Methods and kits for tracking individuals.

Abstract

DEPCT6302 / 10 / 2562 The format in this request will provide a tracking method which includes: the use of network equipment. Send tracking information within the specified time frame, where the tracking information will be sent. The sweeping pattern of the tracking message signal will be accepted based on information about the tracking. A device to reduce overhead during pursuit. ----------------------------------------------------------- DEPCT63 The form of the invention provides a paging method which includes: transmission by associated data network devices. With scheduled paging, the information related to paging is sent in a beam-sweeping manner. Paging text should include information relevant to the page to reduce page overhead costs. -----------------------------------------------------------

Description

A multi-sector antenna and communication system Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a paging method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] To meet the high-capacity demands of next-generation communication systems, the introduction of high-frequency bands above 6GHz for communication, utilizing high bandwidth and high-speed transmission, is one of the hot research technologies in 5G communication systems. Due to the high path loss of high-frequency communication, narrow beams are required to ensure propagation distance and high beam gain. However, narrow beam coverage is limited. To ensure communication quality, narrow beam alignment between the BS and UE is required, which poses challenges to the design of broadcast channels, control channels, synchronization channels, and random access channels. In existing cellular communication systems, these channels are implemented through omnidirectional antennas. To achieve the omnidirectional coverage effect of existing mobile communication systems, it is necessary to traverse all directional beam combinations at both the transmitting and receiving ends. If both the transmitting and receiving ends use directional beams, the number of these beam combinations becomes enormous, leading to a sharp increase in high-frequency system overhead.

[0003] Furthermore, there is still no good paging mechanism in NR technology research.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a paging method or apparatus.

[0006] Firstly, a paging method is provided, in which a network device sends paging-related information at a specified time, the paging-related information being sent using a beam scanning method.

[0007] Secondly, a paging method is provided, wherein a user equipment receives paging-related information; and the user equipment obtains a paging message based on the paging-related information.

[0008] Thirdly, a network device is provided, including a processor and a transceiver, the transceiver being used to send paging-related information at a specified time, the paging-related information being sent using a beam scanning method.

[0009] Fourthly, a user equipment is provided, comprising: a processor and a transceiver; wherein the transceiver is configured to receive paging-related information; and the transceiver is further configured to obtain a paging message based on the paging-related information.

[0010] Fifthly, a computer storage medium is provided that stores program code that can be used to instruct the execution of the methods described in the first to second aspects or any alternative implementation thereof. Attached Figure Description

[0011] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0012] Figure 1 is an application scenario diagram according to an embodiment of this application.

[0013] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a paging method according to an embodiment of this application.

[0014] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure according to an embodiment of this application.

[0015] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another frame structure according to an embodiment of this application.

[0016] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another frame structure according to an embodiment of this application.

[0017] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another frame structure according to an embodiment of this application.

[0018] Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram of a user equipment device according to an embodiment of this application.

[0020] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of time and frequency resources corresponding to paging-related information for different services in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another method flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," etc., are used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, combinations of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. As illustrated, applications running on computing devices and computing devices can both be components. One or more components may reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and components may be located on a single computer and / or distributed among two or more computers. Furthermore, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media on which various data structures are stored. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0024] It should be understood that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), and future 5G communication systems, etc.

[0025] This invention describes various embodiments in conjunction with user equipment. User equipment may also refer to access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. Access terminal may be a cellular phone, cordless phone, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, user equipment in future 5G networks, or user equipment in future evolved PLMN networks, etc.

[0026] This invention describes various embodiments in conjunction with network devices. The network device can be a device for communicating with user equipment, for example, a base station (BTS) in a GSM or CDMA system, a base station (NodeB, NB) in a WCDMA system, an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or the network device can be a relay station, access point, vehicle-mounted equipment, wearable device, or network-side equipment in a future 5G network or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc.

[0027] In the embodiments of this application, "A and / or B" represents three relationships: A, or, B, or, A and B.

[0028] As shown in Figure 1, the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to a communication network 100, which has multiple network devices 102, 104, 106 and one or more user devices 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118.

[0029] In LTE, the network can send paging messages to UEs in both idle and connected states. Within a discontinuous reception (DRX) period, a terminal can listen to the Paging Occasion (PO) of the corresponding paging frame (PF) to check if it carries a paging radio network temporary identity (P-RNTI). Each UE can calculate its own paging period and perform detection at the corresponding PO based on its paging period. If the PO's PDCCH carries a P-RNTI, the UE receives the paging message on the PDSCH of that PO according to the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) parameters indicated by the PDCCH. The paging message includes the paging record list (UE...). The system message update indications include systemInfoModification, ETWS, CMAS, eab-ParamModification, and redistributionIndication (inter-frequency redistribution), etc. For details, please refer to protocol 36.331 in 3GPP. All UEs detected in a PO that detect P-RNTI need to receive paging messages on the PDSCH to determine if there is a paging message for them.

[0030] In high-frequency communication, narrow beams are required to ensure propagation distance and high beam gain, and beam alignment is necessary to guarantee communication quality. Therefore, base stations and different users transmit on different beam pairs during the transmission process. Some signals requiring cell-wide broadcasting need to be transmitted via beam traversal to cover the entire cell, such as synchronization signals (PSS, SSS), and system information (MIB). In high-frequency systems, when the network needs to paging the UE, if the UE is in an idle / inactive state, the base station and UE may not maintain a high-frequency beam pair. When the base station needs to paging the UE, it doesn't know which beam to use to send the DCI control signal and paging message from the PO to the UE. If the DCI control signal and paging message are transmitted via cell-wide beam traversal separately, it results in significant system overhead.

[0031] The following describes various embodiments of this application. Although the same terminology as LTE may be used in the embodiments below, their meanings and contents may differ from those in LTE, and other terms with the same or similar meanings and contents may be used instead. Furthermore, although the embodiments include multiple network elements, this does not mean that the scheme protected by this application must include all network elements. For example, the paging occasion (abbreviated as PO) may have the same meaning as in LTE, or it may be different. For example, the content included in the paging message may be the same as in LTE, or it may be different. Also, P-RNTI can be a fixed value, which may be the same as in LTE, or it may be different; P-RNTI can be a fixed hexadecimal number FFFE, or it may be another value.

[0032] Figure 2 is a paging method according to an embodiment of this application.

[0033] 201: The network device sends paging-related information at a specified time, wherein the paging-related information is sent using beam scanning. Optionally, it is sent periodically. Optionally, the specified time is the paging moment. Optionally, it is sent to the UE.

[0034] The UE can receive this message.

[0035] The message can be sent in any of the following ways, from 1 to 6, which can be summarized as follows:

[0036] 1. Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages, and the paging message (which can be translated as paging message in English);

[0037] 2. Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging message information, paging message resource location information, and paging message;

[0038] 3. Whether the user equipment is instructed to receive paging messages, and whether there are other partial paging messages;

[0039] 4. Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages;

[0040] 5. Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging message information, and, for part of the paging message, resource location information, and, for part of the paging message;

[0041] 6. Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging message information, and the resource location information of the paging message.

[0042] The information indicating whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message can be a P-RNTI, or other identifiers. The resource location information of the paging message can be a PDCCH, more preferably a DCI within the PDCCH, or other information. This part of the paging message's resource location information can be a PDCCH, more preferably a DCI within the PDCCH, or other information.

[0043] The above six methods can be further summarized into the following three types. For ease of description, the following will be introduced using the following example: whether the information indicating whether the user equipment receives the paging message can be the Paging Radio Network Temporary Identity (P-RNTI), the resource location information of the paging message can be the Downlink Control Information (DCI), the resource location information of this part of the paging message can be DCI, and the specified time is PO.

[0044] The first type involves sending the entire paging message on the PO, which can be either Method 1 or Method 2.

[0045] Method 1:

[0046] As shown in Figure 4, the PO sends a paging message and P-RNTI at this time. The PDCCH may be omitted. The entire content of the paging message is placed in the PO for omnidirectional beam traversal.

[0047] At this point, the information sent by the PO can be carried through the PDSCH channel or other channels; no specific restrictions are imposed here. The UE first detects the P-RNTI. If the P-RNTI exists, the UE further receives the paging message in the PO; if the P-RNTI does not exist, the UE does not need to listen to the paging message in the PO.

[0048] The placement relationship between P-RNTI and paging messages can be as follows:

[0049] 1. The channel carrying the paging message is scrambled using P-RNTI. The UE then detects the P-RNTI blindly to determine that the PO contains a paging message;

[0050] 2. The paging message and P-RNTI are placed in the same OFDM symbol (or simply symbol), and the paging message and P-RNTI can be placed in the same or different frequency domain positions within that OFDM symbol. The frequency domain positions can be predetermined by the protocol. The UE first detects the time-frequency resource position of the P-RNTI. If the UE detects the P-RNTI, it determines that the PO contains a paging message, and further demodulates the content of the paging message from the time-frequency resources of the paging message.

[0051] 3. The paging message and P-RNTI are placed in multiple adjacent OFDM symbols, which can be transmitted through the same one or more beams. Similarly, the paging message and P-RNTI are placed in the same or different time-domain or frequency-domain locations within these multiple OFDM symbols, and the time-domain or frequency-domain locations can be predetermined by the protocol. The UE first detects the time-frequency resource location of the P-RNTI. If the UE detects the P-RNTI, it determines that the PO contains a paging message, and further demodulates the content of the paging message from the time-frequency resources of the paging message.

[0052] The advantage of this approach is that it eliminates the need for network devices to re-scan and retransmit paging messages, and it also eliminates the need for PDCCH resource indication. However, a potential drawback is that paging messages may consume significant time-frequency resources. Furthermore, since PO transmission should be performed using periodic beam scanning, it might not be compatible with PO transmission.

[0053] Method 2:

[0054] As shown in Figure 5, the PO sends P-RNTI, PDCCH, and paging message.

[0055] This can be achieved using a PDCCH scrambled with P-RNTI (which can carry control signals such as DCI) and a paging message (which can be carried by a PDSCH). The entire content of the paging message is placed in the PO for omnidirectional beam traversal.

[0056] Optionally, the DCI in the PDCCH can be frequency-division multiplexed with the paging message and placed in the same OFDM symbol in the time domain; or placed in multiple adjacent symbols, which can be transmitted through the same one or more beams.

[0057] The UE first detects the P-RNTI. If the P-RNTI exists, the UE then receives the paging message in the PO according to the resource indication of the DCI. If the P-RNTI does not exist, the UE does not need to listen to the paging message in the PO.

[0058] The advantages and disadvantages of this scheme are similar to those of method 1. The advantage is that the base station does not need to rescan the beam to send the paging message. The disadvantage is that the paging message may occupy a large amount of time and frequency resources, and the PO may be sent periodically by beam scanning, so it may not be able to be placed together with the PO.

[0059] The second type of approach involves sending a paging message in the PO, which can be done in methods 3-5:

[0060] Method 3:

[0061] As shown in Figure 6, the PO sends P-RNTI, a partial paging message, and an indication of whether there are other partial paging messages. The partial paging message is then placed in the PO for omnidirectional beam traversal.

[0062] The indication of whether there are other paging messages can be a 1-bit indication message. For example, an indication of 0 means there are no other paging messages, while an indication of 1 means there are other paging messages. In this case, the channel carrying the paging message and the indication of whether there are other paging messages can be PDSCH or PDCCH. The PDCCH can be a newly defined PDCCH format different from LTE, or another channel.

[0063] The placement relationship between P-RNTI, paging message, and indications of whether there are other paging message components can be as follows:

[0064] 1. The channel carrying the paging message and an indication of whether there are other paging messages is scrambled using P-RNTI. The UE then determines that the PO contains a paging message by blindly detecting the P-RNTI.

[0065] 2. The P-RNTI, a partial paging message, and an indication of whether there are other partial paging messages are placed in the same OFDM symbol (which can be a symbol in English). The P-RNTI, partial paging message, and indication of whether there are other partial paging messages can be placed in the same or different frequency domain positions within this OFDM symbol. The frequency domain positions can be predetermined by the protocol. The UE first detects the time-frequency resource position of the P-RNTI. If the UE detects the P-RNTI, it determines that the PO contains a partial paging message and further demodulates the content of the paging message and the indication of whether there are other partial paging messages in the time-frequency resources of the partial paging message and the indication of whether there are other partial paging messages.

[0066] The P-RNTI, a portion of the paging message, and an indication of whether there are other partial paging messages are placed within multiple adjacent OFDM symbols, which can be transmitted via the same one or more beams. Similarly, the partial paging message and the P-RNTI are placed at the same or different time and / or frequency domain locations within these multiple OFDM symbols, and these time and / or frequency domain locations can be predetermined by the protocol. The UE first detects the time-frequency resource location of the P-RNTI. If the UE detects the P-RNTI, it determines that the PO contains a paging message, and further demodulates the content of the paging message and the indication of whether there are other partial paging messages from the time-frequency resources containing the paging message and the indication of whether there are other partial paging messages.

[0067] According to the paging message description in the LTE 36.331 protocol, paging messages can include paging record list, systemInfoModification, ETWS, CMAS, eab-ParamModification, and redistributionIndication, etc. Considering that the paging record list occupies relatively large space and is not a very urgent message indication, it is not necessary to put the paging record list in the PO.

[0068] If the UE detects P-RNTI first in the PO, it demodulates the paging message in the PO and an indication of whether there are other paging messages. The UE performs corresponding actions based on the paging message indication (such as receiving system message updates according to the ETWS indication). Simultaneously, if the "indication of whether there are other paging messages" includes other paging messages, the UE needs to further detect other paging messages not placed in the PO at the corresponding resource location, as shown in Figure 4. This corresponding resource location can be a time-frequency resource location within a certain range relative to the PO burst set. For example, it could detect the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling in the m-th subframe / slot after the PO, where m can be a fixed value or configurable. This channel could be a PDSCH. Alternatively, it could first detect the P-RNTI scrambling PDCCH in the m-th subframe / slot after the PO, and then detect the paging message at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication of the demodulated PDCCH. This is not limited here.

[0069] Other paging messages not included in the PO can be sent using any of the following methods, but are not limited to:

[0070] 1. By transmitting via omnidirectional beam scanning, the UE blindly detects the paging message transmitted via omnidirectional beam scanning. This approach does not save beam scanning overhead.

[0071] 2. The network device transmits information based on the beam information reported by the UE. This beam information indicates relevant information about the beam that the network device can use to send paging messages. This information, indicating the beam that the network device can use to send paging messages, includes one or more of the following: beam ID, OFDM symbol number, antenna port number, timeslot number, subframe number, radio frame number, and preamble sequence.

[0072] As shown in Figure 3, a radio frame (which may be used in high frequency) typically transmits synchronization signal blocks (SS blocks) repeatedly. Each SS block is transmitted through a different beam to cover the entire cell. Each SS block can contain one or more OFDM symbols, carrying synchronization signals such as PSS and SSS, and system information (MIB). Each OFDM symbol in an SS block can be transmitted through one or more identical beams. Multiple SS blocks transmitted consecutively in the time domain are called a synchronization signal block set (SS block burst). Different SS blocks within an SS block burst are transmitted through different beams. Beam traversal of one or more SS block bursts can achieve coverage of the entire cell; this set can be called an SS block burst set. Taking SS block set #1 in Figure 3 as an example, SS block burst set #1 contains N SS block bursts. These N SS block bursts can be consecutive or discontinuous in the time domain. The information in these N SS block bursts is the same. By transmitting the N SS block bursts with different beams, coverage in different directions can be achieved.

[0073] Generally, each UE has its own paging periodicity. The PO can be the same time as one or more SS burst block sets within the paging period. Taking Figure 3 as an example, considering the paging period and PO of a user equipment, the PO can be the same time as SS burst block set #K. The transmission resource block (grid-filled resource block) corresponding to the PO can be placed together with the SS block (diagonal-filled resource block), using frequency division or time division, and transmitted through the same beam as the SS block.

[0074] The paging period is an integer multiple of the SS block burst set period, such as N times, where N is a positive integer. The SS block burst set can be numbered, and there can be a correspondence between the SS block burst set number and the radio frame number / subframe number / s lot number.

[0075] Each UE calculates its own paging period and performs detection in the corresponding PO according to its paging period. Since a UE may have multiple beams, it may not know which beam to use to detect the PO. Users in connected state can perform synchronous beam scanning detection at any time to maintain a pair of available TX / RX beams. When the detected optimal TX beam changes, it is reported. Users in inactive state (such as those supporting grant-free) can also maintain a pair of available TX / RX beams through uplink grant-free reporting. Users in idle state may not be able to maintain a pair of available TX / RX beams, and frequent beam scanning and reporting will also waste UE power consumption and signaling overhead. Assuming the UE has N beams and the period of each SS block burst set is T, the UE must begin detecting the synchronization beams of these N SS block burst sets N*T before listening to its own PO (Active Point). (If the UE is in an idle / inactive state, it wakes up and detects during these N SS block burst sets; if the UE is in a connected state, it directly detects during these N SS block burst sets.) By detecting each SS block burst set using a different receive beam, the UE can obtain the available (potentially optimal) receive beam RX before the PO, and then use this available receive beam to detect the PO. Detecting the synchronization beams of these N SS block burst sets also allows the UE to obtain the downlink transmit beam TX that meets the signal quality threshold. Since the PO requires omnidirectional beam scanning, the UE can detect the PO either only in the time slots of the downlink transmit beams that meet the signal quality threshold, or in the time slots of all scanned beams of the PO.

[0076] If the UE has already obtained an available TX / RX beam pair before listening to its own PO, the available TX / RX beam pair can include the optimal TX / RX beam pair. For example, if the UE uses the RX beam to detect that the PO contains a P-RNTI, and the "indication of whether there are other parts of the paging message" indicates that there are other parts of the paging message, then the UE reports the detected available TX beam information, where the TX beam can be the beam used by the network device to send paging-related information to the UE. The UE uses the obtained available RX beam direction for reporting, where the RX beam can be the beam used by the UE for reception. UEs in different states can report in different ways. Connected UEs can report using uplink control signaling / RRC signaling, etc. If grant-free is supported, connected / inactive users can report via uplink grant-free, idle users can report via RACH resources, and so on. The reporting method is not limited. The reported beam information can be at least one of the following: beam ID, OFDM symbol index, antenna port number, timeslot number, subframe number, radio frame number, or preamble sequence (which can be a preamble in random access). The base station then knows which beams have received P-RNTI from users and sends additional paging messages to the reporting users at the corresponding resource locations using these beams, thereby reducing the overhead of omnidirectional beam scanning. It is important to note that the interval between the resource location where the network device sends paging messages (excluding those sent in the PO) and the PO burst set must be greater than or equal to the delay when the UE reports beam information.

[0077] User equipment (which may be in idle state) can report beams by randomly accessing RACH resources, and may use any of the following methods for feedback:

[0078] The first method: As mentioned above, the UE directly transmits beam information on the RACH resource, and the base station performs blind detection on the RACH resource. For example, a time-frequency resource can be allocated on the RACH resource for the UE to report beam information. Then the UE directly transmits beam information on the RACH resource. When the network device receives it, it considers that the UE aligned with the downlink beam has received the P-RNTI, and then uses the downlink beam to send a paging message to the UE.

[0079] The second approach: The protocol can define a set of preambles, which are used by the UE to report beam information, but not to initiate random access. In this approach, the UE selects a preamble and sends it on the RACH resource. The base station then performs blind detection on the RACH resource using omnidirectional beam scanning. If a certain receiving beam of the base station detects the preamble sent by the UE, the base station considers that the user aligned with that receiving beam has received the P-RNTI. At this time, the base station will not reply to the UE with a random access response (RAR). Instead, the base station uses the direction of the receiving beam as the direction of the transmitting beam to send other paging messages to the user.

[0080] The third method involves allocating a frequency band in the RACH resource for UE to report beam information. The UE sends a preamble in this frequency band, and the base station performs blind detection using omnidirectional beam scanning on the RACH resource. If a certain receiving beam of the base station receives the preamble sent by the UE in this dedicated frequency band, the base station considers that the user aligned with that receiving beam has received the P-RNTI. At this time, the base station will not reply to the UE with a random access response (RAR). The base station uses the direction of the receiving beam as the direction of the transmitting beam to send other paging messages to the user.

[0081] Method 4:

[0082] Similarly, as shown in Figure 6, P-RNTI is transmitted from the PO. Omnidirectional beam traversal is performed in the PO.

[0083] If the UE detects P-RNTI in the PO, it detects all paging messages at the corresponding resource location. The subsequent operation can be the same as in scheme 2: the corresponding resource location can be a time-frequency resource location that is fixed relative to the PO burst set. For example, in the m-th subframe / slot after the PO, the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling can be detected. This channel can be PDSCH; or in the m-th subframe / slot after the PO (m can be a fixed value or configurable), the P-RNTI scrambling PDCCH can be detected first, and then the paging message can be detected at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication of the decoded PDCCH. There is no limitation here.

[0084] Other methods for sending paging messages not included in the PO, and methods for user equipment (which may be in idle state) to report beams via RACH resources, can be described as above and will not be repeated here.

[0085] Method 5:

[0086] Similarly, as shown in Figure 6, the PO sends P-RNTI, a part of the paging message, indicating the resource location information of the other paging messages.

[0087] The information indicating the resource location of other paging messages can be a DCI control signal, and the DCI can be carried through the PDCCH. This method places the paging message in the PO for omnidirectional beam traversal.

[0088] This does not include all paging messages, but only a portion of the paging messages in the PO. This portion of the paging messages can be carried by PDSCH, PDCCH (defining a new PDCCH format), or other channel bearers, P-RNTI, and paging messages. Information indicating the resource location of other paging messages can be described in the same way as in method 1.

[0089] The UE first detects the P-RNTI in the PO, then detects some paging messages in the PO (if any), and detects other paging messages (which may include the paging record list) that are not placed in the PO at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication information of the DCI control signal.

[0090] Other methods for sending paging messages not included in the PO, and methods for user equipment (which may be in idle state) to report beams via RACH resources, can be described as above and will not be repeated here.

[0091] The third type is where the PO does not send a paging message.

[0092] Method 6

[0093] As shown in Figure 6, the PO sends a P-RNTI indicating the resource location information for the paging message. The PO does not include the paging message.

[0094] The information indicating the resource location of the paging message can be a DCI control signal, and the DCI can be carried by the PDCCH.

[0095] The UE first detects the P-RNTI in the PO, then detects information such as DCI indicating the resource location of the paging message, and detects other paging messages (which may include the paging record list) that are not placed in the PO in the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication information of the DCI control signal.

[0096] The methods for sending paging messages, and the methods for user equipment (which can be in idle state) to report beams via RACH resources, can be described as above and will not be repeated here.

[0097] In this way, user equipment can report beam information so that network equipment knows which downlink beams the user equipment that received P-RNTI is pointing at the network equipment. Then, the network equipment sends paging messages to the reporting user equipment through these downlink beams at the corresponding resource locations, thereby reducing the overhead of sending other paging messages through omnidirectional beam scanning.

[0098] The content described in the above methods can be referenced from each other, but for the sake of brevity in the application documents, it will not be repeated.

[0099] The beam information reported by the user equipment to the network device, as described above, can be represented by 202 in Figure 2. The network device then transmits the beam information reported by the user equipment, which can be represented by 203 in Figure 2. Both 202 and 203 are optional processes.

[0100] Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of a user equipment device according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 7, the device 700 includes a processor 710 and a transceiver 720. The transceiver 720 may also be implemented by a transceiver unit or transceiver circuit, and the processor 710 may be implemented by one or more units or circuits. The operation of the transceiver may be performed by the processor instructing the transceiver to do so.

[0101] It should be understood that the device 700 can correspond to the network device in each method embodiment and can have any function of the network device in the method. The following description only takes some functions as examples, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0102] The transceiver is used to send paging-related information at a specified time, and the paging-related information is sent using a beam scanning method.

[0103] Optionally, the paging-related information includes any combination of the following:

[0104] Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, and the paging message;

[0105] Whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, the resource location information of the paging message, and the paging message;

[0106] Information indicating whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages, and partial paging messages, and whether there are other partial paging messages;

[0107] Information regarding whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages;

[0108] Information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages, and resource location information for other parts of the paging messages, and partial paging messages;

[0109] Information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages, and resource location information for paging messages.

[0110] Optionally, the information indicating whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message is a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (P-RNTI), and / or, the resource location information of the paging message is Downlink Control Information (DCI), and / or, the resource location information of the other parts of the paging message is DCI, and / or, the specified time is the paging time PO.

[0111] Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive beam information sent by the user equipment, the beam information being used to indicate relevant information about the beam that the network device can use to send paging messages; the processor determines, based on the beam information, the beam used to send other parts of the paging message or the paging message itself; the transceiver is further configured to send other parts of the paging message or the paging message based on the beam determined by the processor.

[0112] Optionally, the relevant information of the beam that the network device can use to send paging messages includes any one or more of the following: beam ID, OFDM symbol number, antenna port number, time slot number, subframe number, and radio frame number. Optionally, this device is used in high-frequency scenarios.

[0113] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram of a network device apparatus according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 8, the apparatus 800 includes a processor 810 and a transceiver 820. The transceiver 820 may also be implemented by a transceiver unit or transceiver circuit, and the processor 810 may be implemented by one or more units or circuits. The operation of the transceiver may be performed by the processor instructing the transceiver to do so.

[0114] It should be understood that the device 800 can correspond to the user equipment in each method embodiment and can have any function of the user equipment in the method. The following description only takes some functions as examples, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0115] The transceiver is used to receive paging-related information;

[0116] The transceiver is also used to obtain paging messages based on the paging-related information.

[0117] Optionally, the transceiver is also configured to obtain the paging message based on the paging-related information, specifically as follows:

[0118] Among them, paging-related information includes information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive a paging message, and the paging message. The transceiver detects whether to instruct the user equipment to receive a paging message, and then further detects the paging message in the paging-related information.

[0119] Among them, paging-related information includes information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, resource location information of the paging message, and the paging message itself. The transceiver detects whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message and then further detects the paging message based on the resource location information of the paging message.

[0120] Among them, paging-related information includes information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, partial paging messages, and indication information on whether there are other partial paging messages. The transceiver detects whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, further detects the partial paging message, and detects other partial paging messages based on the indication information on whether there are other partial paging messages.

[0121] Among them, paging-related information includes information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message. The transceiver detects whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message and then detects the paging message.

[0122] Among them, paging-related information includes information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, resource location information of other parts of the paging message, and partial paging message. The transceiver detects information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, and then detects the paging message in the paging-related information and detects other parts of the paging message based on the resource location information of other parts of the paging message.

[0123] The paging-related information includes information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, and the resource location information of the paging message. The transceiver detects whether to instruct the user equipment to receive the paging message, and then detects the resource location information of other parts of the paging message to detect the paging message.

[0124] Optionally, the transceiver transmits beam information, which indicates relevant information about the beam that the network device can use to transmit paging messages; the transceiver receives information from the network device that it uses the beam information to transmit other parts of the paging message or the paging message itself.

[0125] Optionally, the transceiver uses random access resources to transmit the beam information.

[0126] Alternatively, the processor uses random access resources to send the preamble sequence.

[0127] Optionally, the device can be used in high-frequency scenarios.

[0128] Optionally, devices 700 and 800 may further include a memory that can store program code and other stored content. The processor calls the program code and other stored content stored in the memory to implement the corresponding functions of devices 700 and 800.

[0129] The embodiments of this application also include a communication system, comprising the network device in the above network device embodiments and the user device in the user device embodiments.

[0130] In the description of Method 3 above, the phrase "detecting the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling in the m-th subframe / slot after PO, where m can be a fixed value or configurable, and the channel can be a PDSCH; or detecting the P-RNTI scrambling PDCCH first in the m-th subframe / slot after PO, and then detecting the paging message at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication of the decoded PDCCH, without limitation here" can be more clearly described as: detecting the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling in the n subframes / slots starting from the m-th subframe / slot after PO, where m and n are both positive integers, and m and n can be fixed values ​​or configurable, and the channel can be a PDSCH; or detecting the P-RNTI scrambling PDCCH first in the n subframes / slots starting from the m-th subframe / slot after PO, and then detecting the paging message at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication of the decoded PDCCH. The word "message" is not limited here.

[0131] In the description of Method 4 above, the description of "detecting the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling in the m-th subframe / slot after PO, which can be a PDSCH; or detecting the P-RNTI scrambling PDCCH first in the m-th subframe / slot after PO (m can be a fixed value or configurable), and then detecting the paging message at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication of the decoded PDCCH, which is not limited here" can be more clearly described as follows: Detecting the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling in the n subframes / slots starting from the m-th subframe / slot after PO (m and n are positive integers, which can be fixed values ​​or configurable), which can be a PDSCH; or detecting the P-RNTI scrambling PDCCH first in the n subframes / slots starting from the m-th subframe / slot after PO, and then detecting the paging message at the corresponding resource location according to the resource indication of the decoded PDCCH, which is not limited here.

[0132] The following explanation is added to Method 4, but the original solution is neither added nor changed:

[0133] Alternatively, since the above embodiments describe information indicating whether a user equipment (UE) receives a paging message as P-RNTI, in general understanding, the description can also be replaced by information sent by the PO indicating whether the UE receives a paging message. This information indicating whether the UE receives a paging message can be, for example, a 1-bit indication.

[0134] If the UE detects information in the PO indicating whether the user equipment should receive a paging message, it detects the paging message at the corresponding resource location. Subsequent operations can be the same as in Method 2: the corresponding resource location can be a fixed time-frequency resource location relative to the PO (because the industry may use multiple descriptions for the same physical quantity, if the industry adopts a concept similar to SS block burst set, the PO here can also be called PO burst set, where PO burst set consists of one or more PO bursts). For example, the channel carrying the paging message with P-RNTI scrambling is detected in the nth subframe / slot after the mth PO (m and n are positive integers, m and n can be fixed values ​​or configurable). The P-RNTI scrambling P-RNTI can be a fixed hexadecimal number FFFE, or a fixed other value, or a variable value. The channel can be a PDSCH; or, starting from the m-th subframe / slot after the PO, a PDCCH scrambled with P-RNTI is detected first. The P-RNTI scrambled with P-RNTI can be a fixed hexadecimal number FFFE, a fixed value, or a variable value. Then, based on the resource indication of the decoded PDCCH, the paging message is detected at the corresponding resource location; there are no restrictions here.

[0135] Future development may require support for a slice-based network architecture, where control of different service types needs to be separated. For paging, there can be multiple paging-related information sets. Paging control is then applied separately to UEs using different service types (eMBB, URLLC, MTC, etc.). For example, there might be eMBB paging-related information, URLLC paging-related information, and MTC paging-related information. For instance, the P-RNTI values ​​included in different types of paging-related information can be different. Furthermore, different PO resources can be configured for UEs of different service types. For example, there are multiple time-frequency resources corresponding to paging-related information, such as time-frequency resources corresponding to eMBB paging-related information, URLLC paging-related information, and MTC paging-related information. The time-frequency resources corresponding to multiple paging-related information are time-division multiplexed or frequency-division multiplexed. Figure 9 shows the frequency division relationship. For example, as shown in Figure 9, PO resources can be divided into time-frequency resources corresponding to paging-related information for multiple different services, and paging is performed on UEs of different service types respectively. As shown in the figure, PO(s)(eMBB) can represent the time-frequency resources corresponding to eMBB paging-related information. Because the industry may use multiple descriptions for the same physical quantity, 's' is added after PO. It can be considered that the description of POs adopts a similar understanding to SS block burst set. Therefore, POs can be considered to refer to one or more PO bursts or one or more PO burst sets. Similar representations exist for other services, such as PO(s)(URLLC) and PO(s)(MTC). The time-frequency resources corresponding to paging-related information for multiple different services can be time-division multiplexed or frequency-division multiplexed with the SS block (synchronization signal block) (as shown in the figure). The beam used to send paging-related information using beam scanning can be the same as the beam used to send the SS block. If the time-frequency resources corresponding to paging-related information and the SS block are not time-division multiplexed or frequency-division multiplexed, then the beam scan for sending paging-related information can be a different round of beam scanning than the beam scan for sending the synchronization signal. The message content and paging message sending methods included in the paging-related information for various service types, as well as the UE detection operations, can all be described as shown in sending methods 1-6 mentioned in the previous embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0136] Since various service types in the network may not exist simultaneously, for example, if there are no UEs using URLLC services in the network during a certain period, then PO(s)(URLLC) may not exist. The network can then use the resources of PO(s)(URLLC) for other types of services, or for services other than paging. Therefore, the network can dynamically / semi-statically configure the time-frequency resources of paging-related information. This configuration can be sent to the UEs in the cell via, for example, system message broadcasts, and can use, for example, a paging-related information resource configuration message (this message can also have other names). As shown in Figure 10, 1001-1003 in Figure 10 can be similar to 201-203 in Figure 2. In the processing diagram of 1004, it precedes 1001, but the order in implementation is not limited by the diagram. In 1004, the network device sends the paging-related information resource configuration message to the user equipment. The paging-related information resource configuration message is used to indicate information about time-frequency resources corresponding to at least one type of paging-related information. For example, it may use two fields: a first field indicating the type of paging-related information, and a second field indicating the time-frequency resources for the type of paging-related information indicated by the first field. The specific indication method can be an index or other methods. Of course, other methods can also be used for transmission.

[0137] Accordingly, optionally, the transceiver in the above network device embodiment is further configured to transmit paging-related information at a specified time and in a specified frequency band, wherein the specified time and specified frequency band are one of the time-frequency resources corresponding to multiple paging-related information. The time-frequency resources corresponding to the multiple paging-related information will not be described in detail. Optionally, the transceiver in the network device embodiment is further configured to transmit a resource configuration message for paging-related information, wherein the resource configuration message for paging-related information is used to indicate information about at least one time-frequency resource corresponding to paging-related information.

[0138] Accordingly, optionally, the transceiver in the above user equipment embodiment is further configured to receive paging-related information at a specified time, and further configured to receive paging-related information at a specified time and a specified frequency band, wherein the specified time and specified frequency band are one of the time-frequency resources corresponding to multiple paging-related information. The time-frequency resources corresponding to the multiple paging-related information will not be described in detail. Optionally, the transceiver in the user equipment embodiment is further configured to receive a resource configuration message for paging-related information, wherein the resource configuration message for paging-related information is used to indicate information about at least one time-frequency resource corresponding to paging-related information.

[0139] For the sake of clarity, the phrase "information on whether to instruct the user equipment to receive paging messages" has been revised to "information on instructing the user equipment to receive paging messages" in the above-described methods, apparatus, and system embodiments.

[0140] The apparatus in the embodiments of this application may be a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system-on-chip (SoC), a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a micro controller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0141] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this invention.

[0142] Those skilled in the art will readily understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. For the sake of convenience and brevity, the various embodiments can also be referenced to each other, and will not be repeated here.

[0143] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0144] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0145] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0146] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this invention, essentially, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0147] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.