Methods and apparatus for synchronization, and computer programs

Abstract

This disclosure provides a method and apparatus for synchronization and a computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, user equipment determines an offset variation between the user equipment and a network device based on a received first reference signal, where the offset variation includes a time offset variation and / or a frequency offset variation; user equipment determines the time-domain position of the second reference signal based on the time-domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, where the time-domain delay is less than the transmission period of the first reference signal; and user equipment updates the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the time-domain position. Thus, user equipment can determine the offset variation within the range of the transmission period based on the time-domain delay and based on both the first and second reference signals. In this way, the number of opportunities to determine the offset variation within the transmission period is increased, and as a result, communication efficiency is ensured by allowing the offset variation to be updated more quickly.

Description

[[Technical Field]]

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for synchronization, and a computer-readable storage medium. [[Background Art]]

[0002] A communication system involves information exchange between a network device and a user equipment. To ensure communication quality, alignment, for example, time alignment and frequency alignment between a transmitting device and a receiving device, is generally required. However, due to various reasons, there exist offsets such as a time domain offset and / or a frequency domain offset between the network device and the user equipment, and an offset value is not fixed and changes over time. Therefore, how to accurately determine an offset variation in a timely manner is one of the problems that need to be solved urgently. [[Summary of Invention]]

[0003] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for determining an offset variation between a user equipment and a network device.

[0004] According to a first aspect, a method for synchronization is provided. The method may be used in a user equipment or a chip disposed in the user equipment. The method comprises: determining an offset variation between the user equipment and a network device based on a received first reference signal, where the offset variation comprises a time offset variation and / or a frequency offset variation; determining a time domain position of a second reference signal based on a time domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, where the time domain delay amount is smaller than a transmission period of the first reference signal; and updating the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

[0005] Thus, user equipment can determine offset variations within the transmission cycle based on time-domain delay and based on both the first and second reference signals. This increases the number of opportunities to determine offset variations within the transmission cycle, and as a result, communication efficiency is ensured by allowing offset variations to be updated more quickly.

[0006] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further comprises the step of receiving configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of a second reference signal relative to a first reference signal. Thus, the network device may indicate the time-domain delay amount based on the configuration information, and as a result, signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0007] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further comprises the step of receiving updated configuration information from a network device, wherein the updated configuration information indicates an updated time-domain delay amount of a second reference signal relative to a first reference signal. Thus, the network device may update the time-domain delay amount in an adaptive manner based on the updated configuration information, thereby increasing or decreasing the number of opportunities for user equipment to determine the offset variation.

[0008] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method comprises the step of receiving configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of a second signal group relative to a first signal group, the first and second signal groups have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes a first reference signal, and the second signal group includes a second reference signal. Thus, the network device may notify the user equipment of the time-domain delay amount between the first and second signal groups having the same coverage range, and as a result the signal groups are paired with each other, and the time-domain delay amount does not need to be indicated at the granularity of the reference signal, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0009] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, and the step of determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal includes determining that, for the time-domain position, the amount of time-domain delay after the reception time-domain position of the first reference signal is used as the starting point, and the signal measurement window is used as the time length. In this way, the network device may configure a signal measurement window, and as a result, user equipment can receive a second reference signal with higher signal quality, thereby ensuring that the offset variation determined based on the second reference signal is more accurate.

[0010] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further comprises the steps of: detecting at least one signal in a time-domain position; and determining a second reference signal from at least one signal based on the signal parameters of each of the at least one signal.

[0011] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the step of determining a second reference signal from at least one signal includes the steps of determining the signal parameters of each of the at least one signal; and determining a signal whose signal parameters exceed a preset threshold for the second reference signal. Optionally, the signal parameters include at least one of signal intensity, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, the user equipment may determine the offset variation based on the signal whose signal parameters exceed a preset threshold, resulting in more accurate results.

[0012] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further comprises the step of determining a first portion of offset variation between a user device and a network device based on the location information of the network device and the location information of the user device, wherein the offset variation is a second portion of offset variation. Optionally, the network device is a satellite base station in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). Optionally, the location information of the network device is included in the ephemeris information of the network device.

[0013] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first reference signal is a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), and the second reference signal is a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS). Thus, the SSB and TRS may be transmitted alternately at specific time intervals to increase the number of opportunities for the user equipment to determine the offset variation.

[0014] In some embodiments of the first embodiment, the configuration information may include the time-domain location of a TRS associated with the user equipment. For example, the TRS associated with the user equipment is a user-level TRS. In some embodiments of the first embodiment, the configuration information may further include one or more SSBs having a pairing relationship with the user-level TRS, where one or more SSBs are one or more potential measurable SSBs of the user equipment, determined by the network device.

[0015] In some embodiments of the first aspect, both the first reference signal and the second reference signal are TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

[0016] For example, in response to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first reference signal exceeding a preset SNR threshold, the user device determines an offset variation based on the first reference signal. For example, in response to the signal-to-noise ratio of the second reference signal exceeding a preset SNR threshold, the user device updates the offset variation based on the second reference signal. For example, the user device further receives a third reference signal, and in response to the signal-to-noise ratio of the third reference signal being less than a preset SNR threshold, the user device stops or ceases updating the offset variation based on the third reference signal. For example, the third reference signal is a TRS.

[0017] According to a second embodiment, a method for synchronization is provided. The method may be used in a network device or a chip located within a network device. The method comprises the steps of: transmitting a first reference signal to user equipment; determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal based on the time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal with respect to the first reference signal, where the time-domain delay amount is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal; and transmitting the second reference signal to user equipment at the time-domain position.

[0018] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further comprises the step of transmitting configuration information to a user device, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of a second reference signal with respect to a first reference signal.

[0019] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further comprises the step of transmitting updated configuration information to user equipment, wherein the updated configuration information indicates an updated time-domain delay amount of a second reference signal with respect to a first reference signal.

[0020] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further comprises the step of transmitting configuration information to user equipment, wherein the configuration information indicates a time-domain delay amount of a second signal group relative to a first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes a first reference signal, and the second signal group includes a second reference signal.

[0021] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, which represents the time length of a time-domain position.

[0022] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first reference signal is SSB and the second reference signal is TRS.

[0023] In some embodiments of the second aspect, both the first reference signal and the second reference signal are TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

[0024] It should be noted that some embodiments and beneficial effects of the first embodiment are also applicable to the second embodiment. For the sake of brevity, further details will not be described here.

[0025] According to a third embodiment, a method for synchronization is provided, which may be used in user equipment or a chip located within user equipment. The method comprises the steps of: determining an offset variation between user equipment and network devices based on a received first reference signal, wherein the offset variation includes a time offset variation and / or a frequency offset variation; determining a time-domain position of a second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal, wherein the time-domain delay amount between the first reference signal in the first type signal and the second reference signal in the second type signal having a pairing relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal; and updating the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the time-domain position.

[0026] Thus, network devices may be configured based on a pairing relationship such that the interval between the first and second reference signals is a fixed interval value, and this fixed value is smaller than the transmission period. Therefore, user equipment can determine the offset variation within the range of the transmission period based on the time-domain delay and based on both the first and second reference signals. In this way, the number of opportunities to determine the offset variation within the transmission period increases, and as a result, communication efficiency is ensured because the offset variation can be updated more quickly.

[0027] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the method further comprises the step of receiving configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal.

[0028] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the step of determining the time domain position of the second reference signal comprises the step of determining the time domain position of the second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on configuration information and the received first reference signal. For example, the configuration information may indicate the time domain position of the second reference signal. The user equipment may determine the second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on pairing information, so as to acquire the time domain position of the second reference signal from the configuration information. In this way, the network device can simplify operations on the user equipment by configuring the time domain position.

[0029] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage range.

[0030] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first type of signal is SSB, and the second type of signal is TRS.

[0031] According to the fourth aspect, a synchronization method is provided, which can be used in a network device or a chip disposed in the network device. The method comprises: transmitting configuration information to user equipment, wherein the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first type of signal and a second type of signal, and a time domain delay amount between a first reference signal in the first type of signal having the pairing relationship and a second reference signal in the second type of signal having the pairing relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is smaller than a transmission period of the first reference signal; transmitting the first reference signal to the user equipment; and transmitting the second reference signal to the user equipment.

[0032] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, a time domain delay amount between a third reference signal in the first type of signal having the pairing relationship and a fourth reference signal in the second type of signal having the pairing relationship is also a fixed value. For example, the pairing relationship may be indicated based on QCL in TCI status.

[0033] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage range.

[0034] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first type of signal is SSB and the second type of signal is TRS.

[0035] It should be noted that some embodiments and beneficial effects of the third embodiment are also applicable to the fourth embodiment. For the sake of brevity, further details will not be described here.

[0036] According to the fifth aspect, a communication device for synchronization (e.g., user equipment, or a chip located within user equipment) is provided, which includes a component configured to perform the operation of the method according to the first aspect or any one embodiment of the first aspect, or a component configured to perform the operation of the method according to the third aspect or any one embodiment of the third aspect. Optionally, the component may be implemented as a unit, module, or similar.

[0037] According to the sixth aspect, a communication device for synchronization (e.g., a network device, or a chip located within a network device) is provided, and includes a component configured to perform the operation of the method according to the second aspect or any one embodiment of the second aspect, or a component configured to perform the operation of the method according to the fourth aspect or any one embodiment of the fourth aspect. Optionally, the component may be implemented as a unit, module, or similar.

[0038] According to the seventh aspect, a network device is provided, comprising a transceiver, a processor, and memory, wherein the memory stores instructions to be executed by the processor, and when an instruction is executed by the processor, the network device is made to perform an operation according to the method of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or any one embodiment of the second or fourth aspect by using the transceiver.

[0039] According to the eighth aspect, a network device is provided, comprising a transceiver, a processor, and memory, wherein the memory stores instructions to be executed by the processor, and when an instruction is executed by the processor, the network device is made to perform an operation according to the method of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or any one embodiment of the second or fourth aspect by using the transceiver.

[0040] According to the ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the operation of the method according to any one of the embodiments of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects is implemented.

[0041] According to the tenth aspect, a chip or chip system is provided. The chip or chip system includes processing circuits and is configured to implement the operation of a method according to any one of the embodiments of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects.

[0042] According to the eleventh aspect, a computer program or computer program product is provided. The computer program or computer program product is stored in a computer-readable medium in a tangible form and includes computer executable instructions. When the computer executable instructions are executed, the device is made to implement the operation of a method according to any one of the embodiments of the first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects.

[0043] It should be noted that some embodiments and beneficial effects of the aforementioned methods are also applicable to embodiments of apparatus, user equipment, network devices, computer-readable storage media, chips or chip systems, and computer programs or computer program products. For brevity, further details will not be described here. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0044] The aforementioned and other features, advantages and aspects of embodiments of this disclosure will become more apparent upon reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements.

[0045] [Figure 1] This is a diagram illustrating a satellite communication-based transparent transmission scenario.

[0046] [Figure 2] This is a diagram illustrating a satellite communication-based transparent transmission scenario.

[0047] [Figure 3] This is a diagram illustrating a satellite communication-based regeneration mode scenario.

[0048] [Figure 4] This is a diagram of a system in which one embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0049] [Figure 5] This is a schematic flowchart of interactions in a communication process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] [Figure 6] This is a diagram of an SSB transmission pattern to which one embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied.

[0051] [Figure 7] This figure shows that the second transmission period is 640 ms and the time-domain delay is 325 ms.

[0052] [Figure 8] This figure shows that the second transmission period is 320 ms and the time-domain delay is 165 ms.

[0053] [Figure 9] This figure shows that the second transmission period is 1280 ms and the time-domain delay is 325 ms.

[0054] [Figure 10] This shows an example of a change caused by SSB measured by user equipment and resulting from the movement of network devices.

[0055] [Figure 11] This diagram shows the stage in which the first part of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on location information.

[0056] [Figure 12] This figure shows the steps for determining the offset variation according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] [Figure 13] This shows an example of a change caused by SSB measured by user equipment and resulting from the movement of network devices.

[0058] [Figure 14] This figure shows the steps for determining the offset variation according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0059] [Figure 15] This diagram shows 16 TRS (Transaction Response Systems) as an example.

[0060] [Figure 16] This is a diagram of a TRS transmission sequence according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0061] [Figure 17] This figure shows the steps for determining the offset variation according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0062] [Figure 18] This is a schematic flowchart of interactions in a communication process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0063] [Figure 19] This figure shows the steps for determining the offset variation according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0064] [Figure 20] This is a block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0065] [Figure 21] This is a block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0066] [Figure 22] This is a block diagram of an exemplary device that may be used to implement one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0067] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While some embodiments of this disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, this disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided for a more complete and thorough understanding of this disclosure. The accompanying drawings and embodiments of this disclosure are used as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0068] In the description of embodiments of this disclosure, the term “including” and similar terms shall be understood as non-exclusive inclusion, i.e., “including but not limited to.” The term “based on” should be understood as “at least partially based on.” The term “one embodiment” or “this embodiment” should be understood as “at least one embodiment.” Terms such as “first” and “second” may refer to different or the same subject matter. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

[0069] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to, cellular communication protocols such as 3rd Generation (3G) cellular communication protocols, 4th Generation (4G) cellular communication protocols, 5th Generation (5G) cellular communication protocols, and 6th Generation (6G) cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0070] Figures 1 to 3 illustrate scenarios to which several embodiments of this disclosure may be applied. Specifically, Figure 1 shows a satellite communication-based transparent transmission scenario 100 in which access is provided according to the non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (N3GPP) radio protocol. Figure 2 shows a satellite communication-based transparent transmission scenario 200 in which access is provided according to the New Radio (NR) protocol. Figure 3 shows a satellite communication-based regenerative mode scenario 300 in which access is provided according to the NR protocol.

[0071] In transparent transmission scenarios 100 and 200, satellites 110 and 210 perform frequency conversion and transmission. In regenerative mode scenario 300, satellite 310 includes a gNodeB (gNB) or a Distributed Unit (DU).

[0072] The core network is intended to complete three functions: registration, connection, and session management. For example, the core network may include core network 102 in Figure 1, core network 202 in Figure 2, and core network 302 in Figure 3, and the core network may communicate with data networks 103, 203, and 303 through the N6 interface. The core network may include a Network Exposure Function (NEF) that exposes the services and capabilities of 3GPP® network functions to Application Functions (AFs), and may cause the AFs to provide information to 3GPP network functions. The core network may include a policy and charging function (PCF) that performs policy management for billing policies and Quality-of-Service (QoS) policies. The core network may include a Session Management Function (SMF), for example, a session management function that completes the allocation of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for UEs, the selection of User Plane Functions (UPFs), and the control of billing and QoS policies. The core network may include a UPF, which forwards specific user plane data, generates call detail records based on traffic status, and functions as a data plane anchor.

[0073] In embodiments of this disclosure, the term “user equipment (UE)” may refer to any terminal device capable of performing wired or wireless communication with a network or user equipment. For example, device 101 in Figure 1, device 201 in Figure 2, and device 301 in Figure 3 may all be user equipment. User equipment is a device having wireless transceiver functionality and may be deployed on land, including indoor devices, outdoor devices, handheld devices, wearable devices, or in-vehicle devices; or may be deployed on water (e.g., on a ship); or may be deployed in the air (e.g., on an airplane or balloon). User equipment may be a mobile phone, a pad, a computer with wireless transceiver functionality, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, an in-vehicle terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, 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, a wearable terminal device, or similar. User equipment may also be referred to as a terminal device, subscriber unit, access terminal device, in-vehicle terminal, terminal in industrial control, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal device, mobile device, UE terminal device, terminal device, wireless communication device, UE agent, UE equipment, or terminal, etc. User equipment may be fixed or movable.

[0074] In embodiments of this disclosure, the term “network device” may refer to an entity or node that communicates with and provides services to user equipment. For example, satellite 110 and base station 120 in Figure 1, satellite 210 and base station 220 in Figure 2, and satellite 310 and base station 320 in Figure 3 may all be network devices. A network device may be any satellite base station having radio transceiver functionality within a satellite network, and may include, but is not limited to, evolved NodeBs (eNBs or e-NodeBs) in Long Term Evolution (LTE), base stations (gNodeBs or gNBs) or Transmission Receiving Points / Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) in NR, later evolved base stations in 3GPP, access nodes, radio relay nodes, radio backhaul nodes in Wi-Fi® systems, and similar devices mounted on satellites. A satellite base station may be a macro base station, micro base station, picocell base station, small cell, relay station, or similar. Network devices may alternatively be balloon stations, unmanned aerial vehicle stations, or similar devices. Multiple network devices may support a network of the same technology as described above, or a network of different technologies as described above. Multiple network devices may be of the same type, or different types. Network devices may include one or more colocation or non-colocation TRPs. Network devices may communicate with user equipment, or communicate with user equipment via relay stations. User equipment may communicate with multiple network devices using different technologies.For example, a user device may support an LTE network and communicate with a network device equipped with an LTE network, or support a 5G network and communicate with a network device equipped with a 5G network, or support dual connectivity with both an LTE network and a 5G network.

[0075] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are networks in which radio frequency resources on platforms such as satellite platforms, uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, or high-altitude platform stations (HAPSs) are used for communication services. Satellite platforms may include low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Compared to terrestrial cellular networks (e.g., 5G NR), NTNs have features such as wider coverage, higher path loss, higher latency, higher speed, and lower cost. As a complement and extension of terrestrial networks, NTNs can effectively solve the problem of internet access in areas lacking communication infrastructure by implementing wide-area seamless coverage that cannot be achieved by either wired telephone networks or terrestrial mobile communication networks. For example, when a large number of satellites are deployed to low Earth orbit (LEO), if the constellation is built in an appropriate manner, seamless ground coverage can be implemented, and the round-trip data time between satellites and ground terminals can be drastically reduced to tens of milliseconds compared to geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites. With the application of technologies such as high frequency bands, multiple spot beams, and frequency reuse, the communication capabilities of satellites are significantly improved and the cost per broadband unit is reduced. Thus, the requirements for high information rate services can be met. Compared to communication infrastructure, such as terrestrial 5G networks and submarine fiber optic cables, NTN also has a significant cost advantage. The research, development, and manufacturing costs of modern small satellites are low, and the lifespan of on-orbit satellites can be further extended by using software-defined technologies.In addition to global mode coverage scenarios (e.g., remote areas and ocean-going vessels), NTN can also be used in scenarios such as emergency disaster relief (e.g., disaster monitoring and emergency communications), the Internet of Everything (IoE), and high-speed transportation (e.g., high-speed trains and airplanes). Therefore, it is attracting widespread attention from industry and academia.

[0076] With the growing popularity of research on NTN, the 3GPP standardization organization is also conducting standardization research on NTN and working to implement NTN construction using NR systems. 3GPP's research on satellite-terrestrial convergence began with Release 14 (R14), discussing the role and benefits of satellites in 5G systems and specifying that 5G will support satellite access. R15 produced a report on 5G and satellite convergence technology, defining eight enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) scenarios and two massive machine type communication (mMTC) scenarios, and defining the NTN channel model. R16 further research was conducted on NTN architecture and solutions supported by NR. Based on the results of R16, R17 saw standardization work on NTN supported by 5G NR, forming the first version of the convergence technical specification. R18 will continue research on NTN enhancement.

[0077] Compared to terrestrial network (TN) communication systems, NTN systems are characterized by high time-frequency offset and rapid changes in time-frequency offset. Time offset is the time deviation of the same signal between the transmitting and receiving sides. Time offset mainly includes propagation delay, i.e., the delay in signal arrival caused by long propagation distance. Frequency offset is the frequency deviation of the same signal between the transmitting and receiving sides. Frequency offset mainly includes Doppler frequency shift. In other words, when a mobile station moves in a certain direction at a constant speed, changes in phase and frequency are caused by the difference in propagation distance. Time offset and frequency offset are collectively referred to as time-frequency offset. A frequency of 3.6 GHz is used as an example. The maximum mobile speed of a terrestrial NR system is approximately 500 km / h, the maximum transmission distance is approximately 3 km, the maximum Doppler frequency shift is approximately 1.6 kHz, and the maximum transmission delay is approximately 10 μs. For the NTN system with an orbital altitude of 600 km, the satellite's speed is 7.6 km / s, the maximum transmission distance is approximately 900 km, the maximum Doppler frequency shift is approximately 70 kHz, and the maximum transmission delay is approximately 3 ms. A comparison between these two systems shows that the satellite's Doppler frequency and propagation delay are much larger than those of the ground system. In addition, because the satellite moves at high speed, within 80 ms, the change in Doppler frequency shift reaches 100 Hz and the change in time offset reaches 1.6 μs. In addition to the Doppler frequency shift and transmission delay caused by the satellite, non-ideal factors such as terminal movement and crystal oscillator errors between the transmitting and receiving ends are also significant causes of frequency and time offset.

[0078] In communication systems, misalignment of the frequency and time of signals between the transmitting and receiving sides, caused by frequency and time offsets, significantly impacts communication performance. For example, waveforms and modulations associated with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) are used in NR networks. Frequency and time deviations impair the orthogonality between subcarriers in OFDM signals, leading to intersymbol and intercarrier interference, and thus significantly reducing the demodulation performance of OFDM signal data. Therefore, in NR systems, estimation, tracking, and compensation must be accurately performed for time-frequency offsets to minimize the time-frequency difference between signals between the transmitting and receiving sides and ensure system performance. For NTN systems, the absolute and variable values ​​of time-frequency offsets are 100 or even 1000 times greater than those of terrestrial networks, which imposes high requirements on methods for accurate estimation and tracking.

[0079] In addition, compared to terrestrial communication systems, NTN systems feature a wider coverage area and greater transmission loss from a single satellite. In terrestrial systems, up to eight Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) may be used in frequency range 1 (FR1) and up to 64 SSBs in frequency range 2 (FR2) to cover the service range of a single base station. However, the number of SSB beams required for NTN systems can reach hundreds or even thousands. For example, in an NTN system with an orbital altitude of 600 km, the service range of a single satellite can reach hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. To offset the effects of path loss caused by transmission distance and ensure the quality of communication services, satellites generally use large antenna arrays to provide greater array gain. However, this also results in a narrower main lobe of the beam. For example, a beamwidth with a coverage radius of 3 dB is only tens of kilometers, and the coverage area is approximately several hundred square kilometers. Therefore, thousands of beams are required to implement seamless coverage of a single satellite's service range by using narrow beams. Furthermore, even when specific diffusion processes are performed on these beams, hundreds of beams are still required to implement coverage and guarantee gain levels.

[0080] With this in mind, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for synchronization. In this solution, the user equipment can determine the offset variation between the user equipment and the network device based on the time-domain delay between two reference signals. Thus, the time offset variation and / or frequency offset variation can be estimated using this solution, and therefore system performance can be guaranteed.

[0081] Figure 4 shows a system 400 in which one embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. The system 400 includes a network device 410 and user equipment 420. The network device 410 and user equipment 420 can communicate with each other. For example, the network device 410 can provide network access services to user equipment 420.

[0082] For example, network device 410 may communicate directly with user device 420, or indirectly with user device 420 via another device. For example, multi-hop communication may be performed via one or more other relay devices. For example, user device 420 may be located in a dual connectivity scenario, a multi-connectivity scenario, or similar.

[0083] It should be understood that the system 400 shown in Figure 4 is merely an example. While the scenario shown in Figure 4 includes one network device 410 and one user device 420, this is not limited to this embodiment of the disclosure. For example, system 400 may include a larger number of devices.

[0084] It should be understood that embodiments of this disclosure may be applicable to NTN systems or TN systems. For example, network devices such as satellite base stations in NTN systems or television signal towers in TN systems have a large coverage range. For example, such coverage may reach hundreds of kilometers, thousands of kilometers, or even larger. This is not limited to this disclosure.

[0085] Each embodiment of this disclosure provides a description of network devices and user equipment. The functions performed by the network devices and user equipment may, alternatively, be applicable to the network device chip and the user equipment chip, respectively. Optionally, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, the physical and media layer functions of the network device may be implemented by the distributed units (DUs) of the network device, while the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and radio resource control (RRC) layer may be implemented by the central unit (CU) of the network device.

[0086] Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of the interaction in a communication process 500 according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. In Figure 5, the network device 410 and user equipment 420 shown in Figure 4 are used as examples for illustrative purposes.

[0087] In 510, the network device 410 transmits a first reference signal to the user device 420. In 520, the user device 420 determines the offset variation between the user device 420 and the network device 410 based on the first reference signal. In 530, the user device 420 determines the time-domain position of the second reference signal based on the time-domain delay. In 540, the network device 410 transmits the second reference signal to the user device 420; in 550, the user device 420 receives the second reference signal based on the time-domain position. In 560, the user device 420 updates the offset variation between the user device 420 and the network device 410 based on the second reference signal. Optionally, the function of transmitting the first reference signal may be performed by the DU of the network device.

[0088] For example, the offset variation between the user equipment 420 and the network device 410 may include time offset variation and / or frequency offset variation. For example, the offset variation may be referred to as time-frequency offset variation, or simply as time-frequency offset variation.

[0089] In embodiments of this disclosure, the term “step of determining the offset variation” may be used interchangeably with any one of the following steps: a step of determining the time-frequency offset variation, a step of estimating the time-frequency offset variation, a step of tracking the time-frequency offset variation, a step of updating the time-frequency offset variation, a step of determining the time-frequency offset, a step of measuring the time-frequency offset, a step of tracking the time-frequency offset, a step of estimating the time-frequency offset, and a step of compensating for the time-frequency offset. This is not limited to the present disclosure.

[0090] For example, the time-domain delay is the time-domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. Optionally, in 501, the network device 410 may transmit configuration information to the user equipment 420. For example, the configuration information may indicate the time-domain delay. In some examples, the network device 410 may transmit a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message or RRC signaling to the user equipment 420, the RRC message or RRC signaling including configuration information. Optionally, the transmission of configuration information may be performed by the CU of the network device.

[0091] In some implementations of these embodiments of the Disclosure, the first and second reference signals are of different types, and a cell-level configuration may be performed. For ease of explanation, in the following embodiments, it is assumed that the first reference signal is of type SSB and the second reference signal is of type Tracking Reference Signal (TRS). However, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the first and second reference signals may be of other types.

[0092] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the configuration information may indicate the time-domain delay of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, and the first and second signal groups have the same coverage range. For example, the first signal group may include one or more SSBs, and the first signal group includes the aforementioned first reference signal. For example, the second signal group may include one or more TRSs, and the second signal group includes the aforementioned second reference signal. For example, the time-domain delay may be expressed as OffsetFromSSBtoTRS. Optionally, since the first and second signal groups have the same beam coverage range, the first and second signal groups may also be referred to as the first beam group and the second beam group, respectively. This is not limited to this disclosure. For example, the first signal group may be referred to as the SSB beam group, and the second signal group may be referred to as the TRS beam group.

[0093] The network device 410 may transmit SSB beamgroups based on a first transmission cycle, each SSB covering a specific ground range. The network device 410 may configure a cell-level TRS and transmit TRS beamgroups based on a second transmission cycle. Optionally, the first transmission cycle may be equal to the second transmission cycle. Alternatively, optionally, the first transmission cycle may not be equal to the second transmission cycle.

[0094] For example, the number of TRS beams may be the same as the number of SSB beams. In this example, each TRS beam corresponds to an SSB beam with the same coverage range. For example, the number of SSBs in the first signal group is equal to the number of TRSs in the second signal group.

[0095] For example, the number of TRS beams does not have to be equal to the number of SSB beams. In this example, multiple TRSs may be combined into a single group, which may correspond to an SSB beam group containing one or more SSBs and having the same coverage range. For example, the number of SSBs in the first signal group is not equal to the number of TRSs in the second signal group (it may be greater or less than this number).

[0096] Figure 6 shows an SSB transmission pattern 600 to which one embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied. As shown in Figure 6, up to eight SSBs may be transmitted within the first 2ms of every 20ms. In this example, the time required by the network device to transmit 256 SSBs is 640ms. In other words, the first transmission period of the SSB may be 640ms. Note that, for ease of explanation, in the examples of the present disclosure, the first transmission period of the SSB is assumed to be 640ms in all cases. However, note that in other scenarios, the first transmission period may be a different value, for example, 320ms or 1280ms. This is not limited to the present disclosure.

[0097] As explained above, the second transmission period may be equal to the first transmission period, for example, 640 ms. The second transmission period does not have to be equal to the first transmission period. For example, the second transmission period may be equal to 320 ms or 1280 ms.

[0098] The network device 410 may pair SSB beamgroups and TRS beamgroups having the same coverage range. For example, the network device 410 may configure the time-domain position of each TRS by using, for example, RRC messages or RRC signaling. For example, the network device 410 may define pairing relationships between SSB beamgroups and TRS beamgroups based on quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships.

[0099] The network device 410 may transmit paired TRS beamgroups and SSB beamgroups at different times, for example, the time interval for transmitting paired TRS beamgroups and SSB beamgroups may be the aforementioned time-domain delay. For example, the time-domain delay may be determined based on half of the second transmission cycle (1 / 2 of the TRS cycle), 1 / 4 of the second transmission cycle (1 / 4 of the TRS cycle), or another value. Optionally, the time-domain delay may further be determined based on the transmission duration of the first signal group. For example, the transmission duration of the first signal group may represent the total duration required for the transmission of signals within the first signal group. For example, in the example shown in Figures 7 to 9, the first signal group includes eight SSBs, and the transmission duration of the first signal group (i.e., one SSB beamgroup, e.g., SSB #0 to #7) is 5 ms.

[0100] For example, it is assumed that the first signal group contains 8 SSBs, the second signal group contains 8 TRSs, and the first transmission period is 640 ms. Figure 7 is a figure 700 in which the second transmission period is 640 ms and the time-domain delay is 325 ms. Figure 8 is a figure 800 in which the second transmission period is 320 ms and the time-domain delay is 165 ms. Figure 9 is a figure in which the second transmission period is 1280 ms and the time-domain delay is 325 ms. In Figures 7 to 9, the transmission duration of one SSB beam group is 5 ms. Therefore, the time-domain delay is equal to 1 / 2 or 1 / 4 of the second transmission period (e.g., 320 ms in Figures 7 and 9 or 160 ms in Figure 8) + the transmission duration of one SSB beam group.

[0101] Figure 7 is used as an example. The TRS beamgroups (TRS#0 to #7) paired with the SSB beamgroups (SSB#0 to #7) are configured after SSB#128 to #135, resulting in a time interval of 325 ms (i.e., a time-domain delay) between the TRS beamgroups and the SSB beamgroups. Thus, the user device 420 can determine the change in time-frequency offset at update opportunity 710 based on the received SSB, and the change in time-frequency offset at update opportunity 720 based on the received TRS. For example, the user device 420 may receive SSB#1 at update opportunity 710, and then, based on the time-domain delay (325 ms), the user device 420 may receive TRS#1 at update opportunity 720. Thus, within the first transmission cycle (640 ms), it can be ensured that the user equipment 420 determines the change in the time-frequency offset in two instances based on SSB and TRS, respectively, and that the estimation and tracking of the time-frequency offset are performed separately in the two instances. It can be seen that the examples in Figures 8 and 9 are similar. To avoid repetition, the details will not be explained again here.

[0102] In some examples, it is assumed that the network device 410 is in motion, for example, that the network device 410 is a satellite base station. In this example, considering the movement of the satellite, the measured SSB may change over time for the user equipment 420, and the measured TRS also changes accordingly.

[0103] Figure 10 shows an example of a change in the SSB measured by user device 420 that is caused by the movement of network device 410. Please refer to Figure 10. User device 420 is initially assumed to be located at SSB #14. When network device 410 (e.g., a satellite) moves rapidly upward, the SSB measured by user device 420 changes from SSB #14 to SSB #13 or SSB #12, etc. Since a pairing relationship exists between TRS beamgroups and SSB beamgroups, the TRS measured by user device also changes accordingly. In some examples, network device 410 may indicate the change in the SSB / TRS measured by user device 420 based on another RRC message or other RRC signaling.

[0104] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the configuration information may indicate the time-domain delay of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, and the signal measurement window. The first and second signal groups have the same coverage range, and the signal measurement window may indicate the time-domain range (or duration) in which the second signal group exists. For example, the time-domain delay may represent OffsetFromSSBtoTRS, and the signal measurement window may be represented as TRSwindow. For example, the first signal group may be referred to as the SSB beam group, and the second signal group may be referred to as the TRS signal group. Thus, the signal measurement window may indicate the duration for which the user device 420 continuously measures the TRS, and as a result, the network device 410 does not need to frequently indicate changes in the TRS being measured by the user device 420, thereby reducing indication overhead and reconfiguration overhead.

[0105] Optionally, the network device 410 may determine the duration of the signal measurement window based on the speed of the network device 410 and / or other factors. For example, the signal measurement window may be 3 ms, 6 ms, or another value. This is not limited to the foregoing disclosure.

[0106] For example, user equipment 420 may detect a TRS within a duration indicated by a signal measurement window, where the starting point of the signal measurement window is determined based on the time to receive the SSB and the time-domain delay. For example, user equipment 420 may determine a time range used to detect a TRS. For this time range, the time-domain delay after the time-domain position of the SSB reception is used as the starting point, and the signal measurement window is used as the time length.

[0107] The user device 420 may detect one or more TRSs within the time range and may determine the time-frequency offset variation based on at least one of the one or more TRSs. Optionally, if only one TRS is detected within the time range, the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the detected TRS.

[0108] If multiple TRSs are detected within a given time range, one TRS may be selected from among them, and then the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the selected TRS. For example, for multiple detected TRSs, the selected TRS may be determined based on the signal parameters of the multiple TRSs. For example, the TRS having the signal parameter with the maximum value may be selected, where the signal parameter may be signal strength, signal quality, signal-to-noise ratio, or similar.

[0109] If multiple TRSs are detected within the given time range, at least one TRS may be selected from the multiple TRSs, and then the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the selected at least one TRS. For example, for multiple detected TRSs, the selected TRS may be determined based on the signal parameters of the multiple TRSs. For example, at least one TRS whose signal parameters exceed a threshold may be selected, where the signal parameters may be signal strength, signal quality, signal-to-noise ratio, or similar.

[0110] For example, see Figure 7. The signal measurement window is assumed to be 3 ms. If user device 420 can receive SSB#1 at update opportunity 710, user device 420 may perform detection within the transmission time range of TRS#0 to #7 based on the time-domain delay (325 ms) and the signal measurement window (3 ms). For example, if user device 420 detects TRS#0 at update opportunity 720, user device 420 may determine the updated time-frequency offset variation based on TRS#0.

[0111] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the user device 420 may further determine a time-frequency offset value based on the location information of the network device 410 and the location information of the user device 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on a first reference signal or a second reference signal.

[0112] For example, it is assumed that network device 410 is an ephemeris base station, and the location information of network device 410 may include ephemeris information. Figure 11 is a diagram of the stage in which the first part of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on the location information. For example, the time offset and frequency offset may be determined according to the following equations (1) and (2).

number

number

[0113] In equations (1) and (2),

number

number

number

number

number

[0114] Optionally, the second part of the time-frequency offset variation may be understood as the residual time-frequency offset variation caused by calculation errors, user equipment movement, non-rational factors, or similar factors. Based on the aforementioned records, the residual time-frequency offset variation may be estimated and updated based on SSB or TRS. Optionally, the second part of the time-frequency offset variation may be smaller than the first part. For example, the order of magnitude of the second part may be smaller than that of the first part, or the granularity of the second part may be finer than that of the first part.

[0115] Figure 12 is a step in determining the offset variation according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the configuration information may include the location information, time-domain delay, and signal measurement window of the network device 410. Correspondingly, user equipment 420 may determine a first portion of the offset variation at location 1210 based on the location information. User equipment 420 may determine a second portion of the offset variation at location 1220 based on the received SSB. User equipment 420 may detect and receive the TRS based on the time-domain delay and signal measurement window. Furthermore, the second portion of the offset variation may be updated at location 1230.

[0116] Refer to Figure 12. Within the second transmission cycle, there are at least two opportunities for the user device 420 to determine the second portion of the offset variation.

[0117] In addition, or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further perform time-frequency offset compensation on another reference signal and / or other data based on the determined offset variation, where the other reference signal and / or other data may include, but are not limited to, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and similar.

[0118] The number of opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset variation based on this solution can be compared to the number of opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset variation simply based on TRS in existing solutions. Table 1 shows the comparison results. It can be seen that for different transmission periods (first transmission period and second transmission period), the number of opportunities within the same duration (e.g., 640 ms) increases by 50%, 100%, and 200%, respectively. [Table 1] [Table 1]

[0119] In the implementation described above, network devices may pair TRS and SSB configured at the cell level based on beam direction, resulting in TRS beamgroups and SSB beamgroups with the same coverage range being transmitted at different times based on time-domain delay, increasing the number of opportunities for user equipment to determine time-frequency offset variations within a second transmission cycle. In this way, the problem of excessively large resource overhead caused by performing time-frequency offset estimation based solely on TRS, and the problem of low time-frequency offset tracking capability caused by performing time-frequency offset estimation based solely on location information, can be solved.

[0120] In some implementations of these embodiments of the Disclosure, the first and second reference signals are of different types, and user-level configuration may be performed. For ease of explanation, in the following embodiments, it is assumed that the first reference signal is of type SSB and the second reference signal is of type TRS. However, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the first and second reference signals may be of other types.

[0121] For a particular user (or user device 420), the time-domain location of the measured TRS for that particular user (or user device 420) is relatively fixed, and it can be understood that the TRS uses a narrow beam to point to a single service-receiving user device or multiple user devices within a single domain. Therefore, in some implementations, the network device 410 may pair a TRS configured at the user level with the corresponding SSB.

[0122] In some examples, the network device 410 may determine the time-domain location of the TRS under measurement of the user device 420, for example, by determining the time-domain location based on the location information of the user device 420. Optionally, the time-domain location of the TRS under measurement of the user device 420 is the time-domain information of the user-level TRS associated with the user device 420, or simply referred to as the user-level TRS. In some examples, the network device 410 may determine one or more potential SSBs under measurement of the user device 420, pair one or more potential SSBs with the user-level TRS, and notify the user device 420 of the pairing information.

[0123] In some examples, the configuration information may include user-level TRS and pairing information. User device 420 may determine the time-domain location of the user-level TRS, and it may be understood that, for example, the time-domain location is included in the configuration information. Since the SSB is transmitted periodically, it may be understood that the time-domain location of one or more potential SSBs under measurement is determined. In this example, user device 420 may determine the time-domain location of one or more potential SSBs under measurement based on the pairing information. It may be understood that there is a specific time interval, i.e., the aforementioned time-domain delay, between the time-domain location of one or more potential SSBs under measurement and the time-domain location of the user-level TRS. In other words, for user device 420, the configuration information may indicate the time-domain delay of the second signal group (e.g., user-level TRS) relative to the first signal group (e.g., one or more potential SSBs under measurement), based on the user-level TRS and pairing information.

[0124] For example, the network device 410 may determine the potential SSB beam (or SSB beamgroup) of the user device 420 based on the SSB coverage range in which the user device 420 is currently located, and the movement information of the network device 410 and / or the user device 420. For example, the network device 410 may configure the time-domain position of the user-level TRS of the user device 420 to be a position with a time-domain delay amount after the potential SSB beam (or SSB beamgroup). For example, the network device 410 may configure a pairing relationship between the user-level TRS and the potential SSB beam (or SSB beamgroup).

[0125] Figure 13 shows an example of a change caused in the SSB measured by user equipment 420 and resulting from the movement of network device 410. See Figure 13. It is assumed that user equipment 420 is currently within the coverage range of SSB #3, and as the satellite moves, user equipment 420 may subsequently be within the coverage range of SSB #2 through #0. In this example, network device 410 can determine the potential measured SSB beamgroups (i.e., SSB #3 through #0) of user equipment 420. Figure 14 is a diagram showing the steps for determining offset variations according to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Network device 410 may constitute the time-domain position of user-level TRS of user equipment 420 after SSB #128 through #135. Thus, within the second transmission cycle of 640 ms, a time interval is maintained between opportunity 1420 for determining time-frequency offset variations based on TRS and opportunity 1410 for determining time-frequency offset variations based on SSB (potential measurement target SSB beamgroups SSB#3 to #0), for example, between 320 ms and 340 ms.

[0126] For example, network device 410 may indicate a pairing relationship to user device 420 based on the QCL relationship.

[0127] Optionally, the network device 410 may configure multiple sets of TRS resources (also referred to as multiple TRS resource sets) and multiple corresponding TCI statuses by using RRC signaling or similar. For example, the configuration information described above may include multiple sets of TRS resources and multiple TCI statuses, where the multiple TRS resources have the same time-domain location and different TCI statuses. The QCL relationship in each TCI status may indicate the SSB paired with the TRS. Referring to the example in Figure 13, the configuration information may show four TCI statuses and corresponding TRS resource sets, and the QCL relationship in one TCI status may indicate that the SSB paired with the TRS is SSB#0 to #3. Optionally, if user equipment 420 is within the beam coverage range of one of the SSBs from SSB#0 to #3 (e.g., SSB#2), the network device 410 may activate or indicate a TCI status including the SSB (e.g., SSB#2) based on MAC CE or DCI. Furthermore, the user device 420 may determine the QCL relationship in the activated or indicated TCI status based on MAC CE or DCI. For example, the QCL relationship indicates a pairing relationship between an SSB (e.g., SSB#2) and a previously configured TRS. Optionally, the previously configured TRS is a user-level TRS, i.e., the second reference signal described above, and the SSB (e.g., SSB#2) having a pairing relationship with the user-level TRS is the first reference signal described above.

[0128] Optionally, the network device 410 may configure only one set of TRS resources (also referred to as a single TRS resource set) by using RRC signaling or similar without establishing an association with the TCI status. Optionally, the network device 410 may determine a specific TRS, for example, a TRS beam direction having a signal parameter with a maximum value, i.e., the second reference signal described above, based on the location information of the user equipment 420. The network device 410 may then configure the specific TRS as a user-level TRS corresponding to the user equipment 420. Optionally, during RRM measurement or beam management, the user equipment 420 may determine an SSB having a signal parameter with a maximum value (for example, exceeding a preset threshold), i.e., the first reference signal described above.

[0129] As shown in Figure 14, the network device 410 may configure a time-domain position 1401 of a user-level TRS, and the network device 410 may further cause the user equipment 410 to determine an SSB paired with the configured user-level TRS based on an activated or instructed TCI status or similar. The user equipment 420 may then determine a time-frequency offset variation at opportunity 1410 based on the SSB and update the time-frequency offset variation at opportunity 1420 based on the TRS. For example, the network device 410 may configure a user-level TRS after SSBs #128 to #135. Correspondingly, the time interval between opportunities 1410 and 1420 does not exceed 340 ms.

[0130] For example, network device 410 may further reconfigure the time-domain position of a user-level TRS for user equipment 420. Optionally, if the time interval between the previously configured time-domain position of the TRS and the time-domain position of the paired SSB is less than a duration threshold (e.g., 320 ms or another value), network device 420 may reconfigure the time-domain position of the user-level TRS for user equipment 410. For example, the reconfigured time-domain position of the TRS may be transmitted to user equipment 420 by network device 410 based on other RRC signaling. Optionally, the time interval between the reconfigured time-domain position of the TRS and the paired SSB time-domain position exceeds a duration threshold (e.g., 320 ms or another value), and optionally, the time interval between the reconfigured time-domain position of the TRS and the paired SSB time-domain position is less than another duration threshold (e.g., 340 ms or another value), where the other duration threshold is greater than the duration threshold.

[0131] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the user device 420 may further determine the time-frequency offset value based on the location information of the network device 410 and the location information of the user device 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on a first reference signal or a second reference signal. For a detailed description of the first and second portions, please refer to the embodiments described above. To avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0132] In addition, or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further perform time-frequency offset compensation on another reference signal and / or other data based on the determined offset variation, where the other reference signal and / or other data may include, but is not limited to, signals or data received via DMRS, PDCCH or PDSCH, and similar.

[0133] In the implementation described above, the network device may configure a user-level TRS for the user equipment, and as a result, the user-level TRS may be paired with one or more potential SSBs under test. For example, such pairing relationships may be indicated based on QCL relationships. In addition, the time interval between one or more paired potential SSBs under test and the user-level TRS is smaller than the second transmission cycle, and as a result, the number of opportunities for the user equipment to determine time-frequency offset variations within the second transmission cycle increases. In this way, the problem of excessively large resource overhead caused by performing time-frequency offset estimation simply based on the TRS, and the problem of low time-frequency offset tracking ability caused by performing time-frequency offset estimation simply based on location information, can be solved, and the performance degradation caused by inaccurate time-frequency offset estimation can be avoided.

[0134] In some implementations of embodiments of this disclosure, the first and second reference signals are of the same type and have adjacent beam coverage ranges. For ease of explanation, in the following embodiments, it is assumed that both the first and second reference signals are of the same type as a TRS. However, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the first and second reference signals may be of other types.

[0135] In some embodiments, the network device 410 may configure cell-level TRSs and transmit two TRSs having adjacent beam coverage ranges at intervals based on a time-domain delay. For example, the network device 410 may determine a pattern for transmitting the TRSs such that the interval between different TRSs having adjacent beam coverage ranges is smaller than a second transmission cycle. For example, the network device 410 may transmit a first TRS at a first time point and a second TRS after a time-domain delay, with the first and second TRS having adjacent beam coverage ranges. Correspondingly, the user device 420 may receive the first TRS at a first time point and determine the time-frequency offset variation. The user device 420 may then receive the second TRS after a time-domain delay at the first time point and re-determine the time-frequency offset variation. Since the time-domain delay is smaller than the TRS transmission cycle (i.e., the second transmission cycle), the user device 420 may have more opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset variation.

[0136] Generally, given that SSB beams are broad and have a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in a certain region at the beam center, it can be understood that sufficient accuracy of estimation can be guaranteed. However, there may be cases where the SNR is low in a certain region at the beam edge, and sufficient accuracy of estimation cannot be guaranteed, but SSB within the coverage range of an adjacent beam can be received. For SSB beams and TRS beams with the same received SNR, the accuracy of estimation may be higher for the TRS, so a user instrument may acquire multiple opportunities to determine time-frequency offset variations within a single TRS transmission cycle (i.e., a second transmission cycle) based on the TRS beam covering the user instrument and one or more TRS beams covering adjacent beam ranges.

[0137] Figure 15 shows Figure 1500, in which 16 TRSs are used as an example. It is assumed that the user equipment is located within the beam coverage range of TRS #1. For example, it may be determined that the TRSs within the adjacent coverage range 1510 include TRS #0, TRS #2, and TRS #4 through #6.

[0138] For example, a network device may configure the time-domain position of a TRS as shown in Figure 16. In the TRS transmission sequence 1600 shown in Figure 16, the interval between TRS#0 / 2 and TRS#1 is approximately 1 / 2 of the second transmission cycle, the interval between TRS#5 and TRS#1 is approximately 1 / 4 of the second transmission cycle, and the interval between TRS#4 / 6 and TRS#1 is approximately 1 / 4 of the second transmission cycle. In this way, the user equipment can obtain at least two opportunities within the second transmission cycle to determine the time-frequency offset variation.

[0139] In some embodiments, the network device 410 may configure multiple sets of TRS resources (also referred to as multiple TRS resource sets) and multiple corresponding TCI statuses by using RRC signaling or similar. For example, the configuration information described above may include multiple sets of TRS resources and multiple TCI statuses.

[0140] For example, if user equipment is located within the beam coverage range of a TRS (e.g., TRS#1 in Figure 15), the network device 410 may activate or indicate at least two TCI statuses corresponding to the TRS where the user equipment is located (e.g., TRS#1 in Figure 15) based on MAC CE or DCI. For example, the at least two TCI statuses activated or indicated may correspond to the TRS within the beam coverage range where the user equipment is located (e.g., TRS#1 in Figure 15), and TRS located within adjacent beam coverage ranges (e.g., TRS#0, TRS#2, and TRS#4 through #6).

[0141] For example, user device 420 may determine at least two measured TRSs based on at least two TCI statuses that are activated or instructed. Furthermore, user device 420 may determine time-domain resources for at least two TRSs based on configuration information and receive at least two TRSs on the corresponding time-domain resources.

[0142] Optionally, the user device 420 may separately determine the time-frequency offset variation based on each of at least two received TRSs. Optionally, the user device 420 may select a portion of the TRSs from at least two received TRSs and separately determine the time-frequency offset variation. For example, a portion of the TRSs whose SNR exceeds a preset SNR threshold may be selected; that is, the SNR of each of the selected portions of the TRSs exceeds a preset SNR threshold.

[0143] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the user device 420 may further determine the time-frequency offset value based on the location information of the network device 410 and the location information of the user device 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on a first reference signal or a second reference signal. For a detailed description of the first and second portions, please refer to the embodiments described above. To avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0144] Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating the steps for determining the offset variation 1700 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the configuration information may include location information of the network device 410, for example, location information included in ephemeris information. Optionally, the configuration information may include a set of TRS resources and a set of corresponding TCI statuses. Optionally, the network device 410 may activate at least two TCI statuses by sending a MAC CE to the user device 420 based on the TRS where the user device 420 is located.

[0145] In response to this, user device 420 may determine a first portion of the offset variation at position 1710 based on position information. User device 420 may determine a second portion of the offset variation at position 1720 based on a received TRS (where the SNR exceeds a preset SNR threshold). User device 420 may update the second portion of the offset variation at position 1730 based on another received TRS (where the SNR exceeds a preset SNR threshold).

[0146] In addition, optionally, the second portion of the offset variation is not updated at position 1725 because the SNR of the TRS received by the user device 420 at position 1725 between positions 1720 and 1730 is lower than a preset SNR threshold.

[0147] Refer to Figure 17. Within the second transmission cycle, there are at least two opportunities for the user equipment 420 to determine the second portion of the offset variation.

[0148] In addition, or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further perform time-frequency offset compensation on another reference signal and / or other data based on the determined offset variation, where the other reference signal and / or other data may include, but is not limited to, signals or data received via DMRS, PDCCH or PDSCH, and similar.

[0149] In the implementation described above, the network device may transmit different TRSs located within adjacent beam coverage ranges at different times based on the time-domain delay. Thus, the user equipment can obtain at least two opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset variation within the second transmission cycle without increasing the TRS resource overhead of the network device. Therefore, the user equipment can avoid a degradation in data transmission performance by updating the time-frequency offset variation in a more timely manner.

[0150] Furthermore, Figure 18 is a schematic flowchart of the interaction in the communication process 1800 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 18 relates to the network device 410 and user equipment 420 shown in Figure 4.

[0151] In 1810, the network device 410 transmits configuration information to the user device 420, where the configuration information may indicate a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal, and the time-domain delay between the first reference signal in the first type signal and the second reference signal in the second type signal having a pairing relationship is a fixed value. For example, the fixed value may be smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal (first transmission period). For example, the fixed value may be smaller than the transmission period of the second reference signal (second transmission period). Optionally, each reference signal in the first type signal has a first transmission period, and each reference signal in the second type signal has a second transmission period. Optionally, the first transmission period and the second transmission period may be equal or unequal. This is not limited to the present disclosure. For example, assuming that the configuration information indicates the existence of a pairing relationship between the first reference signal in the first type signal and the second reference signal in the second type signal, the time-domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal is a fixed value. For example, the first and second reference signals may have the same beam coverage range. For example, the configuration information may further indicate the time-domain position of each reference signal within the first type of signal. For example, the configuration information may further indicate the time-domain position of each reference signal within the second type of signal.

[0152] In step 1820, the network device 410 transmits a first reference signal to the user device 420. In step 1830, the user device 420 determines the offset variation between the user device 420 and the network device 410 based on the first reference signal. In step 1840, the user device 420 determines the time-domain position of a second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on configuration information.

[0153] At 1850, the network device 410 transmits a second reference signal to the user device 420; at 1860, the user device 420 receives the second reference signal based on its time-domain position. At 1870, the user device 420 updates the offset variation between the user device 420 and the network device 410 based on the second reference signal.

[0154] For example, the offset variation between the user equipment 420 and the network device 410 may include time offset variation and / or frequency offset variation. For example, the offset variation may be referred to as time-frequency offset variation, or simply as time-frequency offset variation.

[0155] In embodiments of this disclosure, the term “step of determining the offset variation” may be used interchangeably with any one of the following steps: a step of determining the time-frequency offset variation, a step of estimating the time-frequency offset variation, a step of tracking the time-frequency offset variation, a step of updating the time-frequency offset variation, a step of determining the time-frequency offset, a step of measuring the time-frequency offset, a step of tracking the time-frequency offset, a step of estimating the time-frequency offset, and a step of compensating for the time-frequency offset. This is not limited to the present disclosure.

[0156] In some embodiments, the first type of reference signal and the second type of reference signal are SSB and TRS, respectively, and may be, for example, a cell-level SSB beam and a cell-level TRS beam. For example, the network device 410 may determine a fixed value. For example, the fixed value may be equal to half of the first transmission period (or second transmission period), one-quarter of the first transmission period (or second transmission period), or another value.

[0157] For example, network device 410 may configure multiple sets of TRS resources (also referred to as multiple TRS resource sets) and multiple corresponding TCI statuses in a certain manner, for example, based on RRC signaling. For example, the configuration information described above may include multiple sets of TRS resources and multiple TCI statuses. For example, the QCL relationship in the TCI status may indicate a pairing relationship between SSB and TRS. For example, assuming that SSB#0 is paired with TRS#0, Table 2 below shows the configuration information associated with the pairing relationship. [Table 2] [Table 2]

[0158] Thus, after receiving the configuration information, the user device 420 may determine the pairing relationship between SSB#0 and TRS#0, and the QCL type is type C.

[0159] For example, the network device 410 may further transmit MAC CE or DCI to the user equipment 420 to activate or indicate the status of at least one TCI of multiple TCIs. Optionally, if the user equipment 420 is located within the beam coverage range of a particular SSB or TRS, the network device 410 may activate or indicate the status of at least one TCI associated with that particular SSB or TRS based on MAC CE or DCI.

[0160] For example, user device 420 may determine at least one activated or indicated TCI status based on MAC CE or DCI to determine the pairing relationship indicated by the QCL relationship in at least one TCI status. In one example, it is assumed that user device 420 determines that the activated or indicated pairing relationship is the pairing relationship between SSB#1 and TRS#1. In this example, user device 420 may determine the first time-domain position of SSB#1 and the second time-domain position of TRS#1 based on configuration information, and as a result, the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on SSB#1 received at the first time-domain position, and the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on TRS#1 received at the second time-domain position. The configuration information indicates that the time-domain delay (time interval) between two paired reference signals (e.g., SSB#1 and TRS#1) is a fixed value. Since this fixed value is smaller than the first transmission cycle (and / or second transmission cycle), there are more than one opportunities within the first transmission cycle (and / or second transmission cycle) for the user equipment to determine the time-frequency offset variation.

[0161] In some embodiments, if the beam coverage range in which the user device 420 is located changes due to the movement of the network device 410 or the user device 420, or for other reasons, the network device 410 may activate or indicate a different TCI status based on a different MAC CE or a different DCI. Since the time-domain delay between each paired first reference signal and each second reference signal in the configuration information is a fixed value, it can be seen that even if the SSB / TRS actually received by the user device 420 changes, the user device 420 can determine that the update period of the time-frequency offset variation remains essentially unchanged. Thus, the versatility of this solution can be ensured.

[0162] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the user device 420 may further determine the time-frequency offset value based on the location information of the network device 410 and the location information of the user device 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset variation is determined based on a first reference signal or a second reference signal. For a detailed description of the first and second portions, please refer to the embodiments described above. To avoid repetition, the details will not be described again here.

[0163] Figure 19 is a diagram illustrating the steps for determining the offset variation 1900 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the configuration information may include location information of the network device 410, for example, location information included in the ephemeris information. Optionally, the configuration information may include a plurality of sets of TRS resources and a plurality of corresponding TCI statuses. In addition, the time-domain delay between a first reference signal and a second reference signal, paired with each other and indicated by the QCL relationship in the TCI status, is a fixed value. Optionally, the network device 410 may activate or indicate at least one TCI status by transmitting a MAC CE or DCI to the user device 420 based on the SSB or TRS on which the user device 420 is located.

[0164] In response, user device 420 may determine a first portion of the offset variation based on location information at location 1910. User device 420 may determine a second portion of the offset variation based on the received SSB at location 1920. User device 420 may update the second portion of the offset variation at location 1930 based on the received TRS. Optionally, the first time-domain resource used by user device 420 to receive the SSB may be comprised of network device 410, and the second time-domain resource used by user device 420 to receive the TRS may be comprised of network device 410.

[0165] Please refer to Figure 19. Assuming that the fixed value is equal to half of the second transmission cycle, there are at least two opportunities within the second transmission cycle for the user equipment 420 to determine the second portion of the offset variation.

[0166] In addition, or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further perform time-frequency offset compensation on another reference signal and / or other data based on the determined offset variation, where the other reference signal and / or other data may include, but is not limited to, signals or data received via DMRS, PDCCH or PDSCH, and similar.

[0167] In the implementation described above, the network device may pair an SSB with a TRS, and the interval between the time-domain positions of the paired SSB and TRS is a fixed value, which is smaller than the first transmission cycle (and / or second transmission cycle). Thus, the network device can transmit the TRS and SSB at different times based on the fixed value. In this way, the user equipment can obtain at least two opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset variation within the second transmission cycle without increasing the TRS resource overhead of the network device. Therefore, the user equipment can avoid a degradation in data transmission performance by updating the time-frequency offset variation in a more timely manner.

[0168] The foregoing describes several implementations of embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will understand that several other implementations can be formed by modifications, combinations, or similar actions based on the above implementations, and that these implementations still fall within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, a network device may transmit different TRSs located within adjacent beam coverage ranges at specific time intervals at different times. Furthermore, the network device may determine the SSB transmission sequence based on the TRS transmission sequence. For example, there may be a specific time interval between SSBs and TRSs having the same coverage range. For example, SSBs and TRSs having the same coverage range may be paired with each other. For example, the SSB transmission sequence may be the same as the TRS transmission sequence.

[0169] Thus, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment can acquire multiple opportunities within the second transmission cycle to determine the time-frequency offset variation. In this way, the estimation and tracking of the time-frequency offset can be performed more accurately, and transmission performance can be guaranteed.

[0170] It should be further understood that the divisions of methods, examples, categories, and embodiments in the embodiments of this disclosure are intended solely for illustrative purposes and should not constitute any particular limitation. The features of methods, categories, examples, and embodiments can be combined with each other where logically.

[0171] It should be further understood that the foregoing is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this disclosure, but merely to help those skilled in the art to better understand the embodiments of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art may make various modifications, alterations, combinations or similar actions based on the foregoing. Modified, altered, or combined solutions are also included within the scope of the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0172] It should be further understood that the above explanation focuses on the differences between various embodiments. Parts that are the same or similar can be referenced to one another. For the sake of brevity, further details will not be explained here.

[0173] Figure 20 is a block diagram of a communication device 2000 according to several embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 2000 may be implemented as a user device 420 shown in Figure 4, or as part of the user device 420 (e.g., a chip), or similarly. This is not limited to the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 20, the device 2000 includes an offset variation determination module 2010, a time-domain position determination module 2020, and an offset variation update module 2030.

[0174] In some implementations of this disclosure, an offset variation determination module 2010 is configured to determine an offset variation between user equipment and network devices based on a received first reference signal, the offset variation including a time offset variation and / or a frequency offset variation. A time-domain position determination module 2020 is configured to determine the time-domain position of a second reference signal based on the time-domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, where the time-domain delay is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal. An offset variation update module 2030 is configured to update the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the time-domain position.

[0175] In some embodiments, the device 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of a second reference signal relative to a first reference signal.

[0176] In some embodiments, the device 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive updated configuration information from a network device, wherein the updated configuration information indicates an updated time-domain delay amount of a second reference signal relative to a first reference signal.

[0177] In some embodiments, the apparatus 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of a second signal group relative to a first signal group, the first and second signal groups have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes a first reference signal, and the second signal group includes a second reference signal.

[0178] For example, the configuration information may further indicate a signal measurement window, and the time-domain position determination module 2020 may be configured to determine, specifically, that for the time-domain position, the amount of time-domain delay after the reception time-domain position of the first reference signal is used as the starting point, and the signal measurement window is used as the time length.

[0179] In some examples, the device 2000 may further include a second reference signal determination module configured to detect at least one signal in a time-domain position and to determine a second reference signal from at least one signal based on the signal parameters of each of the at least one signal. Optionally, the second reference signal determination module is configured to determine the signal parameters of each of the at least one signal and to determine a signal whose signal parameters exceed a preset threshold as the second reference signal. Optionally, the signal parameters include at least one of signal intensity, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio.

[0180] In some embodiments, the offset variation determination module 2010 may be further configured to determine a first portion of the offset variation between the user device and the network device based on the location information of the network device and the location information of the user device, where the offset variation is a second portion of the offset variation.

[0181] For example, the first reference signal is SSB and the second reference signal is TRS.

[0182] For example, both the first and second reference signals are TRS, and the first and second reference signals have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

[0183] In some other implementations of this disclosure, an offset variation determination module 2010 is configured to determine an offset variation between user equipment and network devices based on a received first reference signal, the offset variation including a time offset variation and / or a frequency offset variation. A time-domain position determination module 2020 is configured to determine the time-domain position of a second reference signal paired with a first reference signal based on a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal, where the time-domain delay between the first reference signal in the first type signal and the second reference signal in the second type signal having a pairing relationship is a fixed value, and this fixed value is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal. An offset variation update module 2030 is configured to update the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the time-domain position.

[0184] For example, the device 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive configuration information from a network device, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first type of signal and a second type of signal.

[0185] In some examples, the time-domain positioning model 2020 may be configured to determine the time-domain position of a second reference signal paired with a first reference signal, based on configuration information and a received first reference signal.

[0186] Optionally, the first and second reference signals have the same beam coverage range. Optionally, the first type of signal is SSB and the second type of signal is TRS.

[0187] The apparatus 2000 in Figure 20 may be configured to implement the processes of the user equipment 420 in Figures 4 through 19. For brevity, further details will not be described here.

[0188] Figure 21 is a block diagram of a communication device 2100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 2100 may be implemented as a network device 410 shown in Figure 4, or as part of a network device 410 (e.g., a chip). This is not limited to the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 21, the device 2100 includes a transmitting module 2110 and a processing module 2120.

[0189] In some implementations of this disclosure, the transmitting module 2110 is configured to transmit a first reference signal to user equipment. The processing module 2120 is configured to determine the time-domain position of the second reference signal based on the time-domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, where the time-domain delay is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal. The transmitting module 2110 is further configured to transmit the second reference signal to user equipment at the time-domain position.

[0190] In some embodiments, the transmitting module 2110 is further configured to transmit configuration information to user equipment, where the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0191] In some embodiments, the transmitting module 2110 is further configured to transmit updated configuration information to user equipment, where the updated configuration information indicates the updated time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0192] In some embodiments, the transmitting module 2110 may be further configured to transmit configuration information to user equipment, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of a second signal group relative to a first signal group, the first and second signal groups have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes a first reference signal, and the second signal group includes a second reference signal.

[0193] For example, the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, which represents the time length of a time-domain position.

[0194] Optionally, the first reference signal is SSB and the second reference signal is TRS.

[0195] Optionally, both the first and second reference signals are TRS, and the first and second reference signals have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

[0196] In some other implementations of this disclosure, the transmitting module 2110 is configured to transmit configuration information to a user device, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal, and the time-domain delay between a first reference signal in the first type signal and a second reference signal in the second type signal having a pairing relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal. The transmitting module 2110 is further configured to transmit a first reference signal to the user device. The transmitting module 2110 is further configured to transmit a second reference signal to the user device.

[0197] In some embodiments, the time-domain delay between the third reference signal in the first type of signal and the fourth reference signal in the second type of signal, which have a pairing relationship, is also a fixed value.

[0198] Optionally, the first and second reference signals have the same beam coverage range. Optionally, the first type of signal is SSB and the second type of signal is TRS.

[0199] The division into modules or units in the embodiments of this disclosure are examples and merely logical functional divisions; other divisions may be used in actual implementations. In addition, the functional units in the disclosed embodiments may be integrated into a single unit, or each of these units may exist physically independently, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in hardware form or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0200] Figure 22 is a block diagram of an example of a device 2200 that may be used to implement one embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 2200 may be implemented as a network device 410 in Figure 4, or may be included in the network device 410, or may be implemented as a user device 420 in Figure 4, or may be included in the user device 420.

[0201] As shown in Figure 22, the device 2200 includes one or more processors 2210, one or more memories 2220 coupled to the processors 2210, and a communication module 2240 coupled to the processors 2210.

[0202] The communication module 2240 may be configured for bidirectional communication. The communication module 2240 may have at least one communication interface for communication. The communication interface may include any interface necessary for communication with another device.

[0203] The processor 2210 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), or a controller-based multicore controller architecture. The device 2200 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips, which belong in terms of time to a clock synchronized with the primary processor.

[0204] Memory 2220 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, at least one of read-only memory (ROM) 2224, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), or other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 2222, or at least one of other volatile memories that do not persist over the power-off duration.

[0205] The computer program 2230 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 2210. The program 2230 may be stored in ROM 2224. The processor 2210 can perform any suitable actions and processes by loading the program 2230 into RAM 2222.

[0206] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using program 2230, thereby enabling device 2200 to perform any of the processes discussed with reference to Figures 4 to 19. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware.

[0207] Program 2230 may be contained in tangible form on a computer-readable medium, which may be contained in device 2200 (e.g., memory 2220) or in another storage device accessible by device 2200. Program 2230 may be loaded from the computer-readable medium into RAM 2222 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, or DVD.

[0208] In some embodiments, the communication module 2240 within device 2200 may be implemented as a transmitter and receiver (or transceiver) and may be configured to transmit / receive multiple TCIs, at least one message, capability information, and the like. In addition, device 2200 may further include one or more of a scheduler, a controller, and radio frequencies / antennas. Further details are not described in this disclosure.

[0209] For example, device 2200 in Figure 22 may be implemented as an electronic device, or as a chip or chip system within an electronic device. This is not limited to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0210] One embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a chip, which may include an input interface, an output interface, and processing circuitry. In embodiments of the present disclosure, the input interface and the output interface may complete signaling or data interaction, and the processing circuitry may complete signaling or generation and processing of data information.

[0211] One embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a chip system including a processor configured to support a computing device in implementing the functionality of any one of the embodiments described above. In a possible design, the chip system may further include memory configured to store the necessary program instructions and data. When the processor executes a program instruction, the device on which the chip system is installed is made to implement the method of any one of the embodiments described above. For example, the chip system may include one or more chips, or a chip and another discrete device.

[0212] One embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a processor configured to be coupled to memory, which stores instructions, and when the processor executes an instruction, the processor is made to perform the methods and functions of any one of the embodiments described above.

[0213] One embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer program or computer program product including instructions. When the computer program or computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer is made to perform the methods and functions of any one of the embodiments described above.

[0214] One embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores computer instructions. When a processor executes an instruction, the processor is made to perform the method and function of any one of the embodiments described above.

[0215] Typically, various embodiments of the present application can be implemented using hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, others in firmware or software, and still others may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various embodiments of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or some other figures, it should be understood that any blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented, for example, in non-limiting examples, as hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware, controllers, other computing devices, or a combination thereof.

[0216] This disclosure further provides at least one computer program product stored in tangible form on a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, for example, instructions contained in a program module. These instructions are executed on a device on a real or virtual target processor, and the processes / methods described above with reference to the accompanying drawings are performed. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or similar that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. In various embodiments, the functionality of program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as needed. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed locally or within a distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located locally or within a remote storage medium.

[0217] Computer program code for implementing the methods described herein may be written in one or more programming languages. The computer program code may be provided for a processor of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or another programmable data processing device, and as a result, when the program code is executed by the computer or another programmable data processing device, the functions / operations specified in the flowchart and / or block diagrams are implemented. The program code may be executed in the following ways: all of the program code is executed on a computer; some of the program code is executed on a computer; the program code is executed as a standalone software package; some of the program code is executed on a computer and some of the program code is executed on a remote computer; or all of the program code is executed on a remote computer or server.

[0218] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried on any suitable carrier, as a result a device, apparatus or processor can perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media and the like. Examples of signals may include electrical signals, optical signals, radio signals, audio signals, or signals propagated in other forms, such as carrier waves and infrared signals.

[0219] Computer-readable media may be any tangible medium that contains or stores programs used for or associated with instruction execution systems, apparatus, or devices. Computer-readable media may be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of computer-readable storage media include electrical connections to one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0220] In addition, although the operation of the method in this disclosure is described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in a specific order, or that all of the operations shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. On the contrary, the order in which the steps described in the flowchart are performed may vary. Additionally or alternatively, some steps may be omitted, several steps may be combined into one step for execution, and / or one step may be broken down into multiple steps for execution. It should be further noted that the features and functions of two or more devices described in this disclosure may be specific to one device. Instead, the features and functions of one device described above may be further divided into specific features and functions of multiple devices.

[0221] The foregoing describes various implementations of this disclosure. The foregoing description is illustrative, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed implementations. Many modifications and changes will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and intent of the described implementations. The choice of terms used herein is intended to adequately describe the principles of the implementations, their practical applications, or improvements to the technology in the market, or to enable another person skilled in the art to understand the implementations disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for synchronization, A step of determining the offset variation between user equipment and network devices based on a received first reference signal, wherein the offset variation includes time offset variation and / or frequency offset variation; A step of determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal based on the time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal with respect to the first reference signal, wherein the time-domain delay amount is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal; and A step of updating the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the aforementioned time domain position. A method that includes [something].

2. In the step of receiving configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. In the step of receiving updated configuration information from the network device, the updated configuration information indicates the updated time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

4. The step of receiving configuration information from the network device, wherein the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes the first reference signal, and the second signal group includes the second reference signal. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

5. The configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, and the step of determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal is as follows: The step of determining that the time-domain delay amount after the reception time-domain position of the first reference signal is used as the starting point for the time-domain position, and that the signal measurement window is used as the time length. Having The method according to claim 4.

6. A step of detecting at least one signal within the time domain location; and A step of determining the second reference signal from the at least one signal based on the signal parameters of each of the at least one signals. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

7. The step of determining the second reference signal from the at least one signal is: A step of determining the signal parameters of each of the at least one of the signals; and Steps to determine a signal whose signal parameters exceed a preset threshold as the second reference signal. Having The method according to claim 6.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the signal parameter includes at least one of signal strength, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio.

9. A step of determining a first portion of the offset variation between the user device and the network device based on the location information of the network device and the location information of the user device, wherein the offset variation is the second portion of the offset variation. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first reference signal is a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second reference signal is a tracking reference signal TRS.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein both the first reference signal and the second reference signal are TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

12. A method for synchronization, The stage of transmitting the first reference signal to the user equipment; A step of determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal based on the time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal with respect to the first reference signal, wherein the time-domain delay amount is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal; and The step of transmitting the second reference signal to the user device at the aforementioned time domain position. A method that includes [something].

13. In the step of transmitting configuration information to the user device, the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

14. In the step of transmitting updated configuration information to the user device, the updated configuration information indicates the updated time-domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

15. In the step of transmitting configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information indicates the time-domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes the first reference signal, and the second signal group includes the second reference signal. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, and the signal measurement window represents the time length of the time domain position.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the first reference signal is a synchronization signal block SSB and the second reference signal is a tracking reference signal TRS.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein both the first reference signal and the second reference signal are TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

19. A method for synchronization, A step of determining the offset variation between user equipment and network devices based on a received first reference signal, wherein the offset variation includes time offset variation and / or frequency offset variation; A step of determining the time-domain position of a second reference signal paired with a first reference signal based on a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal, wherein the time-domain delay between the first reference signal in the first type signal and the second reference signal in the second type signal having a pairing relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal; and Steps to update the offset variation based on the second reference signal detected at the aforementioned time-domain position. A method that includes [something].

20. In the step of receiving configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicates the pairing relationship between the first type signal and the second type signal. The method according to claim 19, further comprising:

21. The step of determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal is: A step of determining the time-domain position of the second reference signal paired with the first reference signal, based on the configuration information and the received first reference signal. Having The method according to claim 20.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage range.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein the first type of signal is a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second type of signal is a tracking reference signal TRS.

24. A method for synchronization, In the step of transmitting configuration information to the user device, the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first type signal and a second type signal, and the time-domain delay between the first reference signal in the first type signal and the second reference signal in the second type signal, which have a pairing relationship, is a fixed value, and this fixed value is smaller than the transmission period of the first reference signal; The step of transmitting the first reference signal to the user equipment; and Steps to transmit the second reference signal to the user equipment. A method that includes [something].

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the time-domain delay amount between the third reference signal in the first type of signal and the fourth reference signal in the second type of signal having a pairing relationship is also a fixed value.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage range.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the first type of signal is a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second type of signal is a tracking reference signal TRS.

28. A communication device for synchronization, A component configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 19 to 23. A communication device equipped with the following features.

29. A communication device for synchronization, A component configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 12 to 18 or any one of claims 24 to 27. A communication device equipped with the following features.

30. At least one memory; and At least one processor coupled to the aforementioned at least one memory User equipment equipped with, The at least one processor is configured to execute program instructions stored in the at least one memory and to cause the user device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 19 to 23. User equipment.

31. At least one memory; and At least one processor coupled to the aforementioned at least one memory A network device equipped with, The at least one processor is configured to execute program instructions stored in the at least one memory and to cause the network device to execute the method according to any one of claims 12 to 18 or any one of claims 24 to 27. Network device.

32. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27 is implemented.

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