Method and apparatus for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring

Abstract

A method and apparatus for skipping PDCCH monitoring are provided, for instructing a terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring by using downlink control information. After a network device transmits a DCI including PDCCH skip indication information to a terminal device, the terminal device determines not to monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval based on the PDCCH skip indication information. In this way, the DCI is used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring, and specific signaling used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring is clarified, thereby saving energy for the terminal device.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010075343.X, entitled "METHOD FOR INDICATING TO SKIP PDCCH MONITORING AND APPARATUS," filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on January 22, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.

[0002] [Technical field] The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for instructing to skip physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring. [Background technology]

[0003] Currently, research into power saving of terminal devices is becoming increasingly common. In the process of research and discussion, the concept of PDCCH skipping has been proposed to save the energy of terminal devices, so that the terminal devices do not need to monitor the PDCCH within a certain period. However, the above method of indicating PDCCH skipping has not been discussed at present. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a method and apparatus for skipping PDCCH monitoring, for instructing a terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring by using downlink control information (DCI).

[0005] According to a first aspect, this application provides a method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring. The method includes: a network device generates downlink control information (DCI) and transmits the DCI to a terminal device, where a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, which instructs the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval; and the terminal device determines not to monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval based on the PDCCH skip indication information.

[0006] According to the above method, the DCI is used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring, and the specific signaling used to instruct to skip PDCCH monitoring is clarified, thereby saving energy of the terminal device.

[0007] In a possible design, the specific field in the DCI includes at least one of a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI and a field other than a first type field. The first type field is a defined field indicating dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the first type field includes at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for transport block (TB) 1, a new data indicator (NDI) for TB1, a redundancy version (RV) for TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number (HPN), an antenna port, or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

[0008] According to the above method, one DCI may be used to simultaneously indicate the dormant behavior and PDCCH monitoring skip of the terminal device, thereby indicating PDCCH monitoring skip while reducing signaling overhead.

[0009] In a possible design, the specific fields in the DCI may include the following fields: transmit power control (TPC) command, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator, sounding reference signal (SRS) request, time domain resource allocation (TDRA), carrier indicator field (CIF), bandwidth part (BWP) indicator, virtual resource block (VRB)-physical resource block (PRB) mapping, PRB bundling size indicator, rate matching indicator, zero power channel state information-reference signal (ZP CSI-RS) trigger, MCS, NDI and / or RV for TB2, downlink assignment index (DAI), physical downlink shared channel (PCH) mapping, and downlink assignment index (DAI). PDSCH-HARQ feedback timing indicator, Transmission configuration indicator orThe DCI includes at least one of a code block group transmission information (TCI), a code block group transmission information (CBGTI), or a code block group flushing out information (CBGFI). In this way, the DCI may be used to indicate skipping of PDCCH monitoring.

[0010] In a possible design, the DCI further includes a flag bit. When the flag bit has a first value, a specific field in the DCI indicates PDCCH skip indication information. The flag bit is located in a field other than the FDRA field in the DCI. The specific field includes at least one of a first type field in the DCI, which includes at least one of the following fields: MCS of TB1, NDI of TB1, RV of TB1, HPN, antenna port, or DMRS sequence initialization, or the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0011] According to the above method, the flag bit may be used to indicate that the DCI instructs not to monitor the PDCCH, and the requirement when the PDCCH skip indication information requires a relatively large number of bits may be further met.

[0012] In a possible design, carrier aggregation CA is not configured for the terminal device. The specific field includes at least one of a first type field in the DCI, and the first type field includes at least one of the following fields: MCS of TB1, NDI of TB1, RV of TB1, HPN, antenna port, or DMRS sequence initialization, or the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0013] According to the above method, the DCI may be used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring, and the requirement when the PDCCH skip indication information requires a relatively large number of bits may be further met.

[0014] In a possible design, the specific field includes an idle field within a first type field. The first type field is a defined field indicating dormant behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the non-idle field within the first type field includes indication information indicating dormant behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. The first type field includes at least one of the following fields: MCS of TB1, NDI of TB1, RV of TB1, HPN, antenna port, or DMRS sequence initialization.

[0015] According to the above method, the redundant bits of the dormancy behavior indication may be fully used at the same time, and the same DCI may be used to indicate the dormancy behavior and the PDCCH skip indication information at the same time.

[0016] In a possible design, the PDCCH skip indication information includes at least one of the following information: a first time interval in which the PDCCH is skipped, frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, formats of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, or search spaces of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored. In this way, when the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval based on the PDCCH skip indication information, the terminal device better knows how to skip the PDCCH.

[0017] In a possible design, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0018] In a possible design, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs not to be monitored includes a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the PDCCH skip indication information includes a plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored. The plurality of bits includes a first bit and a second bit, where the first bit indicates a first cell or a first group of cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicates a second cell or a second group of cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored. In this way, some or all PDCCHs may not be monitored in the primary cell and the secondary cell.

[0019] In a possible design, a frequency domain resource allocation FDRA field in the DCI is preset to a specific value. The specific value is a first value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, or a second value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1. In this manner, the FDRA field may be used to identify which specific function the DCI is signaling.

[0020] In a possible design, the first value is all zeros and the second value is all ones.

[0021] According to a second aspect, the present application further provides an apparatus. The apparatus may be a first device, and the first device may be a terminal device. The apparatus has functions for implementing the terminal device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. The functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions.

[0022] In a possible design, the structure of the device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit, which may perform corresponding functions of the terminal device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. For details, please refer to the detailed description in the method example. The details will not be described again here.

[0023] In a possible design, the structure of the apparatus includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally further includes a memory. The transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data and to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system. The processor is configured to support the apparatus in performing corresponding functions of the first aspect or a terminal device in each possible design example of the first aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor and stores program instructions and data required for the apparatus.

[0024] According to a third aspect, the present application further provides an apparatus. The apparatus may be a second device, and the second device may be a network device. The apparatus has a function of implementing the network device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. The function may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above function.

[0025] In a possible design, the structure of the device includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, which may perform corresponding functions of the network device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. For details, please refer to the detailed description in the method example. The details will not be described again here.

[0026] In a possible design, the structure of the device includes a transceiver and a processor, and optionally further includes a memory. The transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data and to communicate and interact with other devices in the communication system. The processor is configured to support the device in performing corresponding functions of the network device in the first aspect or each possible design example of the first aspect. The memory is coupled to the processor and stores program instructions and data required for the device.

[0027] According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system that may include the above terminal device and network device.

[0028] According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores program instructions that, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application and any possible design of the first aspect. For example, the computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. This is used as an example, but is not limited to, the following. The computer-readable medium may include non-transitory computer-readable media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be configured to carry or store program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0029] According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to implement the method in any of the above aspects.

[0030] According to a seventh aspect, the application further provides a chip, coupled to a memory and configured to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the methods described above. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0031] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to the present application; [Figure 2] 1 is a flowchart of a method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring according to the present application. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of one type of DCI according to this application. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 6] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 8] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 9] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic diagram of another type of DCI according to the present application. [Figure 11] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device according to this application; [Figure 12] 1 is a diagram of the structure of the device according to this application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] The application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0033] This application provides a method and an apparatus for skipping PDCCH monitoring, for instructing a terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring by using downlink control information (DCI). The method and the apparatus in this application are based on the same inventive concept. Since the method and the apparatus have similar problem-solving principles, the implementation manner of the apparatus and the implementation manner of the method will refer to each other. The repeated parts will not be described.

[0034] In the description of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely for purposes of distinction and explanation and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or ordering.

[0035] In the description of this application, "at least one (type)" refers to one or more (types) and "plurality (types)" refers to two or more (types).

[0036] In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the methods and apparatuses for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in the embodiments of this application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0037] 1 shows a possible architecture of a communication system to which the method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in the embodiment of this application is applicable. The architecture of the communication system includes a network device and a terminal device.

[0038] The network device is a device having radio reception / transmission capabilities or a chip that can be disposed in the network device, including, but not limited to, a gNB, a radio network controller (RNC), a NodeB (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB or home NodeB (HNB)), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP), a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, or a transmission and reception point (TRP or transmission point (TP)) in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, or may be a network node forming a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU).

[0039] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may further include a radio unit (RU). The CU implements some functions of the gNB, and the DU implements some functions of the gNB. For example, the CU implements functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and the DU implements functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. Information in the RRC layer may ultimately become information in the PHY layer or may be converted from information in the PHY layer. Therefore, in this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling or PDCP layer signaling, may also be considered as being transmitted by the DU, or as being transmitted by the DU and the RU. It may be understood that a network device may be a CU node, a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. Furthermore, the CU may be classified as a network device in the access network RAN, or the CU may be classified as a network device in the core network CN. This is not limited thereto.

[0040] A terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, user equipment, etc. The terminal device in the embodiments of this application may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless reception / transmission capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, etc. The application scenario is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In this application, a terminal device with wireless reception / transmission capabilities and a chip that can be disposed in the terminal device are collectively referred to as a terminal device.

[0041] It should be noted that the communication system shown in Figure 1 may be, but is not limited to, a 5th Generation (5G) system, such as a new radio access technology (NR). Optionally, the methods in the embodiments of this application are further applicable to various future communication systems, such as a 6G system or other communication networks.

[0042] Currently, carrier aggregation (CA) has been introduced into the standard. Multiple component carriers (CCs) may be configured for one terminal device. One of the CCs corresponds to a primary cell (PCell), which is the cell where the terminal device performs initial connection establishment, the cell where the terminal device performs radio resource control (RRC) connection re-establishment, or the primary cell designated in a handover process. The PCell is responsible for RRC communication with the terminal device. Physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) information can only be transmitted on the PCell. The remaining CCs correspond to secondary cells (SCells).

[0043] When CA is configured for a terminal device, the network device may instruct, on the PCell, whether the terminal device performs dormancy behavior on an SCell. If the network device instructs the terminal device to perform dormancy behavior, the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH on the corresponding SCell. Specifically, the dormancy behavior may be indicated by using downlink control information (DCI). During the indication, a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in DCI format 1_1 is preset to a specific value (when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, the specific value is a first value, or when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1, the specific value is a second value). Specifically, the dormancy behavior may be indicated by using at least one of the following fields in the DCI: modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of transport block (TB) 1, new data indicator (NDI) of TB1, redundancy version (RV) of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number (HPN), antenna port, or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization. The above fields may have at least 15 bits and may indicate dormancy behaviors of up to 15 SCells correspondingly. For example, bit "0" may indicate that the terminal device performs dormancy behavior on the corresponding SCell, and "1" may indicate that the terminal device performs non-dormancy behavior on the corresponding SCell.

[0044] For example, the first value may be all 0s. Specifically, when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, the DCI exhibits dormancy behavior only when the FDRA field is all 0s, or the DCI indicates data scheduling when the FDRA field is not all 0s. The second value may be all 1s. Similarly, when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1, the DCI exhibits dormancy behavior only when the FDRA field is all 1s, or the DCI indicates data scheduling when the FDRA field is not all 1s. It should be noted that in a specific implementation, the first value may be defined as another value, and the second value may be defined as another value, which is not limited in this application.

[0045] Specifically, dormant behavior means that a dormant (bandwidth part, BWP) is configured in the SCell of the terminal device, and the terminal device hands over between the dormant BWP and the non-dormant BWP in the SCell.

[0046] Power saving of a terminal device may be realized based on an indication of dormant behavior. Currently, in the process of studying and discussing power saving of a terminal device, the concept of PDCCH skipping has been proposed, which intends for a network device to send signaling to indicate that the terminal device may not need to monitor the PDCCH within a certain period (e.g., several slots, several subframes, several milliseconds, or several PDCCH monitoring occasions). However, the specific signaling used for the indication has not been determined in current standards or protocols. Therefore, this concept is not supported and cannot be realized. Based on this, this application proposes a method for instructing a terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring by using downlink control information (DCI) to clarify the specific signaling used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring, thereby saving energy of the terminal device.

[0047] The dormant state specifically means that the terminal device maintains dormancy when the dormancy is instructed, that is, the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH until the terminal device receives a PDCCH monitoring instruction. However, the PDCCH skip in the embodiment of this application means that the PDCCH is not monitored within a certain period, and the PDCCH starts to be monitored automatically when the certain period ends.

[0048] Specifically, when the network device predicts that it will not schedule the terminal device within a later period, for example, when the current cache of the network device does not have data to be transmitted by the terminal device and the network device decides to schedule only other terminal devices and not the terminal device within a later period, the network device may send a corresponding PDCCH skip indication to the terminal device.

[0049] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the first device may skip the PDCCH, and the second device may instruct the first device to skip the PDCCH. Specifically, the first device may be a terminal device, a processor, a chip or chip system, a functional module, etc. in the terminal device. The second device may be a network device, a processor, a chip or chip system, a functional module, etc. in the network device. In the following embodiments, the method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in this application will be described in detail by only using an example in which the first device is a terminal device and the second device is a network device. However, this application is not limited thereto.

[0050] The method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in the embodiment of this application is applicable to the communication system shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 2, the specific procedure of the method may include the following steps:

[0051] Step 201: A network device generates a DCI, where a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, where the PDCCH skip indication information instructs a terminal device not to monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval.

[0052] Specifically, when the DCI is configured to have a function of instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring, the FDRA field in the DCI is preset to a specific value. When the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, the specific value is a first value, or when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1, the specific value is a second value. In one example, the first value may be all 0s, and the second value may be all 1s. It should be noted that in a specific implementation, the first value may be defined as another value, and the second value may be defined as another value, which is not limited in this application.

[0053] For example, when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, each bit of the FDRA field in the DCI indicates whether each resource block group (RBG) is used to transmit scheduled data in a one-to-one correspondence manner using a bitmap. When the bit value is '1', this indicates that the corresponding RBG is used for data transmission, or when the value is '0', this indicates that the corresponding RBG is not used for data transmission. Therefore, when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0 and the FDRA field is all 0, the DCI does not schedule a frequency domain resource, and therefore, it cannot be used for data scheduling.

[0054] When the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1, the FDRA field in the DCI indicates a resource indication value (RIV), which indicates the starting position and length of the RB used for data transmission through coding. start is the starting position of RB, and L RBs When RIV is the length of the RB (ie, the number of RBs), the value of RIV may be calculated by using the following formula: If

number

[0055] Based on this formula, when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1 and the FDRA field is all 1s, the DCI does not schedule the frequency domain resource, and therefore it cannot be used for data scheduling.

[0056] In conclusion, when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, the FDRA field is all 0s, or when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1, the FDRA field is all 1s. In both cases, no data can be scheduled for transmission. In this case, the DCI may be used to indicate other information in special cases.

[0057] The fields included in the currently used DCI may be those shown in FIG. 3, and include an FDRA field, a first type field, and the following fields: a transmit power control (TPC) command, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator, a sounding reference signal (SRS) request, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA), a carrier indicator field (CIF), a BWP indicator, a virtual resource block (VRB)-physical resource block (PRB) mapping, a PRB bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information-reference signal (ZP CSI-RS) trigger, an MCS for TB2, an NDI for TB2, an RV for TB2, a downlink assignment index (DAI), a physical downlink shared channel (PDC), a downlink assignment index (DAI), a downlink allocation ...DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (DAI), a downlink allocation index (D PDSCH-HARQ feedback timing indicator, Transmission configuration indicator or, TCI), code block group transmission information (CBGTI) or code block group flushing out information (CBGFI). The first type field includes at least one of the following fields: MCS of TB1, NDI of TB1, RV of TB1, HPN, antenna port or DMRS sequence initialization.

[0058] In a specific implementation process, a specific field in the DCI may be implemented by using at least the following four methods:

[0059] Method 1: The specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than the FDRA field and the first type field in the DCI. In Method 1, the first type field multiplexes the meaning of existing instructions, and specifically, the first type field is a defined field that indicates the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. For the fields included in the first type field, refer to the description of the DCI above. Details will not be described again here.

[0060] Specifically, the specific fields in the DCI in Method 1 may include at least one of the following fields: TPC command, PUCCH resource indicator, SRS request, TDRA, CIF, BWP indicator, VRB-PRB mapping, PRB bundling size indicator, rate matching indicator, ZP CSI-RS trigger, MCS of TB2, NDI of TB2, RV of TB2, DAI, PDSCH-HARQ feedback timing indicator, TCI, CBGTI, or CBGFI.

[0061] For example, when Method 1 is used in the implementation, an example of DCI may be as shown in FIG.

[0062] In method 1, one DCI may be used to simultaneously indicate the dormant behavior and PDCCH monitoring skip of the terminal device, thereby indicating PDCCH monitoring skip while reducing signaling overhead.

[0063] Method 2: A flag bit is defined in a field other than the FDRA field in the DCI. When the flag bit has a different value, the DCI may have a different indication function. Specifically, when the value of the flag bit is a first value, the first value indicates that the DCI is signaling indicating PDCCH skip indication information, that is, signaling instructing a terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval by using the PDCCH skip indication information. In this case, the specific field may have the following two modes:

[0064] Scheme 1: The specific field includes at least one of the first type fields in the DCI. For the fields included in the first type field, refer to the description of the first type field in the DCI above. The fields are not listed one by one here. For example, when Scheme 1 is used, an example of the DCI may be that shown in FIG. 5.

[0065] Scheme 2: The specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI. For example, when including at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI, the specific field may include a first type field such as the MCS of TB1, the NDI of TB1, the RV of TB1, the HPN, the antenna port, and the DMRS sequence initialization, and at least one of the following fields: a TPC command, a PUCCH resource indicator, an SRS request, a TDRA, a CIF, a BWP indicator, a VRB-PRB mapping, a PRB bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a ZP CSI-RS trigger, the MCS of TB2, the NDI and RV, the DAI, the PDSCH-HARQ feedback timing indicator, the TCI, the CBGTI, or the CBGFI. For example, when Scheme 2 is used, an example of the DCI may be that shown in FIG. 6.

[0066] In this method, when the flag bit has a second value, the second value may indicate that the DCI is signaling instructing the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. In this case, the first type field in the DCI multiplexes the meaning of the instruction in the prior art, specifically, the first type field is a defined field instructing the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. For example, Figure 7 shows an example of a DCI when the flag bit has the second value.

[0067] For example, the first value may be 1 and the second value may be 0. Obviously, the first value may be 0 and the second value may be 1. It should be understood that the first value and the second value may be other values, respectively, which is not limited in this application.

[0068] It should be noted that in Method 2, the flag bit may be preferentially located at the last bit in the DCI, so that the flag bit can be easily and simply implemented and is not affected by other previous bits.

[0069] It should be noted that the bit length of each field in a specific field in Method 1 is determined based on the configuration parameters on the network device side. The length of most fields may be 0, i.e., the field may not be present in the DCI, or the field may be present optionally. The field lengths are specifically as follows: TPC command (2 bits), PUCCH resource indicator (3 bits), SRS request (2 or 3 bits), TDRA (0 to 4 bits), CIF (0 or 3 bits), BWP indicator (0 to 2 bits), VRB-PRB mapping (0 or 1 bit), PRB bundling size indicator (0 or 1 bit), rate matching indicator (0 to 2 bits), ZP CSI-RS trigger (0 to 2 bits), MCS, NDI and RV of TB2 (8 bits), DAI (0, 2 or 4 bits), PDSCH-HARQ feedback timing indicator (0 to 3 bits), TCI (0 or 3 bits), CBGTI (0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 bits), and CBGFI (0 or 1 bit). Some fields may be unavailable (e.g., when dormancy behavior is indicated, in some cases the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator and TPC commands need to indicate their original meaning and cannot be reused). When the PDCCH skip indication information requires a relatively large number of bits, in extreme cases (e.g., when the lengths of many fields in the DCI are all 0 due to the configuration of the network device), the number of available bits that can be provided in Method 1 may be insufficient. However, in this case, Method 2 can fully meet the requirements when the PDCCH skip indication information requires a relatively large number of bits.

[0070] In other words, the number of remaining bits in the DCI is relatively small except for the first type field, and the number of available bits in Method 1 is relatively small. However, Method 2 may have more available bits than Method 1 and is easier to implement.

[0071] Method 3: The CA is not configured for the terminal device, and the specific field may have the following two ways:

[0072] Scheme 1: The specific field may include at least one of the first type fields in the DCI. For the fields included in the first type field, refer to the description of the first type field in the DCI above. The fields are not listed one by one here. For example, when Scheme 1 is used, an example of the DCI may be that shown in FIG. 8.

[0073] Method 2: The specific field may include at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0074] Specifically, when the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI, refer to the relevant description in Method 2 of Method 2. The fields are not listed one by one here. For example, when Method 2 is used, an example of the DCI may be that shown in FIG. 9.

[0075] In this method, CA is not configured for the terminal device, i.e., the secondary cell is not configured for the terminal device. In other words, the terminal device is not instructed to perform dormancy behavior in the secondary cell. Therefore, the first type field may be directly used to indicate PDCCH skip indication information.

[0076] Method 4: The specific field may include an idle field in a first type field. The first type field is a defined field that indicates the dormant behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the non-idle field in the first type field includes instruction information that indicates the dormant behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. For the fields included in the first type field, refer to the description of the first type field in the DCI above. The fields are not listed one by one here. For example, an example of a DCI may be that shown in FIG. 10. It should be noted that FIG. 10 is merely an example, and the division of the non-idle field and the idle field may include other cases, which are not listed one by one here.

[0077] The length of bits included in the non-idle field is equal to the number of secondary cells or secondary cell groups configured for the terminal device, or the length of bits included in the non-idle field is equal to the number of activated secondary cells or activated secondary cell groups for the terminal device, and each bit indicates dormancy behavior in a secondary cell or secondary cell group.

[0078] Specifically, currently, the specific number of bits used to indicate dormancy behavior is determined based on the number of secondary cells (secondary carriers) or the number of secondary cell groups (secondary carrier groups) configured for a terminal device. Specifically, when a cell is used as the unit of indication, if six secondary cells are configured for a terminal device, six bits are used to indicate dormancy behavior in the six secondary cells. Alternatively, when a cell group is used as the unit of indication, if two secondary cell groups are configured for a terminal device, two bits are used to indicate dormancy behavior in the two secondary cell groups. However, in existing signaling, the indication space is reserved based on the maximum number of bits (15 bits). Therefore, in some configurations, the indication of the dormancy behavior of a terminal device cannot completely occupy the following fields (i.e., first type fields): MCS of TB1, NDI of TB1, RV of TB1, HPN, antenna port, and DMRS sequence initialization. Therefore, redundancy bits or a combination of redundancy bits within these fields may be used to further indicate PDCCH skip indication information.

[0079] For example, there are a total of 16 bits in the following fields: MCS of TB1, NDI of TB1, RV of TB1, HPN, antenna port, and DMRS sequence initialization. If 10 secondary cells are configured for a terminal device, 10 bits may be used to indicate dormancy behavior in the 10 secondary cells, and the remaining 6 bits are used to indicate PDCCH skip indication information.

[0080] In another example, there are a total of 16 bits in the following fields: TB1 MCS, TB1 NDI, TB1 RV, HPN, antenna port, and DMRS sequence initialization. Ten secondary cells are configured for the terminal device, but only five secondary cells are currently activated. When the secondary cells are not activated, the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH in the secondary cells. Therefore, only dormancy behavior in activated secondary cells is indicated. In this case, five bits may be used to indicate dormancy behavior in the five activated secondary cells, and the remaining 11 bits are used to indicate PDCCH skip information.

[0081] It should be noted that the secondary cells of the terminal device are pre-configured by the network device, and the network device pre-indicates the configured secondary cells to be activated, so that the terminal device knows the status of the secondary cells in advance.

[0082] In Method 4, the redundant bits of the dormancy behavior indication may be fully used at the same time, and the same DCI may be used to indicate the dormancy behavior and the PDCCH skip indication information at the same time.

[0083] In an optional implementation manner, the PDCCH skip indication information may instruct the terminal device to skip the PDCCH or not skip the PDCCH. In another optional implementation manner, the PDCCH skip indication information may indicate detailed information of the PDCCH skip.

[0084] In a specific implementation manner, when the PDCCH skip indication information can indicate detailed information of PDCCH skipping, the PDCCH skip indication information may include at least one of the following information: a first time interval in which PDCCH is skipped; frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; radio network temporary identity (RNTI) information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; formats of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; or search spaces of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

[0085] In an optional implementation manner, the first time interval may be referred to as a skipping duration, i.e., a time length during which the PDCCH does not need to be monitored, which may specifically be several slots, several subframes, several milliseconds, several PDCCH monitoring opportunities, etc. The first time interval may be specifically determined based on an instruction in the DCI. For example, the first time interval may correspond to one of multiple types of skip durations that can be indicated by the DCI, for example, one type of skip duration in Tables 1 and 2 below. Alternatively, the first time interval may be determined based on a configuration of the network device, for example, the type of PDCCH skip duration configured by the network device. For example, 0 indicates skipping and 1 indicates not skipping, or 0 indicates not skipping and 1 indicates skipping, or other cases exist. After receiving the PDCCH skip instruction information, the terminal device reads the first time interval and no longer monitors the PDCCH within the first time interval.

[0086] For example, when any of the above four methods is used in a specific implementation and the specific field includes multiple fields, the multiple fields may be cascaded as an indicator bit to indicate specific information of PDCCH skip. Specifically, bits of the multiple fields are combined as an indicator bit, and the indicator bit is used to indicate PDCCH skip indication information. For example, when the specific field includes an SRS request and a CIF, the bits respectively included in the SRS request and the CIF may be combined to collectively include PDCCH skip indication information.

[0087] How the bits of a single field or combined bits are specifically used for the indication may be configured by the network device for different terminal devices, or may be predefined in a standard. For example, when Method 1 is used and the specific field is an SRS request, if the SRS request has 3 bits, M cases configured or predefined by the network device may be indicated, where M is less than or equal to 8. For example, when the time length of the first time interval (i.e., skip duration) in which the PDCCH is skipped is indicated by using a specific field, the specific indication may be as shown in Table 1 below or Table 2 below. [Table 1] [Table 2]

[0088] In Table 1, "end directly in the current discontinuous reception cycle" means that when discontinuous reception (DRX) is configured for the UE, the UE does not monitor the PDCCH in the current discontinuous reception cycle and does not start monitoring the PDCCH again until the next discontinuous reception cycle. "skip some slots" means that the first time interval is some slots and the PDCCH is not monitored within some slots. For example, in Table 1, when the three bits of the SRS request field in a specific field are "001", this indicates that the first time interval is one slot, or when the three bits are "101", this indicates that the first time interval is six slots. For other cases, please refer to the cases listed in Table 1, which will not be described one by one here.

[0089] In Table 2, "end directly in the current discontinuous reception cycle" means that when discontinuous reception (DRX) is configured for the UE, the UE does not monitor the PDCCH in the current discontinuous reception cycle and does not start monitoring the PDCCH again until the next discontinuous reception cycle. "skip some monitoring opportunities" means that the first time interval is some monitoring opportunities and the PDCCH is not monitored within some monitoring opportunities. The monitoring opportunities are determined by using the research space configured for the UE and are the time positions at which the PDCCH needs to be monitored. In another example, in Table 2, when three bits of the SRS request field in a specific field are "010," this indicates that the first time interval is two monitoring opportunities, or when the three bits are "100," this indicates that the first time interval is four monitoring opportunities. For other cases, please refer to the cases listed in Table 2, which will not be described one by one here.

[0090] It should be noted that the cases in the two tables are merely examples, and other cases may exist, which are not listed one by one in this application.

[0091] In an optional implementation manner, when indicating frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored, the PDCCH skip indication information may specifically indicate a specific cell or cell group for which PDCCH monitoring is skipped. Specifically, the PDCCH monitoring skip indicated by the PDCCH skip indication information is performed for at least the primary cell of the terminal device. That is, the PDCCH skip indication information may instruct the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH in the primary cell, or may instruct the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH in the primary cell and the secondary cell. Specifically, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes the primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored. In Method 3, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes only the primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored. In Methods 1, 2, and 4, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0092] For example, when the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the PDCCH skip indication information may include a plurality of bits, where the plurality of bits indicate the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, where the first bit indicates a first cell or a first cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicates a second cell or a second cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0093] Specifically, the first bit may include one or more bits, and the second bit may also include one or more bits. The first bit has an indication of correspondence with a first cell or a first cell group, and the second bit has an indication of correspondence with a second cell or a second cell group. For example, one bit indicates all cells or cell groups. In another example, each bit indicates one cell or cell group, and the bit length is equal to the number of cells or cell groups. In another example, one cell indicates multiple cells or cell groups, but different bits indicate different cells or cell groups. For example, bit 1 indicates cell 1 and cell 2, and bit 2 indicates cell 3, cell 4, and cell 5. Obviously, there may be multiple other possibilities, which are not listed one by one here. The correspondence may be pre-configured by the network device or may be pre-defined by using a standard. When pre-configured by the network device, the correspondence may be included in corresponding configuration information when the network device configures parameters related to PDCCH skipping for the terminal. For example, the following signaling structure is used in the configuration:

number

[0094] The above means that the configuration information in the PDCCH skip indication information includes a parameter cellID-ListInEachGroup, which is an array and includes (maxNrofGroup) cellID-ListInOneGroups. Specifically, the definition of cellID-ListInOneGroup is provided below. Each cellID-ListInOneGroup is an array and includes several servingCellIds.

number

[0095] It should be understood that the plurality of bits may further include bits other than the first bit and the second bit for instructing not to monitor some or all PDCCHs in other cells or other cell groups, which is not limited in this application.

[0096] For example, when multiple bits indicate primary and secondary cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, assuming that two bits in the TPC command field and three bits in the PUCCH resource indicator field are used for the indication, i.e., a total of five bits are used for the indication, a bitmap format may be used to indicate whether the PDCCH needs to be skipped in five cells or five cell groups. Alternatively, five bits may be used to indicate whether the PDCCH needs to be skipped in ten cells or cell groups. For example, two of the five bits may be used to indicate whether the PDCCH needs to be skipped in one cell or cell group, two of the other three bits may be used to indicate whether the PDCCH needs to be skipped in two cells or cell groups, and the last remaining bit may be used to indicate whether the PDCCH needs to be skipped in four cells or cell groups. Obviously, other cases exist, and these will not be listed one by one here in this application. The skip duration for each cell or cell group may be configured uniformly or separately. For example, when the length of the first time interval is configured by the network device, the skip duration is configured per terminal device (i.e., one parameter is configured per UE) and is uniformly set as five slots. In this case, when a PDCCH skip is required for any cell or cell group, five slots are skipped. Alternatively, the skip duration is configured per cell or cell group (i.e., one parameter is configured per cell or cell group). The skip duration for cell group 1 is five slots, and the skip duration for cell group 2 is ten slots. In this case, when a PDCCH skip is required, the terminal device skips PDCCH monitoring for different durations in different cell groups.

[0097] Step 202: The network device sends a DCI to the terminal device, so that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval.

[0098] Step 203: The terminal device determines, based on the PDCCH skip indication information, not to monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval.

[0099] According to a method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in an embodiment of this application, a network device generates a DCI, and enables a specific field in the DCI to include PDCCH skip indication information, where the PDCCH skip indication information instructs the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval, whereby the terminal device determines not to monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval based on the PDCCH skip indication information in the DCI. According to the above method, the DCI is used to instruct the terminal device to skip PDCCH monitoring, and the specific signaling used to skip PDCCH monitoring is clarified, thereby saving energy for the terminal device.

[0100] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of this application further provides an apparatus. As shown in Fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 may include a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102. The transceiver unit 1101 is used for receiving information (messages or data) by the apparatus 1100 or for transmitting information (messages or data), and the processing unit 1102 is configured to control and manage the operation of the apparatus 1100. The processing unit 1102 may further control the transceiver unit 1101 to perform steps.

[0101] For example, the apparatus 1100 may be the first device in the above embodiments, specifically, a terminal device, a processor in a terminal device, a chip or chip system, a functional module, etc. Alternatively, the apparatus 1100 may be the second device in the above embodiments, specifically, a network device, or a processor in a network device, a chip or chip system, a functional module, etc.

[0102] In an embodiment, when the apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the following operations may be specifically included.

[0103] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive downlink control information DCI from a network device, where a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, and the PDCCH skip indication information instructs the terminal device not to monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval.

[0104] The processing unit 1102 is configured to determine, based on the PDCCH skip indication information, not to determine a PDCCH within the first time interval.

[0105] In another embodiment, when the apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the following operations may be specifically included.

[0106] The processing unit 1102 is configured to generate downlink control information DCI, where a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, and the PDCCH skip indication information instructs the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval.

[0107] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to transmit a DCI to a terminal device, so that the terminal device does not monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval.

[0108] In an optional implementation, the specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field and the first type field in the DCI, where the first type field is a defined field indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the first type field includes at least one of the following fields: modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of transport block (TB1), new data indicator (NDI) of TB1, redundancy version (RV) of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request process number (HPN), and antenna port or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

[0109] In an optional implementation, the specific fields in the DCI include at least one of the following fields: a transmit power control TPC command, a physical uplink control channel PUCCH resource indicator, a sounding reference signal SRS request, a time domain resource allocation TDRA, a carrier indicator field CIF, a bandwidth part BWP indicator, a virtual resource block VRB-physical resource block PRB mapping, a physical resource block PRB bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information reference signal ZP CSI-RS trigger, a modulation and coding scheme MCS of the transport block TB2, a new data indicator NDI of TB2, a redundancy version RV of TB2, a downlink allocation index DAI, a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH-hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback timing indicator, a transmission configuration indicator TCI, code block group transmission information CBGTI or code block group flush-out information CBGFI.

[0110] In an optional implementation, the DCI further includes a flag bit. When the flag bit has a first value, a specific field in the DCI indicates PDCCH skip indication information. The flag bit is located in a field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0111] The specific field includes at least one of the first type fields in the DCI, which includes at least one of the following fields: modulation and coding scheme MCS of transport block TB1, new data indicator NDI of TB1, redundancy version RV of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request process number HPN, antenna port or demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence initialization, or the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0112] In an optional implementation, carrier aggregation CA is not configured for the terminal device.

[0113] The specific field includes at least one of the first type fields in the DCI, which includes at least one of the following fields: modulation and coding scheme MCS of transport block TB1, new data indicator NDI of TB1, redundancy version RV of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request process number HPN, antenna port or demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence initialization, or the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0114] In an optional implementation, the specific field includes an idle field in a first type field. The first type field is a defined field for indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the non-idle field in the first type field includes indication information for indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. The first type field includes at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme MCS of the transport block TB1, a new data indicator NDI of the TB1, a redundancy version RV of the TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request process number HPN, and an antenna port or demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence initialization.

[0115] In an optional implementation manner, the PDCCH skip indication information includes at least one of the following information: a first time interval in which the PDCCH is skipped; frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; radio network temporary identifier RNTI information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; formats of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; or search spaces of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

[0116] In an optional implementation manner, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0117] In an optional implementation manner, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the PDCCH skip indication information includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicating a first cell or a first cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicating a second cell or a second cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0118] In an optional implementation, the frequency domain resource allocation FDRA field in the DCI is preset to a specific value, which is a first value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, or a second value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1.

[0119] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, the division into units is an example and is merely a logical division of functions. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. The functional units in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically independent, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit may be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0120] When an integrated unit is realized in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the integrated unit may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application may essentially be realized, or the portion contributing to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution may be realized in the form of a software product. A computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of this application. The above storage medium includes any medium capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0121] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of this application further provides an apparatus. As shown in Fig. 12, the apparatus 1200 may include a transceiver 1201 and a processor 1202. Optionally, the apparatus 1200 may further include a memory. The memory may be located inside the apparatus 1200 or may be located outside the apparatus 1200. The processor 1202 may control the transceiver 1201 to receive and transmit data.

[0122] Specifically, the processor 1202 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 1202 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0123] The transceiver 1201, the processor 1202, and the memory 1203 are connected to each other. Optionally, the transceiver 1201, the processor 1202, and the memory 1203 are connected to each other by using a bus 1204. The bus 1204 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus may be classified into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one thick line is used to represent a bus in FIG. 112, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0124] In an optional implementation, the memory 1203 is configured to store a program or the like. Specifically, the program may include a program code, which includes computer operation instructions. The memory 1203 may include a RAM and may further include a non-volatile memory such as one or more disk memories. To realize the functions of the device 1200, the processor 1202 executes an application program stored in the memory 1203 to realize the above functions.

[0125] For example, the apparatus 1200 may be a first device, specifically the terminal device in the above embodiment, or the apparatus 1200 may be a second device, specifically the network device in the above embodiment.

[0126] In one embodiment, when the apparatus 1200 is configured to implement the functions of the terminal device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the following operations may be specifically included.

[0127] The transceiver 1201 is configured to receive downlink control information DCI from a network device, where a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, and the PDCCH skip indication information instructs the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval.

[0128] The processor 1202 is configured to determine, based on the PDCCH skip indication information, not to determine a PDCCH within the first time interval.

[0129] In another embodiment, when the apparatus 1200 is configured to implement the functions of the network device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the following operations may be specifically included.

[0130] The processor 1202 is configured to generate downlink control information DCI, where a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, and the PDCCH skip indication information instructs the terminal device not to monitor the PDCCH within a first time interval.

[0131] The transceiver 1201 is configured to transmit a DCI to the terminal device, so that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval.

[0132] In an optional implementation, the specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than the frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field and the first type field in the DCI, where the first type field is a defined field indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the first type field includes at least one of the following fields: modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of transport block (TB1), new data indicator (NDI) of TB1, redundancy version (RV) of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request process number (HPN), and antenna port or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

[0133] In an optional implementation, the specific fields in the DCI include at least one of the following fields: a transmit power control TPC command, a physical uplink control channel PUCCH resource indicator, a sounding reference signal SRS request, a time domain resource allocation TDRA, a carrier indicator field CIF, a bandwidth part BWP indicator, a virtual resource block VRB-physical resource block PRB mapping, a physical resource block PRB bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information reference signal ZP CSI-RS trigger, a modulation and coding scheme MCS of the transport block TB2, a new data indicator NDI of TB2, a redundancy version RV of TB2, a downlink allocation index DAI, a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH-hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ feedback timing indicator, a transmission configuration indicator TCI, code block group transmission information CBGTI or code block group flush-out information CBGFI.

[0134] In an optional implementation, the DCI further includes a flag bit. When the flag bit has a first value, a specific field in the DCI indicates PDCCH skip indication information. The flag bit is located in a field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0135] The specific field includes at least one of the first type fields in the DCI, which includes at least one of the following fields: modulation and coding scheme MCS of transport block TB1, new data indicator NDI of TB1, redundancy version RV of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request process number HPN, antenna port or demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence initialization, or the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0136] In an optional implementation, carrier aggregation CA is not configured for the terminal device.

[0137] The specific field includes at least one of the first type fields in the DCI, which includes at least one of the following fields: modulation and coding scheme MCS of transport block TB1, new data indicator NDI of TB1, redundancy version RV of TB1, hybrid automatic repeat request process number HPN, antenna port or demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence initialization, or the specific field includes at least one field other than the FDRA field in the DCI.

[0138] In an optional implementation, the specific field includes an idle field in a first type field. The first type field is a defined field for indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell, and the non-idle field in the first type field includes indication information for indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in the secondary cell. The first type field includes at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme MCS of the transport block TB1, a new data indicator NDI of the TB1, a redundancy version RV of the TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request process number HPN, and an antenna port or demodulation reference signal DMRS sequence initialization.

[0139] In an optional implementation manner, the PDCCH skip indication information includes at least one of the following information: a first time interval in which the PDCCH is skipped; frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; radio network temporary identifier RNTI information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; formats of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; or search spaces of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

[0140] In an optional implementation manner, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0141] In an optional implementation manner, the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the PDCCH skip indication information includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicating a first cell or a first cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicating a second cell or a second cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

[0142] In an optional implementation, the frequency domain resource allocation FDRA field in the DCI is preset to a specific value, which is a first value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, or a second value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1.

[0143] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of this application provides a communication system, which may include the terminal device, the network device, etc. in the above embodiments.

[0144] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is configured to store a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer may realize the method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in the above method embodiment.

[0145] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which is configured to store a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, may cause the computer to realize the method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in the above method embodiment.

[0146] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, coupled to a memory, configured to implement the method for instructing to skip PDCCH monitoring provided in the above method embodiment.

[0147] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of this application may be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Thus, this application may use a hardware-only embodiment, a software-only embodiment, or an embodiment having a combination of software and hardware. Furthermore, this application may use the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk memory, CD-ROM, optical memory, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0148] This application is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to this application. It should be understood that computer program instructions may be used to implement each process and / or each block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and combinations of processes and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to create a machine, whereby the instructions, executed by the computer or processor of the other programmable data processing device, create an apparatus for performing the specified functions in one or more steps in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0149] Alternatively, computer program instructions may be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory generate an artifact that includes an instruction apparatus that implements a particular function in one or more steps in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0150] Alternatively, computer program instructions may be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing device such that a sequence of operations and steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device, thereby generating a computer-implemented process. Thus, the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing a particular function in one or more procedures in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0151] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes to this application without departing from the scope of protection of this application. This application intends to cover these modifications and changes of this application, provided that they fall within the scope of protection defined by the following claims and their equivalent technologies.

Claims

1. A method for instructing a first device, which is a terminal device or a chip in a terminal device, to skip physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, comprising: receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, wherein a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, the PDCCH skip indication information instructing the terminal device not to monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval; determining, based on the PDCCH skip indication information, not to monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval; Including, 10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than both a first type field and a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI, the first type field being a defined field indicating dormancy behavior of the terminal device in a secondary cell, and the first type field including at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of a transport block (TB) 1, a new data indicator (NDI) of the TB1, a redundancy version (RV) of the TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request process number (HPN), and an antenna port or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific field in the DCI includes at least one of the following fields: a transmit power control (TPC) command, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator, a sounding reference signal (SRS) request, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA), a carrier indicator field (CIF), a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator, a virtual resource block (VRB)-physical resource block (PRB) mapping, a physical resource block (PRB) bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI-RS) trigger, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for transport block (TB) 2, a new data indicator (NDI) for the TB2, a redundancy version (RV) for the TB2, a downlink allocation index (DAI), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)-hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback timing indicator, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a code block group transmission information (CBGTI), or a code block group flush-out information (CBGFI).

3. A method as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the PDCCH skip instruction information includes at least one of the following information: the first time interval during which the PDCCH is skipped, frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, format of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, or search space of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

4. The method described in claim 3, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the PDCCH skip instruction information includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicating a first cell or a first cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicating a second cell or a second cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI is pre-set to a specific value, and when the frequency domain resource allocation type is type 0, the specific value is a first value, or when the frequency domain resource allocation type is type 1, the specific value is a second value.

7. A method for instructing a second device, the second device being a network device or a chip in the network device, to skip physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, the method comprising: generating downlink control information (DCI), wherein a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, the PDCCH skip indication information instructing a terminal device not to monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval; transmitting the DCI to the terminal device, whereby the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval; Including, 10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than both a first type field and a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI, the first type field being a defined field indicating dormancy behavior of the terminal device in a secondary cell, and the first type field including at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of a transport block (TB) 1, a new data indicator (NDI) of the TB1, a redundancy version (RV) of the TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request process number (HPN), and an antenna port or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the specific field in the DCI includes at least one of the following fields: a transmit power control (TPC) command, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator, a sounding reference signal (SRS) request, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA), a carrier indicator field (CIF), a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator, a virtual resource block (VRB) to physical resource block (PRB) mapping, a physical resource block (PRB) bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI-RS) trigger, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for transport block (TB) 2, a new data indicator (NDI) for the TB 2, a redundancy version (RV) for the TB 2, a downlink allocation index (DAI), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback timing indicator, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), code block group transmission information (CBGTI), or code block group flush-out information (CBGFI).

9. 9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the PDCCH skip indication information comprises at least one of the following information: the first time interval during which the PDCCH is skipped; frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; formats of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; or search spaces of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

11. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the PDCCH skip indication information includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicating a first cell or a first group of cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicating a second cell or a second group of cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

12. 12. The method of claim 7, wherein a Frequency Domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI is preset to a specific value, the specific value being a first value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, or the specific value being a second value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1.

13. A first device that is a terminal device or a chip within a terminal device, comprising: a transceiver configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, wherein a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, the PDCCH skip indication information instructing the terminal device not to monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval; a processor configured to determine, based on the PDCCH skip indication information, not to monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval; Including, The specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than both a first type field and a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI, the first type field being a defined field that indicates the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in a secondary cell, and the first type field including at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of transport block (TB) 1, a new data indicator (NDI) of the TB1, a redundancy version (RV) of the TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request process number (HPN), and an antenna port or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

14. The first device of claim 13, wherein the specific fields in the DCI include at least one of the following fields: a transmit power control (TPC) command, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator, a sounding reference signal (SRS) request, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA), a carrier indicator field (CIF), a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator, a virtual resource block (VRB)-physical resource block (PRB) mapping, a physical resource block (PRB) bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI-RS) trigger, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for transport block (TB) 2, a new data indicator (NDI) for the TB2, a redundancy version (RV) for the TB2, a downlink allocation index (DAI), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)-hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback timing indicator, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), code block group transmission information (CBGTI), or code block group flush-out information (CBGFI).

15. A first device as described in claim 13 or 14, wherein the PDCCH skip instruction information includes at least one of the following information: the first time interval during which the PDCCH is skipped, frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, format of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored, or search space of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

16. The first device of claim 15, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

17. The first device of claim 16, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the PDCCH skip indication information includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicating a first cell or a first cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicating a second cell or a second cell group for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

18. A first device described in any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI is pre-set to a specific value, and when the frequency domain resource allocation type is type 0, the specific value is a first value, or when the frequency domain resource allocation type is type 1, the specific value is a second value.

19. A second device that is a network device or a chip within a network device, comprising: a processor configured to generate downlink control information (DCI), wherein a specific field in the DCI includes PDCCH skip indication information, the PDCCH skip indication information instructing a terminal device not to monitor a PDCCH within a first time interval; a transceiver configured to transmit the DCI to the terminal device, whereby the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH within the first time interval; Including, A second device, wherein the specific field in the DCI includes at least one field other than both a first type field and a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI, the first type field being a defined field indicating the dormancy behavior of the terminal device in a secondary cell, and the first type field including at least one of the following fields: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of transport block (TB) 1, a new data indicator (NDI) of the TB1, a redundancy version (RV) of the TB1, a hybrid automatic repeat request process number (HPN), and an antenna port or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

20. 20. The second device of claim 19, wherein the specific fields in the DCI include at least one of the following fields: a transmit power control (TPC) command, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator, a sounding reference signal (SRS) request, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA), a carrier indicator field (CIF), a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator, a virtual resource block (VRB) to physical resource block (PRB) mapping, a physical resource block (PRB) bundling size indicator, a rate matching indicator, a zero power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI-RS) trigger, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for transport block (TB) 2, a new data indicator (NDI) for the TB 2, a redundancy version (RV) for the TB 2, a downlink allocation index (DAI), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback timing indicator, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), code block group transmission information (CBGTI), or code block group flush-out information (CBGFI).

21. 21. The second device of claim 19 or 20, wherein the PDCCH skip indication information includes at least one of the following information: the first time interval in which the PDCCH is skipped; frequency domain resource information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) information of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; formats of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored; or search spaces of some or all of the PDCCHs that are not monitored.

22. 22. The second device of claim 21, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes a primary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, or a primary cell and a secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

23. 23. The second device of claim 22, wherein the frequency domain resource information of some or all PDCCHs that are not monitored includes the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the PDCCH skip indication information includes a plurality of bits, the plurality of bits indicating the primary cell and the secondary cell for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, the plurality of bits including a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicating a first cell or a first group of cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored, and the second bit indicating a second cell or a second group of cells for which some or all PDCCHs are not monitored.

24. 24. The second device of claim 19, wherein a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) field in the DCI is preset to a specific value, and the specific value is a first value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 0, or a second value when the frequency domain resource allocation type is Type 1.

25. A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions, A computer readable storage medium, the instructions of which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

26. A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions, A computer readable storage medium, the instructions of which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to carry out the method of any one of claims 7 to 12.

27. A computer program comprising instructions, A computer program, when executed on a computer, that enables the computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

28. A computer program comprising instructions: A computer program, when run on a computer, enabling the computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

29. A chip, the chip is coupled to a memory; A chip configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

30. A chip comprising: the chip is coupled to a memory; A chip configured to perform the method of any one of claims 7 to 12.

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