Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method and device. In the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, a terminal device can determine the time domain position of PEI-O associated with M PFs in a paging cycle through a first offset value and a second offset value, and the time domain position of the PEI-O associated with the M PFs is concentrated in the first M radio frames of the paging cycle or is close to the position of the first M radio frames. This is beneficial to reducing the number of times of repeated switching of a network device between a wake-up state and a sleep state, prolonging the sleep time of the network device, and saving the energy consumption of the network device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] In wireless communication systems, terminal devices in a disconnected state periodically monitor the paging occasion (PO) in the paging frame (PF) configured by the network in order to receive paging messages sent by network devices and thus respond to service requests from the network devices. Specifically, the network device can send a paging early indication (PEI) to the terminal device in advance. This PEI indicates whether the terminal device needs to monitor the paging message on the corresponding PO. If the PEI indicates that monitoring the corresponding PO is not required, the terminal device can remain in sleep mode to save energy.

[0003] However, a paging cycle may include multiple PFs, and the network device needs to send a PEI for each of these multiple PFs, which leads to an increase in the network device's power consumption. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that enables network devices to send PEIs in the time domain of the first M radio frames in a paging cycle for M PFs, which helps to extend the sleep time of the network devices and thus save the energy consumption of the network devices.

[0005] In a first aspect, this application provides a communication method applied to a terminal-side device, such as a terminal device or a communication module in the terminal device, or a circuit or chip in the terminal device responsible for communication functions. Taking the application of this method to a terminal device as an example, the method includes: receiving system information, the system information indicating a first offset value and a second offset value, the first offset value being the offset value of a first radio frame relative to a first PF, the second offset value being the offset value of the monitoring timing of a first PEI set relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame, the first radio frame being the radio frame corresponding to the monitoring timing of the first PEI set, the first PEI set being associated with a first PF, the first PEI set being any one of M PEI sets, the radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belonging to the first M radio frames of a paging cycle, the M PEI sets belonging to N PEI sets, the N PEI sets being associated with N PFs, the paging cycle including N PFs, N being an integer not less than 2, and M being an integer ranging from 2 to N; receiving a first PEI at the monitoring timing of the first PEI set according to the first offset value and the second offset value, the first PEI belonging to the above first PEI set.

[0006] By using the first offset value and the second offset value, the M PEI sets associated with the M PFs can be centrally configured in the time domain position of the first M radio frames or close to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle. This allows the terminal device to receive the first PEI from the centrally transmitted PEI set, which helps to reduce the number of times the network device switches between the wake-up state and the sleep state, thereby extending the sleep time of the network device and saving the energy consumption of the network device.

[0007] In some implementations, the value of M is N.

[0008] When M is N, for N PFs in a paging cycle, all N PEI sets associated with the N PFs are concentrated in the time domain position of the first N radio frames or close to the first N radio frames of the paging cycle, which can further extend the sleep time of network devices and help save the energy consumption of network devices.

[0009] In some implementations, the first PF is the nth PF in the paging cycle, and the first radio frame is the nth radio frame in the paging cycle, where n is an integer ranging from 1 to N.

[0010] By using the first offset value, the sorting sequence number of the first radio frame in the paging cycle can be configured to be the same as the sorting sequence number of the first PF in the N PFs, thereby enabling the terminal device to receive the first PEI in an orderly manner.

[0011] In some implementations, the radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle, including: the radio frame corresponding to each of the M PEI sets is the first radio frame in the paging cycle.

[0012] Terminal devices receive PEI at the time domain position of the first radio frame of the paging cycle or close to the first radio frame, which helps to further save the energy consumption of network equipment.

[0013] In some implementations, the second offset value is less than the number of symbols included in the first radio frame.

[0014] The second offset value can be used to configure the monitoring timing of the first PEI set within the first radio frame, so that the terminal device receives the PEI in the time domain position of the first M radio frames of the paging cycle, which helps to save the energy consumption of the network device.

[0015] In some implementations, the first offset value and the second offset value are invalid values ​​for non-energy-efficient terminal devices.

[0016] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method applied to a network-side device, such as a network device or a component (e.g., a chip, a chip system, etc.) within the network device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device. Taking the application of this method to a network device as an example, the method includes: sending system information, the system information indicating a first offset value and a second offset value, the first offset value being the offset value of a first radio frame relative to a first PF, the second offset value being the offset value of the monitoring timing of a first PEI set relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame, the first radio frame being the radio frame corresponding to the monitoring timing of the first PEI set, the first PEI set being associated with a first PF, the first PEI set being any one of M PEI sets, the radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belonging to the first M radio frames of a paging cycle, the M PEI sets belonging to N PEI sets, the N PEI sets being associated with N PFs, the paging cycle including N PFs, N being an integer not less than 2, and M being an integer ranging from 2 to N; and sending the first PEI set at the monitoring timing of the first PEI set according to the first offset value and the second offset value.

[0017] By using the first offset value and the second offset value, the network device can centrally configure the M PEI sets associated with the M PFs in the time domain position of the first M radio frames of the paging cycle or close to the first M radio frames. This allows the network device to centrally send the M PEI sets, which helps to reduce the number of times the network device switches between the wake-up state and the sleep state, thereby extending the sleep time of the network device and saving the energy consumption of the network device.

[0018] In some implementations, the value of M is N.

[0019] When M is N, for N PFs in a paging cycle, all N PEI sets associated with the N PFs are concentrated in the time domain position of the first N radio frames or close to the first N radio frames of the paging cycle, which can further extend the sleep time of network devices and help save the energy consumption of network devices.

[0020] In some implementations, the first PF above is the nth PF in the paging cycle, and the first radio frame above is the nth radio frame in the paging cycle, where n is an integer ranging from 1 to N.

[0021] The network device can configure the sorting sequence number of the first radio frame in the paging period to be the same as the sorting sequence number of the first PF among the N PFs by using the first offset value, thereby sending the first PEI set in an orderly manner.

[0022] In some implementations, the radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle, including: the radio frame corresponding to each of the M PEI sets is the first radio frame in the paging cycle.

[0023] Network devices can send PEI sets in the time domain position of the first radio frame of the paging cycle or close to the first radio frame, which helps to further save the energy consumption of network devices.

[0024] In some implementations, the second offset value is less than the number of symbols included in the first radio frame.

[0025] The second offset value can be used to configure the monitoring timing of the first PEI set within the first radio frame, so that the network device can send the PEI set within the time domain position of the first M radio frames of the paging cycle, which helps to save the energy consumption of the network device.

[0026] In some implementations, the first offset value and the second offset value are invalid values ​​for non-energy-efficient terminal devices.

[0027] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including modules or units for implementing the methods of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation of the first or second aspect. Each module or unit can implement its corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0028] For example, the communication device in the third aspect is a terminal device or a component configured in a terminal device, such as a chip, chip system, processor, etc.; or, the communication device in the third aspect is a network device or a component configured in a network device, such as a chip, chip system, processor, etc.

[0029] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including a processor, which is configured to execute the communication method in the first or second aspect and any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0030] Optionally, the communication device includes a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to a processor, which, when executing the instructions stored in the memory, can implement the methods described in the foregoing aspects.

[0031] Optionally, the communication device includes a communication interface for communicating with other communication devices. For example, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, pin, or other type of communication interface.

[0032] For example, the communication device provided in the fourth aspect is a chip or chip system, or it may correspond to a terminal device or network device.

[0033] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium including a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to implement the methods of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation of the first or second aspect.

[0034] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when run, causes a computer to perform the methods of the first or second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0035] The second to sixth aspects of the embodiments of this application correspond to the technical solutions of the first aspect of the embodiments of this application. The beneficial effects achieved by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation are similar, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0036] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating the process of a network device initiating a paging of a terminal device that is in a disconnected state;

[0037] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of PF and PO included in a paging cycle;

[0038] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a scenario where a terminal device is woken up via PEI instruction;

[0039] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the location of PEI monitoring opportunities in the time domain;

[0040] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0041] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram showing the position of the first radio frame in the paging cycle;

[0042] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram showing the position of the first radio frame in the paging cycle;

[0043] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in another embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0045] Before describing the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the following points should be noted.

[0046] First, in the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with essentially the same function and purpose. For example, "first configuration information" and "second configuration information" are merely used to distinguish different configuration information and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that the terms "first" and "second" do not necessarily imply that they are different.

[0047] Second, in the embodiments of this application, the words "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate that they are examples, illustrations, or illustrations. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design options. Specifically, the use of the words "exemplarily" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0048] Third, in the embodiments of this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following," "one or more of the following," or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0049] Fourth, the predefined in the embodiments of this application can be understood as definition, pre-defined, preset, stored, pre-stored, pre-negotiated, or pre-configured, etc.

[0050] Fifth, in the embodiments of this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction and indirect instruction, as well as explicit instruction and implicit instruction. The information indicated by a certain instruction is called the information to be instructed. In specific implementation, there are many ways to indicate the information to be instructed, such as, but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be instructed, such as the information to be instructed itself or its index. It can also indirectly indicate the information to be instructed by indicating other information, where there is a correlation between the other information and the information to be instructed; or it can only indicate a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts are known or pre-agreed upon. For example, the instruction can be implemented by using a pre-agreed (e.g., protocol predefined) arrangement of various information, thereby reducing the instruction overhead to a certain extent. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific method of instruction. It is understood that for the sender of the instruction, the instruction can be used to indicate the information to be instructed, and for the receiver of the instruction, the instruction can be used to determine the information to be instructed.

[0051] Sixth, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, 5th Generation (5G) systems, or New Radio (NR) systems, or future communication systems, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0052] The terminal in this application embodiment may also be referred to as: user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, user agent, or user device, etc.

[0053] A terminal can be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to a user, such as a handheld device or in-vehicle device with wireless connectivity. Currently, examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving vehicles, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminals in 5G networks, or future evolution of public land mobile communication networks. The embodiments of this application do not limit the scope of terminals such as those in networS (PLMN).

[0054] As an example and not a limitation, the terminal can be a terminal in an Internet of Things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important component of future information technology development. Its main technical characteristic is connecting objects to networks through communication technologies, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and object-to-object interconnection. Exemplarily, the terminal in this application embodiment can be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that can be worn directly on the body or integrated into a user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices; they can also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly defined, wearable smart devices include those with comprehensive functions, large size, and the ability to achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those focused on a specific application function and requiring the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0055] By way of example and not limitation, the terminal can also be a terminal in machine-type communication (MTC). Furthermore, the terminal can also be an on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit built into a vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the methods provided in the embodiments of this application through the built-in on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip, or on-board unit. Therefore, the embodiments of this application can also be applied to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X), long-term evolution-vehicle (LTE-V) technology, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology.

[0056] An access network device can be a radio access network (RAN) device, which is a device that communicates with terminals and has wireless transceiver capabilities. The access network device can provide wireless communication services, enabling terminals to access the wireless network. The access network device can be a node in the radio access network, such as a RAN node. In this embodiment, the access network device can also be referred to as a network device.

[0057] In one possible scenario, a RAN node can be a base station (BS), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a home evolved NodeB (or home Node B, HNB), a Wi-Fi access point (AP), a mobile switching center, a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can also be a device that performs base station functions in device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication systems, and IoT communication systems. A RAN node can also be a RAN node in a non-terrestrial network (NTN), meaning that a RAN node can be deployed on a high-altitude platform or a satellite. RAN nodes can be macro base stations, micro base stations, indoor stations, relay nodes, donor nodes, etc., or radio controllers in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios, or nodes in open radio access network (O-RAN or ORAN) scenarios. Optionally, RAN nodes can also be servers, wearable devices, vehicles, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, in V2X technology, RAN nodes can be roadside units (RSUs). Of course, RAN nodes can also be nodes in the core network.

[0058] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes each implementing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), etc. CUs and DUs can be set up separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0059] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an open RAN (ORAN or O-RAN) system, CU can also be called open CU (O-CU), DU can also be called open DU (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called open RU (O-RU).

[0060] Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU units can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules. That is, the wireless access network device in this embodiment can be a virtualized device, for example, implemented through general-purpose hardware and instantiated virtualization functions, or dedicated hardware and instantiated virtualization functions. The general-purpose hardware can be a server, such as a cloud server.

[0061] To facilitate understanding of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, the relevant concepts involved in the embodiments of this application will be introduced below.

[0062] 1. Paging

[0063] Paging refers to the process by which network devices periodically send paging messages to terminal devices in an idle (RRC_IDLE) or inactive (RRC_INACTIVE) state to wake them up and return them to the connected (RRC_Connected) state.

[0064] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of a network device initiating a paging call to a terminal device in a disconnected state. In this embodiment, the network device can be used to instruct an access network device or a core network element. As an example, the paging process includes the following steps:

[0065] S101, the access network device sends system information to the terminal device, the system information indicating paging configuration. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the system information from the access network device.

[0066] In this step, the access network device can broadcast system information. This system information, indicating the paging configuration, may specifically include the paging cycle, PF, and PO. The terminal device receives the system information broadcast by the access network device. The paging cycle, PF, and PO will be further explained below.

[0067] S102, the core network element sends a paging message to the access network device, the paging message including the identification information of the terminal device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the paging message from the core network element.

[0068] When a core network element needs to send downlink service data to a terminal device, the core network element first sends a paging message to the access network device. The identification information included in the paging message is the identification information of the terminal device.

[0069] S103, the access network device sends the paging message to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the paging message from the access network device.

[0070] For the access network device, it can determine the PO corresponding to the terminal device based on the aforementioned terminal device identification information and paging configuration. In this step, the access network device sends a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device on the corresponding PO. The DCI is a DCI scrambled with a paging-radionetwork temporary identity (P-RNTI). This DCI can be used to indicate the scheduling of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying paging messages; that is, the access network device sends the PDSCH carrying paging messages on the time-frequency resources indicated by the DCI.

[0071] Accordingly, for the terminal device, it can determine its corresponding PO based on its identification information and the aforementioned paging configuration. In this step, the terminal device can monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI on the corresponding PO. This DCI indicates that a PDSCH carrying the paging message has been scheduled, thereby enabling the terminal device to receive the paging message according to the PDSCH indicated by the DCI. It is understood that if the identification information included in the paging message is the same as the identification information of the terminal device receiving the paging message, the terminal device can determine that it has been paged.

[0072] In steps S102 and S103 above, the core network element can send a paging message to the access network device, which then sends a paging message to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the paging message from the access network device. Alternatively, steps S102 and S103 can be replaced by step S104. As shown in step S104, the core network element can directly send a paging message to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the paging message from the core network element. Steps S102, S103, and S104 represent two possible implementations of the network device sending a paging message to the terminal device. Either method can be used, and no limitation is made here.

[0073] S105, the terminal device initiates random access and establishes a connection with the access network equipment and core network elements.

[0074] In this step, if the terminal device determines that it has been paged, it can initiate random access to the access network device and transition from the idle state to the connected state (RRC_Connected). The process of random access will not be explained in detail here.

[0075] 2. Paging cycle

[0076] As described above, network devices periodically send paging messages to disconnected terminal devices, and similarly, disconnected terminal devices periodically monitor paging messages. The paging period is the time interval between these periodic sending and monitoring of paging messages. The paging period is a discontinuous reception (DRX) period. According to the relevant protocols of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the length of a paging period can be 32 radio frames (RF), 64 RF, 128 RF, or 256 RF.

[0077] 3.PF

[0078] A PF is a radio frame, and a PF can include one or more POs. Therefore, the above... Figure 1 In the paging process shown, the access network equipment and the terminal equipment determine the corresponding PO location. In fact, the PF corresponding to the terminal equipment is first determined, and then the PO that the terminal equipment needs to monitor is further determined from one or more POs included in the PF.

[0079] exist Figure 1 In the paging process shown, the paging configuration indicated by the system information may include the following:

[0080]

[0081] The content of the "nAndPagingFrameOffset" field is used to indicate the frame-level interval between PFs included in a paging cycle and the position of the PFs. Based on the length of the paging cycle and the frame-level interval between PFs, the number of PFs in a paging cycle can be determined.

[0082] For example, the instruction "oneEighthT" (1 / 8T) in "nAndPagingFrameOffset" indicates that every 8 radio frames in the paging period includes one PF, meaning there are 7 radio frames between every two adjacent PFs. Assuming the paging period is 64 radio frames long, with system frame numbers (SFN) ranging from 0 to 63, the "INTEGER" parameter value for "oneEighthT" is 0, meaning the offset of the first PF within this paging period relative to the first radio frame is 0. Therefore, this paging period includes 64 / 8 = 8 PFs, where the first PF corresponds to the radio frame with SFN 0 (offset of 0), the second PF corresponds to the radio frame with SFN 8, the third PF corresponds to the radio frame with SFN 16, and so on, with the eighth PF corresponding to the radio frame with SFN 56.

[0083] Alternatively, "nAndPagingFrameOffset" indicates "onesixteenthT" (1 / 16T), assuming the paging period is 32 radio frames long, corresponding to SFN 0 to SFN 31. The "INTEGER" parameter value corresponding to "onesixteenthT" is 15, indicating that the first PF within this paging period is offset by 15 relative to the first radio frame. Therefore, this paging period includes 32 / 16 = 2 PFs, where the first PF corresponds to the radio frame at SFN 15 (offset value of 15), and the second PF corresponds to the radio frame at SFN 31.

[0084] Based on the above configuration information, the terminal device can determine the frame number of the PF it needs to monitor. The frame number of the PF satisfies the following relationship:

[0085] (SFN+PF_offset)mod T=(T div N)*(UE_ID mod N)

[0086] In this context, "div" represents integer division, "*" represents multiplication, and "mod" represents modulo operation (the remainder after dividing the two numbers before and after mod). T represents the length of the paging period, N represents the number of PFs included in the paging period, UE_ID represents the user equipment identifier (UE_ID) of the terminal device, and PF_offset is the offset of the first PF relative to the first radio frame in the paging period, as indicated in the aforementioned configuration information. The SFN that satisfies this relationship is the frame number of the PF that the terminal device needs to monitor.

[0087] This application does not limit the user equipment identifier of the terminal device. The user equipment identifier of the terminal device can be a UE-level identifier, such as the International Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (IMSI), the International Mobile Equipment Identification Number (IMEI), the System Architecture Evolution Temporary Mobile Station Identity (S-TMSI), etc., or it can be a cell-level or group-level identifier, such as the Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identity (C-RNTI), etc.

[0088] Optionally, the value corresponding to UE_ID can be the modulus between the user equipment identifier of the terminal device and a first threshold. The first threshold can be 1024 or 4096. As an example, UE_ID = IMSI mod 1024, where IMSI can be the S-TMSI in a 5G system.

[0089] For example: Assuming the paging cycle length is 64 radio frames, "nAndPagingFrameOffset" indicates "oneEighthT" (1 / 8T), and the "INTEGER" parameter value corresponding to "oneEighthT" is 0. This corresponds to the above relationship: T = 64, N = 8, PF_offset = 0. Assuming IMSI = 123456789012345, then according to the example above, UE_ID = 123456789012345 mod 1024 = 345. The above relationship is (SFN + 0) mod 32 = (64 div 8) * (345 mod 8) = 8. Therefore, when SFN is 8, this relationship is satisfied, which means the terminal device needs to monitor the radio frame with frame number SFN 8 in this paging cycle, that is, the terminal device monitors the second PF in this paging cycle.

[0090] 4. PO

[0091] A PO is the time-domain location of a specific DCI, or described as a time interval, that the specific DCI is scheduled to carry a PDSCH with paging messages. A PO can occupy one or more time slots. Figure 1 The paging configuration in the paging process shown can be configured to include the number of POs in a PF, specifically indicated as follows:

[0092] Ns ENUMERATED {four, two, one}

[0093] The field “Ns” indicates the number of POs that a PF can include, and its corresponding parameter value is 4, 2 or 1, that is, a PF can include 1, 2 or 4 POs.

[0094] Once the terminal device has determined the PF frame number it needs to monitor, it can further determine the index of the PO to be monitored under the corresponding PF. The index number of the PO to be monitored satisfies the following relationship:

[0095] i_s = floor(UE_ID / N) mod Ns

[0096] Where “ / ” represents division, floor() represents flooring down, UE_ID and N have the same meaning as in the previous text, i_s represents the index number of the PO to be monitored, and the terminal device monitors the i_s+1th PO under the corresponding PF.

[0097] For example: UE_ID=123456789012345mod1024=345, the paging cycle includes 8 PFs, and each PF includes 4 POs. Then i_s=floor(UE_ID / N)mod Ns=floor(345 / 8)mod 4=3, that is, the index number of the PO to be monitored is 3, and the terminal device monitors the 4th (i_s+1=4) PO among the 4 POs included in this PF.

[0098] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of the PF and PO included in a paging cycle. (Example) Figure 2 As shown, within a paging cycle, there are four paging points (PFs): PF1, PF2, PF3, and PF4 (N=4). Each PF includes two paging points (POs): PO1 and PO2 (Ns=2). The terminal device can determine the POs it needs to monitor based on the paging configuration. Figure 2 In this context, the PO monitored by the six terminal devices from UE#1 to UE#6 are all PO 1 included in PF 1. This can be understood as PO 1 in PF 1 being associated with UE#1 to UE#6.

[0099] according to Figure 2 It is known that UE#1-UE#6 all need to monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI on PO 1 in PF 1 and receive paging messages on the time-frequency domain resources indicated by the DCI. Assuming that the network device only initiates paging for UE#1 to UE#3 on PO 1, that is, the terminal device identification information included in the paging message is used to indicate UE#1 to UE#3, UE#1 to UE#3 can determine that they are being paged based on the identification information included in the paging message.

[0100] For UE#4 to UE#6, although paging messages can be received on the time-frequency domain resources indicated by DCI, the identification information of the terminal device included in the paging information is different from the identification information of UE#4 to UE#6 itself. This is equivalent to the network device not initiating paging for UE#4 to UE#6, resulting in UE#4 to UE#6 monitoring PO 1 in PF 1 as useless work, which increases the energy consumption of UE#4 to UE#6.

[0101] To reduce the power consumption of terminal devices, terminal devices associated with the same Product Object (PO) can be grouped, for example, by... Figure 2 In the associated PF 1, UE#1 to UE#6 of PO 1 are divided into two subgroups. The first subgroup includes UE#1 to UE#3, and the second subgroup includes UE#4 to UE#6.

[0102] Core network elements can group terminal devices associated with the same PO. Terminal devices can also be grouped according to their corresponding identification information. Terminal devices associated with the same PO can be divided into a maximum of 8 subgroups. The specific grouping implementation method will not be explained in detail here.

[0103] 5. PEI

[0104] Before monitoring the PF, the terminal device monitors the PEI. The PEI is used to indicate whether the terminal device in each subgroup needs to be woken up and monitored by the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI.

[0105] For example, PEI can use a bitmap to indicate whether the terminal device in each subgroup needs to be woken up and monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a scenario where a terminal device is woken up by instructing it via PEI. Figure 3 The configuration of paging cycle, PF and PO in the system Figure 2 Consistent, such as Figure 3 As shown, PEI 1 is a PEI corresponding to PF 1. The bit map in PEI 1 includes two bits, which correspond to the first subgroup and the second subgroup mentioned above, respectively.

[0106] like Figure 3As shown, the bitmap in PEI 1 has values ​​of 0 and 1. Bits with a value of 0 correspond to the first subgroup, and bits with a value of 1 correspond to the second subgroup. This means that PEI 1 indicates that terminal devices belonging to the first subgroup do not need to wake up and monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI, while terminal devices belonging to the second subgroup do need to wake up and monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI. In other words, UE#1-UE#3 do not need to monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI under their corresponding PO (i.e., PO 1 in PF 1), while UE#4-UE#6 do need to monitor the DCI under their corresponding PO (i.e., PO 1 in PF 1), thereby reducing the power consumption of UE#1-UE#3.

[0107] according to Figure 3 It can be seen that PEI 1 is used to indicate whether the terminal device associated with PO 1 in PF 1 needs to be woken up and monitor the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI. Similarly, PEI 1 can also indicate whether the terminal device associated with PO 2 in PF 1 needs to be woken up and monitor the DCI through another bit map. The aforementioned system information can also be used to indicate the configuration information of PEI, which may include:

[0108] po-NumPerPEI-r17 ENUMERATED{po1,po2,po4,po8}

[0109] The "po-NumPerPEI-r17" indicates the number of POs that each PEI can indicate, specifically 1 PO, 2 POs, 4 POs, or 8 POs.

[0110] 6. PEI Occasion (PEI-O)

[0111] Similar to how terminal devices monitor P-RNTI-scrambled DCI on PO, PEI-O is a set of PDCCH monitoring opportunities, and terminal devices monitor PEI on PEI-O. The PEI configuration information can indicate the time domain position of PEI-O through the "pei-FrameOffset" and "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" fields.

[0112] The "pei-FrameOffset" field indicates the offset of the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O relative to the PF corresponding to PEI. This offset is a frame-level offset. PEI configuration information may include:

[0113] pei-FrameOffset-r17 INTEGER(0..16)

[0114] The parameter indicated by the “pei-FrameOffset” field can be any integer from 0 to 16, and the offset value cannot exceed the interval between the two adjacent PFs plus 1. For example, if the “nAndPagingFrameOffset” field indicates “onesixteenthT” (1 / 16T), it means that the interval between two adjacent PFs is 15 radio frames, then the offset value indicated in the “pei-FrameOffset” field cannot exceed 16. If the “pei-FrameOffset” field indicates 2, it means that the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O is offset forward by 2 radio frames relative to the PF corresponding to PEI. Assuming that the PF corresponding to PEI is a radio frame of SFN 4, then the radio frame corresponding to PEI is a radio frame of SFN 2.

[0115] The parameter indicated by the “firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O” field is the offset value of the first PDCCH monitoring time of PEI-O relative to the first symbol in the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O. This offset value is a symbol-level offset value.

[0116] The number of parameters that the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field can indicate is related to the number of POs (Ns) included in the PF and the number of POs that PEI can indicate (po-NumPerPEI). When the number of POs that PEI can indicate is greater than or equal to the number of POs included in the PF (i.e., po-NumPerPEI≥Ns), the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field can only indicate one parameter, meaning there is only one PDCCH monitoring opportunity location for PEI-O. Accordingly, the terminal device can determine one PDCCH monitoring opportunity location for PEI-O based on the single parameter indicated by the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field, and monitor PEI at that monitoring opportunity location.

[0117] In a case where the number of POs that can be indicated by PEI is less than the number of POs included in a PF (i.e., po-NumPerPEI<Ns), the number of parameters indicated by the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field is Ns / po-NumPerPEI, that is, there are Ns / po-NumPerPEI PDCCH monitoring occasion positions for PEI-O. Accordingly, a terminal device can determine Ns / po-NumPerPEI PDCCH monitoring occasion positions of PEI-O according to the Ns / po-NumPerPEI parameters indicated by the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field, and select an index number of PEI-O therefrom as an index among the Ns / po-NumPerPEI PDCCH monitoring occasion positions, wherein the index satisfies the following relational expression:

[0118] i_poi-e=floor(i_s / po-NumPerPEI)

[0119] wherein, i_s represents the index number of the PO to be monitored, i_poi-e represents the index number of the PEI-O to be monitored, and the terminal device monitors the (i_poi-e+1)-th PDCCH monitoring occasion in the PEI-O.

[0120] For example: the value of Ns is 8, indicating that 8 POs are included in a PF; the value of po-NumPerPEI is 4, indicating that the PEI corresponding to the PF can indicate 4 POs, so po-NumPerPEI<Ns, and the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field can indicate Ns / po-NumPerPEI=8 / 4=2 PDCCH monitoring occasion positions. Assuming that the value of i_s is 0, indicating that the terminal device needs to monitor the first PO under the corresponding PF, then i_poi-e=floor(i_s / po-NumPerPEI)=floor(0 / 4)=0, and the index number of the PEI-O that the terminal device needs to monitor is 0, therefore the terminal device monitors the first PDCCH monitoring occasion in the PEI-O.

[0121] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of positions of PEI monitoring occasions in the time domain. As shown in Figure 4 , in radio frames from SFN 0 to SFN 7, PF 1 corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 3. Assuming that the "pei-FrameOffset" field indicates 2, the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O is offset forward by 2 radio frames relative to PF 1, therefore the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O is the radio frame of SFN 1, and this PEI-O is the monitoring occasion of PEI corresponding to PF 1.

[0122] Assuming PF 1 includes 4 POs (Ns = 4), and each PEI can indicate 1 PO (po - NumPerPEI = 1), then the "firstPDCCH - Monitoring OccasionOfPEI-O" field can indicate the location of 4 PDCCH monitoring times (NS / po - NumPerPEI = 4). Figure 4 Each rectangular square below the radio frame represents a PDCCH monitoring opportunity location. The terminal device monitors the first PO (i_s = 0) in PF1. Therefore, according to the relationship between the index numbers of PEI-O mentioned above, i_poi-e = floor(i_s / po-NumPerPEI) = 0, indicating that the terminal device is monitoring the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity in this PEI-O. For example... Figure 4 As shown, the terminal device needs to monitor the first PDCCH monitoring opportunity among the four PDCCH monitoring opportunities under the radio frame of SFN 1 corresponding to PEI-O. Figure 4 The black-filled rectangles in the middle represent the PDCCH monitoring timing and location of the terminal device.

[0123] Similarly, such as Figure 4 As shown, PF 2 corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 7. The "pei-FrameOffset" field indicates 2, meaning the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O is offset forward by 2 radio frames relative to PF 2. Therefore, the radio frame corresponding to PEI-O is the radio frame of SFN 5, and this PEI-O is the monitoring timing of the PEI corresponding to PF 2. Under the radio frame of SFN 5, the terminal device monitors the first of the four PDCCH monitoring timing positions.

[0124] As described above, a paging cycle can include one or more PFs, and the network device needs to send a PEI for each of these PFs. The terminal device monitors the PEI on PEI-O. The radio frame corresponding to PEI-O is located between the PF that the terminal device needs to monitor and the previous PF. Figure 4 For example, suppose the terminal device needs to monitor the PO in PF 2. The PEI-O corresponding to PF 2 is the SFN 5 radio frame. This radio frame is located between PF 2 and PF 1. That is, between every two adjacent PFs, the network device needs to be woken up to send the PEI, which causes the network device to frequently switch between the wake-up state and the sleep state, thus increasing the power consumption of the network device.

[0125] To address the aforementioned technical problems, embodiments of this application provide a communication method and apparatus, wherein a network device can send system information to a terminal device. This system information indicates that for M PFs in a paging cycle, the radio frame corresponding to the PEI-O associated with each of the M PFs belongs to the first M radio frames in the paging cycle. This ensures that the temporal location of the PEI-Os associated with the M PFs is concentrated in the first M radio frames of the paging cycle or close to the first M radio frames, reducing the number of times the network device switches between wake-up and sleep states, extending the sleep time of the network device, and thus saving the energy consumption of the network device.

[0126] In the embodiments described below, the interaction between a terminal device and a network device is used as an example. It should be understood that the terminal device described above can be replaced by components configured in the terminal device (such as chips, chip systems, processors, etc.), or logical modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the terminal device; the network device described above can also be replaced by components configured in the network device (such as chips, chip systems, processors, etc.), or logical modules or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0127] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in one embodiment of this application. It is understood that... Figure 5 This is merely an example; the communication method provided in this application may include more or similar steps. For example... Figure 5 As shown, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0128] S501, the network device sends system information to the terminal device. This system information indicates a first offset value and a second offset value. The first offset value is the offset of the first radio frame relative to the first PF, and the second offset value is the offset of the first PEI-O relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame. The first radio frame is the radio frame corresponding to the first PEI-O, and the first PEI set is associated with the first PF. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the system information from the network device.

[0129] As described above, network devices can indicate paging configurations via system information, which include the paging cycle, PF, and PO. The network device needs to send a PEI for each PF in the paging cycle, using the PEI to indicate whether the terminal devices in the corresponding subgroup need to be woken up and monitored by the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI.

[0130] In this step, the paging cycle includes N PFs. The first PF can be understood as any PF among M PFs, where the M PFs belong to the above N PFs, and N is an integer not less than 2, and M is an integer ranging from 2 to N. The first PEI set is a set of PEIs associated with the first PF. The first PEI set may include one or more PEIs. Each PEI is used to indicate whether the terminal device in the corresponding subgroup needs to be woken up and the DCI scrambled by P-RNTI is monitored in the corresponding PO in the first PF. The first PEI-O includes the PDCCH monitoring timing corresponding to each first PEI in the first PEI set. The network device indicates the position of the first PEI-O in the time domain through a first offset value and a second offset value.

[0131] During the paging cycle, the position of the first PF is determined. The first offset value serves as the offset of the first radio frame relative to the first PF, and the position of the first radio frame within the paging cycle can be determined based on the first offset value. In this step, the first PEI set is any one of the M PEI sets. The radio frames corresponding to these M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle. These M PEI sets belong to N PEI sets, and these N PEI sets are associated with the N PFs included in the paging cycle.

[0132] It should be noted that within a paging cycle, the radio frames on the left precede the radio frames on the right in chronological order; that is, the spatial order from left to right in the paging cycle corresponds to the chronological order from front to back. In this step, the first offset value indicates the offset of the first radio frame, which is to the left of the first PF, relative to the first PF. This is equivalent to the first offset value indicating that the first radio frame precedes the first PF in chronological order. The first radio frame, as the reference radio frame corresponding to the first PEI-O, provides a frame-level reference basis for determining the temporal location of the first PEI-O.

[0133] After determining the temporal position of the first radio frame based on the first offset value, the starting position of the first radio frame, i.e., the position of the first symbol in the first radio frame, is also determined. In this step, the second offset value is used as the offset value of the first PEI-O relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame. Based on the second offset value and the position of the first symbol of the first radio frame, the temporal position of the first PEI-O can be determined.

[0134] As an example, the system information may include the "pei-FrameOffset" field and the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field, where the parameter indicated by the "pei-FrameOffset" field can be understood as the first offset value, and the parameter indicated by the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field can be understood as the second offset value.

[0135] With the position of the first PF determined, the "pei-FrameOffset" field indicates the offset value of the first radio frame relative to the first PF, which allows the first radio frame determined according to the first offset value to belong to the first M radio frames in the paging cycle. Further, the position of the first PEI-O in the time domain can be determined based on the first radio frame and the second offset value indicated by the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field.

[0136] The content indicated by the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field is as follows:

[0137] firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O CHOICE{

[0138] sCS15KHZoneT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..139)

[0139] sCS30KHZoneT-SCS15KHZhalfT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..279)

[0140] ...

[0141] sCS480KHZoneT-SCS120KHZquarterT-SCS60KHZoneEighthT-SCS30KHZoneSixteenthT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..4479),

[0142] sCS480KHZhalfT-SCS120KHZoneEighthT-SCS60KHZoneSixteenthT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF)OF INTEGER(0..8959),

[0143] sCS480KHZquarterT-SCS120KHZoneSixteenthT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..17919),

[0144] sCS480KHZoneEighthT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..35839),

[0145] sCS480KHZoneSixteenthT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..71679)

[0146] }

[0147] The term “maxPEI-perPF” has the same meaning as “Ns / po-NumPerPEI” mentioned above, indicating the number of parameters indicated by the “firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O” field. “sCS15KHZoneT” indicates that the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 15 kHz, and “oneT” is consistent with the frame spacing between PFs in the aforementioned paging configuration. The subcarrier spacing determines the number of symbols in the corresponding radio frame. A radio frame corresponding to a 15 kHz subcarrier can include 140 symbols; therefore, the symbol offset value indicated by the “sCS15KHZoneT” field ranges from 0 to 139.

[0148] Similarly, a radio frame corresponding to a 30kHz subcarrier can include 280 symbols, and the symbol offset value indicated by the "sCS30kHzoneT" field is 0–279. Since a radio frame corresponding to a 15kHz subcarrier includes 140 symbols, with a symbol offset value of 0–279, the offset value can exceed one radio frame, requiring two radio frames corresponding to the 15kHz subcarrier. Therefore, the "sCS15kHzhalfT" field can indicate a symbol offset value of 0–279. The other contents indicated in the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field are similar and will not be explained further here.

[0149] S502, the network device sends a first PEI set to the terminal device on the first PEI-O according to a first offset value and a second offset value. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives a first PEI from the network device on the first PEI-O, which belongs to the first PEI set, according to the first offset value and the second offset value.

[0150] Understandably, for a network device, the first PEI-O includes the timing at which the network device sends the first PEI corresponding to each first PEI in the first PEI set. For a terminal device, the first PEI-O includes the timing at which the terminal device monitors the first PEI in order to receive the corresponding first PEI in the first PEI set. Based on a first offset value and a second offset value, the network device can determine the position of the first PEI-O in the time domain, and thus send the first PEI set to the terminal device at the first PEI-O.

[0151] As described above regarding the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field, the number of offset values ​​included in the second offset value is related to the number of POs included in the first PF and the number of POs that the first PEI can indicate. When the number of POs indicated by a first PEI is greater than or equal to the number of POs included in the first PF (po-NumPerPEI≥Ns), that is, when the second offset value includes one offset value, the first PEI set includes one of these first PEIs, which can determine the time domain location of a first PEI-O. The network device transmits the first PEI at this time domain location, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first PEI at this time domain location.

[0152] In a case where the number of POs indicated by a first PEI is less than the number of POs included in a first PF (po-NumPerPEI<Ns), that is, the second offset value includes Ns / po-NumPerPEI offset values, the Ns / po-NumPerPEI first PEIs including the first PEI in the first PEI set can determine the corresponding Ns / po-NumPerPEI time-domain positions in the first PEI-O, and the network device transmits the first PEI set on the Ns / po-NumPerPEI time-domain positions. The terminal device can determine, according to the aforementioned relational expression of PEI-O index numbers, to select the time-domain position with an index of floor(i_s / po-NumPerPEI) among the Ns / po-NumPerPEI time-domain positions for monitoring, so as to receive the corresponding first PEI in the first PEI set.

[0153] It can be understood that the first PF can be any one of M PFs, that is, for the first PEI set associated with any one of the M PFs, the radio frame corresponding to the first PEI-O belongs to the first M radio frames in the paging cycle, which means that the radio frames corresponding to the first PEI-O are concentrated in the first M radio frames of the paging cycle. The starting position of the first PEI-O relative to the first radio frame is a symbol-level offset, which means that the network device transmits the first PEI set concentratedly in the first M radio frames or at time-domain positions close to the first M radio frames. Therefore, when the network device transmits a PEI for each of the N PFs included in a paging cycle, the PEIs associated with the M PFs are all concentrated in the first M radio frames of the paging cycle or at time-domain positions close to the first M radio frames.

[0154] In this embodiment, M PEI sets associated with M PFs can be centrally configured in the first M radio frames of a paging cycle or at time-domain positions close to the first M radio frames, so that the network device centrally transmits the M PEI sets in the paging cycle, which helps reduce the number of repeated switching between the awake state and the sleep state of the network device, thereby prolonging the sleep time of the network device and helping save energy consumption of the network device.

[0155] In some implementations, the value of M above can be N, that is, the radio frames corresponding to N PEI sets belong to the first N radio frames in the paging cycle. A paging cycle includes N PFs in total. Therefore, when the network device transmits PEIs for all N PFs in the paging cycle, all N PEI sets are concentrated in the first N radio frames of the paging cycle or at time-domain positions close to the first N radio frames, so as to prevent the network device from repeatedly switching between the awake state and the sleep state, further prolonging the sleep time of the network device and helping save energy consumption of the network device.

[0156] In some implementations, when M is N, the first PF is the nth PF in the paging cycle, and the first radio frame determined according to the first offset value is the nth radio frame in the paging cycle, where n is an integer ranging from 1 to N.

[0157] For example, the system information includes a "pei-FrameOffset" field, which indicates a first offset value that satisfies the following relationship:

[0158] RF_offset=PF_offset+(n-1)*(T / N-1)

[0159] Where T represents the length of the paging period, N represents the number of PFs included in the paging period, n represents the sequence number of the first PF among the N PFs in time order, PF_offset is the offset value of the first PF in the paging period relative to the first radio frame in the paging period, and RF_offset represents the first offset value.

[0160] For example, a paging cycle includes 32 radio frames and 4 PFs. The first PF has an offset of 3 relative to the first radio frame in the paging cycle, i.e., T = 32, N = 4, and PF_offset = 3. Assuming the 32 radio frames are SFN 0 to SFN 31, the first PF corresponds to SFN 3, the second PF to SFN 11, the third PF to SFN 19, and the fourth PF to SFN 27. The first PF is the 4th radio frame in the paging cycle, i.e., n = 4. The above relationship is RF_offset = PF_offset + (n-1)*(T / N-1) = 3 + (4-1)*(8-1) = 24, with the first offset being 24. Therefore, the first PF is offset forward 24 radio frames from SFN 27, corresponding to SFN 3, which is the 4th (n = 4) radio frame in this paging cycle. Alternatively, the first PF is the second radio frame in the paging cycle, i.e., n=2. The above relationship is RF_offset = PF_offset + (n-1)*(T / N-1) = 3 + (2-1)*7 = 10, with the first offset value being 10. Therefore, the first PF is shifted forward 10 radio frames from the radio frame of SFN 11, corresponding to the radio frame of SFN 1, which is the second (n=2) radio frame in this paging cycle. When the first PF is the nth PF in the paging cycle, the first radio frame can be determined to be the nth radio frame in the paging cycle based on the first offset value.

[0161] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram showing the position of the first radio frame within the paging cycle. (Example) Figure 6As shown, this includes 8 radio frames, from SFN 0 to SFN 7, which are the first 8 radio frames in a paging cycle. This paging cycle includes 2 PFs, where PF 1 corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 3, and PF 2 corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 7. PF 1 is the first PF in the two PFs, and PF 2 is the second PF in the two PFs. Assuming PF 1 (n=1) is the first PF, based on the first offset value, it can be determined that the first radio frame corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 0, that is, the first radio frame corresponds to the first (n=1) radio frame in the eight radio frames. Figure 6 The white-filled rectangular squares represent the PDCCH monitoring timing and location that the terminal device may need to monitor when PF1 is the first PF.

[0162] Alternatively, assuming PF 2 (n=2) is the first PF, based on the first offset value, it can be determined that the first radio frame corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 1, that is, the first radio frame corresponds to the second (n=1) radio frame among the 8 radio frames. Figure 6 The shaded rectangular squares in the middle represent the PDCCH monitoring timing and location that the terminal device needs to monitor when PF 2 is the first PF.

[0163] In this implementation, the sorting sequence number of the first radio frame in the paging cycle is consistent with the sorting sequence number of the first PF among the N PFs, which enables the network device to send the first PEI set in an orderly manner according to the relationship satisfied by the first offset value.

[0164] It should be noted that a paging cycle can include a maximum of 256 radio frames. If the first radio frame of the paging cycle is not configured as a PF, this is equivalent to a minimum interval of "halfT" (1 / 2T) between PFs in the paging configuration, meaning a paging cycle can include a maximum of 128 RFs. Correspondingly, the maximum offset value that the first offset value mentioned above can indicate is 128. Taking the "pei-FrameOffset" field as an example, it can indicate:

[0165] "pei-FrameOffset"INTEGER(1..128)

[0166] In some implementations, the radio frames corresponding to the above M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle. Specifically, the radio frame corresponding to each of the M PEI sets can be the first radio frame in the paging cycle.

[0167] For example, the system information includes a "pei-FrameOffset" field, which indicates a first offset value that satisfies the following relationship:

[0168] RF_offset=PF_offset+(n-1)*(T / N)

[0169] The meanings of the variables in this relation are the same as those in the previous relation, and will not be repeated here.

[0170] For example, a paging cycle includes 32 radio frames and 4 PFs. The first PF has an offset of 3 relative to the first radio frame in the paging cycle, i.e., T = 32, N = 4, and PF_offset = 3. Assuming the 32 radio frames are SFN 0 to SFN 31, the first PF corresponds to the SFN 3 radio frame, the second PF to the SFN 11 radio frame, the third PF to the SFN 19 radio frame, and the fourth PF to the SFN 27 radio frame. The first PF is the 4th radio frame in the paging cycle, i.e., n = 4. The above relationship is RF_offset = PF_offset + (n-1)*(T / N) = 3 + (4-1)*8 = 27, where the first offset is 27. Therefore, the first PF is offset forward 27 radio frames from the SFN 27 radio frame, corresponding to the SFN 0 radio frame, which is the 1st radio frame in this paging cycle. Alternatively, the first PF is the second radio frame in the paging cycle, i.e., n=2. The above relationship is RF_offset = PF_offset + (n-1)*(T / N-1) = 3 + (2-1)*8 = 11, with the first offset value being 11. Therefore, the first PF is offset forward 11 radio frames from the radio frame of SFN 11, corresponding to the radio frame of SFN 0, which is the first radio frame in this paging cycle. Each of the M PEI sets corresponds to the first radio frame in the paging cycle; therefore, the first PF, as any PF among the M PFs, can be determined to be the first radio frame in the paging cycle based on the first offset value.

[0171] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram showing the position of the first radio frame within the paging cycle. Figure 6 Similarly, this includes eight radio frames, SFN 0 to SFN 7, which are the first eight radio frames in a paging cycle. This paging cycle includes two PFs, where PF 1 corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 3, and PF 2 corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 7. PF 1 is the first PF in the two PFs, and PF 2 is the second PF in the two PFs. Based on the first offset value, regardless of whether PF 1 or PF 2 is used as the first PF, it can be determined that the first radio frame corresponds to the radio frame of SFN 0, that is, the first radio frame corresponds to the first radio frame in the eight radio frames. Figure 7In the case where PF1 or PF2 is the first PF, the terminal device may need to monitor the PDCCH monitoring timing and location. The rectangular squares filled with white and the rectangular squares filled with shade represent the PDCCH monitoring timing and location.

[0172] In this implementation, the network device can send PEI in the time domain position of the first radio frame of the paging cycle or close to the first radio frame according to the relationship satisfied by the first offset value, which is beneficial to further save the energy consumption of the network device.

[0173] A paging cycle can include a maximum of 256 radio frames. When the first radio frame of the paging cycle is configured as a PF, the last PF included in the paging cycle can correspond to the last radio frame among the 256 radio frames. To ensure that the first radio frame associated with this PF corresponds to the first radio frame in the paging cycle, the maximum offset value indicated by the above first offset value is 255. Taking the "pei-FrameOffset" field as an example, it can indicate:

[0174] "pei-FrameOffset"INTEGER(0..255)

[0175] In wireless communication systems, by dynamically adjusting the paging cycle, optimizing the paging area, channel quality awareness, and machine learning prediction, network energy saving (NES) can be achieved in a paging adaptive manner, thereby further reducing the energy consumption of network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0176] For NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation, the interval between PFs can be lengthened within a paging cycle to reduce the number of PFs within that cycle. Simultaneously, increasing the number of POs included in a PF can compensate for the reduced number of POs due to the reduced number of PFs. For example, in the aforementioned paging configuration, the maximum interval indicated by the "nAndPagingFrameOffset" field is "onesixteenthT" (1 / 16T), while for NES terminal devices supporting paging adaptation, the maximum interval indicated in the paging configuration is "oneThirtySecondT" (1 / 32T). The "Ns" field indicates that a PF can include a maximum of 4 POs, while for NES terminal devices supporting paging adaptation, a monitored PF can include a maximum of 8 POs.

[0177] The first and second offset values ​​mentioned above can be applied to both traditional terminal devices and NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation.

[0178] It is understandable that the NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation have different PF intervals, PF numbers, and PO numbers in a paging cycle compared to traditional terminal devices. Therefore, network devices can configure different PEI and PEI-O for NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation and traditional terminal devices respectively.

[0179] In some implementations, the first and second offset values ​​mentioned above are invalid for non-energy-efficient terminal devices. Here, "non-energy-efficient terminal device" refers to a terminal device other than an NES terminal device, which is equivalent to the aforementioned traditional terminal device. The invalidity of the first and second offset values ​​for non-energy-efficient terminal devices can be understood as follows: the first and second offset values ​​are only effective for NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation. Non-energy-efficient terminal devices cannot use the first and second offset values, or they cannot read the first and second offset values ​​from the system information; only NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation can read these first and second offset values.

[0180] It should be noted that for NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation, the maximum interval that can be indicated in the paging configuration is "oneThirtySecondT" (1 / 32T). Therefore, the second offset value can indicate the symbol-level offset value corresponding to the PF with an interval of "oneThirtySecondT". Taking the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field in step S501 above as an example, based on the aforementioned content, this field can also be used to indicate:

[0181] firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O CHOICE{

[0182] SCS30KHZoneThirtySecondT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..8959),

[0183] SCS60KHZoneThirtySecondT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..17919),

[0184] SCS120KHZoneThirtySecondT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..35839),

[0185] sCS480KHZoneThirtySecondT SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxPEI-perPF))OF INTEGER(0..143359)

[0186] }

[0187] For NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation, a single PF can include up to 8 POs, so the value of "maxPEI-perPF" can be 8.

[0188] It is understandable that if the first and second offset values ​​mentioned above are invalid for non-energy-efficient terminal devices, the system information sent by the network device to the terminal device may also include the "pei-FrameOffset" field and the "firstPDCCH-MonitoringOccasionOfPEI-O" field, which are effective for non-energy-efficient terminal devices. This is equivalent to configuring different PEI-O for NES terminal devices that support paging adaptation and traditional terminal devices respectively. For details, please refer to the above content, which will not be repeated here.

[0189] In some implementations, the second offset value is less than the number of symbols included in the first radio frame. As described above, the symbol offset value indicated by the second offset value can exceed one radio frame, causing the temporal location of the first PEI-O to exceed the temporal location of the first radio frame. In this implementation, when the second offset value is less than the number of symbols included in the first radio frame, the temporal location of the first PEI-O can be made to be within the first radio frame, thereby allowing the first PEI set transmitted by the network device to be concentrated on the first M radio frames of the paging cycle or the first radio frame, which helps to save the energy consumption of the network device.

[0190] Figure 8 and Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a possible communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiments, and therefore can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of this application, the communication device can be as follows: Figure 5 The terminal device or network device in the method embodiments shown may also be a component (such as a chip, chip system, processor, etc.) configured in the terminal device or network device, or a logic module or software that can realize some or all of the functions of the terminal device or network device.

[0191] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in one embodiment of this application. Figure 8As shown, the communication device 800 includes a processing module 810 and a transceiver module 820.

[0192] The transceiver module 820 can implement corresponding communication functions and can also be referred to as an input / output interface or communication unit. The processing module 810 can be used to perform processing operations. It should be understood that if the device 800 is a component configured in a network device or terminal device, such as a chip, the transceiver module 820 can be an input / output interface.

[0193] Optionally, the transceiver module 820 may include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the above-described... Figure 5 The receiving module is used to perform the above-mentioned transmitting operations of network devices or terminal devices. Figure 5 The receiving operation of network devices or terminal devices.

[0194] It should be understood that when the device 800 is a component configured in a network device or terminal device, such as a chip, the transmitting module can be an output interface, and the transmitting operation involved in the embodiments of this application can be performed by the output interface; the receiving module can be an input interface, and the receiving operation involved in the embodiments of this application can be performed by the input interface.

[0195] Optionally, the device 800 may further include a storage module for storing instructions and / or data, and the processing module 810 may read the instructions and / or data from the storage module to enable the device to perform the preceding operations. Figure 5 The method embodiment shown.

[0196] In one possible design, the aforementioned device 800 can be used to implement the above. Figure 5 The method embodiment shown may include the functions of the network device, or the apparatus 800 may include components for implementing the above. Figure 5 Any function or operation unit of the network device in the method embodiment shown can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof.

[0197] When device 800 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown, when the network device functions, the transceiver module 820 (specifically, the sending module) can be used to perform... Figure 5 In step S501, system information is sent to the terminal device. This system information indicates a first offset value and a second offset value. The first offset value is the offset of the first radio frame relative to the first PF, and the second offset value is the offset of the first PEI-O relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame. The first radio frame is the radio frame corresponding to the first PEI-O, and the first PEI set is associated with the first PF. The transceiver module 820 (transmitting module) can also be used to perform... Figure 5In step S501, the first PEI set is sent to the terminal device on the first PEI-O according to the first offset value and the second offset value.

[0198] In another possible design, the aforementioned device 800 can be used to implement the above. Figure 5 The terminal device functions in the method embodiments shown, or the above-described apparatus 800 may include functions for implementing the above-described methods. Figure 5 Any function or operation unit of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof.

[0199] When device 800 is used to implement Figure 5 In the method embodiment shown, when the terminal device performs its function, the transceiver module 820 (specifically, a receiving module) can be used to perform... Figure 5 In step S501, system information is received from the network device. This system information indicates a first offset value and a second offset value. The first offset value is the offset of the first radio frame relative to the first PF, and the second offset value is the offset of the first PEI-O relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame. The first radio frame is the radio frame corresponding to the first PEI-O, and the first PEI set is associated with the first PF. The processing module 810 can be used to execute... Figure 5 In step S502, the position of the first PEI-O in the time domain is determined based on the first offset value and the second offset value; the transceiver module 820 (receiver module) can also be used to perform Figure 5 In step S502, a first PEI from a network device is received on the first PEI-O, the first PEI belonging to a first PEI set.

[0200] For a more detailed description of the aforementioned processing module 810 and transceiver module 820, please refer to [link / reference needed]. Figure 5 The relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown are directly obtained and will not be repeated here.

[0201] It should be noted that the transceiver module can also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver machine, or transceiver device, etc. The processing module can also be called a processor, processing board, processing unit, or processing device, etc. Optionally, the transceiver module is used to perform the sending and receiving operations on the terminal device or network device side in the above method. The device in the communication module used to implement the receiving function can be considered as the receiving module, and the device in the communication module used to implement the sending function can be considered as the sending module; that is, the transceiver module includes both a receiving module and a sending module.

[0202] In another possible design, the aforementioned transceiver module and / or processing module can be implemented using virtual modules. For example, the processing module can be implemented using software functional modules or virtual devices, and the transceiver module can also be implemented using software functional modules or virtual devices. In another possible design, the processing module or transceiver module can also be implemented using physical devices. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver module can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface, performing input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operation) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operation); the processing module is an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

[0203] It should be understood that the module division in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into a single processor, exist as separate physical entities, or be integrated into a single module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

[0204] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in another embodiment of this application. The device 900 can be a chip system, or it can be a device configured with a chip system to implement the above-described method embodiments. In this embodiment, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0205] like Figure 9 As shown, device 900 can be implemented using a processing system including one or more processors 901. Processor 901 includes microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, field-programmable gate arrays, graphics processors, programmable logic devices, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to various functions. That is, the processor used in device 900 can be used to implement any one or more of the embodiments described above.

[0206] The processing system in device 900 can be implemented using a bus architecture, typically represented by bus 902. Bus 902 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges, depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system. The bus communicatively couples various circuits together, including one or more processors 901 (typically represented by a processor), memory 903, and computer-readable medium 904 (typically represented by a computer-readable medium). Bus 902 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and will therefore not be described further. Bus interface 905 provides an interface between bus 902 and transceivers, and between bus 902 and interfaces. Bus interface 905 may use, but is not limited to, transceivers to enable communication between device 900 and other devices or apparatuses.

[0207] A transceiver provides a communication interface or means for communicating with various other devices via a wireless transmission medium. The transceiver may be coupled to an antenna array, and the transceiver and antenna array may be used together for communication with a corresponding network type. At least one interface (e.g., a network interface and / or a user interface) provides a communication interface or means for communication via an internal bus or via an external transmission medium.

[0208] Processor 901 is responsible for managing bus 902 and general processing, including executing software stored on computer-readable medium 904. When executed by processor 901, the software causes the processing system to perform the various functions described below for any particular device.

[0209] The processor 901, memory 903, and computer-readable medium 904 can perform the following functions: encoding, decoding, rate matching, rate dematching, scrambling, descrambling, modulation, demodulation, layer mapping, fast Fourier transform, inverse fast Fourier transform, inverse discrete Fourier transform, precoding, resource element (RE) mapping, channel equalization, RE demapping, digital beamforming (BF), adding cyclic prefix (CP), removing CP, etc.

[0210] The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly manifested as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or being executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art.

[0211] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the methods described above.

[0212] This application also provides a computer program product, including computer instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the various steps in the methods described above.

[0213] It should be noted that the modules or components shown in the above embodiments can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more microprocessors, or one or more field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Furthermore, when a module is implemented by a processing element calling program code, the processing element can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor capable of calling program code, such as a controller. Additionally, these modules can be integrated together and implemented as a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0214] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, software modules, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the flow or function according to the embodiments of this application is generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state disk (SSD)).

[0215] This application describes embodiments of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processing unit of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processing unit of the computer or other programmable data processing device, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart illustrations. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0216] The above detailed embodiments further illustrate the purpose, technical solution, and beneficial effects of the embodiments of this application. It should be understood that the above are merely specific embodiments of the embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the embodiments of this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made on the basis of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application should be included within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: The system receives system information indicating a first offset value and a second offset value. The first offset value is the offset value of the first radio frame relative to the first paging frame PF. The second offset value is the offset value of the monitoring timing of the first paging indicator PEI set relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame. The first radio frame is the radio frame corresponding to the monitoring timing of the first PEI set. The first PEI set is associated with the first PF. The first PEI set is any one of M PEI sets. The radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle. The M PEI sets belong to N PEI sets. The N PEIs are associated with N PFs. The paging cycle includes the N PFs. N is an integer not less than 2, and M is an integer ranging from 2 to N. Based on the first offset value and the second offset value, a first PEI is received at the monitoring time of the first PEI set, and the first PEI belongs to the first PEI set.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The value of M is N.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first PF is the nth PF in the paging cycle, and the first radio frame is the nth radio frame in the paging cycle, where n is an integer ranging from 1 to N.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging period, including: The radio frame corresponding to each of the M PEI sets is the first radio frame in the paging cycle.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The second offset value is less than the number of symbols included in the first radio frame.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The first offset value and the second offset value are invalid values ​​for non-energy-saving terminal devices.

7. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: System information is sent, indicating a first offset value and a second offset value. The first offset value is the offset value of the first radio frame relative to the first PF. The second offset value is the offset value of the monitoring timing of the first PEI set relative to the first symbol of the first radio frame. The first radio frame is the radio frame corresponding to the monitoring timing of the first PEI set. The first PEI set is associated with the first PF. The first PEI set is any one of M PEI sets. The radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging cycle. The M PEI sets belong to N PEI sets. The N PEI sets are associated with N PFs. The paging cycle includes the N PFs. N is an integer not less than 2, and M is an integer ranging from 2 to N. Based on the first offset value and the second offset value, the first PEI set is sent at the monitoring time of the first PEI set.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The value of M is N.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first PF is the nth PF in the paging cycle, and the first radio frame is the nth radio frame in the paging cycle, where n is an integer ranging from 1 to N.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The radio frames corresponding to the M PEI sets belong to the first M radio frames of the paging period, including: The radio frame corresponding to each of the M PEI sets is the first radio frame in the paging cycle.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that, The second offset value is less than the number of symbols included in the first radio frame.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that, The first offset value and the second offset value are invalid values ​​for non-energy-saving terminal devices.

13. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a module for implementing the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that, include: Processor, the processor being coupled to memory; The memory stores computer-executed instructions; The processor executes computer execution instructions stored in the memory, causing the communication device to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, are used to implement the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that, It includes a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

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