Communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and program product

Abstract

This application discloses a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and program product applicable to NTN systems, such as satellite communication systems. A network device sends a first system information block to a terminal, the first system information block indicating a first region or a set of first preamble sequences corresponding to the first region; and the terminal sends a first preamble sequence to the network device, the first preamble sequence corresponding to the first region, and / or sends message A, message A including indication information of the first region. By indicating the first region or the set of first preamble sequences corresponding to the first region in the first system information block, the network side enables the terminal within the coverage area of ​​the first region to determine its location by sending a first preamble sequence from the set of first preamble sequences. This allows the network side to subsequently use narrow beam communication with the terminal, improving the demodulation performance of the data channel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and program product. Background Technology

[0002] Because satellites are not easily affected by natural disasters or external damage, research is currently underway to use them as access network equipment (such as base stations) for mobile communication systems in order to provide communication services to areas such as oceans and forests.

[0003] In terrestrial communication scenarios, during the initial access phase, network equipment needs to sequentially scan all beams and configure random access resources for the terminal. Currently, network equipment can broadcast different synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel blocks (SS / PBCH blocks or SSBs) for different communication areas. The terminal sends a random access preamble on the corresponding uplink resources based on the configuration information and the SSB index number. For the network equipment, the received random access preamble and the corresponding uplink resources can be used to determine the area where the terminal is located and establish a connection with the terminal.

[0004] Current communication mechanisms designed for communication between terminals and terrestrial base stations in mobile communication systems cannot be directly applied to communication between terminals and satellite base stations. How to achieve initial access in satellite communication scenarios is a problem that urgently needs to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method, apparatus, storage medium, and program product that can improve the demodulation performance of data channels.

[0006] Firstly, a communication method is provided that can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module within a terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip or system-in-package containing a modem core). Taking a terminal as an example, the method involves the terminal receiving a first system information block, which is one of multiple system information blocks corresponding to a first synchronization signal block. The first system information block indicates a first region, or indicates a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or indicates the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or indicates the identifier of the first system information block, or indicates the identifier of the first beam, which is one of multiple beams corresponding to the first synchronization signal block; the terminal also sends a first preamble sequence corresponding to the first region, and / or sends message A, which includes indication information for the first region, and the first preamble sequence belongs to the first preamble sequence set.

[0007] Using this method, the terminal receives a first system information block sent by the network device. The network side indicates a first region, or indicates a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or indicates the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or indicates the identifier of the first system information block, or indicates the identifier of the first beam in the first system information block. The terminal within the coverage area of ​​the first region sends the first preamble sequence in the first preamble sequence set, so that the network side can determine the region where the terminal is located. This allows subsequent communication with the terminal to be carried out within the region where the terminal is located. For example, the corresponding narrow beam can be used to communicate with the terminal. The terminal can only detect and parse the signal within the first region, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel.

[0008] It should be understood that an area described in this application can be a part of the coverage area of ​​a network device, or a part of the coverage area of ​​a cell. The entire coverage area of ​​a cell can be divided into multiple areas. An area described in this application can also be a beam-corresponding area, where a cell can be covered by multiple beams. Furthermore, a cell may simultaneously contain a wider beam (as described below as "wide beam") and a narrower beam (as described below as "narrow beam"). Alternatively, an area described in this application can be an area corresponding to downlink signaling, such as a system information block or a synchronization signal block. The network device can indicate the first area through a first system information block. For example, the multiple areas may correspond to different numbers, and the first system information block can be identification information indicating the first area.

[0009] For example, the first region is the region corresponding to a system information block (first system information block) sent by the network device. This region is smaller than the region corresponding to the first synchronization signal block. The region corresponding to the first synchronization signal block may include the regions corresponding to multiple system information blocks. That is, one transmission of the synchronization information block corresponds to a larger region. The network device sends multiple system information blocks in the region corresponding to the first synchronization signal block, where the region corresponding to each system information block is a part of the larger region. For example, in some cases, the synchronization signal block may be transmitted via a "wide beam," and the multiple system information blocks corresponding to one synchronization signal block are transmitted by multiple "narrow beams." Here, the first region is the region corresponding to the corresponding "narrow beam."

[0010] It should be understood that the area in this application can be used to characterize the ground coverage area corresponding to the transmission beam. There is a correspondence between the two, but they may not be absolutely equal. For example, the area corresponding to the beam may be (smaller than) the actual coverage area. In other words, the area corresponding to the transmission beam may not be equal to the absolute ground coverage area of ​​the actual transmission beam.

[0011] The aforementioned areas can also be indicated by beam identification information. Each "wide beam" corresponds to an area identifier, and each "wide beam" can be further divided into multiple "narrow beams." The multiple "narrow beams" under each "wide beam" can be numbered independently, so the aforementioned areas can also be indicated by the identification of the narrow beams.

[0012] The aforementioned areas can also be indicated by the identifier of a system information block. One area corresponds to one narrow beam, and one system information block is transmitted on one narrow beam. The identifier of the system information block is equivalent to the identifier of the narrow beam.

[0013] Furthermore, with the large-scale deployment of satellites, to improve the effectiveness and simplicity of satellite beam management, the ground control center can divide the overall ground coverage area of ​​the satellites into several regions of fixed size, and assign unique identifiers to all regions. Each region corresponds to a beam position, and the region can also be identified using the beam position's identifier information. The size of each region can be set to be the same as the coverage size of the SSB beam, facilitating periodic satellite scanning. If the size of a region is the same as the size of the SSB beam, then there is a one-to-one correspondence between the SSB index number and the ground region identifier. Further, a region can be further subdivided into smaller narrow beam regions. If the number of regions is equal to the number of SSB beams multiplied by the number of narrow beams corresponding to one SSB beam, then one SSB index can also correspond to multiple ground region identifiers.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first system information block includes identification information for the first region.

[0015] By using this method, by carrying the identification information of the first region in the first system information block, the terminal can accurately determine the first region where the network side sends the first system information block.

[0016] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure the first preamble sequence set; and the terminal selecting the first preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set.

[0017] Using this method, after the terminal obtains the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set, it can arbitrarily select a preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set based on this correspondence, and then send the first preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region. The network device can also accurately determine the region where the terminal is located based on the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set.

[0018] In another possible implementation, the first system information block is further used to indicate the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set is predefined.

[0019] This method allows for the configuration of the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set via network configuration, or the correspondence can be predefined via protocol, thus improving the flexibility of obtaining this correspondence. After obtaining the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set, the terminal can arbitrarily select a preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set and send it based on this correspondence.

[0020] In another possible implementation, the first preamble sequence set includes one or more preamble sequences, and the first region corresponds to the first preamble sequence set.

[0021] In another possible implementation, the first synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the first region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0022] Using this method, the terminal can communicate with network devices within the first area. The terminal can detect and parse signals only within the first area, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel during the initial access process. When the number of areas corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences, the preamble sequences can be grouped, thus mapping one area to one set of preamble sequences. Based on the mapping relationship between areas and preamble sequence sets, the network device can accurately determine the area where the terminal is located.

[0023] In yet another possible implementation, the first region corresponds to the first preamble sequence.

[0024] In another possible implementation, the first synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the first region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0025] Using this method, the terminal can communicate with the network device within the first area. The terminal can detect and parse signals only within the first area, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel during the initial access process. When the number of areas corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences, the network device can rationally plan the number of areas. For example, the total number of areas can be numbered from 0 to the number of preamble sequences - 1, and efforts should be made to ensure that the covered areas are non-overlapping or have minimal overlap when multiple beams are used concurrently at the same time, i.e., signals are not transmitted in areas exceeding the number of preamble sequences - 1. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between areas and preamble sequences. Based on the correspondence between areas and preamble sequences, the network device can accurately determine the area where the terminal is located.

[0026] Secondly, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network device, such as a network device or a module (e.g., circuit, processor, chip, or chip system) within the network device. Taking the application of this method to a network device as an example, in this method, the network device sends a first system information block, which belongs to one of multiple system information blocks corresponding to a first synchronization signal block. The first system information block is used to indicate a first region, or the first system information block is used to indicate a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of a first beam, which belongs to one of multiple beams corresponding to the first synchronization signal block; and the network device receives a first preamble sequence, which corresponds to the first region, and / or receives a message A, which includes indication information of the first region, and the first preamble sequence belongs to the first preamble sequence set.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the first system information block includes identification information for the first region.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: a network device sending first configuration information, the first configuration information being used to configure the first preamble sequence set; wherein the first preamble sequence is determined in the first preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set.

[0029] In another possible implementation, the first system information block is further used to indicate the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set is predefined.

[0030] In another possible implementation, the first preamble sequence set includes one or more preamble sequences, and the first region corresponds to the first preamble sequence set.

[0031] In another possible implementation, the first synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the first region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0032] In yet another possible implementation, the first region corresponds to the first preamble sequence.

[0033] In another possible implementation, the first synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the first region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0034] For information regarding the beneficial effects of the second aspect or any implementation thereof, please refer to the relevant description in the first aspect.

[0035] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to the terminal side, such as a terminal or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip (such as a modem chip) in the terminal responsible for communication functions, or a SoC chip or SIP chip containing a modem core. Taking the application of this method to a terminal as an example, in this method, the terminal receives a second system information block, which belongs to one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to a second synchronization signal block. The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second system information block is used to indicate region information; and the terminal sends a second preamble sequence, which corresponds to a second region, and / or sends a message A, which includes indication information of the second region. The second region is obtained based on the terminal's location information and the region information, and the second preamble sequence belongs to a set of second preamble sequences. Using this method, the terminal receives a second system information block sent by the network device through a regional narrow beam. The second system information block indicates the regional information. Based on its own location and regional information, the terminal determines its own region and sends a preamble sequence corresponding to the determined region to the network device, or carries the region indication information in the MsgA. This allows the network device to know the region where the terminal is located, so that it can communicate with the terminal within the region where the terminal is located. For example, it can use a corresponding narrow beam to communicate with the terminal. The terminal can only detect and parse signals within the narrow beam range, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the area information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each area in the one or more areas, the radius of each area in the one or more areas, the arrangement of the one or more areas, and the numbering rule of the areas.

[0037] Using this method, the terminal can accurately determine its location based on the area information and its own position. For example, the SSB x beam includes four areas, and the area information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each of the four areas, the radius of each area, the arrangement of the four areas, and the identification rules for the four areas. Assuming the terminal is near the center point of area y, or within the range of area y calculated based on the area radius, the terminal can determine that it is within the coverage area of ​​area y based on its own position and the aforementioned area information.

[0038] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to configure the second preamble sequence set; and selecting the second preamble sequence from the second preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set.

[0039] In another possible implementation, the second system information block is further used to indicate the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set is predefined.

[0040] In another possible implementation, the second preamble sequence set includes one or more preamble sequences, and the second region corresponds to the second preamble sequence set.

[0041] In another possible implementation, the second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the second region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0042] Using this method, the terminal can communicate with network devices within the first area. The terminal can detect and parse signals only within the first area, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel during the initial access process. When the number of areas corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences, the preamble sequences can be grouped, thus mapping one area to one set of preamble sequences. Based on the mapping relationship between areas and preamble sequence sets, the network device can accurately determine the area where the terminal is located.

[0043] In yet another possible implementation, the second region corresponds to the second preamble sequence.

[0044] In another possible implementation, the second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the second region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0045] Using this method, the terminal can communicate with the network device within the first area. The terminal can detect and parse signals only within the first area, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel during the initial access process. When the number of areas corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences, the network device can rationally plan the number of areas. For example, the total number of areas can be numbered from 0 to the number of preamble sequences - 1, and efforts should be made to ensure that the covered areas are non-overlapping or have minimal overlap when multiple beams are used concurrently at the same time, i.e., signals are not transmitted in areas exceeding the number of preamble sequences - 1. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between areas and preamble sequences. Based on the correspondence between areas and preamble sequences, the network device can accurately determine the area where the terminal is located.

[0046] Fourthly, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network device, such as a network device or a module (e.g., circuit, processor, chip, or chip system) within the network device. Taking the application of this method to a network device as an example, in this method, the network device sends a second system information block, which belongs to one of multiple system information blocks corresponding to a second synchronization signal block. The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second system information block is used to indicate region information; and receives a second preamble sequence, which corresponds to a second region, and / or receives a message A, which includes indication information of the second region. The second region is obtained based on the location information of the terminal and the region information, and the second preamble sequence belongs to a set of second preamble sequences.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the area information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each area in the one or more areas, the radius of each area in the one or more areas, the arrangement of the one or more areas, and the numbering rule of the areas.

[0048] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: a network device sending second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to configure the second preamble sequence set; wherein the second preamble sequence is determined in the second preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set.

[0049] In another possible implementation, the second system information block is further used to indicate the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set is predefined.

[0050] In another possible implementation, the second preamble sequence set includes one or more preamble sequences, and the second region corresponds to the second preamble sequence set.

[0051] In another possible implementation, the second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the second region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0052] In yet another possible implementation, the second region corresponds to the second preamble sequence.

[0053] In another possible implementation, the second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, the second region being one of the one or more regions, and the number of regions corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

[0054] For the beneficial effects of the fourth aspect or any implementation thereof, please refer to the relevant description in the second aspect.

[0055] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, which has the function of implementing any one of the first to fourth aspects or any one of the embodiments of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the communication device includes modules, units or means corresponding to the operation involved in any one of the first to fourth aspects or any one of the embodiments of the first to fourth aspects. The modules, units or means can be implemented by software, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the communication device in the fifth aspect includes modules or units for performing the methods of any one of the first to fourth aspects or any embodiment of any one of the first to fourth aspects. For example, the communication device may include a transmitting unit, a receiving unit, and a processing unit. The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be independent or combined (which may be referred to as a "transmit-receive unit").

[0057] In another possible implementation, the communication device in the fifth aspect above includes one or more processors. The one or more processors are capable of executing the computer program or instructions described above, which, when executed, cause the communication device to implement the methods of any one of the first to fourth aspects or any embodiment of any one of the first to fourth aspects. The memory is used to store part or all of the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions involved in any one of the first to fourth aspects or any embodiment of any one of the first to fourth aspects.

[0058] In one possible design, the communication device may further include an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices or components through the interface circuit.

[0059] In one possible design, the communication device may further include the memory; or the memory may be located outside the communication device.

[0060] When the aforementioned communication device is used to implement the functions of the first aspect and the third aspect, the aforementioned communication device may be a terminal, or a communication module in the terminal, or a chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip) or a SoC or SIP chip containing a modem module.

[0061] When the aforementioned communication device is used to implement the functions of the second and fourth aspects, the aforementioned communication device may be a network device or a component in a network.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein a computer program or instructions are stored therein, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the methods described above are implemented.

[0063] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods described in the above aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0064] Figure 1 A simplified schematic diagram of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0065] Figure 2A , Figure 2B , Figure 2C This is a schematic diagram of the NTN transparent transmission network structure;

[0066] Figure 2D , Figure 2E This is a schematic diagram of the NTN regeneration network structure;

[0067] Figure 3This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an open wireless access network;

[0068] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating a scenario with extremely wide coverage;

[0069] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the initial access and service data transmission phases of NR.

[0070] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the MsgA format in a two-step random access procedure.

[0071] Figures 7a-7c This is a schematic diagram of a two-step random access process;

[0072] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0073] Figure 9 A schematic diagram illustrating an SSB wide beam as an example of an embodiment of this application;

[0074] Figures 10-11 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the initial access process as exemplified in an embodiment of this application;

[0075] Figure 12 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the initial access process as exemplified in an embodiment of this application;

[0077] Figures 14-15 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0078] The embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0079] The technology provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems; for example, the communication system can be a fourth-generation (4G) communication system. th Generation 4G) communication systems (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems), 5G (5G) thThis refers to various communication systems, including generational (5G) communication systems, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, satellite communication systems, integrated systems of multiple systems, and future communication systems. Among these, 5G communication systems can also be called new radio (NR) systems.

[0080] This application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features relating to systems that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that individual systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, combinations of these approaches are also possible.

[0081] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design scheme described as an "example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the term "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. In the embodiments of this application, "of," "corresponding, relevant," and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably, and it should be noted that their intended meanings are consistent unless their distinction is emphasized.

[0082] The communication systems and service scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0083] In a communication system, a network element can send signals to or receive signals from another network element. These signals can include information, signaling, or data. The term "network element" can also be replaced by an entity, network entity, device, terminal, communication module, node, communication node, etc. This application uses a network element as an example for description. For instance, a communication system may include at least one terminal and at least one access network device. The access network device can send downlink signals to the terminal, and / or the terminal can send uplink signals to the access network device. Furthermore, it is understood that if the communication system includes multiple terminals, these terminals can also exchange signals; that is, both the signal-sending network element and the signal-receiving network element can be a terminal.

[0084] See Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a simplified schematic diagram of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100. The RAN 100 can be a next-generation RAN or a traditional (e.g., 5G, 4G) RAN. One or more terminals (120a-120g, collectively referred to as 120) can be interconnected or connected to one or more network devices (110a-110c, collectively referred to as 110) within the RAN 100, and the connection method can be wired or wireless. Optionally, Figure 1 This is just an illustration; the wireless communication system may also include other devices, such as core network equipment, wireless relay equipment, and / or wireless backhaul equipment. Figure 1 It is not shown in the middle.

[0085] Optionally, in practical applications, the wireless communication system may include multiple network devices (also called access network devices) and multiple terminals simultaneously. One network device can serve one or more terminals simultaneously. A terminal can also access one or more network devices simultaneously. This application embodiment does not limit the number of terminals and network devices included in the wireless communication system.

[0086] Satellite communication, also known as non-terrestrial network (NTN), is used to extend 5G coverage. Compared to terrestrial cellular networks (such as 5G NR), NTN networks offer wider coverage, higher path loss, greater latency, faster speeds, and lower costs. As a supplement and extension to terrestrial networks, NTN can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that wired telephone networks and terrestrial mobile communication networks cannot, effectively solving internet access problems in areas lacking communication infrastructure. For example, by deploying a large number of satellites in low Earth orbit, seamless ground coverage can be achieved through reasonable constellation construction, and the round-trip transmission latency between satellites and ground terminals can be significantly reduced compared to geostationary orbit satellites, reaching the tens of milliseconds level. With the use of technologies such as high-frequency bands, multi-beamforming, and frequency reuse, satellite communication capabilities have been significantly improved while reducing unit broadband costs, thus meeting the demands of high-data-rate services. Compared to terrestrial 5G networks and submarine fiber optic cables, NTN also has significant cost advantages. Modern small satellites have low R&D and manufacturing costs, and software-defined technologies can further extend the lifespan of satellites in orbit. In addition to global coverage (such as remote areas and ocean-going vessels), NTN can also be used in emergency relief (such as disaster monitoring and emergency communications), the Internet of Things, and high-speed mobility (such as high-speed rail and airplanes).

[0087] Because satellites are less susceptible to natural disasters or external damage, research is currently underway to use them as access network equipment (such as base stations) in mobile communication systems to provide communication services to areas such as oceans and forests. Unlike terrestrial base stations, satellites move at higher speeds relative to the ground and travel much farther, resulting in greater signal path loss when used as base stations. Current communication mechanisms designed for terminals and terrestrial base stations cannot be directly applied to communication between terminals and satellite base stations.

[0088] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application are briefly introduced below:

[0089] 1. Non-terrestrial network (NTN):

[0090] NTN is a network that uses transmission equipment on airborne or spaceborne aircraft as relay nodes or base stations. NTN application scenarios include low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, high Earth orbit (HEO) satellites, geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, high altitude platform stations (HAPS) base stations, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

[0091] This NTN can be found at [link / reference]. Figure 2A To understand, Figure 2A This is a schematic diagram of the NTN transparent transmission network structure. The NTN transparent transmission network includes terminals, a radio access network (RAN), a core network, and a data network. The RAN includes satellites, gateways, and base stations. Terminals can communicate with satellites, satellites can communicate with base stations through gateways, base stations can communicate with the core network, and the core network connects to the data network. Figure 2A In the network architecture shown, the base stations are still located on the ground, and the satellite can relay signals for both terminals and base stations. The gateway receives information from the satellite and then forwards it to the ground base station; or it sends signals from the ground base station to the satellite. This gateway can be a ground station. Figure 2A The structure shown can also be found in Figure 2B or Figure 2C To understand. For example Figure 2BAs shown, the satellite connects wirelessly to the ground station via the S1 interface. The ground station and the ground base station are connected to the core network via wired or wireless connections. The S1 interface is the interface for interconnection and communication between the satellite and the ground station. If there is a wireless link between satellites, and the satellite only has transparent forwarding functionality (i.e., the corresponding base station is deployed on the ground), then only transparent forwarding is implemented between satellites. If the base station or part of the base station functionality is deployed on the satellite, such as... Figure 2C As shown, satellites can also communicate with each other via the S2 interface, which is the interface through which satellites can achieve interconnection and communication.

[0092] Figure 2D This is a schematic diagram of an NTN regeneration network structure. In this NTN regeneration network, base stations are deployed on satellites, allowing terminals to communicate directly with the satellites without needing to relay data to the ground. Additionally, the satellites can communicate with the core network via gateways, and the core network connects to the data network. Figure 2D The regenerative network structure shown can also be found in [reference]. Figure 2E To understand this, the terminal accesses the network via an air interface, while the base station is deployed on a satellite and connected to the ground core network via a wireless link.

[0093] Terminal communicates with satellite. For example, the satellite can transmit downlink data to the terminal, where the downlink data can be encoded using channel coding, and the channel-coded downlink data is transmitted to the terminal after constellation modulation; the terminal can also transmit uplink data to the satellite, where the uplink data can also be encoded using channel coding, and the channel-coded uplink data is transmitted to the satellite after constellation modulation.

[0094] Wireless links exist between different satellites to facilitate signaling exchange and user data transmission. Satellites connect to the ground-based core network via these wireless links. The core network is used to implement services such as user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, and accounting. The core network comprises multiple functional units, which can be divided into control plane and data plane functional entities. The control plane functional entity can be the Access and Mobility Management Unit (AMF), responsible for user access management, security authentication, and mobility management. The control plane functional entity can also be the User Plane Function (UPF), responsible for managing user plane data transmission and traffic statistics.

[0095] The above Figure 2A and Figure 2B The RAN in this context can be an open radio access network (O-RAN), such as... Figure 3As shown, Open RAN includes at least one open control unit (O-CU), at least one open distributed unit (O-DU), and at least one open radio unit (O-RU). The O-CU may include a control plane (C-plane) and a user plane (U-plane). The O-CU C-plane and the O-CU U-plane can communicate through the E1 interface. The O-CU and the O-DU can communicate through the F1 interface. The O-DU and the O-RU can communicate through the open fronthaul interface.

[0096] O-RAN also defines an orchestration layer with a non-real-time RAN intelligent controller and a functional layer with a near-real-time RAN intelligent controller, and defines the exchange interface A1 between the two layers; in addition, it defines the E2 interface between the near-real-time RAN controller and O-CU and O-DU.

[0097] The terminal can be a wireless terminal capable of receiving network device scheduling and instruction information. The wireless terminal can be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to the user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem.

[0098] Terminals can communicate with one or more core networks or the Internet via a radio access network (RAN). Terminals can be mobile terminals, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones), computers, and data cards. For example, they can be portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. Examples include personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets, and computers with wireless transceiver capabilities. Wireless terminals can also be called subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations (MS), remote stations, access points (APs), remote terminals, access terminals, user terminals, user agents, subscriber stations (SSs), customer premises equipment (CPEs), terminals, user equipment (UEs), mobile terminals (MTs), etc.

[0099] As an example and not a limitation, in this embodiment, the terminal can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices or smart wearable 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 are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are feature-rich, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a specific type of application function and require the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets, smart helmets, and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0100] Terminals can also be drones, robots, devices-to-device (D2D) terminals, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) terminals, virtual reality (VR) terminals, augmented reality (AR) terminals, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in telemedicine or telehealth services, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, and so on.

[0101] Furthermore, the terminal can also be a terminal in a future communication system after the fifth generation (5G) communication system, or a terminal in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN). For example, the terminal of the future communication system can further expand the form and function of 5G communication terminals, including but not limited to vehicles, cellular network terminals (integrating satellite terminal functions), drones, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as electronic tags or radio frequency tags.

[0102] In this embodiment, the terminal can also obtain artificial intelligence (AI) services provided by the network device. Optionally, the terminal can also have AI processing capabilities.

[0103] In this application, "base station" is just one example of network equipment. Network equipment can refer to devices within a wireless network, such as RAN nodes (or devices) that connect terminals to the wireless network, and can also be called base stations. Examples of RAN equipment include: base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), gNBs (gNodeBs) in 5G communication systems, transmission reception points (TRPs), evolved Node Bs (eNBs), radio network controllers (RNCs), Node Bs (NBs), home base stations (e.g., home evolved Node Bs, or home Node Bs (HNBs), base band units (BBUs), and wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access points (APs). Furthermore, in a network architecture, network equipment can include central unit (CU) nodes, distributed unit (DU) nodes, or RAN equipment comprising both CU and DU nodes.

[0104] Optionally, the RAN node can also be a macro base station, micro base station, indoor station, relay node, donor node, or a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. The RAN node can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network equipment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU).

[0105] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes each implementing some of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be CUs, DUs, CUs (control plane, CP), CUs (user plane, UP), or radio units (RUs). 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 equipment or radio units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), radio heads (RHs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).

[0106] 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 access network (open RAN, O-RAN, or ORAN) system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software modules and hardware modules.

[0107] Communication between access network devices and terminals follows a specific protocol layer structure. This protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: radio resource control (RRC) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer, or physical (PHY) layer, etc. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, or physical layer, etc.

[0108] The correspondence between network elements and their achievable protocol layer functions in the ORAN system can be found in Table 1 below.

[0109] Table 1

[0110] ORAN network elements 3GPP protocol layer functions O-CU-CP RRC+PDCP-Control Plane (PDCP-C) O-CU-UP SDAP+PDCP - User Plane (PDCP-U) O-DU RLC+MAC+PHY-high O-RU PHY-low

[0111] Network devices can be other devices that provide wireless communication functions for terminals. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or form of the network device. For ease of description, the embodiments of this application are not limited.

[0112] In addition, the network equipment in the core network may also include core network equipment, such as the Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Serving Gateway (S-GW), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), and Public Data Network Gateway (PDN Gateway or P-GW) in 4th generation (4G) networks; and access and mobility management function (AMF), user plane function (UPF), or session management function (SMF) in 5G networks. Furthermore, this core network equipment may also include other core network equipment in 5G networks and next-generation networks of 5G networks.

[0113] In this embodiment of the application, the network device may also have network nodes with AI capabilities, which can provide AI services to terminals or other network devices. For example, it may be an AI node, computing node, RAN node with AI capabilities, or core network element with AI capabilities on the network side (access network or core network).

[0114] In this application embodiment, the device for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device itself, or it can be a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing the function, such as a chip system. This device can be disposed within the network device. In the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, the example of a network device being used to implement the function of the network device is used to describe the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment.

[0115] 2. Satellite:

[0116] This typically refers to a celestial body that orbits a planet and performs periodic orbits in closed orbits. The satellites mentioned in this application may include artificial satellites, drones, unmanned spacecraft, communication balloons, and other similar equipment.

[0117] 3. Artificial satellite:

[0118] Artificial satellites generally refer to spacecraft orbiting the Earth in space. They can include LEO, MEO, HEO, or GEO satellites.

[0119] Future communication systems, considering scenarios with extremely wide coverage, will have the following characteristics:

[0120] First, in scenarios with extremely wide coverage, the transmission distance is long, path loss is large, and the power of network equipment and terminals is limited.

[0121] Second, the network equipment is located at a high position, and the channel between the network equipment and the terminal is close to the line of sight (LOS).

[0122] Third, under the extreme wide coverage, it is necessary to both meet the terminal access requirements within the full coverage area and ensure the performance of the terminals.

[0123] This extremely wide coverage context allows for various scenario requirements. For example, one scenario is a satellite scenario, where satellites cover a large area. Another scenario involves ultra-wide ground-based coverage reaching tens of kilometers, such as... Figure 4 The diagram shows a scenario with extremely wide coverage.

[0124] Due to their advantages, such as resistance to natural disasters or external damage, satellites are currently being researched as access network devices (e.g., base stations) for mobile communication systems to provide communication services to areas such as oceans and forests. Unlike terrestrial base stations, satellites move at higher speeds relative to the ground and travel longer distances, resulting in greater signal path loss when used as base stations. Current communication mechanisms designed for terminals and terrestrial base stations cannot be directly applied to communication between terminals and satellite base stations. Therefore, to enable satellites to provide communication services to terminals, overcoming signal path loss to improve coverage and ensuring stable initial access for terminals to reduce access latency are pressing issues that need to be addressed.

[0125] To support broader service coverage, network equipment may need to provide network services over larger communication areas. Taking NTN as an example, in an NTN communication system, each satellite / high-altitude platform / base station typically covers a large area. Given a link budget and system resources, the satellite network side improves overall satellite coverage by increasing the coverage area of ​​a single beam through beam design. However, due to the limited coverage of a single beam, a single satellite still requires a large number of beams to achieve full coverage.

[0126] During the initial access phase, the satellite, acting as a network device, needs to scan all beams sequentially and configure random access resources for the terminal. The random access process generally refers to the period from when the terminal sends a random access preamble (or preamble code sequence) to attempt to access the network device until a basic signaling connection is established between the terminal and the network device. Currently, network devices can broadcast different SSBs for different communication areas, distinguished by their index numbers. Generally, different SSB index numbers represent downlink synchronization signals from different beam directions, covering and serving different areas. After receiving the SSB, the terminal completes timing synchronization and confirms the time-frequency position of SIB1 according to the information in the SSB, then resolves SIB1 to obtain cell information. It then uses the search space of system information block 19 (SIB19) configured in SIB1 to detect SIB19 and complete data parsing to obtain the satellite's ephemeris information. After obtaining cell information and / or ephemeris information, the terminal sends a random access preamble on the corresponding uplink resources based on the configuration information and the SSB index number. For the network device, the received random access preamble and the corresponding uplink resources can be used to determine the area where the terminal is located and establish a connection with the terminal.

[0127] NR's initial access and service data transmission phase:

[0128] like Figure 5 The diagram shown illustrates the initial access and service data transmission phases of NR. Figure 5 Taking the four-step random access procedure (four-step random access channel, RACH) as an example, it can also be applied to the two-step random access procedure (two-step RACH) in actual use. Details are as follows:

[0129] I. Initial Access Phase: Network devices use a wide beam to transmit the SSB synchronization channel, and other channels are associated with the SSB beam.

[0130] Step 1: The terminal receives SIB1 from the SSB and obtains cell information, random access occasion (RO) resource configuration information, etc. from the SIB1 message. Further, the terminal determines the RO resource it will use based on the SSB index number and the RO resource configuration information, and sends a physical random access channel (PRACH) on the RO resource associated with the SSB to perform random access.

[0131] Step 2: The network device receives the PRACH and sends a random access response (RAR) to the terminal. The RAR schedules the terminal to send message 3 (Msg3) on the corresponding time-frequency resources to initiate a radio resource control setup request (RRCSetupRequest).

[0132] Step 3: The network device receives Msg3 sent by the terminal and sends message 4 (Msg4) to the terminal to establish Radio Resource Control (RRCSetup);

[0133] Step 4: The terminal receives Msg4 and sends message 5 (Msg5) to complete the initial access process.

[0134] II. Service Data Transmission Stage: Network devices acquire channel state information (CSI) or the location of the terminal, and use narrow beams to transmit service data, thereby improving link budget and communication rate.

[0135] Below is a brief introduction to the basic process of two-step RACH. The main purpose of two-step RACH is to reduce the signaling overhead and latency in the RACH (Random Access Request) process. Specifically, unlike four-step RACH, two-step RACH changes the original four-step process of sending preamble—receiving RAR—sending Msg3—receiving Msg4 to two steps: sending MsgA—receiving MsgB.

[0136] Among them, such as Figure 6 The diagram shows the format of MsgA in a two-step random access process. MsgA contains a preamble and a payload, similar to the original combination of Msg1 and Msg3, meaning that the payload carries the content of Msg3.

[0137] MsgB contains MsgB PDCCH and MsgB PDSCH. The content carried in PDSCH is similar to that of the original Msg2 and Msg4. That is, MsgB PDCCH carries Msg2 and MsgB PDSCH carries Msg4.

[0138] like Figure 7a The diagram shows a two-step random access procedure. If MsgB contains a fallback random access response (fallbackRAR), the terminal retransmits MsgA PUSCH, which is equivalent to falling back to the four-step RACH and sending Msg3. At this time, the uplink grant (UL grant) indicated in the fallbackRAR is used to retransmit MsgA PUSCH.

[0139] like Figure 7b The diagram shows another two-step random access procedure. If MsgB contains a successful random access response (successRAR), then the 2-step RACH is completed.

[0140] like Figure 7c The diagram shows another two-step random access process. If MsgB is not received in the response window, MsgA is retransmitted.

[0141] In the initial access process of ultra-wide coverage scenarios, the same wide beam is used for transmission of channels such as SIB1 / RAR / Msg4 and SSB, which presents a link budget issue. Using a wide beam during the access process ensures comprehensive coverage, but the gain of the wide beam is lower. Furthermore, the necessary signaling data channels such as SIB1 / RAR / Msg4 during the initial access process have higher demodulation thresholds compared to SSB. In summary, using a wide beam for SSB transmission guarantees demodulation performance, while transmitting PDSCH results in insufficient demodulation performance.

[0142] Therefore, improving the demodulation performance of the data channel during the initial access process is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0143] To this end, this application provides a communication scheme in which the network side indicates a first region or a set of first preamble sequences corresponding to the first region in a first system information block. Terminals located within the coverage area of ​​the first region send a first preamble sequence from the set of first preamble sequences, enabling the network side to determine the region where the terminal is located. This allows subsequent communication with the terminal to occur within the region where the terminal is located. For example, a narrow beam can be used to communicate with the terminal. The terminal can detect and parse signals only within the first region, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel.

[0144] The concept of beams involved in the embodiments of this application is as follows:

[0145] (1) Beam:

[0146] The beam is the main lobe of the directional array pattern.

[0147] In the NR protocol, beaming can be represented as a spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, spatial parameter, spatial domain setting, spatial setting, quasi-colocation (QCL) information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, etc. Beaming can be indicated by transmission configuration indication state (TCI-state) parameters or by spatial relation parameters. Therefore, in this application, beaming can be replaced by spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial parameter, spatial parameter, spatial setting, spatial setting, QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state (DL TCI-state, UL TCI-state), spatial relation, etc. These terms are also equivalent to each other. Beaming can also be replaced with other beaming terms, which are not limited in this application.

[0148] The beam used to transmit signals can be called the transmission beam (Tx beam), spatial domain transmission filter, spatial transmission filter, spatial domain transmission parameter, spatial transmission setting, or spatial transmission setting. The downlink transmission beam can be indicated by TCI-state.

[0149] The beam used to receive signals can be called a reception beam (Rx beam), a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, a spatial domain reception setting, or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam can be indicated by a spatial relation, an uplink TCI-state, or an SRS resource (indicating the transmit beam using that SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam can also be replaced by an SRS resource.

[0150] The transmitting beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted through an antenna, while the receiving beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of a wireless signal received from an antenna.

[0151] Furthermore, the beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beam. The beamforming technology can be beamforming technology or other technologies. Specifically, beamforming technology can be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology, etc.

[0152] Beams are generally associated with resources. For example, during beam measurement, network devices measure different beams using different resources. The terminal provides feedback on the measured resource quality, allowing the network device to determine the quality of the corresponding beam. During data transmission, beam information is also indicated through its corresponding resources. For instance, network devices use the Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) field in downlink control information (DCI) to indicate the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) beam information of the terminal.

[0153] Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered as a single beam. A beam may include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and detection signals, etc. One or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be considered as a set of antenna ports.

[0154] In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, a beam refers to the transmit beam of a network device. In beam measurement, each beam of a network device corresponds to a resource, and therefore the beam corresponding to that resource can be uniquely identified by the resource index.

[0155] (2) Region:

[0156] An area described in this application may be a part of the coverage area of ​​a network device, or a part of the coverage area of ​​a cell, and the entire coverage area of ​​a cell may be divided into multiple areas.

[0157] A region can have at least one of the following attributes: shape, outline, size, radius, area, geographical location, etc. In one possible implementation, the shape of the region can be a regular hexagon, or other shapes such as a regular pentagon, circle, ellipse, etc. Alternatively, the shape of the region can also be irregular, without limitation. For example, the shape of the region can be defined by a protocol or by a network device. Region shapes defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple region shapes. Similarly, the size, radius, and area of ​​the region can also be defined by a protocol or by a network device. Region sizes, radii, and areas defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple region sizes, multiple region radii, or multiple region areas.

[0158] In one example, the area described in this application can be a beam-corresponding area, where a cell can be covered by multiple beams. The coverage area of ​​a beam is the projected area of ​​the beam on the Earth's surface. Network devices adjust the antenna weights so that the beams transmitted by the network devices can point in different directions, resulting in different coverage areas. The beam coverage area discussed below refers to the beam's coverage area on the ground. The coverage area changes as satellites move and weights are adjusted.

[0159] Furthermore, a cell may simultaneously contain both wide beams (referred to as "wide beams" below) and narrow beams (referred to as "narrow beams" below), or in other words, an area described in this application corresponds to a downlink signaling area, such as a system information block or synchronization signal block. Network equipment can utilize a wide beam to transmit SSBs (this wide beam can be called an SSB beam), which can ensure downlink synchronization and improve the wide coverage performance of the satellite network. Network equipment can further divide an SSB beam to obtain several area-level narrow beams (area-level narrow beams are relative to user-level narrow beams; area-level narrow beams mainly involve the initial access phase, while user-level narrow beams mainly involve the terminal accessing the network. For simplicity, area-level narrow beams are simply referred to as narrow beams here). The coverage area of ​​one SSB wide beam can be equal to the coverage area of ​​multiple narrow beams. One narrow beam corresponds to one area. This area can be identified using a beam ID.

[0160] In another example, with the large-scale deployment of satellites, to improve the effectiveness and simplicity of satellite beam management, the ground control center can divide the overall ground coverage area of ​​the satellites into several fixed-size regions, assigning each region a unique identifier. Each region corresponds to a beam position, which can be identified by a beam position ID. The size of each region can be set to be the same as the coverage size of the SSB beam, facilitating periodic satellite scanning; furthermore, a region can be further subdivided into smaller, narrower beam regions.

[0161] The communication method provided in this application is described below based on the aforementioned communication system:

[0162] The following embodiments illustrate the method using network devices and terminals as the execution subjects of the interaction, but this application does not limit the execution subjects of the interaction. For example, the method executed by the network device in the embodiments can also be executed by a module applied to the network device (e.g., circuit, processor, chip, or chip system); the method executed by the terminal in the embodiments can also be executed by the communication module in the terminal, or the circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (e.g., modem chip (also known as baseband chip), or system-on-a-chip or system-in-package chip containing modem core).

[0163] like Figure 8 The diagram shown is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0164] S801. The network device sends a first system information block to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first system information block.

[0165] Optionally, before the network device sends the first system information block to the terminal, the network device broadcasts different SSBs for different communication areas and distinguishes them by their index numbers. Generally, different SSB index numbers represent downlink synchronization signals in different beam directions, covering and serving different areas. For example, the network device broadcasts SSB0 to SSBN-1 in N beam directions, where N is a positive integer. The demodulation threshold of SSB is lower than that of PDSCH; therefore, the network device can use a wide beam to send SSBs (this wide beam can be called the SSB beam), which can ensure downlink synchronization and improve the wide coverage performance of the satellite network.

[0166] After receiving the SSB, the terminal completes timed synchronization and confirms the time-frequency position of SIB1 according to the information in the SSB, and completes the parsing of SIB1 to obtain cell information. Based on the search space of SIB19 configured in SIB1, it detects SIB19 and completes data parsing to obtain the satellite's ephemeris information.

[0167] Network devices can further divide a single SSB beam into several narrow beams. The coverage area of ​​one SSB beam can be equal to the coverage area of ​​multiple narrow beams. For example... Figure 9 The diagram shown is an example of an SSB wide beam in an embodiment of this application. The coverage area of ​​one SSB beam is equal to the coverage area of ​​three narrow beams.

[0168] Because the coverage area of ​​a narrow beam is smaller than that of an SSB beam, the link budget for narrow beams is increased, thereby improving transmission performance. Therefore, it is desirable that RAR / Msg4 / MsgB messages can be delivered using narrow beams. However, RAR / Msg4 / MsgB messages are responses to specific terminals, rather than broadcast messages; therefore, network devices need to know the location of the terminal to perform narrow beam transmission.

[0169] In this embodiment, the network device broadcasts SSBn (SSBn is one of the wide beams from SSB 0 to SSB N-1) on a wide beam n. This wide beam n can be divided into M narrow beams (narrow beam 0 to narrow beam M-1, where M is a positive integer), and these M narrow beams correspond to M regions. The network device broadcasts a system information block on each narrow beam, meaning SSBn corresponds to multiple system information blocks. Specifically, the network device broadcasts a first system information block (which can be the aforementioned SIB1, SIB19, etc. system information blocks) on a narrow beam m (narrow beam m is one of the M narrow beams). This first system information block belongs to one of the multiple system information blocks corresponding to SSBn. Since the terminal is located in the region corresponding to narrow beam m, the terminal receives this first system information block.

[0170] After receiving the first system information block, the terminal can determine the first preamble sequence set based on the first system information block. For example, there are two possible implementation methods:

[0171] In a first possible implementation, the first system information block is used to indicate region m (i.e., the first region).

[0172] It should be understood that the area described in this embodiment may be a part of the coverage area of ​​the network device, or a part of the coverage area of ​​a cell, and the entire coverage area of ​​the cell is divided into multiple areas. These multiple areas can be numbered. The network device can indicate the area m through a first system information block, for example, the multiple areas may correspond to different numbers, and the first system information block includes the identification information of area m.

[0173] The network device can pre-configure a root sequence for the terminal, and the terminal can sequentially generate the required preamble sequences based on the root sequence configured by the network device. If the number of regions is less than the number of preamble sequences, the terminal can group the preamble sequences to obtain multiple preamble sequence sets. One region can correspond to one preamble sequence set, and one preamble sequence set can include one or more preamble sequences. Furthermore, the network device can indicate (e.g., through a first system information block) the correspondence between regions and preamble sequence sets, or this correspondence can be predefined by the protocol.

[0174] Based on the correspondence between the aforementioned regions and the preamble sequence set, the terminal determines the first preamble sequence set corresponding to region m. Then, it arbitrarily selects a preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set, for example, selecting the first preamble sequence.

[0175] It is understandable that, for example, the region m is the region corresponding to a system information block (the first system information block) transmitted in one transmission. This region is smaller than the region corresponding to the synchronization signal block. For example, in some cases, the synchronization signal block can be transmitted through a "wide beam", and multiple system information blocks corresponding to the synchronization signal block are transmitted by multiple "narrow beams". Here, region m is the region corresponding to the corresponding "narrow beam".

[0176] It should be understood that the area in this application can be used to characterize the ground coverage area corresponding to the transmission beam. There is a correspondence between the two, but they may not be absolutely equal. For example, the area corresponding to the beam may be (smaller than) the actual coverage area. In other words, the area corresponding to the transmission beam may not be equal to the absolute ground coverage area of ​​the actual transmission beam.

[0177] In a second possible implementation, the first system information block is used to indicate the beam ID of the aforementioned narrow beam.

[0178] The network device can pre-configure a root sequence for the terminal, and the terminal can sequentially generate the required preamble sequences based on the root sequence configured by the network device. When the number of narrow beams is less than the number of preamble sequences, the terminal can group the preamble sequences to obtain multiple preamble sequence sets. One narrow beam can correspond to one preamble sequence set, and a preamble sequence set can include one or more preamble sequences. Furthermore, the network device can indicate (e.g., through a first system information block) the correspondence between narrow beams and preamble sequence sets, or this correspondence can be predefined by the protocol.

[0179] Based on the aforementioned correspondence between narrow beams and preamble sequence sets, the terminal determines the first preamble sequence set corresponding to the narrow beam m. Then, it arbitrarily selects a preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set, for example, selecting the first preamble sequence.

[0180] In a third possible implementation, the first system information block is used to indicate the first preamble sequence set corresponding to region m. The network device can pre-configure the first preamble sequence set for the terminal. For example, the network device sends first configuration information to the terminal, which is used to configure the first preamble sequence set, which includes one or more preamble sequences. Then the terminal can directly select any preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set, for example, select the first preamble sequence.

[0181] It is understandable that the system information blocks broadcast on the aforementioned different narrow beams may be different; for example, different system information blocks may indicate different regions or different sets of preamble sequences.

[0182] In addition, the first system information block can also be implemented in the following ways:

[0183] In a fourth possible implementation, the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first system information block.

[0184] For example, the first region is the region corresponding to a system information block (first system information block) sent by the network device. This region is smaller than the region corresponding to the first synchronization signal block. The region corresponding to the first synchronization signal block may include the regions corresponding to multiple system information blocks. That is, one transmission of the synchronization information block corresponds to a larger region. The network device sends multiple system information blocks in the region corresponding to the first synchronization signal block, where the region corresponding to each system information block is a part of the larger region. For example, in some cases, the synchronization signal block may be transmitted via a "wide beam," and the multiple system information blocks corresponding to one synchronization signal block are transmitted by multiple "narrow beams." Here, the first region is the region corresponding to the corresponding "narrow beam."

[0185] One narrow beam corresponds to one region, and the region can be identified by a beam id. The identifier of a narrow beam is an identifier within a local range under one SSB beam. As Figure 10 shows, it is a schematic diagram of an initial access procedure in an example of the embodiment of the present application. A network device sends SSB n on a wide beam n, and respectively sends M system information blocks on M narrow beams associated with the SSB n, that is, one system information block is sent on one narrow beam, and the identifier of the system information block is the same as the identifier of the narrow beam. Wherein, the first system information block is sent on the narrow beam m, and the first system information block includes the identifier of the first system information block. For example, the identifier of the first system information block can be included in area-level system information blocks such as SIB1 / SIB19.

[0186] At present, the protocol supports configuring at most P preamble sequences (P is a positive integer), and a terminal can sequentially generate required preamble sequences according to the root sequences configured by the network device. For example, if the above-mentioned SSB n can be divided into 4 narrow beams, the terminal can divide the P preamble sequences into 4 preamble sequence sets from front to back according to the generation order of the preamble sequences, which respectively correspond to 4 narrow beams. Each preamble sequence set includes P / 4 preamble sequences. It should be noted that the region identifier herein is used to identify the coverage of narrow beams in one SSB beam (e.g., the SSBn beam), rather than identifying the coverage of narrow beams in the entire domain. If the above-mentioned SSB n can be divided into 4 narrow beams, the value of the region identifier can be 0 to 3.

[0187] Still referring to the above example, the wide beam n can be divided into M narrow beams, and the network device broadcasts M system information blocks on the M narrow beams respectively. Wherein, the network device broadcasts the first system information block on the narrow beam m, and the first system information block includes the identifier m of the first system information block. Then the terminal can determine a specific beam direction according to the two-level indication of <identifier of SSB, identifier of SIB>. Wherein, the identifier of SIB is the same as the identifier of the narrow beam. For example, SSB n is associated with 3 narrow beams, the network device configures <SSB index i, SIB index j>=<0, 2> through quasi co-location (QCL), the terminal can determine the narrow beam #2 under SSB#0 according to the configuration, thereby uniquely determining the specific beam direction and QCL relationship through the two-level QCL indication method. In this embodiment, the identifier of SIB (or the identifier of the narrow beam) is an identifier of a SIB or a narrow beam within a local range under a wide beam. The above narrow beam m corresponds to the region m, and the terminal can randomly select a preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set corresponding to the region m, for example, select the first preamble sequence.

[0188] In the fifth possible implementation, unlike the third implementation, the SIB identifier (or narrow beam identifier) ​​is the identifier of the SIB or narrow beam within the global range (i.e., the satellite communication range). This area can be the identifier of the waveband included within the global range (i.e., the satellite coverage area).

[0189] The size of each region can be set to be the same as the coverage size of the SSB beam, facilitating periodic satellite scanning. Furthermore, a region can be further subdivided into smaller narrow-beam regions. The specific location and identifier of each region can be pre-set in the chips of the satellite and terminal, or distributed by the operations control center and core network. For a given period, a satellite will cover a ground area equal to the number of SSB beams, or a ground area equal to the number of SSB beams multiplied by the number of narrow beams corresponding to one SSB beam. If the size of a region is the same as the size of an SSB beam, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the SSB index number and the ground region identifier. Furthermore, if the number of regions is the number of SSB beams multiplied by the number of narrow beams corresponding to one SSB beam, then one SSB index can correspond to multiple ground region identifiers.

[0190] like Figure 11 The diagram shown illustrates another initial access process according to an embodiment of this application. The network device transmits SSB n on the wide beam n and transmits M system information blocks on the M narrow beams associated with SSB n.

[0191] Network devices can add system information block identifiers to system information blocks, defining unique system information blocks and eliminating the need for differentiation via SSB identifiers. For example, if the first system information block serves as the QCL reference signal, and assuming it includes identifier 2, the terminal can determine that the network device transmitted the first system information block via narrow beam #2 under SSB#0; assuming it includes identifier 10, the terminal can determine that the network device transmitted the first system information block via narrow beam #10 under SSB#1. The terminal can arbitrarily select a preamble sequence from the set of first preamble sequences corresponding to the area covered by the narrow beam, for example, selecting the first preamble sequence.

[0192] When area identification is performed across the entire satellite coverage area—meaning the number of area identifiers is equal to the number of SSB beams within satellite coverage multiplied by the number of narrow beams within a single SSB beam—this number may exceed the maximum number of preamble sequences—P—as specified in the current protocol. Therefore, the following discussion will address different scenarios:

[0193] When the maximum number of preamble sequences specified in the protocol exceeds the total number of areas within the satellite coverage area, the network device can configure the first preamble sequence set in which the terminal is located, and the number of preamble sequences included in that first preamble sequence set. The terminal can determine the available preamble sequences based on its own first preamble sequence set and the number of preamble sequences included in that first preamble sequence set. It is understandable that the network device can directly configure the number of preamble sequences included in a preamble sequence set, or this number can be determined by configuring the total number of areas within the satellite coverage area. The number of preamble sequences included in the preamble sequence set satisfies: floor(total number of areas within the satellite coverage area / maximum number of preamble sequences specified in the protocol). Here, floor represents rounding down.

[0194] When the maximum number of preamble sequences specified in the protocol is less than the total number of areas within the satellite coverage area, network devices can rationally plan area identifiers. For example, areas within the satellite coverage area can be identified from 0 to the number of preamble sequences minus 1, ensuring, as far as possible, that the identifiers of covered areas are not duplicated or have as few duplicates as possible when multiple beams are transmitted concurrently at the same time; that is, signals are not transmitted in areas exceeding the number of preamble sequences minus 1. In this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the area identifier and the preamble sequence identifier.

[0195] S802. The terminal sends a first preamble sequence to the network device, and / or sends message A. Accordingly, the network device receives the first preamble sequence, and / or receives message A.

[0196] After receiving the first system information block (which may be SIB1 and / or SIB19 mentioned above), the terminal obtains cell information and / or ephemeris information based on SIB1 and / or SIB19, and then initiates random access in the corresponding uplink resources according to the configuration information and the index number of the SSB.

[0197] For example, the following random access methods can be used:

[0198] In the first scheme, after the terminal selects the first preamble sequence, it sends the first preamble sequence to the network device using a four-step random access method. The first preamble sequence belongs to the first preamble sequence set. This first preamble sequence corresponds to region m. After receiving the first preamble sequence, the network device, based on the correspondence between region m and the first preamble sequence set, can determine that the terminal is in region m, i.e., within the coverage area of ​​narrow beam 1. Therefore, it can subsequently send RAR, Msg4, etc., to the terminal through narrow beam 1.

[0199] In the second scheme, after selecting the first preamble sequence, the terminal uses a two-step random access method to send message A to the network device. Message A includes indication information for region m. For example, the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) of message A includes indication information for region m. This indication information for region m indicates that the terminal is in region m. After receiving message A, the network device parses and obtains the indication information for region m, thus determining that the terminal is in region m, i.e., within the coverage area of ​​narrow beam 1. Subsequently, it can send RAR, Msg4, etc., to the terminal through narrow beam 1.

[0200] In the third scheme, after the terminal selects the first preamble sequence, it uses a two-step random access method to send message A to the network device. Since message A includes the first preamble sequence, which belongs to the first preamble sequence set, this first preamble sequence corresponds to region m. Upon receiving message A, the network device, based on the correspondence between region m and the first preamble sequence set, can determine that the terminal is located in region m, i.e., within the coverage area of ​​narrow beam 1. Subsequently, it can send RAR, Msg4, etc., to the terminal via narrow beam 1. According to a communication method provided in this application embodiment, the network side indicates region m or the corresponding first preamble sequence set in the first system information block. Terminals within the coverage area of ​​region m send a first preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set, allowing the network side to determine the terminal's location. This enables subsequent communication with the terminal using the corresponding narrow beam, allowing the terminal to detect and parse signals only within the narrow beam range, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel during the initial access process.

[0201] According to a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application, a terminal receives a first system information block sent by a network device. The network device indicates a first region, or indicates a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or indicates the identifier of a first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or indicates the identifier of the first system information block, or indicates the identifier of a first beam in the first system information block. The terminal, which is within the coverage area of ​​the first region, sends the first preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set, so that the network side can determine the region where the terminal is located. This allows subsequent communication with the terminal to be carried out within the region where the terminal is located. For example, a corresponding narrow beam can be used to communicate with the terminal. The terminal can only detect and parse signals within the first range, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel.

[0202] The above embodiments describe a scheme in which a network device divides an SSB beam, transmits system information blocks on the divided narrow beams, and indicates the region corresponding to the narrow beam or the set of preamble sequences corresponding to the region through the system information blocks. The following embodiments will describe a scheme in which the network device issues division rules (i.e., region information) so that the terminal can determine its own region:

[0203] like Figure 12 The diagram shown is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. Exemplarily, the method may include the following steps:

[0204] S1201. The network device sends a second system information block to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second system information block.

[0205] Optionally, before the network device sends the second system information block to the terminal, the network device broadcasts different SSBs for different communication areas and distinguishes them by their index numbers. Generally, different SSB index numbers represent downlink synchronization signals in different beam directions, covering and serving different areas. For example, the network device broadcasts SSB0 to SSB X-1 in X beam directions, where X is a positive integer.

[0206] In this embodiment, the network device broadcasts SSBx (SSBx is one of the wide beams from SSB 0 to SSB X-1) on a wide beam x. This wide beam x can be divided into Y regional narrow beams (narrow beam 0 to narrow beam Y-1, where Y is a positive integer). The network device broadcasts a system information block on each narrow beam, meaning SSBx corresponds to multiple system information blocks. The network device also broadcasts a second system information block (which could be the aforementioned SIB1, SIB19, etc.) on a narrow beam y (narrow beam y is one of the Y narrow beams). This second system information block belongs to one of the multiple system information blocks corresponding to SSBx. Since the terminal is located in the region corresponding to narrow beam y (e.g., region y), the terminal receives this second system information block.

[0207] like Figure 13 The diagram shown illustrates the initial access process in an embodiment of this application, where the second system information block indicates area information. This area information is used by the terminal to determine its location within the narrow beam.

[0208] For example, the area information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each area in one or more areas, the radius of each area in one or more areas, the arrangement of one or more areas, and the area identification rules. The shape of the area can be regular or irregular. For example, if the area is circular, the center point is the center of the circle, and the radius is the radius of the circle. This application does not limit the arrangement of the areas or the area identification rules. For example, multiple areas can be arranged as rectangles, squares, etc. The area identification rules are associated with the arrangement of the areas and are identified in a certain order according to the arrangement. For example, a wide beam corresponds to 8 areas, which are divided into two rows and identified from left to right and from front to back. For example, the arrangement of the areas and the area identification rules can also be predefined. For example, if the radius of each area in one or more areas is the same, then the area information can include the radius of one area.

[0209] After receiving the second system information block, the terminal can determine region y based on its own location and the aforementioned region information. For example, the SSBx beam includes four regions, and this region information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each of the four regions, the radius of each region, the arrangement of the four regions, and the identification rules for the four regions. Assuming the terminal is near the center point of region y, or within the range of region y calculated based on the region radius, the terminal can determine that it is within the coverage area of ​​region y based on its own location and the aforementioned region information.

[0210] The network device can pre-configure a root sequence for the terminal, and the terminal can sequentially generate the required preamble sequences based on the root sequence configured by the network device. If the number of regions is less than the number of preamble sequences, the terminal can group the preamble sequences. One region can correspond to one set of preamble sequences, and a set of preamble sequences can include one or more preamble sequences. The correspondence between these regions and sets of preamble sequences can be indicated by a second system information block or predefined by the protocol.

[0211] The terminal can determine the second preamble sequence set based on its own region (region y) and the correspondence between the region and the preamble sequence set. Then, it can arbitrarily select a preamble sequence from the second preamble sequence set, for example, the second preamble sequence.

[0212] S1202. The terminal sends a second preamble sequence to the network device, and / or sends message A. Accordingly, the network device receives the second preamble sequence, and / or receives message A.

[0213] After receiving the second system information block (which may be SIB1 and / or SIB19 mentioned above), the terminal obtains cell information and / or ephemeris information based on SIB1 and / or SIB19, and then initiates random access in the corresponding uplink resources according to the configuration information and the index number of the SSB.

[0214] For example, the following random access methods can be used:

[0215] In the first scheme, after the terminal selects the second preamble sequence, it sends the second preamble sequence to the network device using a four-step random access method. The second preamble sequence belongs to a set of second preamble sequences. This second preamble sequence corresponds to region y. After receiving the second preamble sequence, the network device, based on the correspondence between region y and the set of second preamble sequences, can determine that the terminal is located in region y, i.e., within the coverage area of ​​narrow beam y. Therefore, it can subsequently send RAR, Msg4, etc., to the terminal through narrow beam y.

[0216] In the second scheme, after selecting the second preamble sequence, the terminal uses a two-step random access method to send message A to the network device. Message A includes indication information for region y. For example, the PUSCH of message A includes indication information for region y. This indication information for region y indicates that the terminal is in region y. After receiving message A, the network device parses and obtains the indication information for region y, thereby determining that the terminal is in region y, i.e., within the coverage area of ​​narrow beam y. Subsequently, it can send RAR, Msg4, etc., to the terminal through narrow beam y.

[0217] In the third scheme, after selecting the second preamble sequence, the terminal uses a two-step random access method to send message A to the network device. Since message A includes the second preamble sequence, which belongs to the second preamble sequence set, and this second preamble sequence corresponds to region y, the network device, upon receiving message A, can determine that the terminal is located in region y, i.e., within the coverage area of ​​the narrow beam y, based on the correspondence between region y and the second preamble sequence set. This allows the terminal to subsequently send RAR, Msg4, etc., to the terminal via the narrow beam y.

[0218] According to a communication method provided in this application embodiment, a network device sends system information blocks through a narrow beam and indicates area information through the system information blocks. The terminal determines its own area based on its own area and area information, and sends a preamble sequence corresponding to the determined area to the network device, or carries area indication information in the MsgA, so that the network device can know the area where the terminal is located, and can then communicate with the terminal within the area where the terminal is located. For example, it can use a corresponding narrow beam to communicate with the terminal, and the terminal can only detect and parse signals within the narrow beam range, thereby improving the demodulation performance of the data channel.

[0219] The above mainly describes the solutions provided by the embodiments of this application from the perspective of interaction between terminals and network devices. Accordingly, the embodiments of this application also provide a communication device for implementing the various methods described above. This communication device can be the terminal in the above method embodiments, or a communication module in the terminal, or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip (also known as a baseband chip), or a system-on-a-chip or system-in-package chip containing a modem core); or, the communication device can be the network device in the above method embodiments, or a module applied to the network device (e.g., a circuit, processor, chip, or chip system). It is understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, in conjunction with the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0220] This application embodiment can divide the communication device into functional modules according to the above method embodiment. For example, each function can be divided into its own functional modules, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The integrated modules can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0221] Based on the same concept as the above communication method, this application also provides the following communication device:

[0222] like Figure 14The diagram shown is a structural schematic of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1400 includes a transceiver unit 1401 and a processing unit 1402; wherein:

[0223] When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform... Figure 8 In the illustrated embodiment, one or more actions are performed by the terminal in steps S801-S802; or, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform... Figure 12 One or more actions performed by the terminal in steps S1201-S1202 of the illustrated embodiment.

[0224] When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform... Figure 8 In the illustrated embodiment, one or more actions performed by the network device in steps S801-S802; or, the transceiver unit 1401 is used to perform... Figure 12 In the illustrated embodiment, one or more actions are performed by the network device in steps S1201-S1202.

[0225] For details on the specific implementation of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1401 and processing unit 1402, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments.

[0226] like Figure 15 The diagram shows a structural schematic of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1500 includes one or more processors 1501 (a processor is illustrated in the figure). Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include an interface circuit 1502 (shown as dashed lines in the figure), with the processor 1501 and the interface circuit 1502 coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1502 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a memory 1503 (…). Figure 15 (Represented by dashed lines in the text). The memory 1503 is used to store instructions executed by the processor 1501, or to store input data required by the processor 1501 to run instructions, or to store data generated after the processor 1501 runs instructions.

[0227] When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiment, the interface circuit 1502 is used to perform... Figure 8 In the illustrated embodiment, one or more actions are performed by the terminal in steps S801-S802; or, the interface circuit 1502 is used to perform... Figure 12 One or more actions performed by the terminal in steps S1201-S1202 of the illustrated embodiment.

[0228] When the communication device is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above method embodiment, the interface circuit 1502 is used to perform... Figure 8 In the illustrated embodiment, one or more actions performed by the network device in steps S801-S802; or, the interface circuit 1502 is used to perform... Figure 12 In the illustrated embodiment, one or more actions are performed by the network device in steps S1201-S1202.

[0229] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal, which is sent to the terminal by the network device; or, the chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the terminal, which is sent to the network device by the terminal.

[0230] When the aforementioned communication device is a chip applied to a network device, the chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the network device, which is information sent by the terminal to the network device; or, the chip sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) in the network device, which is information sent by the network device to the terminal.

[0231] Furthermore, it should be noted that the aforementioned transceiver unit and / or processing unit can be implemented through virtual modules. For example, the processing unit can be implemented through software functional units or virtual devices, and the transceiver unit can be implemented through software functions or virtual devices. Alternatively, the processing unit or transceiver unit can also be implemented through physical devices. For example, if the device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the transceiver unit 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 unit is an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

[0232] The module division in this application is illustrative and represents only one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods are possible. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various examples 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.

[0233] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of this application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0234] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the methods described in the above embodiments.

[0235] This application also provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in the above embodiments.

[0236] This application also provides a communication system, including the communication device described above.

[0237] This application also provides a circuit coupled to a memory, which is used to perform the methods shown in the above embodiments. This circuit may include a chip circuit.

[0238] When the aforementioned communication device is a module applied to a network device, the network device module implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The network device module receives information from other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) within the network device; this information is sent by the terminal to the network device. Alternatively, the network device module sends information to other modules (such as radio frequency modules or antennas) within the network device; this information is sent by the network device to the terminal. Here, the network device module can be the baseband chip of the network device, or a CU, DU, or other module, or a device under an O-RAN architecture, such as an open CU, open DU, etc.

[0239] It should be noted that one or more of the above units can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of both. When any of the above units is implemented by software, the software exists as computer program instructions and is stored in memory. The processor can be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flow.

[0240] In this application, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or all or part of the circuitry in the aforementioned devices used to implement the processing functions, capable of implementing or executing the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in this application can be directly embodied in the execution of the hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0241] When the above units or components are implemented in hardware, the hardware can be any one or any combination of a CPU, microprocessor, digital signal processing (DSP) chip, microcontroller unit (MCU), artificial intelligence processor, ASIC, SoC, FPGA, PLD, application-specific digital circuit, hardware accelerator, or non-integrated discrete device, which can run the necessary software or perform the above method flow independently of software.

[0242] Optionally, embodiments of this application also provide a chip system, including: at least one processor and an interface, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the at least one processor executes a computer program or instructions in the memory, the chip system performs the method in any of the above method embodiments. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices; embodiments of this application do not specifically limit this.

[0243] The memory in this application can also be a circuit or any other device capable of performing storage functions, used to store program instructions and / or data. Memory is any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and accessible by a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, memory can be non-volatile memory, such as digital versatile disc (DVD), hard disk drive (HDD), or solid-state drive (SSD), or it can be volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM).

[0244] It is understood that in this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, and implicit instruction. When describing a certain instruction information to indicate A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A. In this application, the information indicated by the instruction information 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, or indirectly indicating the information to be instructed by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be instructed. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be instructed, while the other parts of the information to be instructed are known or agreed upon in advance. For example, the instruction of specific information can also be achieved by using the arrangement order of various information in advance (e.g., as specified by a protocol), thereby reducing the instruction overhead to a certain extent. The information to be instructed can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information to be sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific sending method. The sending period and / or timing of these sub-information messages can be predefined, for example, according to a protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the receiving device.

[0245] The terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, as used in this application as described above, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include other steps or units not listed, or optionally include other steps or units inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus. It should be noted that in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate illustrative, explanatory, or descriptive purposes. Any method or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other methods or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0246] It should be understood that in the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, " / " indicates that the objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B; where A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, in the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" refers to two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single 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. Additionally, to facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used in the embodiments of this application to distinguish identical or similar items with substantially the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the terms "first" and "second" do not necessarily imply difference. In this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being better or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.

[0247] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software programs, implementation can be, in whole or in part, in the form of a computer program product. This 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 processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, network device, or data center to another website, computer, network device, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means.

[0248] Although this application has been described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, those skilled in the art, by reviewing the accompanying drawings, disclosure, and appended claims, will understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments in carrying out the claimed application. In the claims, a single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in the claims. While different dependent claims may recite certain measures, this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0249] It is understood that the various numerical designations used in the embodiments of this application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the process numbers described above does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

[0250] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have different focuses. For parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions in other embodiments.

[0251] The components in the device described in this application embodiment can be combined, divided, or removed according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can combine or integrate the different embodiments and features described in this specification.

[0252] In this application, examples may reference each other without logical contradiction. For example, methods and / or terms between method embodiments may reference each other, functions and / or terms between device embodiments may reference each other, and functions and / or terms between device examples and method examples may reference each other.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: A first system information block is received, wherein the first system information block belongs to one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to the first synchronization signal block; wherein the first system information block is used to indicate a first region, or the first system information block is used to indicate a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first beam, wherein the first beam belongs to one of a plurality of beams corresponding to the first synchronization signal block; Send a first preamble sequence, which corresponds to the first region; and / or send message A, which includes indication information of the first region, wherein the first preamble sequence belongs to the first preamble sequence set.

2. The method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive first configuration information, which is used to configure the first preamble sequence set; Based on the correspondence between the first region and the first set of preamble sequences, the first preamble sequence is selected from the first set of preamble sequences.

3. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send a first system information block, which belongs to one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to the first synchronization signal block. The first system information block is used to indicate a first region, or the first system information block is used to indicate a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is used to indicate the identifier of the first beam, which belongs to one of a plurality of beams corresponding to the first synchronization signal block. Receive a first preamble sequence, the first preamble sequence corresponding to the first region, and / or receive message A, the message A including indication information of the first region, the first preamble sequence belonging to the first preamble sequence set.

4. The method as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send first configuration information, which is used to configure the first preamble sequence set; The first preamble sequence is determined in the first preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The first system information block includes the identification information of the first area.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The first system information block is also used to indicate the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set is predefined.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The first set of preamble sequences includes one or more preamble sequences, and the first region corresponds to the first set of preamble sequences.

8. The method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The first synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the first region is one of the one or more regions. The number of regions corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The first region corresponds to the first preamble sequence.

10. The method as described in claim 9, characterized in that, The first synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the first region is one of the one or more regions. The number of regions corresponding to the first synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

11. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receive a second system information block, which is one of multiple system information blocks corresponding to a second synchronization signal block. The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second system information block is used to indicate region information. Send a second preamble sequence, which corresponds to a second region, and / or send message A, which includes indication information of the second region, which is obtained based on the terminal's location information and the region information, and the second preamble sequence belongs to a second preamble sequence set.

12. The method as described in claim 11, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive second configuration information, which is used to configure the second preamble sequence set; Based on the correspondence between the second region and the second set of preamble sequences, the second preamble sequence is selected from the second set of preamble sequences.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Send a second system information block, which is one of multiple system information blocks corresponding to the second synchronization signal block. The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second system information block is used to indicate region information. Receive a second preamble sequence, the second preamble sequence corresponding to a second region, and / or receive message A, the message A including indication information of the second region, the second region being obtained based on the terminal's location information and the region information, and the second preamble sequence belonging to the second preamble sequence set.

14. The method as described in claim 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send second configuration information, which is used to configure the second preamble sequence set; The second preamble sequence is determined in the second preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, characterized in that, The regional information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each region in the one or more regions, the radius of each region in the one or more regions, the arrangement of the one or more regions, and the numbering rules of the regions.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11-15, characterized in that, The second system information block is also used to indicate the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set is predefined.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11-16, characterized in that, The second preamble sequence set includes one or more preamble sequences, and the second region corresponds to the second preamble sequence set.

18. The method as described in claim 17, characterized in that, The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second region is one of the one or more regions. The number of regions corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is less than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11-18, characterized in that, The second region corresponds to the second preamble sequence.

20. The method as described in claim 19, characterized in that, The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second region is one of the one or more regions. The number of regions corresponding to the second synchronization signal block is greater than the number of configurable preamble sequences.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a transceiver unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to receive a first system information block, wherein the first system information block belongs to one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to a first synchronization signal block; wherein the first system information block is configured to indicate a first region, or the first system information block is configured to indicate a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or the first system information block is configured to indicate the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is configured to indicate the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is configured to indicate the identifier of a first beam, wherein the first beam belongs to one of a plurality of beams corresponding to the first synchronization signal block; The transceiver unit is further configured to send a first preamble sequence, the first preamble sequence corresponding to the first region; and / or send message A, the message A including indication information of the first region, the first preamble sequence belonging to the first preamble sequence set.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, characterized in that, The device further includes: a processing unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is further configured to receive first configuration information, which is used to configure the first preamble sequence set. The processing unit is configured to select the first preamble sequence from the first preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a transceiver unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is configured to transmit a first system information block, wherein the first system information block belongs to one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to the first synchronization signal block, the first system information block is configured to indicate a first region, or the first system information block is configured to indicate a first preamble sequence set corresponding to the first region, or the first system information block is configured to indicate the identifier of the first synchronization signal block and the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is configured to indicate the identifier of the first system information block, or the first system information block is configured to indicate the identifier of a first beam, wherein the first beam belongs to one of a plurality of beams corresponding to the first synchronization signal block; The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first preamble sequence, the first preamble sequence corresponding to the first region, and / or receive message A, the message A including indication information of the first region, the first preamble sequence belonging to the first preamble sequence set.

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 23, characterized in that, The transceiver unit is further configured to send first configuration information, which is used to configure the first preamble sequence set. The first preamble sequence is determined in the first preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set.

25. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 21-24, characterized in that, The first system information block includes the identification information of the first area.

26. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 21-25, characterized in that, The first system information block is also used to indicate the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set, or the correspondence between the first region and the first preamble sequence set is predefined.

27. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a transceiver unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is used to receive a second system information block, which is one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to a second synchronization signal block. The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second system information block is used to indicate region information. The transceiver unit is further configured to send a second preamble sequence, which corresponds to a second region, and / or send message A, which includes indication information of the second region, which is obtained based on the terminal's location information and the region information, and the second preamble sequence belongs to a second preamble sequence set.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27, characterized in that, The device further includes: a processing unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is further configured to receive second configuration information, which is used to configure the second preamble sequence set. The processing unit is configured to select the second preamble sequence from the second preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set.

29. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a transceiver unit; wherein: The transceiver unit is used to send a second system information block, which is one of a plurality of system information blocks corresponding to a second synchronization signal block. The second synchronization signal block corresponds to one or more regions, and the second system information block is used to indicate region information. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second preamble sequence, the second preamble sequence corresponding to a second region, and / or receive message A, the message A including indication information of the second region, the second region being obtained based on the terminal's location information and the region information, and the second preamble sequence belonging to the second preamble sequence set.

30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 29, characterized in that, The device further includes: Send second configuration information, which is used to configure the second preamble sequence set; The second preamble sequence is determined in the second preamble sequence set based on the correspondence between the second region and the second preamble sequence set.

31. The apparatus according to any one of claims 27-30, characterized in that, The regional information includes at least one of the following: the center point of each region in the one or more regions, the radius of each region in the one or more regions, the arrangement of the one or more regions, and the numbering rules of the regions.

32. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A processor for executing a program stored in memory, which, when executed, causes the apparatus to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1, 3-10, or causes the apparatus to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 2-10, or causes the apparatus to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 11, 12, 15-20, or causes the apparatus to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 13-20.

33. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed by a computer, implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-20.

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