Reference signal transmission method and communication device

Abstract

Disclosed are a reference signal transmission method and a communication device, the reference signal transmission method comprising: receiving a first message, the first message being used for activating or deactivating a reference signal, the reference signal being a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell; and measuring the activated reference signal according to the first message, or stopping measuring the deactivated reference signal according to the first message. According to the invention, transmission resources can be saved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] A Layer 1 / Layer 2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) mechanism has been introduced into the communication system. The basic process of LTM involves the network device configuring multiple candidate cells to be measured and a reference signal for each candidate cell. The terminal device receives and measures the reference signals of each candidate cell, determining at least one reference signal that meets the reporting conditions. The terminal device sends an LTM beam report to the network device. This LTM beam report may include the identifier of the candidate cell containing the reference signal that meets the reporting conditions, and may also include the beam identifier corresponding to the reference signal in the candidate cell that meets the reporting conditions. Based on the LTM report, the network device determines the target cell and target beam to be handed over to, and then indicates the target cell and target beam to be handed over to via a cell handover command.

[0003] However, the reference signals for candidate cells currently used for measurement by terminal equipment are periodically transmitted reference signals. Periodically transmitted reference signals need to be transmitted periodically, which consumes a lot of transmission resources. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a reference signal transmission method and communication device, which can activate or deactivate the semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell. The terminal device can measure the semi-persistent reference signal of the candidate cell, which can save transmission resources.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a reference signal transmission method, the method comprising:

[0006] Receive a first message, the first message being used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, the reference signal being a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell;

[0007] The activated reference signal is measured according to the first message, or the deactivated reference signal is stopped according to the first message.

[0008] By implementing the method of the first aspect, the semi-persistent reference signal of the candidate cell can be activated or deactivated by the first message. The transmission or cessation of the semi-persistent reference signal of the candidate cell can be flexibly controlled. The terminal equipment can measure the semi-persistent reference signal activated by the candidate cell. Since the semi-persistent reference signal does not need to be transmitted periodically like the periodic reference signal, transmission resources can be saved.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, which is used to determine the reference signal for activation or deactivation.

[0010] This approach allows for flexible indication of which reference signals need to be activated or deactivated.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the first indication information indicates at least one of the following: an identifier of the report configuration, an identifier of the candidate cell set, an identifier of the candidate cell, an identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, an identifier of the reference signal resource set, an identifier of the reference signal resource list, or an identifier of the reference signal resource.

[0012] The reference signal determined based on the identifier in the report configuration is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration, and the report configuration is used to configure the reporting of the measurement results of the reference signal;

[0013] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal configured in the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set;

[0014] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal configured in the candidate cell;

[0015] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration;

[0016] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set;

[0017] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is a reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list;

[0018] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal carried by the reference signal resource.

[0019] This approach allows for flexible indication of reference signals for candidate cells that need to be activated or deactivated.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the first message includes second indication information, which indicates the TCI status identifier corresponding to the activated reference signal.

[0021] This method allows for flexible indication of the beam information corresponding to the activated reference signal.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the first message further includes at least one indication field, which is used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated.

[0023] This approach allows for flexible indication of whether the reference signal of a candidate cell is activated or deactivated.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the number of the indicator fields is multiple;

[0025] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the multiple candidate cells is activated or deactivated; or,

[0026] The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal configured in a plurality of reference signal resource configurations, and each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal configured in one of the plurality of reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated; or,

[0027] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets, wherein each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated; or,

[0028] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated.

[0029] This approach allows for the indication of whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated at various granularities, making the indication method more flexible.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is activated, wherein the reference signal of the activated candidate cell is measured by the terminal device.

[0031] Alternatively, the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated, wherein the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell is not measured by the terminal device.

[0032] The terminal device is the device that receives the first message.

[0033] By implementing this method, the candidate cell where the reference signal is located can be activated or deactivated synchronously by activating or deactivating the reference signal. This allows candidate cells that are not being measured to be activated in a timely manner, and the terminal device will not measure the reference signal on the deactivated candidate cell, thus reducing measurement overhead.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal of at least one candidate cell, the at least one candidate cell including a first candidate cell, and the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first candidate cell including a first reference signal.

[0035] Measuring the activated reference signal according to the first message, or stopping the measurement of the deactivated reference signal according to the first message, includes:

[0036] According to the first message, the measurement of the activated first reference signal begins from the first time unit after the first time unit, or, according to the first message, the measurement of the deactivated first reference signal stops from the first time unit after the first time unit.

[0037] Wherein, the first time unit is a time unit determined by offsetting X time units after the second time unit, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the first subcarrier interval is determined based on the subcarrier interval of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier interval of the serving cell, and the value of X is greater than 0;

[0038] The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first message.

[0039] Implementing this method proposes rules for determining the effective time unit (i.e., the time unit for starting or stopping transmission) of the activated or deactivated reference signal, thereby facilitating consistency between the effective time determined by network devices and terminal devices.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, including:

[0041] The value of X is determined based on the value of N, the value of N is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe, a subframe includes at least one time unit, and the value of N is greater than 0.

[0042] By implementing this method, the value of N is determined based on the subcarrier spacing, and then the value of X is determined based on the value of N, which can improve the accuracy of the determined value of X.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell, including:

[0044] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell; or,

[0045] The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0046] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0047] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0048] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0049] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0050] The first subcarrier spacing is the maximum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing; or,

[0051] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing.

[0052] Implementing this method proposes a way to determine the first subcarrier interval, which makes it easier for the value of X determined by the network device and the terminal device to be consistent, so that the effective time units of the activated or deactivated reference signal determined by the network device and the terminal device are consistent.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0054] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the magnification factor, where the magnification factor indicates the magnification factor of the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3.

[0055] In this method, the amplification factor of N is greater than 3, thus allowing sufficient time for the terminal equipment to adjust the radio frequency parameters to measure the reference signal of the candidate cell.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0057] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value, where the increment value is a predefined number of time units that need to be added according to network configuration.

[0058] By implementing this method, the number of time units can be increased based on the incremental value, thereby reserving enough time for the terminal equipment to adjust the radio frequency parameters to measure the reference signal of the candidate cell.

[0059] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a reference signal transmission method, the method comprising:

[0060] Send a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, which is used to determine the reference signal for activation or deactivation.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the first indication information indicates at least one of the following: an identifier of the report configuration, an identifier of the candidate cell set, an identifier of the candidate cell, an identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, an identifier of the reference signal resource set, an identifier of the reference signal resource list, or an identifier of the reference signal resource.

[0063] The report configuration is used to configure the reporting of measurement results of the reference signal, wherein the reference signal is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration;

[0064] The reference signal determined based on the identifier in the report configuration is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration, and the report configuration is used to configure the reporting of the measurement results of the reference signal;

[0065] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal configured in the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set;

[0066] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal configured in the candidate cell;

[0067] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration;

[0068] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set;

[0069] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is a reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list;

[0070] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal carried by the reference signal resource.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the first message includes second indication information, which indicates the TCI status identifier corresponding to the activated reference signal.

[0072] In one possible implementation, the first message further includes at least one indication field, which is used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated.

[0073] In one possible implementation, the number of the indicator fields is multiple;

[0074] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the multiple candidate cells is activated or deactivated; or,

[0075] The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal configured in a plurality of reference signal resource configurations, and each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal configured in one of the plurality of reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated; or,

[0076] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets, wherein each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated; or,

[0077] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is activated, wherein the reference signal of the activated candidate cell is measured by the terminal device.

[0079] Alternatively, the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated, wherein the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell is not measured by the terminal device.

[0080] The terminal device is the device that receives the first message.

[0081] In one possible implementation, the first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal of at least one candidate cell, the at least one candidate cell including a first candidate cell, and the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first candidate cell including a first reference signal.

[0082] The method further includes:

[0083] The first activated reference signal is transmitted starting from the first time unit after the first time unit, or the transmission of the deactivated first reference signal is stopped starting from the first time unit after the first time unit;

[0084] Wherein, the first time unit is a time unit determined by offsetting X time units after the second time unit, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the first subcarrier interval is determined based on the subcarrier interval of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier interval of the serving cell, and the value of X is greater than 0;

[0085] The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first message.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, including:

[0087] The value of X is determined based on the value of N, the value of N is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe, a subframe includes at least one time unit, and the value of N is greater than 0.

[0088] In one possible implementation, the first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell, including:

[0089] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell; or,

[0090] The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0091] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0092] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0093] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0094] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0095] The first subcarrier spacing is the maximum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing; or,

[0096] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing.

[0097] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0098] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the magnification factor, where the magnification factor indicates the magnification factor of the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3.

[0099] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0100] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value, where the increment value is a predefined number of time units that need to be added according to network configuration.

[0101] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes:

[0102] The receiving unit is configured to receive a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell.

[0103] A measurement unit is configured to measure an activated reference signal according to the first message, or to stop measuring a deactivated reference signal according to the first message.

[0104] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes:

[0105] The transmitting unit is used to transmit a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell.

[0106] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device including a processor and a memory interconnected thereto. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to perform the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0107] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip including a processor and an interface, the processor and the interface being coupled; the interface is used to receive and / or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions to perform the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to perform the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0108] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a module device, which includes a communication module, a power module, a storage module, and a chip module, wherein: the power module is used to provide power to the module device; the storage module is used to store data and / or instructions; the communication module communicates with external devices; and the chip module is used to call the data and / or instructions stored in the storage module to execute the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to execute the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0109] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program including program instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or implement the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0110] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program or computer code, which, when run on a computer, implements the method described in the first aspect or any optional implementation of the first aspect, or implements the method described in the second aspect or any optional implementation of the second aspect.

[0111] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device.

[0112] The beneficial effects of the technical solutions provided in the second to tenth aspects of the embodiments of this application can be referred to the beneficial effects of the technical solutions provided in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0113] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0114] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart of a reference signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0115] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the determination of the first time unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0116] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0117] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0118] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0119] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a module device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0120] In this embodiment of the application, unless otherwise stated, the character " / " indicates that the preceding and following objects are in an OR relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B. "AND / OR" describes the relationship between the associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A AND / OR B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone.

[0121] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" used in the embodiments of this application are used only for distinguishing descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated, nor should they be construed as indicating or implying order.

[0122] In the embodiments of this application, "at least one" refers to one or more items, and "more than one" refers to two or more items. Furthermore, "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, which may include any combination of a single item or a plurality of items. For example, at least one of A, B, or C can represent: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B, and C. Each of A, B, and C can be an element itself or a set containing one or more elements.

[0123] In this application, terms such as "exemplary," "in some embodiments," and "in another embodiment" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of the term "exemplary" is intended to present the concept in a concrete manner.

[0124] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "of," "corresponding (relevant)," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, without emphasizing the distinction, their meanings are consistent. Similarly, in the embodiments of this application, "communication" and "transmission" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, without emphasizing the distinction, their meanings are consistent. For example, transmission can include sending and / or receiving, and can be a noun or a verb.

[0125] In this embodiment of the application, "equal to" can be used with "greater than" or "less than", but not simultaneously with both. It should be noted that when "equal to" is used with "greater than", it applies to the technical solution adopted by "greater than"; when "equal to" is used with "less than", it applies to the technical solution adopted by "less than".

[0126] Please see Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication system may include, but is not limited to, one or more network devices and one or more terminal devices, such as... Figure 1 Taking a network device and a terminal device as an example, where, Figure 1 In this context, network devices, such as base stations, and terminal devices, such as mobile phones, can establish wireless links with network devices for communication. Figure 1 The communication system shown includes, but is not limited to, network equipment and terminal equipment, and may also include other communication equipment. Figure 1 The number and form of the devices shown are for illustrative purposes and do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0127] In this application embodiment, the terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, which may be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, wireless communication device, UE agent, or UE device, etc. The terminal device can be fixed or mobile. It should be noted that the terminal device can support at least one wireless communication technology, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR). For example, terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, desktop computers, laptops, all-in-one computers, in-vehicle terminals, virtual reality (VR) terminals, augmented reality (AR) terminals, 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 a wireless modem, wearable devices, terminals in future mobile communication networks, or terminals in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs), etc. In some embodiments of this application, the terminal may also be a device with transceiver functions, such as a chip system. The chip system may include a chip, and may also include other discrete components.

[0128] In this application embodiment, the network device is a device that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices, and can also be referred to as an access network device, radio access network (RAN) device, etc. The network device can support at least one wireless communication technology, such as LTE, NR, etc. For example, the network device includes, but is not limited to: next-generation base stations (gNB) in 5th-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, base stations in 6th-generation (6G) mobile communication systems, evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home-evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), mobile switching center, etc. Network devices can also be wireless controllers, centralized units (CUs), and / or distributed units (DUs) in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios, or they can be relay stations, access points, vehicle-mounted devices, terminal devices, wearable devices, and network devices in future mobile communications or future evolved PLMNs. In some embodiments, network devices can also be means for providing wireless communication capabilities to terminal devices, such as chip systems. For example, a chip system may include chips, and may also include other discrete devices.

[0129] Before introducing the specific solutions of the embodiments of this application, let's first introduce the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application:

[0130] 1. Reference signal

[0131] A reference signal is a known signal provided by the transmitter to the receiver for channel estimation, beam measurement, or channel sounding. In the embodiments of this application, the reference signal can be a channel state information reference signal (CSI RS) or other reference signals, such as a tracking reference signal (TRS).

[0132] 2. Semi-persistent reference signal

[0133] Semi-persistent reference signals refer to reference signals whose transmission period and offset can be configured by higher-layer signaling. However, the reference signal is initially inactive. If transmission is required, it must first be activated via signaling. Once activated, the reference signal is transmitted periodically based on the configured transmission period and offset. If transmission is no longer needed, it must be deactivated via signaling, and transmission of the reference signal ceases.

[0134] 3. Report Configuration (ReportConfig)

[0135] The report configuration is used to configure the reporting of measurement results for the reference signal. Specifically, it allows configuration of parameters related to the reported measurement results, such as the reporting type and the measured indicators. This report configuration includes a report configuration identifier (reportConfigId), which identifies the specific report configuration (ReportConfig).

[0136] The report configuration also includes an identifier (ResourceConfigId) for a reference signal resource configuration. This identifier identifies the reference signal resource configuration (ResourceConfig) used to configure the reference signal resources for measurement. The report configuration is associated with this reference signal resource configuration using the ResourceConfigId included in the report configuration.

[0137] The report configuration may include multiple reference signal resource configurations. If the reference signal configured in each reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal of the same candidate cell, then the report configuration may also include the candidate cell identifier corresponding to each reference signal resource configuration.

[0138] 4. Reference signal resource configuration (ResourceConfig)

[0139] The reference signal resource configuration is used to configure information related to the reference signal resources being measured. The reference signal resource configuration may include a reference signal resource configuration identifier (ResourceConfigId), which identifies the reference signal resource configuration. The following example illustrates how the reference signal resource configuration is used to configure the reference signal resources:

[0140] Method 1: The reference signal resource configuration is used to configure a reference signal resource set (ResourceSet), which includes one or more reference signal resources; or, the reference signal resource set includes a list of reference signal resources, which includes one or more reference signal resources. In this embodiment, the reference signals on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set configured by the reference signal resource configuration are collectively referred to as the reference signals configured by the reference signal resource configuration.

[0141] If the reference signal resources contained in the same reference signal resource set are reference signal resources of the same candidate cell, the reference signal resource configuration can also configure the candidate cells corresponding to each reference signal resource set.

[0142] Method 2: This reference signal resource configuration is used to configure reference signal resources; that is, the reference signal resource configuration directly configures the reference signal resources. Optionally, in this implementation, the reference signal resource configuration can also configure the candidate cells corresponding to each reference signal resource. In this embodiment, the reference signals on the reference signal resources configured in the reference signal resource configuration are collectively referred to as the reference signals configured by the reference signal resource configuration.

[0143] Method 3: This reference signal resource configuration is used to configure a reference signal resource list (ResourceList). The reference signal resource list includes one or more reference signal resources.

[0144] Optionally, in this implementation, the reference signal resource configuration may also configure candidate cells corresponding to each reference signal resource in the reference signal resource list. In this embodiment, the reference signals on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list in the reference signal resource configuration are collectively referred to as the reference signals configured by the reference signal resource configuration.

[0145] If the reference signal resources contained in the same reference signal resource list are reference signal resources of the same candidate cell, in this implementation, the reference signal resource configuration can also configure the candidate cells corresponding to each reference signal resource list.

[0146] 5. Reference Signal Resource Set

[0147] In one implementation, the reference signal resource set includes one or more reference signal resource lists (ResourceList), and each reference signal resource list includes at least one reference signal resource. Optionally, the reference signal resource set also includes identifiers of candidate cells where at least one reference signal resource in the reference signal resource list is located.

[0148] Understandably, if the reference signal resources contained in the same reference signal resource list are reference signal resources of the same candidate cell, the reference signal resource set can include the identifiers of the candidate cells corresponding to each reference signal resource list. For example, the reference signal resource set includes a candidate cell list, and the number of candidate cells included in the candidate cell list is equal to the number of reference signal resource lists included in the reference signal resource set, where the reference signal resources included in the i-th reference signal resource list are the reference signal resources of the i-th candidate cell. As another example, each reference signal resource list and the identifier of the candidate cell containing the reference signal resources in that reference signal resource list can exist in pairs, such as {(ResourceList1, cell1), (ResourceList2, cell1), (ResourceList3, cell2)}. The identifier of the candidate cell can also be included in the reference signal resource list, with one reference signal resource list including one candidate cell identifier.

[0149] The following example illustrates this by including the identifiers of the candidate cells where each reference signal resource is located within the reference signal resource set:

[0150] Example 1: The reference signal resource set also includes a candidate cell list, which includes the identifier of at least one candidate cell. The number of reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list is equal to the number of candidate cell identifiers included in the candidate cell list. The i-th reference signal resource in the reference signal resource list is the reference signal resource of the i-th candidate cell in the candidate cell list. For example, if the reference signal resource list is {SSB1, SSB2, SSB3} and the candidate cell list is {cell1, cell2}, it means that SSB1 and SSB2 are reference signals on the reference signal resources of candidate cell cell1, and SSB3 is a reference signal on the reference signal resources of candidate cell cell2.

[0151] Example 2: The reference signal resource set includes a reference signal resource list, which also includes identifiers of candidate cells. The identifier of a candidate cell corresponding to each reference signal resource in the reference signal resource list can exist in pairs with that reference signal resource. For example, the reference signal resource list is {(SSB1, cell1), (SSB2, cell1), (SSB3, cell2)}, indicating that SSB1 and SSB2 are reference signals on the reference signal resource of candidate cell cell1, and SSB3 is a reference signal on the reference signal resource of candidate cell cell2.

[0152] In another implementation, the reference signal resource set includes at least one reference signal resource. Optionally, the reference signal resource set also includes identifiers of candidate cells corresponding to each of the at least one reference signal resource. For example, the identifier of the candidate cell corresponding to each reference signal resource may exist in pairs with the reference signal resource in the reference signal resource set, for example, the reference signal resource set is {(SSB1, cell1), (SSB2, cell1), (SSB3, cell2)}.

[0153] 6. Reference Signal Resource List

[0154] In this embodiment of the application, the reference signal resource list includes at least one reference signal resource. Optionally, the reference signal resource list may further include the identifiers of the candidate cells where each reference signal resource is located.

[0155] It is understandable that if the reference signal resources contained in the same reference signal resource list are reference signal resources of the same candidate cell, the reference signal resource list may also include the identifier of a candidate cell.

[0156] 7. Beam Information

[0157] In a protocol, beams can be represented as spatial filters, or spatial parameters. The beam used to transmit signals can be called the transmission beam (Tx beam), or a spatial domain transmit filter or spatial domain transmit parameter; the beam used to receive signals can be called the reception beam (Rx beam), or a spatial domain receive filter or spatial domain receive parameter. The transmission beam refers to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted through the antenna, while the reception beam refers to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of the wireless signal received from the antenna.

[0158] It should be understood that the beamforming examples in the protocols listed above are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting this application. This application does not preclude the possibility of defining other terms in future protocols to represent the same or similar meanings.

[0159] A beam typically corresponds to a reference signal resource. For example, during beam measurement, different beams are measured using different reference signal resources. The terminal device provides feedback on the quality of the reference signal on the measured reference signal resource, allowing the network device to determine the quality of the corresponding beam. Each beam corresponds to a reference signal resource, therefore, the beam corresponding to that reference signal resource can be uniquely identified using its index.

[0160] In this embodiment, the beam information can be one of the following: beam identification information, spatial relation information, spatial domain transmission filter information, spatial domain reception filter information, spatial domain filter information, transmission configuration indication state (TCI state) information, quasi-co-location (QCL) information, QCL parameters, etc. Downlink beam information is typically represented using either TCI state information or QCL information. Uplink beam information is typically represented using either TCI state information or spatial relation information.

[0161] 8. Time Unit

[0162] Network devices and terminal devices communicate at a time unit granularity, or network devices schedule time-domain resources for terminal devices at a time unit granularity / unit. For example, a time unit can be a radio frame, subframe, slot, mini-slot, or symbol. For instance, a symbol can be an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol.

[0163] Please refer to Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a reference signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 2 As shown, the reference signal transmission method of this embodiment includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0164] 201. The network device sends the first message. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message.

[0165] The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, which is a semipersistent (SP) reference signal of the candidate cell. For example, the first message can be a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) or other signaling; this application does not limit the specific signaling.

[0166] The network device sends a first message in the serving cell. This first message can activate or deactivate reference signals of one or more candidate cells. The number of reference signals activated or deactivated for a candidate cell can be one or more. A candidate cell can be a neighboring cell of the serving cell.

[0167] When a reference signal is activated, the candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is also activated, and the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated.

[0168] If a candidate cell is activated, the terminal device will perform LTM measurements and report on the activated candidate cell. Specifically, the terminal device will measure the reference signal of the activated candidate cell. It can be understood that the reference signal measured by the terminal device is the reference signal configured for that terminal device. The reference signal of the activated candidate cell can include at least one of the following: a periodic reference signal, a semi-persistent reference signal, or an aperiodic reference signal. For the periodic reference signal of the activated candidate cell, the terminal device can begin measuring the periodic reference signal after receiving the configuration information for the periodic reference signal. For the semi-persistent reference signal of the activated candidate cell, the terminal device can begin measuring the semi-persistent reference signal after receiving the configuration information for the semi-persistent reference signal and the signaling for activating the semi-persistent reference signal. For the aperiodic reference signal of the activated candidate cell, the terminal device can begin measuring the aperiodic reference signal after receiving the configuration information for the aperiodic reference signal and the signaling for triggering the aperiodic reference signal.

[0169] If a candidate cell is deactivated, the terminal device will not perform LTM measurements and report on the deactivated candidate cell. Specifically, the terminal device will not measure the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell; that is, the terminal device will not measure the periodic reference signal, semi-persistent reference signal, or aperiodic reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell. Deactivating the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal during the deactivation process reduces the number of candidate cells measured and reduces measurement overhead.

[0170] The activation or deactivation reference signal can be a reference signal used by the terminal device to measure the beam quality of a candidate cell. Specifically, a reference signal resource of a candidate cell can correspond to a beam, and the beam quality of the beam corresponding to that reference signal resource can be obtained by measuring the signal quality of the reference signal on the reference signal resource.

[0171] The activated or deactivated reference signal can be a reference signal used by the terminal equipment to measure channel state information (CSI). CSI may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI), and Rank Indication (RI). The channel state information corresponding to a reference signal resource can be obtained by measuring the activated reference signal on that reference signal resource.

[0172] 202. The terminal device measures the activated reference signal according to the first message, or stops measuring the deactivated reference signal according to the first message.

[0173] If the first message is a reference signal used to activate a candidate cell, the terminal device receives the activated reference signal and measures its signal quality. For example, it can measure at least one of the following: reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), reference signal receiving power (RSRP), or signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR). The measurement results of the reference signal can be reported to the network device via semi-persistent or aperiodic reporting.

[0174] In some embodiments, the measurement results reported by the terminal device may include the beam identifier, beam quality, and identifier of the candidate cell where the reference signal that meets the reporting conditions is located, corresponding to the reference signal that meets the reporting conditions. The reporting conditions may, for example, include: a reference signal whose measurement result is greater than or equal to a measurement result threshold.

[0175] In some embodiments, the network device can be configured to report the number of candidate cells L and the number of beams M that each candidate cell needs to report. The measurement results reported by the terminal device may include the identifiers of the L candidate cells, as well as the beam identifiers and beam quality of the M beams of each candidate cell. The M beams may be the M beams with the best beam quality among all the beams of the candidate cell.

[0176] If the first message is a reference signal used to deactivate candidate cells, the terminal device stops receiving the deactivated reference signal, and of course, the terminal device also stops measuring the deactivated reference signal.

[0177] In this embodiment of the application, the network device that sends the first message and the network device that sends the reference signal may be the same or different. Examples are given below:

[0178] If the network device sending the first message is the same as the network device sending the reference signal, meaning the candidate cell and the serving cell are cells under the same network device, then after sending the first message to activate the reference signal, the network device will send the activated reference signal. After sending the first message to deactivate the reference signal, the network device will stop sending the deactivated reference signal.

[0179] If the network device sending the first message is different from the network device sending the reference signal (i.e., the candidate cell and the serving cell are cells under different network devices), for ease of description, the network device sending the first message will be referred to as the first network device, and the network device sending the reference signal will be referred to as the second network device. If the first network device sends a first message to activate the reference signal, it will notify the second network device to send the activated reference signal. If the first network device sends a first message to deactivate the reference signal, it will notify the second network device to stop sending the deactivated reference signal.

[0180] In some implementations, if the network device is configured with a synchronization reference signal associated with the aforementioned activated reference signal, the terminal device needs to measure the aforementioned activated reference signal associated with that synchronization reference signal only after the synchronization reference signal has already been measured. The reference signal used for synchronization measurement may be a Synchronization Signal and PBCH block (SSB).

[0181] The following example illustrates how to determine a reference signal that needs to be activated or deactivated. For instance, the first message may include first indication information, which can be used to determine whether a reference signal is activated or deactivated.

[0182] The first instruction message may indicate at least one of the following 1-8:

[0183] 1. Report configuration identifier

[0184] The identifier for the report configuration can be, for example, the LTM report config ID. This report configuration is used to configure the reporting of measurement results for the reference signal. For a description of this report configuration, please refer to the relevant description in point 1 of the glossary. This report configuration is associated with the reference signal resource configuration. For example, the report configuration includes the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, thereby establishing the association between the report configuration and the reference signal resource configuration.

[0185] If the indication information indicates the identifier of the report configuration, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the report configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration.

[0186] 2. Identifier of the candidate cell set or the candidate cell list

[0187] A set of candidate cells or a list of candidate cells may include one or more candidate cells.

[0188] In this embodiment of the application, if the first indication information indicates the identifier of the candidate cell set, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal of the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set. For example, if the first indication information indicates candidate cell set 1, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal of the candidate cells included in candidate cell set 1. If candidate cell set 1 includes candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 3, then the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal of candidate cell 1 and the reference signal of candidate cell 3.

[0189] If the first indication information indicates the identifier of the candidate cell list, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell list is the reference signal of the candidate cells included in the candidate cell list.

[0190] 3. Identification of candidate communities

[0191] The first indication information can indicate the identifiers of one or more candidate cells.

[0192] If the first indication information indicates the identifier of a candidate cell, then the activation or deactivation reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal of the candidate cell corresponding to that identifier. For example, if the first indication information indicates candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 5, then the activation or deactivation reference signal is the reference signal of candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 5.

[0193] 4. Identification of reference signal resource configuration

[0194] For a description of the reference signal resource configuration, please refer to point 4 in the terminology explanation. The reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration can be one of the following: a reference signal on a reference signal resource included in the set of reference signal resources configured in the reference signal resource configuration, a reference signal on a reference signal resource configured in the reference signal resource configuration, or a reference signal on a reference signal resource included in the list of reference signal resources configured in the reference signal resource configuration.

[0195] If the first indication information indicates an identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, then the reference signal for which the transmission is triggered, determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, is the reference signal configured by that reference signal resource configuration.

[0196] 5. Identifier of the reference signal resource set

[0197] For a description of the reference signal resource set, please refer to point 5 of the terminology explanation.

[0198] If the reference signal resource set includes one or more reference signal resource lists (ResourceList), and each reference signal resource list includes at least one reference signal resource, then the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set are the reference signal resources contained in the reference signal resource lists included in the reference signal resource set.

[0199] If the first indication information indicates the identifier of the reference signal resource set, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resource included in the reference signal resource set.

[0200] 6. Identifier of the reference signal resource list

[0201] For a description of the reference signal resource list, please refer to point 6 of the terminology explanation. A reference signal resource list may include one or more reference signal resources.

[0202] If the first indication information indicates the identifier of the reference signal resource list, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is the reference signal on the reference signal resource included in the reference signal resource list.

[0203] 7. Identification of the reference signal resource where the reference signal is located

[0204] The indication information can indicate the identifier of one or more reference signal resources.

[0205] If the indication information indicates the identifier of the reference signal resource, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal on that reference signal resource.

[0206] 8. Signage for the service area

[0207] The number of serving cells can be one or more, and correspondingly, the first indication information can indicate the identifiers of one or more serving cells. In scenarios where the serving cells are configured for carrier aggregation, the number of serving cells can be multiple, for example, multiple serving cells may include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell. For example, the first indication information can indicate the identifier of the primary cell and the identifiers of one or more secondary cells, or the first indication information can indicate the identifiers of one or more secondary cells, or the first indication information can indicate the identifier of the primary cell.

[0208] If the first indication information indicates the identifier of the serving cell, then the activated or deactivated reference signal determined based on the identifier of the serving cell may be the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration associated with the reporting configuration of the serving cell, or the activated or deactivated reference signal may be the reference signal of the candidate cell (also referred to as the neighboring cell) of the at least one serving cell.

[0209] The first instruction information can indicate one or more of the above 1-8. The following are examples of the first instruction information indicating multiple of the above 1-8:

[0210] Example 1: The first indication information indicates 1 and 3, that is, the first indication information indicates the identifier configured in the report and the identifier of the candidate cell.

[0211] Taking the identifier of the first report configuration and the identifier of the first candidate cell as an example, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal on the reference signal resource of the first candidate cell. The reference signal resource of the first candidate cell is the reference signal resource of the first candidate cell configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the first report configuration.

[0212] Example 2: The first indication information indicates 1 and 5, that is, the first indication information indicates the identifier of the configuration of the report and the identifier of the reference signal resource set.

[0213] Taking the identifier of the first report configuration and the identifier of the first reference signal resource set as an example, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal on the reference signal resource included in the first reference signal resource set. The first reference signal resource set is the reference signal resource set configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the first report configuration. The reference signal resource configuration can configure one or more reference signal resource sets.

[0214] Example 3: The first indication information indicates 1 and 6, that is, the first indication information indicates the identifier of the report configuration and the identifier of the reference signal resource list.

[0215] Taking the identifier of the first report configuration and the identifier of the first reference signal resource list as an example, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal on the reference signal resource included in the first reference signal resource list. The first reference signal resource list is the reference signal resource list configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the first report configuration. The reference signal resource configuration can configure one or more reference signal resource lists.

[0216] Example 4: The first indication information indicates 1 and 7, that is, the first indication information indicates the identifier of the report configuration and the identifier of the reference signal resource.

[0217] Taking the identifier of the first report configuration and the identifier of the first reference signal resource as an example, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal on the first reference signal resource, which is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the first report configuration.

[0218] Example 5: The first indication information indicates 3 and 5, that is, the first indication information indicates the identifier of the candidate cell and the identifier of the reference signal resource set.

[0219] Taking the identifier of the first candidate cell and the identifier of the first reference signal resource set as an example, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal on the reference signal resource included in the first reference signal resource set. The first reference signal resource set is the reference signal resource set of the first candidate cell. One candidate cell may correspond to one or more reference signal resource sets.

[0220] Example 6: The first indication information indicates 3 and 7, that is, the first indication information indicates the identifier of the candidate cell and the identifier of the reference signal resource.

[0221] Taking the first indication information indicating the identifier of the first candidate cell and the identifier of the first reference signal resource as an example, the activated or deactivated reference signal is the reference signal on the first reference signal resource, which is configured in the reference signal resource of the first candidate cell.

[0222] Example 7: The first instruction information indicates 8 and 3, that is, the first instruction information indicates the identifier of the serving cell and the identifier of the candidate cell.

[0223] Taking the identifier of the serving cell and the identifier of the first candidate cell as an example, the reference signal that is activated or deactivated is the reference signal of the first candidate cell among at least one candidate cell of the serving cell.

[0224] The combinations of Examples 1-7 above are merely examples; other combinations are also possible, and this application does not limit them.

[0225] The first indication information in the first message can be used to determine which reference signal needs to be activated or deactivated. The first message may also include second indication information, which indicates the beam information corresponding to the activated reference signal. For example, the second indication information may indicate the TCI status flag corresponding to the activated reference signal. If there are multiple activated reference signals, the second indication information needs to indicate the TCI status flag corresponding to each of the multiple activated reference signals.

[0226] The TCI status identifier corresponding to each activated reference signal can be the TCI status identifier configured in the configuration information of the candidate cell where the reference signal is located. For example, it can be one of the TCI status identifiers in ltm-DL-OrJointTCI-StateToAddModList or ltm-UL-TCI-StatesToAddModList in the configuration information of the candidate cell.

[0227] The following example illustrates how a first message indicates that a reference signal is activated or deactivated. For instance, the first message may include at least one indication field, which can be used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated. The following example illustrates how an indication field indicates whether a reference signal is activated or deactivated:

[0228] Method 1: The first message includes an indicator field.

[0229] The first message includes an indication field, which can be understood as being shared by all reference signals determined according to the first indication information. If the indication field includes a first identifier, then the indication field indicates that the reference signal is activated, that is, all reference signals determined according to the first indication information are activated. If the indication field includes a second identifier, then the indication field indicates that the reference signal is deactivated, that is, all reference signals determined according to the first indication information are deactivated. The first identifier can be 1 and the second identifier can be 0, or the first identifier can be 0 and the second identifier can be 1.

[0230] Method 2: The first message includes multiple instruction fields.

[0231] The following example illustrates how the multiple indicator fields indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated:

[0232] Example 1: One indication field indicates whether the reference signal of a candidate cell is activated or deactivated, and multiple indication fields indicate whether the reference signal of different candidate cells is activated or deactivated.

[0233] Specifically, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells. Each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the candidate cells is activated or deactivated. For example, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals of three candidate cells, namely cell1, cell2, and cell3. The first message may include three indication fields: indication field 1, indication field 2, and indication field 3. Indication field 1 can be used to indicate whether the reference signal of cell1 is activated or deactivated. Indication field 2 can be used to indicate whether the reference signal of cell2 is activated or deactivated. Indication field 3 can be used to indicate whether the reference signal of cell3 is activated or deactivated.

[0234] In Example 1, if the indication field includes a first identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal of the corresponding candidate cell is activated; if the indication field includes a second identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal of the corresponding candidate cell is deactivated. The first identifier can be 1 and the second identifier can be 0, or the first identifier can be 0 and the second identifier can be 1.

[0235] Example 2: One indication field indicates whether a reference signal configured in a reference signal resource configuration is activated or deactivated, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether a reference signal configured in a different reference signal resource configuration is activated or deactivated.

[0236] Specifically, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals configured in multiple reference signal resource configurations. Each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether a reference signal configured in one of the multiple reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated. For example, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals configured in two reference signal resource configurations, namely reference signal resource configuration 1 and reference signal resource configuration 2. The first message may include two indication fields, namely indication field 1 and indication field 2. Indication field 1 can indicate whether the reference signal configured in reference signal resource configuration 1 is activated or deactivated. Indication field 2 can indicate whether the reference signal configured in reference signal resource configuration 2 is activated or deactivated.

[0237] In Example 1, if the indication field includes a first identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal configured in the corresponding reference signal resource configuration is activated; if the indication field includes a second identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal configured in the corresponding reference signal resource configuration is deactivated. The first identifier can be 1 and the second identifier can be 0, or the first identifier can be 0 and the second identifier can be 1.

[0238] Example 3: One indication field indicates whether a reference signal in a reference signal resource set is activated or deactivated, and multiple indication fields each indicate whether a reference signal in a different reference signal resource set is activated or deactivated.

[0239] Specifically, the first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets. Each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated. For example, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals configured in two reference signal resource sets, namely reference signal resource set 1 and reference signal resource set 2. The first message may include two indication fields, namely indication field 1 and indication field 2. Indication field 1 indicates that a reference signal in reference signal resource set 1 is activated or deactivated. Indication field 2 indicates that a reference signal in reference signal resource set 2 is activated or deactivated.

[0240] In Example 3, if the indication field includes a first identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal included in the corresponding reference signal resource set is activated; if the indication field includes a second identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal included in the corresponding reference signal resource set is deactivated. The first identifier can be 1 and the second identifier can be 0, or the first identifier can be 0 and the second identifier can be 1.

[0241] Example 4: One indication field indicates whether a reference signal on a reference signal resource is activated or deactivated, and multiple indication fields indicate whether reference signals on different reference signal resources are activated or deactivated.

[0242] Specifically, the first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources. Each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated. For example, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals on two reference signal resources, namely reference signal resource 1 and reference signal resource 2. The first message may include two indication fields, namely indication field 1 and indication field 2. Indication field 1 indicates that a reference signal on reference signal resource 1 is activated or deactivated. Indication field 2 indicates that a reference signal on reference signal resource 2 is activated or deactivated.

[0243] In Example 4, if the indication field includes a first identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal on the corresponding reference signal resource is activated; if the indication field includes a second identifier, the indication field indicates that the reference signal on the corresponding set of reference signal resources is deactivated. The first identifier can be 1 and the second identifier can be 0, or the first identifier can be 0 and the second identifier can be 1.

[0244] In various examples of Method 2 above, the first message may include multiple indication fields. The identifiers included in the multiple indication fields may be the same, or the identifiers included in the multiple indication fields may be different, which can realize more flexible indication of reference signal activation or deactivation.

[0245] If multiple indicator fields include different identifiers, meaning the first message can activate some reference signals and deactivate others. For example, the first message might include T indicator fields, where T is a natural number greater than 1. Of these T fields, Y fields each include a first identifier, and TY fields each include a second identifier, where Y is a natural number greater than or equal to 1. The following examples (Examples 1-4) illustrate the indication method for T indicator fields:

[0246] If an indicator field indicates that the reference signal of a candidate cell is activated or deactivated (i.e., Example 1 above), then Y of the T indicator fields can indicate that the reference signals of different candidate cells among the Y candidate cells are activated. TY of the T indicator fields can indicate that the reference signals of different candidate cells among the TY candidate cells are deactivated. Taking T=2 and Y=1 as an example, TY=1 means that one of the two indicator fields is used to indicate that the reference signal of one candidate cell is activated, and the other of the two indicator fields is used to indicate that the reference signal of another candidate cell is deactivated.

[0247] If an indicator field indicates that a reference signal configured in a reference signal resource configuration is activated or deactivated (i.e., Example 2 above), then Y of the T indicator fields can indicate that reference signals configured in different reference signal resource configurations of the Y reference signal resource configurations are activated. TY of the T indicator fields can indicate that reference signals configured in different reference signal resource configurations of the TY reference signal resource configurations are deactivated. Taking T=2, Y=1 as an example, TY=1 means that one of the two indicator fields is used to indicate that a reference signal configured in one reference signal resource configuration is activated, and the other of the two indicator fields indicates that a reference signal configured in another reference signal resource configuration is deactivated.

[0248] If an indicator field indicates that a reference signal in a reference signal resource set is activated or deactivated (i.e., Example 3 above), then Y of the T indicator fields can indicate that reference signals in different reference signal resource sets within the Y reference signal resource sets are activated. TY of the T indicator fields can indicate that reference signals in different reference signal resource sets within the TY reference signal resource sets are deactivated. Taking T=2 and Y=1 as an example, TY=1 means that one of the two indicator fields is used to indicate that a reference signal in one reference signal resource set is activated, and the other of the two indicator fields indicates that a reference signal in another reference signal resource set is deactivated.

[0249] If an indicator field indicates that a reference signal on a reference signal resource is activated or deactivated (i.e., Example 4 above), then Y of the T indicator fields can indicate that reference signals on different reference signal resources among the Y reference signal resources are activated. TY of the T indicator fields can indicate that reference signals on different reference signal resources among the TY reference signal resources are deactivated. Taking T=2, Y=1 as an example, TY=1 means that one of the two indicator fields is used to indicate that a reference signal on one reference signal resource is activated, and the other of the two indicator fields indicates that a reference signal on another reference signal resource is deactivated.

[0250] The effective time unit for activating or deactivating the reference signal is described below.

[0251] If a reference signal is activated, the effective time unit can be understood as the time unit at which the activated reference signal begins transmission. For example, for a network device, the effective time unit is the time unit at which the transmission of the activated reference signal begins; for a terminal device, the effective time unit is the time unit at which the reception or measurement of the activated reference signal begins.

[0252] If the reference signal is deactivated, the effective time unit can be understood as the time unit during which the deactivated reference signal begins to stop transmitting. For example, for a network device, the effective time unit is the time unit during which the transmission of the deactivated reference signal begins to stop; for a terminal device, the effective time unit is the time unit during which the measurement of the deactivated reference signal begins to stop.

[0253] In this embodiment, the first message can be used to activate or deactivate reference signals of at least one candidate cell. Subsequent embodiments use the first message to activate or deactivate reference signals of W candidate cells as an example, where W is a natural number. The number of reference signals activated or deactivated for each candidate cell can be one or more. For ease of description, the following will use the effective time unit of activation or deactivation of a single reference signal as an example. This single reference signal can be called the first reference signal, and the candidate cell containing the first reference signal is called the first candidate cell. The first candidate cell is one of the W candidate cells. It is understood that the method for determining the effective time unit of activation or deactivation of other reference signals can refer to the method for determining the effective time unit of the first reference signal.

[0254] The effective time unit of the first reference signal is the first time unit after the first time unit. That is, if the first reference signal is activated, it will start transmitting from the first time unit after the first time unit; if the first reference signal is deactivated, it will stop transmitting from the first time unit after the first time unit.

[0255] The first time unit is defined as the time unit offset by X time units after the second time unit. The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-ACK (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the first message. For example, the index value of the first time unit is n+X, where n is the index value of the second time unit, and X is greater than 0. The following section combines... Figure 3 For example, if X = 5, the first time unit is the time unit determined by offsetting 5 time units after the second time unit. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram showing the locations of the first and second time units. If the second time unit is time slot 2, then the first time unit is time slot 7.

[0256] The value of X can be determined based on the first subcarrier spacing, which is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of W candidate cells and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell.

[0257] In some embodiments, the value of X can be determined based on the value of N, which is determined based on the first subcarrier interval. The value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe. For example, if the time unit is a time slot, then the value of N is the number of time slots contained in a subframe.

[0258] The following example illustrates how the first subcarrier spacing can be determined. The first subcarrier spacing can be one of the following:

[0259] 1. The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell.

[0260] In other words, the value of N is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the candidate cell where the first reference signal is located.

[0261] Second, the first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the W candidate cells.

[0262] If W = 1, meaning the number of candidate cells is 1, then the first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of that candidate cell. If W is greater than 1, meaning the number of candidate cells is multiple, then the first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the multiple candidate cell subcarrier spacings. If multiple candidate cells have the same subcarrier spacing, then the first subcarrier spacing is that same subcarrier spacing.

[0263] Third, the first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the W candidate cells.

[0264] If W = 1, meaning the number of candidate cells is 1, then the first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of that candidate cell. If W is greater than 1, meaning the number of candidate cells is multiple, then the first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the multiple candidate cell subcarrier spacings. If multiple candidate cells have the same subcarrier spacing, then the first subcarrier spacing is that same subcarrier spacing.

[0265] IV. The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell.

[0266] V. The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the W candidate cells and the serving cell.

[0267] In other words, the minimum subcarrier spacing is determined from the subcarrier spacings of the W candidate cells and the serving cell as the first subcarrier spacing.

[0268] VI. The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the W candidate cells and the serving cell.

[0269] In other words, the largest subcarrier spacing is determined from the subcarrier spacings of the W candidate cells and the serving cell as the first subcarrier spacing.

[0270] VII. The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell and the serving cell.

[0271] In other words, the larger subcarrier interval is determined from the subcarrier interval of the first candidate cell where the first reference signal is located and the subcarrier interval of the serving cell as the first subcarrier interval.

[0272] 8. The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell.

[0273] In other words, the smaller subcarrier interval is determined as the first subcarrier interval from the subcarrier interval of the first candidate cell where the first reference signal is located and the subcarrier interval of the serving cell.

[0274] Since the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first message is the reference signal of the candidate cell, and the first message is transmitted in the serving cell, in order to ensure that the terminal device has enough time to switch and adjust the radio frequency parameters to measure the reference signal of the candidate cell, and / or that the network devices have enough time to exchange information, this application embodiment illustrates the method of determining the value of X based on the value of N:

[0275] In method 1, the value of X is determined based on the value of N and the amplification factor.

[0276] This magnification factor indicates the magnification factor for the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3. In other words, the value of X is determined based on the magnification factor multiplied by N. For example, if the magnification factor is 5, then the value of X is determined based on the value of 5 * N.

[0277] In method 2, the value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value.

[0278] This increment value is a predefined number or the number of additional time units required by the network configuration. For example, the value of X is determined based on (3*N + increment value).

[0279] It is understandable that determination method 1 and determination method 2 can be used alone or in combination. For example, determination method 1 and determination method 2 can be used together to determine the value of X. X can be determined based on (magnification factor * N + increment value), where the magnification factor is greater than 3.

[0280] In this embodiment of the application, the first message is carried in one or more bytes. The first message may also include one or more information indication fields, where each information indication field corresponds to one byte. The information indication field is used to indicate whether the corresponding byte contains content that needs to be parsed. For example, one byte is used to carry the identifier of a reference signal resource set, and the information indication field corresponding to this byte is used to indicate whether the byte carries the identifier of the reference signal resource set.

[0281] Please see Figure 4 , Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device is applied to a terminal device. For example, the communication device can be a terminal device or a device within the terminal device, such as a chip or chip module within the terminal device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the terminal device. Figure 4 The communication device 1100 shown may include a receiving unit 1110 and a measuring unit 1120:

[0282] The receiving unit 1110 is used to receive a first message, the first message being used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, the reference signal being a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell;

[0283] The measurement unit 1120 is also configured to measure the activated reference signal according to the first message, or to stop measuring the deactivated reference signal according to the first message.

[0284] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, which is used to determine the reference signal for activation or deactivation.

[0285] In one possible implementation, the first indication information indicates at least one of the following: an identifier of the report configuration, an identifier of the candidate cell set, an identifier of the candidate cell, an identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, an identifier of the reference signal resource set, an identifier of the reference signal resource list, or an identifier of the reference signal resource.

[0286] The reference signal determined based on the identifier in the report configuration is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration, and the report configuration is used to configure the reporting of the measurement results of the reference signal;

[0287] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal configured in the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set;

[0288] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal configured in the candidate cell;

[0289] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration;

[0290] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set;

[0291] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is a reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list;

[0292] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal carried by the reference signal resource.

[0293] In one possible implementation, the first message includes second indication information, which indicates the TCI status identifier corresponding to the activated reference signal.

[0294] In one possible implementation, the first message further includes at least one indication field, which is used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated.

[0295] In one possible implementation, the number of the indicator fields is multiple;

[0296] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the multiple candidate cells is activated or deactivated; or,

[0297] The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal configured in a plurality of reference signal resource configurations, and each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal configured in one of the plurality of reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated; or,

[0298] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets, wherein each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated; or,

[0299] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated.

[0300] In one possible implementation, the candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is activated, wherein the reference signal of the activated candidate cell is measured by the terminal device.

[0301] Alternatively, the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated, wherein the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell is not measured by the terminal device.

[0302] The terminal device is the device that receives the first message.

[0303] In one possible implementation, the first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal of at least one candidate cell, the at least one candidate cell including a first candidate cell, and the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first candidate cell including a first reference signal.

[0304] The measurement unit 1120 is specifically configured to measure the activated first reference signal starting from the first time unit after the first time unit according to the first message, or to stop measuring the deactivated first reference signal starting from the first time unit after the first time unit according to the first message.

[0305] Wherein, the first time unit is a time unit determined by offsetting X time units after the second time unit, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the first subcarrier interval is determined based on the subcarrier interval of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier interval of the serving cell, and the value of X is greater than 0;

[0306] The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first message.

[0307] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, including:

[0308] The value of X is determined based on the value of N, the value of N is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe, a subframe includes at least one time unit, and the value of N is greater than 0.

[0309] In one possible implementation, the first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell, including:

[0310] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell; or,

[0311] The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0312] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0313] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0314] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0315] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0316] The first subcarrier spacing is the maximum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing; or,

[0317] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing.

[0318] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0319] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the magnification factor, where the magnification factor indicates the magnification factor of the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3.

[0320] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0321] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value, where the increment value is a predefined number of time units that need to be added according to network configuration.

[0322] about Figure 4 For a detailed description, please refer to the description of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0323] Please refer to Figure 5 The communication device is applied to a network device. For example, the communication device can be a network device or a device in the network device, such as a chip or chip module in the network device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the network device. Figure 5 The communication device 1200 shown may include a transmitting unit 1210, wherein:

[0324] The sending unit 1210 is used to send a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell.

[0325] In one possible implementation, the first message includes first indication information, which is used to determine the reference signal for activation or deactivation.

[0326] In one possible implementation, the first indication information indicates at least one of the following: an identifier of the report configuration, an identifier of the candidate cell set, an identifier of the candidate cell, an identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, an identifier of the reference signal resource set, an identifier of the reference signal resource list, or an identifier of the reference signal resource.

[0327] The reference signal determined based on the identifier in the report configuration is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration, and the report configuration is used to configure the reporting of the measurement results of the reference signal;

[0328] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal configured in the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set;

[0329] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal configured in the candidate cell;

[0330] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration;

[0331] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set;

[0332] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is a reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list;

[0333] The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal carried by the reference signal resource.

[0334] In one possible implementation, the first message includes second indication information, which indicates the TCI status identifier corresponding to the activated reference signal.

[0335] In one possible implementation, the first message further includes at least one indication field, which is used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated.

[0336] In one possible implementation, the number of the indicator fields is multiple;

[0337] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the multiple candidate cells is activated or deactivated; or,

[0338] The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal configured in a plurality of reference signal resource configurations, and each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal configured in one of the plurality of reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated; or,

[0339] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets, wherein each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated; or,

[0340] The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated.

[0341] In one possible implementation, the candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is activated, wherein the reference signal of the activated candidate cell is measured by the terminal device.

[0342] Alternatively, the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated, wherein the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell is not measured by the terminal device.

[0343] The terminal device is the device that receives the first message.

[0344] In one possible implementation, the first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal of at least one candidate cell, the at least one candidate cell including a first candidate cell, and the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first candidate cell including a first reference signal.

[0345] The transmitting unit 1210 is further configured to transmit the activated first reference signal starting from the first time unit after the first time unit, or to stop transmitting the deactivated first reference signal starting from the first time unit after the first time unit.

[0346] Wherein, the first time unit is a time unit determined by offsetting X time units after the second time unit, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the first subcarrier interval is determined based on the subcarrier interval of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier interval of the serving cell, and the value of X is greater than 0;

[0347] The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first message.

[0348] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, including:

[0349] The value of X is determined based on the value of N, the value of N is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe, a subframe includes at least one time unit, and the value of N is greater than 0.

[0350] In one possible implementation, the first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell, including:

[0351] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell; or,

[0352] The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0353] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or,

[0354] The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0355] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0356] The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or,

[0357] The first subcarrier spacing is the maximum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing; or,

[0358] The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing.

[0359] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0360] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the magnification factor, where the magnification factor indicates the magnification factor of the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3.

[0361] In one possible implementation, the value of X is determined based on the value of N, including:

[0362] The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value, where the increment value is a predefined number of time units that need to be added according to network configuration.

[0363] about Figure 5 For a detailed description, please refer to the description of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0364] Please see Figure 6 , Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application, used to implement the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments, or to implement the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The communication device 1300 can be a network device or a device for a network device. The device for a network device can be a chip system or a chip within the network device. The communication device can also be a terminal device or a device for a terminal device. The device for a terminal device can be a chip system or a chip within the terminal device. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete components.

[0365] The communication device 1300 includes at least one processor 1320 for implementing the data processing functions of the network device or terminal device in the method provided in this application embodiment. The communication device 1300 may also include a communication interface 1310 for implementing the transmit and receive operations of the network device or terminal device in the method provided in this application embodiment. In this application embodiment, the processor 1320 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. In this application embodiment, the communication interface 1310 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 1310 enables the communication device 1300 to communicate with other devices. The processor 1320 uses the communication interface 1310 to send and receive data, and is used to implement the method described in the above method embodiments.

[0366] The communication device 1300 may further include at least one memory 1330 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1330 is coupled to the processor 1320. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1320 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1330. The processor 1320 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1330. At least one of the at least one memories may be included in the processor.

[0367] When the communication device 1300 is powered on, the processor 1320 can read the software program in the memory 1330, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When it is necessary to transmit data wirelessly, the processor 1320 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. Figure 6 (Not shown) The radio frequency (RF) circuit processes the baseband signal and then transmits the RF signal outward as electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device 1300, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts the RF signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1320. The processor 1320 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0368] In another implementation, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna can be set up independently of the processor 1320 that performs baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna can be arranged remotely, independent of the device.

[0369] This application embodiment does not limit the specific connection medium between the communication interface 1310, processor 1320, and memory 1330. This application embodiment... Figure 6 The memory 1330, processor 1320, and communication interface 1310 are connected via a bus 1340. Figure 6 The connections between other components are shown in bold and are for illustrative purposes only, not as limiting information. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 6 The bus is represented by a single thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0370] When the communication device 1300 is specifically used in network equipment, such as when the communication device 1300 is specifically a chip or chip system, the communication interface 1310 can output or receive baseband signals. When the communication device 1300 is specifically a terminal device, the communication interface 1310 can output or receive radio frequency signals.

[0371] It should be noted that the device can perform the relevant steps of the network device or terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, please refer to the implementation methods provided in the above steps, which will not be repeated here.

[0372] For each device or product applied to or integrated into a device, each of its modules can be implemented using hardware such as circuits. Different modules can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components within a network node. Alternatively, at least some modules can be implemented using software programs that run on a processor integrated within the network device or terminal device. The remaining (if any) modules can be implemented using hardware such as circuits.

[0373] The aforementioned memory can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which serves as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0374] This application provides a chip. The chip includes a processor, and optionally, a memory. The number of processors and the number of memories can be one or more. The processor can execute the methods shown in the above-described method embodiments and the steps performed in related implementations by reading instructions and data stored in the memory.

[0375] like Figure 7 As shown, Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a module device provided in an embodiment of this application. The module device 1400 can perform the relevant steps of the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments, or the module device 1400 can perform the relevant steps of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0376] The module device 1400 includes a communication module 1410, a power module 1420, a storage module 1430, and a chip module 1440. The power module 1420 provides power to the module device; the storage module 1430 stores data and / or instructions; the communication module 1410 communicates with external devices; and the chip module 1440 retrieves the data and / or instructions stored in the storage module 1430. Combined with the communication module 1410, the method described in the above embodiments and the steps performed in related implementations can be executed.

[0377] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, which includes program instructions. When an electronic device executes the program instructions, it implements the steps performed by the network device in the method described in the above method embodiments, or implements the steps performed by the terminal device in the method described in the above method embodiments.

[0378] The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the network device or terminal device described in any of the foregoing embodiments, such as a hard disk or memory. The computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the network device or terminal device, such as a plug-in hard disk, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, etc., equipped on the device. Further, the computer-readable storage medium can include both internal and external storage units of the network device or terminal device. The computer-readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the network device or terminal device. The computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more sets of available media. The available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or semiconductor media. Semiconductor media can be solid-state drives (SSDs).

[0379] Regarding the modules / units included in the various devices and products described in the above embodiments, they can be software modules / units, hardware modules / units, or a combination of both. For example, for devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, all modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits, or at least some modules / units can be implemented using software programs that run on a processor integrated within the chip, while the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. For devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, all modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. Different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. The implementation can be done through software programs running on a processor integrated within the chip module. The remaining modules / units (if any) can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. For various devices and products applied to or integrated into data acquisition nodes, each module / unit can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. Different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components within the terminal device. Alternatively, at least some modules / units can be implemented through software programs running on a processor integrated within the data acquisition node, while the remaining modules / units (if any) can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits.

[0380] The above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by software, hardware, firmware, or any other combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means.

[0381] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0382] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, apparatuses, and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units is merely a logical functional division, and other division methods may exist in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0383] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0384] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be physically comprised separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit described above can be implemented in hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0385] The integrated unit implemented as a software functional unit described above can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. This software functional unit, stored in a storage medium, includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a gateway node, etc.) to execute some steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0386] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes in the above embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above methods. The storage medium can be a magnetic disk, optical disk, read-only memory (ROM), or random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0387] The above-disclosed embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of this application and should not be construed as limiting the scope of this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes for implementing the above embodiments and equivalent variations made in accordance with the claims of this application are still within the scope of this application.

Claims

1. A reference signal transmission method, characterized in that, include: Receive a first message, the first message being used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, the reference signal being a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell; The activated reference signal is measured according to the first message, or the deactivated reference signal is stopped according to the first message.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first message includes first indication information, which is used to determine the reference signal for activation or deactivation.

3. The method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The first indication information indicates at least one of the following: the identifier of the report configuration, the identifier of the candidate cell set, the identifier of the candidate cell, the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, the identifier of the reference signal resource set, the identifier of the reference signal resource list, or the identifier of the reference signal resource; The reference signal determined based on the identifier in the report configuration is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration, and the report configuration is used to configure the reporting of the measurement results of the reference signal; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal configured in the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal configured in the candidate cell; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is a reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal carried by the reference signal resource.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first message includes second indication information, which indicates the TCI status identifier corresponding to the activated reference signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first message also includes at least one indication field, which is used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated.

6. The method as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The number of the indicator fields is multiple; The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the multiple candidate cells is activated or deactivated; or, The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal configured in a plurality of reference signal resource configurations, and each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal configured in one of the plurality of reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated; or, The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets, wherein each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated; or, The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is activated, and the reference signal of the activated candidate cell is measured by the terminal device. Alternatively, the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated, wherein the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell is not measured by the terminal device. The terminal device is the device that receives the first message.

8. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal of at least one candidate cell, wherein the at least one candidate cell includes a first candidate cell, and the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first candidate cell includes a first reference signal. Measuring the activated reference signal according to the first message, or stopping the measurement of the deactivated reference signal according to the first message, includes: According to the first message, the measurement of the activated first reference signal begins from the first time unit after the first time unit, or, according to the first message, the measurement of the deactivated first reference signal stops from the first time unit after the first time unit. Wherein, the first time unit is a time unit determined by offsetting X time units after the second time unit, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the first subcarrier interval is determined based on the subcarrier interval of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier interval of the serving cell, and the value of X is greater than 0; The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first message.

9. The method as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, including: The value of X is determined based on the value of N, the value of N is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe, a subframe includes at least one time unit, and the value of N is greater than 0.

10. The method as described in claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell, including: The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the maximum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing.

11. The method as described in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The value of X is determined based on the value of N, including: The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the magnification factor, where the magnification factor indicates the magnification factor of the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3.

12. The method as described in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The value of X is determined based on the value of N, including: The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value, where the increment value is a predefined number of time units that need to be added according to network configuration.

13. A reference signal transmission method, characterized in that, include: Send a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell.

14. The method as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The first message includes first indication information, which is used to determine the reference signal for activation or deactivation.

15. The method as described in claim 14, characterized in that, The first indication information indicates at least one of the following: the identifier of the report configuration, the identifier of the candidate cell set, the identifier of the candidate cell, the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration, the identifier of the reference signal resource set, the identifier of the reference signal resource list, or the identifier of the reference signal resource; The reference signal determined based on the identifier in the report configuration is the reference signal configured in the reference signal resource configuration associated with the report configuration, and the report configuration is used to configure the reporting of the measurement results of the reference signal; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell set is the reference signal configured in the candidate cells included in the candidate cell set; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the candidate cell is the reference signal configured in the candidate cell; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource configuration is the reference signal configured by the reference signal resource configuration; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource set is the reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource set; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource list is a reference signal on the reference signal resources included in the reference signal resource list; The reference signal determined based on the identifier of the reference signal resource is the reference signal carried by the reference signal resource.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13-15, characterized in that, The first message includes second indication information, which indicates the TCI status identifier corresponding to the activated reference signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13-16, characterized in that, The first message also includes at least one indication field, which is used to indicate whether the reference signal is activated or deactivated.

18. The method as described in claim 17, characterized in that, The number of the indicator fields is multiple; The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals of multiple candidate cells, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates whether the reference signal of one of the multiple candidate cells is activated or deactivated; or, The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal configured in a plurality of reference signal resource configurations, and each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal configured in one of the plurality of reference signal resource configurations is activated or deactivated; or, The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals in a plurality of reference signal resource sets, wherein each of the plurality of indication fields indicates that a reference signal in one of the plurality of reference signal resource sets is activated or deactivated; or, The first message is used to activate or deactivate reference signals on multiple reference signal resources, and each of the multiple indication fields indicates that a reference signal on one of the multiple reference signal resources is activated or deactivated.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13-18, characterized in that, The candidate cell containing the activated reference signal is activated, and the reference signal of the activated candidate cell is measured by the terminal device. Alternatively, the candidate cell containing the deactivated reference signal is deactivated, wherein the reference signal of the deactivated candidate cell is not measured by the terminal device. The terminal device is the device that receives the first message.

20. The method as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The first message is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal of at least one candidate cell, wherein the at least one candidate cell includes a first candidate cell, and the reference signal for activating or deactivating the first candidate cell includes a first reference signal. The method further includes: The first activated reference signal is transmitted starting from the first time unit after the first time unit, or the transmission of the deactivated first reference signal is stopped starting from the first time unit after the first time unit; Wherein, the first time unit is a time unit determined by offsetting X time units after the second time unit, the value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the first subcarrier interval is determined based on the subcarrier interval of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier interval of the serving cell, and the value of X is greater than 0; The second time unit is the time unit for transmitting the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the first message.

21. The method as described in claim 20, characterized in that, The value of X is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, including: The value of X is determined based on the value of N, the value of N is determined based on the first subcarrier interval, the value of N is the number of time units contained in a subframe, a subframe includes at least one time unit, and the value of N is greater than 0.

22. The method as described in claim 20 or 21, characterized in that, The first subcarrier spacing is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and / or the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell, including: The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the first candidate cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the smallest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacings of the at least one candidate cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the largest subcarrier spacing among the subcarrier spacing of the at least one candidate cell and the subcarrier spacing of the serving cell; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the maximum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing; or, The first subcarrier spacing is the minimum subcarrier spacing between the first candidate cell's subcarrier spacing and the serving cell's subcarrier spacing.

23. The method as described in claim 21 or 22, characterized in that, The value of X is determined based on the value of N, including: The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the magnification factor, where the magnification factor indicates the magnification factor of the value of N, and the magnification factor is a value greater than 3.

24. The method as described in claim 21 or 22, characterized in that, The value of X is determined based on the value of N, including: The value of X is determined based on the value of N and the increment value, where the increment value is a predefined number of time units that need to be added according to network configuration.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, include: The receiving unit is configured to receive a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell. A measurement unit is configured to measure an activated reference signal according to the first message, or to stop measuring a deactivated reference signal according to the first message.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, include: The transmitting unit is used to transmit a first message, which is used to activate or deactivate a reference signal, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent reference signal of a candidate cell.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a memory, which are interconnected. The memory stores a computer program, which includes program instructions. The processor invokes the program instructions to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or to execute the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 24.

28. A chip, characterized in that, The chip includes a processor and an interface, the processor and the interface being coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or to perform the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 24.

29. A module device, characterized in that, The module device includes a communication module, a power module, a storage module, and a chip module, wherein: The power module is used to provide electrical energy to the module device; The storage module is used to store data and / or instructions; The communication module is used to communicate with external devices; The chip module is used to call the data and / or instructions stored in the storage module, and in conjunction with the communication module, to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or to execute the method as described in any one of claims 13 to 24.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program including program instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, or implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 24.

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