Communication method and apparatus, terminal device, and network device

Abstract

This application provides a communication method and apparatus, a terminal device, and a network device. The method includes: the terminal device receiving first information, the first information indicating multiple TCI states, and network nodes associated with each of the multiple TCI states jointly providing communication services to the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and device, terminal equipment, and network equipment Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of mobile communication technology, and specifically to a communication method and apparatus, terminal equipment, and network equipment. Background Art

[0002] In future wireless communication networks, terminal devices may be jointly served by multiple selected network nodes. However, there is currently no clear method for determining the spatial relationship information or Quasi Co-Location (QCL) information of multiple network nodes providing services to the terminal device.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, a terminal device, and a network device.

[0005] In a first aspect, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application includes:

[0006] A terminal device receives first information, where the first information indicates multiple transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, and network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0007] In a second aspect, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application includes:

[0008] The network device sends first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates multiple TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0009] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which is applied to a terminal device, and includes:

[0010] The receiving unit is configured to receive first information, where the first information indicates multiple TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0011] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which is applied to a network device, and includes:

[0012] The sending unit is configured to send first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates multiple TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0013] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, the terminal device comprising a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the above-mentioned communication method.

[0014] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, the network device comprising a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the above-mentioned communication method.

[0015] The chip provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to implement the above-mentioned communication method.

[0016] Specifically, the chip includes: a processor, which is used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned communication method.

[0017] The computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to store a computer program, which enables a computer to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0018] The computer program product provided in the embodiments of the present application includes computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0019] The computer program provided in the embodiment of the present application, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0020] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method in which a network device can indicate multiple TCI states to a terminal device. Based on each TCI state indicated by first information, the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information of the network node associated with that TCI state. This clarifies the spatial relationship or QCL information of multiple network nodes, ensuring normal communication. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

[0022] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a non-cellular network architecture;

[0023] FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a MAC CE for activating / deactivating TCI state;

[0024] FIG3 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method;

[0025] FIG4 shows a schematic diagram of a signaling structure of second information;

[0026] FIG5 shows a schematic diagram of a selection mechanism for bitmanp to select a TCI state;

[0027] FIG6 shows a schematic diagram of a two-stage TCI state selection mechanism;

[0028] FIG7 is a first structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG8 is a second structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0034] It should be noted that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this article. The term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. It should also be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, A indicates B, which can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association relationship between A and B. It should also be understood that the "correspondence" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can mean that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or it can mean that there is an association relationship between the two, or it can mean a relationship between indication and indication, configuration and configuration, etc. It should also be understood that the “predefined” or “predefined rules” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in devices (for example, including terminal devices and network devices), and the present application does not limit its specific implementation method. For example, predefined can refer to what is defined in the protocol. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the “protocol” may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, such as LTE protocols, NR protocols, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0035] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0036] 1. Cell-free network

[0037] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) may adopt a cell-free design principle, which means downplaying or completely eliminating the concept of "cells" and shifting from a network-centric design to a terminal-centric design. Specifically, in a traditional cellular network centered on the network (NW), terminal devices access cellular cells in different NWs using a single transmission reception point (TRP), and then uplink and downlink transmission services are provided to the terminal devices using a single TRP or multiple TRPs. However, in a terminal-centric cell-free network, the boundaries of the cellular network are broken, or it can be said to be a cell-free design. Terminal devices can be jointly served by multiple network nodes, and the specific uplink and downlink transmission methods can be based on coherent joint transmission (CJT) or non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT).

[0038] It should be noted that the network node includes but is not limited to a wireless access point (AP) or a transmission reception point (TRP).

[0039] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a non-cellular network architecture. Terminal devices can be served by a collection of multiple network nodes. Specifically, terminal device UE1 can be served by AP / TRP cluster 1 in area 1 (i.e., multiple APs in AP cluster 1 simultaneously provide downlink transmission and uplink reception for UE1); terminal device UE2 can be served by AP / TRP cluster 2 in area 2; terminal device UE3 can be served by AP / TRP cluster 3 in area 3; and terminal device UE4 can be served by AP / TRP cluster 4 in area 4.

[0040] It is understandable that a single AP / TRP can serve multiple terminal devices simultaneously. For example, as shown in Figure 1, Area 1 and Area 2 can overlap, and three APs / TRPs located in the overlapping area of ​​Area 1 and Area 2 can simultaneously serve UE1 and UE2. To provide this spatial multiplexing capability, each AP / TRP can be configured with multiple antenna ports and can have independent beamforming capabilities.

[0041] The advantage of a Cell-Free network is that it provides better coverage for devices and significantly increases data rates at the cell edge of the cellular system. Because devices can communicate with multiple access points (APs) and transmission relays (TRPs), the average signal path loss is reduced. Furthermore, through joint processing, multiple APs and TRPs provide stronger interference suppression capabilities, delivering a higher and more stable signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0042] 2. Transmission Configuration Indication state (TCI state)

[0043] In the progress of 3GPP standardization, the concept of TCI state was proposed in Release 15 (Rel.15), which is used for downlink spatial information (such as QCL-Type D) indication and the transmission of quasi-co-location (QCL) information in the time domain and / or frequency domain (such as QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeB and QCL-TypeC). However, the TCI state indication mechanism is only applicable to downlink channels and signals, and has many limitations in its application in NR systems. In addition, the design is too flexible and has a large signaling overhead. In order to provide a unified uplink and downlink beam management mechanism for the NR system, Rel.17 proposed the concept of a unified TCI state.

[0044] Unified TCI state includes three modes: joint TCI state, which applies to both uplink and downlink channels and signals; downlink TCI state (DL TCI state), which applies only to downlink channels and signals; and uplink TCI state (UL TCI state), which applies only to uplink channels and signals. The DL TCI state and UL TCI state are also referred to as separate DL / UL TCI states.

[0045] It should be noted that downlink channels (such as some PDCCHs and PDSCHs) and signals (such as aperiodic CSI-RSs) use the same downlink transmit beam and are indicated using the DL TCI state or joint TCI state. Uplink channels (PUCCH and PUSCH) and signals (SRSs) use the same uplink transmit beam and are indicated using the UL TCI state or joint TCI state.

[0046] It should be understood that the "unified" in the unified TCI state has many meanings. The first level of "unified" means that the unified TCI state unifies the uplink and downlink beam indication mechanisms, because in the Rel.15 / Rel.16 NR standards, the TCI state is only used for downlink beam indication, and the uplink beam indication uses signaling based on spatial relation information. The second level of "unified" means the unification of beams between different channels. For example, under the configuration of the Separate DL / UL TCI state, the terminal device can consider the downlink PDCCH (UE-specific) and PDSCH (UE-specific) to be unified into the same beam for transmission; in addition, the uplink PUCCH and PUSCH of the terminal device use the same beam for transmission. Under the configuration of the Joint TCI state, the terminal device can consider that different channels and signals in the uplink and downlink can have good beam symmetry, that is, symmetric beam pairs are used for uplink and downlink communication.

[0047] The unified TCI state can be indicated using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling and / or Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE), and / or Downlink Control Information (DCI) format 1_1 / 1_2.

[0048] For example, multiple TCI states can be configured in the RRC parameters. A TCI state can include: a TCI state identifier (ID), QCL information 1, and QCL information 2. In addition, a QCL information can include: a QCL type configuration and a QCL reference signal configuration. The QCL reference signal configuration can include a cell ID, a bandwidth part (BWP) ID, and a reference signal identifier (e.g., a CSI-RS resource ID or SSB index).

[0049] The definitions of different QCL types are as follows: QCL TypeA is used to configure the following: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread}, QCL typeB is used to configure {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}, QCL typeC is used to configure {Doppler shift, average delay}, and QCL typeD is used to configure {Spatial Rx parameter}.

[0050] For the joint TCI state / DL TCI state, the QCL type configuration can include one of QCL-typeA, QCL-typeB, QCL-typeC, or QCL-typeD. QCL-TypeD indicates that the same spatial receive parameters, namely, spatial receive filters, and thus the same receive "beam" can be used between the two reference signals. For the UL TCI state, the QCL type configuration includes QCL-typeD, without the aforementioned QCL-TypeA, QCL-typeB, and QCL-typeC.

[0051] In addition, the RRC signaling also includes the following parameters:

[0052] unifiedTCI-StateType-r17ENUMERATED{separate,joint}

[0053] It should be noted that the above parameters are used to indicate whether the TCI state is a joint TCI state or a separate TCI state.

[0054] In some embodiments, the NW may activate / deactivate some TCI states among multiple TCI states configured by RRC signaling through MAC CE.

[0055] For example, FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a MAC CE for activating / deactivating TCI state. Referring to FIG2, the MAC CE signaling may include the following fields: serving cell ID, downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) ID, UL BWP ID, P i , D / U, TCI state ID, and reserved bit R.

[0056] The Serving Cell ID field is used to indicate the ID of the serving cell to which the MAC CE applies, and may be 5 bits long. The DL BWP ID field is used to indicate the DL BWP to which the MAC CE applies, and may be 2 bits long. The UL BWP ID field indicates the UL BWP to which the MAC CE applies, and may be 2 bits long.

[0057] P i Used to indicate whether each TCI code point in the DCI has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. Where i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M (for example, M=8). M is the number of TCI code points in the DCI. For example, if P i If P is set to 0, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point includes DL TCI state and UL TCI state. i If set to 1, it indicates that the i-th TCI code point only includes DL / joint TCI state or UL TCI state.

[0058] D / U is used to indicate whether the TCI state ID of the current octet is for the joint / downlink or uplink. If this field is set to 1, the TCI state ID in the same octet is for the joint / downlink. If this field is set to 0, the TCI state ID in the same octet is for the uplink.

[0059] In some embodiments, the NW may use the TCI state field in DCI format 1_1 / 1_2 to indicate the TCI state(s) that the terminal device should use from the TCI state activated by the MAC CE. For example, the code point "000" in the TCI state field may indicate the first TCI state ID 1 activated by the MAC CE, and the code point "111" in the TCI state field may indicate the last TCI state ID 8 activated by the MAC CE.

[0060] Cell-free network architectures offer a new possibility for future wireless communications. However, the spatial information or QCL relationship indications underlying this technology remain a technical gap within the 3GPP standardization scope. This means there's currently no clear method for determining the spatial relationship or QCL information of multiple network nodes serving them.

[0061] Furthermore, the enhanced transmission technology in Rel-18 introduces a CJT-based transmission method. CJT-based transmission involves the joint precoding and transmission of one or more layers of data streams across multiple spatially separated Transmitted Relay Protocols (TRPs). Rel-18 supports CJT transmission to terminal devices using up to four TRPs. Currently, there is no clear method for indicating the spatial information or QCL relationships between multiple TRPs.

[0062] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method in which a network device can indicate multiple TCI states to a terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information of the network node associated with each TCI state based on the first information. This clarifies the spatial relationship or QCL information of multiple network nodes, ensuring normal communication.

[0063] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The above related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0064] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the method includes the following contents.

[0065] S110. The network device sends first information, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0066] The first information indicates multiple TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0067] It should be noted that the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the Cell Free communication network shown in Figure 1. The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to traditional cellular networks. For example, the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to CJT-based transmission in a cellular network.

[0068] In some embodiments, a terminal device may be jointly served by multiple network nodes, or in other words, multiple network nodes may jointly provide uplink and downlink communication services for the terminal. The network nodes include but are not limited to APs and TRPs.

[0069] It should be noted that the network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be any one of a plurality of network nodes that provide communication services to the terminal device.

[0070] In some embodiments, the network device may send the first information to the terminal device, or the network device may send the first information to other terminal devices so that the other terminal devices forward the first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device may receive the first information sent by the network device, or the terminal device may receive the first information forwarded from the network device by other terminal devices, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0071] It should be understood that in order to perform uplink and downlink transmission, the network device can indicate multiple TCI states to the terminal device through the first information, so that the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information of multiple network nodes through the indication.

[0072] It should be noted that multiple TCI states may refer to two or more TCI states. In addition, multiple network nodes refer to two or more network nodes, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0073] In some embodiments, the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information may be associated with multiple network nodes. For example, each of the multiple TCI states may be associated with a network node, where the network nodes associated with the TCI states may be the same or different. Alternatively, each of the multiple network nodes may be associated with one or more TCI states.

[0074] It should be understood that when a network device indicates multiple TCI states to a terminal device, this may indicate that the network nodes associated with each of the multiple TCI states can jointly provide communication services for the terminal device. These network nodes may form a node in a cluster or set of network nodes centered on the terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information for the network node associated with each TCI state indicated by the first information.

[0075] It should be noted that the association relationship between the TCI state and the network node can be predefined or configured by the network device, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0076] It should also be noted that the multiple network nodes that jointly provide communication services to the terminal device can be selected by the terminal device. For example, the terminal device can measure the downlink reference signals of multiple APs / TRPs and select the top N APs / TRPs with the highest measurement parameters such as Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) or SINR to serve it.

[0077] In summary, in the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, a network device can indicate multiple TCI states to a terminal device. Thus, the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information of the network node associated with each TCI state based on the first information. This clarifies the spatial relationship or QCL information of multiple network nodes, ensuring normal communication.

[0078] In an embodiment of the present application, the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information may include a joint TCI state and / or a separate TCI state.

[0079] It should be noted that in current related technologies, the NW can only configure one type of TCI state within a serving cell: the joint TCI state or the separate TCI state. For example, the NW can configure the TCI state type within a serving cell using the following RRC signaling parameter: unifiedTCI-StateType-r17ENUMERATED{separate,joint}.

[0080] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may indicate mixed TCI states for the same terminal device, that is, the multiple TCI states indicated by the network device may include both joint TCI states and separate TCI states.

[0081] It should be noted that each joint TCI state corresponds to a network node; each pair of separate TCI states (including DL TCI states and UL TCI states) corresponds to a network node.

[0082] It should be understood that the network device configures different types of TCI states to the same terminal device, which can make the deployment on the network side more flexible. For scenarios with beam symmetry, the same QCL indication can be used for uplink and downlink; for scenarios where the uplink and downlink network nodes are decoupled (that is, the uplink and downlink network nodes serving the terminal device are different), different TCI states can be used to indicate different uplink and downlink QCL information (to correspond to different network nodes). In addition, from the perspective of the terminal device side, the terminal device can only measure the configured uplink or downlink, which can save unnecessary measurement overhead for the terminal device.

[0083] It should be noted that the network device indicates multiple TCI states through the first information, which can be an indication based on the protocol stack layer, such as a signaling completion indication from the RRC layer to the MAC layer and then to the physical layer.

[0084] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may determine multiple TCI states indicated by the first information based on a combination of the first information and the second information. Specifically, based on S110, the communication method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

[0085] The network device sends the second information, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the second information; wherein the second information is used to activate N TCI states, the multiple TCI states are at least some of the N activated TCI states, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0086] It is understandable that the network device can activate N TCI states through the second information, and then dynamically indicate some TCI states in the N TCI states to the terminal device through the first information.

[0087] It should be noted that N can also be understood as the number of network nodes providing communication services to the terminal device. Different network nodes can correspond to different TCI states. N can be dynamically selected by a network node selection algorithm. For example, the terminal device can measure the downlink reference signals of multiple network nodes and select the top N network nodes with the highest measurement parameters, such as RSRP and SINR, to provide services.

[0088] In one embodiment, the second information may be carried via MAC CE signaling, and the first information may be carried via DCI signaling. It will be appreciated that, similar to a conventional NR system, a network device may activate N TCI states via MAC CE signaling, and then dynamically indicate some of the N activated TCI states via DCI signaling.

[0089] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the network device can pre-configure at least one TCI state resource pool for the terminal device through RRC signaling. The TCI state resource pool can include multiple TCI states. The TCI state resource pool contains a mixture of joint TCI state and / or separate TCI state. In other words, the TCI state configured by RRC can be either a joint TCI state or a separate TCI state.

[0090] In some embodiments, the second information can be carried via RRC signaling, and the first information can be carried via DCI signaling. That is, the network device can directly indicate N TCI states using RRC signaling and dynamically indicate some of the N TCI states using DCI signaling. It will be appreciated that directly configuring a small number of TCI states via RRC signaling and dynamically indicating the TCI state to be used by the terminal device via DCI signaling can reduce signaling overhead.

[0091] It should be noted that the N TCI states activated by the second information may include a joint TCI state and / or a separate TCI state. In other words, the N TCI states activated by the second information may be a joint TCI state or a separate TCI state.

[0092] In one embodiment of the present application, the second information activates N TCI states, which can be understood as activating multiple codepoints. The second information may indicate multiple TCI states corresponding to each codepoint, where the multiple TCI states corresponding to each codepoint are at least some of the N activated TCI states. In other words, each codepoint may correspond to the full set or a subset of the N TCI states.

[0093] It should be noted that the code points mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be TCI code points, and "code points" and "TCI code points" are equivalent to or interchangeable.

[0094] For example, a 3-bit code point is used for illustration. Refer to Table 1 for the correspondence between TCI code points and multiple TCI states. The code point "000" can correspond to the first TCI state to the Nth TCI state. The code point "001" can correspond to the first TCI state, ..., the Nth TCI state, excluding the second TCI state. The code point "010" can correspond to the second TCI state, ..., the Nth TCI state, excluding the first TCI state. The code point "111" can correspond only to the first TCI state and the Nth TCI state, excluding the second TCI state to the N-1th TCI state.

[0095] Table 1

[0096] Based on this, the first information can indicate multiple TCI states based on codepoints by carrying different codepoints. Specifically, the first information can carry a target codepoint, where the target codepoint is any one of the multiple codepoints; the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information are the multiple TCI states corresponding to the target codepoint.

[0097] It is understandable that the first information can carry one target code point at a time. The terminal device can determine the TCI state corresponding to the target code point carried in the first information by using the correspondence between the code point indicated in the second information and multiple TCI states, thereby obtaining spatial information or QCL information of multiple network nodes.

[0098] The following describes in detail how the second information indicates multiple TCI states corresponding to each TCI code point.

[0099] In some embodiments, the second information may include a first field. It should be noted that a field may also be referred to as a domain, an indication domain, etc., and the present embodiment uniformly uses the term "field" to describe the information.

[0100] In the embodiment of the present application, the number of first fields may include M*N, where N may be the number of activated TCI states or the number of network nodes providing communication services to the terminal device, and M is the number of code points.

[0101] Among them, the first field P m,n It can indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state; m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, that is, 1<=m<=M, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N, that is, 1<=n<=N.

[0102] For example, the first field P m,n The value of is the first value (for example, 1), indicating that the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state, that is, the nth TCI state exists in the mth code point. m,n The value of is the second value (eg, 0), indicating that the mth code point does not have a corresponding nth TCI state, that is, the nth TCI state does not exist in the mth code point.

[0103] In some embodiments, the second information may further include a third field, which may indicate identification information (IDs) of multiple TCI states corresponding to each TCI code point. The number of third fields may be M, and each third field may indicate the ID of the TCI state included in the mth code point.

[0104] For example, a 3-bit code point is used, that is, the number of code points is M=8 and N=2. Referring to FIG4 , a schematic diagram of a signaling structure of the second information is shown. The second information may include the following fields: serving cell ID, DL BWP ID, UL BWP ID, P m,n , (ie the first field), TCI state ID (ie the third field), and reserved bit R.

[0105] The Serving Cell ID field is used to indicate the ID of the serving cell to which the MAC CE applies, and may be 5 bits long. The DL BWP ID field is used to indicate the DL BWP to which the MAC CE applies, and may be 2 bits long. The UL BWP ID field indicates the UL BWP to which the MAC CE applies, and may be 2 bits long.

[0106] P m,n It can indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state. m,n If set to 1, it indicates that the mth TCI code point includes the nth TCI state. m,n If set to 0, it indicates that the mth TCI code point does not include the nth TCI state. 1,1 Set to 1, it indicates that the first TCI code point "000" includes the first TCI state. 1, 1 is set to 0 to indicate that the first TCI code point "000" does not include the first TCI state; if P 1,2 Set to 1, it indicates that the first TCI code point "000" includes the second TCI state. 1,2 If set to 0, it indicates that the first TCI code point "000" does not include the second TCI state. Similarly, if P 8,1 Set to 1, it indicates that the 8th TCI code point "111" includes the 1st TCI state. 8,1 If set to 0, it indicates that the 8th TCI code point "111" does not include the 1st TCI state; if P 8,2 Set to 1, it indicates that the 8th TCI code point "111" includes the 2nd TCI state. 8,2 Set to 0 to indicate that the 8th TCI code point "111" does not include the 2nd TCI state.

[0107] TCI state ID m may indicate the ID of each TCI state in the multiple TCI states included in the mth code point. Specifically, TCI state ID 1 may indicate the IDs of the multiple TCI states included in the first code point "000", TCI state ID 2 may indicate the IDs of the multiple TCI states included in the second code point "001", and so on. TCI state ID 8 may indicate the IDs of the multiple TCI states included in the eighth code point "111".

[0108] It should be noted that the signaling structure of the above second information is only a schematic diagram, and the positions of different fields can be adjusted.

[0109] In some embodiments, the TCI state configured or activated by the network device may include a joint TCI state and / or a separate TCI state.

[0110] In the case where the nth TCI state is the joint TCI state, the first field P m,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state;

[0111] When the nth TCI state is the separated TCI state, the first field P m,n It may include the downlink subfield P m,D,n and the upstream subfield P m,U,n ; Wherein, the downlink subfield P m,D,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth downlink TCI state; the uplink subfield P m,U,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth uplink TCI state.

[0112] In one example, when the TCI state configured or activated by the network device is the joint TCI state, the correspondence between the TCI code point and the joint TCI state can be shown in Table 2.

[0113] Table 2

[0114] Among them, the network device can use the first field P m,n Indicates whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state.

[0115] In another example, when the network device configures or activates the separate TCI state, the correspondence between TCI code points and separate TCI states can be referred to in Table 3. Specifically, one TCI code point can indicate a maximum of N pairs of uplink and downlink TCI states.

[0116] Table 3

[0117] It is understandable that for separate TCI state, it is necessary to indicate the TCI state corresponding to the uplink and / or downlink respectively. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, P can be used in the second information. m,D,n and P m,U,n Indicates whether the nth DL TCI state or UL TCI state exists in the mth code point. For example, if P m,D,n Set to the first value (e.g. 1), indicating that the nth DL TCI state of the mth code point exists; if P m,D,n The second value (eg, 0) indicates that the nth DL TCI state of the mth code point does not exist. In addition, the ID of the DL TCI state and / or UL TCI state in each separate TCI state may also be indicated in the second information.

[0118] In another example, when the network device configures or activates both the separate TCI state and the joint TCI state, the relationship between TCI code points and TCI states can be referred to in Table 4. The first TCI state is the separate TCI state, and the Nth TCI state is the joint TCI state.

[0119] Table 4

[0120] It is understandable that for separate TCI state, it is necessary to indicate the uplink and / or downlink TCI state separately. m,D,n and P m,U,n Indicates whether the nth DL TCI state or UL TCI state exists in the mth code point. For joint TCI state, P m,n Indicates whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state.

[0121] It should be noted that in order to ensure that the network device and the terminal device have a consistent understanding of the signaling structure of the second information, the second information may also include a second field, which is used to indicate whether each TCI state in the N activated TCI states is a separate TCI state or a joint TCI state.

[0122] In one example, the number of second fields may be N, and the nth second field may indicate whether the nth TCI state is a separate TCI state or a joint TCI state. For example, if the nth second field is set to a first value (e.g., 0), it indicates that the nth TCI state is a separate TCI state; if the nth second field is set to a second value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the nth TCI state is a joint TCI state.

[0123] In another example, the number of bits in the second field is N, where the nth bit may indicate whether the nth TCI state among the N activated TCI states is a separate TCI state or a joint TCI state. For example, if the nth bit is set to a first value (e.g., 0), it indicates that the nth TCI state is a separate TCI state; if the nth bit is set to a second value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the nth TCI state is a joint TCI state.

[0124] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the second information may be carried by MAC CE signaling (ie, indicated by means of an activation code point), and the first information may be carried by DCI signaling.

[0125] As can be seen, in the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, a network device can indicate multiple TCI states to a terminal device based on code points, based on the current MAC CE signaling structure, with good compatibility. However, as the number of network nodes increases, the code points cannot support the TCI states of a large number of network nodes.

[0126] In an embodiment of the present application, the second information may directly indicate identification information of N TCI states to activate the N TCI states. In this way, the first information may indicate multiple TCI states based on a bitmap.

[0127] In some embodiments, the second information may include N fourth fields, where the N fourth fields correspond to N activated TCI states, respectively. That is, each fourth field may correspond to one TCI state.

[0128] Wherein, when the nth activated TCI state is the joint TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate identification information of the nth activated TCI state;

[0129] In the case where the nth activated TCI state is a separate TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate identification information of the UL TCI state and / or identification information of the DL TCI state in the nth activated TCI state.

[0130] That is, for the joint TCI state, the second information may indicate a TCI state ID; and for the separate TCI state, the second information may indicate a pair of uplink and downlink TCI states.

[0131] In one example, when the TCI state configured or activated by the network device is the joint TCI state, the content included in the second information may be as shown in Table 5. Specifically, the second information may carry IDs of N joint TCI states.

[0132] Table 5

[0133] In another example, when the TCI state configured or activated by the network device is the separate TCI state, the content included in the second information may refer to that shown in Table 6. Specifically, the second information may carry N pairs of TCI state IDs.

[0134] Table 6

[0135] In another example, when the network device configures or activates both the separate TCI state and the joint TCI state, the content included in the second information may be as shown in Table 7. Specifically, if the first TCI state is the separate TCI state, the second information may indicate a pair of uplink and downlink TCI state IDs; if the Nth TCI state is the joint TCI state, the second information may indicate a joint TCI state ID.

[0136] Table 7

[0137] It should be noted that in this embodiment of the present application, the second information differs from the second information in the above embodiment, which indicates multiple TCI states based on codepoints. The second information in this embodiment of the present application activates N TCI states for subsequent bitmap selection, so the concept of codepoints is not required in this second information.

[0138] It should also be noted that a TCI state can be associated with a network node. However, there is not a strict one-to-one correspondence between a network node and a joint TCI state or a pair of separate TCI states. In one example, when a network node is equipped with multiple antenna panels, the network device can correspond to multiple joint TCI states or multiple pairs of separate TCI states. In another example, when a network node is equipped with only one antenna panel, it can use multiple "beams" (characterized by spatial filters) for the terminal devices it serves. However, due to the limitations of the RF hardware, only one or a pair of TCI states can be used at the same time (e.g., on an OFDM symbol).

[0139] In the embodiment of the present application, based on the second information activating N TCI states, the first information may carry a first bitmap, where the first bitmap is used to indicate some TCI states among the N activated TCI states.

[0140] It is understandable that the first information may indicate whether the TCI state activated in the second information is applicable (applicable), that is, whether it is the indicated (indicated) TCI state(s) in a Bitmap manner.

[0141] In one possible implementation, the first bitmap may include N bits. The nth bit may correspond to the nth joint TCI state or the nth pair of separate TCI states, and the second information indicates, through the nth bit, whether the nth joint TCI state or the nth pair of separate TCI states is the TCI state indicated by the first information. Exemplarily, if the nth bit is set to a first value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the nth joint TCI state or the nth pair of separate TCI states is the indicated TCI state, so that the terminal device can determine the spatial relationship information or QCL relationship of the network nodes associated with the nth joint TCI state or the nth pair of separate TCI states. If the nth bit is set to a second value (e.g., 0), it indicates that the nth joint TCI state or the nth pair of separate TCI states is not the indicated TCI state, that is, the nth joint TCI state or the nth pair of separate TCI states provides communication services for the terminal device.

[0142] In another possible implementation, the first bitmap may include (N1+N2*2) bits, where N1 is the number of joint TCI states in the N activated TCI states, and N2 is the number of separate TCI states in the N activated TCI states. N=N1+N2. It is understandable that since a separate TCI state corresponds to a pair of uplink and downlink TCI states, two bits may be used to indicate the DL TCI state and the UL TCI state, respectively. For example, assuming that the first, second, third, and fourth TCI states are activated in the second information, the first and third TCI states are joint TCI state IDs, and the second and fourth TCI states are separate TCI states. The first information may carry a 6-bit bitmap, such as {101010}. This bitmap may indicate that the NW has selected or indicated the first TCI state, the UL TCI state in the second TCI state, and the DL TCI state in the fourth TCI state.

[0143] In some embodiments, the field carrying the first bitmap in the first information may be referred to as a "TCI state selection" field.

[0144] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the second information can be carried via MAC CE signaling, and the first information can be carried via DCI signaling. Alternatively, the second information can be carried via RRC signaling, and the first information can be carried via DCI signaling. In other words, RRC signaling can directly configure N TCI states, while DCI can dynamically indicate at least some of the N TCI states.

[0145] For example, referring to FIG5 , a schematic diagram of a TCI state selection mechanism using bitmap is shown, wherein the AP / TRP providing communication services to the terminal device includes AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, AP / TRP#3, and AP / TRP#4. In FIG5 , AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, AP / TRP#3, and AP / TRP#4 correspond to the first TCI state, the second TCI state, the third TCI state, and the fourth TCI state, respectively. Assuming that the first TCI state, the second TCI state, the third TCI state, and the fourth TCI state activated in sequence in the MAC CE signaling are joint TCI state ID 1, {DL TCI state ID 3, UL TCI state ID 4}, joint TCI state ID 5, and {DL TCI state ID 7, UL TCI state ID 8}, respectively, the TCI state selection field in the DCI can be a 4-bit bitmap, such as {1101}. The bitmap indicates that the NW has selected or indicated the first TCI state, the second TCI state, and the fourth TCI state, but has not indicated or selected the third TCI state to provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0146] It can be seen that in the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the network device can indicate multiple TCI states to the terminal device based on the bitmap. The operation method is less complex and is suitable for scenarios with a large number of network nodes.

[0147] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may combine the first information and the third information to determine the TCI state indicated by the first information. Specifically, based on S110, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

[0148] The network device sends third information, and accordingly, the terminal device receives the third information, wherein the third information indicates a plurality of TCI state resource pools; the plurality of TCI states are from the plurality of TCI state resource pools;

[0149] The first information indicates an index value of each TCI state in the plurality of TCI states in the corresponding TCI state resource pool.

[0150] It is understandable that the network device can indicate the TCI state to the terminal device in two stages. In the first stage, the network device can indicate multiple TCI state resource pools through third information. Each TCI state resource pool can include one or more TCI states.

[0151] It should be noted that the TCI state in each TCI state resource pool can be either a joint TCI state or a separate TCI state. That is, each TCI state resource pool is a mixed TCI state resource pool. In other words, a TCI state resource pool can be a mixture of joint TCI state and separate TCI state, or a TCI state resource pool can be entirely joint TCI state or entirely separate TCI state.

[0152] In the second phase, the network device may, based on the multiple TCI state resource pools indicated by the third information, indicate one or more TCI states in each TCI state resource pool through the first information. Specifically, the first information may carry the index value of the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state resource pool. In other words, the selection range of each TCI state indicated by the first information is the TCI state resource pool indicated in the first phase.

[0153] In some embodiments, each of the multiple TCI state resource pools has an associated network node. That is, in the first phase, the network device indicates the TCI state resource pool via the third information. This can be understood as the network device indicating, via the third information, selection information for the multiple network nodes providing communication services to the terminal device.

[0154] It should be noted that the determination method of the multiple network nodes (or multiple TCI state resource pools) can be recommended to the network device after the terminal device selects them, or the network device can determine them and configure them to the terminal device by itself. The embodiment of this application does not limit this.

[0155] For example, refer to the schematic diagram of the two-stage TCI state selection mechanism shown in Figure 6. Assume that the number of APs / TRPs providing communication services to the terminal device is N=4. In the first stage, the network device indicates AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, and AP / TRP#4 among these four AP / TRPs through third information. In the second stage, the network device indicates the TCI state from the TCI state resource pools corresponding to AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, and AP / TRP#4 through first information. For example, the first information can indicate Joint TCI state#1 in TCI state resource pool 1 corresponding to AP / TRP#1, {UL TCI state#2, DL TCI state#3} in TCI state resource pool 2 corresponding to AP / TRP#2, and Joint TCI state#5 in TCI state resource pool 4 corresponding to AP / TRP#4.

[0156] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the first information and the third information can be carried by the same DCI, or by different DCIs.

[0157] The first information and the third information can be in the same DCI, with the third information at the front end of the DCI and the first information at the back end, i.e., the indication information of the second stage follows the indication information of the first stage. Alternatively, the first information and the second information can be in different DCIs, and the DCI carrying the third information appears before the DCI carrying the first information in the time domain.

[0158] It should also be noted that the network device can pre-configure the TCI state resource pool through RRC signaling.

[0159] In an embodiment of the present application, the first information includes a fifth field and a sixth field, wherein the fifth field is used to activate N TCI states, and the sixth field is used to indicate at least part of the N TCI states.

[0160] It can be understood that the network device can use the first information to indicate whether the activated TCI state is a used TCI state while activating N TCI states.

[0161] It should be noted that the first information may include N fifth fields, which respectively indicate the IDs of N TCI states.

[0162] Specifically, if the TCI state activated by the nth fifth field is the joint TCI state, the fifth field is used to indicate the identification information of the joint TCI state; if the TCI state activated by the nth fifth field is the separate TCI state, the fifth field is used to indicate the identification information of the UL TCI state and / or the identification information of the DL TCI state.

[0163] In addition, the first information may include N sixth fields, each corresponding to the N fifth fields. A sixth field is set before each fifth field, and the sixth field indicates whether the TCI state activated by the current fifth field is the indicated TCI state. Exemplarily, when the value of the sixth field is a first value (e.g., 1), it indicates that the TCI state activated by the immediately following fifth field is the indicated TCI state; and when the value of the sixth field is a second value (e.g., 2), it indicates that the TCI state activated by the immediately following fifth field is the indicated TCI state.

[0164] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the first information may be carried by MAC CE.

[0165] In other words, network devices can use MAC CE signaling to directly indicate the TCI state, eliminating the need to use the bitmap in the DCI to select from the TCI states activated by the MAC CE, thus reducing signaling overhead.

[0166] In one embodiment of the present application, the first information is carried through RRC signaling.

[0167] It is understandable that the first information can also be carried directly through RRC signaling, that is, RRC signaling can directly indicate the associated TCI states of multiple network nodes to the terminal device.

[0168] The number of TCI states or pairs required by multiple network nodes serving a terminal device is N. The network device can configure a TCI state resource pool of N through RRC signaling, eliminating the need for subsequent MAC CE activation and DCI indication. This approach reduces low-layer signaling overhead and latency, but comes at the cost of flexibility. When a terminal device moves, the previously applicable N or N pairs of TCI states can be updated through RRC reconfiguration.

[0169] In summary, through the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, a network device can indicate multiple TCI states to a terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information of the network node associated with each TCI state indicated by the first information. This clarifies the spatial relationship or QCL information of multiple network nodes, ensuring normal communication.

[0170] The following describes the communication method provided in this application in detail in combination with specific application scenarios.

[0171] In the implementation of this application, in order to perform uplink and downlink transmission, the NW needs to indicate multiple spatial relationship information or QCL information to the UE, so that the UE can obtain time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain information of multiple APs / TRPs through this indication. This information can be based on the protocol stack layer indication, such as the completion indication of signaling from the RRC layer to the MAC layer and then to the physical layer. The specific indication signaling can be based on codepoints, bitmaps, or two-stage indication methods.

[0172] It should be noted that in this embodiment of the present application, the NW can pre-configure at least one TCI state resource pool for the UE via RRC signaling. Each TCI state resource pool contains multiple TCI states. The TCI state can be a combined TCI state or a separate uplink and downlink TCI state. In other words, the TCI state resource pool contains a mixture of combined and / or separate TCI states.

[0173] The following is divided into three embodiments for explanation.

[0174] Example 1

[0175] In this embodiment, the network device may indicate multiple TCI states based on codepoints.

[0176] Assume that the number of APs / TRPs providing communication services to a UE is N. The services include downlink transmissions to the UE and / or uplink transmissions received from the UE. It should be noted that N is dynamically selected by the AP / TRP selection algorithm. For example, the UE can measure the downlink reference signal strengths of multiple APs / TRPs and then select the top N APs / TRPs with the highest RSRPs to provide services to the UE.

[0177] In this embodiment, the TCI state configured and activated by the NW can be a joint TCI state and / or a separate TCI state. Among them, the NW configures different types of TCI states to the same UE, which can make the deployment on the NW side more flexible. For scenarios with beam symmetry, the same QCL indication can be used for uplink and downlink; for the case of uplink and downlink AP / TRP decoupling (that is, the uplink and downlink AP / TRP sets / clusters serving the UE are different), different TCI state(s) can be used to indicate different uplink and downlink QCL information (corresponding to different AP / TRP sets / clusters). From the UE side perspective, unnecessary measurement overhead of the UE can also be saved.

[0178] In one implementation, when the RRC configures the joint TCI state, the MAC CE may activate the TCI code point. Specifically, the MAC CE may indicate that the TCI code point corresponds to the joint TCI state. One TCI code point indicates the full set or a subset of N joint TCI states.

[0179] For example, as shown in Table 2, the code point "000" can indicate the full set of N joint TCI states, that is, the code point "000" can indicate the first joint TCI state to the Nth joint TCI state. The code point "001" can indicate only the first joint TCI state. The code point "111" can indicate the first joint TCI state and the Nth joint TCI state.

[0180] Similar to the P in MAC CE in Figure 2 i field, using P in the newly designed MAC CE m,n Field, P m,n The field may indicate whether the nth joint TCI state exists in the mth code point. For example, if P m,n is 0, indicating that the nth joint TCI state of the mth code point does not exist; if P m,n If it is 1, it means that the nth joint TCI state of the mth code point exists.

[0181] A larger number of code points, such as 16 code points or 32 code points represented by 4 bits or 5 bits, can serve more APs / TRPs, such as 4 or 8 APs / TRPs.

[0182] In another implementation, RRC configures a separate TCI state. For the correspondence between TCI code points and separate TCI states, refer to Table 3. Specifically, one TCI code point can indicate a maximum of N pairs of uplink and downlink TCI states.

[0183] Similarly, similar to the P of the MAC CE structure in Figure 2 i domain, using P in the newly designed MAC CE signaling m,D,n and P m,U,n To indicate whether the nth DL TCI state or UL TCI state exists in the mth code point. m,D,n 0, indicating that the nth DL TCI state of the mth code point does not exist; if P m,D,n If 1, it indicates that the nth DL TCI state of the mth code point exists.

[0184] In another implementation, the separate TCI state can be configured together with the joint TCI state by RRC or activated / deactivated simultaneously by a single MAC CE. Referring to Table 4 for the relationship between TCI code points and TCI states, the first TCI state is the separate TCI state, and the Nth TCI state is the joint TCI state.

[0185] Among them, for separate TCI state, you can use P m,D,n and P m,U,n Indicates whether the nth DL TCI state or UL TCI state exists in the mth code point. For joint TCI state, P m,n Indicates whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state.

[0186] It is understandable that indicating the TCI state by code points is compatible with the current protocol, but the number of code points cannot meet the needs of a large number of TRPs / APs.

[0187] Example 2

[0188] In this embodiment, the network device may indicate multiple TCI states based on a bitmap.

[0189] The MAC CE activates the joint and / or separate TCI states for a cluster / set of APs / TRPs. In principle, each joint TCI state corresponds to one AP / TRP; each pair of separate uplink and downlink TCI states corresponds to one AP / TRP. The MAC CE activates / deactivates a set of TCI states within a pre-configured or determined set of APs / TRPs or clusters serving the UE.

[0190] It should be noted that the MAC CE for activating / deactivating the TCI state in this embodiment is different from the MAC CE (multiple code points) in Example 1. The MAC CE activates / deactivates the TCI states corresponding to a set / cluster AP / TRP for subsequent bitmap selection. Therefore, the concept of code points is not required in this MAC CE.

[0191] It should also be noted that there is not a strict one-to-one correspondence between an AP / TRP and a joint TCI state or a pair of separate uplink and downlink TCI states. For example, when an AP / TRP is equipped with multiple antenna panels, it can correspond to multiple joint TCI states or multiple pairs of separate uplink and downlink TCI states. For example, when an AP / TRP is configured with one antenna panel, it can use multiple "beams" (spatial filters are often used in the protocol to replace the "beams" used in the discussion) for the UEs it serves. However, due to the limitations of the RF hardware, only one or a pair of TCI states can be used at the same time (on the OFDM symbol).

[0192] Referring to Tables 5 to 7, schematic diagrams of activation / deactivation MAC CEs for the joint TCI state, separate TCI state, and mixed TCI state are shown, respectively, corresponding to N joint TCI states, N pairs of activated separate TCI states, and N and / or N pairs of mixed TCI states.

[0193] On this basis, a new bitmap-based field can be introduced in the DCI. The function of this field is to indicate in a bitmap manner whether the TCI states activated in the MAC CE are applicable (applicable), that is, whether they are indicated (indicated) TCI state(s).

[0194] For example, referring to FIG5 , the AP / TRP providing communication services for the terminal device includes AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, AP / TRP#3, and AP / TRP#4. In FIG5 , AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, AP / TRP#3, and AP / TRP#4 correspond to the first TCI state, the second TCI state, the third TCI state, and the fourth TCI state, respectively. Assuming that the first TCI state, the second TCI state, the third TCI state, and the fourth TCI state activated in sequence in the MAC CE signaling are joint TCI state ID 1, {DL TCI state ID 3, UL TCI state ID 4}, joint TCI state ID 5, and {DL TCI state ID 7, UL TCI state ID 8}, respectively, the TCI state selection field in the DCI can be a 4-bit bitmap, such as {1101}. The bitmap indicates that the NW has selected or indicated the first TCI state, the second TCI state, and the fourth TCI state, but has not indicated or selected the third TCI state to provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0195] In some embodiments, in addition to the bitmap-based indication of multiple TCI states described above, the NW can directly indicate TCI states using a MAC CE. That is, the NW does not need to use a bitmap in the DCI to select from the TCI states activated by the MAC CE. Specifically, the MAC CE can indicate which TCI states, from the first (pair) to the Nth (pair) TCI states, are indicated, i.e., which are applicable.

[0196] For example, the NW may add an In field to the header of the MAC CE, where 1<=n<=N. When In=0, it indicates that the nth or nth pair of TCI state(s) is not an indicated TCI state(s) and therefore does not appear in the MAC CE. Conversely, when In=1, it indicates that the nth or nth pair of TCI state(s) is an indicated TCI state(s), and the MAC CE indicates it, provides the TCI state ID(s), and it appears in the MAC CE.

[0197] In some embodiments, in addition to the aforementioned solution of using a MAC CE to directly indicate the TCI states of an AP / TRP cluster / set, another protocol-level possibility is for the NW to directly indicate the TCI state using RRC signaling. Assuming that the number of TCI states or pairs of TCI states required by the AP / TRP set / cluster serving the UE is N, the NW configures a TCI state resource pool of N, and the UE directly uses the RRC-configured TCI states without the need for subsequent MAC CE activation and DCI indication. This approach has the advantage of eliminating low-layer signaling overhead and latency, but comes at the cost of flexibility. When the UE needs to move, it needs to update the previously applicable N or N pairs of TCI states through RRC reconfiguration.

[0198] Example 3

[0199] In this embodiment, the network device may indicate multiple TCI states based on two-stage information.

[0200] Unlike the TCI states schemes based on MAC CE activation / deactivation in the two aforementioned embodiments, the two-stage information indication TCI states scheme in this embodiment can be based solely on the TCI state resource pool configured by RRC. Assume that RRC configures a large TCI state resource pool containing multiple TCI states associated with AP / TRP sets / clusters. It should be noted that this resource pool can be a mixture of joint TCI states and separate uplink and downlink TCI states, or it can be entirely joint TCI states or separate uplink and downlink TCI states.

[0201] Specifically, the DCI can indicate the TCI state configured by RRC signaling in two stages. First stage information (1st stage): A new field is created in the DCI, for example, named the AP / TRP selection field. The NW uses it to indicate the selection information of the AP / TRP set / cluster serving the UE. The AP / TRP set / cluster can be determined in two ways: first, recommended to the NW after the UE selects it; second, determined by the NW and configured for the UE.

[0202] Second stage information (2nd stage): Based on the AP / TRP selected in the first stage, another TCI state selection field (new TCI state selection field) in the DCI indicates the TCI states associated with the indicated AP / TRP. This TCI state selection field differs from the field of the same name in the previous embodiment because it selects the TCI states associated with the AP / TRP indicated in the first stage.

[0203] For example, referring to FIG6 , assuming that the number of AP / TRP sets / clusters serving a UE is N=4, the first-stage information indicates the selection of these four AP / TRPs: AP / TRP#1, AP / TRP#2, and AP / TRP#4. In the second-stage indication information, the corresponding TCI states are indicated for the selected AP / TRPs. For example, the second-stage indication information indicates Joint TCI state#1, {UL TCI state#2, DL TCI state#3}, and Joint TCI state#5.

[0204] In addition, it should be noted that the first-stage information and the second-stage information can be in the same DCI, with the first-stage information appearing at the beginning of the DCI and the second-stage information appearing at the end of the DCI, that is, after the first-stage information. Furthermore, the first-stage information and the second-stage information can be in different DCIs, with the DCI containing the first-stage information appearing before the DCI containing the second-stage information in the time domain.

[0205] In summary, through the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, a network device can indicate multiple TCI states to a terminal device. In this way, the terminal device can obtain spatial information or QCL information of the network node associated with each TCI state indicated by the first information. This clarifies the spatial relationship or QCL information of multiple network nodes, ensuring normal communication.

[0206] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present application, the technical solution of the present application can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, and these simple modifications all fall within the scope of protection of the present application. For example, the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application will not further explain the various possible combinations. For another example, the various different embodiments of the present application can also be arbitrarily combined, as long as they do not violate the idea of ​​the present application, they should also be regarded as the contents disclosed in the present application. For another example, under the premise of no conflict, the various embodiments and / or the technical features in each embodiment described in the present application can be arbitrarily combined with the prior art, and the technical solution obtained after the combination should also fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0207] It should also be understood that in the various method embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not imply a precedence in 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 the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "downlink," "uplink," and "sidelink" are used to indicate the transmission direction of signals or data, where "downlink" is used to indicate the first direction of transmission of signals or data from a site to a user equipment in a cell, "uplink" is used to indicate the second direction of transmission of signals or data from a user equipment in a cell to a site, and "sidelink" is used to indicate the third direction of transmission of signals or data from user equipment 1 to user equipment 2. For example, "downlink signal" indicates that the transmission direction of the signal is the first direction. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. Specifically, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0208] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a terminal device. As shown in FIG7 , the communication device includes:

[0209] The receiving unit 710 is configured to receive first information, where the first information indicates multiple TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0210] In some embodiments, the plurality of TCI states include a combined TCI state and / or a separated TCI state.

[0211] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive second information, where the second information is used to activate N TCI states, where the multiple TCI states are at least some of the N activated TCI states, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0212] In some embodiments, the second information indicates multiple TCI states corresponding to each code point in the plurality of code points; the multiple TCI states corresponding to each code point are at least some of the N activated TCI states;

[0213] The first information carries a target code point, which is any one of the multiple code points; and the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information are multiple TCI states corresponding to the target code point.

[0214] In some embodiments, the second information includes M*N first fields P; M is the number of the plurality of code points;

[0215] Among them, the first field Pm,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state; m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.

[0216] In some embodiments, when the nth TCI state is a joint TCI state, the first field Pm,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state;

[0217] When the nth TCI state is the separated TCI state, the first field Pm,n includes a downlink subfield Pm,D,n and an uplink subfield Pm,U,n; wherein the downlink subfield Pm,D,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth downlink TCI state; the uplink subfield Pm,U,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth uplink TCI state.

[0218] In some embodiments, the second information further includes a second field, and the second field is used to indicate whether each TCI state in the N activated TCI states is a separate TCI state or a joint TCI state.

[0219] In some embodiments, the second information further includes a third field, and the third field is used to indicate identification information of multiple TCI states corresponding to each TCI code point.

[0220] In some embodiments, the second information indicates identification information of each TCI state in the N activated TCI states;

[0221] The first information carries a first bitmap, where the first bitmap is used to indicate some TCI states among the N activated TCI states.

[0222] In some embodiments, the second information includes N fourth fields, and the N fourth fields correspond to the N activated TCI states respectively;

[0223] Wherein, when the nth activated TCI state is the combined TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate identification information of the nth activated TCI state;

[0224] When the nth activated TCI state is a separated TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate the identification information of the uplink TCI state in the nth activated TCI state, and / or the identification information of the downlink TCI state.

[0225] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by downlink control information;

[0226] The second information is carried by a media access control element MAC CE, or a radio resource control RRC signaling.

[0227] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive third information, wherein the third information indicates a plurality of TCI state resource pools; the plurality of TCI states are from the plurality of TCI state resource pools;

[0228] The first information indicates an index value of each TCI state in the plurality of TCI states in a corresponding TCI state resource pool.

[0229] In some embodiments, each TCI state resource pool in the plurality of TCI state resource pools has an associated network node.

[0230] In some embodiments, the first information and the third information are carried by the same downlink control information, or by different downlink control information.

[0231] In some embodiments, the first information includes a fifth field and a sixth field, the fifth field is used to activate N TCI states, and the sixth field is used to indicate at least some of the N TCI states.

[0232] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by a MAC CE.

[0233] In some embodiments, the first information is carried via RRC signaling.

[0234] FIG8 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a network device. As shown in FIG8 , the communication device includes:

[0235] The sending unit 810 is configured to send first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates multiple TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0236] In some embodiments, the plurality of TCI states include a combined TCI state and / or a separated TCI state.

[0237] In some embodiments, the sending unit 810 is further configured to send second information to the terminal device, where the second information is used to activate N TCI states, where the multiple TCI states are at least some of the N activated TCI states, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0238] In some embodiments, the second information indicates multiple TCI states corresponding to each code point in the plurality of code points; the multiple TCI states corresponding to each code point are at least some of the N activated TCI states;

[0239] The first information carries a target code point, which is any one of the multiple code points; and the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information are multiple TCI states corresponding to the target code point.

[0240] In some embodiments, the second information includes M*N first fields P; M is the number of the plurality of code points;

[0241] Among them, the first field Pm,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state; m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.

[0242] In some embodiments, when the nth TCI state is a joint TCI state, the first field Pm,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state;

[0243] When the nth TCI state is the separated TCI state, the first field Pm,n includes a downlink subfield Pm,D,n and an uplink subfield Pm,U,n; wherein the downlink subfield Pm,D,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth downlink TCI state; the uplink subfield Pm,U,n is used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth uplink TCI state.

[0244] In some embodiments, the second information further includes a second field, and the second field is used to indicate whether each TCI state in the N activated TCI states is a separate TCI state or a joint TCI state.

[0245] In some embodiments, the second information further includes a third field, and the third field is used to indicate identification information of multiple TCI states corresponding to each TCI code point.

[0246] In some embodiments, the second information indicates identification information of each TCI state in the N activated TCI states;

[0247] The first information carries a first bitmap, where the first bitmap is used to indicate some TCI states among the N activated TCI states.

[0248] In some embodiments, the second information includes N fourth fields, and the N fourth fields correspond to the N activated TCI states respectively;

[0249] Wherein, when the nth activated TCI state is the combined TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate identification information of the nth activated TCI state;

[0250] When the nth activated TCI state is a separated TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate the identification information of the uplink TCI state in the nth activated TCI state, and / or the identification information of the downlink TCI state.

[0251] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by downlink control information;

[0252] The second information is carried by a media access control element MAC CE, or a radio resource control RRC signaling.

[0253] In some embodiments, the sending unit 810 is further configured to send third information to the terminal device, where the third information indicates a plurality of TCI state resource pools; the plurality of TCI states are from the plurality of TCI state resource pools;

[0254] The first information indicates an index value of each TCI state in the plurality of TCI states in a corresponding TCI state resource pool.

[0255] In some embodiments, each TCI state resource pool in the plurality of TCI state resource pools has an associated network node.

[0256] In some embodiments, the first information and the third information are carried by the same downlink control information, or by different downlink control information.

[0257] In some embodiments, the first information includes a fifth field and a sixth field, the fifth field is used to activate N TCI states, and the sixth field is used to indicate at least some of the N TCI states.

[0258] In some embodiments, the first information is carried by a MAC CE.

[0259] In some embodiments, the first information is carried via RRC signaling.

[0260] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the above-mentioned communication device in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the communication method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0261] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a terminal device or a network device. The communication device 900 shown in Figure 9 includes a processor 910, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0262] Optionally, as shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 920. The processor 910 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 920 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0263] The memory 920 may be a separate device independent of the processor 910 , or may be integrated into the processor 910 .

[0264] Optionally, as shown in FIG9 , the communication device 900 may further include a transceiver 930 , and the processor 910 may control the transceiver 930 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0265] The transceiver 930 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 930 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0266] Optionally, the communication device 900 may specifically be a network device in an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 900 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0267] Optionally, the communication device 900 may specifically be a mobile terminal / terminal device of an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 900 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the mobile terminal / terminal device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0268] Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1000 shown in Figure 10 includes a processor 1010, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0269] Optionally, as shown in FIG10 , the chip 1000 may further include a memory 1020. The processor 1010 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1020 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0270] The memory 1020 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1010 , or may be integrated into the processor 1010 .

[0271] Optionally, the chip 1000 may further include an input interface 1030. The processor 1010 may control the input interface 1030 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0272] Optionally, the chip 1000 may further include an output interface 1040. The processor 1010 may control the output interface 1040 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0273] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0274] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the mobile terminal / terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the mobile terminal / terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0275] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0276] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium, which stores one or more programs. The one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0277] FIG11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG11 , the communication system 1100 includes a terminal device 1110 and a network device 1120 .

[0278] Among them, the terminal device 1110 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the terminal device in the above method, and the network device 1120 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the network device in the above method. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0279] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0280] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of 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 link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0281] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be 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 link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0282] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0283] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0284] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the mobile terminal / terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the mobile terminal / terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0285] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0286] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0287] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the mobile terminal / terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the mobile terminal / terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0288] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0289] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0290] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the mobile terminal / terminal device in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on the computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the mobile terminal / terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0291] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0292] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0293] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0294] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and 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 these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0295] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0296] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0297] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, the method comprising: The terminal device receives first information, where the first information indicates multiple transmission configuration indication TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The multiple TCI states include a combined TCI state and / or a separated TCI state.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: Also includes: The terminal device receives second information, where the second information is used to activate N TCI states, where the multiple TCI states are at least some of the N activated TCI states, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The second information indicates a plurality of TCI states corresponding to each code point in the plurality of code points; the plurality of TCI states corresponding to each code point are at least some of the N activated TCI states; Among them, the first information carries a target code point, and the target code point is any one of the multiple code points; the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information are multiple TCI states corresponding to the target code point.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The second information includes M*N first fields P; M is the number of the multiple code points; Among them, the first field P m,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state; m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: When the nth TCI state is the joint TCI state, the first field P m,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state; When the nth TCI state is the separated TCI state, the first field P m,n Includes the downlink subfield P m,D,n and the upstream subfield P m,U,n ; Wherein, the downlink subfield P m,D,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth downlink TCI state; the uplink subfield P m,U,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth uplink TCI state.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The second information also includes a second field, and the second field is used to indicate whether each TCI state in the N activated TCI states is a separate TCI state, or whether it is a joint TCI state.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein: The second information also includes a third field, and the third field is used to indicate identification information of multiple TCI states corresponding to each TCI code point.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The second information indicates identification information of each TCI state in the N activated TCI states; The first information carries a first bit map, where the first bit map is used to indicate some TCI states among the N activated TCI states.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The second information includes N fourth fields, and the N fourth fields correspond to the N activated TCI states respectively; Wherein, when the nth activated TCI state is a joint TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate identification information of the nth activated TCI state; When the nth activated TCI state is a separated TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate the identification information of the uplink TCI state in the nth activated TCI state, and / or the identification information of the downlink TCI state.

11. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 10, wherein: The first information is carried by downlink control information; The second information is carried by a media access control element MAC CE, or by a radio resource control RRC signaling.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: Also includes: The terminal device receives third information, where the third information indicates a plurality of TCI state resource pools; the plurality of TCI states come from the plurality of TCI state resource pools; The first information indicates an index value of each TCI state in the multiple TCI states in the corresponding TCI state resource pool.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Each TCI status resource pool in the plurality of TCI status resource pools has an associated network node.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein: The first information and the third information are carried by the same downlink control information, or by different downlink control information.

15. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first information includes a fifth field and a sixth field, the fifth field is used to activate N TCI states, and the sixth field is used to indicate at least part of the N TCI states.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The first information is carried by MAC CE.

17. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first information is carried through RRC signaling.

18. A communication method, the method comprising: The network device sends first information to the terminal device, where the first information indicates multiple transmission configuration indication TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The multiple TCI states include a combined TCI state and / or a separated TCI state.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein: Also includes: The network device sends second information to the terminal device, where the second information is used to activate N TCI states, where the multiple TCI states are at least some of the N activated TCI states, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The second information indicates a plurality of TCI states corresponding to each code point in the plurality of code points; the plurality of TCI states corresponding to each code point are at least some of the N activated TCI states; Among them, the first information carries a target code point, and the target code point is any one of the multiple code points; the multiple TCI states indicated by the first information are multiple TCI states corresponding to the target code point.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The second information includes M*N first fields P; M is the number of the multiple code points; Among them, the first field P m,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth TCI state; m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein: When the nth TCI state is the joint TCI state, the first field P m,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth joint TCI state; When the nth TCI state is the separated TCI state, the first field P m,n Includes the downlink subfield P m,D,n and the upstream subfield P m,U,n ; Wherein, the downlink subfield P m,D,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth downlink TCI state; the uplink subfield P m,U,n Used to indicate whether the mth code point corresponds to the nth uplink TCI state.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The second information also includes a second field, and the second field is used to indicate whether each TCI state in the N activated TCI states is a separate TCI state, or whether it is a joint TCI state.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein: The second information also includes a third field, and the third field is used to indicate identification information of multiple TCI states corresponding to each TCI code point.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein: The second information indicates identification information of each TCI state in the N activated TCI states; The first information carries a first bit map, where the first bit map is used to indicate some TCI states among the N activated TCI states.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein: The second information includes N fourth fields, and the N fourth fields correspond to the N activated TCI states respectively; Wherein, when the nth activated TCI state is a joint TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate identification information of the nth activated TCI state; When the nth activated TCI state is a separated TCI state, the fourth field corresponding to the nth activated TCI state is used to indicate the identification information of the uplink TCI state in the nth activated TCI state, and / or the identification information of the downlink TCI state.

28. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 27, wherein: The first information is carried by downlink control information; The second information is carried by a media access control element MAC CE, or by a radio resource control RRC signaling.

29. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein: Also includes: The network device sends third information to the terminal device, where the third information indicates a plurality of TCI state resource pools; The multiple TCI states are from the multiple TCI state resource pools; The first information indicates an index value of each TCI state in the multiple TCI states in the corresponding TCI state resource pool.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: Each TCI status resource pool in the plurality of TCI status resource pools has an associated network node.

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein: The first information and the third information are carried by the same downlink control information, or by different downlink control information.

32. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein: The first information includes a fifth field and a sixth field, the fifth field is used to activate N TCI states, and the sixth field is used to indicate at least part of the N TCI states.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: The first information is carried by MAC CE.

34. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein: The first information is carried through RRC signaling.

35. A communication device, applied to a terminal device, comprising: The receiving unit is configured to receive first information, wherein the first information indicates multiple transmission configuration indication TCI states, and the network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

36. A communication device, applied to a network device, comprising: A sending unit is configured to send first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information indicates multiple transmission configuration indication TCI states, and network nodes associated with each TCI state in the multiple TCI states jointly provide communication services for the terminal device.

37. A terminal device, comprising: Memory, processors and transceivers, The transceiver is used to realize communication with the network device; The memory stores a computer program executable on the processor. When the processor executes the program in conjunction with the transceiver, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 is implemented.

38. A network device comprising: Memory, processors and transceivers, The transceiver is used to realize communication with the terminal device; The memory stores a computer program executable on the processor. When the processor executes the program in conjunction with the transceiver, the method according to any one of claims 18 to 34 is implemented.

39. A computer storage medium storing one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 17, or claims 18 to 34.

40. A chip, comprising: A processor, used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17, or claims 18 to 34.

41. A computer program product, comprising a computer storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program comprises instructions executable by at least one processor, and when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 or claims 18 to 34 is implemented.

42. A computer program, the computer program causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, or claims 18 to 34.

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