Processing methods, apparatus, devices, and storage media

Abstract

This disclosure provides a processing method, apparatus, device and storage medium, the method comprising the step of, in response to the lower layer of the terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer notifying the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer performing a first operation to the upper layer, the first operation comprising at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. This disclosure provides a method for the lower and upper layers of a terminal to interact in the scenario that "the terminal has determined that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth," thereby enabling the upper layer of the terminal to determine whether the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict and thus clarify the process for executing a random access process and ensure the stability of random access.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and particularly to a processing method, apparatus, device, and storage medium.

Background Art

[0002] In a communication system, contention-based random access usually occurs between a Reduced Capability (Redcap) terminal and a normal terminal (e.g., a legacy terminal). Optionally, when contention-based random access occurs between a Redcap terminal and a legacy terminal, the Redcap terminal determines whether it has failed in contention resolution based on the size of the resources occupied by the received Msg4 or MsgB.

[0003] However, the above Msg4 or MsgB is received by the lower layer of the Redcap terminal, and the determination related to random access (e.g., the determination of whether contention resolution has failed) is executed by the upper layer of the Redcap terminal. Here, it is not yet clear how the lower layer and the upper layer of the Redcap terminal interact to determine whether the Redcap terminal has failed in contention resolution.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The present disclosure provides a processing method, apparatus, device, and storage medium.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a processing method, the method comprising: The lower layer of the terminal receives a second channel for scheduling a first channel, and in response that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the first channel baseband bandwidth of the terminal, the lower layer either does not notify the higher layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer performs a first operation on the higher layer, the first operation including at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid.

[0006] According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, which is In response to the lower layer of the terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer either does not notify the higher layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer includes a processing module for performing a first operation on the higher layer, the first operation of which includes at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid.

[0007] According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device which includes a processor, and when the processor calls a computer program in memory, it performs the method described in the first aspect above.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program, and the processor causing the communication device to perform the method described in the first aspect by executing the computer program stored in the memory.

[0009] According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit receiving and transmitting code instructions to the processor, the processor executing the code instructions, thereby causing the device to perform the method described in the first aspect.

[0010] According to the sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication system which includes a communication device as described in the second aspect, or the communication device as described in the third aspect, or the communication device as described in the fourth aspect, or the communication device as described in the fifth aspect.

[0011] According to the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing instructions used by the network device, and when the instructions are executed, causes the terminal to perform the method described in the first aspect.

[0012] According to the eighth aspect, the disclosure further provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in the first aspect above.

[0013] According to the ninth aspect, the disclosure provides a chip system which includes at least one processor and interface to support a network device in performing functions according to the method of the first aspect, such as making at least one decision or processing of data and information relating to the method described above. In one possible design, the chip system further includes memory which is used to store computer programs and data required by source and auxiliary nodes. The chip system may consist of a chip, or may include a chip and other separate components.

[0014] According to the tenth aspect, the Disclosure provides a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in the first aspect above. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent and easier to understand from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided by the embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 2] This is a schematic flowchart of the processing method provided by another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] This is a schematic flowchart of the processing method provided by other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4A-4B] This is a schematic flowchart of the processing method provided by other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5A-5B] This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] This is a block diagram of a communication device provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] This is a schematic diagram of the chip provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] Herein, exemplary embodiments are described in detail, and these examples are shown in the drawings. Where the following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise specified, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure detailed in the appended claims.

[0017] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure. Unless otherwise clearly indicated in the context, the singular forms "a" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intended to include the plural forms. It should be noted that the term "and / or" used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more of the listed related items.

[0018] In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, various information may be described using terms such as first, second, third, etc., but such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, unless departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first information may be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the term "case" used here may be understood as "when" or "during" or "in response to a decision".

[0019] The following will describe the embodiments of the present disclosure in detail. Examples of the above embodiments are shown in the drawings, and the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements from beginning to end. Hereinafter, the embodiments described with reference to the drawings are exemplary and are for explaining the present disclosure and should not be understood as limiting the present disclosure.

[0020] For ease of understanding, first, the terms related to the present disclosure will be explained.

[0021] 1. Reduced Capability (Redcap) terminal The Reduced Capability UE is a new technical standard, lightweight 5G, that the 3GPP is specifically researching at the 5G R17 stage.

[0022] 2. eRedcap terminal eRedCap UE is an evolution of RedCap UE, based on 3GPP's 5G R18 platform, and is less complex to implement than RedCap UE.

[0023] This disclosure is applicable to R17 RedCap terminals and is also applicable to R18 eRedCap terminals. In other words, in this disclosure, the RedCap terminal may be an R17 RedCap terminal or an R18 eRedCap terminal.

[0024] In some optional embodiments, the above method, which states that "the Redcap terminal determines whether it has failed to resolve the conflict based on the size of the resources occupied by the received Msg4 or MsgB," may also include the following:

[0025] Compared to a normal terminal, a Redcap terminal has a reduced baseband bandwidth for its physical uplink shared channel (PDSCH). Therefore, to ensure successful communication between the network device and the Redcap terminal, if the network device needs to send a PDSCH channel containing Msg4 or MsgB to the Redcap terminal, the resources occupied by that PDSCH channel must not exceed the Redcap terminal's PDSCH baseband bandwidth. On this basis, optionally, if a conflicting random access occurs between the Redcap terminal and a legacy terminal, and the Redcap terminal sends at least one of Msg1, Msg3, or MsgA, and the lower layer of the Redcap terminal determines that the resources occupied by the PDSCH channel carrying the Msg4 or MsgB it received have become greater than the Redcap terminal's PDSCH baseband bandwidth, then it indicates that Msg4 or MsgB should be sent to the legacy terminal, not to the Redcap terminal, and at this point, the Redcap terminal considers it to have failed to resolve the conflict.

[0026] However, as can be seen from the above, if the lower layers of a Redcap terminal determine that the resources occupied by the PDSCH channel carrying the Msg4 or MsgB it received have become greater than the baseband bandwidth of the Redcap terminal's PDSCH channel, it remains unclear how the lower layers of the Redcap terminal should interact with the upper layers to determine whether or not the Redcap terminal has failed to resolve the conflict.

[0027] This disclosure provides a processing method that can solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0028] To better understand the processing methods disclosed in the embodiments of this disclosure, we will first describe the communication systems to which the embodiments of this disclosure apply.

[0029] Referring to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication system may include, but is not limited to, at least one terminal and at least one network device. Furthermore, the number and form of devices shown in Figure 1 are illustrative and not limiting to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and may include one or more terminals or one or more network devices as applicable. The communication system shown in Figure 1 is an example in which one terminal and one network device are included.

[0030] Furthermore, the technical concepts of the embodiments described herein can be applied to various communication systems. For example, long-term evolution (LTE) systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, 5G new radio (NR) systems, or other future new mobile communication systems.

[0031] The network devices in the embodiments of this disclosure are network-side entities for sending and receiving signals. For example, network devices include evolved NodeBs (eNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), radio remote heads (RRHs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) in NR systems, base stations in other future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems. The embodiments of this disclosure do not limit the specific technologies and device forms used for base stations. The base stations provided by the embodiments of this disclosure may consist of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), where the CU may also be called a control unit, and the protocol layers of network devices such as base stations can be separated using a CU-DU structure, with some protocol layer functions being centrally controlled by the CU and the remaining or all of the protocol layer functions being distributed to the DU, with the DU being centrally controlled by the CU.

[0032] In the embodiments of this disclosure, the terminal is a user-side entity for sending and receiving signals, such as a mobile phone. The terminal may also be called a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal may be a car with communication capabilities, a smart car, a mobile phone, a wearable device, a pad, a computer with wireless transmission and reception capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc. The embodiments of this disclosure do not limit the specific technology or specific device form employed by the terminal.

[0033] Furthermore, the communication systems described in the embodiments of this disclosure are technical proposals intended to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of this disclosure and do not limit the technical proposals provided by the embodiments of this disclosure. As those skilled in the art will understand, the technical proposals provided by the embodiments of this disclosure are applicable to similar technical challenges as system architectures evolve and new business scenarios emerge.

[0034] Furthermore, in order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this disclosure, the following points will be explained.

[0035] First, in this disclosure, to the extent that there is no inconsistency, each step in any one embodiment or example can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be combined in any way. For example, in a particular embodiment or example, a solution after some steps have been removed can be implemented as an independent embodiment, the order of the steps in a particular embodiment or example can be changed in any way, and any selectable forms or selectable examples in any one embodiment or example can be combined in any way. Furthermore, the embodiments or examples can be combined in any way. For example, some or all steps of different embodiments or examples can be combined in any way, and a particular embodiment or example can be combined in any way with any selectable forms or selectable examples of other embodiments or examples.

[0036] Next, regarding the notations of “A or B,” “A and / or B,” “at least one of A and B,” “A in one case and B in another,” and “A in one case and B in another,” the present disclosure may, in some cases, include at least one of the following solutions: Perform A independently of B, i.e., perform A in some embodiments. Perform B independently of A, i.e., perform B in some embodiments. Perform A and B selectively, i.e., perform A and B selectively in some embodiments. Perform both A and B, i.e., perform A and B in some embodiments.

[0037] Thirdly, each element, row, or column of the tables relating to this disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and any combination of elements, rows, or columns can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0038] Fourth, in some embodiments or examples, the terms “including A,” “equipped with A,” “indicating A,” and “carrying A” in this disclosure may be interpreted as directly carrying A or as indirectly indicating A.

[0039] Fifth, in some embodiments or examples, terms such as "in response to," "in the case of," "when," "when," "if," and "in the case of" in this disclosure are interchangeable.

[0040] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of a processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is performed by a terminal, and as shown in Figure 2, the processing method may include the following steps.

[0041] In step 201, the terminal's lower layer receives a second channel for scheduling the first channel, and in response that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer either does not notify the terminal's higher layer that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer performs the first operation on the higher layer.

[0042] Optionally, in some embodiments, the terminal may be, for example, a Redcap terminal or an eRedCap terminal. Optionally, the lower layer of the terminal may include a physical layer, and the upper layer of the terminal may include a Media Access Control (MAC) layer.

[0043] Optionally, in some embodiments, embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to random access scenarios. Optionally, they are applicable to a scenario in which "a Redcap terminal (or eRedCap terminal) and a normal terminal (i.e., a non-Redcap terminal or non-eRedCap terminal, e.g., a legacy terminal) have experienced a conflicting random access." Optionally, in some embodiments, "a Redcap terminal (or eRedCap terminal) and a normal terminal have experienced a conflicting random access" may be understood as the Redcap terminal (or eRedCap terminal) and the normal terminal transmitting at least one of Msg1, Msg3, or MsgA using the same time-frequency resources and / or the same preamble; or, in some other embodiments, "a Redcap terminal (or eRedCap terminal) and a normal terminal have experienced a conflicting random access" may be understood as the upper layer of the Redcap terminal (or eRedCap terminal) turning on a conflict resolution timer. Optionally, the conflict resolution timer can be used for conflict resolution, and the conflict resolution timer may be turned on when a terminal transmits Msg3 or MsgA. Optionally, while the conflict resolution timer is running, the terminal may stop the conflict resolution timer if it confirms that random access was successful, or, when the conflict resolution timer expires, the terminal may determine that it has failed to resolve the conflict if it confirms that random access was not successful. Optionally, "successful random access" above may be understood, for example, as the terminal receiving Msg4 or MsgB and the Msg4 or MsgB containing the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of the target cell the terminal is trying to access. Optionally, "failure to access random access" above may be understood, for example, as the terminal not receiving Msg4 or MsgB, or the terminal receiving Msg4 or MsgB but the Msg4 or MsgB not containing the C-RNTI of the target cell the terminal is trying to access.

[0044] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first channel described above may be used to carry Msg4 or MsgB. Optionally, the first channel may be transmitted to a terminal by a network device, and in some embodiments, the first channel may be a physical uplink shared channel (PDSCH). Optionally, in some embodiments, the second channel described above may be transmitted to a terminal by a network device, and the second channel may be a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0045] Optionally, in some embodiments, the above-mentioned "the second channel scheduling the first channel" may be understood as, for example, the second channel being able to specify the starting position, number of resources, etc., of the transmission resources for the first channel. Optionally, after receiving the second channel, the terminal can determine, based on the second channel, which resources the first channel can be received on, and thus the terminal can successfully receive the first channel on those resources, determine Msg4 or MsgB based on the received first channel, and further determine whether the conflict resolution was successful.

[0046] Optionally, in some embodiments, the second channel may be used to carry the first information, which may be used to schedule the second channel, where a description relating to the first information scheduling the second channel should be seen in the description above, and a detailed explanation is omitted here. Optionally, the first information may be, for example, downlink control information (DCI).

[0047] In some embodiments, the “terminal’s first channel baseband bandwidth” described above may be understood as the maximum number of resources the terminal can process when performing first channel baseband processing (e.g., channel estimation, channel equalization, signal detection, demodulation, etc.). Selectively, for an eRedCap terminal, if the subcarrier spacing (SCS) is 30 kHz (kilohertz), its first channel baseband bandwidth is 12 resource blocks (RBs), meaning that the resources occupied by the first channel transmitted from the network device do not exceed 12 RBs, the terminal can successfully perform baseband processing on the first channel. If the resources occupied by the first channel transmitted from the network device exceed 12 RBs, the terminal cannot perform baseband processing on the first channel. If the SCS is 15 kHz, its first channel baseband bandwidth is 25 RBs, meaning that the resources occupied by the first channel transmitted from the network device do not exceed 25 RBs, the terminal can successfully perform baseband processing on the first channel. If the resources occupied by the first channel transmitted from the network device exceed 25 RBs, the terminal cannot perform baseband processing on the first channel.

[0048] The following provides a detailed explanation of the specific reasons why, if the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer may not notify the terminal's upper layer that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer may perform the first operation on the upper layer.

[0049] In some embodiments, if the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, it means the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict. Specifically, as can be seen from the above, in a communication system, because Redcap terminals (or eRedcap terminals) have a reduced first channel baseband bandwidth compared to normal terminals, if a network device needs to send a first channel to a Redcap terminal (or eRedcap terminal) in order to ensure successful communication between the network device and the Redcap terminal (or eRedcap terminal), the resources occupied by that first channel should not exceed the Redcap terminal's (or eRedcap terminal's) first channel baseband bandwidth. In other words, for a Redcap terminal (or eRedcap terminal), if the resources occupied by the received first channel exceed its first channel baseband bandwidth, it indicates that the first channel is not to be sent to the terminal. Based on this, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, if the lower layer of a terminal (in embodiments of the present disclosure, the terminal is i.e., a Redcap terminal or eRedcap terminal) determines, based on a received second channel, that the resources occupied by the first channel scheduled by the second channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the terminal considers the first channel to be transmitted to it, that is, the terminal considers that Msg4 or MsgB carried by the first channel is not transmitted to it, and the C-RNTI contained in Msg4 or MsgB is not the C-RNTI of the target cell that the terminal is trying to access, which indicates that the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict.

[0050] In this case, in some embodiments, the lower layer of the terminal does not need to notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received. As a result, the upper layer of the terminal considers that the terminal has not received the second channel. Simultaneously, the conflict resolution timer continues to operate, and because the lower layer has not notified the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, the upper layer of the terminal continues to recognize that the terminal has not received the second channel until the conflict resolution timer expires. Here, since the second channel is for scheduling the first channel, if the upper layer of the terminal determines that the terminal has not received the second channel, it can determine that the terminal cannot receive the first channel scheduled by the second channel, and furthermore, cannot receive Msg4 or MsgB carried by the first channel. As a result, the upper layer of the terminal determines that the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict.

[0051] Alternatively, in some other embodiments, if the lower layer of a terminal determines, based on a received second channel, that the resources occupied by the first channel scheduled by the second channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer of the terminal may perform a first operation to the upper layer, which optionally includes at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. For example, in some embodiments, the first operation may include the lower layer of the terminal notifying the upper layer that the second channel has been received, or in some other embodiments, the first operation may include the lower layer of the terminal notifying the upper layer that the reception of the second channel is invalid, or in some other embodiments, the first operation may include the lower layer of the terminal notifying the upper layer that the second channel has been received and that the reception of the second channel is invalid.

[0052] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned "notifying that the second channel has been received" can be selected as follows: The lower layer may include sending a first instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the lower layer has received a second channel.

[0053] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned "notifying that the reception on the second channel is invalid" can be selected as follows: The lower layer sends a second instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, The lower layer sends a third instruction to the upper layer indicating that the conflict resolution failed, The lower layer may include at least one of the following: sending a fourth instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the second channel received by the lower layer is invalid.

[0054] In some embodiments, if the lower layer of a terminal notifies the upper layer that "reception of the second channel is invalid," the upper layer of the terminal directly determines that the second channel is not to be transmitted to the terminal, and since the second channel is for scheduling the first channel, if the upper layer of the terminal determines that the received second channel is not to be transmitted to the terminal, the upper layer of the terminal similarly directly determines that the first channel scheduled by the second channel is not to be transmitted to the terminal, and therefore directly determines that Msg4 or MsgB carried by the first channel is also not to be transmitted to the terminal, and thus the upper layer of the terminal can directly determine that conflict resolution has failed, without having to wait until the conflict resolution timer has expired to determine that conflict resolution has failed, thereby avoiding excessive unnecessary blind checks, reducing random access delays, and lowering the terminal's energy consumption.

[0055] In some other embodiments, the lower layer of the terminal notifies the upper layer that the second channel has been received and does not notify that the reception of the second channel is invalid. In such cases, the upper layer of the terminal assumes that the lower layer of the terminal has successfully received the second channel and continues to perform subsequent random access operations based on the Radio Access Network (RAN) 2 protocol. For example, the upper layer continuously waits for notification from the lower layer of the terminal whether the first channel has been received, and when the first channel is received, it determines whether the terminal has succeeded in random access based on Msg4 or MsgB carried by the first channel. If it determines that random access was successful while the conflict resolution timer is running, it recognizes that conflict resolution was successful. If random access has not been successful when the conflict resolution timer expires, it is considered that conflict resolution has failed.

[0056] Furthermore, the above-mentioned "operation performed by the upper layer of the terminal when the lower layer of the terminal notifies the upper layer that a second channel has been received but does not notify that the reception of the second channel is invalid" is merely one example of the description in this disclosure, and the upper layer of the terminal may optionally perform other operations, and the solution of "other operations performed by the upper layer of the terminal when the lower layer of the terminal notifies the upper layer that a second channel has been received but does not notify that the reception of the second channel is invalid" should also be included in the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0057] In some embodiments, if a second channel for scheduling the first channel is received by the lower layer of the terminal, and the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer of the terminal may not notify the upper layer that the second channel has been received, or it may perform the first operation on the upper layer. In addition, the lower layer of the terminal may discard or not discard the first information on the second channel.

[0058] Accordingly, in the processing method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to the lower layer of a terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer of the terminal does not have to notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer of the terminal may perform a first operation to the upper layer, which may include at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. Accordingly, the method of the present disclosure provides a method for the lower and upper layers of a terminal to interact in the scenario that "the terminal has determined that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth," thereby enabling the upper layer of the terminal to determine whether the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict, and thus clarify the execution process of the random access process and ensure the stability of the random access.

[0059] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is performed by a terminal, and as shown in Figure 3, the processing method may include the following step 301.

[0060] In step 301, if the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, the upper layer determines that the conflict resolution timer has expired and determines that the conflict resolution has failed, it performs at least one of the following operations: a random backoff operation and a retransmission of the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).

[0061] As can be selected, as can be seen from the description of the embodiments above, if the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, and the upper layer determines that the conflict resolution timer has expired, it means that the terminal has failed to resolve the current conflict. In this case, in addition to determining that conflict resolution has failed, in some embodiments the terminal may resend a PRACH to restart the random access process, or in some other embodiments the terminal may perform a random backoff operation, which optionally includes the terminal waiting for a certain period of time before restarting the random access process.

[0062] As described above, in the processing method provided by the embodiments of this disclosure, in response to the lower layer notifying the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, the upper layer determines that the conflict resolution has failed if the conflict resolution timer has expired, performs at least one of the following: performs a random backoff operation, and retransmits PRACH. Thus, the disclosure further restricts the subsequent processing methods of the upper layer in the scenario where "the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received," thereby clarifying the execution procedure of the random access process and ensuring the stability of random access.

[0063] Figure 4A is a schematic flowchart of a processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is performed by a terminal, and which may include the following step 401A, as shown in Figure 4A.

[0064] In step 401A, in response to the lower layer performing a first operation on the upper layer, the upper layer performs at least one of the following: determining that the conflict resolution has failed, turning off the conflict resolution timer, determining that the conflict resolution timer has expired, performing a random backoff operation, and resending PRACH.

[0065] Optionally, in some embodiments, the application scenario of the embodiment in Figure 4A may include the first operation performed by the lower layer to the upper layer being "the lower layer notifies the upper layer that the reception of the second channel is invalid." Optionally, as can be seen from the above description of the embodiments, when the lower layer notifies the upper layer that the reception of the second channel is invalid, it means that the second channel received by the lower layer of the terminal is not to be transmitted to the terminal. In this case, in some embodiments, the upper layer of the terminal can directly determine that conflict resolution has failed and directly turn off the conflict resolution timer, or directly determine that the conflict resolution timer has expired (for example, by considering the conflict resolution timer to have expired before it has actually expired), eliminating the need to run the conflict resolution timer or determine that conflict resolution has failed only when the conflict resolution timer has expired. Thus, unnecessary blind checks can be avoided, random access delays can be reduced, and terminal energy consumption can be decreased. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the upper layer of the terminal may resend PRACH to restart the random access process, or in some other embodiments, the terminal may perform a random backoff operation, which may be optionally understood as the terminal waiting for a certain period of time before restarting the random access process.

[0066] As described above, in the processing method provided by the embodiments of this disclosure, in response to a lower layer performing a first operation on an upper layer, the upper layer performs at least one of the following: determining that conflict resolution has failed, turning off the conflict resolution timer, determining that the conflict resolution timer has expired, performing a random backoff operation, or retransmitting PRACH. Thus, the disclosure further restricts the subsequent processing methods of the upper layer in the scenario of "a lower layer performing a first operation on an upper layer," thereby clarifying the execution procedure of the random access process and ensuring the stability of random access. Furthermore, after the lower layer performs a first operation on the upper layer, the upper layer can directly determine that conflict resolution has failed, turn off the conflict resolution timer, or determine that the conflict resolution timer has expired, without the need to operate the conflict resolution timer or to determine that conflict resolution has failed only when the conflict resolution timer has expired, thereby avoiding excessive and unnecessary blind checks, reducing random access delays, and lowering terminal energy consumption.

[0067] Figure 4B is a schematic flowchart of a processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method being performed by a communication system, the communication system including network devices and terminals, and the processing method may include the following steps 401B and 402B, as shown in Figure 4B.

[0068] In step 401B, the network device transmits a second channel to the lower layer of the terminal for scheduling the first channel.

[0069] In step 402B, the lower layer of the terminal determines that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, and the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer performs a first operation on the upper layer, the first operation including at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid.

[0070] For a detailed explanation of steps 401B to 402B, please refer to the description of the above example.

[0071] As described above, in the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, if, after the lower layer of a terminal receives a second channel for scheduling a first channel, the lower layer of the terminal determines that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer of the terminal does not have to notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer of the terminal may perform a first operation on the upper layer, which may include at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. Thus, the method of the present disclosure provides a method for the lower and upper layers of a terminal to interact in the scenario that "the terminal has determined that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth," thereby enabling the upper layer of the terminal to determine whether the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict, and thus clarify the process for executing the random access process and ensure the stability of random access.

[0072] Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in Figure 5A, the device is In response to the lower layer of the terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer may either notify the higher layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer may perform a first operation on the higher layer, the first operation of which may include at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid.

[0073] Accordingly, in the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to the lower layer of a terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer of the terminal does not have to notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer of the terminal may perform a first operation to the upper layer, which may include at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. Thus, the method of the present disclosure provides a method for the lower and upper layers of a terminal to interact in the scenario that "the terminal has determined that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth," thereby enabling the upper layer of the terminal to determine whether the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict, and thus clarify the process for executing the random access process and ensure the stability of random access.

[0074] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first channel is optionally used to carry MsgB or Msg4.

[0075] The second channel is used to carry first information for scheduling the first channel.

[0076] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing module may be further: The lower layer transmits a first instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the lower layer has received the second channel. To notify that reception on the aforementioned second channel is invalid is to The lower layer transmits a second instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the first channel baseband bandwidth of the terminal, The lower layer transmits a third instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the conflict resolution has failed. The lower layer includes at least one of the following: transmitting a fourth instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the second channel received by the lower layer is invalid.

[0077] Selectively, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, in response to the lower layer not notifying the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, the device If the aforementioned upper layer determines that the conflict resolution timer has expired, The operation that determines that the conflict resolution failed, An operation to perform a random backoff operation, Perform at least one of the following operations: retransmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH), Here, the conflict resolution timer is turned on when the terminal sends the last Msg3 or MsgA.

[0078] Selectively, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, in response to the lower layer performing a first operation on the upper layer, the apparatus further, Determining that the competitive resolution failed, Turn off the conflict resolution timer, Determining that the conflict resolution timer has expired, Performing a random backoff operation, Resend PRACH, and do at least one of the following:

[0079] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the apparatus may be further, Discard or do not discard the aforementioned first information.

[0080] Selectively, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), The second channel is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), The first piece of information is downlink control information (DCI).

[0081] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the upper layer may optionally include a Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The aforementioned lower layer includes a physical layer.

[0082] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal may be a capacity reduction (Redcap) terminal or an eRedCap terminal.

[0083] Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in Figure 5B, the device is A network device includes a transmission module for sending a second channel to the lower layer of the terminal for scheduling the first channel, The lower layer of the terminal determines that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, and the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer may include a processing module for performing a first operation on the upper layer, the first operation of which includes at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid.

[0084] Accordingly, in the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, in response to the lower layer of a terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer of the terminal does not have to notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer of the terminal may perform a first operation on the upper layer, which may include at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. Thus, the method of the present disclosure provides a method for the lower and upper layers of a terminal to interact in the scenario that "the terminal has determined that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth," thereby enabling the upper layer of the terminal to determine whether the terminal has failed to resolve the conflict, and thus clarify the process for executing the random access process and ensure the stability of random access.

[0085] Referring to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of a communication device 600 provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device 600 may be a base station, a terminal, a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the implementation of the above method by the base station, or a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the implementation of the above method by the terminal. The device may be used to implement the method described in the above embodiment of the method, for which you should refer to the description of the above embodiment of the method for specific details.

[0086] The communication device 600 may include one or more processors 601. The processors 601 may be general-purpose processors or dedicated processors, etc. For example, they may be baseband processors or central processors. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be used to control communication devices (e.g., base stations, baseband chips, terminal devices, terminal device chips, DUs or CUs, etc.), execute computer programs, and process data of computer programs.

[0087] Optionally, the communication device 600 may include one or more memories 602 in which a computer program 604 is stored, and the processor 601 executes the computer program 604 to cause the communication device 600 to perform the method described in the above embodiment of the method. Optionally, data may be stored in the memories 602. The communication device 600 and the memories 602 may be installed separately or integrated as a single unit.

[0088] Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include a transceiver 605 and an antenna 606. The transceiver 604 may also be called a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, and is used to implement a transceiver function. The transceiver 604 may include a receiver and a transmitter, the receiver may also be called a receiving device or receiving circuit, and is used to implement a receiving function, and the transmitter may also be called a transmitting device or transmitting circuit, and is used to implement a transmitting function.

[0089] Optionally, the communication device 600 may further include one or more interface circuits 607. The interface circuits 607 receive and transmit code instructions to the processor 601. The processor 601 executes the code instructions, causing the communication device 600 to perform the method described in the above embodiment of the method.

[0090] In one implementation, the processor 601 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated as a single unit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transmitting signals.

[0091] In one implementation, the processor 601 may store a computer program 603, which is executed on the processor 601, thereby causing the communication device 60 to execute the method described in the above embodiment. The computer program 603 may be fixed to the processor 601, in which case the processor 601 may be implemented by hardware.

[0092] In one embodiment, the communication device 600 may include a circuit that can implement the transmission, reception, or communication functions described in the method embodiment described above. The processor and transceiver described herein can be integrated into an integrated circuit (IC), analog IC, high-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), mixed-signal IC, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), printed circuit board (PCB), electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), n-metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), positive channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (Gas), etc.

[0093] The communication devices described in the above embodiments may be network devices or terminal devices, but the scope of communication devices described in this disclosure is not limited to these, and the structure of the communication devices is not limited to that shown in Figure 6. The communication devices may be independent devices or part of a larger device. For example, the measuring device may be as follows: (1) Independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem, (2) A set having one or more ICs, wherein the IC set may optionally include a storage component for storing data, computer programs, etc. (3) ASIC, for example, modem, (4) Modules that can be incorporated into other devices, (5) Receivers, terminal devices, intelligent terminal devices, cellular phones, wireless devices, handhelds, mobile units, in-vehicle devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc. (6) Others.

[0094] For cases where the communication device is a chip or a chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of the chip structure shown in Figure 7. The chip shown in Figure 7 includes a processor 701 and an interface 702. Here, the number of processors 701 may be one or more, and the number of interfaces 702 may be multiple.

[0095] Optionally, the chip also includes memory 703 for storing necessary computer programs and data.

[0096] As those skilled in the art will see, the various illustrative logical blocks and steps enumerated in the embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functionality is implemented by hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design requirements of the overall system. Those skilled in the art can implement the aforementioned functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementations should not be understood as exceeding the scope of protection of the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0097] The disclosure further provides a readable storage medium on which instructions are stored, and when these instructions are executed by a computer, the functionality of any one of the embodiments of the above method is realized.

[0098] This disclosure further provides a computer program product which, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of any one of the embodiments described above.

[0099] In the embodiments described above, all or part of them can be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of them can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs. When the computer programs are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the flows or functions described in the embodiments of this disclosure are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer programs can be stored on a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer programs can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available media accessible to a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The usable media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drives (SSDs)).

[0100] As those skilled in the art will understand, the various numerical designations such as "First," "Second," etc., in this disclosure are classifications made for the sake of clarity and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor do they represent priority.

[0101] In this disclosure, “at least one” may also be described as “one or more,” where “more” may be two, three, four or more, and is not limited to this disclosure. In embodiments of this disclosure, for a single technical feature, technical features in that type of technical feature are distinguished by “first,” “second,” “third,” “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D,” and there is no priority or size order among the technical features described by “first,” “second,” “third,” “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.”

[0102] The correspondences shown in each table in this disclosure may be pre-configured or pre-defined. The possible values ​​of the information in each table are merely examples and may be set to other values, and are not limited in this disclosure. When setting the correspondence between information and each parameter, it is not necessary to set all the correspondences shown in each table. For example, some of the correspondences shown in some rows of the tables in this disclosure may not be set. Also, appropriate modifications and adjustments such as splitting and joining may be made to the above tables. The names of the parameters shown in the themes of each table above may also be called by other names that are understandable to the communication device, and the possible values ​​or representations of those parameters may also be other possible values ​​or representations that are understandable to the communication device. When the above tables are implemented, other data structures such as arrays, queues, containers, stacks, linked lists, pointers, linked lists, trees, graphs, structures, classes, heaps, hash tables may be used.

[0103] In this disclosure, pre-definitions may be understood as definition, pre-definition, memory, pre-storage, pre-agreement, pre-setting, curing, or pre-firing.

[0104] As those skilled in the art will understand, the units and algorithmic steps described in each example disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or in a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or in software depends on the specific application of the proposed technology and the design constraints. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this disclosure.

[0105] For the convenience and simplification of the explanation, and so that those skilled in the art can clearly understand, the specific working processes of the systems, apparatus, and units described above are omitted here, and should be referred to by the corresponding processes in the embodiments of the methods described above.

[0106] The foregoing describes only specific embodiments of the present disclosure, and the scope of protection of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any modification or substitution that a person skilled in the art could easily conceive of, as long as it does not deviate from the technical scope disclosed herein, should be included within the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present disclosure must be in accordance with the claims.

Claims

1. A processing method performed by a terminal, The lower layer of the terminal receives a second channel for scheduling a first channel, and in response that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the first channel baseband bandwidth of the terminal, the lower layer either does not notify the higher layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer performs a first operation on the higher layer, the first operation including at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. A processing method characterized by the following.

2. The first channel is used to carry MsgB or Msg4, The second channel is used to carry first information for scheduling the first channel. The processing method according to feature 1.

3. To notify that the second channel has been received, The lower layer includes transmitting a first instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the lower layer has received the second channel, Notifying that reception on the second channel is invalid is: The lower layer transmits a second instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the first channel baseband bandwidth of the terminal, The lower layer transmits a third instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the conflict resolution has failed. The lower layer transmits a fourth instruction to the upper layer to indicate that the second channel received by the lower layer is invalid, and includes at least one of the following: The processing method according to feature 2.

4. In response to the lower layer not notifying the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, the processing method: If the aforementioned upper layer determines that the conflict resolution timer has expired, The operation that determines that the conflict resolution failed, An operation to perform a random backoff operation, The further step includes performing at least one of the following: an operation to retransmit a physical random access channel (PRACH), The aforementioned conflict resolution timer is turned on when the terminal last sends Msg3 or MsgA. The processing method according to feature 2.

5. In response to the lower layer performing a first operation on the upper layer, the processing method: Determining that the competitive resolution failed, Turn off the conflict resolution timer, Determining that the conflict resolution timer has expired, Performing a random backoff operation, Resending PRACH, and further including at least one of the following: The processing method according to feature 2.

6. The step of discarding or not discarding the first information further includes: The processing method according to feature 2.

7. The first channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), The second channel is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), The first piece of information is downlink control information (DCI). The processing method according to feature 2.

8. The aforementioned upper layer includes a Media Access Control (MAC) layer, The aforementioned lower layer includes a physical layer. The processing method according to any one of features 1 to 7.

9. The aforementioned terminal is a capacity reduction (Redcap) terminal or an eRedcap terminal. The processing method according to any one of features 1 to 7.

10. A processing method performed by a communication system, The network device sends a second channel to the lower layer of the terminal for scheduling the first channel, The lower layer of the terminal determines that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, and the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer performs a first operation on the upper layer, the first operation including at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. A processing method characterized by the following.

11. A communication device, In response to the lower layer of a terminal receiving a second channel for scheduling a first channel, and the resources occupied by the first channel exceeding the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, the lower layer either does not notify the higher layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer includes a processing module for performing a first operation on the higher layer, the first operation of which includes at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. A communication device characterized by the following features.

12. A communication device, A network device includes a transmission module for sending a second channel to the lower layer of the terminal for scheduling the first channel, The lower layer of the terminal determines that the resources occupied by the first channel exceed the terminal's first channel baseband bandwidth, and the lower layer does not notify the upper layer of the terminal that the second channel has been received, or the lower layer includes a processing module for performing a first operation on the upper layer, the first operation of which includes at least one of notifying that the second channel has been received and notifying that the reception of the second channel is invalid. A communication device characterized by the following features.

13. A communication device, A processor and memory are included, the memory storing a computer program, and the processor causes the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 by executing the computer program stored in the memory. A communication device characterized by the following features.

14. A communication device, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, The interface circuit is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor. The processor is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 by executing the code instructions, A communication device characterized by the following features.

15. A computer-readable storage medium in which instructions are stored, When the aforementioned instruction is executed, the method described in any of claims 1 to 9 is realized. A computer-readable storage medium characterized by the following features.

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