency, etc., of different user equipment. Understandably, the time-domain start position can also be customized by the network device; this is not specifically limited here.

[0266] Optionally, the measurement interval may or may not include the handover time length. The handover time length refers to the time required for a downlink receive channel of a stationary DLCC to switch to a non-stationary DLCC. When the measurement interval includes the handover time length, the user equipment does not need to perform downlink measurements within the handover time length.

[0267] Understandably, when configuring measurement intervals separately, the duration of each measurement interval can also be different. For example, when configuring measurement intervals for two downlink carriers separately, different measurement interval durations can be configured.

[0268] It should be noted that the time-domain start or end position of the measurement interval for each downlink carrier can be based on the timing of the downlink carrier to be measured, or on the timing of the downlink carrier camped on the downlink carrier to which the measurement is switched. Optionally, the configuration of the measurement interval should also consider the downlink timing and / or uplink TA between downlink carriers, but this is not specifically limited here.

[0269] It is understandable that, for the downlink carrier to be measured, the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurements on the cross-carrier CSI-RS within the measurement interval corresponding to the downlink carrier.

[0270] B. Standardize the configuration of measurement intervals:

[0271] The network equipment configures a uniform measurement interval for all downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. It is understood that the measurement interval is the same or determined based on the same configuration information for all downlink carriers within the first downlink carrier set. That is, within the uniform measurement interval, the user equipment needs to perform downlink measurements on each camped DLCC and each non-camped DLCC in the first downlink carrier set sequentially according to a set rule or order. When performing downlink measurements on each downlink carrier within the uniform measurement interval, the downlink measurement includes cross-carrier downlink measurements on non-camped DLCCs and intra-carrier downlink measurements on camped DLCCs. In other words, cross-carrier downlink measurements on non-camped downlink carriers and intra-carrier downlink measurements on camped downlink carriers are performed within the same measurement interval.

[0272] Optionally, the time-domain start or end position of the measurement interval can be uniformly configured. Optionally, the uniformly configured measurement interval can be based on the timing of the reference DLCC. Optionally, the reference DLCC is the DLCC of the main cell Pcell, or it can be determined according to the network configuration. Understandably, the time-domain start or end position of the measurement interval can also be based on the timing configured by the network device, or it can be directly determined according to the instructions of the network device; no specific limitation is made here.

[0273] Understandably, within the measurement interval, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on the CSI-RS of each downlink carrier sequentially according to the configuration. Optionally, this can be done according to the measurement order or measurement pattern, where the measurement order or measurement pattern is determined based on configuration information. Optionally, for camped downlink carriers, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on the local carrier CSI-RS of that carrier. Optionally, for non-camped downlink carriers, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on the cross-carrier CSI-RS of that carrier.

[0274] C. Measurement based on timer:

[0275] like Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 This is an example diagram illustrating the configuration of measurement information in an embodiment of this application. Optionally, the measurement information also includes a timer for cross-carrier downlink measurement, i.e., the length of the timer for cross-carrier downlink measurement. Optionally, for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the corresponding timer is started or restarted after the carrier completes the previous cross-carrier measurement.

[0276] Optionally, the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next cross-carrier CSI-RS after the timer expires on the downlink carrier to be measured, or performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next N cross-carrier CSI-RS after the timer expires, or performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the cross-carrier CSI-RS within the measurement interval of the next period after the timer expires.

[0277] Optionally, N is determined by network device configuration, pre-configuration, pre-definition, or based on default values. This allows user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements based on the cross-carrier CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured, as well as the timer.

[0278] Optionally, the measurement interval is determined with reference to the implementation methods described in A or B, which will not be repeated here. Alternatively, the measurement interval can also be determined based on other methods, which are not limited here.

[0279] For example, when performing a cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next cross-carrier CSI-RS, the measurement time includes the time domain of the CSI-RS, the switching time required for the downlink receive channel of the first downlink carrier to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured, and the switching time required for the downlink receive channel to switch back to the first downlink carrier. Optionally, when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements on the next N cross-carrier CSI-RS, the measurement time includes the time domain of the N CSI-RS, the switching time required for the downlink receive channel of the first downlink carrier to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured when measuring the first CSI-RS, and the switching time required for the downlink receive channel to switch back to the first downlink carrier when measuring the Nth CSI-RS.

[0280] Optionally, when the timer expires, the higher layer of the user equipment sends trigger information to the physical layer, which instructs the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurement. Understandably, upon receiving this trigger information, the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement as described above. Optionally, the trigger information includes at least one of the following: downlink carrier indication information to be measured, measurement CSI-RS number information, measurement duration, measurement interval, and measurement location.

[0281] Optionally, the measurement information may also include one or more of the following: Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) or CSI-RS resource, CSI-RS period, and periodicity of CSI-RS, for use by the user equipment to measure the configured CSI-RS when performing downlink measurements within the configured measurement interval.

[0282] Optionally, for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, its CSI-RS can be configured and / or determined individually, or it can be configured uniformly. These are explained below:

[0283] 1) For each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, configure the local carrier CSI-RS and cross-carrier CSI-RS respectively:

[0284] It is understood that the measurement information includes one or more of the following: CSI-RS resources of the local carrier CSI-RS and / or cross-carrier CSI-RS, CSI-RS period, and CSI-RS periodicity.

[0285] like Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9 This is another example diagram illustrating the configuration of measurement information in an embodiment of this application. Exemplarily, the network device configures a local carrier CSI-RS and a cross-carrier CSI-RS for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. The local carrier CSI-RS is used for downlink measurements on the resident DLCC. The cross-carrier CSI-RS is used for cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured. It is understood that, for a uniformly configured measurement interval, the downlink carrier to be measured is a non-resident downlink carrier.

[0286] Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS and the local carrier CSI-RS can belong to different configuration sets. For example, the period of the cross-carrier CSI-RS can be configured to be longer than the period of the local carrier CSI-RS. Alternatively, the cross-carrier CSI-RS can be a subset of the local carrier CSI-RS. This avoids frequent cross-carrier downlink measurements and mitigates the degradation of user equipment data transmission performance caused by carrier handover during frequent cross-carrier downlink measurements. Optionally, the cross-carrier CSI-RS refers to the CSI-RS configured for cross-carrier downlink measurements, or the CSI-RS actually measured during cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0287] Optionally, for the same downlink carrier, the cross-carrier CSI-RS and the local carrier CSI-RS can be the same. That is, for the same downlink carrier, whether it's a local carrier downlink measurement or a cross-carrier downlink measurement, the measured CSI-RS is determined by the network device based on the same configuration. For example, the measured CSI-RS is configured based on the same RRC parameters.

[0288] 2) Configure the CSI-RS for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set:

[0289] like Figure 10 As shown, Figure 10This is another example diagram illustrating the configuration of measurement information in an embodiment of this application. In one example, the network device configures a local carrier CSI-RS for each downlink carrier. Optionally, for any downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the cross-carrier CSI-RS is the same as the local carrier CSI-RS. It can be understood that the configured CSI-RS resources do not distinguish between local carrier CSI-RS and cross-carrier CSI-RS. Optionally, both local carrier CSI-RS and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be replaced with CSI-RS. It is understood that when performing local carrier measurement or cross-carrier measurement on any downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, downlink measurement is performed on that CSI-RS resource.

[0290] Optionally, the measurement information also includes a first interval, which is determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS and the first interval. Optionally, the first interval is determined based on the network device's pre-configuration, pre-definition, or default value. For example, the first interval is X local carrier CSI-RSs, the specifics of which are not limited here. Thus, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements based on the local carrier CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured and the first interval.

[0291] It should be noted that "same or different CSI-RS" can refer to one or more of the following: CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS cycle, and CSI-RS periodicity.

[0292] 2. Non-periodic measurement

[0293] It is understood that non-periodic measurement refers to the CSI-RS used for the measurement being non-periodic, and / or the CSI measurement report being non-periodic. Optionally, the measurement information may also include non-periodic CSI-RS.

[0294] For example, when configuring aperiodic measurements, the network device can configure the measurement interval in advance and send it to the user equipment in advance. For instance, before step 702, the network device can send the measurement interval to the user equipment via RRC signaling. The configuration of CSI-RS resources, on the other hand, involves sending aperiodic CSI-RS to the user equipment when the user equipment needs to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements, and instructing the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements using the aperiodic CSI-RS.

[0295] For example, a network device instructs or triggers a user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements of aperiodic CSI-RS via MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling. Optionally, the MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling includes indication information for aperiodic CSI-RS.

[0296] Understandably, when network devices are configured with aperiodic CSI-RS, the configuration method for the measurement interval can refer to the configuration for periodic measurements described above. It will not be repeated here. Specifically, when network devices are configured with aperiodic measurements, the implementation method for user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements based on the measurement information is described in detail in step 706, which can be referred to.

[0297] 3. Semi-static measurement

[0298] It should be noted that when configuring semi-static measurements, network devices can configure the measurement interval in advance and send it to the user equipment in advance. For example, before step 702, the network device can send the measurement interval and / or the measurement information that can be sent in advance for CSI-RS via RRC signaling to the user equipment. For semi-static measurements, the network device should send activation information to the user equipment via DCI signaling or MAC CE signaling, instructing the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements of CSI-RS within the measurement interval, or to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements based on a timer. Optionally, after receiving the activation information, the user equipment may perform cross-carrier downlink measurements within the measurement interval, or perform cross-carrier downlink measurements based on a timer, until it receives the deactivation information or the configured time period ends. It is understood that other aspects can refer to the relevant description of periodic measurements.

[0299] Understandably, when the network device is configured for semi-static measurement, the configuration method for the measurement interval can refer to the configuration for periodic measurement described above, and will not be repeated here. Optionally, the method for determining cross-carrier CSI-RS can refer to the relevant description in the above periodic measurement. Among them, when the network device is configured for non-periodic measurement, the implementation method for the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurement based on the measurement information is described in detail in step 706, and can be referred to step 706.

[0300] Step 704: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier from the set of residing downlink carriers based on the first information.

[0301] The user equipment (UE) determines the first downlink carrier so that during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the downlink receiving channel of the first downlink carrier is switched to the downlink carrier under test, downlink communication on the first downlink carrier is interrupted, and normal downlink communication on the second downlink carrier continues. Optionally, the downlink receiving channel may refer to a downlink radio frequency channel or a downlink baseband channel, or downlink receiving capability.

[0302] Optionally, the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the first information, which can be understood as determining the camping downlink carrier that needs to perform downlink reception capability switching according to preset rules, or determining the camping downlink carrier that needs to suspend downlink transmission during cross-carrier downlink measurement, or not expecting downlink reception of resources such as PDSCH / PDCCH / CSI-RS on the determined camping downlink carrier.

[0303] It should be noted that the camped downlink carrier set belongs to the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the first downlink carrier set can be the DLCC set configured by the network device for the user equipment, or it can include the DLCC set configured by the network device for the user equipment and the downlink carriers of neighboring cells. Optionally, the DLCC set configured by the network device for the user equipment can also include the camped downlink carrier set and the non-camped downlink carrier set, or it can include the camped downlink carrier set but not the non-camped downlink carrier set. It is understood that the downlink carriers of neighboring cells can refer to other downlink carriers to be measured, other frequency points to be measured, or other cells to be measured. The following will explain the two application scenarios mentioned above:

[0304] 1. In the first application scenario, the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device is coupled with the number of DLCCs that the user device can support. That is, the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device is equal to the number of DLCCs that the user device can support, or the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device is less than the number of DLCCs that the user device can support.

[0305] For example, such as Figure 5 As shown, the first downlink carrier set includes the DLCC set configured by the network device for the user equipment. The first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set and the neighboring cell downlink carrier set. The neighboring cell downlink carrier set includes the downlink carriers to be measured in the neighboring cells. The first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier belong to the camped downlink carrier set. When cross-carrier downlink measurement is required, the neighboring cell downlink carriers are measured. For example, the neighboring cell downlink carriers are measured using the synchronization signal and PBCH block SSB (synchronization signal and PBCH block) to obtain the timing of the neighboring cells.

[0306] For example, the first downlink carrier set includes (DLCC 0, DLCC 1), and the neighboring cell camped downlink carrier set may include the frequencies of the neighboring cell camped DLCCs. (DLCC 0, DLCC 1) are camped DLCCs and belong to the camped downlink carrier set. If the determined first downlink carrier is DLCC 0, then the second downlink carrier can be DLCC 1. When cross-carrier downlink measurement of the downlink carrier to be measured is required, the user equipment and network equipment will interrupt downlink communication on DLCC 0 and maintain normal communication on DLCC 1. The frequencies of the neighboring cell downlink carriers are measured, for example, through the synchronization signal and PBCH block SSB (synchronization signal and PBCH block), to obtain the timing of the neighboring cell.

[0307] 2. In the second application scenario, the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device is decoupled from the number of DLCCs supported by the user device, that is, the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user device is greater than the number of DLCCs that the user device can support.

[0308] For example, such as Figure 6 As shown, the first downlink carrier set is the DLCC set configured by the network device for the user equipment. The first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set and the non-camped downlink carrier set. The downlink carrier to be measured belongs to the non-camped downlink carrier set, and the first downlink carrier and the second downlink carrier belong to the camped downlink carrier set.

[0309] For example, the first downlink carrier set includes (DLCC 0, DLCC 1, DLCC 2, DLCC 3). (DLCC 0 and DLCC 2) are resident DLCCs, belonging to the resident downlink carrier set, while (DLCC 1 and DLCC 3) are non-resident DLCCs. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, and the determined first downlink carrier is DLCC 0, then the second downlink carrier is DLCC 2. When a cross-carrier downlink measurement of the downlink carrier to be measured, DLCC 1, is required, the user equipment and network equipment will interrupt downlink communication on DLCC 0 and maintain normal communication on DLCC 2. The channel conditions of the downlink carrier to be measured are measured, for example, by measuring the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configured for the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0310] Understandably, in the two application scenarios described above, the downlink carrier to be measured can also be the frequency point to be measured, the cell to be measured, or the frequency domain resource to be measured (such as BWP or frequency band). Correspondingly, the downlink carrier set and camped carrier can also be replaced in the same way. Optionally, the cell to be measured can be a configured but inactive Scell, or a configured and activated Scell ​​that is not currently receiving downlink signals, or a configured non-operating frequency point. Understandably, the reason for being configured and activated but not currently receiving downlink signals could be network configuration or UE capability constraints.

[0311] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application do not limit the existence of the concept of a carrier set. A carrier set is essentially multiple carriers, or at least one carrier, or one or more carriers. It is understood that the names mentioned above can be used interchangeably. For example, the first downlink carrier set can also be one or more downlink carriers, or multiple downlink carriers, or at least one downlink carrier. As another example, the camped downlink carrier set can also be one or more camped downlink carriers, or multiple camped downlink carriers, or at least one camped downlink carrier. Other descriptions involving sets can be similarly replaced and will not be repeated here.

[0312] In this embodiment, the second application scenario described above, namely the scenario where the number of DLCCs configured by the network device for the user equipment is greater than the number of DLCCs supported by the user equipment, is used as an example for detailed explanation. It is understood that the following description, with appropriate substitutions for some expressions, can also be applied to the first application scenario.

[0313] The user equipment reports first information to the network device. This first information may indicate the handover time and / or handover priority. When indicating the handover time, it may indicate the handover time between different carriers or different frequency bands. When indicating the priority, it may indicate different forms of priority. Steps 7041 and 7042 are described below:

[0314] Step 7041: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier from the set of camped downlink carriers based on the handover time in the first information;

[0315] Based on the first information, the user equipment determines the switching time between each camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set and the downlink carrier to be measured, or determines the switching time between any two downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set.

[0316] Optionally, the first downlink carrier is the downlink carrier with the shortest switching time between itself and the downlink carrier to be measured in the set of camped downlink carriers.

[0317] For example, the user equipment can determine the handover time based on its own capabilities. Based on the handover time between downlink carriers, to improve the efficiency of cross-carrier downlink measurement, the user equipment selects the camped downlink carrier with the shortest handover time required to switch the downlink receive channel to the downlink carrier to be measured from the camped downlink carrier set within the first downlink carrier set, and determines it as the first downlink carrier. Understandably, different user equipments have different performance characteristics, and therefore their handover times will also differ; specific details are not limited here.

[0318] For example, the first downlink carrier set includes DLCC 0, DLCC1, DLCC2, and DLCC3. The camped downlink carrier set includes DLCC 0 and DLCC2. Based on the first information, the handover times between DLCC0 and DLCC1, DLCC0 and DLCC2, DLCC0 and DLCC3, DLCC1 and DLCC3, DLCC1 and DLCC2, and DLCC2 and DLCC3 can be obtained. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment needs to determine the first downlink carrier from the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC2). If the handover time required to switch from DLCC 0 to DLCC1 in the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC2) is the shortest, then DLCC0 is determined to be the first downlink carrier.

[0319] 1. The first information is used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to switch to another downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. The first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0320] For example, the user equipment can determine the handover time based on its own capabilities. Based on the handover time between downlink carriers, to improve the efficiency of cross-carrier downlink measurement, the user equipment selects the camped downlink carrier with the shortest handover time required to switch the downlink receive channel to the downlink carrier to be measured from the camped downlink carrier set within the first downlink carrier set, and determines it as the first downlink carrier. Understandably, different user equipments have different performance characteristics, and therefore their handover times will also differ; specific details are not limited here.

[0321] For example, the first downlink carrier set includes DLCC 0, DLCC1, DLCC2, and DLCC3. The camped downlink carrier set includes DLCC 0 and DLCC2. Thus, the first information indicates the handover time between DLCC0 and DLCC1, DLCC0 and DLCC2, DLCC0 and DLCC3, DLCC1 and DLCC3, DLCC1 and DLCC2, and DLCC2 and DLCC3, respectively. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment needs to determine the first downlink carrier from the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC2). If the handover time required to switch from DLCC 0 to DLCC1 in the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC2) is the shortest, then DLCC0 is determined to be the first downlink carrier.

[0322] Optionally, the first information may further include the handover time required for each downlink carrier supported by the user equipment to switch to another downlink carrier among the supported downlink carriers. Optionally, the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are some or all of the downlink carriers supported by the user equipment, or the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are some or all of the downlink carriers in the frequency band supported by the user equipment, or the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are some or all of the downlink carriers in the frequency band of the combination of frequency bands supported by the user equipment.

[0323] 2. The first information is used to determine the handover time required to switch from a downlink carrier in each frequency band of the first frequency band set to a downlink carrier in another frequency band of the first frequency band set. The first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0324] For example, the first frequency band set includes multiple frequency bands where the user equipment is located. The resident DLCCs in the resident downlink carrier set are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set. The handover time between downlink carriers in the same frequency band is shorter than the handover time between downlink carriers in different frequency bands. Therefore, the handover time between downlink carriers in different frequency bands will also be different. Based on the handover time between frequency bands, in order to improve the efficiency of cross-carrier downlink measurement, the user equipment determines the resident DLCCs in the frequency band with the shortest handover time required to switch to the frequency band where the downlink carrier to be measured is located from the first downlink carrier set as the first downlink carrier.

[0325] For example, the first frequency band set includes band1 and band2, where band1 contains DLCC 0 and DLCC1, band2 contains DLCC3, and band3 contains DLCC2. The camped downlink carrier set includes DLCC 0 and DLCC2. Thus, the first information indicates the handover time between DLCC0 on band1 and DLCC3 on band2, between DLCC1 on band1 and DLCC3 on band2, between DLCC0 on band1 and DLCC2 on band3, and between DLCC3 on band2 and DLCC2 on band3, respectively. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment needs to determine the first downlink carrier from the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC2). If the handover time required to switch from DLCC 0 to DLCC1 in the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC2) is the shortest, then DLCC0 is determined to be the first downlink carrier.

[0326] Optionally, the first information may further include the handover time required to switch a downlink carrier on each of the frequency bands supported by the user equipment to a downlink carrier on another frequency band within the supported frequency bands. Optionally, the frequency bands containing the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers may be some or all of the frequency bands supported by the user equipment, or the frequency bands containing the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers may be some or all of the frequency bands in a combination of frequency bands supported by the user equipment.

[0327] 3. The first information is used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier within each frequency band of the first frequency band set to switch to other downlink carriers within that frequency band. The first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0328] For example, the first frequency band set includes multiple frequency bands where the user equipment is located, and each frequency band has one or more downlink carriers. The first information can indicate the handover time between downlink carriers within the same frequency band. The downlink carriers residing in the downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set, which includes the frequency bands where the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located.

[0329] For example, the first frequency band set includes band1 and band2, where band1 contains DLCC 0, DLCC1, and DLCC2, and band2 contains DLCC1 and DLCC4. The camped downlink carrier set includes DLCC 0, DLCC1, and DLCC4. Thus, the first information indicates the handover time between DLCC1 and DLCC2, between DLCC0 and DLCC2, and between DLCC0 and DLCC1 within band1, with the handover time decreasing sequentially. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment needs to determine the first downlink carrier from the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC1, DLCC4). Since the handover time required to switch from DLCC 0 to DLCC1 in the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC1, DLCC4) is the shortest, DLCC0 is determined to be the first downlink carrier.

[0330] Optionally, the first information may further include the handover time required for each downlink carrier within the same frequency band of each frequency band supported by the user equipment to handover to other downlink carriers within that frequency band. Optionally, the frequency bands in which the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are located are some or all of the frequency bands supported by the user equipment, or the frequency bands in which the downlink carriers in the first set of downlink carriers are located are some or all of the frequency bands in the combination of frequency bands supported by the user equipment.

[0331] Based on the description of the implementation methods for reporting the first information in step 702, the first information includes the handover time. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, it can also determine it based on different methods. These will be explained separately below:

[0332] A. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the handover time between downlink carriers within each frequency band of the frequency band combination, and / or the handover time between downlink carriers in different frequency bands of the frequency band combination, and / or the handover time between any downlink carriers in any frequency band of the frequency band combination. The first downlink carrier set includes a camping downlink carrier set and / or a downlink carrier set to be measured, wherein the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located on some or all of the frequency bands of the first frequency band set.

[0333] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, and each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the handover time between downlink carriers within each frequency band of each frequency band in each frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that is located in the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0334] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, and each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the handover time between downlink carriers located in different frequency bands within each frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that is located in a different frequency band within the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0335] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, and each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the handover time between any downlink carriers in any frequency band within each frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that belongs to the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured and has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0336] Understandably, the explanation of the first information can be found in the relevant introduction in step 702, and will not be repeated here.

[0337] B. For each frequency band, the first information includes the switching time between any downlink carriers within that frequency band.

[0338] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes multiple frequency bands. For different frequency bands in the first frequency band set, the first information includes the handover time between any downlink carriers within that frequency band. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that is located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured, and has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured. The first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured, and the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located on some or all of the frequency bands of the first frequency band set.

[0339] Understandably, the explanation of the first information can be found in the relevant introduction in step 702, and will not be repeated here.

[0340] C. For each frequency band within each frequency band combination, the first information includes the switching time between downlink carriers within that frequency band in that frequency band combination.

[0341] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, and each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands. For different frequency bands in different frequency band combinations, the first information includes the handover time between downlink carriers within that frequency band in that frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camped downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set that is located in the same frequency band within the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and has the shortest handover time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0342] The first downlink carrier set includes the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured, wherein the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located on part or all of the frequency bands of the first frequency band set.

[0343] D. For each downlink carrier in each frequency band within each frequency band combination, the first information includes the switching time of other downlink carriers in that frequency band to the downlink carrier when each downlink carrier in that frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0344] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands, and each frequency band containing one or more downlink carriers. For different downlink carriers in different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, the first information includes the switching time of other downlink carriers in that frequency band to the downlink carrier when each downlink carrier in that frequency band within the frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camped downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers that is located in the same frequency band within the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and has the shortest switching time required to switch to the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0345] The first downlink carrier set includes the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured, wherein the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located on part or all of the frequency bands of the first frequency band set.

[0346] Step 7042: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set.

[0347] Optionally, the user equipment, based on the first information, determines the priority of each carrier combination of a camped downlink carrier and a downlink carrier to be measured in the camped downlink carrier set, or determines the priority of any two downlink carrier combinations in the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the user equipment, based on the first information, determines the priority of each camped downlink carrier corresponding to any downlink carrier to be measured, or determines the priority of other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set corresponding to any downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set.

[0348] Optionally, the priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set can be reported separately per frequency band, per combination of frequency bands, per frequency band of a combination of frequency bands, and / or per downlink carrier of each frequency band of a combination of frequency bands. For details, please refer to the relevant description in step 702, which will not be repeated here.

[0349] Optionally, the first information is used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the first downlink carrier is the stationary downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the highest priority stationary downlink carrier, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs. Optionally, highest priority means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier is the stationary downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the lowest priority stationary downlink carrier, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs. Optionally, lowest priority means that maintaining communication has the lowest priority.

[0350] Optionally, the first information is used to determine the priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set relative to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the first downlink carrier is the highest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be the lowest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that the lowest priority is required to maintain communication.

[0351] The following specific examples will further illustrate this point.

[0352] Based on the description of the implementation method in step 702 regarding the separate reporting of the first information, the first information also includes different priorities. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, it can also determine it based on different priorities. These will be explained separately below:

[0353] Understandably, the explanation of the first information can be found in the relevant introduction in step 702, and will not be repeated below.

[0354] A. Based on the first information of each frequency band combination:

[0355] a. Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands, and any two downlink carriers on any frequency band in the frequency band combination constitute a downlink carrier combination. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the priority of downlink carrier combinations within and / or between frequency bands in the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of downlink carriers within any frequency band in the frequency band combination corresponding to other downlink carriers within that frequency band and / or the priority of downlink carriers in other frequency bands corresponding to downlink carriers in any frequency band.

[0356] Optionally, when the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier that is located on any frequency band in the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and that forms the highest priority downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier that is located on any frequency band in the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and that forms the lowest priority downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0357] Optionally, the first downlink carrier may also be: a camping downlink carrier with the highest priority corresponding to the downlink carrier under test, located in any frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier under test, wherein the highest priority means the lowest priority determined as the first downlink carrier. The first downlink carrier may also be: a camping downlink carrier with the lowest priority corresponding to the downlink carrier under test, located in any frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier under test, wherein the lowest priority means the lowest priority for maintaining normal communication.

[0358] b. Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, each frequency band combination contains multiple frequency bands, and two downlink carriers located in the same frequency band within each frequency band combination constitute a downlink carrier combination. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the priority of the downlink carrier combination within any frequency band of the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of other downlink carriers within that frequency band corresponding to the downlink carriers within any frequency band of the frequency band combination.

[0359] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of downlink carrier combinations within any frequency band of the frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camping downlink carrier that is located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and whose downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured has the highest priority, where the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: the camping downlink carrier that is located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and whose downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured has the lowest priority, where the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0360] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of other downlink carriers within the same frequency band as the downlink carrier in any frequency band within the frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the camping downlink carrier with the highest priority of the downlink carrier to be measured, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the camping downlink carrier with the lowest priority of the downlink carrier to be measured, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0361] c. Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands, and two downlink carriers located in different frequency bands within each frequency band combination constitute a downlink carrier combination. For different frequency bands within different frequency band combinations, the first information includes the priority of downlink carrier combinations between any frequency bands within that frequency band combination, and / or, the priority of downlink carriers in any frequency band within that frequency band combination corresponding to the priority of downlink carriers in other frequency bands.

[0362] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of downlink carrier combinations among different frequency bands within the frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier located in a different frequency band within the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and whose downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured has the highest priority, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: a camping downlink carrier located in a different frequency band within the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and whose downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured has the lowest priority, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0363] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of downlink carriers in any frequency band within the frequency band combination corresponding to downlink carriers in other frequency bands. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band combination but on a different frequency band than the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured with the highest priority, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band combination but on a different frequency band than the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured with the lowest priority, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0364] B. Based on the first information of each frequency band:

[0365] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency bands, and two downlink carriers located in the same frequency band constitute a downlink carrier combination. For each frequency band combination, the first information includes the priority of the downlink carrier combination in any frequency band, and / or the priority of other downlink carriers in that frequency band corresponding to the downlink carriers in that frequency band.

[0366] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of downlink carrier combinations within any frequency band. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camping downlink carrier that is located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured and has the highest priority in the downlink carrier combination formed with the downlink carrier to be measured, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: the camping downlink carrier that is located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured and has the lowest priority in the downlink carrier combination formed with the downlink carrier to be measured, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0367] Optionally, the first information includes the priorities of other downlink carriers within the same frequency band as the downlink carrier in any frequency band. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the downlink carrier with the highest priority, where the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the downlink carrier with the lowest priority, where the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0368] C. First information for each frequency band based on the combination of each frequency band:

[0369] Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, each frequency band combination containing multiple frequency bands, and two downlink carriers located in the same frequency band within each frequency band combination constitute a downlink carrier combination. For each frequency band of each frequency band combination, the first information includes the priority of the downlink carrier combination within that frequency band of the frequency band combination, and / or the priority of other downlink carriers within that frequency band corresponding to the downlink carriers within that frequency band of the frequency band combination.

[0370] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of downlink carrier combinations within the frequency band of the frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the camping downlink carrier that is located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and whose downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured has the highest priority, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be: the camping downlink carrier that is located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and whose downlink carrier combination with the downlink carrier to be measured has the lowest priority, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0371] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of other downlink carriers within the same frequency band as the downlink carrier in the frequency band combination. When the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured with the highest priority, wherein the highest priority means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier may also be: a camping downlink carrier located in the same frequency band of the same frequency band combination as the downlink carrier to be measured, and corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured with the lowest priority, wherein the lowest priority means that the lowest priority is for maintaining normal communication.

[0372] D. First information of each carrier in each frequency band based on the combination of each frequency band:

[0373] Optionally, the first information includes the priority of the downlink carrier combination of the downlink carrier to be measured with other downlink carriers in the same frequency band when each downlink carrier in the frequency band of the frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured, and / or, the priority of the downlink carrier to be measured corresponding to other downlink carriers in the same frequency band when each downlink carrier in the frequency band of the frequency band is used as the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, the first frequency band set includes one or more frequency band combinations, each frequency band combination includes multiple frequency bands, and each frequency band includes one or more downlink carriers.

[0374] Optionally, when the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is: the downlink carrier with the highest priority among the downlink carrier combinations in the set of stationary downlink carriers, which are located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured and contain the stationary downlink carrier. Here, "highest priority" means that the carrier determined as the first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Alternatively, the first downlink carrier is: the downlink carrier with the lowest priority among the stationary downlink carriers, which are located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured and contain the stationary downlink carrier. Here, "lowest priority" means that the carrier with the lowest priority maintains normal communication.

[0375] Optionally, the first downlink carrier is: the camping downlink carrier in the set of camping downlink carriers that is located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured within the same frequency band combination, and has the highest priority corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, where "highest priority" means that the one determined as the first downlink carrier has the highest priority. Alternatively, the first downlink carrier is: the camping downlink carrier in the set of camping downlink carriers that is located in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured within the same frequency band combination, and has the lowest priority corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, where "lowest priority" means that the one with the lowest priority for maintaining normal communication.

[0376] The first downlink carrier set includes the camping downlink carrier set and / or the downlink carrier set to be measured, wherein the downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set are located on part or all of the frequency bands of the first frequency band set.

[0377] The following example uses the highest priority designation, where the first downlink carrier is identified as having the highest priority. The priority of each downlink carrier combination within the aforementioned first downlink carrier set can take several forms, such as the following three:

[0378] like Figure 11 As shown, Figure 11 This is one representation of priority in the embodiments of this application. A priority representation of a multi-level structure is shown. Optionally, the downlink carriers included in each downlink carrier combination of each level include all downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. For example, consider the downlink carrier combinations “DLCC 0, DLCC 1”, “DLCC 2, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC2”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 3”, and “DLCC 1, DLCC 2”. In the multi-level structure, the first level is “DLCC 0, DLCC 1”, “DLCC 2, DLCC 3”, the second level is “DLCC0, DLCC 2”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 3”, and the third level is “DLCC0, DLCC 3”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 2”, with priority decreasing progressively.

[0379] like Figure 12 As shown, Figure 12This is another representation of priority in the embodiments of this application. The priority representation of the first-level structure is shown. For each downlink carrier combination of “DLCC 0, DLCC 1”, “DLCC 2, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 2”, “DLCC1, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 3”, and “DLCC 1, DLCC 2”, in the first-level structure, the handover priority of the above downlink carrier combinations DLCC 0, DLCC 1”, “DLCC 2, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 2”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 3”, and “DLCC 1, DLCC 2” decreases sequentially. For example, if the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment searches the priority relationship level by level and considers DLCC 0 to be the first downlink carrier with the highest priority. Alternatively, it can be understood that the handover time required for the downlink receive channel of DLCC 0 to switch to DLCC 1 is the shortest; if DLCC 0 is the currently camped DLCC, then the first downlink carrier is determined to be DLCC 0.

[0380] like Figure 13 As shown, Figure 13 This is another representation of priority in the embodiments of this application. A priority representation of a chain-level structure is shown, where the priorities of the first downlink carrier are arranged from high to low. Specifically, the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 0" are "DLCC 1", "DLCC 2", and "DLCC 3"; the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 1" are "DLCC 0", "DLCC 3", and "DLCC 2"; the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 2" are "DLCC 3", "DLCC 0", and "DLCC 1"; and the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 3" are "DLCC 2", "DLCC 1", and "DLCC 0". For example, when the downlink carrier to be measured is determined to be DLCC 1, the user equipment sequentially searches for priorities "DLCC 0", "DLCC 3", and "DLCC 2", with their priorities decreasing sequentially. DLCC 0 is considered to have the highest priority as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 0 is a camped DLCC, then camped DLCC 0 will be designated as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 0 is a non-camped DLCC, then the next priority level, DLCC 3, will be checked. If DLCC 3 is a camped DLCC, then camped DLCC 3 will be designated as the first downlink carrier.

[0381] Optionally, the priority can be a specific priority. For example, DLCC0 is priority 1, DLCC1 is priority 2, and DLCC2 is priority 3. Alternatively, the priority can be a priority order. It is understood that the priority order of downlink carrier combinations or downlink carriers refers to downlink carrier combinations or downlink carriers from high to low or from low to high. For example, taking high to low as an example, DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2 indicates that the priority order from high to low is DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2.

[0382] It should be noted that, as Figure 11 , Figure 12 The priority representation shown does not specify the direction of the downlink carriers in a downlink carrier combination. That is, for example, "DLCC 0, DLCC 1" can represent either the switching time required for the downlink receive channel of DLCC 0 to switch to DLCC 1, or the switching time required for the downlink receive channel of DLCC 1 to switch to DLCC 0. The specific meaning is not limited here.

[0383] Understandably, the three priority representations mentioned above are merely examples. Priority can also be represented in other ways, which are not limited here.

[0384] Understandably, the granularity of the first information definition can be defined as per band combination, per band, or per band of per band combination, or per carrier of per band of per band combination. For details, please refer to the description of the granularity of the first information reporting in step 702.

[0385] In another possible implementation, the user equipment may also determine the first downlink carrier based on the second information of the network device. For an explanation of the second information and how to determine the first downlink carrier based on the second information of the network device, please refer to the description of network configuration information in step 1403 and the description of the second information in step 1404 of Embodiment Two.

[0386] In another possible implementation, in addition to determining the first downlink carrier from the downlink carrier set based on the first information or the second information of the network device, the user equipment can also determine the first downlink carrier according to a preset rule between the network device and the user equipment. For an explanation of the preset rule and the specific implementation process of determining the first downlink carrier based on the preset rule, please refer to the detailed description in Embodiment 3.

[0387] It should be noted that the first downlink carrier determined by the above method is a resident DLCC, and the second downlink carrier belongs to one or more of the other resident DLCCs in the downlink carrier set excluding the first downlink carrier. In other words, when there are multiple downlink carriers to be measured, there are multiple first downlink carriers corresponding to each of the multiple downlink carriers to be measured. In this case, the second downlink carrier is one of the other downlink carriers in the resident downlink carrier set, excluding the multiple first downlink carriers corresponding to each of the multiple downlink carriers to be measured.

[0388] For example, the first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set (DLCC 0, DLCC 1, DLCC 2, DLCC 3, DLCC 4). There are two downlink carriers to be measured, namely DLCC 1 and DLCC 3. That is, the first downlink carrier determined for the downlink carrier to be measured, DLCC 1, is DLCC 0, and the first downlink carrier determined for the downlink carrier to be measured, DLCC 3, is DLCC 2. If these two downlink carriers to be measured are simultaneously subjected to cross-carrier downlink measurement, or if the time domain positions of the measurement intervals partially overlap, then during the cross-carrier measurement, the downlink receiving channels of DLCC 0 and DLCC 2 will be switched to the corresponding downlink carrier to be measured, and the communication of DLCC 0 and DLCC 2 will be interrupted. At this time, the second downlink carrier is the other camped DLCC in the camped downlink carrier set except for the first downlink carrier corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, namely DLCC 4, and normal communication is maintained on DLCC 4.

[0389] Step 705: The network device determines the first downlink carrier from the set of downlink carriers where the user equipment is camped, based on the first information.

[0390] Optionally, the network device can determine the first downlink carrier based on the first information reported by the user equipment. Optionally, the method by which the network device determines the first downlink carrier based on the first information reported by the user equipment can refer to the method in step 704 where the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the first information, and will not be repeated here. This enables alignment between the network device and the user equipment during cross-carrier downlink measurements. It allows the network device to know how the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier, or in other words, it allows the network device to know which downlink communication on which residing downlink carrier the user equipment needs to suspend during cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0391] For example, after determining the downlink carrier to be measured, when the user equipment takes the lead in deciding how to determine the first downlink carrier, the network device can determine the first downlink carrier from the first downlink carrier set based on the switching time required to switch from each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set indicated by the user equipment's first information to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, the switching time required to switch from each frequency band in the first frequency band set to other frequency bands in the first frequency band set, the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set.

[0392] Understandably, for detailed implementation methods of the network device determining the first downlink carrier based on the first information, please refer to the relevant descriptions of the first information in steps 702 and 703, as well as the relevant descriptions of the implementation methods of the user equipment determining the first downlink carrier based on the first information. These will not be repeated here.

[0393] Optionally, when the network device is in charge of determining the first downlink carrier, the network device can also determine it based on its configuration information. For an explanation of the second information and how to determine the first downlink carrier based on the network device's network configuration information, please refer to the relevant descriptions in steps 1403 and 1404 of Embodiment 2.

[0394] Optionally, in addition to determining the first downlink carrier from the downlink carrier set based on the first information or the second information of the network device, the user equipment can also determine the first downlink carrier according to a preset rule between the network device and the user equipment. For an explanation of the preset rule and the specific implementation process of determining the first downlink carrier based on the preset rule, please refer to the detailed description in Embodiment 3.

[0395] Step 706: The user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information.

[0396] For example, when cross-carrier downlink measurement is required, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information configured by the network device. During the cross-carrier downlink measurement, downlink communication on the determined first downlink carrier is suspended, while downlink communication between the user equipment and the network device on the second downlink carrier is maintained. Optionally, suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier includes stopping, pausing, or interrupting downlink communication on the first downlink carrier. Optionally, maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the residing downlink carrier set can be understood as not affecting downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the residing downlink carrier set.

[0397] Based on the detailed description of measurement information in step 703, when the network device configures the measurement interval and / or CSI-RS resources, the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurements differently under different configuration methods. Referring to the relevant introduction of measurement information in step 703, the following explains how the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information:

[0398] Optionally, the measurement information may also be measurement configuration information. Optionally, the measurement information includes one or more of the following: CSI-RS or CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS period, CSI-RS periodicity, CSI reporting resources, CSI reporting period, CSI reporting periodicity, measurement interval, timer, and first interval. Optionally, the configuration information mentioned below may all be included in the measurement information. See subsequent descriptions for details.

[0399] 1. Configuration for network devices performing periodic measurements:

[0400] A. When the network device is configured with a separate measurement interval;

[0401] For example, each downlink carrier of the user equipment is configured with a separate measurement interval.

[0402] Optionally, if the network device configures a local carrier CSI-RS and a cross-carrier CSI-RS for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, when the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured, the user equipment can directly perform cross-carrier downlink measurement within the measurement interval corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured using the configured cross-carrier CSI-RS. The cross-carrier CSI-RS is used to perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurement and local carrier downlink measurement according to the period of the configured cross-carrier CSI-RS and the period of the local carrier CSI-RS, respectively. The period of the cross-carrier CSI-RS is shorter than the period of the cross-carrier CSI-RS.

[0403] Optionally, if the network device configures a local carrier CSI-RS for each downlink carrier, that is, for any downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the cross-carrier CSI-RS is the same as the local carrier CSI-RS. Optionally, the measurement information also includes a first interval, and the cross-carrier CSI-RS is determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS and the first interval. The user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured within the measurement interval configured for the downlink carrier to be measured, based on the local carrier CSI-RS and the first interval. For example, the first interval is X local carrier CSI-RS.

[0404] Understandably, the details regarding the configuration of measurement intervals and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be found in step 703, and will not be repeated here.

[0405] B. When network devices are configured with uniform measurement intervals:

[0406] For example, the network device configures a uniform measurement interval for all downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. It is understood that the measurement interval is the same or determined based on the same configuration information for all downlink carriers within the first downlink carrier set. The uniform measurement interval is used by the user equipment to perform downlink measurements on each camped DLCC and each non-camped DLCC in the first downlink carrier set sequentially according to a set rule or order, including local downlink measurements and cross-carrier downlink measurements. When the user equipment needs to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements, it needs to wait according to this set rule or order.

[0407] Optionally, the network device configures local carrier CSI-RS and cross-carrier CSI-RS for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. Within a uniformly configured measurement interval, the user equipment sequentially performs downlink measurements on the cross-carrier CSI-RS of each downlink carrier according to the configuration. Optionally, the configuration can be based on a measurement order or a measurement pattern, wherein the measurement order or measurement pattern is determined based on configuration information. Optionally, for camped downlink carriers, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on the local carrier CSI-RS of that carrier. Optionally, for non-camped downlink carriers, the user equipment performs downlink measurements on the cross-carrier CSI-RS of that carrier.

[0408] Optionally, if the network device configures a local carrier CSI-RS for each downlink carrier, then for any downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the cross-carrier CSI-RS is the same as the local carrier CSI-RS. Optionally, the measurement information also includes a first interval, and the cross-carrier CSI-RS is determined based on the local carrier CSI-RS and the first interval. The user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured within a uniformly configured measurement interval, based on the local carrier CSI-RS and the first interval, according to the configuration. For example, the first interval is X local carrier CSI-RS.

[0409] Understandably, the details regarding the configuration of measurement intervals and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be found in step 703, and will not be repeated here.

[0410] C. In the case of timer-based measurement:

[0411] Optionally, the network device is configured with a separate timer. When the timer starts, the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next cross-carrier CSI-RS after the timer expires on the downlink carrier to be measured, or performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next N cross-carrier CSI-RS after the timer expires, or performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the cross-carrier CSI-RS within the measurement interval of the next cycle after the timer expires. Optionally, for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the corresponding timer starts or restarts after the carrier completes the previous cross-carrier measurement.

[0412] For example, when the timer expires, the user equipment performs a cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next local carrier CSI-RS on the downlink carrier to be measured and reports a CSI report. Optionally, when the measurement ends and the downlink receive channel of the downlink carrier to be measured switches back to the first downlink carrier, the timer is reset. Alternatively, the timer is reset after the CSI report is reported.

[0413] Optionally, the user equipment may measure one CRI-RS at regular intervals or measure multiple consecutive CSI-RS, without limitation here. Optionally, the user equipment may also measure one or more CSI-RS within a time period each time it performs cross-carrier downlink measurement, without limitation here. Optionally, at least one of the start time domain position, end time domain position, and duration of the time period is determined according to the network equipment configuration.

[0414] Understandably, the details regarding the configuration of measurement intervals and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be found in step 703, and will not be repeated here.

[0415] 2. Configuration for network devices performing non-periodic measurements:

[0416] For example, unlike periodic measurements, the user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurements on the non-periodic CSI-RS configured for the downlink carrier to be measured, as indicated or triggered by MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling sent by the network equipment.

[0417] Understandably, after receiving a trigger signal or indication, the user equipment may perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured within the next configured measurement interval, or it may perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the next or N configured cross-carrier CSI-RS resources.

[0418] Understandably, the details regarding the configuration of measurement intervals and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be found in step 703, and will not be repeated here.

[0419] 3. If the network device is configured for semi-static measurement

[0420] Similar to aperiodic measurements, semi-static measurements also require triggering before the user equipment will perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0421] For example, when a user equipment receives activation information from a network device, it performs cross-carrier downlink measurement of the CSI-RS of the downlink carrier to be measured within the measurement interval, based on the measurement interval configured by the network device. The user equipment can terminate the cross-carrier downlink measurement within the measurement interval upon receiving deactivation information. The user equipment can also terminate the cross-carrier downlink measurement within the measurement interval before the configured measurement time expires or before the configured timer times out. The activation or deactivation information is carried in MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling. Understandably, the configuration of the measurement interval and cross-carrier CSI-RS can be found in the detailed description in step 703, and will not be repeated here.

[0422] Understandably, when measuring the downlink carrier to be measured, the user equipment can measure CSI-RS, as well as synchronization signals and Physical Broadcast Channel Blocks (SSBs), and other downlink channels / signals. This application uses CSI-RS as an example for description, but the protected method is equally applicable to SSBs or other downlink channels or downlink signals. Understandably, if the measurement is of an SSB, a measurement report is reported, not a CSI report. Optionally, the measurement of the downlink carrier to be measured can be used to understand the channel conditions of the downlink carrier, for radio resource management, for synchronization, beam management, and one or more of the following:

[0423] Optionally, if the user equipment does not meet the condition of no measurement gap, then the user equipment needs to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements within the measurement interval. For example, when the frequency of the downlink carrier to be measured is covered by the active bandwidth (BWP), then the downlink carrier to be measured does not need a measurement gap and does not need to interrupt the communication of all downlink carriers to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0424] It's important to note that "resident DLCC" and "non-resident DLCC" are attributes of DLCCs within the first downlink carrier set, not specific DLCCs. Because resident and non-resident DLCCs are flexibly switched as needed to improve the utilization of DLCCs configured in network devices and achieve better communication, each downlink carrier is not fixed as either resident or non-resident. For example, in the above example, (DLCC 0, DLCC 2) are resident DLCCs, and (DLCC 1, DLCC 3) are non-resident DLCCs. If a carrier switch occurs, for example, after cross-carrier downlink measurements, if the channel conditions on DLCC 1 are considered better than those on DLCC 0, DLCC 0 can be deactivated and DLCC 1 activated. In this case, (DLCC 1, DLCC 2) are resident DLCCs, and (DLCC 0, DLCC 3) are non-resident DLCCs.

[0425] It should be noted that steps 701 to 706 above are merely descriptions of steps that need to be performed; there is no necessary order between the steps, and the embodiments of this application do not restrict their execution order. It is understood that not all of the above steps are mandatory; some or all of the steps can be performed, and the above steps can be performed separately or in combination.

[0426] The first embodiment described above is based on how the user equipment (UE) determines the first downlink carrier. Alternatively, the determination of the first downlink carrier can also be based on how the network equipment (NET) determines it. This will be illustrated below with an embodiment two. The application scenario of embodiment two can be found in the description of step 702 in the embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0427] Example 2: The network device (e.g., base station) decides which downlink receive channel of the DLCC camped on will be switched to the DLCC under test. Thus, during cross-carrier downlink measurement, the network device interrupts downlink communication on the camped DLCC without affecting normal communication on other camped DLCCs, while the user equipment switches the downlink receive channel of that camped DLCC to the DLCC under test for cross-carrier downlink measurement.

[0428] like Figure 14 As shown, Figure 14 Another flowchart of the downlink measurement method provided in this application embodiment. The specific steps are as follows:

[0429] Step 1401: The user equipment reports capability information to the network equipment;

[0430] For example, when a user equipment (UE) joins the network, it reports its own capability information to the network device so that the network device can better communicate with the UE or better align with the UE during cross-carrier downlink measurements. Optionally, the capability information may include first capability information and / or second capability information. The first capability information indicates the ability to maintain normal downlink communication on a portion of the residing downlink carriers during cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0431] Specifically, the first capability information indicates that the user equipment (UE) supports suspending downlink communication with the network device on at least one downlink carrier in the camped downlink carrier set during cross-carrier downlink measurements, while maintaining downlink communication with the network device on other downlink carriers in the camped carrier set. The second capability information indicates that the number of downlink carriers supported by the network configuration is decoupled from the number of downlink carriers supported by the UE. Optionally, decoupling the number of downlink carriers configured by the network from the number of downlink carriers supported by the UE can be understood as the number of downlink carriers configured by the network being greater than or equal to the number of downlink carriers supported by the UE.

[0432] Optionally, the user equipment can report capability information to the network equipment in various ways. The capability information can be reported separately for each frequency band combination, or separately for each frequency band of each frequency band combination, or separately for each downlink carrier of each frequency band of each frequency band combination. The first capability information and the second capability information can also be reported separately.

[0433] Optionally, the capability information may also include third capability information, which indicates that the number of downlink carriers supported by the user equipment in the network configuration is less than or equal to the number of downlink carriers supported by the user equipment.

[0434] The explanations of the first capability information and the second capability information, as well as the methods for reporting the first capability information and the second capability information respectively, can be found in the relevant description in step 701 of Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0435] It is understandable that when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements, if the number of downlink carriers to be measured is equal to the number of camped downlink carriers, that is, if all downlink receiving channels of camped downlink carriers are used for cross-carrier downlink measurements of each downlink carrier to be measured, then normal communication on any camped downlink carrier will no longer be maintained.

[0436] It should be noted that the above capability information and / or different implementation methods can be combined with each other. Optionally, the above capability information and different implementation methods can be reported in the same user equipment capability or in multiple user equipment capabilities. For example, reporting in the same user equipment capability can be reported as different components of the same user equipment capability.

[0437] Step 1402: The user equipment sends the first information to the network device;

[0438] Based on the capability information reported by the user equipment to the network device as described in step 1401, when the network device takes the lead in determining the first downlink carrier, the user equipment will also send first information to the network device in order to enable the network device to understand the relevant information of each downlink carrier in the user equipment's first downlink carrier set.

[0439] Optionally, the first information is used to determine the switching time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to switch to other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set, the switching time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to switch to other frequency bands in the first frequency band set, the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, or the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, and to determine the first downlink carrier from the first downlink carrier set.

[0440] Optionally, the user equipment can report the first information to the network device in various ways. The first information can be reported separately for each frequency band combination, or separately for each frequency band of each frequency band combination, or separately for each downlink carrier of each frequency band of each frequency band combination. Optionally, the first information can be reported together with the capability information, or separately.

[0441] In this embodiment, for the explanation of the first information in step 1402 and the reporting method of the first information, please refer to the relevant descriptions of steps 702 and 704 in Embodiment 1, which will not be repeated here. It should be noted that this step is optional. For example, the network device can directly configure the second information according to its own preferences. In this case, the user equipment does not need to send the first information to the network device.

[0442] It should be noted that the first capability information and / or the second capability information and / or the first information can be reported in the same user equipment capability or in multiple user equipment capabilities. For example, reporting in the same user equipment capability can be done as different components of the same user equipment capability. In other words, there is no necessary order between steps 1401 and 1402; they can be implemented simultaneously, or step 1401 can be implemented first and then step 1402, or step 1402 can be implemented first and then step 1401.

[0443] Step 1403: The network device sends measurement information to the user equipment;

[0444] Measurement information is used by the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, the measurement information may include measurement intervals and measurement configuration information. Optionally, the measurement configuration information may include one or more of the following: CSI-RS or CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS period, CSI-RS periodicity, CSI measurement report resources, CSI measurement report period, CSI measurement report periodicity, measurement interval, timer, and first interval.

[0445] Understandably, explanations of measurement intervals and CSI-RS, as well as various configuration methods, can be found in the relevant description of step 703 in Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0446] It should be noted that step 1403 is not necessarily in the same order as steps 1402 and 1403. The network device can send measurement information to the user equipment before step 1402, after step 1401, or before step 1401. For example, when the network device configures periodic measurement information for the user equipment, it can send the measurement information to the user equipment via RRC signaling after the user equipment reports its capability information.

[0447] Step 1404: The network device determines the second information;

[0448] For example, the second information includes network configuration information and / or first indication information. After receiving the first information sent by the user equipment, the network device can obtain the second information based on the first information and / or in combination with other conditions of the residing downlink carrier. Alternatively, the network device can obtain the second information based on implementation. The explanation of the network configuration information and the first indication information will be described in detail in step 1405, and will not be explained here, or you can refer to the relevant description of step 704 in one embodiment.

[0449] Optionally, the network device determines the second information. This second information may indicate the specific priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. For example, DLCC0 may be priority 1, DLCC1 priority 2, and DLCC2 priority 3. Optionally, the second information includes the priority order of each downlink carrier or combination of downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. It is understood that the downlink carrier combination or priority order refers to a combination or combination of downlink carriers from high to low or from low to high. For example, taking downlink carriers from high to low as an example: (DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2) from high to low indicates that the priority order from high to low is DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2.

[0450] Optionally, when configuring the network based on the first information, the network device can also configure it based on other parameters of the downlink carrier to obtain network configuration information. For example, the network device can configure the network configuration information by combining the priority indicated by the first information and the historical scheduling of downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. For example, the network device can configure the network configuration information by combining the handover time indicated by the first information and the functions performed by different downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. The network device can also determine the first downlink carrier by setting different weights for different parameters; for example, the weight of historical scheduling is set less than the weight of handover time. Understandably, the network configuration information of the network device can also be configured based on other information of the downlink carrier, which is not limited here.

[0451] Understandably, the explanation of the first information can be found in the relevant description of step 702 in Embodiment 1, and will not be repeated here.

[0452] Optionally, in addition to determining the first downlink carrier from the first downlink carrier set based on network configuration information, the network device can also determine the first downlink carrier based on preset rules between the network device and the user equipment. For a detailed description of the specific implementation process, please refer to Embodiment 3.

[0453] Optionally, this step is optional.

[0454] Step 1405: The network device sends second information to the user equipment, the second information instructing the user equipment to determine the first downlink carrier. The second information includes network configuration information and / or first indication information.

[0455] For example, based on step 1404, when the network device takes the lead in determining the first downlink carrier, after the network device determines the second information, in order to enable the user equipment to align with the network device when determining the first downlink carrier, that is, the network device and the user equipment are aligned based on which downlink receiving channel residing in the DLCC is switched to the DLCC to be measured or which downlink communication residing in the DLCC is maintained.

[0456] Therefore, the network device needs to send a second piece of information to the user equipment. This second piece of information includes network configuration information and / or a first indication information, which will be explained below:

[0457] In one example, the second information includes network configuration information, which may indicate the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set of the user equipment, or indicate the priority of other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. These will be explained separately below:

[0458] 1. Network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set.

[0459] For example, network configuration information instructs the user equipment to determine a first downlink carrier. The first downlink carrier is a camped downlink carrier in the highest-priority combination of downlink carriers containing camped downlink carriers, where the downlink carrier to be measured is located. "Highest priority" means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority, or that it has the highest handover priority. Optionally, the first downlink carrier may also be a camped downlink carrier in the lowest-priority combination of downlink carriers containing camped downlink carriers, where the downlink carrier to be measured is located. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that maintaining communication has the lowest priority.

[0460] The following example uses the highest priority designation, indicating that the first downlink carrier has the highest priority. The priority indicated by network configuration information can be presented in several ways:

[0461] A. As Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 This application provides one representation of priority for embodiments of the prior art. A multi-level priority representation is shown, where the priorities of the first downlink carriers are arranged from high to low. Optionally, the downlink carriers included in each downlink carrier combination of each level include all downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. For example, consider the downlink carrier combinations “DLCC 0, DLCC 1”, “DLCC 2, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 2”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 3”, “DLCC0, DLCC 3”, and “DLCC 1, DLCC 2”. In the multi-level structure, the first level is “DLCC 0, DLCC 1”, “DLCC 2, DLCC 3”, the second level is “DLCC0, DLCC 2”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 3”, and the third level is “DLCC0, DLCC 3”, “DLCC 1, DLCC 2”, with priorities decreasing progressively.

[0462] B, such as Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9Another representation of priority provided for embodiments of this application is shown. A priority representation of the first-level structure is illustrated, where the priorities of the first downlink carriers are arranged from high to low. Specifically, the following downlink carrier combinations are represented: “DLCC0, DLCC1”, “DLCC2, DLCC3”, “DLCC0, DLCC2”, “DLCC1, DLCC3”, “DLCC0, DLCC3”, and “DLCC1, DLCC2”. In the primary architecture, the handover priorities of the aforementioned downlink carrier combinations DLCC 0, DLCC 1, DLCC2, DLCC 3, DLCC0, DLCC 2, DLCC 1, DLCC 3, DLCC0, DLCC 3, and DLCC 1, DLCC 2 decrease sequentially. For example, if the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment searches the priority relationship level by level and considers DLCC 0 to be the highest priority first downlink carrier. Alternatively, it can be understood that the handover time required for the downlink receive channel of DLCC 0 to switch to DLCC 1 is the shortest. If DLCC 0 is the currently camped DLCC, then the first downlink carrier is determined to be DLCC 0.

[0463] 2. The network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to the other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set.

[0464] Optionally, the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. The first downlink carrier is the highest-priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. The first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camping downlink carrier set. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority, or that the handover priority is the highest.

[0465] like Figure 10 As shown, Figure 10This is another representation of priority in the embodiments of this application. A priority representation of a chain-level structure is shown, where the priorities of the first downlink carrier are arranged from high to low. Specifically, the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 0" are "DLCC 1", "DLCC 2", and "DLCC 3"; the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 1" are "DLCC 0", "DLCC 3", and "DLCC 2"; the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 2" are "DLCC 3", "DLCC 0", and "DLCC 1"; and the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 3" are "DLCC 2", "DLCC 1", and "DLCC 0". For example, when the downlink carrier to be measured is determined to be DLCC 1, the user equipment sequentially searches for priorities "DLCC 0", "DLCC 3", and "DLCC 2", with their priorities decreasing sequentially. DLCC 0 is considered to have the highest priority as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 0 is a camped DLCC, then camped DLCC 0 will be designated as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 0 is a non-camped DLCC, then the next priority level, DLCC 3, will be checked. If DLCC 3 is a camped DLCC, then camped DLCC 3 will be designated as the first downlink carrier.

[0466] Optionally, the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. The first downlink carrier can also be the lowest priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. In this case, the network configuration information instructs the user equipment to determine the lowest priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured as the first downlink carrier. Here, "lowest priority" means the lowest priority for maintaining communication.

[0467] For example, the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 0" are "DLCC 3", "DLCC 2", and "DLCC 1", which are arranged from highest to lowest priority as the residing downlink carriers that maintain normal communication. When the downlink carrier to be measured is determined to be DLCC 0, the user equipment sequentially searches for this priority. DLCC 1 is considered to be the downlink carrier with the lowest priority for maintaining normal communication. If DLCC 1 is a residing downlink carrier, then DLCC 1 is determined as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 1 is a non-residing DLCC, then the next higher priority is searched, i.e., DLCC 2. If DLCC 2 is a residing DLCC, then residing DLCC 2 is determined as the first downlink carrier.

[0468] Optionally, the priority can be a specific priority. For example, DLCC0 is priority 1, DLCC1 is priority 2, and DLCC2 is priority 3. Alternatively, the priority can be a priority order. It can be understood that the priority order of carrier combinations or downlink carriers refers to carrier combinations or downlink carriers from high to low or from low to high. For example, taking high to low as an example, DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2 indicates that the priority order from high to low is DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2.

[0469] Understandably, the three priority representations mentioned above are merely examples. In addition, priority can be represented in other ways, which are not limited here.

[0470] It should be noted that network devices can send network configuration information to user equipment (UE) after UE joins the network, allowing UE to obtain this information early on. Therefore, each time a cross-carrier downlink measurement is required, UE can directly determine the first downlink carrier based on the previously obtained network configuration information, without requiring further instruction from the network device. Understandably, network devices can also send network configuration information to UE at set intervals; the content indicated in the network configuration information can vary, but this is not limited here.

[0471] 3. In another example, the second information includes the specific priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. For example, DLCC0 has priority 1, DLCC1 has priority 2, and DLCC2 has priority 3. Optionally, the second information includes the priority order of each downlink carrier or combination of downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. It is understood that the downlink carrier combination or priority order refers to a combination or combination of downlink carriers from high to low or from low to high. For example, taking downlink carriers from high to low as an example: (DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2) from high to low indicates that the priority order from high to low is DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2.

[0472] In another example, the second information includes first indication information, which directly indicates the first downlink carrier to the user equipment.

[0473] Optionally, the first indication information is carried in signaling that triggers semi-static or aperiodic measurement, or triggers semi-static or aperiodic CSI-RS, or triggers semi-static or aperiodic measurement reporting, or is carried in signaling that the user equipment (UE) is camped on a downlink carrier or that is camped on a downlink carrier for switching. This can be understood as follows: when configuring network equipment, in addition to periodic measurements, it can also configure semi-static or aperiodic measurements, or issue MAC CE or DCI signaling to indicate semi-static or aperiodic CSI-RS, or issue signaling to instruct the UE to report measurement reports semi-statically or aperiodically. In this case, the indication information can be sent to the UE along with these signaling messages, and the UE can determine the first downlink carrier based on this indication information.

[0474] For example, when a network device sends the first indication information, it may do so through MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling sent to the user equipment, or through other signaling.

[0475] For example, the first indication information is carried in MAC CE signaling or DCI signaling. When the first indication information is carried in MAC CE signaling or DCI, the first indication information can indicate a priority similar to the priority indicated by the network configuration information, or it can directly indicate the first downlink carrier. When the first indication information indicates a priority, the interpretation of the priority can be found in the relevant description in step 702 of Embodiment 1. When directly indicating the first downlink carrier, it can be indicated to the user equipment through the identifier of the first downlink carrier or other information that can indicate the first downlink carrier.

[0476] Optionally, the first indication information can also be carried in dedicated signaling, or in MACCE or DCI signaling indicating the stationary DLCC. In this case, the first indication information indicates which two stationary DLCCs the user equipment needs to switch to. Alternatively, the first indication information can also be carried in DCI signaling used to indicate the switching of stationary DLCCs. Here, the first indication information can directly indicate the first downlink carrier, or indicate which currently stationary DLCC will be switched, or indicate that the stationary DLCC containing the DCI signaling will be switched to the downlink carrier to be measured. It is understood that when indicating stationary carriers or stationary carrier switching, which downlink carriers are stationary and non-stationary downlink carriers are determined, therefore the first downlink carrier can be determined for non-stationary carrier measurement.

[0477] Optionally, the first downlink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier to be measured can be indicated separately, or the association between the first downlink carrier and the downlink carrier to be measured can be indicated separately, or a first downlink carrier can be indicated as the first downlink carrier for cross-carrier downlink measurement of any downlink carrier to be measured. It is understood that if there are multiple downlink carriers to be measured, this can ensure that each downlink carrier to be measured can determine its corresponding first downlink carrier.

[0478] Optionally, the first indication information may designate one camped downlink carrier as the first downlink carrier for cross-carrier downlink measurement of all non-camped downlink carriers or downlink carriers to be measured. Optionally, the first indication information may designate at least one camped downlink carrier as the first downlink carrier, used for cross-carrier downlink measurement of each non-camped downlink carrier or downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, the number of at least one camped downlink carrier indicated by the first indication information is the same as the number of non-camped downlink carriers or downlink carriers to be measured in the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the at least one camped downlink carrier indicated by the first indication information corresponds one-to-one with the non-camped downlink carriers or downlink carriers to be measured in the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the number of bits in the first indication information is determined based on the number of downlink carriers included in the first carrier set, or the number of bits in the first indication information is determined based on the number of camped downlink carriers in the first carrier set.

[0479] Understandably, in practical applications, the first indication information can also be carried in other signaling, such as custom signaling or proprietary signaling, as long as it enables the network device to indicate the first downlink carrier to the user equipment. No specific limitation is made here.

[0480] In another example, the network device sends second information to the user equipment, instructing the user equipment to determine a first downlink carrier. The second information includes network configuration information and first indication information. Optionally, the network configuration information sent by the network device to the user equipment indicates multiple configurations, and the second information also includes second indication information indicating one of the multiple configurations. The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the configuration indicated by the network configuration information and the second indication information. Optionally, the method for each of the multiple configurations indicated in the network configuration information can be referred to the foregoing, and will not be repeated here.

[0481] The network configuration information indicates multiple configurations, each including at least one carrier combination, or other corresponding downlink carriers for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set; the second indication information indicates at least one of the configurations. Optionally, the second indication information is carried in signaling indicating a camped downlink carrier or a camped downlink carrier handover, such as DCI signaling. It is understood that the network configuration information and the second indication information can be sent to the user equipment separately; for example, the network configuration information can be sent to the user equipment first, and the second indication information can be sent when needed by the user equipment. Optionally, the multiple configurations can be multiple sets of configurations.

[0482] For example, network configuration information indicates two configurations to the user equipment: Configuration 1 specifies the priority between downlink carrier combinations "DLCC0, DLCC2" and "DLCC1, DLCC3"; Configuration 2 specifies the priority between downlink carrier combinations "DLCC0, DLCC1" and "DLCC2, DLCC3". The second indication information instructs the user equipment to determine the first downlink carrier based on Configuration 1 when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements. Understandably, the second indication information can also instruct the user equipment to determine the first downlink carrier based on Configuration 2 when performing cross-carrier downlink measurements. In other words, the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the network equipment configuration and the second indication information.

[0483] Step 1406: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier from the set of camped downlink carriers based on the second information;

[0484] For example, the second information includes network configuration information, and / or first indication information, and / or second indication information. The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the second information, which can be understood as determining, based on the second information, a camped downlink carrier that requires downlink reception capability switching, or a camped downlink carrier that needs to suspend downlink transmission during cross-carrier downlink measurement, or a camped downlink carrier on which downlink reception of resources such as PDSCH, and / or PDCCH, and / or CSI-RS is not desired.

[0485] The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier from the downlink carrier set based on the second information. This will be explained in detail below:

[0486] Step 14061: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the network configuration information. The network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set or the priority of other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set.

[0487] For example, the network device determines the camped downlink carrier in the highest priority downlink carrier combination containing the downlink carrier to be measured as the first downlink carrier; or, the network device combines the downlink carrier to be measured with the first downlink carrier into a downlink carrier combination, and determines the camped downlink carrier with the highest priority among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured as the first downlink carrier. These are explained below:

[0488] 1. When the network configuration information indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the highest priority camped downlink carrier, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs. Optionally, "highest priority" means that the first downlink carrier is determined to have the highest priority, or that the handover priority is the highest. Optionally, the first downlink carrier can also be the camped downlink carrier in the downlink carrier combination containing the lowest priority camped downlink carrier, to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs. Optionally, "lowest priority" means that the priority for maintaining communication is the lowest.

[0489] A. For example, such as Figure 11 As shown, the priorities of the downlink carriers are arranged from high to low. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment searches the priority relationship level by level and considers DLCC 0 to be the highest priority for determining the first downlink carrier. That is, the switching time required for the downlink receive channel of DLCC 0 to switch to DLCC 1 is the shortest. If DLCC 0 is the currently camped DLCC, the user equipment will determine DLCC 0 as the first downlink carrier.

[0490] B. For example, such as Figure 12 As shown, the priorities of the downlink carriers are arranged from high to low. If the downlink carrier to be measured is DLCC 1, the user equipment searches the priority relationship level by level and considers DLCC 0 to be the highest priority for determining the first downlink carrier. That is, the switching time required for the downlink receive channel of DLCC 0 to switch to DLCC 1 is the shortest. If DLCC 0 is the currently camped DLCC, the user equipment will determine DLCC 0 as the first downlink carrier.

[0491] 2. For example, when the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the camping downlink carrier with the highest priority among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured. Here, the highest priority means that the first downlink carrier has the highest priority, or in other words, the handover priority is the highest.

[0492] like Figure 13As shown, the priorities for determining the first downlink carrier are arranged from high to low. For example, when the downlink carrier to be measured is determined to be DLCC 1, the user equipment sequentially searches for priorities "DLCC 0", "DLCC 3", and "DLCC 2", with their priorities decreasing sequentially. DLCC 0 is considered to have the highest priority for determining the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 0 is a camped DLCC, then camped DLCC 0 is determined as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 0 is a non-camped DLCC, then the next priority is searched, namely DLCC 3. If DLCC 3 is a camped DLCC, then camped DLCC 3 is determined as the first downlink carrier.

[0493] For example, when the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier is the lowest priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, where the lowest priority means the lowest priority to maintain normal communication.

[0494] For example, the priorities of the other downlink carriers corresponding to "DLCC 0" are "DLCC 3", "DLCC 2", and "DLCC 1", which are arranged from highest to lowest priority as the residing downlink carriers that maintain normal communication. When the downlink carrier to be measured is determined to be DLCC 0, the user equipment sequentially searches for this priority. DLCC 1 is considered to be the downlink carrier with the lowest priority for maintaining normal communication. If DLCC 1 is a residing downlink carrier, then DLCC 1 is designated as the first downlink carrier. If DLCC 1 is a non-residing DLCC, then the next higher priority is searched, i.e., DLCC 2. If DLCC 2 is a residing DLCC, then the user equipment designates residing DLCC 2 as the first downlink carrier.

[0495] For an explanation of network configuration information and the different ways in which network configuration information is prioritized, please refer to the relevant description in step 1405 of Example 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0496] Step 14062: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on the first indication information.

[0497] For example, if the first indication information from the network device directly indicates the first downlink carrier to the user equipment, then after receiving the first indication information, the user equipment can directly determine the first downlink carrier from the set of camped downlink carriers. For an explanation of the first indication information, please refer to the relevant description in step 1405 of Embodiment 2, or the relevant description in step 703 of Embodiment 1; it will not be repeated here.

[0498] Optionally, if the network configuration information sent by the network device to the user equipment indicates multiple configurations, the user equipment can also determine the first downlink carrier based on the configuration indicated by the network configuration information and the second indication information. That is, after receiving the network configuration information, the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on a specific configuration indicated by the second indication information. For an explanation of the second indication information and the multiple configurations, please refer to the relevant description in step 1405 of Embodiment Two; it will not be repeated here.

[0499] In another example, the second information includes the specific priority of each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set. The first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier with the highest or lowest priority in the camped downlink carrier set. Highest priority means the carrier with the highest priority is designated as the first downlink carrier, and lowest priority means the carrier with the lowest priority is designated to maintain normal communication. For example, the second information includes: DLCC0 is priority 1, DLCC1 is priority 2, and DLCC2 is priority 3, where DLCC0 and DLCC2 are camped downlink carriers. If priority 1 is the highest priority, then the first downlink carrier is DLCC0.

[0500] Optionally, the second information includes the specific priority or priority order of each downlink carrier or combination of downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set. Optionally, the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier with the highest or lowest priority in the camped downlink carrier set. Here, "highest priority" means that the determined first downlink carrier has the highest priority, and "lowest priority" means that the carrier with the lowest priority maintains normal communication. For example, if the second information includes the priority order of downlink carriers from high to low (DLCC0, DLCC1, DLCC2), where DLCC0 and DLCC2 are camped downlink carriers, then the first downlink carrier is the camped downlink carrier with the highest priority, DLCC0.

[0501] Step 1407: The user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information sent by the network device;

[0502] For example, when cross-carrier downlink measurement is required, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured, or measure the cross-carrier CSI-RS resources configured on the downlink carrier to be measured, within the configured measurement interval. During the cross-carrier downlink measurement, downlink communication on the determined first downlink carrier is suspended, while downlink communication between the user equipment and the network equipment on the second downlink carrier is maintained. Optionally, suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier includes stopping, pausing, or interrupting downlink communication on the first downlink carrier. Optionally, maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the residing downlink carrier set can be understood as not affecting downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the residing downlink carrier set.

[0503] Understandably, the relevant descriptions of steps 703 and 706 in Embodiment 2 can be used for the measurement information and the implementation method of cross-carrier downlink measurement of the downlink carrier to be measured, and will not be repeated here.

[0504] For example, after each measurement ends, or after the measurement interval ends, the user equipment will report a measurement report of this downlink measurement to the network device. Understandably, the frequency of reporting measurement reports can be indicated by the network device, and is not limited here.

[0505] It should be noted that in Embodiment 2, steps 1406 and 1403, 1404, and 1405 do not necessarily have a specific order. For example, step 1406 can be performed before step 1403 and after step 1402. Similarly, steps 1404 and 1403 also do not necessarily have a specific order; step 1403 can be performed before step 1404, or vice versa.

[0506] It is understandable that not all of the above steps are mandatory. Some or all of the steps can be performed. The steps can be performed separately or in combination.

[0507] The first and second embodiments described above determine how the first downlink carrier is determined by the user equipment and network equipment, respectively. The third embodiment below determines it based on preset rules of the network equipment and user equipment:

[0508] Example 3: Based on the preset rules of the user equipment and network equipment, determine which downlink receive channel residing in the DLCC will be switched to the downlink carrier to be measured. For example... Figure 15 As shown, Figure 15 Another flowchart of the downlink measurement method provided in an embodiment of this application. The specific steps are as follows:

[0509] Step 1501: The user equipment reports capability information to the network equipment.

[0510] For example, the capability information includes first capability information and / or second capability information, and / or third capability information.

[0511] User equipment can report capability information to network equipment in various ways. Capability information can be reported separately for each frequency band combination, or for each frequency band of each frequency band combination, or for each downlink carrier of each frequency band of each frequency band combination. First capability information and second capability information can also be reported separately.

[0512] For explanations of capability information and different reporting methods, please refer to the relevant introduction in step 701 of Implementation Example 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0513] Step 1502: The network device sends measurement information to the user equipment so that the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information;

[0514] For example, measurement information includes measurement intervals and / or measurement configuration information. Optionally, measurement configuration information includes one or more of the following: CSI-RS or CSI-RS resources, CSI-RS period, CSI-RS periodicity, CSI measurement report resources, CSI measurement report period, CSI measurement report periodicity, measurement interval, timer, and first interval. It is understood that the measurement configuration information described below may be included within the measurement information.

[0515] The configuration of measurement information can be periodic, non-periodic, or semi-static. For explanations of measurement intervals and CSI-RS, as well as configuration methods, please refer to the relevant introduction in step 703 of Embodiment 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0516] Step 1503: The user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on preset rules.

[0517] In one possible implementation, the user equipment determines the first downlink carrier based on a preset rule, which indicates how to determine the first downlink carrier during cross-carrier downlink measurement.

[0518] For example, the first downlink carrier can be determined based on at least one of the following preset rules:

[0519] 1. The first downlink carrier is determined based on the historical measurement results of the user equipment, which include the measurement results of the downlink carriers residing in the set of residing downlink carriers.

[0520] In one possible implementation, the first downlink carrier is the camping downlink carrier with the worst channel conditions or the worst historical measurement results.

[0521] For example, downlink measurement can be divided into cross-carrier downlink measurement and local carrier downlink measurement. Cross-carrier downlink measurement is a type of cross-carrier measurement, which involves switching the stationary DLCC to the downlink carrier to be measured for cross-carrier downlink measurement. In addition, each stationary DLCC must perform local carrier downlink measurement. Local carrier downlink measurement can be periodic; for example, each stationary DLCC performs local carrier downlink measurement once in each measurement period to promptly know and update the channel status of the currently operating stationary DLCC.

[0522] Whether it's a local carrier measurement or a cross-carrier measurement, the user equipment (UE) reports the measurement results to the network equipment upon completing the downlink measurement. This means both the UE and the network equipment are aware of the measurement results for each camped downlink carrier. Based on the downlink measurement results for each camped downlink carrier, its channel condition is determined. Therefore, the camped downlink carrier with the worst channel condition can be designated as the first downlink carrier. This means that during cross-carrier downlink measurements, downlink communication on the camped downlink carrier with the worst channel condition is interrupted, while downlink communication on other camped downlink carriers with better channel conditions is maintained. This significantly reduces the impact of cross-carrier downlink measurements on the UE's downlink communication.

[0523] Optionally, historical measurement results may refer to the results of a previous measurement, or measurement results from a previous period of time. Optionally, the measurement results may be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-static. Optionally, measurement results from a previous period of time may be at least one measurement result from a previous period of time or the average of at least one measurement result from a previous period of time.

[0524] Optionally, the channel conditions or historical measurement results in the historical measurement results can be determined based on any one or more of the following: signal tonoise ratio (SNR), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indication (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and channel quality indicator (CQI). It is understood that the worst channel conditions or worst historical measurement results in the historical measurement results can refer to the lowest values ​​of any one or more of SNR, SINR, RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and CQI.

[0525] 2. The first downlink carrier is determined based on the TAG group to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs.

[0526] For example, the first downlink carrier is a camping downlink carrier in the same TAG group as the downlink carrier to be measured. Downlink carriers in the same TAG group can be time-aligned, that is, camping downlink carriers in the same TAG have the same timing. This allows the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements at a precise time-domain location, avoiding continuous searching for the timing of the downlink carrier to be measured and improving measurement efficiency.

[0527] 3. The first downlink carrier is the downlink carrier in which the signaling or information indicating the camping downlink carrier, or indicating the switching of the camping downlink carrier, or triggering cross-carrier downlink measurement is located.

[0528] For example, when an event triggers a carrier switching event to be initiated by a user equipment, the network device sends a DCI signaling message to the user equipment. Both the network device and the user equipment can then identify the resident DLCC that triggered the DCI signaling message as the first downlink carrier.

[0529] 4. The first downlink carrier is an unoccupied or non-idle downlink carrier in the set of downlink carriers.

[0530] For example, an unoccupied downlink carrier refers to a camped DLCC that is not scheduled for transmission, or an unoccupied downlink carrier refers to a camped downlink carrier with an occupancy rate less than or equal to a set threshold or with the lowest occupancy rate. The first downlink carrier is an unoccupied downlink carrier in the set of camped downlink carriers. During cross-carrier downlink measurement, this can prevent the downlink carriers used by the user equipment for transmission from being switched, thus avoiding a significant impact on transmission performance.

[0531] For example, a non-idle downlink carrier refers to a downlink carrier with a busy rate greater than or equal to a preset threshold or the highest busy rate; alternatively, a non-idle downlink carrier refers to a downlink carrier with an idle rate less than or equal to a preset threshold or the lowest idle rate. It is understood that a non-idle downlink carrier with a higher busy rate indicates that its resources are being heavily contested by other user equipment. By selecting a non-idle downlink carrier with a higher busy rate as the first downlink carrier, user equipment will no longer compete with other user equipment for resources on that carrier.

[0532] The following explains the non-occupied residing downlink carrier and the non-idle residing downlink carrier respectively:

[0533] A. The first downlink carrier is a resident downlink carrier without scheduled transmission.

[0534] Optionally, the first downlink carrier can be a camped downlink carrier that is not currently scheduled for transmission, or a camped downlink carrier that is not scheduled for transmission during the cross-carrier downlink measurement of the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, the cross-carrier downlink measurement period refers to the measurement interval period of the downlink carrier to be measured. Optionally, the cross-carrier downlink measurement period of the downlink carrier to be measured includes the carrier switching time before and after the measurement.

[0535] During downlink communication with user equipment, network devices perform resource scheduling on residing DLCCs, such as scheduling PDSCH or sending PDCCH on the residing DLCC. Therefore, to avoid cross-carrier downlink measurements affecting the network device's scheduling of user equipment, when cross-carrier downlink measurements are required, the residing DLCC that is not currently scheduled or has already been scheduled is preferentially identified as the first downlink carrier.

[0536] B. The first downlink carrier is the stationary downlink carrier with an occupancy rate less than or equal to a set threshold or with the lowest occupancy rate.

[0537] Optionally, the unoccupied downlink carrier can be the camped downlink carrier with an occupancy rate less than or equal to a set threshold or the lowest occupancy rate. During communication, the resource usage of the user equipment varies across different downlink carriers, resulting in different occupancy rates. In other words, for this user equipment, if downlink communication on a camped DLCC with a higher occupancy rate is interrupted, the impact on communication performance will be greater. Therefore, the camped DLCC with a lower occupancy rate is preferentially selected as the first downlink carrier.

[0538] Optionally, the occupancy rate can be any of the following: resource occupancy rate, channel occupancy rate, spectrum occupancy rate, carrier occupancy rate, cell occupancy rate, or BWP occupancy rate. Optionally, the occupancy rate can also be the utilization rate. Optionally, the occupancy rate refers to the proportion of resources occupied by this user equipment to the total number of resources within a certain period of time.

[0539] C. The first downlink carrier is a camping downlink carrier with a busy rate greater than or equal to a preset threshold or the highest busy rate; or, the first downlink carrier is a camping downlink carrier with an idle rate less than or equal to a preset threshold or the lowest idle rate.

[0540] Optionally, the non-idle downlink carrier can be the camped downlink carrier with a busy rate greater than or equal to a preset threshold or the highest busy rate, or it can be the camped downlink carrier with an idle rate less than or equal to a preset threshold or the lowest idle rate. During communication, the load on different camped downlink carriers may differ, and their busy levels may also vary. In other words, some camped DLCCs may have a high communication load, with more user equipment transmitting on that carrier. In such cases, prioritizing the interruption of downlink communication on that camped DLCC and using it for cross-carrier measurements can alleviate resource congestion on that carrier and improve system communication performance. Therefore, camped DLCCs with higher busy levels or lower idle rates are preferentially selected as the first downlink carrier.

[0541] Optionally, the busy rate can be any of the following: resource busy rate, channel busy rate, spectrum busy rate, carrier busy rate, cell busy rate, or BWP busy rate. Optionally, the idle rate can be any of the following: resource idle rate, channel idle rate, spectrum idle rate, carrier idle rate, cell idle rate, or BWP idle rate. Optionally, the busy rate refers to the proportion of resources with one or more indicators greater than or equal to a threshold value to the total number of resources within a certain period. Optionally, the idle rate refers to the proportion of resources with one or more indicators less than or equal to a threshold value to the total number of resources within a certain period, or, idle rate = (1 - busy rate). Optionally, the number of resources with one or more indicators greater than or equal to a threshold value and / or the total number of resources within a certain period includes all resources that meet the conditions, or the number of resources occupied by other devices and / or the total number of resources, or the number of resources excluding those occupied by this user equipment and / or the total number of resources. Understandably, the indicators can be any one or more of SNR, SINR, RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.

[0542] Understandably, the length of a time period and / or the specific value of the threshold and / or the set threshold can be customized or configured by the network device, and no specific limitation is made here.

[0543] It should be noted that when multiple downlink carriers in the set of stationary downlink carriers are idle downlink carriers, the first downlink carrier can be further determined by combining preset rules 1, 2, 3, or 4. For example, when there is no scheduled transmission on DLCC 0 and DLCC 2, rule 1 can be used to determine the downlink carrier with the worst channel conditions among DLCC 0 and DLCC 2 as the first downlink carrier based on the historical measurement results of DLCC 0 and DLCC 2. Understandably, the combination of rule 4 with other rules is similar to the example of combining it with rule 1 mentioned above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0544] 5. The first downlink carrier is determined based on the frequency band or frequency range of the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0545] In one possible implementation, the resident DLCC in the resident downlink carrier set that is in the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured is identified as the first downlink carrier.

[0546] For example, the switching time required for switching downlink receive channels between downlink carriers in the same frequency band is shorter than the switching time required for switching between downlink carriers in different frequency bands. Once the downlink carrier to be measured is determined, based on the frequency band of the downlink carrier to be measured, the DLCC (Dedicated Low-Chip Carrier) residing in the set of residing downlink carriers that shares the same frequency band as the downlink carrier to be measured is identified as the first downlink carrier. This reduces the time required for cross-carrier downlink measurement, i.e., reduces the duration of communication interruption for the first downlink carrier.

[0547] In one possible implementation, the resident DLCC in the resident downlink carrier set that is in the same frequency range as the center frequency of the downlink carrier to be measured is determined as the first downlink carrier.

[0548] For example, the switching time required for switching downlink receive channels between downlink carriers within the same frequency range is shorter than the switching time required for switching between downlink carriers in different frequency bands. Once the downlink carrier to be measured is determined, based on the frequency range of the center frequency of the downlink carrier to be measured, the DLCCs residing within the frequency range of the center frequency of the downlink carrier to be measured are determined as the first downlink carrier. This reduces the time required for cross-carrier downlink measurements.

[0549] Understandably, the frequency range can be predefined or determined by the network device based on the capability information reported by the user device; no specific limitation is made here.

[0550] 6. The first downlink carrier is a non-anchor-stationed downlink carrier.

[0551] Optionally, the non-anchor downlink carrier can refer to the downlink carrier corresponding to the secondary cell. For example, the downlink carrier of a user equipment can be divided into primary cell downlink carriers and secondary cell downlink carriers based on its function, or it can be divided into anchor downlink carriers and non-anchor downlink carriers. The primary cell downlink carrier or anchor downlink carrier needs to perform more functions, including functions other than load balancing, such as synchronization. Furthermore, since the first downlink carrier needs to interrupt communication during cross-carrier downlink measurement, determining the secondary cell downlink carrier or non-anchor downlink carrier, which requires fewer functions, as the first downlink carrier has a smaller impact on communication between the network equipment and the user equipment compared to determining the primary cell downlink carrier or anchor downlink carrier as the first downlink carrier. It is understood that the secondary cell downlink carrier refers to the downlink carrier corresponding to the secondary cell, or the secondary downlink carrier itself.

[0552] 7. The first downlink carrier is determined based on the downlink radio frequency channel used by the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0553] For example, the camped downlink carriers in the first downlink carrier set that use the same downlink radio frequency channel as the downlink carrier to be measured are determined as the first downlink carrier. Optionally, downlink carriers using the same downlink radio frequency channel are determined based on network configuration or signaling indication, or based on information reported by the UE. Downlink carriers in the same downlink radio frequency channel do not require radio frequency tuning during handover, which can reduce handover time and shorten the duration of downlink communication inaccessibility, thereby ensuring communication performance.

[0554] Optionally, the user equipment and network equipment may determine the first downlink carrier based on the aforementioned preset rules. This can be understood as determining the camping downlink carrier that needs to perform downlink reception capability switching based on the preset rules, or determining the camping downlink carrier that needs to suspend downlink transmission during cross-carrier downlink measurement, or not expecting downlink reception of resources such as PDSCH, and / or PDCCH, and / or CSI-RS on the determined camping downlink carrier.

[0555] It should be noted that preset rules 4, 5, 6, and 7 can be implemented individually or in combination with preset rules 1, 2, 3, and 4. When implemented in combination, the first downlink carrier is determined first based on preset rules 5 and 6. If there are multiple or zero downlink carriers that meet preset rules 5 and 6, the first downlink carrier is further determined according to any one of preset rules 1, 2, 3, and 4.

[0556] Step 1504: The network device determines the first downlink carrier from the set of residing downlink carriers based on preset rules;

[0557] In one possible implementation, the communication protocol between the user equipment and the network device includes preset rules that indicate how to determine the first downlink carrier during cross-carrier downlink measurement. The network device can align with the user equipment with respect to the first downlink carrier during cross-carrier downlink measurement or a second downlink carrier that maintains normal communication, according to the preset rules.

[0558] It should be noted that step 1504 is similar to step 1503. For an explanation of the preset rules, please refer to the relevant introduction of step 1503. It will not be repeated here.

[0559] Optionally, this step is optional.

[0560] Step 1505: The user equipment performs cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured based on the measurement information sent by the network device;

[0561] For example, when cross-carrier downlink measurement is required, the user equipment can perform cross-carrier downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured within the configured measurement interval, or measure the cross-carrier CSI-RS resources configured for the downlink carrier to be measured.

[0562] For the configuration of measurement information and the measurement method, please refer to the relevant descriptions of steps 703 and 706 in Embodiment 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0563] For example, the user equipment generates a measurement report after each measurement ends or at the end of a measurement interval. Optionally, the user equipment may report a measurement report for this downlink measurement to the network device as instructed by the network device. Understandably, the frequency of reporting measurement reports may be instructed by the network device, and is not specifically limited here.

[0564] It should be noted that steps 1502 and 1503 can be performed simultaneously, or steps 1502 can be performed first and then steps 1503, or steps 1503 can be performed first and then steps 1502. Step 1504 does not have a necessary order with steps 1502 and 1503. Step 1504 can be performed before step 1502, or step 1502 can be performed first, then step 1504, and then step 1503. No specific restrictions are imposed here.

[0565] It is understandable that not all of the above steps are mandatory. Some or all of the steps can be performed. The steps can be performed separately or in combination.

[0566] It should be noted that each embodiment and implementation method can be implemented independently or in combination based on their inherent relationships; no specific limitations are imposed here. For example, embodiments one, two, and three can be implemented independently. Embodiment three can also be implemented in combination with embodiment one, and embodiment three can also be implemented in combination with embodiment two. When embodiment three is implemented in combination with embodiment one, for example, in step 704 of embodiment one, the user equipment can also determine the first downlink carrier from the set of residing downlink carriers according to the preset rules in embodiment three. When embodiment three is implemented in combination with embodiment two, for example, in step 1403 of embodiment two, the network device can also determine the first downlink carrier from the set of residing downlink carriers according to the preset rules in embodiment three; no specific limitations are imposed here.

[0567] In this application, the explanations, definitions, and concepts of terms are generally applicable across different embodiments. The terms "instruction," "configuration," and "determination" in various embodiments can be direct instructions, configurations, or determinations, or indirect instructions, configurations, or determinations through some medium. No specific limitations are imposed here.

[0568] Corresponding to the solutions given in the preceding method embodiments, this application provides a corresponding communication device. This application provides a communication device including units or modules for executing the methods described in any of the embodiments of this application. The modules or units can be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The following is only a brief descript...

Claims

1. A downlink measurement method, characterized in that, The method includes: The first downlink carrier is determined from the set of stationary downlink carriers; Perform downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured; When the downlink measurement is performed, downlink communication on the first downlink carrier is suspended, and downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers is maintained.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the first downlink carrier from the set of resident downlink carriers includes: The first downlink carrier is determined based on first information, wherein the first information is used to determine the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to switch to another downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, wherein the first downlink carrier set includes the camped downlink carrier set; and / or, the first information is used to determine the handover time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to switch to another frequency band in the first frequency band set, wherein the downlink carriers in the camped downlink carrier set are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send the first information to the network device.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second information from the network device, the second information being used to determine the first downlink carrier from the set of resident downlink carriers.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The second information includes network configuration information, which indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set; or, the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is the highest priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, and the first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camping downlink carrier set.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is determined based on historical measurement results, which include the measurement results of the stationary downlink carriers in the stationary downlink carrier set.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is the downlink carrier with the worst measurement result in the set of downlink carriers.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is determined based on the timing advance group (TAG) to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send first capability information to the network device, the first capability information indicating that the user equipment supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers when performing the downlink measurement.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured includes: Downlink measurements are performed on the downlink carrier to be measured based on measurement information from network devices, the measurement information including a first measurement interval, the first measurement interval indicating that downlink measurements are performed on the downlink carrier to be measured within the first measurement interval.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The measurement information also includes a cross-carrier channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), which is used to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured.

13. A downlink measurement method, characterized in that, The method includes: The first downlink carrier is determined from the set of downlink carriers residing in the user equipment; When the user equipment performs downlink measurement on the downlink carrier to be measured, it suspends downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintains downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, Determining the first downlink carrier from the set of downlink carriers residing in the user equipment includes: The first downlink carrier is determined based on first information from the user equipment, wherein the first information indicates the handover time required for each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set to switch to another downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set, the first downlink carrier set including a camping downlink carrier set; and / or, the first information indicates the handover time required for each frequency band in the first frequency band set to switch to another frequency band in the first frequency band set, wherein the downlink carriers in the camping downlink carrier set are located on some or all of the frequency bands in the first frequency band set.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, Determining the first downlink carrier from the set of downlink carriers residing in the user equipment includes: The first downlink carrier is determined based on the second information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second information is sent to the user equipment, and the second information is used by the user equipment to determine the first downlink carrier from the set of camped downlink carriers.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The second information includes network configuration information, which indicates the priority of each downlink carrier combination in the first downlink carrier set; or, the network configuration information indicates the priority of other downlink carriers corresponding to each downlink carrier in the first downlink carrier set.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is the highest priority camping downlink carrier among the other downlink carriers corresponding to the downlink carrier to be measured, and the first downlink carrier set includes the downlink carrier to be measured and the camping downlink carrier set.

19. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is determined based on the historical measurement results of the user equipment, which include the measurement results of the stationary downlink carriers in the stationary downlink carrier set.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is the downlink carrier with the worst measurement result in the set of downlink carriers.

21. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first downlink carrier is determined based on the timing advance group (TAG) to which the downlink carrier to be measured belongs.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 21, characterized in that, The method further includes: The user equipment receives first capability information, which indicates that the user equipment supports suspending downlink communication on the first downlink carrier and maintaining downlink communication on the second downlink carrier in the set of resident downlink carriers when performing the downlink measurement.

23. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 22, characterized in that, The method further includes: The user equipment is sent measurement information, which includes a first measurement interval, the first measurement interval instructing the user equipment to perform downlink measurements on each of the downlink carriers to be measured within the first measurement interval.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that, The measurement information also includes a cross-carrier channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), which is used by the user equipment to perform cross-carrier downlink measurements on the downlink carrier to be measured.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes units or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-12.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes units or modules for performing the method as described in any one of claims 13-24.

27. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 24.

28. A computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 24.

29. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a first device and a second device, the first device being used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-12, and the second device being used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 13-24.

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