Method and communication device for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel - Patents.com

Abstract

The present application provides a method and a communication device for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel. When a network device configures both a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and a BWP switching mechanism, a time for stopping monitoring of the PDCCH may be determined to reduce power consumption of a terminal device. The method includes: a network device transmits a first DCI to a terminal device on an active DL BWP; the terminal device executes a timer, and the timer is used for a BWP switch; the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration based on the first DCI, and pauses the execution of the timer; the terminal device continues the execution of the timer after the first duration; the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch when the timer expires; the network device executes a timer, pauses the execution of the timer within a first duration, and continues the execution of the timer after the first duration; the network device performs a DL BWP switch when the timer expires.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to a method and communications device for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel. [Background technology]

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202111164061.8, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 30, 2021, entitled "Method and Communication Apparatus for Stopping Monitoring of a Physical Downlink Control Channel," and Chinese Patent Application No. 202111309099.X, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on November 5, 2021, entitled "Method and Communication Apparatus for Stopping Monitoring of a Physical Downlink Control Channel," both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0003] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may be used to carry scheduling information for uplink data or downlink data. A terminal device may periodically monitor the PDCCH to obtain the scheduling information. If it detects that the PDCCH carries scheduling information, the terminal device may receive downlink data through a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or transmit uplink data through a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) based on the scheduling information. However, when there is no service transmission between the network device and the terminal device, the network device does not transmit the PDCCH to the terminal device, but the terminal device still periodically monitors the PDCCH. This increases the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0004] Current Active Downlink Bandwidth portion In (BWP), the network equipment uses a PDCCH monitoring skip mechanism or a search space set group (SSSG) switching mechanism to reduce the power consumption of the terminal equipment.、P Reduce DCCH monitoring. For each cell, the network equipment may configure multiple downlink BWPs and / or multiple uplink BWPs for the terminal equipment, and the network equipment may dynamically switch the active BWP.

[0005] However, when a terminal device supports both the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and the BWP switching mechanism, the method by which the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH is not clearly defined. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a method and a communication device for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). When a terminal device supports both a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and a BWP switching mechanism, the time for stopping monitoring of the PDCCH can be helpful to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0007] According to a first aspect, the present application provides a method for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The method includes: a terminal device receiving first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device on an active downlink (DL) BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring include PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal-device-specific search space set; the terminal device running a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch, the expiration of the timer being earlier than the end of the first duration; the terminal device stopping monitoring the PDCCHs within the first duration and before the timer expires; when the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch and monitors the PDCCHs on the destination DL BWP.

[0008] The first DCI may be carried on the PDCCH. The terminal device may detect the first DCI on the PDCCH, stop monitoring the PDCCH for an initial duration based on the first DCI, and continue monitoring the PDCCH after the initial duration. The PDCCHs for which monitoring is stopped include PDCCHs in the Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in the terminal-device-specific search space set. For other types of common search space sets, such as the Type 0 common search space set, the Type 0A common search space set, the Type 1 common search space set, and the Type 2 common search space set, the UE may or may not skip monitoring the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by the C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, or CS-RNTI. This is not a limitation in the embodiments of the present disclosure. For the Type 0 common search space set, the Type 0A common search space set, the Type 1 common search space set, and the Type 2 common search space set, whether the UE monitors the SI-RNTI, the RA-RNTI, the TC-RNTI, or the P-RNTI is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0009] If a C-DRX mechanism is further configured for the terminal device, the first DCI may instruct the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration in an active duration for C-DRX. In the active duration for C-DRX, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration, and after the first duration, the terminal device may continue monitoring the PDCCH during the active duration.

[0010] The unit of the initial duration may be seconds, milliseconds, frames, subframes, slots, PDCCH monitoring periods, the number of PDCCH monitoring opportunities, or a slot set including multiple consecutive slots, etc. This is not limited in this disclosure. For example, the initial duration may be 8 slots, and the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH at slot 8.

[0011] The start time of the first duration may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0012] Optionally, the length of the initial duration is configured by using RRC or indicated by the first DCI, and the specific RRC configuration manner or DCI indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0013] For example, the network equipment may transmit a first DCI to the terminal equipment on an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration and indicating the length of the first duration.

[0014] For example, the network device may transmit a first DCI to the terminal device over an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for a first duration. RRC signaling may be transmitted to the terminal device over the active DL BWP. The RRC signaling may indicate the length of the first duration.

[0015] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be predefined in the protocol.

[0016] The duration of the timer may be configured by the network equipment by using RRC signaling or may be predefined in the protocol. The unit of the duration of the timer may be seconds, milliseconds, frames, subframes, slots, etc. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the duration of the timer may be 3 milliseconds.

[0017] When the conditions for starting or restarting the timer are met (for example, the first DCI includes scheduling information), the terminal device starts or restarts the timer and runs it, specifically, the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe. After the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch. If the conditions for restarting the timer are met before the timer expires, the timer is restarted, i.e., the timer starts running again.

[0018] The timer expires earlier than the end of the initial duration. For example, the initial duration is longer than the duration at which the timer expires. For example, the initial duration is longer than the duration at which the timer expires, and the initial duration may be 8 slots and the timer duration may be 3 milliseconds, or 6 slots.

[0019] The specific time position at which the timer is started or restarted may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0020] The end of the initial duration is later than the expiration of the timer. When the timer expires, the duration for stopping PDCCH monitoring does not end, but the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP. The destination DL BWP is the new active DL BWP. The destination DL BWP may also be called the default DL BWP.

[0021] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, a network device instructs a terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within an initial duration and configures a timer used for BWP switching. The terminal device can run the timer, start to stop monitoring the PDCCH, stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration and before the timer expires, and monitor the PDCCH on the destination BWP. In this method, the timer can be run, and monitoring of the PDCCH can be started and stopped, and the running time of the timer is not changed. Therefore, the impact on the protocol is low and the implementation is simple.

[0022] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device executing the timer includes: when the terminal device receives indication information from a network device on an active DL BWP, the terminal device starts or restarts the timer, the indication information is used to schedule the terminal device to transmit a PDSCH or a PUSCH, or the indication information instructs the terminal device to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in a first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0023] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using RRC or indicated by the first DCI.

[0024] Referring to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the terminal device determines the start time of the initial duration based on at least one of the following information: a time offset between the start of the first duration and the first DCI; a maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the first DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the first DCI; a time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time after the PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0025] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, the time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the second DCI can be determined based on at least one of the time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI, without needing to consider whether the initial duration and the BWP switch delay overlap, which can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device.

[0026] According to a second aspect, the present application provides a method for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the method including: a terminal device determining an active downlink DL bandwidth; portion On BWP inReceive first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device. The first DCI instructs a terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs for a first duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped include PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set. The terminal device executes a timer, which is used for a BWP switch. Based on the first DCI, the terminal device stops monitoring PDCCHs for the first duration and pauses the execution of the timer. The terminal device continues the execution of the timer after the first duration. When the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch.

[0027] The start time of the first duration may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0028] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be configured by using RRC or may be indicated by the first DCI, and the specific RRC configuration or DCI indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0029] For example, the network equipment may transmit a first DCI to the terminal equipment on an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration and indicating the length of the first duration.

[0030] For example, the network device may transmit a first DCI to the terminal device over an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for a first duration. RRC signaling may be transmitted to the terminal device over the active DL BWP. The RRC signaling may indicate the length of the first duration.

[0031] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be predefined in the protocol.

[0032] The duration of the timer may be configured by the network equipment by using RRC signaling, or may be predefined in the protocol. The unit of the duration of the timer may be seconds, milliseconds, frames, subframes, slots, etc. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the duration of the timer may be 3 milliseconds.

[0033] When the conditions for starting or restarting the timer are met (for example, the first DCI includes scheduling information), the terminal device starts or restarts the timer and runs it, specifically, the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe. After the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch. If the conditions for restarting the timer are met before the timer expires, the timer is restarted, i.e., the timer starts running again.

[0034] The specific time position at which the timer is started or restarted may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0035] The terminal device pauses the execution of the timer during the duration for stopping monitoring of the PDCCH, i.e., during the duration for stopping monitoring of the PDCCH, the pause of the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe.

[0036] After performing a DL BWP switch, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP.

[0037] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, the network device instructs the terminal device to stop PDCCH monitoring within an initial duration and configures a timer used for BWP switching. When stopping PDCCH monitoring, the terminal device pauses the timer and continues the timer after the initial duration, that is, the PDCCH monitoring stop and the timer stop are performed at different time periods. This avoids the problem that the timer may easily expire due to the PDCCH monitoring stop. Furthermore, the terminal device may stop PDCCH monitoring within the initial duration to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0038] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the timer executed by the terminal device includes: starting or restarting the timer when the terminal device receives indication information from a network device on an active DL BWP. The indication information is used to schedule the terminal device to transmit a PDSCH or a PUSCH, or the indication information instructs the terminal device to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in a first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0039] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0040] Referring to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the terminal device determines the start point of the initial duration based on at least one of the following information: a time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the first DCI; a maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the first DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the first DCI; a time point after HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time point after the PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0041] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, the time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the first DCI can be determined based on at least one of the time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the first DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, or the time after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, and does not need to consider whether the initial duration and the BWP switch delay overlap, which can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device.

[0042] According to a third aspect, the present application provides a method for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The method includes: a terminal device receiving a second DCI from a network device on an active DL BWP, the second DCI indicating performing a DL BWP switch and stopping monitoring of the PDCCH within an initial duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring include PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set, and the second DCI is used to schedule PDSCH transmission. The terminal device performs a DL BWP switch and stops monitoring the PDCCH on a destination DL BWP based on the second DCI. The start time of the initial duration is determined based on at least one of the following information: the next slot after the BWP switch delay; the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; or the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP. A time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI. A minimum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the second DCI, or, if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI, a time point after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back.

[0043] The second DCI may be carried on the PDCCH. The terminal device may detect the second DCI on the PDCCH in the active DL BWP, and based on the second DCI, stop monitoring the PDCCH for the initial duration and perform a DL BWP switch. The PDCCHs whose monitoring is stopped include PDCCHs in the Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in the terminal device-specific search space set.

[0044] The BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates a DL BWP switch, indicating that PDCCH monitoring will be stopped during the initial duration and that PDSCH transmission will be scheduled. Specifically, the second DCI may carry PDSCH scheduling information, and the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates the ID of a DL BWP. The ID is different from the ID of the currently active DL BWP. The terminal device switches to the DL BWP indicated in the indicator field in the second DCI based on the second DCI.

[0045] The start time of the first duration may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0046] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be configured by using RRC or may be indicated by the first DCI, and the specific RRC configuration or DCI indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0047] For example, the network equipment transmits a second DCI to the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP, the second DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration and indicating the length of the first duration.

[0048] For example, the network device may transmit a second DCI to the terminal device over the active DL BWP, the second DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration. RRC signaling may be transmitted to the terminal device over the active DL BWP. The RRC signaling may indicate the length of the initial duration.

[0049] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be predefined in the protocol.

[0050] The start of the first duration may be the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, or the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP.

[0051] The start point of the initial duration may be determined based on at least one of a time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the second DCI, a maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or a time point after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI.

[0052] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, if the start time of the initial duration is the next slot after the BWP switch delay, it is the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP or the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, so that there is no overlap between the initial duration and the BWP switch delay. This helps the terminal device stop monitoring the PDCCH for a long time and reduce the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, the time offset between the initial duration and the second DCI can be determined based on at least one of the time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after feedback of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH when the PDSCH is scheduled using the second DCI, without needing to consider whether the initial duration and the BWP switch delay overlap. This can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device.

[0053] Referring to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the second DCI.

[0054] Referring to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the second DCI further instructs the terminal device to switch to a first search space set group, where the first search space set group is a search space set group on a destination DL BWP. The method further includes: the terminal device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP.

[0055] Referring to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the time at which the terminal device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is the next slot or next symbol after the initial duration, or the slot or symbol that is the same as the start of the initial duration.

[0056] Referring to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the time at which the terminal device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is determined based on at least one of the following information and is different from the start of the initial duration: the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the time offset between the start of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled using the second DCI.

[0057] According to a fourth aspect, the present application provides a method for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the method including: a network device determining an active downlink DL bandwidth; portionA first downlink control information DCI is transmitted to a terminal device over a BWP, and the first DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs for a first duration, where the PDCCHs to be stopped include PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set. The network device executes a timer, which is used for a BWP switch. The network device pauses execution of the timer during the first duration. The network device continues execution of the timer after the first duration. When the timer expires, the network device executes a DL BWP switch.

[0058] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, the network equipment instructs the terminal equipment to stop PDCCH monitoring within an initial duration and configures a timer used for BWP switching. When stopping PDCCH monitoring, the network equipment pauses the timer and continues the timer after the initial duration, that is, the stopping of PDCCH monitoring and the stopping of the timer are performed at different time periods. This avoids the problem that the timer may easily expire due to the stopping of PDCCH monitoring.

[0059] Referring to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0060] Referring to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the network device determines the start time of the initial duration based on at least one of information: a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the first DCI; a time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI; or a time after a PUSCH is transmitted when the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0061] According to a fifth aspect, the present application provides a method for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the method including: a network device determining an active downlink DL bandwidth; portion The network device transmits second downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device over the BWP, the second DCI instructing the terminal device to perform a DL BWP switch and stop monitoring PDCCHs within an initial duration, where the PDCCHs to be stopped include PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set, and the second DCI is used to schedule transmission of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The network device performs a DL BWP switch based on the second DCI. The start time of the initial duration is determined based on at least one of the following information: the next slot after the BWP switch delay; the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI; and a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled using the second DCI. Or, if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI, at a time point after the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back.

[0062] Referring to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the second DCI.

[0063]

[0023] Referring to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the second DCI further instructs the terminal device to switch to a first search space set group, where the first search space set group is a search space set group on a destination DL BWP. The method further includes: the network device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP.

[0064] Referring to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the point at which the network device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is the next slot or symbol after the initial duration, or the same slot or symbol as the start of the initial duration.

[0065] Referring to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the time at which the network device switches to the first search space set group on the DL BWP is determined based on at least one of the following information and is different from the start of the initial duration: the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the time offset between the start of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI.

[0066] According to a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: an active downlink DL bandwidth; portion On BWP ina transceiver unit configured to receive first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, the first DCI instructing the device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring including PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a device-specific search space set; and a processing unit configured to: execute a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch, the expiration of the timer being earlier than an end of the first duration; stop monitoring the PDCCHs within the first duration and before the timer expires; and execute a DL BWP switch when the timer expires and monitor the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP.

[0067] Referring to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: start or restart a timer when indication information is received from a network device on an active DL BWP, the indication information being used to schedule the apparatus to transmit a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or the indication information instructs the apparatus to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in a first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0068] Referring to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0069] Referring to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the apparatus determines the start time of the initial duration based on at least one of the following information: a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the first DCI; a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between a PDCCH carrying the first DCI and a PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the first DCI; a time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to a PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time after a PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0070] According to a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: an active downlink DL bandwidth; portion On BWP in a transceiver unit configured to receive first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, the first DCI instructing the device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring including PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a device-specific search space set; and a processing unit configured to: execute a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch, based on the first DCI, stop monitoring the PDCCHs within the first duration and suspend execution of the timer; continue running the timer after the first duration and perform a DL BWP switch when the timer expires.

[0071] Referring to the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: start or restart a timer when indication information is received from a network device on an active DL BWP, the indication information being used to schedule the apparatus to transmit a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or the indication information instructs the apparatus to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in a first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0072] Referring to the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0073] Referring to the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the apparatus determines the start time of the initial duration based on at least one of the following information: a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the first DCI; a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between a PDCCH carrying the first DCI and a PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the first DCI; a time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to a PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time after a PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0074] According to an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: an active downlink DL bandwidth; portion On BWP ina transceiver unit configured to receive second downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, the second DCI indicating to perform a DL BWP switch and to stop monitoring PDCCHs within an initial duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring include PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a device-specific search space set, the second DCI being used to schedule transmission of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); and a processing unit configured to: perform a DL BWP switch and stop monitoring PDCCHs on a destination DL BWP based on the second DCI; a start time of the initial duration is determined based on at least one of the following information: a next slot after a BWP switch delay; a slot in which a PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; or a slot following a slot in which a PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; and a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI. a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and a duration for analyzing the second DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between a PDCCH carrying the second DCI and a PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the second DCI, or a time point after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI.

[0075] Referring to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0076]

[0023] Referring to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the second DCI further instructs the terminal device to switch to a first search space set group, where the first search space set group is a search space set group on a destination DL BWP. The method further includes: the terminal device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP.

[0077] Referring to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the time at which the terminal device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is the next slot or next symbol after the initial duration, or the slot or symbol that is the same as the start of the initial duration.

[0078] Referring to the eighth aspect, in some implementations of the eighth aspect, the time at which the terminal device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is determined based on at least one of the following information and is different from the start of the initial duration: the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the time offset between the start of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled using the second DCI.

[0079] According to a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: an active downlink DL bandwidth; portionA transceiver unit configured to transmit first downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal device over a BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring including PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set; and a processing unit configured to: execute a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch; pause execution of the timer within the first duration; and continue execution of the timer after the first duration. The processing unit is further configured to execute a DL BWP switch when the timer expires.

[0080] Referring to the ninth aspect, in some implementations of the ninth aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0081] Referring to the ninth aspect, Nine In some implementations of the aspect, the network device determines the start time of the initial duration based on at least one of the following information: a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the first DCI: a time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time after a PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0082] According to a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, the device including a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit configured to receive an active downlink DL bandwidth portionThe terminal device is configured to transmit second downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device over the BWP. The second DCI indicates that a DL BWP switch is to be performed and that monitoring of PDCCHs within an initial duration is to be stopped, where the PDCCHs to be stopped include PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set. The second DCI is used to schedule transmission of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The processing unit is configured to perform a DL BWP switch based on the second DCI. The start time of the initial duration is determined based on at least one of the following information: the next slot after the BWP switch delay; the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI; and a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled using the second DCI. Or, if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI, at a time point after the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back.

[0083] Referring to the tenth aspect, in some implementations of the tenth aspect, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the second DCI.

[0084] Referring to a tenth aspect, in some implementations of the tenth aspect, the second DCI further instructs the terminal device to switch to a first search space set group, the first search space set group being a search space set group on a destination DL BWP, and the processing unit is further configured to switch to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP.

[0085] Referring to the tenth aspect, in some implementations of the tenth aspect, the time at which the device switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is the next slot or next symbol after the initial duration, or the slot or symbol that is the same as the start of the initial duration.

[0086] Referring to the tenth aspect, in some implementations of the tenth aspect, the time at which the apparatus switches to the first search space set group on the destination DL BWP is determined based on at least one of the following information and is different from the start of the initial duration: the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the time offset between the start of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled using the second DCI.

[0087] According to an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device configured to perform a method according to any one of the above-described aspects or possible implementations thereof. In particular, the device includes a unit configured to perform a method according to any one of the above-described aspects or possible implementations thereof.

[0088] In design, the apparatus may include modules corresponding to performing the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the above aspects. The modules may be hardware circuits, software, or may be implemented by hardware circuits in combination with software.

[0089] In another design, the apparatus is a communications chip. The communications chip may include an input circuit or interface configured to transmit information or data and an output circuit or interface configured to receive information or data.

[0090] In another design, the apparatus is a communications device. A communications device may include a transmitter configured to transmit information or data and a receiver configured to receive information or data.

[0091] In another design, the apparatus is configured to perform a method according to any one of the above aspects or possible implementations of the aspects, and may be configured in or be the above terminal equipment or network equipment.

[0092] According to a twelfth aspect, the present application provides another communication device, including a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to retrieve and execute the computer program from the memory, such that the device performs a method according to any one of the possible implementations of the above-mentioned aspects.

[0093] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0094] Optionally, the memory and processor may be integrated together, or the memory and processor may be located separately.

[0095] Optionally, the communication device further includes a transmitter and a receiver, which may be located separately or integrated together and are referred to as a transceiver.

[0096] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a communication system including an apparatus configured to implement a method according to any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementations of the above aspects.

[0097] In a possible design, the communication system may further include another device that interacts with the terminal equipment and / or the network equipment in the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0098] According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium storing a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to perform a method according to any one of the possible implementations of the above-mentioned aspects.

[0099] According to a fifteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, which includes a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to perform a method according to any one of the possible implementations of the above-mentioned aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0100] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism. [Figure 2] A schematic diagram showing the PDCCH monitoring cycle of the SS sets associated with SSSG0 and SSSG1. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a BWP switch. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing another BWP switch. [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 6] 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7]2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8] 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating another method for stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 10] 10 is a schematic flow chart illustrating yet another method for stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is yet another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 14] 1 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 15] 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is yet another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 18] 10 is a schematic flow chart illustrating yet another method for stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is yet another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 21] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 22]FIG. 10 is yet another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 23] FIG. 10 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0101] The technical solutions of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0102] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, for example, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, a Fifth Generation (5G) system, a New Radio (NR) system, or another evolved communication system.

[0103] The terminal equipment in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment.

[0104] The terminal device may be, for example, a handheld device or a vehicle-mounted device with wireless connectivity, which provides a voice / data connection to the user. Currently, some terminal devices include, for example, mobile phones, tablet computers, notebook computers, palmtop computers, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in autonomous driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, mobile phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices or computing devices with wireless communication capabilities or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks, and terminal devices in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs). This is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0105] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may alternatively be a terminal device in an Internet of Things (IoT) system. IoT is an important part in the future development of information technology. The main technical feature of IoT is to connect things to a network by using communication technology to implement an intelligent network for the interconnection between humans and machines and between things.

[0106] Furthermore, the network equipment in the embodiments of the present application may be equipment configured to communicate with terminal equipment. The network equipment may also be called access network equipment or radio access network equipment, and may be a transmission reception point (TRP), an evolved base station (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, a home base station (e.g., a Home Evolved NodeB, or Home NodeB, HNB, etc.) or a baseband unit (BBU), or a radio controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario. Alternatively, the network equipment may be a relay station, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a network equipment in a 5G network, or a network equipment in a future evolved PLMN network, or an access point (AP) in a WLAN, a GNB in ​​a New Radio (NR) system, or a satellite base station in a satellite communication system, etc. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0107] In a network structure, the network equipment may include a central unit (CU) node, a distributed unit (DU) node, RAN equipment including a CU node and a DU node, or RAN equipment including a control plane CU node (CU-CP node), a user plane CU node (CU-UP node), and a DU node.

[0108] A network device provides a service to a cell, and a terminal device communicates with the cell by using transmission resources (e.g., frequency domain resources or spectrum resources) allocated by the network device. The cell may belong to a macro base station (e.g., a macro eNB or a macro GNB), or may belong to a base station corresponding to a small cell. Small cells in this specification may include metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells are characterized by small coverage and low transmission power, and are applicable to providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0109] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or a network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also called a main memory). The operating system is, for example, Linux (registered trademark) Operating System, Unix (registered trademark) Operating system: Android (registered trademark) Operating system, iOS (registered trademark) Operating System, or Windows (registered trademark)The application layer may be any one or more types of computer operating systems that implement service processing through processes, such as an operating system. The application layer includes applications such as a browser, contacts, word processing software, and instant messaging software. Furthermore, the specific configuration of the entity that executes the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application, as long as it can execute a program recording the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application and perform communication according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the entity that executes the method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module that can call and execute a program in the terminal device or the network device.

[0110] Moreover, aspects or features of the present application may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "product," as used herein, covers a computer program accessible from any computer-readable component, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage components (such as hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical disks (such as compact disks (CDs) and digital versatile disks (DVDs)), smart cards, and flash memory components (such as erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives). Additionally, various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices configured to store information and / or other machine-readable media. The term "machine-readable media" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0111] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, relevant terms in the embodiments of the present application will be explained.

[0112] 1. PDCCH monitoring skip mechanism

[0113] The PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism means that the network device indicates that the terminal device may skip monitoring the PDCCH for a certain period of time based on downlink control information (DCI). In other words, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for a certain period of time, or may stop not monitoring the PDCCH for a certain period of time. The terminal device enters a sleep state (sometimes also referred to as a standby state) within the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH to reduce power consumption.

[0114] For example, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism. As shown in Figure 1, a terminal device can periodically monitor a PDCCH by using two slots as a period, and the blocks filled with black patterns in the figure indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities that need to be monitored.

[0115] When a terminal device receives a DCI indicating that the terminal device will stop monitoring the PDCCH for a time period, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for a time period after receiving the DCI. The duration of the time period is the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH. After the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH, the terminal device may continue monitoring the PDCCH. The duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH may be indicated by the DCI, or may be configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH may be predefined in a protocol. In particular, when the network device configures multiple durations for stopping monitoring the PDCCH through RRC signaling, the network device may indicate, based on the DCI, that one of the multiple durations for stopping monitoring the PDCCH is used as the current duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH.

[0116] It should be understood that in Figure 1, the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH includes 8 slots is used only as an example, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0117] The Type 3 common search space set may be primarily used to monitor a PDCCH carrying DCI scrambled by any one of the following Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs): Suspension RNTI (INT-RNTI), Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), Transmit Power Control - Physical Uplink Shared Channel RNTI (TPCPUSCH-RNTI), Transmit Power Control - Physical Uplink Control Channel RNTI (TPCPUCCH-RNTI), Transmit Power Control - Sounding Reference Signal RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), Cancellation Indication RNTI (CI-RNTI), Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) on the primary cell, Modulation and Coding Scheme - C-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), or Power Saving RNTI (PS-RNTI) power reduction, etc. User equipment specific search space sets may be used to monitor a PDDCCH carrying DCI scrambled by any one of the following RNTIs: namely, C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, semi-persistent channel state indication RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), CS-RNTI, sidelink RNTI (SL-RNTI), SL-CS-RNTI, and sidelink semi-persistent scheduling vehicle RNTI (SL semi-persistent scheDULinG V-RNTI).

[0118] The Type 0 common search space sets and Type 0A common search space sets may be used to monitor the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by the System Information RNTI (SI-RNTI). The Type 1 common search space set may be used to monitor the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by the Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI), Message B-RNTI (MsGB-RNTI), or Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI). The Type 2 common search space set may be used to monitor the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by the Paging RNTI (P-RNTI). For Type 0 common search space sets, Type 0A common search space sets, Type 1 common search space sets, and Type 2 common search space sets, the UE may monitor the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, or CS-RNTI (DCI format 0_0 and DCI format 1_0) in slots in which the UE monitors the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by SI-RNTI, RA-RNTI, MsGB-RNTI, or P-RNTI.

[0119] It should be noted that skipping PDCCH monitoring by a terminal device may also be referred to as stopping PDCCH monitoring, not monitoring the PDCCH, etc. This terminology is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0120] If the terminal device is further configured with a connected mode - discontinuous reception (C-DRX) mechanism, the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism may also be used during the active duration for C-DRX, in other words, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH during a time period within the active duration for C-DRX.

[0121] 2. Search Space Set Group (SSSG) Switching Mechanism

[0122] The SSSG switching mechanism means that the network device can instruct the terminal device to switch from the current search space set group to another search space set group to monitor the PDCCH. If the period for monitoring the PDCCH in the destination search space set group is greater than the period for monitoring the PDCCH in the source search space set group, that is, if the PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the destination search space set group are more scattered than the PDCCH monitoring opportunities in the source search space set group, the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced.

[0123] For one downlink BWP, the network device may configure multiple search space sets (SS sets) for the terminal device and group the configured SS sets. The specific number of groups is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the network device may group the configured SS sets into two groups or three groups.

[0124] For example, the network device groups multiple configured SS sets into two groups, SSSG0 and SSSG1. The network device may configure an SS set to belong to SSSG0 or SSSG1 in the SS set configuration information. The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 or SSSG1. Also, SSSG0 may be written as SSSG0, and SSSG1 may be written as SSSG1. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0125] It should be understood that SSSG0 can be understood as SSSG index 0, and SSSG1 can be understood as SSSG index 1.

[0126] Optionally, one SS set may belong to multiple SSSGs, ie, it may belong to SSSG0 and also to SSSG1.

[0127] Optionally, the SSSG parameter may not be configured in the configuration information of the SS set, indicating that the SS set is not grouped and does not belong to either SSSG0 or SSSG1. For SS sets that are not grouped in the DL BWP, the UE monitors the PDCCH based on the configuration information of the SS set. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0128] The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SS sets associated with different SSSGs on one downlink BWP may be different, ie, the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of different SSSGs may differ in sparsity.

[0129] For example, the network device groups the SS sets into two SSSG groups, SSSG0 and SSSG1, based on the configuration information of the SS sets. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the PDCCH monitoring cycles of the SS sets associated with SSSG0 and SSSG1. As shown in Figure 2, the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set associated with SSSG0 use one slot as a cycle to periodically monitor the PDCCH, and the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set associated with SSSG1 use two slots as a cycle to periodically monitor the PDCCH. It should be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG1 are scattered compared to the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG0.

[0130] The terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, and after receiving information indicating that the network equipment has instructed the terminal equipment to switch to SSSG1, the network equipment switches to SSSG1 and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1.

[0131] The terminal device switches to SSSG1, which has scattered PDCCH monitoring opportunities, thereby reducing PDCCH monitoring and reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0132] The SSSG switching mechanism is applicable to a type 3 common search space set (CSS set) and a user equipment specific search space set (USS set), that is, a USS set and a type 3 CSS set may be grouped.

[0133] The terminal equipment implements a dynamic SSSG switch, and the network equipment may explicitly or implicitly instruct the terminal equipment to perform an SSSG switch by using a bit field in or the DCI.

[0134] For example, there may be two search space set groups, SSSG0 and SSSG1, and the explicit indication of the bit field in the DCI may be as follows: If the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and the field indicator in the received DCI is 0, the terminal device switches to SSSG0, i.e., monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and stops monitoring the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1; If the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and the field indicator in the received DCI is 1, the terminal device switches to SSSG1.

[0135] Regarding the implicit indication of DCI, in a possible implementation, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1, and if the terminal device detects any DCI format or a specific DCI format, the terminal device switches to SSSG0. Alternatively, the switching from SSSG0 to SSSG1 is performed in this manner.

[0136] In another possible implementation, when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1, the terminal device starts a timer used for SSSG switching. After the timer expires, the terminal device switches to SSSG0. Alternatively, switching from SSSG0 to SSSG1 is performed in this manner.

[0137] The network device may configure both a search space set group (SSSG) switching mechanism and a PDCCH monitoring skip (skip PDCCH monitoring) mechanism, in which, after stopping PDCCH monitoring for a certain period of time, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on one SS Set in the SSSG.

[0138] 3.BWP switching mechanism

[0139] For one cell, the network equipment may configure multiple downlink (DL) BWPs and / or multiple uplink (UL) BWPs for the terminal equipment, and the frequency domain resources of different BWPs may or may not overlap. At the same time, one DL BWP and one UL BWP are active in the cell.

[0140] In a time division duplex (TDD) scenario (also called an unpaired spectrum scenario), DL BWPs and UL BWPs with the same ID are associated, and the center frequency of each pair of associated DL BWPs and UL BWPs is the same. When a DL BWP is switched, the UL BWP is also switched accordingly. When a UL BWP is switched, D L BWP will also be switched accordingly.

[0141] The BWP switching mechanism can be implemented in two ways. In a possible implementation, the network equipment may dynamically switch between the DL BWP and the UL BWP based on the PDCCH. For example, the network equipment may dynamically switch between the DL BWP and the UL BWP based on the PDCCH. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a DL BWP switch. As shown in FIG. 3, the network equipment configures two BWPs, BWP 1 and BWP 2. The subcarrier spacing of BWP 1 is 30 kilohertz (kHz), and the subcarrier spacing of BWP 2 is 60 kHz. Currently, BWP 1 is in an active state. When the terminal equipment detects that the BWP indicator field in the DCI indicates BWP 2, the terminal equipment performs a BWP switch and monitors the PDCCH on BWP 2 after a BWP switch delay.

[0142] The DCI is further used to schedule the PDSCH, and the terminal device may receive the PDSCH on BWP2 based on the scheduling information of the DCI. The slot offset K0 indicated by the time-domain resource allocation field of the DCI (i.e., the slot offset between the PDCCH and the scheduled PDSCH) needs to be equal to or greater than the BWP switch delay. As shown in FIG. 3, K0 is one slot greater than the BWP switch delay, and the terminal device starts receiving the PDSCH on BWP2 in the slot corresponding to the slot offset K0 indicated by the DCI and continues monitoring the PDCCH. After the end symbol for the DCI and before the slot offset indicated by the DCI, the terminal device does not need to receive or transmit data, and the terminal device does not need to monitor the PDCCH.

[0143] It should be understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. In Figure 3, the BWP switch delay includes two slots, and the slot length corresponds to a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. K0 includes five slots, and the slot length corresponds to a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. K0 is one slot larger than the BWP switch delay, and the slot length corresponds to a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz.

[0144] It should be further understood that the BWP switch delay including two slots and K0 including five slots is merely an example, and is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0145] In another possible implementation, the network equipment may configure a timer for BWP switching (BWP-InactivityTimer) for the terminal equipment. This timer is used by the terminal equipment to roll back from a currently active BWP to a default BWP. The network equipment may configure an identifier (ID) of the default BWP by using RRC signaling, and the terminal equipment may roll back from a currently active BWP to a BWP corresponding to the identifier of the default BWP. Alternatively, if the network equipment does not configure the identifier of the default BWP, the terminal equipment may fall back to an initial BWP configured by the network equipment.

[0146] For example, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating another DL BWP switch. As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the currently active BWP 1, and the subcarrier spacing of BWP 1 may be 60 kHz. When the conditions for starting or restarting the timer are met, the timer is started or restarted and runs. If the conditions for restarting the timer are not met, the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe. When the timer expires (i.e., the timer reaches 0), the terminal device performs a BWP switch and monitors the PDCCH on the default BWP after a BWP switch delay. The subcarrier spacing of the default BWP is 30 kHz. It should be understood that the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH during the BWP switch delay.

[0147] The subcarrier spacing for BWP 1 is 60 kHz, and one subframe corresponds to four slots. In Figure 4, the timer duration includes eight slots, i.e., the timer duration is 2 milliseconds, or two subframes. Once the timer fires, it may decrement in descending order every subframe or half-subframe until the timer expires.

[0148] It should be understood that in Figure 4, the timer duration includes 6 slots and the BWP switch delay includes 4 slots is merely an example, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0149] It should be further understood that different BWPs may correspond to different subcarrier spacings, which in turn correspond to different slot lengths. In Figure 4, the subcarrier spacing of BWP 1 is different from the subcarrier spacing of the default BWP. Therefore, the slot length corresponding to BWP 1 is different from the slot length corresponding to the default BWP.

[0150] The conditions for starting or restarting the timer used for the BWP switch in cell 1 may include any one of the following:

[0151] (1) The terminal device receives a PDCCH scrambled by the C-RNTI or CS-RNTI and indicating downlink scheduling or uplink scheduling on an active BWP in cell 1.

[0152] (2) The terminal device receives a PDCCH in a cell other than cell 1 that is scrambled by the C-RNTI or CS-RNTI and indicates downlink scheduling or uplink scheduling in an active BWP in cell 1.

[0153] This condition is applicable to inter-carrier scheduling and TDD scenarios.

[0154] (3) The terminal device transmits uplink semi-persistent scheduling or receives downlink semi-persistent scheduling in cell 1.

[0155] (4) The terminal device receives a PDCCH indicating a BWP switch in cell 1.

[0156] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

[0157] 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication system 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5, the communication system 500 may include a network device 501 and at least one terminal device 502. The network device 501 and the at least one terminal device 502 may perform wireless communication. Specifically, the network device 501 may transmit a PDCCH carrying scheduling information of uplink data or downlink data to the terminal device 502, and the terminal device 502 may periodically monitor the PDCCH to obtain the scheduling information.

[0158] When the terminal device 502 detects that the PDCCH has scheduling information, the terminal device 502 receives data via a PDSCH or transmits data via a PUSCH based on the scheduling information. In many cases, the network device 501 does not always schedule data for the terminal device 502, but the terminal device 502 always periodically monitors the PDCCH to determine whether scheduling is performed. If there is no service transmission between the network device 501 and the terminal device 502, the network device 501 may not transmit the PDCCH to the terminal device 502. However, if the terminal device 502 regularly monitors the PDCCH, power consumption will increase. In order to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device 502, one aspect is to reduce unnecessary PDCCH monitoring as much as possible.

[0159] In the current active DL BWP, the network equipment may use a PDCCH monitoring skip (skip PDCCH monitoring) mechanism or a search space set group (SSSG) switching mechanism to reduce PDCCH monitoring so as to reduce the power consumption of the terminal equipment. For each cell, the network equipment may configure multiple downlink BWPs and / or multiple uplink BWPs for the terminal equipment, and the network equipment may dynamically switch the active BWP.

[0160] However, when both the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and the BWP switching mechanism are configured for a terminal device, how the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH is not clearly defined.

[0161] For example, the network device may instruct the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for a certain time period based on the DCI, and the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for the time period based on the DCI. The network device may further configure a timer used for BWP switching for the terminal device, and start the timer when a condition for starting the timer is met. The terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH for this time period. As a result, the condition for starting the timer may not be met, increasing the likelihood that the timer will expire, resulting in frequent BWP switches.

[0162] For example, the network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for a certain period of time and perform a BWP switch based on the DCI, and the terminal device performs a BWP switch based on the instruction of the DCI and stops monitoring the PDCCH for that period of time. However, the start time for stopping monitoring the PDCCH is not clearly defined at present.

[0163] In view of this, the embodiments of the present application provide a method and a communication device for stopping PDCCH monitoring, and when a terminal device supports both a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and a BWP switching mechanism, a time for stopping PDCCH monitoring is designated, which helps to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0164] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following several explanations are provided.

[0165] 1. In the embodiments of the present application, "used for display" may include "used for direct display" and "used for indirect display," and may also include "used for explicit display" and "used for implicit display." Information pointed to by a certain type of information is called referent information. In a specific implementation process, referent information may be pointed to in multiple ways. By way of example and not limitation, referent information may be pointed to directly, for example, by using referent information or an index of the referent information. Alternatively, referent information may be pointed to indirectly by indicating other information, and an association exists between the other information and the referent information. Alternatively, only a portion of the referent information may be pointed to, and the other portion of the referent information is known or agreed upon in advance. For example, it may be agreed upon in advance (e.g., specified in a protocol) that referent information be pointed to depending on the presence or absence of an information element, thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent.

[0166] 2. In the following embodiments, "first," "second," "third," and various numbers are used for distinction only for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, for example, to distinguish different downlink control information.

[0167] 3. In the following embodiments, "predefined" may be a protocol definition. "Predefined" may be implemented by pre-storing a corresponding code or a corresponding table in equipment (including, for example, terminal equipment and network equipment), or in another manner that can indicate related information. The specific implementation of "predefined" is not limited in this application.

[0168] 4. The "protocol" in the embodiments of the present application may be a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and related protocols applied to future communication systems, which are not limited in the present application.

[0169] The embodiments provided in the present application will be described in detail below.

[0170] In the embodiments of the present application, terminal equipment and network equipment are used as examples for explanation. It should be understood that the terminal equipment may be replaced by a device or chip that can implement functions similar to those of the terminal equipment, or the network equipment may be replaced by a device or chip that can implement functions similar to those of the network equipment. However, these names are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0171] 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method 600 for stopping monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 600 may be applied to the communication system 500 shown in FIG. 5. However, the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 6, the method 600 may include the following steps:

[0172] S601: A network device transmits a first DCI to a terminal device on an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, where the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring include PDCCHs in a common search space set of Type 3 and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set. In response, the terminal device receives the first DCI on the active DL BWP.

[0173] The first DCI may be carried on the PDCCH. The terminal device may detect the first DCI on the PDCCH, stop monitoring the PDCCH for an initial duration based on the first DCI, and continue monitoring the PDCCH after the initial duration. The PDCCHs for which monitoring is stopped include PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal-device-specific search space set. For other types of common search space sets, such as a Type 0 common search space set, a Type 0A common search space set, a Type 1 common search space set, and a Type 2 common search space set, the UE may or may not skip monitoring the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by the C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, or CS-RNTI. This is not a limitation in the embodiments of the present disclosure. For the Type 0 common search space set, the Type 0A common search space set, the Type 1 common search space set, and the Type 2 common search space set, whether the UE monitors the SI-RNTI, the RA-RNTI, the TC-RNTI, or the P-RNTI is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0174] If a C-DRX mechanism is further configured for the terminal device, the first DCI may instruct the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within an initial duration of an active duration for C-DRX. During the active duration for C-DRX, the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration, and after the initial duration, the terminal device may continue monitoring the PDCCH during the active duration.

[0175] The unit of the initial duration may be seconds, milliseconds, frames, subframes, slots, PDCCH monitoring periods, the number of PDCCH monitoring opportunities, or a slot set including several consecutive slots, etc. This is not limited in the present disclosure. For example, the initial duration may be 8 slots, and the terminal device may stop monitoring the PDCCH at slot 8.

[0176] The start time of the first duration may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0177] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be configured by using RRC or may be indicated by the first DCI, and the specific RRC configuration or DCI indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0178] For example, the network equipment may transmit a first DCI to the terminal equipment on an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration and indicating the length of the first duration.

[0179] For example, the network device may transmit a first DCI to the terminal device over an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within an initial duration and indicating the length of the initial duration. RRC signaling may be transmitted to the terminal device over the active DL BWP, the RRC signaling indicating the length of the initial duration.

[0180] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be predefined in the protocol.

[0181] S602: The terminal device executes a timer, the timer is used for the BWP switch, and the expiration time of the timer is earlier than the end time of the first duration.

[0182] It should be understood that the terminal equipment does not need to monitor the PDCCH during the BWP switch process, i.e., within the BWP switch delay. Therefore, it can be alternatively described that the terminal equipment runs a timer, which is used for the BWP switch, and the expiration time of the timer and the BWP switch delay is earlier than the end of the initial duration. The end of the BWP switch delay can be understood to be earlier than the end of the initial duration.

[0183] The timer duration may be configured by the network device using RRC signaling or may be predefined in the protocol. The timer duration may be in units of seconds, milliseconds, frames, subframes, slots, etc. In the embodiment of the present invention, the timer duration is not limited thereto. For example, the timer duration may be 3 milliseconds.

[0184] The terminal device may start and run a timer before step S601.

[0185] When the conditions for starting or restarting the timer are met (e.g., the first DCI includes scheduling information), the terminal device starts or restarts the timer and runs it; specifically, the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe. After the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch. If the conditions for restarting the timer are met before the timer expires, the timer is restarted, i.e., the timer starts running again.

[0186] For example, the timer duration is 3 ms. If the conditions for starting or restarting the timer are not met after the timer is started or restarted, the terminal equipment executes the timer, specifically, the timer is decremented by one subframe each time. If the timer indicates 0, the terminal equipment performs a DL BWP switch. If the timer indicates 2 ms and the conditions for restarting the timer are met, the timer again indicates 3 ms and the timer is decremented by one subframe each time. The above steps are repeated.

[0187] The timer expires earlier than the end of the initial duration. For example, the initial duration is greater than the duration at which the timer expires. For example, the initial duration is greater than the duration at which the timer expires, and the initial duration may be 8 slots and the timer duration may be 3 milliseconds, or 6 slots.

[0188] The specific time position at which the timer is started or restarted may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0189] In response, the network device starts or restarts the timer and runs the timer.

[0190] S603: The terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration and before the timer expires.

[0191] It should be understood that the PDCCHs for which monitoring is stopped include PDCCHs in the Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in the terminal device specific search space set.

[0192] Accordingly, the network device does not transmit a PDCCH to the terminal device within the first duration and before the timer expires, and the PDCCH includes a PDCCH in the type 3 common search space set and a PDCCH in the terminal device-specific search space set.

[0193] It should be understood that the terminal device does not need to monitor the PDCCH during the BWP switch process, i.e., within the BWP switch delay. Therefore, step S603 can alternatively be described as the terminal device stopping monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration, before the timer expires, and before the BWP switch delay. It can be understood that the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration, before the BWP switch delay ends.

[0194] S604: When the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch and monitors the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP.

[0195] The end of the initial duration occurs after the expiration of the timer. When the timer expires, the duration for stopping PDCCH monitoring does not end, but the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP. The destination DL BWP is the new active DL BWP. The destination DL BWP is also called the default DL BWP.

[0196] For example, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 7, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities during which the terminal device may perform monitoring. The network equipment configures DL BWP 1 and a default DL BWP in the cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz, the timer duration may be 6 slots, and the initial duration may be 11 slots, with the initial duration being greater than the timer duration. The subcarrier spacing of the default DL BWP may be 15 kHz, and the BWP switch delay may be 2 slots. It should be understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The slot lengths included in the timer duration, initial duration, and BWP switch delay are all slot lengths corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should further be understood that the number of slots included in the timer duration, initial duration, and BWP switch delay are merely examples. This is not a limitation in the embodiments of the present application.

[0197] If the subcarrier spacing of DL BWP1 is 30 kHz, one subframe corresponds to two slots. In Figure 7, the duration of the timer is 6 slots, i.e., the duration of the timer is 3 subframes. When the timer starts, it may decrement in descending order every subframe or half subframe until the timer expires.

[0198] DL BWP1 is the currently active BWP, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP1. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for an initial duration based on the PDCCH carrying the first DCI. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the first DCI through monitoring and obtains an indication of the first DCI by detecting the PDCCH carrying the first DCI. As shown in FIG. 7, when the condition for starting or restarting the timer is met, the terminal device may start running the timer from the slot in which the first DCI is located and start stopping monitoring the PDCCH from the next slot for the first DCI. When the timer expires (after three subframes), the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch. After a BWP switch delay (two slots), the terminal device switches to the default DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH.

[0199] In this case, it should be understood that the period for stopping monitoring the PDCCH does not expire, but the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on the default DL BWP. Alternatively, it may be understood that the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH expires beforehand.

[0200] Accordingly, when the timer expires, the network equipment may perform a DL BWP switch and transmit the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP. According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, the network equipment instructs the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within an initial duration and configures a timer used for the BWP switch. The terminal equipment may execute the timer, start to stop monitoring the PDCCH, stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration and before the timer expires, and monitor the PDCCH on the destination BWP. In this method, the timer can be executed, and PDCCH monitoring can be started and stopped, without changing the execution of the timer. Therefore, the impact on the protocol is reduced and the implementation is simple. In the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, it can be understood that the BWP is switched in a timer manner, and the default behavior of the terminal equipment on the destination BWP is to monitor the PDCCH. Optionally, an SSSG may or may not be configured on the destination DL BWP. The method for configuring the SSSG by the network device is not limited in this embodiment.

[0201] If an SSSG is not configured on the destination BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the configured SS set.

[0202] When an SSSG is configured on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSG. For example, the network device configures an SSSG on the target BWP. There may be two SSSGs, SSSG0 (i.e., the SSSG index is 0) and SSSG1 (i.e., the SSSG index is 1). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 or the SS set of SSSG1.

[0203] Optionally, there may be three SSSGs: SSSG0 (i.e., the index of the SSSG is 0), SSSG1 (i.e., the index of the SSSG is 1), and SSSG2 (i.e., the index of the SSSG is 2). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, the SS set of SSSG1, or the SS set of SSSG2. In implementation, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and on the destination BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSGs agreed in the protocol, and the SSSG agreed in the protocol may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and it is agreed in the protocol that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0. In another implementation, the network equipment may configure one SSSG as the SSSG used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH on the destination BWP. For example, the SSSG configured by the network equipment is SSSG0. In this case, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0.

[0204] Optionally, an active DL BWP may be configured in the first cell, and the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on the active DL BWP of the first cell. The network device may configure a duration of the timer in the first cell.

[0205] It should be appreciated that if multiple cells exist, the network equipment may configure the duration of the timer in each of the multiple cells.

[0206] The terminal device may receive a first DCI on an active DL BWP of a first cell. The first DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration. In a scenario with multiple cells, the terminal device may alternatively receive the first DCI on an active DL BWP of a cell other than the first cell. The first DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH on the active DL BWP of the first cell. Note that the duration for stopping monitoring the PDCCH is the first duration.

[0207] Optionally, the first DCI may further be used to schedule transmission of a PDSCH or a PUSCH.

[0208] For example, a terminal device may receive a first DCI on an active DL BWP of a first cell. The first DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration and is used to schedule the transmission of a PDSCH or a PUSCH. In a scenario with multiple cells, the terminal device may alternatively receive a first DCI on an active DL BWP of a cell other than the first cell. The first DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH on the active DL BWP of the first cell. Note that the duration for stopping the monitoring of the PDCCH is the first duration. At the same time, the first DCI is used to schedule the transmission of a PDSCH or a PUSCH.

[0209] It should be understood that once the first DCI contains scheduling information and the network equipment configures the timers used in the BWP switch, the terminal equipment starts the timers to run.

[0210] Optionally, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on an SS set configured on the active DL BWP. If multiple SSSGs are configured on the BWP, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on one SS set among the SSSGs. Therefore, if an SSSG is not configured on the destination DL BWP, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch when the timer expires and monitors the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP based on the configured SS set. In other words, the default behavior of the terminal device on the destination BWP is to monitor the PDCCH based on the configured SS set. If an SSSG is configured on the destination DL BWP, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch when the timer expires and monitors the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP based on one SS set among the SSSGs. In other words, the default behavior of the terminal device on the destination BWP is to monitor the PDCCH based on one SS set among the SSSGs. The SSSG may be agreed upon in a protocol or configured by a network device, and may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set with an SSSG index of 0.

[0211] Optionally, when the network equipment initially configures or reconfigures parameters for the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and / or parameters for the SSSG switching mechanism by using RRC signaling, the behavior of the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP may be the same as the behavior described above. In other words, if an SSSG is not configured on the active DL BWP, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP based on the configured SS set. In other words, the default behavior of the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP is to monitor the PDCCH based on the configured SS set. If an SSSG is configured on the active DL BWP, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP based on one SS set of the SSSG. In other words, the default behavior of the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP is to monitor the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSG. The SSSG may be agreed upon in the protocol or configured by the network equipment, and may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP based on the SS set with an SSSG index of 0.

[0212] In the method 600, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH while the timer is running. An embodiment of the present application further provides another method 800 for stopping monitoring the PDCCH. The method 800 is a parallel solution to the method 600. The terminal device stops running the timer while stopping monitoring the PDCCH.

[0213] Specifically, Figure 8 is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method 800 for stopping monitoring a PDCCH according to this embodiment of the present application. The method 800 may be applied to the communication system 500 shown in Figure 5. However, this embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 8, the method 800 may include the following steps:

[0214] S801: A network device transmits a first DCI to a terminal device over an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, where the PDCCHs to be stopped include PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set. In response, the terminal device receives the first DCI over the active DL BWP. The start time of the first duration may be the start of a slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of a symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0215] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be configured by using RRC or may be indicated by the first DCI, and the specific RRC configuration manner or DCI indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0216] For example, the network equipment may transmit a first DCI to the terminal equipment on an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration and indicating the length of the first duration.

[0217] For example, the network device may transmit a first DCI to the terminal device over an active DL BWP, the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for a first duration. RRC signaling may be transmitted to the terminal device over the active DL BWP. The RRC signaling may indicate the length of the first duration.

[0218] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be predefined in the protocol.

[0219] For this step, please refer to step S601 of method 600. Details will not be described again here.

[0220] S802: The terminal device executes a timer, which is used for the BWP switch.

[0221] The duration of the timer may be configured by the network device by using RRC signaling, or may be predefined in a protocol. The unit of the timer duration may be seconds, milliseconds, frames, subframes, slots, etc. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the duration of the timer may be 3 milliseconds.

[0222] The terminal device may start and run a timer before step S801.

[0223] When the conditions for starting or restarting the timer are met (e.g., the first DCI includes scheduling information), the terminal device starts or restarts the timer and runs it; specifically, the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe. After the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch. If the conditions for restarting the timer are met before the timer expires, the timer is restarted, i.e., the timer starts running again.

[0224] The specific time position at which the timer is started or restarted may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the next slot for the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the end symbol for the first DCI, but this is not limited to this embodiment of the present invention.

[0225] In response, the network device starts or restarts the timer and runs the timer.

[0226] S803: The terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration based on the first DCI and pauses the execution of the timer.

[0227] The terminal device pauses the execution of the timer during the duration for stopping monitoring of the PDCCH, i.e., during the duration for stopping monitoring of the PDCCH, the pause of the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe.

[0228] Optionally, the terminal device pauses the execution of the timer from the slot or subframe in which the first DCI is located, or stops the execution of the timer from the next slot or next subframe for the first DCI.

[0229] Optionally, the terminal device pauses the execution of the timer from the start of the first duration.

[0230] S804: The terminal device continues running the timer after the initial duration. The terminal device pauses the execution of the timer. After the initial duration, the terminal device may continue running the timer, i.e., the timer decreases in descending order every subframe or every half subframe. After the initial duration, if the condition for restarting the timer is met, the terminal device may restart and run the timer.

[0231] For example, the timer duration may be 3 milliseconds. When the timer decrements to 2 milliseconds, the terminal device receives a PDCCH carrying the first DCI and stops monitoring the PDCCH based on the first DCI. The timer then maintains a duration of 2 milliseconds. After the initial duration, the terminal device may continue running the timer, which decrements by one subframe each time until the timer expires.

[0232] S805: The terminal device performs a DL BWP switch when the timer expires.

[0233] After performing a DL BWP switch, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP. The destination DL BWP may be referred to as a default BWP. For example, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 9, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities during which the terminal device may perform monitoring. The network device configures DL BWP 1 and the default DL BWP in the cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz, the timer duration may be 6 slots, and the initial duration may be 10 slots. The subcarrier spacing of the default DL BWP may be 15 kHz, and the BWP switch delay may be 2 slots. It should be understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The slot lengths included in the timer duration, initial duration, and BWP switch delay are all slot lengths corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should further be understood that the timer duration, initial duration, and the number of slots included in the BWP switch delay are merely examples, and are not limiting in the embodiments of the present application.

[0234] If the subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 is 30 kHz, one subframe corresponds to two slots. In Figure 9, the duration of the timer is 6 slots, i.e., the duration of the timer is 3 subframes. When the timer runs, it may decrement in descending order every subframe or every half subframe until the timer expires.

[0235] DL BWP 1 is the currently active BWP, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on active DL BWP 1. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH during the initial duration based on the PDCCH carrying the first DCI. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the first DCI through monitoring and obtains an indication of the first DCI by detecting the PDCCH carrying the first DCI. As shown in FIG. 9, when the condition for starting or restarting the timer is met, the terminal device may start the timer from the slot in which the first DCI is located, and the timer decreases in descending order for each subframe. At the same time, from the start of the initial duration, PDCCH monitoring is stopped while the timer is paused. In this case, the timer duration is four slots, i.e., two subframes.

[0236] The terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within 10 slots. After 10 slots, the terminal device continues monitoring the PDCCH and continues running the timer. In this case, the timer decrements from 2 subframes in descending order for each subframe until the timer expires. When the timer expires, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch. After a BWP switch delay (2 slots), the terminal device switches to the default DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH.

[0237] S806: The network device executes a timer.

[0238] Also, while the terminal equipment is running a timer, the network equipment may run a timer accordingly.

[0239] Optionally, it may be agreed in the protocol that the terminal equipment and the network equipment run the timers simultaneously.

[0240] S807: The network device pauses the execution of the timer within the first duration.

[0241] If the terminal device pauses the execution of the timer within the initial duration, the network device may also pause the execution of the timer within the initial duration.

[0242] Optionally, it may be agreed in the protocol that the terminal device and the network device simultaneously pause the execution of the timer within the initial duration.

[0243] S808: The network device continues to run the timer after the initial duration.

[0244] After the initial duration, while the terminal device is running the timer, the network device also continues to run the timer.

[0245] Optionally, it may be agreed in the protocol that after the initial duration, the terminal equipment and the network equipment continue to run the timer simultaneously.

[0246] S809: The network device performs a DL BWP switch when the timer expires.

[0247] When the timer expires, the network device may switch BWPs and transmit a PDCCH on the destination BWP, and the terminal device may monitor a PDCCH on the destination BWP.

[0248] In another possible implementation, step S803 may be as follows: the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration based on the first DCI and terminates the execution of the timer. Step S804 may be as follows: after the initial duration, the terminal device may resume and run the timer. Accordingly, in step S807, the network device may terminate the execution of the timer within the initial duration. Step S808 may be as follows: after the initial duration, the network device may resume and run the timer.

[0249] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, a network device instructs a terminal device to stop PDCCH monitoring within an initial duration and configures a timer used for a BWP switch. When stopping PDCCH monitoring, the terminal device pauses the timer and continues the timer after the initial duration, i.e., the stopping of PDCCH monitoring and the stopping of the timer are performed at different time intervals. This avoids the problem that the timer may easily expire due to stopping PDCCH monitoring. Furthermore, the terminal device may stop PDCCH monitoring within the initial duration to reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0250] Optionally, the SSSG may or may not be configured on the destination DL BWP.

[0251] If an SSSG is not configured on the destination BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the configured SS set.

[0252] When an SSSG is configured on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSGs. For example, the network device configures an SSSG on the target BWP. There may be two SSSGs, SSSG0 (i.e., the SSSG index is 0) and SSSG1 (i.e., the SSSG index is 1). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 or the SS set of SSSG1. Optionally, there may be three SSSGs, SSSG0 (i.e., the SSSG index is 0), SSSG1 (i.e., the SSSG index is 1), and SSSG2 (i.e., the SSSG index is 2). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, the SS set of SSSG1, or the SS set of SSSG2. In this implementation, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and on the destination BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on an SS set of the SSSG agreed in the protocol, where the SSSG agreed in the protocol may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and it is agreed in the protocol that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0. In another implementation, the network equipment may configure one SSSG as the SSSG used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH on the destination BWP. For example, the SSSG configured by the network equipment is SSSG0. In this case, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0.

[0253] Optionally, when the network equipment initially configures or reconfigures parameters for the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and / or parameters for the SSSG switching mechanism by using RRC signaling, the behavior of the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP may be the same as the behavior described above. In other words, if an SSSG is not configured on the active DL BWP, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP based on the configured SS set. In other words, the default behavior of the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP is to monitor the PDCCH based on the configured SS set. If an SSSG is configured on the active DL BWP, the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP based on one SS set of the SSSG. In other words, the default behavior of the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP is to monitor the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSG. The SSSG may be agreed upon in the protocol or configured by the network equipment, and may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP based on the SS set with an SSSG index of 0.

[0254] In the method 600 and the method 800, the terminal device executing the timer includes: the terminal device starting or restarting the timer when the terminal device receives indication information from the network device on the active DL BWP, the indication information being used to schedule the terminal device to transmit a PDSCH or a PUSCH, or the indication information instructing the terminal device to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information being carried in the first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0255] The indication information may be carried in the first DCI or in a DCI different from the first DCI, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0256] In a possible implementation, the indication information is used to schedule the terminal device to transmit the PDSCH or the PUSCH and is carried in a first DCI, which may be carried on a PDCCH scrambled by the C-RNTI or the CS-RNTI.

[0257] The terminal device receives, on an active DL BWP in a first cell, a PDCCH carrying a first DCI and scrambled by the C-RNTI, the first DCI being used to schedule transmission of a PDSCH or a PUSCH, and starts or restarts a timer. The terminal device receives, in a cell other than the first cell, a PDCCH carrying a DCI other than the first DCI and scrambled by the C-RNTI, the DCI indicating transmission of a PDSCH or a PUSCH on the active DL BWP in the first cell, and starts or restarts a timer.

[0258] In another possible implementation, the indication information instructs the terminal equipment to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0259] The terminal equipment receives a DCI other than the first DCI, which DCI indicates that the terminal equipment will perform a DL BWP switch, and the terminal equipment performs a BWP switch based on the DCI and starts a timer on the destination BWP.

[0260] The start time of the initial duration is not clearly defined in the method 600 and the method 800. An embodiment of the present application provides a method 1000 for stopping monitoring a PDCCH to specify the start time of the initial duration.

[0261] Specifically, Figure 10 is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another method 1000 for stopping monitoring a PDCCH according to this embodiment of the present application. The method 1000 may be applied to the communication system 500 shown in Figure 5. However, this embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 10, the method 1000 may include the following steps:

[0262] S1001: The network device sends a second DCI to the terminal device on an active DL BWP, the second DCI indicating that the network device performs a DL BWP switch and stops monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs whose monitoring is stopped include PDCCHs in a type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set, and the second DCI is used to schedule the transmission of PDSCHs. In response, the terminal device sends a second DCI to the terminal device on an active DL BWP. portion A second DCI is received on the BWP.

[0263] The second DCI may be carried on the PDCCH. The terminal device may detect the second DCI on the PDCCH in an active DL BWP, and based on the second DCI, stop monitoring the PDCCH for an initial duration and perform a DL BWP switch. The PDCCHs for which monitoring is stopped include PDCCHs in the Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in the terminal device-specific search space set. For other types of common search space sets, such as the Type 0 common search space set, the Type 0A common search space set, the Type 1 common search space set, and the Type 2 common search space set, the UE may or may not skip monitoring the PDCCH for DCI scrambled by the C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, or CS-RNTI. This is not a limitation in the embodiments of the present disclosure. For the Type 0 common search space set, the Type 0A common search space set, the Type 1 common search space set, and the Type 2 common search space set, whether the UE monitors the SI-RNTI, the RA-RNTI, the TC-RNTI, or the P-RNTI is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0264] The BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates a DL BWP switch, indicating that PDCCH monitoring will be stopped during the initial duration and that PDSCH transmission will be scheduled. Specifically, the second DCI may carry PDSCH scheduling information, and the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates the ID of a DL BWP, which is different from the ID of the currently active DL BWP. Based on the second DCI, the terminal device switches to the DL BWP indicated in the indicator field in the second DCI.

[0265] The start time of the first duration may be the start of the slot in which the first DCI is located, the start of the slot following the first DCI, or the start of the symbol following the ending symbol of the first DCI, but this is not limited to this embodiment of the present invention.

[0266] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be configured by using RRC or may be indicated by the first DCI, and the specific RRC configuration or DCI indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0267] For example, the network equipment may transmit a second DCI to the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP, the second DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration and indicating the length of the first duration.

[0268] For example, the network equipment may transmit a second DCI to the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP, the second DCI instructing the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration and indicating the length of the initial duration.

[0269] Optionally, the length of the initial duration may be predefined in the protocol.

[0270] S1002: The terminal device performs a DL BWP switch based on the second DCI and stops monitoring the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP. The start time of the initial duration is determined based on at least one of the following information: the next slot after the BWP switch delay; the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP; the time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI; the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled using the second DCI; or the time after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled using the second DCI.

[0271] The start of the first duration may be the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, or the slot next to the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP. The slot next to the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP may alternatively be understood as the slot next to the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP.

[0272] The start time of the initial duration may be determined based on at least one of a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the second DCI, a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or a time after HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI. For ease of explanation, the start time of the initial duration determined in one of these aspects is referred to as start time 2 of the initial duration.

[0273] According to the method for stopping PDCCH monitoring provided in this embodiment of the present application, if the start point of the initial duration is the next slot after the BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, or the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, it can be ensured that there is no overlap between the initial duration and the BWP switch delay. This helps the terminal device stop monitoring the PDCCH for a long time and reduces the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, the start point of the initial duration is determined based on at least one of the time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the second DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, or the time after feedback of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH when the PDSCH is scheduled using the second DCI, without needing to consider whether the initial duration and the BWP switch delay overlap. The start point of the initial duration in a BWP switch scenario can be determined in the same manner as the start point of the initial duration in a BWP scenario, which can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device.

[0274] Below, several possible implementations of the start time of the first duration are described in detail separately.

[0275] In a first possible implementation, the start of the first duration is at the next slot of the BWP switch delay.

[0276] For example, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 11, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities during which the terminal device may perform monitoring. The network device configures DL BWP 1 and DL BWP 2 in a cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz, the BWP switch delay may be 2 slots, the subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 2 may be 60 kHz, the initial duration may be 6 slots, and the slot offset K0 between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI may be 5 slots. It should be understood that K0 is equal to or greater than the BWP switch delay. It should further be understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The length of the slots included in the initial duration and K0 is the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the destination BWP, i.e., the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The length of the slots included in the BWP switch delay is a slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should be further understood that the initial duration K0 and the number of slots included in the BWP switch delay are merely examples, and are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0277] DL BWP 1 is the currently active BWP, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP 1. The terminal device detects that the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates DL BWP 2, and the second DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within a first duration, which is used to schedule PDSCH transmission. As shown in FIG. 11 , based on the second DCI, the terminal device transmits the PDSCH on DL BWP 2 after slot offset K0 (5 slots), starts to stop monitoring the PDCCH from the slot next to the BWP switch delay, and starts monitoring the PDCCH after the first duration (6 slots). After slot offset K0 (5 slots), the period may be replaced with during slot offset K0 (5 slots). Based on the second DCI, the terminal device transmits the PDSCH on DL BWP 2 during slot offset K0 (5 slots) in the slot corresponding to slot offset K0 (5 slots).

[0278] In a second possible implementation, the start of the first duration is within a slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP.

[0279] For example, FIG. 12 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 12, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities during which the terminal device may perform monitoring. The network equipment configures DL BWP 1 and DL BWP 2 in a cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz, the BWP switch delay may be 2 slots, the subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 2 may be 60 kHz, the initial duration may be 6 slots, and the slot offset K0 between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI may be 5 slots. It should be understood that K0 is greater than the BWP switch delay. It should further be understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The slot length included in the initial duration and K0 corresponds to a slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The slot length included in the BWP switch delay corresponds to a slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should further be understood that the number of slots included in the initial duration, K0, and BWP switch delay are merely examples, which are not limiting in the embodiments of the present application.

[0280] DL BWP 1 is the currently active BWP, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on active DL BWP 1. The terminal device detects that the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates DL BWP 2, which indicates that the terminal device will stop monitoring the PDCCH within an initial duration, and the second DCI is used to schedule PDSCH transmission. As shown in FIG. 12 , based on the second DCI, the terminal device transmits the PDSCH on DL BWP 2 after slot offset K0 (5 slots), starts to stop monitoring the PDCCH from the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on DL BWP 2, and starts monitoring the PDCCH after the initial duration (6 slots). After slot offset K0 (5 slots), the period may be replaced with during slot offset K0 (5 slots). Based on the second DCI, the terminal device transmits the PDSCH on DL BWP 2 in the slot corresponding to slot offset K0 for slot offset K0 (5 slots), and starts to stop monitoring the PDCCH from the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on DL BWP 2.

[0281] If the PDSCH scheduled by using the second DCI occupies multiple slots, the start time of the first duration is the start time of the first slot of the multiple slots occupied by the PDSCH. Data transmitted on a PDSCH occupying multiple slots may be transmitted repeatedly on the same transmit port block or on different transmit port blocks.

[0282] In a third possible implementation, the start of the first duration is in the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP.

[0283] For example, FIG. 13 is another schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 13, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities during which the terminal device may perform monitoring. The network device configures DL BWP 1 and DL BWP 2 in the cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz. In this case, the BWP switch delay may be two slots 1. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 2 may be 60 kHz. In this case, the initial duration may be six slots 2. The slot offset K0 between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI may be five slots 2. It should be understood that K0 is greater than the BWP switch delay. Different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The slot length included in the initial duration and K0 corresponds to a slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The slot length included in the BWP switch delay corresponds to a slot length corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should further be understood that the number of slots included in the initial duration K0 and the BWP switch delay are merely examples, which are not limiting in the embodiments of the present application.

[0284] DL BWP 1 is the currently active BWP, and the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on active DL BWP 1. The terminal device detects that the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates DL BWP 2, and the second DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within an initial duration, which is used to schedule PDSCH transmission. As shown in FIG. 13 , based on the second DCI, the terminal device transmits the PDSCH on DL BWP 2 after slot offset K0 (5 slots), starts to stop monitoring the PDCCH from the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on DL BWP 2, and starts monitoring the PDCCH after the initial duration (6 slots). After slot offset K0 (5 slots), the period may be replaced with during slot offset (5 slots) K0. Based on the second DCI, the terminal device transmits the PDSCH on DL BWP 2 in the slot corresponding to slot offset K0 for slot offset K0 (5 slots), and starts to stop monitoring the PDCCH from the slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on DL BWP 2.

[0285] If the PDSCH scheduled by using the second DCI occupies multiple slots, the start point of the initial duration is the slot following the first slot of the multiple slots occupied by the PDSCH or the slot following the end of the multiple slots occupied by the PDSCH. Data transmitted on a PDSCH occupying multiple slots may be repeatedly transmitted on the same transmit port block or on different transmit port blocks.

[0286] In a fourth possible implementation, the start of the first duration is the time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI.

[0287] The time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI may be predefined or may be configured by the network equipment by using RRC signaling.

[0288] The time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI may be predefined. The time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI may be in units of symbols or slots.

[0289] Different BWPs may have different subcarrier spacings. The protocol may predefine that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different time offsets, or the protocol may predefine that different subcarrier spacings correspond to the same time offset. The time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI may be based on the slot offset corresponding to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the currently active DL BWP or the slot offset corresponding to the subcarrier spacing corresponding to the destination DL BWP.

[0290] For example, the time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI may be zero or greater.

[0291] For example, a protocol may predefine that different subcarrier spacings correspond to the same time offset. Table 1 shows the correspondence between subcarrier spacings and time offsets.

[0292] [Table 1]

[0293] As shown in Table 1, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, or 120 kHz, and different subcarrier spacings can correspond to the same time offset, i.e., 25 symbols.

[0294] For example, the protocol may predefine that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different time offsets. Table 2 shows the correspondence between subcarriers and time offsets.

[0295] Table 2 shows another correspondence between subcarrier spacing and time offset.

[0296] [Table 2]

[0297] As shown in Table 2, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, or 120 kHz. Different subcarrier spacings may correspond to different time offsets. If the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, the time offset may be 10 symbols. If the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, the time offset may be 12 symbols. If the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, the time offset may be 22 symbols. If the subcarrier spacing is 120 kHz, the time offset may be 25 symbols.

[0298] The time offsets shown in Tables 1 and 2 are in units of symbols, and the time offsets may also be in units of slots.

[0299] For example, Table 3 shows another correspondence between subcarrier spacing and time offset.

[0300] [Table 3]

[0301] As shown in Table 2, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, or 120 kHz. If the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz or 30 kHz, the time offset can be 1 slot. If the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz or 120 kHz, the time offset can be 2 slots.

[0302] It should be understood that the correspondence between the subcarrier spacing and the time offset shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3 is merely an example, and is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0303] The start time of the first duration may be determined based on a time offset between the start time of the first duration and the start of the symbol in which the second DCI is located, or the start time of the first duration may be determined based on a time offset between the start time of the first duration and the end of the symbol occupied by the second DCI. If the time determined based on the time offset is not the start of a slot, the start time of the first duration may be the start of the slot next to the time offset.

[0304] The second DCI occupies three symbols, the time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI is 25 symbols, the first symbol occupied by the second DCI may be the first symbol of the 25 symbols, and the fourth symbol after the third symbol occupied by the second DCI may be the first symbol of the 25 symbols.

[0305] The start point of the first duration may be determined based on a time offset between the start point of the first duration and the start of the slot in which the second DCI is located, or the start point of the first duration may be determined based on a time offset between the start point of the first duration and the end of the slot in which the second DCI is located.

[0306] For example, the slot occupied by the second DCI may be 1 slot, the time offset between the start of the first duration and the second DCI may be 1 slot, the slot occupied by the second DCI may be the time offset slot, and the slot next to the slot in which the second DCI is located may be the time offset slot.

[0307] In a fifth possible implementation, the terminal device may determine the start point of the initial duration based on the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the second DCI.

[0308] The minimum slot offset is K 0min and K 0min The value range of can be 0 or more. The maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI is max(K 0min , Z), where the duration for analyzing the second DCI is Z. For a specific subcarrier spacing, Z is a constant. See Table 3 for the value of Z.

[0309] Optionally, in a cross-carrier scheduling scenario, the terminal equipment may

[0310]

number

[0311] where K 0min is the K valid on the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell. 0min and Z μ is the Z of the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell μ is the value corresponding to (Z μ (See Table 3 for values ​​of μPDCCH, μPDCCH is the subcarrier spacing parameter of the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell, and μPDCCH is the subcarrier spacing parameter of the active DL BWP of the scheduling cell.

[0312] The above implementation can ensure that the terminal device can stop monitoring the PDCCH after obtaining information about the second DCI through analysis.

[0313] In a sixth possible implementation, the start time of the first duration is a time after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the second DCI.

[0314] The HARQ feedback may include acknowledgement (ACK) feedback or negative acknowledgement (NACK) feedback.

[0315] After receiving the PDSCH, the terminal device may further perform ACK feedback or NACK feedback. The first duration may start after the terminal device feedbacks the ACK or NACK. The second DCI may indicate a slot in which the HARQ feedback is located.

[0316] Optionally, the start of the first duration may be the start of a slot in which the terminal device transmits an ACK or NACK, or the start of a slot following the slot in which the terminal device transmits an ACK or NACK. The start of the first duration may be the start or end of a symbol in which the terminal device transmits an ACK or NACK.

[0317] Optionally, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH during the first duration only when the terminal device feeds back an ACK. The start time of the first duration may be after the terminal device feeds back an ACK. Optionally, the start time of the first duration may be the start time of the slot in which the terminal device transmits an ACK, or the start time of the slot following the slot in which the terminal device transmits an ACK.

[0318] In the above implementation, the terminal device starts to stop monitoring the PDCCH after performing the PDSCH transmission, which helps to implement communication between the terminal device and the network device.

[0319] Optionally, the start time of the first duration may alternatively be later than the time determined in at least two of the first through sixth possible implementations, e.g., the start time of the first duration is later than the time determined in at least one of the first through third possible implementations and at least one of the fourth through sixth possible implementations.

[0320] For example, the BWP switch delay in the first possible implementation is compared with the time offset in the fourth possible implementation, and the start time of the initial duration is determined based on the larger of the two. As another example, the BWP switch delay in the first possible implementation is compared with the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI in the fifth possible implementation, and the start time of the initial duration is determined based on the larger of the two. As another example, the BWP switch delay in the first possible implementation is compared with the ACK or NACK feedback time in the sixth possible implementation, and the start time of the initial duration is determined based on the larger of the two. As another example, the slot offset K0 of the PDSCH indicated by the second DCI in the second possible implementation (used to indicate the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP) is compared with the time offset in the fourth possible implementation, and the start time of the initial duration is determined based on the larger of the two. As another example, the slot offset K0 of the PDSCH indicated by the second DCI in the second possible implementation (used to indicate the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the target DL BWP) is compared with the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the second DCI in the fifth possible implementation, and the start time of the initial duration is determined based on the larger of the two. As another example, the slot offset K0 of the PDSCH indicated by the second DCI in the second possible implementation is compared with the ACK or NACK feedback time in the sixth possible implementation, and the start time of the initial duration is determined based on the larger of the two. In general, the symbol position for transmitting the ACK or NACK is after the symbol position for transmitting the PDSCH, and the slot for transmitting the ACK or NACK and the slot for transmitting the PDSCH may be the same slot or different slots.

[0321] If the start of the first duration is later than the end of the BWP switch delay, or if the start of the first duration is after the slot in which the PDSCH scheduled by using the second DCI is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, the behavior of monitoring the PDCCH by the terminal device after the BWP switch delay and before the start of the first duration may include:

[0322] If an SSSG is not configured on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the target BWP based on the configured SS set, or if an SSSG is configured on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSG. For example, the network device configures an SSSG on the target BWP. There may be two SSSGs, SSSG0 (i.e., the SSSG index is 0) and SSSG1 (i.e., the SSSG index is 1). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 or the SS set of SSSG1.

[0323] Optionally, there may be three SSSGs: SSSG0 (i.e., the SSSG index is 0), SSSG1 (i.e., the SSSG index is 1), and SSSG2 (i.e., the SSSG index is 2). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, the SS set of SSSG1, or the SS set of SSSG2.

[0324] In one implementation, an SSSG is configured on the target BWP, and on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on an SS set of the SSSG agreed in the protocol, where the SSSG agreed in the protocol may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, an SSSG is configured on the target BWP, and it is agreed in the protocol that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the target BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0. In another implementation, the network device may configure one SSSG as the SSSG used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH on the target BWP. For example, the SSSG configured by the network device is SSSG0. In this case, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the target BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0. On the target BWP, the terminal device starts monitoring the PDCCH from the slot in which the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI is located. Therefore, the behavior of the terminal device monitoring the PDCCH after the BWP switch delay and before the start of the first duration may include the above-mentioned method. Alternatively, it may be understood that the behavior of monitoring the PDCCH by the terminal device from a slot before the start of the first duration and in which the PDSCH scheduled by using the second DCI is located may include the method described above.

[0325] For example, FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 16, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures DL BWP 1 and DL BWP 2 in a cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz, the BWP switch delay may be 2 slots, the subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 2 may be 60 kHz, and the slot offset K0 between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI may be 4 slots. It should be understood that K0 may be equal to or greater than the BWP switch delay. It should further be understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The length of the slot included in the initial duration and K0 is the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the destination BWP, i.e., the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The length of the slot included in the BWP switch delay is the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should further be understood that the number of slots included in the initial duration K0 and the BWP switch delay are merely examples, which are not limiting in the embodiments of the present application.

[0326] DL BWP 1 is currently the active BWP, and the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP 1. The terminal equipment detects that the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates DL BWP 2 and instructs the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH for the first duration. Furthermore, the second DCI is used to schedule the transmission of the PDSCH. Furthermore, the terminal equipment sends an ACK or N to the network equipment. A CK feedback must be performed. The start of the first duration is after the duration of the ACK or NACK feedback. NIt should be understood that the ACK only indicates that the time sequence is after the PDSCH, and does not indicate that the ACK or NACK and the PDSCH are on the same BWP.

[0327] As shown in FIG. 16, the terminal device transmits a PDSCH on DL BWP2 after a BWP switch delay (2 slots) based on the second DCI, and sends an ACK or N A Implement CK feedback.

[0328] If the SSSG is not configured on the DL BWP 2, after the BWP switch delay and before the start of the first duration, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the configured SS set.

[0329] For method 1000, if parameters for an SSSG switching mechanism and / or parameters for a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism are configured / not configured on an active DL BWP, and if the bit field in the second DCI does not indicate skipping an SSSG switch and / or PDCCH monitoring within the first duration, the second DCI may indicate performing a DL BWP switch but does not indicate skipping an SSSG switch and / or PDCCH monitoring within the first duration.

[0330] The terminal device receives the second DCI on the active DL BWP, performs a DL BWP switch, and monitors the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP.

[0331] The terminal device monitoring the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP includes the following:

[0332] If an SSSG is not configured on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the target BWP based on the configured SS set. Alternatively, if an SSSG is configured on the target BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSGs. For example, the network device configures an SSSG on the target BWP. There may be two SSSGs, SSSG0 and SSSG1. The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 or the SS set of SSSG1.

[0333] Optionally, there may be three SSSGs: SSSG0, SSSG1, and SSSG2. A terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, the SS set of SSSG1, or the SS set of SSSG2.

[0334] In one implementation, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and on the destination BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on an SS set of the SSSG agreed in the protocol, where the SSSG agreed in the protocol may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and it is agreed in the protocol that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0. In another implementation, the network equipment may configure one SSSG as the SSSG used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH on the destination BWP. For example, the SSSG configured by the network equipment is SSSG0. In this case, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0.

[0335] Optionally, the network device may transmit a third DCI to the terminal device on the currently active DL BWP, where the third DCI may further carry scheduling information for the PUSCH. In a TDD scenario, the terminal device switches to the UL BWP of the indicator field in the third DCI based on the third DCI, and simultaneously switches the DL BWP. In other words, the terminal device simultaneously switches between the UL BWP and the DL BWP. The terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH in the target DL BWP based on the fact that monitoring of the PDCCH is stopped within the initial duration indicated by the third DCI, and determines the start time of the initial duration in at least one of the following manners: the next slot after the UL BWP switch delay; the slot in which the PUSCH is transmitted on the target UL BWP; or the slot following the slot in which the PUSCH is transmitted on the target UL BWP. A time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the third DCI. The maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the third DCI, where for a description of the duration for analyzing the third DCI, please refer to the duration for analyzing the second DCI. A time point after the PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the third DCI. Or a time point after the uplink retransmission timer (UL retransmission timer) of C-DRX has expired. Optionally, at least two aspects can be further compared to determine a later time point as the start time of the initial duration. For details, please refer to the description in the paragraph above. Details will not be described again in this specification.

[0336] The BWP indicator field in the third DCI indicates an identifier of a UL BWP (UL BWP 2), which is different from the identifier of the currently active UL BWP (UL BWP 1). Based on the third DCI, the network equipment and the terminal equipment may switch from the currently active UL BWP 1 to UL BWP 2 and use UL BWP 2 as the new active UL BWP. The terminal equipment receives the PUSCH scheduled by using the third DCI on UL BWP 2.

[0337] In a TDD scenario, the UL BWP and the DL BWP are associated, and the DL BWP and the UL BWP with the same identifier have the same center frequency. Therefore, in a TDD scenario, when the UL BWP is switched, the DL BWP is also switched accordingly. Specifically, when the terminal equipment switches from the UL BWP 1 to the UL BWP 2, the terminal equipment may also switch from the DL BWP 1 to the DL BWP 2.

[0338] In a TDD scenario, the terminal device may determine the start of the initial duration based on at least one of the following: the next slot after the UL BWP switch delay, the slot in which the PUSCH is transmitted on the destination UL BWP, the slot following the slot in which the PUSCH is transmitted on the destination UL BWP, the time offset between the start of the initial duration and the third DCI, the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the third DCI, or the time after the PUSCH scheduled by using the third DCI is transmitted.

[0339] Optionally, if a search space set group (SSSG) switching mechanism is configured for the terminal device, when the second or third DCI indicates to perform an SSSG switch, i.e., the second or third DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on one of the search space set groups and to perform a BWP switch. The method in method 1000 is also applicable. The start time of the first duration is the time when the SSSG indicated by the second or third DCI begins to take effect for the destination DL BWP. This can be understood as follows: That is, the start time of the SSSG (also referred to as the SSSG effect time), i.e., the start time when the terminal device starts monitoring the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP based on the SSSG indicated by the second or third DCI, can be determined according to the method in method 1000. The difference lies in that the start time of the first duration is replaced with the SSSG effect time. Details will not be described again. Optionally, the implementation for the start point at which the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP based on the SSSG indicated by the second or third DCI (sometimes referred to as the start point of the SSSG for short) may differ from the implementation for determining the start point of the initial duration.

[0340] The second DCI or the third DCI may instruct the execution of an SSSG switch and may instruct the execution of a BWP switch. If the start point of the SSSG is later than the end point of the BWP switch delay or after the slot in which the PDSCH scheduled by using the second DCI is located, the behavior of the terminal device monitoring the PDCCH after the BWP switch delay and before the start point of the SSSG may be as follows: The terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on one SS set of the SSSG.

[0341] For example, the network device configures an SSSG on the target BWP. There may be two SSSGs: SSSG0 (i.e., the SSSG index is 0) and SSSG1 (i.e., the SSSG index is 1). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 or the SS set of SSSG1.

[0342] Optionally, there may be three SSSGs: SSSG0 (i.e., SSSG index is 0), SSSG1 (i.e., SSSG index is 1), and SSSG2 (i.e., SSSG index is 2). The terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, the SS set of SSSG1, or the SS set of SSSG2.

[0343] In one implementation, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and on the destination BWP, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on an SS set of the SSSG agreed in the protocol, where the SSSG agreed in the protocol may be SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2. For example, an SSSG is configured on the destination BWP, and it is agreed in the protocol that the terminal device monitors the PDCCH of the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0. In another implementation, the network equipment may configure one SSSG as the SSSG used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH on the destination BWP. For example, the SSSG configured by the network equipment is SSSG0. In this case, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the destination BWP based on the SS set of SSSG0.

[0344] On the destination BWP, the terminal device starts monitoring the PDCCH from the slot where the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI is located. Therefore, the behavior of the terminal device monitoring the PDCCH after the BWP switch delay and before the SSSG effect occurs may include the method described above. Alternatively, it can be understood that the behavior of the terminal device monitoring the PDCCH from the slot where the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI is located before the SSSG effect occurs may include the method described above. For example, FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in FIG. 17, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures DL BWP 1 and DL BWP 2 in the cell. The subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 1 may be 30 kHz, the BWP switch delay may be 2 slots, the subcarrier spacing of DL BWP 2 may be 60 kHz, and the slot offset K0 between the PDCCH carrying the second DCI and the PDSCH scheduled using the second DCI may be 4 slots. It should be further understood that different subcarrier spacings correspond to different slot lengths. The slot length included in K0 is the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of the destination BWP, i.e., the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The slot length included in the BWP switch delay is the slot length corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. It should be further understood that the number of slots included in K0 and the BWP switch delay are merely exemplary. This is not a limitation in the embodiments of the present application.

[0345] DL BWP 1 is the currently active BWP, and the terminal equipment monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP 1. The terminal equipment detects that the BWP indicator field in the second DCI indicates DL BWP 2, and the second DCI instructs the terminal equipment to perform an SSSG switch, and the second DCI is used to schedule the transmission of the PDSCH. Furthermore, the terminal equipment sends an ACK or N to the network equipment. A CK feedback must be performed. The start of SSSG is after the duration of ACK or NACK feedback.

[0346] As shown in FIG. 17, the terminal device transmits a PDSCH on DL BWP 2 after a BWP switch delay (2 slots) based on the second DCI, and sends an ACK or N A While CK feedback is being executed, SSSG switch is executed. N It should be understood that this only indicates that the ACK is time-sequential after the PDSCH, and does not indicate that the ACK or NACK and the PDSCH are on the same BWP.

[0347] After the BWP switch delay and before the start of the SSSG, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on one SS Set of the SSSG.

[0348] Optionally, the following method in method 1000 is also applicable to method 600 and method 800. That is, the terminal device may determine the start time of the initial duration based on at least one of a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the first DCI, a maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, a time point after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back when the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time point after a PUSCH is transmitted when the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI. Details will not be described again in this specification.

[0349] The terminal device may support the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism but not the SSSG switching mechanism, or the terminal device may support the SSSG switching mechanism but not the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism. Furthermore, the terminal device may further support both the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and the SSSG switching mechanism.

[0350] If multiple DL BWPs exist, the network equipment may configure the same or different mechanisms for the terminal equipment on the different DL BWPs.

[0351] For example, if there are three DL BWPs, the three DL BWPs are DL BWP 1, DL BWP 2, and DL BWP 3. DL BWP 1, DL BWP 2, and DL BWP 3 may all support the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism but not the SSSG switching mechanism. Alternatively, DL BWP 1 supports the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism but does not support the SSSG switching mechanism, DL BWP 2 supports the SSSG switching mechanism but does not support the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism, and DL BWP 3 supports the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and also supports the SSSG switching mechanism.

[0352] Optionally, the DL BWP may not support the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and may not support the SSSG mechanism.

[0353] The terminal equipment may report the mechanism supported by the terminal equipment (PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and / or SSSG switching mechanism) to the network equipment in an explicit or implicit manner, and the network equipment may perform configuration for the terminal equipment based on the mechanism reported by the terminal equipment. For example, the network equipment configures the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and / or SSSG switching mechanism of the terminal equipment by using RRC signaling. In the embodiments of the present application, the specific reporting manner of the terminal equipment is not limited, and the specific configuration manner of the network equipment is also not limited.

[0354] For example, the support mechanism reported by the terminal equipment to the network equipment is a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism, and the network equipment may configure the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism for the terminal equipment.

[0355] When the network equipment and the terminal equipment decide on a support mechanism, the network equipment may further instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment by using the DCI.

[0356] In a possible implementation, the mechanism determined by the network equipment and the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP is a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism, and the network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment by using a bit value in the DCI. The network equipment may be understood as configuring the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism for the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP.

[0357] For example, if the quantity of the initial duration T in the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism is 1, the network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment based on the mapping relationship shown in Table 4. If the quantity of the initial duration T in the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism is greater than 1 (e.g., 3), the network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment based on the mapping relationship shown in Table 5. Different initial durations T may be represented by subscript numbers, such as T1, T2, and T3. The network equipment may configure one or more initial durations for the terminal equipment by using RRC signaling. This table is merely an example. Alternatively, the mapping relationship between bits in DCI and the behavior of the terminal equipment may be in another form. This is not a limitation of the present invention.

[0358] [Table 4]

[0359] [Table 5]

[0360] As shown in Table 4, the quantity of the initial duration T in the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism is 1, and the network equipment can instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment by using a bit in the DCI. If the value of the bit is 0, the DCI instructs the terminal equipment to monitor the PDCCH (i.e., monitor the PDCCH based on the configured SS set). Alternatively, it can be understood that the terminal equipment does not skip monitoring the PDCCH. If the value of the bit is 1, the DCI instructs the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration.

[0361] As shown in Table 5, the quantity of the initial duration T in the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism is equal to 3, and the three initial durations are T1, T2, and T3. The network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment by using two bits in the DCI. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal equipment to monitor the PDCCH (i.e., monitor the PDCCH based on the configured SS set). If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T1. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T2. ​​If the value of the two bits is 11, the DCI instructs the terminal equipment to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T3. Optionally, if the network equipment does not configure the initial duration T3, the value of the two bits is reserved to be 11, i.e., is meaningless.

[0362] In another possible implementation, the mechanism determined by the network equipment and the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP is the SSSG switching mechanism, and the network equipment may indicate the behavior of the terminal equipment by using a bit value in the DCI, which may be understood as the network equipment configuring the SSSG switching mechanism for the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP.

[0363] For example, if a network device configures two SSSGs, the network device may instruct the behavior of the terminal device based on the mapping relationship shown in Table 6. If a network device configures three SSSGs, the network device may instruct the behavior of the terminal device based on the mapping relationship shown in Table 7.

[0364] [Table 6]

[0365] [Table 7]

[0366] As shown in Table 6, when a network device configures two SSSGs, SSSG0 and SSSG1, the network device may instruct the terminal device behavior by using a bit in the DCI. If the bit value is 0, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. If the bit value is 1, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0.

[0367] As shown in Table 7, when the network device configures three SSSGs, SSG0, SSSG1, and SSSG2, the network device can use two bits in the DCI to indicate the behavior of the terminal device. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS sets of SSSG1 and SSSG2. If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS sets of SSSG0 and SSSG2. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG2 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS sets of SSSG0 and SSSG1. The value of the two bits is reserved to be 11.

[0368] In yet another possible implementation, the mechanisms determined by the network equipment and the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP are a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and an SSSG switching mechanism, and the network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment by using a bit value in the DCI. It can be understood that the network equipment configures the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and the SSSG switching mechanism for the terminal equipment on the active DL BWP.

[0369] For example, the mechanisms determined by the network equipment and the terminal equipment are a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and an SSSG switching mechanism. When the network equipment configures two SSSGs, SSSG0 and SSSG1, and the quantity of the initial duration T is 1, the network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment based on the mapping relationship shown in Table 8 or Table 9. When the network equipment configures two SSSGs, SSSG0 and SSSG1, and the quantity of the initial duration T is 2, the network equipment may instruct the behavior of the terminal equipment based on the mapping relationship shown in Table 10 or Table 11.

[0370] [Table 8]

[0371] [Table 9]

[0372] [Table 10]

[0373] [Table 11]

[0374] As shown in Table 8, the network device may instruct the terminal device's behavior by using two bits in the DCI. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T, and the terminal device may remain in the current SSSG without switching SSSGs. The value of the two bits is reserved to be 11.

[0375] As shown in Table 9, the network device may instruct the terminal device's behavior by using two bits in the DCI. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal device to switch to or remain in SSSG0 and stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T. If the value of the two bits is 11, the DCI instructs the terminal device to switch to or remain in SSSG1 and stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T.

[0376] As shown in Table 10, the network device may instruct the terminal device's behavior by using two bits in the DCI. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal device to switch to or remain in SSSG0 and stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration T1. If the value of the two bits is 11, the DCI instructs the terminal device to switch to or remain in SSSG0 and stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration T2.

[0377] As shown in Table 11, the network device may instruct the terminal device's behavior by using two bits in the DCI. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration T1, and the terminal device may remain in the current SSSG without switching SSSGs. If the value of the two bits is 11, the DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration T2, and the terminal device may remain in the current SSSG without switching SSSGs.

[0378] For example, the mechanisms determined by the network device and the terminal device are a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and an SSSG switching mechanism. If the network device configures three SSSGs, SSSG0, SSSG1, and SSSG2, and the initial duration is T, the network device may instruct the behavior of the terminal device based on any one of the mapping relationships shown in Table 12.

[0379] [Table 12]

[0380] As shown in Table 12, the network device may instruct the terminal device's behavior by using two bits in the DCI. If the values ​​of the two bits are 00, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS sets of SSSG1 and SSSG2. If the values ​​of the two bits are 01, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS sets of SSSG0 and SSSG2. If the value of the two bits is 10, the DCI instructs the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG2 and not to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS sets of SSSG0 and SSSG1. If the value of the two bits is 11, the DCI instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration T, and the terminal device may remain in the current SSSG without switching SSSGs.

[0381] In this embodiment of the present application, one or two bits in the mapping relationships shown in Tables 4 to 12 are referred to as the "first field." The names are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0382] In the methods 600, 800, and 1000, the behavior of the terminal device on the destination BWP may be determined based on the value of the first field in the DCI and the mapping relationship to the first field in the destination BWP.

[0383] For example, in methods 600, 800, and 1000, the terminal device supports a PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism, and the terminal device may perform the following operations based on the value of the first field in the second DCI or the third DCI: The terminal device's behavior corresponding to the value of the first field determined separately in Tables 4 to 12 to determine the behavior on the destination BWP. In other words, the PDCCH monitoring is stopped at the start of the first duration, or the PDCCH is monitored at the start of the SSSG based on the SSSG indicated by the second DCI or the third DCI.

[0384] Optionally, when the terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the target BWP, the network device may send a DCI on the target BWP to instruct the terminal device to behave, i.e., to switch the SSSG and / or to skip PDCCH monitoring. The terminal device may perform corresponding operations based on the received DCI.

[0385] Optionally, the behavior of monitoring the PDCCH by the terminal device after the BWP switch delay and before the start of the first duration or the start of the SSSG based on the first field may be, by default, the behavior of the terminal device corresponding to "0" or "00" in the mapping relationship to the first field in the DCI. It may be understood that the mapping relationship to the first field is agreed upon in the above-mentioned protocol.

[0386] Optionally, the network equipment configures a timer for the terminal equipment, which is used for the BWP switch. When the timer expires, the terminal equipment performs a DL BWP switch. In response, the network equipment may also perform a DL BWP switch. On the destination DL BWP, the default behavior of the terminal equipment for PDCCH monitoring may be the terminal equipment behavior corresponding to "0" or "00" in a mapping relationship to the first field in the DCI.

[0387] Optionally, in method 1000, if the second DCI or the third DCI does not have the first field but may indicate performing a BWP switch, the terminal device performs a DL BWP switch based on the second DCI or the third DCI. On the destination DL BWP, the default behavior of the terminal device for PDCCH monitoring may be the behavior of the terminal device corresponding to "0" or "00" in a mapping relationship to the first field in the DCI.

[0388] The terminal device may support both the PDCCH monitoring skipping mechanism and the SSSG switching mechanism. The network device may use one DCI to instruct the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH for an initial duration and to instruct the terminal device to perform an SSSG switch.

[0389] For example, Figure 18 is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method 1800 for stopping monitoring a PDCCH according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 1800 may be applied to the communication system 500 shown in Figure 5. However, the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 18, the method 1800 may include the following steps:

[0390] S1801: The network device sends a fourth DCI to the terminal device on an active DL BWP, the fourth DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration and instructing the terminal device to perform SSSG switching, where the PDCCHs to be stopped from monitoring include PDCCHs in a common search space set of Type 3 and PDCCHs in a terminal device-specific search space set. In response, the terminal device receives the fourth DCI on the active DL BWP.

[0391] The fourth DCI may instruct the terminal device to perform an SSSG switch, specifically, the fourth DCI may instruct the terminal device to switch to the first search space set group. For example, the fourth DCI may instruct the terminal device to switch to SSSG0, SSSG1, or SSSG2.

[0392] The terminal device may currently monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0, or the terminal device may currently monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1, or the terminal device may currently monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG2. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. If the SSSG currently used by the terminal device is the same as the SSSG indicated by the fourth DCI, it indicates that the SSSG used by the terminal device has not been switched.

[0393] S1802: The terminal device determines the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG based on the fourth DCI, stops monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration, and monitors the PDCCH at the start point of the SSSG based on the SSSG indicated by the fourth DCI.

[0394] S1803: The network device determines the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG.

[0395] The sequences S1802 and S1803 are indistinguishable.

[0396] The network device may transmit a PDCCH in the SSSG indicated by the fourth DCI after the start of the SSSG without transmitting a PDCCH within the first duration.

[0397] The method for determining the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG by the network equipment may be the same as the method for determining the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG by the terminal equipment.

[0398] Optionally, in a scenario with multiple DL BWPs, the fourth DCI may simultaneously instruct to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration, to perform an SSSG switch, and to perform a BWP switch.

[0399] In the method 1000, if the function of instructing an SSSG switch is added to the second DCI, the second DCI may be understood to be the same as the four DCIs.

[0400] There are several possible implementations of the method for determining the start of the first duration and the start of the SSSG by the terminal equipment.

[0401] In a possible implementation, the terminal device first determines the start time of the initial duration. The terminal device may determine the start time of the initial duration based on the implementation of determining the start time of the initial duration in method 1000. Then, after the initial duration, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of the SSSG indicated by the DCI (e.g., the fourth DCI). Before the initial duration ends, the terminal device remains in the current SSSG, and after the initial duration, the terminal device may monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set of the SSSG indicated by the fourth DCI. Accordingly, in the same implementation, the network device may determine the start time of the initial duration, and after the initial duration, the network device may transmit the PDCCH to the terminal device based on the SS set of the SSSG indicated by the fourth DCI. In this aspect, it should be understood that the start time of the SSSG is a time after the initial duration. Alternatively, the start time of the SSSG may be understood to be the next slot or symbol after the initial duration.

[0402] Specifically, an implementation for determining the start time of the first duration may include: (1) the time offset between the start of the first duration and the fourth DCI; (2) The start point of the first duration is the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the fourth DCI, and the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the fourth DCI. Maximum value; (3) When the PDSCH is scheduled by using the fourth DCI, the time after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back; and (4) When the PUSCH is scheduled by using the fourth DCI, the time after the PUSCH is transmitted or the time after the uplink retransmission timer (UL retransmission timer) in C-DRX has expired.

[0403] For specific descriptions of the four implementations, please refer to the descriptions of the fourth possible implementation to the sixth possible implementation, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0404] The terminal device and the network device may determine the start of the initial duration in at least one of four ways.

[0405] For example, Figure 19 is a schematic diagram showing stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in Figure 19, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures SSSG0 and SSSG1 on the active DL BWP. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG0 use a 1-slot period. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG1 use a 2-slot period. It should be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG1 are interspersed compared to the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG0.

[0406] The terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH during the first duration and switch to SSSG1 by using the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI through monitoring. As shown in FIG. 19, the terminal device determines based on the fourth DCI that the time offset between the start of the first duration and the fourth DCI is 1 slot, and does not monitor the PDCCH during the first duration (6 slots). After the first duration, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. During the first duration (6 slots), the terminal device remains in SSSG0.

[0407] Optionally, in a scenario with multiple DL BWPs, the fourth DCI may simultaneously instruct the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH, perform an SSSG switch, and perform a BWP switch within an initial duration. The terminal device may first determine the start time of the initial duration. On the destination BWP, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration, and after the initial duration, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of the SSSG indicated by the fourth DCI. On the destination BWP, before the initial duration ends, the terminal device may select an SSSG, for example, SSSG0, or one of the SSSGs with the same index as the SSSG used by the terminal device on the source BWP.

[0408] In another possible implementation, the start point of the first duration is the same as the start point of the SSSG. Specific methods may include: Method 1: determining the start point of the first duration and using the start point of the first duration as the start point of the SSSG; Method 2: determining the start point of the SSSG and using the start point of the SSSG as the start point of the first duration; or Method 3: determining the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG separately and using the later of the two as the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG.

[0409] Implementations for determining the start time of the SSSG may include: (1) the time offset between the start of the SSSG and the fourth DCI; (2) The starting point of the SSSG is the maximum value between the minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the fourth DCI, and the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI and the PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the fourth DCI. (3) When the PDSCH is scheduled by using the fourth DCI, the time after the HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH is fed back; and (4) When the PUSCH is scheduled by using the fourth DCI, the time after the PUSCH is transmitted or the time after the uplink retransmission timer (UL retransmission timer) of the C-DRX has expired.

[0410] For example, Figure 20 is a schematic diagram showing stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in Figure 20, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures SSSG0 and SSSG1 on the active DL BWP. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG0 use a 1-slot period. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG1 use a 2-slot period. It should be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG1 are scattered compared to the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG0.

[0411] The terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration by using the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI and instructs the terminal device to switch to SSSG1. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI through monitoring. As shown in FIG. 20, Scheme 1 is used as an example. The terminal device determines based on the fourth DCI that the time offset between the start of the first duration and the fourth DCI is one slot, and uses the start of the first duration as the start of the SSSG. In this case, the time offset between the start of the first duration, the start of the SSSG, and the fourth DCI is all one slot. The terminal device switches to SSSG1 at the start of the first duration, stops monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration (6 slots), and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1 after the first duration (6 slots). Within the first duration (6 slots), the SSSG in which the terminal equipment is located can be understood to be SSSG1.

[0412] Optionally, the same specific implementation for the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG further includes Scheme 3. That is, the above-described implementation for determining the start point of the first duration may be used for the start point of the first duration. The above-described implementation for determining the start point of the first duration may also be used for the start point of the SSSG. If the determined start point of the first duration is different from the determined start point of the SSSG, the later of the two is determined as the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG.

[0413] Optionally, in a scenario with multiple DL BWPs, the fourth DCI may simultaneously instruct to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration, perform an SSSG switch, and perform a BWP switch. The terminal device determines that the start point of the first duration is the same as the start point of the SSSG. Specific methods may include: Scheme 1: determine the start point of the first duration and use the start point of the SSSG as the start point of the first duration; Scheme 2: determine the start point of the SSSG and use the start point of the SSSG as the start point of the first duration; or Scheme 3: determine the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG separately, and use the later of the two as the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG. For details on determining the start point of the first duration and the start point of the SSSG, please refer to the description in method 1000. Details will not be described again in this specification.

[0414] For example, an implementation of determining the start of the first duration or the start of the SSSG may further include at least one of the following schemes: (1) the next slot after the BWP switch delay, (2) the slots in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP, and (3) The slot following the slot in which the PDSCH is transmitted on the destination DL BWP.

[0415] The terminal device may determine the start of the first duration and the start of the SSSG in at least one of the three ways described above.

[0416] In yet another possible implementation, the start point of the initial duration and the start point of the SSSG are determined separately. The implementation for determining the start point of the initial duration in method 1800 may be used for the start point of the initial duration. The implementation for determining the start point of the initial duration in method 1800 may also be used for the start point of the SSSG. The determined start point of the initial duration may be different from the determined start point of the SSSG. For example, the start point of the initial duration may be determined based on a time offset between the start point of the initial duration and the fourth DCI, and the start point of the SSSG may be determined based on the time when HARQ corresponding to the PDSCH scheduled by using the fourth DCI is fed back. The obtained start point of the initial duration is different from the determined start point of the SSSG.

[0417] For example, Figure 21 is a schematic diagram showing stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in Figure 21, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures SSSG0 and SSSG1 on the active DL BWP. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG0 use a 1-slot period. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG1 use a 2-slot period. It should be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG1 are scattered compared to the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG0.

[0418] The terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH during the initial duration, switch to SSSG1, and schedule the PDSCH by using the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI through monitoring. As shown in FIG. 21, the terminal device determines based on the fourth DCI that the time offset between the start of the initial duration and the fourth DCI is one slot, and the PDSCH is transmitted in the slot where the start of the initial duration is located. The terminal device further determines that the start of the SSSG is after the ACK is transmitted, i.e., stops monitoring the PDCCH during the initial duration (6 slots), and determines that the valid SSSG during the initial duration is SSSG0, i.e., the terminal device is still in SSSG0. After the terminal device transmits the ACK, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG1. It can be understood that the effective SSSG of the terminal device does not change before the start of the SSSG.

[0419] Optionally, in a scenario with multiple DL BWPs, the start time of the initial duration and the start time of the SSSG may also be determined separately. The implementation of determining the start time of the initial duration in method 1000 may be used for the start time of the initial duration. The implementation of determining the start time of the initial duration in method 1000 may also be used for the start time of the SSSG. The determined start time of the initial duration may be different from the determined start time of the SSSG. The effective SSSG of the terminal device does not change before the start time of the SSSG.

[0420] In another possible implementation, the terminal device may first determine the start time of the initial duration. For the implementation of determining the start time of the initial duration, please refer to the description of method 1000. Details will not be described again in this specification. Then, the terminal device determines the start time of the SSSG after the initial duration, skips SSSG switching before the start time of the SSSG, and monitors the PDCCH after the start time of the SSSG based on the SS set of the SSSG indicated by the DCI. The terminal device and the network device determine the start time of the initial duration. continuation It can be understood that the end of time is used as a reference to determine the start of the SSSG.

[0421] The start point of the SSSG may be determined based on a time offset between the start point of the SSSG and the end point of the first duration. The time offset between the start point of the SSSG and the end point of the first duration may be predefined or configured by the network equipment. For the value of the time offset, refer to the value of the time offset between the start point of the first duration and the DCI in method 1000. Details will not be described again herein.

[0422] For example, Figure 22 is a schematic diagram showing stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in Figure 22, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures SSSG0 and SSSG1 on an active DL BWP. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG0 use a period of 1 slot. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG1 use a period of 2 slots. It should be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG1 are interspersed compared to the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG0. The initial duration may be 6 slots.

[0423] The terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration and switch to SSSG1 by using the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI through monitoring. As shown in FIG. 22, the terminal device determines based on the fourth DCI that the time offset between the start of the first duration and the fourth DCI is one slot, and stops monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration (6 slots). The terminal device determines that the time offset between the start of the SSSG and the end of the first duration is two slots. That is, two slots after the end of the first duration, the terminal device switches to the SS set of SSSG1 and monitors the PDCCH. After the end of the first duration and before the start of the SSSG, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0.

[0424] Optionally, in a scenario with multiple DL BWPs, the fourth DCI may simultaneously instruct the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH, switch to SSSG1, and perform a BWP switch within the initial duration. For the determination of the start time of the initial duration by the terminal device, please refer to the description of method 1000. Details will not be described again herein.

[0425] In yet another possible implementation, the terminal device may first determine the start time of the SSSG. For an implementation of determining the start time of the SSSG, please refer to the description of method 1000. Details will not be described again herein. Then, the terminal device determines the start time of the initial duration. Before the start time of the initial duration, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of the SSSG indicated by the DCI. After the start time of the initial duration, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH within the initial duration. It may be understood that the terminal device and the network device determine the start time of the initial duration by using the start time of the SSSG as a reference point.

[0426] The start time of the first duration may be determined based on a time offset between the start time of the SSSG and the start time of the first duration. The time offset between the start time of the SSSG and the start time of the first duration may be predefined or configured by the network equipment. For the value of the time offset, refer to the value of the time offset between the start time of the first duration and the DCI in method 1000. Details will not be described again herein.

[0427] For example, Figure 23 is a schematic diagram showing stopping PDCCH monitoring. As shown in Figure 23, blocks filled with black patterns indicate PDCCH monitoring opportunities where the terminal device needs to perform monitoring. The network device configures SSSG0 and SSSG1 on the active DL BWP. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG0 use a period of 1 slot. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities of the SS set of SSSG1 use a period of 2 slots. It should be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG1 are interspersed compared to the PDCCH monitoring opportunities of SSSG0. The initial duration may be 6 slots.

[0428] The terminal device monitors the PDCCH on the active DL BWP and monitors the PDCCH based on the SS set of SSSG0. The network device instructs the terminal device to stop monitoring the PDCCH during the first duration by using the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI and instructs the terminal device to switch to SSSG1. The terminal device acquires the PDCCH carrying the fourth DCI through monitoring. As shown in FIG. 22, the terminal device determines based on the fourth DCI that the time offset between the start of the SSSG and the fourth DCI is one slot. The terminal device switches to the SS set of SSSG1 and monitors the PDCCH. The terminal device determines that the time offset between the start of the first duration and the start of the SSSG is two slots, i.e., two slots after the start of the SSSG, the terminal device stops monitoring the PDCCH during the first duration. After the first duration, the PDCCH is still monitored based on the SS set of SSSG1.

[0429] Optionally, in a scenario with multiple DL BWPs, the fourth DCI may simultaneously instruct to stop monitoring the PDCCH within the first duration, switch to SSSG1, and perform a BWP switch. For the determination of the start time of the SSSG by the terminal device, please refer to the description of method 1000. Details will not be described again herein.

[0430] The sequence numbers of the processes described above do not imply an execution sequence, and the execution sequence of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logic of the processes, but should not be construed as any restriction on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0431] Above, the method for stopping monitoring of PDCCH in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with reference to Figures 1 to 13. Hereinafter, the communication device in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to Figures 14 and 15.

[0432] 14 shows a communication device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application. The device 1400 includes a transceiver unit 1410 and a processing unit 1420.

[0433] In an optional example, those skilled in the art may understand that the apparatus 1400 may specifically be a terminal device in the method 600, the method 800, or the method 1000, or the functions of the terminal device in the method 600, the method 800, the method 1800, or the method 1000 may be integrated into the apparatus 1400. The above-described functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software may include one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The apparatus 1400 may be configured to perform procedures and / or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

[0434] For example, the apparatus 1400 may specifically be a terminal device in the method 600. The transceiver unit 1410 is configured to receive an active downlink DL bandwidth. portion The device is configured to receive first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device over a BWP, the first DCI indicating to the device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within an initial duration, the PDCCHs to be stopped including PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a device-specific search space set. The processing unit 1420 is configured to: execute a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch, the expiration of the timer being earlier than the end of the initial duration; stop monitoring the PDCCHs within the initial duration and before the timer expires; and perform a DL BWP switch upon the expiration of the timer; and monitor the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP.

[0435] Optionally, the processing unit 1420 is further configured to: start or restart a timer when indication information is received from a network device on an active DL BWP, where the indication information is used to schedule the apparatus to transmit a physical downlink shared channel PDSCH or a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH, or the indication information instructs the apparatus to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in the first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI.

[0436] Optionally, the length of the initial duration is configured by using radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

[0437] Optionally, apparatus 1400 determines a start time of the initial duration based on at least one of the following information: a time offset between the start time of the initial duration and the first DCI; a maximum value between a minimum slot offset and the duration for analyzing the first DCI, where the minimum slot offset is the minimum slot offset between a PDCCH carrying the first DCI and a PDSCH that is allowed to be scheduled by using the first DCI; a time point after a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) corresponding to a PDSCH is fed back if the PDSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI, or a time point after a PUSCH is transmitted if the PUSCH is scheduled by using the first DCI.

[0438] For example, the apparatus 1400 may specifically be a terminal device in the method 800. The transceiver unit 1410 is configured to perform a transceiver operation corresponding to the terminal device in step S801 of the method 800, and the processing unit 1420 is configured to perform a processing operation corresponding to the terminal device in the method 800. In an optional example, a person skilled in the art may specifically understand that the apparatus 1400 may be a network device in the method 600, the method 800, the method 1800, or the method 1000, or that the functions of the network device in the method 600, the method 800, the method 1800, or the method 1000 may be integrated into the apparatus 1400. The above-described functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The apparatus 1400 may be configured to perform procedures and / or steps corresponding to the network device in the above-described method embodiments.

[0439] For example, the apparatus 1400 may specifically be a network device in the method 800. The transceiver unit 1410 is configured to perform transceiver operations corresponding to the network device in S801 of the method 800, and the processing unit 1420 is configured to perform processing operations corresponding to the network device in the method 800.

[0440] It should be understood that the device 1400 is implemented entirely in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a dedicated processor, or a group processor) configured to execute one or more software or firmware programs, a memory, an integrated logic circuit, and / or another suitable component supporting the described functionality. In an optional example, a person skilled in the art may understand that the device 1400 may specifically be a terminal device or a network device in the above-described method embodiments, or that the functionality of the terminal device or the network device in the above-described method embodiments may be integrated into the device 1400. The device 1400 may be configured to perform procedures and / or steps corresponding to those of the terminal device or the network device in the above-described method embodiments. To avoid repetition, details will not be described again herein.

[0441] The apparatus 1400 has functions for implementing corresponding steps performed by a terminal device or a network device in the above-described method embodiments. The above-described functions may be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software may include one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

[0442] In this embodiment of the present application, the communication device in FIG. 14 may alternatively be a chip or a chip system, for example, a system on a chip (SoC).

[0443] 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating another communication device 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The device 1500 includes a processor 1510, a transceiver 1520, and a memory 1530. The processor 1510, the transceiver 1520, and the memory 1530 communicate with each other via an internal connection path. The memory 1530 is configured to store instructions. The processor 1510 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1530 and control the transceiver 1520 to transmit and / or receive signals.

[0444] It should be understood that apparatus 1500 may specifically be a terminal device or a network device in method 600, method 800, method 1800, or method 1000, or the functions of the terminal device or the network device in method 600, method 800, method 1800, or method 1000 may be integrated into apparatus 1500. Apparatus 1500 may be configured to perform steps and / or procedures corresponding to the terminal device or the network device in method 600, method 800, method 1800, or method 1000. Optionally, memory 1530 may include read-only memory and random access memory and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may further include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may further store device type information. Processor 1510 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory. When the processor executes the instructions, the processor may perform corresponding steps and / or procedures in method 600, method 800, method 1800, or method 1000 for a terminal device or a network device.

[0445] It should be understood that in this embodiment of the application, the processor 1510 may be a central processing unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may be another general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, or the like.

[0446] In the implementation process, the steps of the above-mentioned method may be implemented by an integrated logic circuit in hardware, or by instructions in the form of software in a processor. The steps of the method disclosed with reference to the embodiments of the present application may be directly executed and achieved by a hardware processor, or may be executed and achieved by using a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software modules may be located in a storage medium developed in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, or a register. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor executes the instructions in the memory to implement the steps of the above-mentioned method in combination with the hardware of the processor. To avoid repetition, details will not be described again in this specification.

[0447] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program, which is used to implement a method corresponding to the terminal device or network device in the above-described method embodiment.

[0448] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), and when the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer can execute a method corresponding to the terminal device or network device shown in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0449] Those skilled in the art may recognize that the units and algorithm steps in the examples described with reference to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether a function is performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use various methods to implement the functions described for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to go beyond the scope of this application.

[0450] For the sake of convenience and conciseness, for the detailed operation processes of the above-mentioned systems, devices and units, reference can be made to the corresponding processes in the above-mentioned method embodiments, which can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art, and the details will not be described again in this specification.

[0451] In some embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described device embodiments are merely exemplary. For example, the division into units is merely a logical function division, and other divisions may be used in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some functions may be ignored or not performed. Furthermore, the shown or described mutual couplings, or direct couplings, or communication connections may be implemented through some interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[0452] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, in other words, may be located in one location or distributed over multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments.

[0453] Furthermore, the functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. Good .

[0454] The above description is merely a specific implementation of the present application, but is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications or replacements that are easily understood by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application shall be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method for stopping monitoring of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), executed by a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, comprising: receiving first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device on an active downlink (DL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs to stop monitoring including PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device specific search space set; executing a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch, the expiration of the timer and the end of a BWP switch delay being earlier than the end of the initial duration; ceasing monitoring of the PDCCH within the initial duration and before the BWP switch delay expires; performing a DL BWP switch when the timer expires based on the BWP switch delay, and monitoring the PDCCH on the destination DL BWP from the end of the BWP switch delay; A method comprising:

2. The step of executing a timer comprises: starting or restarting the timer when the terminal device receives indication information from the network device on the active DL BWP. Including, the indication information is used to schedule the terminal device to transmit a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or the indication information instructs the terminal device to perform a DL BWP switch, and the indication information is carried in the first DCI or a DCI other than the first DCI. The method of claim 1.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the length of the initial duration is configured through radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the start of the initial duration is the start of a next slot for the first DCI.

5. if an SSSG is not configured on the destination BWP, performing PDCCH monitoring on said destination BWP based on a configured search space set; or performing PDCCH monitoring on the target BWP based on a search space set in the SSSG with index 0, if at least one SSSG including the SSSG with index 0 is configured on the target BWP; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

6. 1. A method for stopping monitoring of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), performed by a network equipment or a chip of said network equipment, comprising: transmitting first downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal device on an active downlink (DL) bandwidth portion (BWP), the first DCI instructing the terminal device to stop monitoring PDCCHs within a first duration, the PDCCHs to stop monitoring including PDCCHs in a Type 3 common search space set and PDCCHs in a terminal device specific search space set; executing a timer, the timer being used for a BWP switch, the expiration of the timer and the end of a BWP switch delay being earlier than the end of the initial duration; pausing execution of the timer within the initial duration and before the BWP switch delay expires; continuing to run the timer after the initial duration; performing a DL BWP switch when the timer expires based on the BWP switch delay; A method comprising:

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the length of the initial duration is configured through radio resource control (RRC) or indicated by the first DCI.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the start of the initial duration is the start of a next slot for the first DCI.

9. Apparatus adapted to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or the method according to any one of claims 6 to 8.

10. 10. A communications device comprising a processor and a transceiver, the transceiver for communicating with another device, the processor coupled to a memory, the memory configured to store a computer program, the computer program being invoked by the processor enabling the device to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 8.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when run on a computer, performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 8.

12. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed, perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 5 or any one of claims 6 to 8.

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