Method and apparatus for wireless communication

Abstract

The present application provides a method and apparatus for wireless communication, by which a terminal device can request a network device to reconfigure an operating frequency domain unit, which helps the terminal device release a radio frequency circuit to be used in another network or to perform other operations, and the method includes a step of the terminal device transmitting a first request to a network device to request a reconfiguration of an operating frequency domain unit, the first request including first information, the first information including one or more configuration forms of adding at least one operating frequency domain unit, activating at least one operating frequency domain unit, deactivating at least one operating frequency domain unit, and deleting at least one operating frequency domain unit.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application bearing application number 2023101513742 and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Wireless Communication," filed with the China Patent Office on February 22, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates to the field of communications technologies, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for wireless communications. [Background technology]

[0003] With the diversification of user needs, the radio frequency circuit of the terminal device may need to perform related operations in different networks, for example, in the multi-card technology that some users need to separate work and life, the radio frequency circuit of the terminal device may need to switch between different networks.

[0004] When a terminal device switches from a current network to another network, the radio frequency circuit can request a gap (GAP) from the network device corresponding to the current network. The terminal device can perform related operations in the other network during the GAP period. However, the GAP configured in the network device may not completely prevent the terminal device from being scheduled by the current network, so that the terminal device cannot perform related operations in the other network. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention provides a method and apparatus for wireless communication. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In a first aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided, comprising: a step in which a terminal device transmits a first request to a network device to request reconfiguration of an operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device, the first request including first information, the first information including one or more configuration forms of adding at least one operating frequency domain unit, activating at least one operating frequency domain unit, deactivating at least one operating frequency domain unit, and deleting at least one operating frequency domain unit.

[0007] In a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus being a terminal device, the terminal device including a transmitting unit for transmitting a first request to a network device to request reconfiguration of an operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device, the first request including first information, the first information including one or more configuration forms of adding at least one operating frequency domain unit, activating at least one operating frequency domain unit, deactivating at least one operating frequency domain unit, and deleting at least one operating frequency domain unit.

[0008] In a third aspect, there is provided a communications device including a memory that stores a program, and a processor that invokes the program in the memory to perform the method of the first aspect.

[0009] In a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus including a processor for retrieving a program from a memory to perform the method of the first aspect.

[0010] In a fifth aspect, there is provided a chip including a processor for retrieving a program from a memory to cause a device in which the chip is installed to perform the method of the first aspect.

[0011] In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to the first aspect.

[0012] In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising a program for causing a computer to carry out the method according to the first aspect.

[0013] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program causing a computer to carry out the method according to the first or second aspect. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device can request a network device to reconfigure a corresponding operating frequency domain unit. Based on the reconfiguration of the network device, the terminal device can release at least one radio frequency circuit for another network or for performing other operations by adjusting the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the radio frequency circuit. When an idle radio frequency circuit is used for another network, a gap does not need to be applied. Therefore, requesting a reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit contributes to improving communication efficiency in response to diversified user needs and the utilization rate of the radio frequency circuit. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. [Figure 2] 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of a multi-card technology applied in an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 3] A schematic diagram of the structure of terminal equipment in the NR system is shown. [Figure 4] 1 shows a schematic diagram of two radio frequency circuits corresponding to multiple carriers. [Figure 5] 1 shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment of two radio frequency circuits corresponding to multiple carriers. [Figure 6] 1 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] 7 shows a schematic diagram of a possible implementation of the application of the method shown in FIG. 6. [Figure 8]7 shows a schematic diagram of another possible realization of applying the method shown in FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of a device for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 10] 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Hereinafter, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments that a person skilled in the art can obtain based on the embodiments of the present application without any creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0017] Embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, such as a global system of mobile communications (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (GPRS), a long term evolution (LTE) system, an advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) system, a new radio (NR) system, an evolution of an NR system, an LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, an NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, an NTN system, a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless fidelity (WFI), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless cellular ... The present invention may be applicable to wireless fidelity (WiFi) and fifth-generation (5G) communication systems. Embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to other communication systems, such as future communication systems. The future communication systems may be, for example, sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems or satellite communication systems.

[0018] Conventional communication systems have limitations in the number of connections they can support and are difficult to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, communication systems can support not only traditional cellular communication but also one or more other types of communication. For example, a communication system can support one or more of device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, etc., and embodiments of the present application can also be applied to communication systems supporting the above communication methods.

[0019] The communication system in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, and a standalone (SA) networking scenario.

[0020] The communication system according to the embodiment of the present application may be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, which may also be considered a shared spectrum, or may be applied to a licensed spectrum, which may also be considered a dedicated spectrum.

[0021] Embodiments of the present application may be applied to terrestrial networks (TN) systems and NTN systems, which may include, for example, 4G-based NTN systems, NR-based NTN systems, internet of things (IoT)-based NTN systems, and narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT)-based NTN systems.

[0022] A communication system may include one or more terminal devices, which may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment.

[0023] In some embodiments, the terminal device may be a station (ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next generation communication system (e.g., an NR system) or a terminal device in a future public land mobile network (PLMN), etc.

[0024] In some embodiments, a terminal device may refer to a device that provides a user with voice and / or data connectivity. For example, the terminal device may be a handheld device with wireless connectivity, an in-vehicle device, etc. As some specific examples, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet PC (Pad), a laptop, a palmtop computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, etc.

[0025] In some embodiments, the terminal equipment may be located on land. For example, the terminal equipment may be located indoors or outdoors. In some embodiments, the terminal equipment may be located on water, for example, on a steamship. In some embodiments, the terminal equipment may be located in the air, for example, on an airplane, a balloon, or a satellite.

[0026] In addition to the terminal device, the communication system may further include one or more network devices. The network device in the present embodiment may be a device for communicating with the terminal device, and may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device. The network device may be, for example, a base station. The network device in the present embodiment may refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that allows the terminal device to access the wireless network. The base station may broadly cover or be replaced with various names such as a Node B (Node B), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), primary base station MeNB, secondary base station SeNB, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, radio node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, base band unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), positioning node, etc. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station may also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip installed in the aforementioned device or apparatus, etc. The base station may also be a mobile switching center and a device that functions as a base station in D2D, V2X, or M2M communications, a network-side device in a 6G network, or a device that functions as a base station in a future communication system.The base station can support networks of the same or different access technologies, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies adopted by the network equipment and the specific equipment configurations.

[0027] A base station may be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or a drone may be configured as a mobile base station, and one or more cells may move based on the location of the mobile base station. In another example, a helicopter or a drone may be configured as a device for communicating with another base station.

[0028] In some deployments, the network equipment in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a CU or a DU, or may include a CU and a DU. The gNB may further include an AAU.

[0029] By way of non-limiting example, in some embodiments of the present application, the network equipment may have mobile characteristics, e.g., the network equipment may be a mobile equipment. In some embodiments of the present application, the network equipment may be a satellite or balloon station. In some embodiments of the present application, the network equipment may also be a base station located at a location such as on land or in a body of water.

[0030] In an embodiment of the present application, a network device can provide a service to a cell, and a terminal device communicates with the network device through transmission resources (e.g., frequency area resources, i.e., spectrum resources) used by the cell. The cell may be a cell corresponding to the network device (e.g., a base station), and the cell may belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cell here may include a metro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of a small coverage range and low transmission power, and are adapted to provide high-rate data transmission services.

[0031] 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 may include a network device 110, which may be a device that communicates with terminal devices 120 (or communication terminals, also referred to as terminals). The network device 110 may provide communication coverage in a specific geographic area and communicate with terminal devices located within the coverage area.

[0032] FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates one network device and two terminal devices, and in some embodiments of the present application, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices, and the coverage range of each network device may include other numbers of terminal devices, and this is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present application, the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1 may further include other network entities, such as a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF), etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

[0034] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, a device having a communication function in a network / system can be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system 100 shown in Fig. 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120 having a communication function, where the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may be the above-mentioned specific devices, and detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, such as other network entities such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0035] For ease of understanding, some related technical knowledge in the embodiments of the present application will be first described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the related technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional means, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents:

[0036] The development of communication technologies complements the diversifying communication needs of users. For example, to meet the communication needs of some users who want to separate work and life, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) introduced multi-card technology. Taking dual-card technology as an example, two subscriber identity module (SIM) cards can be connected to the same terminal device. As shown in FIG. 2, two cards, SIM card 1 and SIM card 2, can be connected to terminal device 210. SIM card 1 corresponds to network 1, and SIM card 2 corresponds to network 2.

[0037] In some embodiments, two cards connected to a terminal device may correspond to the same PLMN or operator's network. For example, both cards may correspond to China Mobile's network. When two cards correspond to the same PLMN or the same operator, the network elements of the corresponding two networks may interoperate. Taking FIG. 2 as an example, when Network 1 and Network 2 correspond to the same PLMN, Network 1 and Network 2 may interoperate.

[0038] In some embodiments, two cards connected in a terminal device may correspond to different PLMNs or networks of different operators. For example, the two cards may correspond to the networks of China Mobile and China Unicom, respectively. When the two cards correspond to different PLMNs or networks of different operators, the network elements on the network sides corresponding to the two cards do not interact with each other. Still taking FIG. 2 as an example, Network 1 and Network 2 correspond to different PLMNs, and Network 1 and Network 2 do not interact with each other.

[0039] Considering the communication methods of terminal devices in the above two scenarios, the relevant protocols need to specify the interaction processes in different scenarios. To simplify the protocols, current protocols are designed with a unified process to support the above two application scenarios. For example, the 3GPP protocol uniformly assumes that two or more networks connected to a terminal device do not interact with each other. Therefore, it is generally considered that two networks corresponding to two cards connected in a terminal device do not interact with each other.

[0040] When two networks do not interact, the terminal equipment may need to switch between different networks to perform certain operations. For example, if the terminal equipment is in a connected state in network 1 and in an idle state in network 2, the terminal equipment may need to periodically perform some operations in network 2. These operations may include, for example, receiving paging, measuring idle or inactive states, measuring signals of camp cells / other frequency points to determine whether to reselect a cell, etc. To perform these operations in network 2, the terminal equipment may notify network 1 that it "needs to request leave."

[0041] A terminal device can connect to different networks based on its internal radio frequency circuit. In some embodiments, the terminal device can connect to two networks based on the same radio frequency circuit. When switching between the two networks, the terminal device needs to notify the network device to which it is currently connected. For example, when a terminal device connects to network 1 and network 2 based on one radio frequency circuit and switches from network 1 to network 2 to perform some operations, the terminal device needs to request a leave from network 1.

[0042] For ease of understanding, an example will be described in which a terminal device is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state in network 1 and in an idle state or inactive state in network 2. Based on the different states of the terminal device in network 1 and network 2, the terminal device needs to periodically perform some operations in network 2. Because network 1 and network 2 do not interact with each other, network 1 may not know the time and duration at which the terminal device performs operations in network 2. For example, only the terminal device and network 2 can determine the paging timing in network 2. Therefore, when the terminal device requests a vacation from network 1, it also needs to notify network 1 of specific vacation information. For example, the terminal device may notify network 1 of "how often to request a vacation, the vacation start time is XXX, and the end time is XXXX," and this information is collectively referred to as terminal device auxiliary information.

[0043] In the case of network 1, network 1 configures a GAP for the terminal device based on the auxiliary information provided by the terminal device. During the GAP period, the terminal device can switch to network 2 to perform operations such as paging reception and measurement. The network device corresponding to network 1 will not schedule the terminal device during the GAP period.

[0044] However, with the development of communication technology, network equipment may not be able to completely avoid scheduling the terminal device in the GAP period. For example, in an NR system, two frequency ranges (FR), FR1 and FR2, are defined. FR1 and FR2 are usually not realized by the same radio frequency circuit. In the NR protocol, when configuring a GAP, network equipment may configure three GAPs: an FR1 GAP, an FR2 GAP, and a terminal device GAP. In the FR1 GAP period, a network equipment corresponding to network 1 may not schedule the terminal device on a carrier corresponding to FR1, but may schedule the terminal device on a carrier corresponding to FR2. Similarly, in the FR2 GAP period, a network equipment corresponding to network 1 may not schedule the terminal device on a carrier corresponding to FR2, but may schedule the terminal device on a carrier corresponding to FR1. In the terminal device GAP period, a network equipment corresponding to network 1 may not schedule the terminal device on a carrier corresponding to FR1, and may not schedule the terminal device on a carrier corresponding to FR2. Therefore, when configuring the FR1 GAP and the FR2 GAP, the network equipment may not be able to completely avoid scheduling the terminal equipment in the GAP period.

[0045] On the other hand, a terminal device can report supported bands and band combinations based on multiple radio frequency circuits to a network device. The network device configures CA and / or DC for the terminal device based on the support status of the band combination reported by the terminal device. Whether a terminal device operates on multiple carriers using multiple radio frequency circuits depends on the internal implementation of the terminal device. That is, when CA, DC, etc. are configured for a terminal device in network 1, the network device corresponding to network 1 does not know how the terminal device operates. Generally, if a terminal device supports a combination of FR1 and FR2, the network device configures DC for the terminal device, and the terminal device can operate on one or more carriers in FR1 using one radio frequency circuit and on one or more carriers in FR2 using another radio frequency circuit. As shown in FIG. 3, radio frequency circuit 1 of terminal device 310 operates on FR1, and radio frequency circuit 2 operates on FR2. The network device can configure measurement gaps individually for FR1 and FR2 carriers, or can configure a common gap for the two FRs. When a network device configures a GAP for the FR1 and FR2 carriers separately, there is a problem that the terminal device may be scheduled in the GAP period mentioned above.

[0046] Considering the above issues, an analysis of actual operating situations reveals that in some implementation scenarios, a terminal device does not need to request a GAP from network equipment of the current network, thereby avoiding the need for interaction due to the GAP request and the above-mentioned problems. In these scenarios, the terminal device may use multiple radio frequency circuits to operate within the same FR. For example, both of the two radio frequency circuits of the terminal device operate in FR1 of network 1. When the network equipment configures multiple carriers for the terminal device, the terminal device can use two radio frequency circuits to operate on multiple carriers, respectively, or can use one radio frequency circuit to operate on multiple carriers and the other radio frequency circuit to be idle. In a scenario where some radio frequency circuits are idle, when the terminal device needs to switch to network 2, the idle radio frequency circuit can directly perform operations such as paging reception, idle state or inactive state measurement, etc., in network 2. That is, the terminal device does not need to request a GAP when switching to network 2, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned problems.

[0047] For ease of understanding, two methods in which two radio frequency circuits operate on multiple carriers of the same FR will be taken as examples and described in detail below with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG.

[0048] 4 and 5, a network device corresponding to network 1 configures three FR1 carriers, namely, carrier A, carrier B, and carrier C, for a terminal device. The terminal device has two radio frequency circuits, namely, radio frequency circuit 1 and radio frequency circuit 2.

[0049] As shown in Figure 4, the two radio frequency circuits of the terminal device can have two implementation modes corresponding to the carriers. Implementation mode 1 is that radio frequency circuit 1 operates on carrier A and carrier B, and radio frequency circuit 2 operates on carrier C. Implementation mode 2 is that radio frequency circuit 1 operates on carrier A, carrier B, and carrier C, and radio frequency circuit 2 is in an idle state.

[0050] In the two methods shown in FIG. 4, when the terminal device needs to operate in network 2, the implementation of the terminal device is different. In implementation 1, the terminal device needs to apply for a GAP to the network device corresponding to network 1. In implementation 2, the terminal device does not need to apply for a GAP to the network device corresponding to network 1. However, in the case of a terminal device that originally adopts implementation 1, it can automatically change to implementation 2 and release one radio frequency circuit to receive paging in network 2, measure a reference signal, etc. When automatically changing to implementation 2, the terminal device does not need to apply for a GAP to the network device corresponding to network 1.

[0051] Compared with FIG. 4, the implementation 1 in FIG. 5 is the same as that in FIG. 4. The terminal device normally operates using the implementation 1. The difference is that the radio frequency circuit 1 in FIG. 5 cannot automatically change to the implementation 2 shown in FIG. 4. Due to the limited adjustable operating frequency range of the radio frequency circuit, the radio frequency circuit may not be able to support multiple carriers configured in the network device by adjusting the operating frequency range. Specifically, in the implementation 2 shown in FIG. 5, the radio frequency circuit 1 of the terminal device cannot cover carrier A, carrier B, and carrier C. That is, the radio frequency circuit 1 cannot operate on three carriers simultaneously. Carrier C still needs to be implemented by the radio frequency circuit 2. Therefore, when the terminal device in FIG. 5 needs to switch to network 2, it still needs to apply for a GAP from the network device of network 1.

[0052] In summary, in the conventional process, a network device corresponding to network 1 receives a GAP request from a terminal device and configures a GAP in the terminal device, thereby satisfying the terminal device's need to operate in network 2. In this case, the terminal device can release one radio frequency circuit to operate in network 2 by adjusting the operating frequency range of the radio frequency circuit, thereby eliminating the need to apply for a GAP in the current network. However, if the terminal device needs to release one radio frequency circuit, the remaining radio frequency circuit of the terminal device may not be able to support multiple carriers configured in the current network, which may reduce available frequency domain resources.

[0053] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application proposes a method for wireless communication, in which a terminal device requests a network device corresponding to a current network to reconfigure the carrier on which the first radio frequency circuit operates, thereby releasing the other radio frequency circuit to operate in another network or perform other operations different from the first radio frequency circuit, thereby eliminating the need to apply for a gap with the current network when switching networks. The method according to the embodiment of the present application will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6.

[0054] The method shown in FIG. 6 is described in terms of the interaction between terminal equipment and network equipment.

[0055] The terminal device may be any of the terminal devices described above that communicate with the network device. In some embodiments, the terminal device may be a communication device that supports dual card or multi-card technology. For example, the terminal device may be terminal device 210 that supports dual card technology shown in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the terminal device may perform related operations in different networks or different frequency ranges via multiple radio frequency circuits therein. For example, the terminal device may be terminal device 310 shown in FIG. 3.

[0056] The network equipment may be any of the network equipments connected to the terminal device. In some embodiments, the network equipment may be a communication equipment with which an RRC connection with the terminal device is established. That is, the network equipment may be a communication equipment that currently provides a network service to the terminal device. Taking the terminal device 210 in FIG. 2 as an example, the network equipment may correspond to network 1 or network 2 in FIG. 2.

[0057] Referring to FIG. 6, in step S610, the terminal device sends a first request.

[0058] The first request may be used by the terminal device to request the network equipment to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device. That is, the terminal device may suggest to the network equipment to adjust the corresponding operating frequency domain unit through the first request. In some embodiments, the network equipment may directly reconfigure according to the proposal of the terminal device. For example, the network equipment may reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device based on the first request. In some embodiments, the network equipment may take into account the operating frequency range of the terminal device during subsequent configuration according to the proposal of the terminal device. For example, the network equipment may not directly change the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device based on the first request. However, the first request of the terminal device may indicate the operating range of the radio frequency circuit of the terminal device. The network equipment may take this factor into account during subsequent configuration. In some embodiments, the network equipment may not reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit of the terminal device due to frequency domain resource allocation status or other reasons.

[0059] The operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device may refer to a cell or may refer to a frequency domain resource. In some embodiments, the operating frequency domain unit may be a cell corresponding to the terminal device. The cell may be a primary cell or a secondary cell. In some embodiments, the operating frequency domain unit may be a different frequency domain range in which the radio frequency circuit of the terminal device operates. For example, the operating frequency domain unit may be a subband within a carrier, a carrier, a combination of carriers, or a band.

[0060] The operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device may be referred to as a terminal device specific frequency domain unit. For example, when the operating frequency domain unit is a carrier, the carrier corresponding to the terminal device is a terminal device specific carrier.

[0061] The reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal equipment may refer to the readjustment of the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal equipment. The readjustment may take one or more of the following configuration forms: adding an operating frequency domain unit, activating an operating frequency domain unit, deleting an operating frequency domain unit, and deactivating an operating frequency domain unit. Taking adding one operating frequency domain unit as an example, the reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal equipment may be adding one cell to the terminal equipment, adding one carrier, or even adding one carrier combination.

[0062] The terminal device may support multiple operating frequency domain units, and the first request may indicate the operating frequency domain units that the network device is requested to reconfigure. Based on the first request, the terminal device may propose to the network device the operating frequency domain units to be reconfigured. Taking FIG. 5 as an example, the terminal device supports three carriers (carrier A, carrier B, and carrier C), and the first request may propose to the network device to adjust the operating frequency domain units corresponding to the terminal device based on carrier C. For example, carrier C corresponding to the terminal device may be deleted or carrier C may be deactivated. Still taking FIG. 5 as an example, the first request may also propose to the network device to adjust the operating frequency domain units corresponding to the terminal device based on carrier D. For example, carrier D may be added to the terminal device or carrier D may be activated.

[0063] The operating frequency domain unit proposed to be reconfigured in the first request may be associated with a radio frequency circuit of the terminal device. Adjusting the operating frequency domain unit based on one or more radio frequency circuits of the terminal device contributes to putting at least one radio frequency circuit of the multiple radio frequency circuits into an idle state. The radio frequency circuit associated with the reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit may be referred to as a first radio frequency circuit.

[0064] In some embodiments, the operating frequency domain unit for which reconfiguration is requested may be associated with an operating frequency range corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit. Exemplarily, the terminal device may adjust its corresponding operating frequency domain unit based on the operating frequency range of the first radio frequency circuit. This adjustment may release at least one other radio frequency circuit if frequency domain resources are satisfied. That is, by adjusting the operating frequency domain unit, the terminal device may put at least one radio frequency circuit other than the first radio frequency circuit into an idle state.

[0065] For example, the terminal device may determine the band in which the operating frequency domain unit that is requested to be reconfigured is located based on the operating frequency range of the radio frequency circuit. In order to release at least one radio frequency circuit, the terminal device may request the reconfiguration of multiple operating frequency domain units that belong to the same band or different bands.

[0066] In a possible implementation, the operating frequencies of two radio frequency circuits of a terminal device can support frequency domain units of FR1 and FR2, respectively. In this scenario, the frequency domain units requested to be added and deleted to release one radio frequency circuit do not need to belong to the same band. For example, a first radio frequency circuit of a terminal device operates on two carriers of FR1, and a second radio frequency circuit operates on one carrier of FR2. That is, the band range supported by the first radio frequency circuit is FR1 or a portion of a band within FR1, and the band range supported by the second radio frequency circuit is FR2 or a portion of a band within FR2. To put the second radio frequency circuit into an idle state, the terminal device can request the deletion of a carrier corresponding to FR2 and the addition of a carrier corresponding to FR1. The added carrier should be a carrier that the first radio frequency circuit can cover.

[0067] In another possible implementation, the operating frequencies of multiple radio frequency circuits of a terminal device can all support FR1 frequency domain units or all support FR2 frequency domain units. In this scenario, the frequency domain units requested to be added and the frequency domain units requested to be deleted to release one radio frequency circuit may belong to the same band. For example, both a first radio frequency circuit and a second radio frequency circuit of a terminal device operate on multiple FR1 carriers. To put the second radio frequency circuit into an idle state, the terminal device can request the deletion of one or more carriers on which the second radio frequency circuit operates and the addition of one or more carriers that the first radio frequency circuit can cover.

[0068] The operating frequency range corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit refers to one or more adjustable operating frequency ranges of the first radio frequency circuit. In some embodiments, the first radio frequency circuit can be controlled to support multiple frequency ranges. The first radio frequency circuit is, for example, the radio frequency circuit 1 shown in FIG. 4, and can switch from implementation 1 to implementation 2 by adjusting the frequency range range supported by the radio frequency circuit 1. That is, the operating frequency range of the first radio frequency circuit can be adjusted based on the operating frequency range unit.

[0069] The first radio frequency circuit may be one or more radio frequency circuits to be reconfigured in the terminal device. The first radio frequency circuit may be one of multiple radio frequency circuits of the terminal device, and the first radio frequency circuit may be determined based on the operating frequency ranges corresponding to the multiple radio frequency circuits. For example, the terminal device may determine which radio frequency circuit is the first radio frequency circuit to be reconfigured based on the operating frequency ranges corresponding to the multiple radio frequency circuits. For example, the terminal device may determine which operating frequency range unit corresponding to which radio frequency circuit to reconfigure based on the operating ranges of two radio frequency circuits, and may put another radio frequency circuit in an idle state.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the first radio frequency circuit can change the frequency domain resources on which the terminal device operates through reconfiguration. The change in frequency domain resources can be determined by the number and / or frequency range of the adjusted operating frequency domain units of the first radio frequency circuit. For example, based on a first request from the terminal device, the carriers on which the first radio frequency circuit operates can be changed from three carriers to two carriers. Also, for example, the carriers on which the first radio frequency circuit operates still remain three carriers, but the frequency range of at least one of the three carriers is different from the original carrier.

[0071] The terminal device requests a change of the operating frequency domain unit from the network device through a first request. In the first request, the terminal device can propose to the network device how to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit in various ways. In some embodiments, the first request may include first information, and the terminal device can provide a configuration proposal through the first information. For example, the first request may be the above-mentioned auxiliary information of the terminal device, and the first information may be information added to the auxiliary information.

[0072] However, the first request sent by the terminal device is merely a proposal to the network device and is not a final decision. The final decision is made by the network device. Specifically, the network device can make a final decision on whether to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device based on the first request. The network device can also make a final decision on how to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device based on the first information in the first request. Therefore, the following description of the contents of the first information is a proposal by the terminal device to the network device.

[0073] The first information may include configuration forms of one or more operating frequency domain units. These configuration forms may be addition of an operating frequency domain unit, activation of an operating frequency domain unit, deactivation of an operating frequency domain unit, and deletion of an operating frequency domain unit. The number of operating frequency domain units to be added, deleted, or activated may be one or more, and is not limited thereto.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first information may include adding at least one operating frequency domain unit. Adding the operating frequency domain unit may increase the frequency domain resources on which the terminal device operates. Adding at least one operating frequency domain unit refers to the terminal device requesting the network device to configure one or more additional operating frequency domain units for the first radio frequency circuit. For example, if the operating frequency domain units are the carriers shown in FIG. 5, the terminal device may select one carrier excluding Carrier A and Carrier B within the operating frequency range of its radio frequency circuit 1 and then transmit the first information to the network device.

[0075] For example, the terminal device may determine the operating frequency domain unit to be added based on various methods. As a possible implementation, the terminal device may request the network device to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit based on the carrier. For example, the entire carrier that the terminal device requests the network device to add is within the operating frequency of the first radio frequency circuit. As another possible implementation, the terminal device may determine the operating frequency domain unit to be added based on a subband within the carrier. Still taking FIG. 5 as an example, the terminal device may select a carrier excluding carrier A and carrier B within the operating frequency range of its radio frequency circuit 1, which means that the subband corresponding to the initial bandwidth part (BWP) of the newly selected carrier is within the operating frequency of the radio frequency circuit 1 of the terminal, but the entire band of the newly selected carrier does not necessarily need to be within the operating frequency of the radio frequency circuit 1 of the terminal.

[0076] For example, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added may be a frequency domain unit used as a candidate for the network in which the network device is located. For example, the network corresponding to the network device may further have a plurality of candidate carriers. When the first information is the addition of at least one carrier, the terminal device may select one or more carriers from the candidate carriers based on the operating frequency range of the first radio frequency circuit. In some embodiments, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added may be a frequency domain unit not used as a candidate for the network in which the network device is located.

[0077] For example, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added may be a frequency domain unit that the terminal device has discovered through measurement. Still taking the carriers shown in FIG. 5 as an example, if the terminal device determines through measurement that the signal quality of carrier D is relatively good within the operating frequency range of the radio frequency circuit 1, it can request the addition of carrier D in the first information. In some embodiments, the terminal device may not need to measure the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added in order to reduce power consumption.

[0078] The terminal device can determine the operating frequency domain unit to be added through various measurement methods. For example, the terminal device can determine the carrier to be added through radio resource management (RRM) measurement results.

[0079] For example, the terminal device may request the addition of multiple operating frequency domain units by the first information. In some embodiments, the multiple operating frequency domain units may be in the same band. For example, in the first information, the multiple carriers to be added may be in the same band. In some embodiments, the multiple operating frequency domain units may be in different bands. For example, in the first information, the multiple carriers to be added may be in multiple bands within FR1, respectively.

[0080] For example, when the terminal device proposes adding an operating frequency domain unit by the first request, the first request may propose to the network device whether to activate the operating frequency domain unit. For example, the first request may request that at least one operating frequency domain unit be added and activated. Also, for example, the first request may only request that at least one operating frequency domain unit be added without indicating whether to activate it.

[0081] In some embodiments, the first information may include activation of at least one operating frequency domain unit. Activating the operating frequency domain unit may adjust the operating frequency of a radio frequency circuit of the terminal equipment. Activating the at least one operating frequency domain unit may refer to the terminal equipment requesting activation of one or more configured operating frequency domain units from the network equipment. For example, the network equipment may configure multiple carriers for the terminal equipment, with only some carriers activated, and the terminal equipment may request activation of one or more inactivated carriers via the first information.

[0082] For example, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be activated may be a frequency domain unit confirmed by the terminal device through measurement. The measurement method is the same as that of the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added, and will not be described again here.

[0083] For example, the terminal device may request activation of multiple operating frequency domain units by the first information. In some embodiments, the multiple operating frequency domain units may be in the same band. For example, the multiple carriers to be activated in the first information may be in the same band. In some embodiments, the multiple operating frequency domain units may be in different bands. For example, the multiple carriers to be activated in the first information may be in multiple bands within FR1, respectively.

[0084] In some embodiments, the first information may include addition of at least one operating frequency domain unit and activation of at least one operating frequency domain unit. Exemplarily, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be activated may be an operating frequency domain unit requested to be added, or may be some of the operating frequency domain units requested to be added. For example, the terminal device may use the first request to indicate to the network device that it wishes to add a carrier combination and activate some of the carriers in the carrier combination.

[0085] For example, the addition of at least one operating frequency domain unit requested by the terminal device may refer to the addition of multiple operating frequency domain units. In this case, the first information is further used to request the network device to determine whether to activate some or all of the multiple operating frequency domain units. For example, the first information may suggest to the network device to activate some carriers of the added carrier combination.

[0086] In a possible implementation form, when the first information includes adding and activating at least one operating frequency domain unit, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be activated in the first information should be within the range of the added operating frequency domain unit. Taking a request for cell activation as an example, the cell requested to be activated in the first information should be within the range of the added cell. The terminal equipment cannot request activation of cells other than the added cell list.

[0087] For example, the terminal device can propose to the network device via a variable whether to activate some of the added multiple operating frequency domain units, and can also explain in detail which operating frequency domain units the terminal device wants to activate. For example, the terminal device can propose "whether to activate some carriers of the carrier combination" via a Boolean variable. A true value of the Boolean variable can indicate that the terminal device wants to activate some of the carriers of the carrier combination, and a false value can indicate that the terminal device does not want to activate some of the carriers of the carrier combination. Conversely, a true value of the Boolean variable can indicate that the terminal device does not want to activate some of the carriers of the carrier combination, and a false value can indicate that the terminal device wants to activate some of the carriers of the carrier combination. Furthermore, for example, the terminal device can propose in detail which carriers the terminal device wants to activate of the carrier combination via an enumeration variable.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first information may include deactivation of at least one operating frequency domain unit. Deactivation of at least one operating frequency domain unit may refer to the terminal device requesting the network equipment to configure one or more operating frequency domain units to an inactive state. That is, the operating frequency domain units are still in the terminal device's configuration list, but the terminal device's radio frequency circuit does not constantly measure the operating frequency domain units. For example, the terminal device may operate on three carriers configured in the network equipment, and based on the first information, deactivate one or two of the carriers, and the terminal device will operate only on the remaining carriers.

[0089] In some embodiments, the first information may further include activation of at least one operating frequency domain unit and deactivation of at least one operating frequency domain unit, which will not be described repeatedly here.

[0090] In some embodiments, the first information may include deletion of at least one operating frequency domain unit. Deletion of at least one operating frequency domain unit may refer to the terminal device requesting the network device to delete one or more operating frequency domain units in the configuration list. For example, if the operating frequency domain units are the carriers shown in FIG. 5, the terminal device may request the network device to delete carrier C, so that radio frequency circuit 1 of the terminal device can cover carrier A and carrier B, and radio frequency circuit 2 can be in an idle state.

[0091] For example, the terminal device may request the deletion of multiple operating frequency domain units by the first information. In some embodiments, the multiple operating frequency domain units may be in the same band. For example, in the first information, the multiple carriers to be deleted may be in the same band. In some embodiments, the multiple operating frequency domain units may be in different bands. For example, in the first information, the multiple carriers to be deleted may be in multiple bands within FR1, respectively.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first information may include deletion of at least one operating frequency domain unit and deactivation of at least one operating frequency domain unit. Exemplarily, when the terminal device proposes deletion of an operating frequency domain unit by the first request, the first request may indicate whether the terminal device wishes to delete the operating frequency domain unit or deactivate the operating frequency domain unit. For example, the first request may propose to the network device to delete at least one carrier. Furthermore, for example, among multiple carriers for which reconfiguration is requested, the first request may propose to the network device to delete only some carriers and simply deactivate the other carriers without deleting them.

[0093] When a terminal device includes multiple radio frequency circuits, deleting and / or deactivating at least one operating frequency domain unit can release at least one radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit can be a radio frequency circuit other than the first radio frequency circuit in the terminal device. That is, depending on the configuration of the first request, the terminal device can have one or more radio frequency circuits in an idle state. The idle radio frequency circuit can be used to perform various operations. For example, in a terminal device supporting multi-card technology, the idle radio frequency circuit can connect to a service network different from the current network and perform operations such as paging reception. For example, after entering the idle state, radio frequency circuit 2 in FIG. 5 can connect to a network provided by a different operator from radio frequency circuit 1. For example, the idle radio frequency circuit can also perform several other operations according to the request of the current network. For example, the idle radio frequency circuit 2 can perform several forwarding operations as a repeater in the current network system.

[0094] In some embodiments, the first information may include adding at least one operating frequency domain unit and deleting at least one operating frequency domain unit. That is, in order to ensure the operation currently being performed by the terminal device, the terminal device may request deleting an operating frequency domain unit and simultaneously requesting adding an operating frequency domain unit, thereby ensuring frequency domain resources for the radio frequency circuit to operate. The adding and deleting of operating frequency domain units may realize a change in the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit.

[0095] For example, when the terminal device simultaneously requests the network device to add and delete an operating frequency domain unit, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added in the first information corresponds to the same band as the operating frequency domain unit requested to be deleted. If the operating frequency domain unit to be changed is not in the same band, the operating frequency range of the first radio frequency circuit may not be able to support the newly added operating frequency domain unit. For example, if carrier A requested to be deleted by the terminal device is in FR1 and carrier B requested to be deleted is in FR2, the radio frequency circuit supporting carrier A cannot operate on carrier B.

[0096] For example, when a terminal device simultaneously requests the network device to add and delete operating frequency domain units, the first request determines the operating frequency domain units to be added and deleted based on the operating frequency range corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit. Taking carriers as an example, when a terminal device simultaneously requests the network device to "delete a carrier + add a carrier," the carriers to be deleted and added are limited combinations rather than any combination of carriers corresponding to the above deletion configurations and addition configurations. This configuration will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 7 and 8.

[0097] The terminal device may determine whether to send the first request based on a previous configuration and / or other usage needs. In some embodiments, in a configuration in which the terminal device is operating in CA / DC in a current network, the terminal device may send the first request to the network device when it needs to perform some operation in another network. These operations may be, for example, the above-mentioned operations such as paging reception, measurement, etc. For example, when the terminal device switches from network 1 to network 2 and receives paging, the terminal device may request the network device to change carriers through the first request. In some embodiments, the terminal device may send the first request to the network device when it needs to perform a relay task under the direction of the current network.

[0098] 6, the terminal device can propose to the network device, through a first request, to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit. In actual operation, the current network corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit may have other candidate carriers, and when the network device requests the terminal device to change the carrier, the terminal device can operate on the reconfigured multiple carriers using the first radio frequency circuit, thereby releasing at least one radio frequency circuit to operate on another network, and eliminating the need to apply for a GAP with the current network.

[0099] Furthermore, the terminal device can propose different configurations based on the operating frequency range of the first radio frequency circuit. Depending on the different configurations, the terminal device can reserve frequency domain resources while simultaneously releasing an idle radio frequency circuit. When the radio frequency circuit is used to connect to another network, it does not need to apply for a gap with the current network, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned problem. The radio frequency circuit can also perform other tasks without affecting the terminal device's current communication, thereby improving the utilization rate of the terminal device's radio frequency circuit.

[0100] When requesting the reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device, the request can be made in units of specified frequency domain units, or the reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit can be proposed to the network device in an implicit manner, for example, by a cell group corresponding to the terminal device.

[0101] In some embodiments, the specified frequency domain unit may include one or more of a subband within a carrier, a carrier, a combination of carriers, and a band, i.e., the configuration unit requesting reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain of the terminal device may be a subband, a carrier, a combination of carriers, or a band.

[0102] For example, the specified frequency domain unit may be a subband within a carrier. The terminal device may request reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit in units of subbands. For example, the terminal device may request the network device to delete some subbands within the carrier based on the operating range of the radio frequency circuit. The first information may be used to suggest to the network device one or more subbands to be deleted.

[0103] For example, the designated frequency domain unit may be a carrier. Examples have been given above in conjunction with various configurations, and will not be repeated here.

[0104] For example, the specified frequency domain unit may be a combination of carriers. The terminal device may request reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit in units of carrier combinations. For example, the terminal device may perform carrier combinations for multiple carriers based on bands in which the current multiple carriers are located. That is, the first information may be used to directly suggest to the network device one or more combinations of carriers to be added, deleted, or activated.

[0105] For example, the specified frequency domain unit may be a band. The terminal device may propose the number of a band to be added or deleted to the network device and request reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit in units of bands. For example, the terminal device may request deletion of an operating frequency domain unit from the network device using the first information in units of bands.

[0106] In a possible implementation, the terminal device can propose carriers to be reconfigured to the network device by band. Taking the deletion of an operating frequency domain unit as an example, the terminal device can request the deletion of a carrier in Band X. The network device can estimate which already configured carriers belong to Band X based on the first information, and thereby know that the deletion request by the terminal device can be fulfilled in one or more ways.

[0107] In some embodiments, the terminal device may request the network device to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit for each cell group. The cell group may include two types: a primary cell group and a secondary cell group (SCG). For example, the terminal device may propose carriers to be deleted to the network device through the SCG in the first information. The network device may automatically estimate which carriers belong to the SCG and delete these carriers.

[0108] In a possible implementation, when a terminal device requests the addition or deletion of a cell group, the cells in the cell group may be maintained by the same network equipment. From the perspective of the frequency domain, multiple cells corresponding to the same network equipment belong to the same band. That is, the carriers corresponding to all cells in the same network equipment may all be in FR1 or all in FR2. For example, when deleting cell group A, the network equipment corresponding to cell group A is base station A, and the carriers corresponding to cell group A are all in FR2. When a terminal device requests the deletion of cell group A, this may refer to the deletion of all cells corresponding to the terminal device in base station A, or the deletion of cells corresponding to carriers in FR2.

[0109] The above describes a configuration form and a configuration unit for a terminal device to request a network device to reconfigure an operating frequency domain unit in an embodiment of the present application. In some scenarios, when the terminal device determines an operating frequency domain unit to be reconfigured based on the operating frequency range of a first radio frequency circuit, it may be inconvenient to delete or deactivate frequency points of some frequency domain units. For example, the terminal device may find it inconvenient to delete a frequency point where a primary cell (PCell) is located. However, from the perspective of radio frequency circuit utilization, other carriers in the network can be used as the primary cell. In this scenario, the terminal device may request a change of the primary cell to the network device through a first request.

[0110] For example, the first request may further be used to request the network device to change a first primary cell corresponding to the terminal device to a second primary cell. The first primary cell is associated with an operating frequency domain unit that the terminal device requests reconfiguration. For example, the operating frequency domain unit that the terminal device needs to delete or deactivate is the frequency domain unit corresponding to the first primary cell. Direct deletion may cause a problem in the connection between the terminal device and the network, so it is necessary to first change the primary cell. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 8.

[0111] In some embodiments, the network equipment still needs to confirm whether the second primary cell selected by the terminal equipment is suitable as the primary cell. Generally, when the network equipment selects a primary cell, it not only needs to consider whether the frequency point where the carrier is located is favorable for the realization of the radio frequency of the terminal equipment, but also needs to consider the signal quality of the carrier measured by the terminal equipment. Therefore, even if the conditions for measuring and reporting the signal quality are not met, the terminal equipment can report the measurement results, which makes it easier for the network equipment to determine which operating frequency domain unit to select as a new primary cell.

[0112] In a possible implementation, the terminal equipment can transmit auxiliary information to the network equipment. The auxiliary information can be used to assist the network equipment in determining whether to change the primary cell of the terminal equipment. In one implementation, the auxiliary information can be related to a second primary cell. The network equipment can determine whether to change the first primary cell corresponding to the terminal equipment to the second primary cell in the first request based on the related information. In one implementation, the auxiliary information can include a signal quality measured by the terminal equipment. The network equipment can determine whether to change the first primary cell corresponding to the terminal equipment to the second primary cell based on the specific signal quality. For example, the auxiliary information can be related to an RRM measurement result.

[0113] As described above, the terminal equipment can request the network equipment to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit using the first information, but the final decision is made by the network equipment. To facilitate the network equipment's decision on whether to reconfigure, the terminal equipment can transmit second information to assist the network equipment in making the decision. Exemplarily, the second information may be used by the network equipment to determine whether to add / activate / delete / deactivate the operating frequency domain unit of the terminal equipment, or to determine whether to change the primary cell corresponding to the terminal equipment. For example, the second information may be used by the network equipment to determine whether to add a cell or a subband. Also, for example, the second information may be used by the network equipment to determine whether to change the first primary cell of the terminal equipment to a second primary cell.

[0114] The terminal device can transmit the second information in various manners. In some embodiments, the terminal device can transmit the second information in response to a first request. That is, the second information can be related to the first request. In some embodiments, the terminal device can trigger a report of the second information in response to the first request.

[0115] Exemplarily, the first request may include the second information. That is, the terminal device can transmit the second information to the network device by transmitting the first request. As a possible implementation, the terminal device can add signal measurement results to the first request using the second information. For example, the terminal device can add RRM measurement results to the first request.

[0116] For example, the terminal device may trigger a report of the second information by transmitting the first request. Based on the trigger by the first request, the terminal device may generate and report the second information related to the measurement result. For example, the terminal device may trigger RRM measurement and reporting when transmitting the first request, and may generate a measurement report RRC message separately.

[0117] In some embodiments, the second information may assist the network device in making a decision by correlating various information. For example, the second information may include the above-mentioned auxiliary information that assists the network device in determining whether to change the primary cell. Also, for example, the second information may relate to RRM measurement results.

[0118] As described above, the terminal device transmits a first request to the network device. The first request can be transmitted by various signaling or methods. For example, the first request can be transmitted via RRC signaling. Also, for example, the first request can be transmitted via a medium access control element (MAC CE).

[0119] In some embodiments, the terminal device can request a change of the operating frequency domain unit from a network device corresponding to the current network via RRC signaling. Furthermore, the terminal device can transmit the first request via assistance information in the RRC signaling. The assistance information is, for example, "UEAssistanceInformation." That is, the terminal device can request a change of carrier from the network device via the assistance information "UEAssistanceInformation."

[0120] For example, the terminal device may add the RRM measurement result in the "UEAssistanceInformation" message so that the network device configures a new primary cell for the terminal device, or the terminal device may trigger an RRM measurement report when transmitting the UEAssistanceInformation message and generate a separate measurement report RRC message.

[0121] In some embodiments, the terminal device can request the network device to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit through the MAC CE. For example, the terminal device can request the network device to remove a carrier through the MAC CE.

[0122] When a terminal device requests the reconfiguration of one or more operating frequency domain units, the MAC CE can indicate one or more operating frequency domain units corresponding to the terminal device in various manners. For example, the MAC CE can indicate the operating frequency domain units for which reconfiguration is required through a bitmap. For example, the MAC CE can request the network device to add or delete which cells through the bit position.

[0123] Taking carriers as an example, the MAC CE can indicate multiple carriers that the terminal device requests reconfiguration in the form of a bitmap. Specifically, each configured carrier corresponds to one bit in the bitmap. Each carrier can correspond to the bits in a specific order. Exemplarily, the order may be related to a cell identity (ID) or a frequency point of the carrier.

[0124] For example, each carrier may correspond to a bit in a bitmap according to a cell ID (cell idx). For example, the carrier with the lowest cell idx corresponds to the least significant bit in the bitmap, and the carrier with the highest cell idx corresponds to the most significant bit in the bitmap. Also, for example, the carrier with the lowest cell idx corresponds to the most significant bit in the bitmap, and the carrier with the highest cell idx corresponds to the least significant bit in the bitmap.

[0125] For example, each carrier may correspond to a bit in the bitmap according to its frequency point. For example, the carrier with the lowest frequency point corresponds to the least significant bit in the bitmap, and the carrier with the highest frequency point corresponds to the most significant bit in the bitmap. Also, for example, the carrier with the lowest frequency point corresponds to the most significant bit in the bitmap, and the carrier with the highest frequency point corresponds to the least significant bit in the bitmap.

[0126] When the terminal device sends the first request by a MAC CE, the terminal device can identify the MAC CE to the network device. In a possible implementation, the MAC CE for requesting reconfiguration can be indicated by a logical channel (LCH) ID. For example, when the MAC CE is used to request the network device to delete / deactivate / add / activate one or more cells, the MAC CE can be identified by the LCH ID. In some scenarios, an extended LCH ID can also be adopted to identify the MAC CE for requesting reconfiguration.

[0127] When requesting reconfiguration of the operating frequency domain unit, the terminal device may or may not indicate the reason for the request. By indicating the reason for the request, the network device can easily determine a different configuration form based on the reason for the request. In some embodiments, the terminal device may indicate the reason for the reconfiguration to the network device through the first request. That is, the first request is further used to indicate the reason why the terminal device requests the network device to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit based on the adjustment of the radio frequency unit. For example, the first request may directly indicate that the reason for the reconfiguration request is "adjustment of the radio frequency unit." Furthermore, for example, the reason why the terminal device requests the base station to deactivate the SCG may not be that the amount of uplink data is low, but that "multi-card is used to release the radio frequency circuit for another network." Furthermore, for example, when the terminal device requests a carrier change to the base station, it may simultaneously indicate that "the reason for requesting the change is multi-card."

[0128] After transmitting the first request to the network device, the terminal device may wait for feedback from the network device. If the network device finds that it cannot reconfigure in response to the first request, the network device may or may not transmit feedback. For example, the network device may find that the resources of the operating frequency domain unit to which the terminal device requests addition are occupied, and the network device may not be able to perform the reconfiguration.

[0129] If the network device provides feedback that the configuration cannot be performed, the terminal device may request another configuration form. If the network device does not provide feedback, the terminal device must determine when to resume the related request for reconfiguration. In some embodiments, the terminal device may determine whether to resume the request related to the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device based on a first time threshold after sending the first request. For example, if the waiting time after sending the first request exceeds the first time threshold, the terminal device may resubmit to the network device a change of the operating frequency domain unit, and if the waiting time is equal to or less than the first time threshold, the terminal device may not resubmit to the network device a change of the operating frequency domain unit.

[0130] In a possible implementation, the first time threshold may be a time period, the value of which may be configured or pre-configured by the network device.

[0131] The terminal device can determine when to resume the request based on the timing device. For example, the terminal device can activate the timing device after transmitting the first request, and the timing device can be used to determine whether the terminal device can resume the request related to the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device. For example, the terminal device can activate a timer after requesting a carrier change to the network device and sending a message. Before the timer times out, the terminal device cannot re-apply for a carrier change to the network device.

[0132] In a possible implementation, the set parameters in the timing device may be configured or pre-configured by the network equipment, for example, the network equipment may configure the timer values.

[0133] The above describes a method for a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application to request a network device to reconfigure an operating frequency domain unit with reference to Figure 6. For ease of understanding, possible implementations of the method will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 7 and 8. The operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device is a carrier.

[0134] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an implementation employing an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 7, before reconfiguration, the network equipment configures carrier A, carrier B, and carrier C within FR1 for the terminal equipment. The terminal equipment uses radio frequency circuit 1 to support carrier A and carrier B, and radio frequency circuit 2 to support carrier C. As shown in FIG. 7, the utilization rate of radio frequency circuit 1 is low, and radio frequency circuit 2 is also occupied. The terminal equipment wants to release radio frequency circuit 2 to perform other operations.

[0135] 7 is good, the terminal device transmits a first request to the network device to request carrier reconfiguration. In the first request, the terminal device requests that carrier C be reconfigured to carrier D so that one radio frequency circuit can cover carrier A, carrier B, and carrier D, thereby releasing radio frequency circuit 2. That is, the terminal device can explicitly add carrier D and delete carrier C in the first information.

[0136] As shown in Figure 7, after the network equipment is reconfigured, the radio frequency circuit 1 of the terminal equipment can operate on carrier A, carrier B, and carrier D, and the frequency domain resources of the terminal equipment in the current network are reserved.

[0137] Compared with FIG. 5, the radio frequency circuit 2 no longer needs to support carrier C. That is, after reconfiguration, the configured carriers of the terminal equipment do not include carrier C. The radio frequency circuit 2 enters an idle state. Therefore, the radio frequency circuit 2 can perform operations such as paging reception and measurement in other networks, and does not need to apply for GAP with the network corresponding to the radio frequency circuit 1.

[0138] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another implementation of an embodiment of the present application. As described above, the terminal device can simultaneously propose frequency operating region units to be added and frequency operating region units to be deleted. The frequency operating region units to be added and deleted can be determined based on the operating frequency range corresponding to the first radio frequency circuit. As shown in FIG. 8, the network device originally configured three carriers, Carrier A, Carrier G, and Carrier C, for the terminal device in FR1. The radio frequency circuit 1 may have two support modes depending on the adjustment of the operating frequency range. In Configuration 1, the radio frequency circuit 1 can support Carrier A and Carrier G. In Configuration 2, the radio frequency circuit 1 can support Carrier G and Carrier C. That is, the radio frequency circuit 1 cannot cover these three carriers simultaneously.

[0139] If the terminal equipment determines through measurement or other methods that the signal quality of carrier D and carrier E is also good, the terminal equipment can request a reconfiguration from the network equipment. However, the configuration proposal in the first request from the terminal equipment needs to take into account the operating frequency range of the radio frequency circuit 1. Referring to the positions of the frequency points of each carrier in Figure 8, the terminal equipment can simultaneously cover carrier A, carrier G, and carrier D, and can also simultaneously cover carrier G, carrier D, carrier E, and carrier C. Therefore, if carrier C is deleted, only carrier D can be added, and carrier E cannot be added, and if carrier A is deleted, either carrier D or carrier E can be added.

[0140] In this case, the terminal equipment can report three proposed carrier change methods through the first request; Proposed method 1: Remove carrier C and add carrier D. Proposed method 2: Remove carrier A and add carrier D. Proposed method 3: Remove carrier A and add carrier E.

[0141] As described above, when the terminal equipment finds that it is inconvenient to delete the frequency point where the primary cell is located and that another frequency point is suitable, the terminal equipment can request the network equipment to change the primary cell. Referring to FIG. 8, when carrier A is used as the primary cell of the terminal equipment and carrier C and carrier G are configured at the same time, the terminal equipment cannot directly adopt the above-described proposed methods 2 and 3. In this case, the terminal equipment can request to change carrier G as the new primary cell, thereby deleting carrier A and adding carrier D or carrier E, and releasing one radio frequency circuit for another network or performing other operations.

[0142] Referring to Figures 6 to 8, the terminal device can propose to the network device corresponding to the current network to delete an operating frequency domain unit, add an operating frequency domain unit, activate an operating frequency domain unit, or deactivate an operating frequency domain unit, thereby achieving the purpose of adjusting the radio frequency circuit and releasing at least one radio frequency circuit for another network or for performing other operations.

[0143] Above, an embodiment of the method of the present application has been described in detail with reference to Figures 1 to 8. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the apparatus of the present application will be described in detail with reference to Figures 9 and 10. Since the description of the embodiment of the apparatus corresponds to the description of the embodiment of the method, it should be understood that the above embodiment of the method can be referenced for parts not described in detail.

[0144] 9 is an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus may be any of the terminal devices described above. The apparatus 900 shown in FIG. 9 includes a transmitting unit 910.

[0145] The sending unit 910 may be used to send a first request to request a network device to reconfigure an operating frequency domain unit corresponding to a terminal device, the first request including first information, the first information including one or more configuration forms of adding at least one operating frequency domain unit, activating at least one operating frequency domain unit, deactivating at least one operating frequency domain unit, and deleting at least one operating frequency domain unit.

[0146] Optionally, the first request is used to indicate an operating frequency domain unit for which the terminal equipment requests reconfiguration, and the operating frequency domain unit for which reconfiguration is requested is associated with an operating frequency range corresponding to a first radio frequency circuit of the terminal equipment.

[0147] Optionally, the first radio frequency circuit is one radio frequency circuit of a plurality of radio frequency circuits, and the first radio frequency circuit is determined based on an operating frequency range corresponding to the plurality of radio frequency circuits.

[0148] Optionally, the first information includes adding at least one operating frequency domain unit and deleting at least one operating frequency domain unit, and in the first information, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added corresponds to the same band as the operating frequency domain unit requested to be deleted.

[0149] Optionally, the first information includes the addition of at least one operating frequency domain unit and the activation of at least one operating frequency domain unit, and in the first information, the operating frequency domain units requested to be activated are some or all of the operating frequency domain units of the at least one operating frequency domain unit requested to be added.

[0150] Optionally, the terminal device requests the network device to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit based on the specified frequency domain unit and one or more schemes of the cell group corresponding to the terminal device.

[0151] Optionally, the specified frequency domain unit includes one or more of a subband within a carrier, a carrier, a combination of carriers, and a band.

[0152] Optionally, the first request includes second information related to the RRM measurement results.

[0153] Optionally, the first request is sent by one or more of RRC signaling and MAC CE.

[0154] Optionally, the first request is transmitted by auxiliary information in the RRC signaling.

[0155] Optionally, the terminal device corresponds to one or more operating frequency domain units, and the first request is sent by the MAC CE, which indicates through a bitmap the operating frequency domain units for which the terminal device requests reconfiguration.

[0156] Optionally, the first request is sent by a MAC CE, and the MAC CE indicates by a logical channel ID.

[0157] Optionally, the first request is further used for instructing the terminal device to request the network device to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit based on the adjustment of the radio frequency unit.

[0158] Optionally, the apparatus 900 further includes a determining unit that may be used to determine, based on the first time threshold, whether to resume a request related to the operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device.

[0159] Optionally, the terminal equipment supports multi-card technology.

[0160] FIG. 10 shows a structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The dashed lines in FIG. 10 indicate that the units or modules are optional. The device 1000 can be used to implement the methods described in the above method embodiments. The device 1000 can be a chip or a terminal device.

[0161] The device 1000 may include one or more processors 1010. The processor 1010 can support the device 1000 in implementing the methods described in the method embodiments above. The processor 1010 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), 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 the like. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, or the like.

[0162] The apparatus 1000 may further include one or more memories 1020. The memories 1020 store programs that, when executed by the processor 1010, cause the processor 1010 to perform the methods described in the method embodiments above. The memory 1020 may be separate from the processor 1010 or may be integrated into the processor 1010.

[0163] The apparatus 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030. The processor 1010 may communicate with other devices or chips via the transceiver 1030. For example, the processor 1010 may transmit and receive data to and from other devices or chips via the transceiver 1030.

[0164] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a program, which can be applied to a terminal or a network device according to the embodiment of the present application, and the program causes a computer to execute the method performed by the terminal or the network device according to each embodiment of the present application.

[0165] It should be understood that the computer-readable storage medium referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be any available medium that can be read by a computer, or a data storage device that integrates one or more available media, such as a server, a data center, etc. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a digital versatile disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0166] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, the computer program product including a program that can be applied to a terminal or a network device according to an embodiment of the present application, the program causing a computer to execute a method performed by the terminal or the network device according to each embodiment of the present application.

[0167] The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, all or in part may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer generates all or some of the procedures or functions described in the embodiments of the present application. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio, microwave, etc.).

[0168] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program, which is applicable to the terminal or network device according to the embodiments of the present application, and causes a computer to execute the method performed by the terminal or network device according to each embodiment of the present application.

[0169] In this application, the terms "system" and "network" may be used interchangeably. Furthermore, the terms used in this application are used only to interpret specific embodiments of the application and are not intended to limit the application. The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," etc. in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish between different objects, not to describe a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include," "have," and any variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion.

[0170] In the embodiments of the present application, the "indication" referred to may be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, when A indicates B, A may directly indicate B, for example, indicating that B can be obtained by A, or A may indirectly indicate B, for example, A may indicate C, indicating that B can be obtained by C, and may indicate an association relationship between A and B.

[0171] In the embodiments of the present application, the term "correspondence" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence relationship between the two, or an association relationship between the two, such as a relationship of indicating and indicated, or a relationship of configuring and configured.

[0172] In the embodiments of the present application, "pre-configuration" can be achieved by pre-storing a code, table, or other format used to indicate related information corresponding to a device (e.g., including a terminal device and a network device), and the present application does not limit the specific implementation format.

[0173] In the embodiments of the present application, the "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the communications field, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols applied to future communications systems, but is not limited thereto in the present application.

[0174] In the embodiments of the present application, determining B depending on A does not mean determining B depending only on A, but B may be determined depending on A and / or other information.

[0175] In the examples of the present application, the term "and / or" simply describes the relationship between related objects and indicates that three types of relationships exist, for example, A and / or B includes three cases: the presence of only A, the simultaneous presence of A and B, and the presence of only B. In addition, in this specification, the symbol " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship.

[0176] In various embodiments of the present application, the magnitude of the numbers of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and does not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0177] It should be understood that in some embodiments of the present application, the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be realized in other forms. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely exemplary, and the division of the units is merely one type of logical function division. In actual implementation, other division schemes may be adopted, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not implemented. Furthermore, the shown or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be indirect couplings or communication connections via some interfaces, devices, or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0178] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of the means of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0179] Furthermore, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0180] Although specific embodiments of the present application have been described above, the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto, and all modifications and substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art without departing from the technical scope disclosed in the present application fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be in accordance with the scope of protection of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0181] 210 Terminal Equipment 310 Terminal Equipment 900 equipment 910 Sending Unit 1000 devices 1010 processor 1020 memory 1030 Transmitter / Receiver

Claims

1. 1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: The method includes a step of transmitting a first request from a terminal device to a network device to request reconfiguration of an operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device; The first request includes first information, the first information comprising: Adding at least one operating frequency domain unit; Activation of at least one operating frequency domain unit; Deactivation of at least one operating frequency domain unit; and 1. A method for wireless communication, comprising one or more configurations of removing at least one operating frequency domain unit.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first request is used to indicate an operating frequency domain unit for which the terminal device requests reconfiguration, and the operating frequency domain unit for which reconfiguration is requested is related to an operating frequency range corresponding to a first radio frequency circuit of the terminal device.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first radio frequency circuit is one radio frequency circuit of a plurality of radio frequency circuits, and the first radio frequency circuit is determined based on operating frequency ranges corresponding to the plurality of radio frequency circuits.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first information includes addition of the at least one operating frequency domain unit and deletion of the at least one operating frequency domain unit, and in the first information, the operating frequency domain unit requested to be added corresponds to the same band as the operating frequency domain unit requested to be deleted.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first information includes addition of the at least one operating frequency domain unit and activation of the at least one operating frequency domain unit, and in the first information, the operating frequency domain units requested to be activated are some or all of the operating frequency domain units of the at least one operating frequency domain unit requested to be added.

6. The terminal device is a specified frequency domain unit, and The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the network equipment is requested to reconfigure the operating frequency domain unit based on one or more pieces of information of a cell group corresponding to the terminal equipment.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the specified frequency domain unit comprises one or more of a subband within a carrier, a carrier, a combination of carriers, and a band.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the first request further comprises second information related to radio resource management (RRM) measurement results.

9. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the first request is transmitted by one or more of the following: Radio Resource Control (RRC) signalling, Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first request is transmitted by auxiliary information in the RRC signaling.

11. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal device corresponds to one or more operating frequency domain units, and the first request is transmitted by the MAC CE, and the MAC CE indicates, via a bitmap, the operating frequency domain units for which the terminal device requests reconfiguration.

12. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first request is sent by the MAC CE, the MAC CE indicating by a logical channel ID.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the first request is further used to instruct the terminal device to request the network device to reconfigure an operating frequency domain unit based on the adjustment of the radio frequency unit.

14. After the terminal device sends a first request, the method includes:

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of determining whether the terminal device should resume a request related to an operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device based on a first time threshold.

15. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device supports multi-card technology.

16. 1. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus being a terminal device, the terminal device comprising: a transmitting unit for transmitting a first request to a network device to request the reconfiguration of an operating frequency domain unit corresponding to the terminal device; The first request includes first information, the first information comprising: Adding at least one operating frequency domain unit; Activation of at least one operating frequency domain unit; Deactivation of at least one operating frequency domain unit; and An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising one or more configurations for removing at least one operating frequency domain unit.

17. A communication device, comprising: a memory for storing a program; and a processor for calling the program in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

18. A communication device, characterized in that it comprises a processor for calling a program from a memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

19. A chip comprising a processor for calling a program from a memory to cause a device in which said chip is installed to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

21. A computer program product, characterized in that it comprises a program that causes a computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

22. A computer program, characterized in that it causes a computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

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