Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a communication apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: a second communication apparatus generates DCI, the DCI being used for instructing a first communication apparatus to send a first signal to an electronic tag, and the first signal being a signal used for charging and sent by the first communication apparatus to the electronic tag, or the first signal being a signal used for uplink communication and sent by the first communication apparatus to the electronic tag; the second communication apparatus sends the DCI to the first communication apparatus; and the first communication apparatus receives the DCI, and sends the first signal to the electronic tag on the basis of the DCI. By using embodiments of the present application, the flexibility of scheduling a communication apparatus to send a wireless radio frequency signal to an electronic tag can be improved.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on June 12, 2023, with application number 202310692049.7, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] Readers and electronic tags are two key components of an RFID system. The reader communicates with the electronic tag to exchange data. During this process, some electronic tags can receive energy from the radio frequency signal sent by the reader, or use the radio frequency signal as a carrier signal to send signals or data to the reader.

[0004] Generally, in a cellular communication system, a network device can also be used as a reader to communicate with an electronic tag. However, due to the limitations of the uplink and downlink spectrum resource usage in the communication system, the network device cannot send the wireless radio frequency signal required for electronic tag communication on the uplink resource. Currently, the network device can use radio resource control (RRC) signaling to schedule the terminal device to send the wireless radio frequency signal required for communication to the electronic tag. For example, after receiving the RRC signaling sent by the network device, the terminal device will periodically repeat the wireless radio frequency signal at the time-frequency resource position pre-allocated by the network device according to the period configured in the RRC signaling. Correspondingly, the electronic tag can receive the wireless radio frequency signal and use it for charging or carrier, thereby realizing data exchange with the network device.

[0005] However, in the above method, the way in which the network device schedules the terminal device to send wireless radio frequency signals through RRC signaling is a semi-static scheduling method with poor flexibility.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method and a communication device, which can improve the flexibility of scheduling a communication device to send wireless radio frequency signals to an electronic tag.

[0008] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a communication method, including: receiving downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is used to instruct a first communication device to send a first signal to an electronic tag; sending the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI, wherein the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for charging, or the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for uplink communication.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first signal is a signal for charging, the electronic tag can obtain the energy of the first signal to achieve charging after receiving the first signal. When the first signal is a signal for uplink communication, after receiving the first signal, the electronic tag can send data or signaling to the second communication device based on the first signal to achieve uplink communication between the electronic tag and the second communication device. It can be understood that DCI scheduling is a dynamic scheduling method, that is, during the DCI scheduling process, DCI can carry relevant parameters for sending the first signal, and can be dynamically adjusted, can adapt to changes in channel conditions in a timely manner, and improve the flexibility of scheduling the first communication device to send the first signal to the electronic tag.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, before receiving the DCI, the method further includes: detecting the DCI based on a radio network temporary identifier RNTI corresponding to the first signal.

[0011] In the embodiment of the present application, the process of the first communication device detecting the DCI is the process of the first communication device blindly detecting the DCI. The RNTI corresponding to the first signal can be an RNTI dedicated to the first signal, or a dedicated RNTI used when the second communication device schedules the first communication device to send the first signal. The first communication device can use this RNTI to distinguish the DCI from other formats of DCI, so that the first communication device can accurately detect the DCI.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, detecting the DCI based on the radio network temporary identifier RNTI corresponding to the first signal includes: detecting the DCI based on a full sequence or a partial sequence of the RNTI.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, illustratively, the length of the RNTI may be the RNTI length defined by the communication protocol, or may be an RNTI length configured by the second communication device that is smaller than the RNTI length defined by the communication protocol. The length of the entire RNTI sequence may be the RNTI length defined by the communication protocol, or may be an RNTI length configured by the second communication device that is smaller than the RNTI length specified by the protocol. It is understood that when the length of the entire RNTI sequence is smaller than the RNTI length specified by the protocol, the complexity of the first communication device blindly detecting the DCI may be reduced, thereby reducing detection overhead.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the length of the RNTI is equal to the length of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code corresponding to the DCI, and the length of the CRC code is less than the first length.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the first length may be the number of bits of the CRC code (or CRC check bits) specified in the communication protocol. It is understandable that when the number of bits of the DCI is small, the CRC code corresponding to the DCI may be shorter than the CRC code specified in the communication protocol, which can reduce the blind detection complexity when the first communication device descrambles and blindly detects the DCI, reduce detection overhead, and reduce processing delay.

[0016] Optionally, the length of the CRC code may also be equal to the first length, which can better adapt to the situation where the number of DCI bits is large.

[0017] With reference to the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present application, the unicast RNTI refers to the RNTI that the second communication device configures to a first communication device in a unicast manner, which can be used for scrambling, descrambling and blind detection of unicast DCI. The multicast RNTI refers to the RNTI that the second communication device configures to multiple first communication devices in a multicast manner, which can be used for scrambling, descrambling and blind detection of multicast DCI. It can be understood that when the first signal is used for charging, multiple first communication devices can detect the corresponding unicast DCI based on their respective unicast RNTIs, and jointly send the first signal to increase the charging distance. At this time, the unicast DCI scheduling mechanism is simpler than the multicast DCI scheduling. Alternatively, the multiple first communication devices can also detect the corresponding multicast DCI based on the received multicast RNTI and jointly send the first signal. It can be seen that at this time, the second communication device can uniformly configure the multicast RNTI to each first communication device and uniformly send multicast DCI, which can reduce scheduling overhead.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation manner, the DCI format configured in the search space corresponding to the DCI is the DCI format of the DCI.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present application, the search space corresponding to the DCI can support one or more DCI formats. When the DCI format configured in the search space is the DCI format of the above-mentioned DCI, other DCI formats can be configured as optional. At this time, the above-mentioned DCI can realize exclusive search space, reduce the complexity of the first communication device in detecting the above-mentioned DCI, and reduce processing delay.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, before receiving the DCI, the method also includes: receiving second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a search space corresponding to the DCI, the search space corresponding to at least one aggregation level, the number of the at least one aggregation level being less than the number of aggregation levels in the full set of aggregation levels corresponding to the first communication device; based on the search space, detecting the DCI in a control channel element (CCE) resource corresponding to the at least one aggregation level.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present application, the search space indicated by the second indication information may be a search space exclusive to DCI, or a search space shared by DCI and DCI of other formats. Each aggregation level may correspond to one or more CCE resources, and the full set of aggregation levels corresponding to the first communication device may be multiple aggregation levels supported for use in the communication protocol. It is understandable that when the number of the at least one aggregation level is less than the number of aggregation levels in the full set of aggregation levels, one or more aggregation levels in the full set of aggregation levels may not be configured for use. In this case, the first communication device does not need to perform blind detection to cover all aggregation levels in the full set of aggregation levels, which is beneficial to reducing the complexity of blind detection.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the DCI is unicast DCI or multicast DCI.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present application, unicast DCI and multicast DCI can be scrambled, descrambled, and blindly detected using different RNTIs (such as unicast RNTI and multicast RNTI), or they can be scrambled, descrambled, and blindly detected using the same RNTI. For the latter, the first communication device does not need to distinguish whether the received RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI, and can detect the unicast DCI or multicast DCI based on the RNTI. It can be understood that when the above-mentioned DCI is a unicast DCI, the corresponding DCI scheduling mechanism can be simpler, and when the above-mentioned DCI is a multicast DCI, the corresponding DCI scheduling mechanism can save scheduling overhead.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports the multicast DCI.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present application, whether the first communication device supports multicast DCI may be a capability of the first communication device, and the capability may be reported to the second communication device. For example, if the first communication device supports multicast DCI, the first communication device may send a first signal to the electronic tag according to the information carried by the multicast DCI.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to detect the multicast DCI.

[0028] In the embodiment of the present application, illustratively, the fourth indication information may carry time information when the first communication apparatus starts detecting multicast DCI, to instruct the first communication apparatus to start detecting multicast DCI at the time indicated by the time information.

[0029] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the search space corresponding to the unicast DCI is the first search space, and the search space corresponding to the multicast DCI is the second search space; the first search space and the second search space satisfy at least one of the following: the monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

[0030] In the embodiment of the present application, it can be understood that when the first communication device is scheduled to send a first signal to the electronic tag using multicast DCI, the first signal is usually used as a charging signal to provide energy for the electronic tag. For example, when the tag is activated or after the tag is activated, the electronic tag is charged for a period of time through the first signal. The subsequent electronic tag is rarely charged again using the charging signal, or it will take a long time for the electronic tag to need to be charged again. Therefore, the second search space corresponding to the multicast DCI does not need a shorter monitoring period, or does not need to appear frequently. When the second communication device uses unicast DCI to schedule the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag, the first signal is usually used as a carrier signal, and the carrier signal will appear more frequently during the entire communication process. In order to adapt to this, the period of the first search space corresponding to the unicast DCI should also be shorter or appear more frequently. Therefore, the monitoring period corresponding to the first search space can be less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space.

[0031] In addition, because multicast DCI scheduling charging signals lasts longer and occurs less frequently, it can have a longer processing delay and higher blind detection complexity than unicast DCI scheduling carrier signals. Therefore, the number of aggregation levels configured for use in the first search space can be less than or equal to the number of aggregation levels configured for use in the second search space, and the number of aggregation level detections in the first search space can also be less than or equal to the number of aggregation level detections in the second search space.

[0032] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first search space satisfies at least one of the following: the monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the first detection period threshold; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the first aggregation level number threshold; the number of blind detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the first blind detection number threshold; the second search space satisfies at least one of the following: the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space is less than or equal to the second detection period threshold, and the second detection period threshold is greater than or equal to the first detection period threshold; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space is less than or equal to the second aggregation level number threshold, and the second aggregation level number threshold is greater than or equal to the first aggregation level number threshold; the number of blind detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space is less than or equal to the second blind detection number threshold, and the second blind detection number threshold is greater than or equal to the first blind detection number threshold.

[0033] In an embodiment of the present application, exemplarily, any one or more of the first detection cycle threshold, the second detection cycle threshold, the first aggregation level number threshold, the second aggregation level number threshold, the first blind detection number threshold, and the second blind detection number threshold may be configured by the second communication device or specified by the communication protocol.

[0034] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the DCI includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate any one of the following: the first communication device starts sending the first signal; the first communication device ends sending the first signal; the first communication device ends sending the first signal and the first communication device starts sending the second signal.

[0035] In the embodiment of the present application, the first signal and the second signal are signals sent by the first communication device at different times. The specific description of the second signal can refer to the introduction of the first signal. For example, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI can be called a triggering DCI, and when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI can be called a terminating DCI. It can be seen that the above-mentioned DCI can have different functions of scheduling the first signal, which can further improve the flexibility of scheduling.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is also used to instruct the first communication device to update at least one of the following information: the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal; the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal; the transmission power corresponding to the first signal; the at least one item of information is included in the DCI.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communications device to update at least one of the above information, the DCI may be referred to as adjustment DCI. For example, the DCI may update scheduling parameters based on changes in channel conditions or actual requirements for scheduling the first signal, while the first communications device is transmitting or not transmitting the first signal, thereby making the scheduling mechanism more flexible.

[0038] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating at least one of the following: the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; the start sending time corresponding to the first signal; the continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; the sending power corresponding to the first signal; the role of the first signal, the role of the first signal including the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

[0039] In an embodiment of the present application, the above information can be referred to as scheduling information of the first signal, and can also be referred to as relevant parameters for sending the first signal. The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are used to indicate the frequency domain resources used by the first communication device to send the first signal, the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal is used to indicate the time when the first communication device starts sending the first signal, the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal is used to indicate the length of time the first communication device continues to send the first signal, the transmission power corresponding to the first signal is used to indicate the power information of the first communication device sending the first signal, the first signal is used as a carrier signal to indicate that the first signal sent by the first communication device is used for uplink communication between the electronic tag and the second communication device, and the first signal is used as a charging signal to indicate that the first signal sent by the first communication device is used for charging the electronic tag.

[0040] Optionally, when the DCI does not include the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, a more flexible frequency domain indication method can be implemented. When the DCI does not include the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the frequency domain resources used by the first communication device to send the first signal can be configured in advance by the second communication device, and the fields contained in the triggered DCI are fewer, which can reduce the scheduling overhead of triggering the DCI. Optionally, when the DCI includes the start transmission time, triggering the DCI can implement a more flexible time domain indication method. When the DCI does not include the start transmission time, the field information contained in the DCI can be reduced, which is conducive to reducing the overhead of the DCI. Optionally, when the DCI includes the continuous transmission time, the first communication device can determine the end transmission time corresponding to the first signal based on the continuous transmission time in the DCI. Therefore, for the process of sending the first signal once, there is no need for an additional DCI to indicate to the first communication device to end sending the first signal, which can reduce the scheduling overhead. It can be understood that when the DCI includes the transmission power, a more flexible power indication method can be implemented. For example, in multiple scheduling processes, the DCI can carry different power information to better adapt to channel changes. When the DCI does not include the transmit power, the second communication device can use other signaling configurations to transmit the power control information of the first signal to the first communication device, thereby reducing the overhead within the DCI. It is understood that when the DCI includes the role of the first signal, a more flexible indication method can be achieved. When the DCI does not include the role of the first signal, the overhead within the DCI can be reduced.

[0041] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the minimum time interval between the reception time corresponding to the DCI and the first time corresponding to the first signal is less than the first time interval.

[0042] In an embodiment of the present application, the first time corresponding to the first signal is used to indicate the time when the first communication device starts sending the first signal, the time when the first signal ends sending the first signal, or the time when the sending parameters of the first signal are adjusted. The first time interval is used to indicate the time length corresponding to the processing capability of the DCI-scheduled physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) specified in the communication protocol. The above-mentioned minimum time interval can also be referred to as the dedicated processing capability of the first signal. It can be understood that, according to the information fields included in the DCI introduced above, it can be seen that the DCI format is relatively simple, and the corresponding blind detection complexity when the first communication device blindly detects the DCI is low. Therefore, compared with DCI scheduling PUSCH, DCI scheduling the first communication device to send the first signal can have a shorter processing delay.

[0043] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, and the sending of the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI includes: when the first signal is used as a charging signal, sending the first signal on a first frequency domain resource based on the DCI; when the first signal is used as a carrier signal, sending the first signal on a second frequency domain resource based on the DCI.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain resource and the second frequency domain resource may be different frequency domain resources. Optionally, when the DCI includes information indicating the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal, the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal may include the first frequency domain resource and / or the second frequency domain resource.

[0045] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the first frequency domain resources and / or the second frequency domain resources.

[0046] In an embodiment of the present application, the first frequency domain resources and the second frequency domain resources can be configured in advance to the first communication device by the second communication device through first configuration information. Optionally, the first configuration information can include one or more signalings for configuring the first frequency domain resources and / or the second frequency domain resources.

[0047] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal include the first frequency domain resources or the second frequency domain resources; and / or, the DCI includes information for indicating the role of the first signal, and the role of the first signal includes the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

[0048] In the embodiments of the present application, it can be understood that when the first communication device knows the frequency domain resources used by the first signal under different effects, when the DCI indicates any one or both of the effect of the first signal and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the first communication device can determine the effect of the first signal currently scheduled by the DCI, and the frequency domain resources used to send the first signal, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0049] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, and the DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are one of the frequency domain resources in the candidate frequency domain resource set for the first communication device to send the first signal.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present application, the candidate frequency domain resource set may also be referred to as the frequency domain resource range available to the first communication device. Exemplarily, the candidate frequency domain resource set may be configured in advance by the second communication device, may be predefined by the communication protocol, or may be allocated through a random allocation algorithm. Exemplarily, at this time, the information contained in the DCI for indicating the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal may be a resource sequence number for indicating a frequency domain resource in the candidate frequency domain resource set, or may be a bit table of a resource. The first communication device may determine the corresponding frequency domain resource position in the candidate frequency domain resource set based on the resource sequence number or bit table indicated by the DCI to send the first signal, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0051] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the method further includes: receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information being used to indicate the candidate frequency domain resource set; sending the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI includes: sending the first signal to the electronic tag based on the candidate frequency domain resource set and the DCI.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present application, the candidate frequency domain resource set may be one or more frequency domain resources configured in advance by the second communication device to the first communication device through second configuration information. The second configuration information may include one or more signalings for indicating frequency domain resources.

[0053] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, and the DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal include at least two frequency domain resources, and the at least two frequency domain resources are frequency domain resources in a set of candidate frequency domain resources for the first communication device to send the first signal, and each of the at least two frequency domain resources corresponds to one first communication device.

[0054] In an embodiment of the present application, when the DCI is a multicast DCI, the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal indicated in the DCI may include frequency domain resources used by multiple first communication devices respectively. At this time, there is no need for the second communication device to separately configure the frequency domain resources to be used for sending the first signal to each first communication device, which can save scheduling overhead.

[0055] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional embodiment, the method further includes: receiving third configuration information, the third configuration information being used to indicate the candidate frequency domain resource set, and being used to indicate the order of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first communication device in the at least two frequency domain resources; sending the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI includes: sending the first signal to the electronic tag based on the candidate frequency domain resource set, the order of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first communication device in the at least two frequency domain resources, and the DCI.

[0056] In an embodiment of the present application, the candidate frequency domain resource set may also be referred to as the frequency domain resource range available to the above-mentioned multiple first communication devices. Exemplarily, the candidate frequency domain resource set may be configured in advance by the second communication device, may be pre-defined by the communication protocol, or may be allocated through a random allocation algorithm. Exemplarily, at this time, the information contained in the DCI for indicating the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal may be a resource sequence number for indicating multiple frequency domain resources in the candidate frequency domain resource set, or may be a bit table of a resource. Each first communication device may determine the corresponding frequency domain resource position in the candidate frequency domain resource set to send the first signal based on the resource sequence number or bit table indicated by the DCI, combined with the pre-configured order of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first communication device indicated in the DCI in the above-mentioned at least two frequency domain resources, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0057] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating the termination time corresponding to the first signal.

[0058] In an embodiment of the present application, if the DCI does not include information about the termination time of transmission, the first communications device may determine the time to terminate transmission of the first signal based on the time interval between the time of receiving the DCI and the time of termination of transmission of the first signal, which is known in advance. This may reduce scheduling overhead. Optionally, if the DCI includes information about the termination time of transmission, the first communications device may terminate transmission of the first signal according to the termination time of transmission indicated by the DCI after receiving the DCI. This may achieve a more flexible time domain indication method.

[0059] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: generating a DCI, wherein the DCI is used to instruct a first communication device to send a first signal to an electronic tag, wherein the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for charging, or the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for uplink communication; and sending the DCI to the first communication device.

[0060] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: scrambling the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal.

[0061] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, scrambling the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal includes: scrambling the DCI based on the entire sequence or a partial sequence of the RNTI.

[0062] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI.

[0063] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the DCI format configured in the search space corresponding to the DCI is the DCI format of the DCI.

[0064] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the method also includes: sending second indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate the search space corresponding to the DCI, the search space corresponds to at least one aggregation level, and the number of the at least one aggregation level is less than the number of aggregation levels in the full set of aggregation levels corresponding to the first communication device.

[0065] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the DCI is unicast DCI or multicast DCI.

[0066] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: receiving third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports the multicast DCI.

[0067] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to detect the multicast DCI.

[0068] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the search space corresponding to the unicast DCI is the first search space, and the search space corresponding to the multicast DCI is the second search space; the first search space and the second search space satisfy at least one of the following: the monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

[0069] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the DCI includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate any one of the following: the first communication device starts sending the first signal; the first communication device ends sending the first signal; the first communication device ends sending the first signal and the first communication device starts sending the second signal.

[0070] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is also used to instruct the first communication device to update at least one of the following information: the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal; the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal; the transmission power corresponding to the first signal; the at least one item of information is included in the DCI.

[0071] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating at least one of the following: the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; the start sending time corresponding to the first signal; the continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; the sending power corresponding to the first signal; the role of the first signal, the role of the first signal including the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

[0072] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal. When the first signal is used as a charging signal, the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are first frequency domain resources; when the first signal is used as a carrier signal, the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are second frequency domain resources.

[0073] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate the first frequency domain resources and / or the second frequency domain resources.

[0074] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal include the first frequency domain resources or the second frequency domain resources; and / or, the DCI includes information for indicating the role of the first signal, and the role of the first signal includes the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

[0075] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, and the DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are one of the frequency domain resources in the candidate frequency domain resource set for the first communication device to send the first signal.

[0076] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, the method further includes: sending second configuration information, where the second configuration information is used to indicate the candidate frequency domain resource set.

[0077] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, and the DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal include at least two frequency domain resources, and the at least two frequency domain resources are two or more frequency domain resources in a set of candidate frequency domain resources for the first communication device to send the first signal, and each of the at least two frequency domain resources corresponds to one first communication device.

[0078] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, the method further includes: sending third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information is used to indicate the candidate frequency domain resource set, and to indicate the order of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first communication device among the at least two frequency domain resources.

[0079] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional implementation, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating the termination time corresponding to the first signal.

[0080] In combination with the second aspect, in an optional embodiment, sending the DCI to the first communication device includes: sending the DCI to multiple first communication devices; when the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the start sending time of the first signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same, and / or, the continuous sending time of the first signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same; when the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the end sending time of the first signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same; when the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal and the first communication device to start sending the second signal, the end sending time of the first signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same, and the start sending time of the second signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same; and / or, the end sending time of the first signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same, and the continuous sending time of the second signal corresponding to the multiple first communication devices is the same.

[0081] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the second aspect and any optional implementation method of the second aspect, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect and any optional implementation method of the first aspect, and no further details will be given here.

[0082] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: a second communication device generates a DCI, wherein the DCI is used to instruct the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag, wherein the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for charging, or the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for uplink communication; the second communication device sends the DCI to the first communication device; the first communication device receives the DCI and sends the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI.

[0083] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional embodiment, before the second communication device sends the DCI to the first communication device, the method also includes: the second communication device scrambles the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal; before the first communication device receives the DCI, the method also includes: the first communication device detects the DCI based on the RNTI.

[0084] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional implementation, the RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI.

[0085] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional implementation, the DCI format configured in the search space corresponding to the DCI is the DCI format of the DCI.

[0086] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional embodiment, the search space corresponding to the unicast DCI is the first search space, and the search space corresponding to the multicast DCI is the second search space; the first search space and the second search space satisfy at least one of the following: the monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

[0087] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional embodiment, the DCI includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate any one of the following: the first communication device starts sending the first signal; the first communication device ends sending the first signal; the first communication device ends sending the first signal and the first communication device starts sending the second signal.

[0088] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional embodiment, the first indication information is also used to instruct the first communication device to update at least one of the following information: the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal; the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal; the transmission power corresponding to the first signal; the at least one item of information is included in the DCI.

[0089] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional embodiment, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating at least one of the following: the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; the start sending time corresponding to the first signal; the continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; the sending power corresponding to the first signal; the role of the first signal, the role of the first signal including the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

[0090] In combination with the third aspect, in an optional implementation, when the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating the termination time corresponding to the first signal.

[0091] Regarding the technical effects brought about by the third aspect and any optional implementation method of the third aspect, please refer to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect and any optional implementation method of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0092] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, and the second communication device is used to execute the method described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0093] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor coupled to a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program; the processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect; or, the processor executes the method described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0094] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a unit for executing the method as described in the first aspect or any optional implementation of the first aspect; or, includes a unit for executing the method as described in the second aspect or any optional implementation of the second aspect.

[0095] In a possible implementation of the sixth aspect, the communication device also includes the memory.

[0096] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit is coupled to the interface; the interface is used to input and / or output code instructions, and the logic circuit is used to execute the code instructions. When the code instructions are executed by the logic circuit, the logic circuit executes the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect; or, the logic circuit executes the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0097] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect; or, the processor executes the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect.

[0098] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product includes a computer program or a computer code, and when the computer program or the computer code runs on a computer, the method described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect is executed; or, the method described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect is executed.

[0099] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor executes the method described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect; or, the processor executes the method described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0100] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0102] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] FIG4A is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] FIG5A is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG5B is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG5C is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] FIG5D is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG7A is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] FIG7B is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] FIG8A is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] FIG8B is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0114] FIG8C is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0115] FIG8D is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0116] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0117] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0118] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0119] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units that are inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0120] References to "embodiments" herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to independent or alternative embodiments that are mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It will be understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0121] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "more than one" means two or more, and "at least two (items)" means two or three and more than three. "And / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0122] The following first introduces a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable.

[0123] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) system, new radio (NR) and other new communication systems that emerge with the development of technology.

[0124] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may refer to a terminal that accesses a communication system and has wireless transceiver functions, or a chip or chip system that can be set on the terminal. The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), 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, etc. The terminal device may refer to a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, including a device capable of sidelink communication, such as a vehicle-mounted terminal, a handheld terminal capable of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, etc. Exemplarily, the terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0125] In the embodiments of the present application, a network device may refer to a network device that is connected to a communication system and has wireless transceiver functions, or a chip or chip system that can be provided in the network device. A network device may be a device that connects a terminal device to a wireless network, specifically a base station. A base station may include various types of base stations, such as macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small base stations), relay stations, access points, etc. Specifically, the base station can be an access point (AP) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or code division multiple access (CDMA), a base station (node ​​B, NB) in wide band code division multiple access (WCDMA), an evolved node B (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a relay station, an access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, the next generation node B (gNB or gNodeB) in a 5G system, a base station in a future evolved PLMN network, an access network device or a module of an access network device in an open-radio access network (O-RAN) system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a Wi-Fi system, etc.

[0126] Optionally, in some deployments of network devices, the network device may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In other deployments of network devices, the CU may be further divided into a CU-control plane (CP) and a CU-user plane (UP). In yet other deployments of network devices, the network device may be an antenna unit (RU). In yet other deployments of network devices, the network device may be an O-RAN architecture. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific deployment method of the network device. For example, when the network device is an O-RAN architecture, the network device shown in the embodiments of the present application may be a network device in the O-RAN, or a module in the network device. In the O-RAN system, the CU may also be referred to as an open (O)-CU, the DU may also be referred to as an O-DU, the CU-CP may also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP may also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU may also be referred to as an O-RU.

[0127] Taking 5G / 4G cellular communications such as NR / LTE as an example, when a network device acts as a reader and communicates with an electronic tag, due to the limitations on the use of uplink and downlink spectrum resources in the communication system, the network device cannot send the wireless RF signal required for electronic tag communication on the uplink resource.

[0128] There is an RRC signaling scheduling method that can enable the network device to schedule the terminal device to send the wireless radio frequency signal through RRC signaling. In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can be used as an auxiliary device to send the wireless radio frequency signal on the uplink resource instead of the network device. Therefore, the terminal device can also be called an auxiliary UE. As shown in Figure 1, taking frequency division duplexing (FDD) resources as an example, the network device sends a downlink signal to the electronic tag on the FDD downlink resource (represented by DL in Figure 1). When the auxiliary UE provides a carrier signal for the electronic tag, the auxiliary UE sends a single-tone signal (or called a continuous wave (CW) signal, represented by CW in Figure 1) on the FDD uplink resource. The electronic tag sends an uplink signal to the network device on the FDD uplink resource based on the CW signal sent by the auxiliary UE (represented by UL in Figure 1). When the auxiliary UE provides a charging signal for the electronic tag, the electronic tag can obtain the energy of the CW signal to achieve charging.

[0129] Specifically, when the network device schedules the auxiliary UE to send the CW signal, the network device can configure the scheduling parameters required for the auxiliary UE to send the CW signal through RRC signaling, and the auxiliary UE sends the CW signal according to the scheduling parameters specified in the RRC signaling. For example, during the initial scheduling, the network device can configure the current scheduling parameters to the auxiliary UE in advance through the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). For example, the scheduling parameters can be the time-frequency resources required for the auxiliary UE to send the CW signal. Correspondingly, the auxiliary UE will save the scheduling parameters. Afterwards, the network device can configure the scheduling period corresponding to the CW signal through RRC signaling. After receiving the RRC signaling sent by the network device, the auxiliary UE will periodically and repeatedly send the CW signal on the same time-frequency resources according to the scheduling period configured in the RRC signaling and the scheduling parameters configured in advance by the network device. Correspondingly, the electronic tag can receive the CW signal and use it for charging or carrier to realize data exchange with the network device.

[0130] However, in the above method, the way in which the network device assists the UE in sending CW signals through RRC signaling scheduling is a semi-static scheduling method. The network device cannot change the scheduling parameters of a single transmission, may not be able to adapt to changes in channel conditions, and has poor flexibility.

[0131] In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device, which relate to the field of communication technology and can improve the flexibility of scheduling a communication device to send wireless radio frequency signals to an electronic tag.

[0132] The following first introduces the architecture of the communication system provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0133] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2, the network architecture includes a second communication device, a first communication device and an electronic tag. The second communication device sends a DCI to the first communication device, and the first communication device receives the DCI and sends a first signal to the electronic tag according to the field information contained in the DCI. After receiving the first signal, the electronic tag can use the first signal as a charging signal (or energy signal, excitation signal) to provide the electronic tag with the energy required for internal processing such as encoding, decoding, modulation, and demodulation. The electronic tag can also use the first signal as a carrier signal and send uplink data or signaling to the second communication device on the resources of the reverse link or uplink (uplink, UL) by signal reflection or other means. At this time, the second communication device sends downlink data or signaling to the electronic tag on the resources of the forward link or downlink (downlink, DL).

[0134] Exemplarily, the first communication device may be the terminal device described above, such as an auxiliary UE, the second communication device may be the network device described above, and the first signal may be the CW signal described above. Exemplarily, when the first signal is used as a carrier signal and / or a charging signal, the electronic tag may be a passive tag. This passive tag does not generate a carrier signal, does not have signal amplification capabilities, and has power consumption as low as approximately 1 microwatt. It typically collects radio frequency signal energy emitted by other devices. The communication distance is limited to 20 to 50 meters by radio frequency energy transmission, making it suitable for indoor scenarios. Exemplarily, when the first signal is used as a carrier signal and not as a charging signal, the electronic tag may be a semi-passive tag. This semi-passive tag does not generate a carrier signal but has signal amplification capabilities. Its power consumption increases to approximately 100 microwatts. It typically collects non-radio frequency signal energy in the environment, such as light energy and thermal energy. Due to the limited gain of the reverse amplifier circuit, its communication distance is mainly limited by the uplink communication link budget and can reach 100 to 200 meters, making it suitable for indoor or outdoor local scenarios.

[0135] It should be understood that in the communication system provided in the embodiment of the present application, the communication between the first communication device, the second communication device and the electronic tag may use FDD resources or time division duplexing (TDD) resources, which is not limited here.

[0136] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The specific description of the first communication device, the second communication device, and the electronic tag involved in Figure 3 can be referred to Figure 2 and will not be described in detail here. As shown in Figure 3, the communication method includes the following steps:

[0137] S301. The second communication device generates DCI.

[0138] In an embodiment of the present application, the DCI is used to instruct a first communication device to send a first signal to an electronic tag. The first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for charging, or the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for uplink communication. The second communication device may be the network device described above, the first communication device may be the terminal device described above, and the first signal may be the CW signal described above.

[0139] The DCI may include scheduling information of the first signal. When the DCI is used for different functions, the DCI may include different scheduling information, which will be explained below with examples.

[0140] Implementation method 1:

[0141] As an example, DCI can be used to instruct a first communications device to start transmitting a first signal. In embodiments of the present application, the DCI in this case can be referred to as triggering DCI or activating DCI. When the first signal is a CW signal, the triggering DCI can also be referred to as CW-triggered DCI. For ease of description, when DCI is used to instruct a first communications device to start transmitting a first signal, the following description uses triggering DCI as an example.

[0142] Exemplarily, triggering DCI may include information for indicating at least one of the following: frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal, the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal, the transmission power corresponding to the first signal, and the function of the first signal, where the function of the first signal includes the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

[0143] The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal include the frequency domain resources used by the first communication device to transmit the first signal to the electronic tag. Optionally, if the triggering DCI does not include information indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the frequency domain resources used by the first communication device to transmit the first signal may be configured in advance by the second communication device, for example. In this case, the triggering DCI includes fewer fields, thereby reducing triggering DCI scheduling overhead.

[0144] The start transmission time corresponding to the first signal can also be referred to as the time domain resource corresponding to the first signal, which is used to indicate the time when the first communication device starts transmitting the first signal. Exemplarily, the start transmission time can be a time offset, which is used to indicate the time between the first communication device receiving the trigger DCI and starting to transmit the first signal. The time can be several time slots (slots) or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. The start transmission time can also be an absolute time within a certain range, such as the absolute time can be the start / end position of a symbol in a time slot. The start transmission time can also be a combination of the time offset and the absolute time, such as indicating the time slot in which the first signal is to be transmitted by the time offset, and indicating the start / end position of the symbol in the time slot at which the first signal is to be transmitted by the absolute time. It can be understood that when the trigger DCI includes the start transmission time, the trigger DCI can achieve a more flexible time domain indication method.

[0145] Optionally, if the DCI does not include information indicating the start time of sending the first signal, the time interval between the time of receiving the triggering DCI and the time of sending the first signal may be a fixed value or a variable value. If the time interval is a fixed value, it means that the time interval from the first communication device receiving the triggering DCI to the start of sending the first signal is the same during each scheduling. If the time interval is a variable value, it means that within a certain period of time, the time interval from the first communication device receiving the triggering DCI to the start of sending the first signal is the same, and the time interval corresponding to outside the period is different from the time interval corresponding to within the period. Exemplarily, the fixed value or variable value may be specified by the communication protocol, may be carried by the second communication device when sending the triggering DCI, or may be configured by the second communication device to the first communication device through other signaling. It is understandable that the first communication device can determine the start time of sending the first signal based on the time of receiving the triggering DCI and the above-mentioned time interval. At this time, the triggering DCI contains fewer fields, which can reduce the overhead of triggering the DCI.

[0146] The continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal is used to indicate the duration of the first communication device transmitting the first signal. Exemplarily, the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal can be a number of time slots, a number of OFDM symbols, or a number of microseconds (μs), milliseconds (ms), or seconds (s). It is understandable that when the triggering DCI includes the continuous transmission time, the first communication device can determine the end time of transmission of the first signal by triggering the continuous transmission time in the DCI. Therefore, for the process of transmitting the first signal once, the second communication device can only trigger DCI scheduling, which can reduce scheduling overhead.

[0147] The transmit power corresponding to the first signal is used to indicate the power-related information when the first communication device transmits the first signal. For example, the transmit power corresponding to the first signal can be the absolute value of the power when the first communication device transmits the first signal, the adjusted value of the power relative to the previous transmission of the first signal, etc. It is understandable that if the triggering DCI includes the transmit power corresponding to the first signal, a different power value can be used each time the first communication device transmits the first signal, which can better adapt to the actual situation in the scheduling process. It is understandable that when the triggering DCI includes the transmit power, a more flexible power indication method can be implemented. For example, in multiple scheduling processes, the triggering DCI can carry different power information to better adapt to channel changes. When the triggering DCI does not include the transmit power, the second communication device can configure the power control information of the first signal to the first communication device through other signaling, which can reduce the overhead in the triggering DCI.

[0148] The function of the first signal includes using the first signal as a carrier signal or as a charging signal. When the first signal is a signal for charging, the electronic tag can obtain the energy of the first signal to achieve activation or charging. When the first signal is a signal for uplink communication, the electronic tag can use the first signal as a carrier signal to send uplink data to the second communication device through signal modulation to achieve uplink communication. It can be understood that when the triggering DCI includes the function of the first signal, a more flexible indication method can be achieved. When the triggering DCI does not include the function of the first signal, the overhead within the triggering DCI can be saved.

[0149] Implementation method 2:

[0150] As an example, DCI can be used to instruct the first communication device to stop sending the first signal. In this embodiment of the present application, the DCI can be referred to as termination DCI or deactivation DCI. (When the first signal is a CW signal, the termination DCI can also be referred to as CW termination DCI.) The termination DCI may include information for indicating the termination transmission time corresponding to the first signal. The termination transmission time is used to indicate when the first communication device stops sending the first signal. Regarding the specific implementation method of the termination transmission time, reference can be made to the introduction of the start transmission time above, which will not be repeated here.

[0151] Optionally, if the termination DCI does not include information about the termination transmission time, the first communications device may determine the time to terminate transmission of the first signal based on the time interval between the reception time of the termination DCI and the time when transmission of the first signal is terminated, which is known in advance. In this case, the scheduling overhead can be reduced. Optionally, if the termination DCI includes information about the termination transmission time, after receiving the termination DCI, the first communications device may terminate transmission of the first signal according to the termination transmission time indicated by the termination DCI. In this case, a more flexible time domain indication method can be achieved.

[0152] Implementation method three:

[0153] As an example, the DCI may also simultaneously instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal and the first communication device to start sending the second signal. In this case, the DCI may be a DCI formed by a combination of triggering DCI and terminating DCI. In an embodiment of the present application, the first signal and the second signal are signals sent by the first communication device at different times. For example, the first signal may be a CW signal that the first communication device ends sending at time T1, and the second signal may be a CW signal that the first communication device starts sending at time T2 (time T2 is after time T1). For the specific information contained in the DCI in this example, please refer to the above description and will not be described in detail here.

[0154] Implementation method four:

[0155] As an example, DCI can also be used to instruct the first communication device to update the relevant parameters for sending the first signal. In the embodiment of the present application, the DCI at this time can be called adjustment DCI (when the first signal is a CW signal, the triggered DCI can also be called CW adjustment DCI). The relevant parameters updated by the adjustment DCI can be any one or more of the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal, the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal, and the transmission power corresponding to the first signal introduced above. For example, when the second communication device uses triggering DCI and adjusting DCI to schedule the first signal, the continuous transmission time and transmission power corresponding to the first signal are first indicated by triggering DCI. Then, in the process of the first communication device sending the first signal, the second communication device can update the continuous transmission time and / or transmission power corresponding to the first signal by adjusting DCI. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that if the second communication device uses adjustment DCI to schedule the first communication device to send the first signal, it can be achieved by updating the scheduling parameters according to changes in channel conditions or the actual needs of the first signal scheduling, so that the scheduling mechanism can be more flexible.

[0156] Exemplarily, for the above-mentioned implementation methods 1 to 4, the DCI may include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, or to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal and start sending the second signal, or to instruct the first communication device to update relevant parameters for sending the first signal (i.e., the first indication information may be used to indicate that the DCI is for triggering DCI and / or terminating DCI, or adjusting DCI). The specific content of the first indication information will be described in detail below and will not be elaborated here.

[0157] For example, for the above-mentioned implementation methods 1 to 4, when actually implementing the embodiments of the present application, according to actual scheduling requirements, the DCI may also include other information, such as modulation and coding scheme (MCS), new data indication (such as retransmission or new transmission), redundancy version, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number, etc.

[0158] Exemplarily, in order to reduce the number of blind detections in the search space and reduce processing delays, when the lengths of the triggering DCI, the termination DCI, and the adjustment DCI are inconsistent, the lengths of the three can be aligned by means of padding bits. For example, when the triggering DCI only contains time domain resource indication information for indicating the start transmission time of the first signal, and the termination DCI only contains time domain resource indication information for indicating the end transmission time of the first signal, then the termination DCI and the triggering DCI are the same length, and no padding bits are required, or the padding bit length is 0. When the triggering DCI also contains other information, such as power control information for indicating the transmission power of the first signal, the length of the triggering DCI and the termination DCI will be different. At this time, padding bits can be added to the termination DCI so that the length after padding is the same as the length of the triggering DCI. Exemplarily, the padding bits are all 0 or all 1.

[0159] It should be noted that, for the sake of ease of understanding and description, the embodiments of the present application divide DCI into triggering DCI, terminating DCI, adjusting DCI, or DCI formed by a combination of any two or more of the three, according to the different DCI functions. When the embodiments of the present application are actually implemented, the DCI defined for instructing the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag may not distinguish between the above-mentioned DCIs in format, but use the same DCI format, or may distinguish between the above-mentioned DCIs and use different DCI formats. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0160] Optionally, after S301, the second communication device may further scramble the CRC code of the DCI. Exemplarily, when the second communication device generates the DCI, it will append the CRC code to the DCI. The second communication device may perform bit-by-bit modulo-2 addition on part or all of the bits of the CRC code of the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal. Generally speaking, different RNTIs represent different functions. In an embodiment of the present application, the function of the RNTI corresponding to the first signal is to be used in the scheduling process of the first signal. For example, the RNTI corresponding to the first signal may be a dedicated RNTI for the second communication device to schedule the first communication device to send the first signal. The first communication device may distinguish the DCI from other formats of DCI in the search space based on the RNTI. For example, when the first signal is a CW signal, the RNTI may be called a CW-RNTI, and the DCI may be called a CW DCI. The first communication device may distinguish the CW DCI from other formats of DCI based on the CW-RNTI, and may blindly detect the CW DCI in the search space.

[0161] Optionally, when the second communication device scrambles the CRC code of the DCI, the second communication device may use the entire sequence of the above-mentioned RNTI to scramble the CRC code of the DCI, or may use a partial sequence of the above-mentioned RNTI to scramble the CRC code of the DCI. Exemplarily, when the second communication device uses the entire sequence of the above-mentioned RNTI to scramble the CRC code of the DCI, the length of the RNTI corresponding to the first signal may be shorter than the length of the RNTI specified in the communication protocol. For example, the second communication device may configure an RNTI of the same length as the CRC code for the first communication device to reduce the complexity of the first communication device in descrambling and blind detecting the DCI, thereby reducing overhead. Alternatively, when the second communication device uses a partial sequence of the above-mentioned RNTI to scramble the CRC code of the DCI, the RNTI may be a longer RNTI configured by the second communication device, for example, the length of the RNTI is still 16 bits specified in the communication protocol. At this time, the second communication device uses a partial sequence of the RNTI to scramble the CRC code, which may also reduce the complexity of the first communication device in descrambling and blind detecting the DCI, thereby reducing overhead.

[0162] In addition, in S301, when the second communication device attaches the CRC code of the DCI, it can also reduce the blind detection overhead by shortening the length of the CRC code. For example, based on the above introduction to DCI, it is not difficult to see that the information contained in the DCI may be relatively small, and the number of bits contained in the DCI may also be relatively small. However, according to the relevant NR protocol, the CRC code of the DCI may need to add 24 bits, which has a large overhead. At this time, the second communication device can shorten the length of the CRC code corresponding to the DCI. For example, when the RNTI is 16 bits, the length of the CRC code corresponding to the DCI can be less than 16 bits, or even less than 8 bits, etc., to reduce the complexity of detecting DCI and reduce overhead.

[0163] Optionally, the above-mentioned DCI may be a unicast DCI or a multicast DCI, and the above-mentioned RNTI may be a multicast RNTI or a unicast RNTI. Exemplarily, when the above-mentioned DCI is a unicast DCI, the RNTI used for scrambling, descrambling and blind detection of the unicast DCI may be the above-mentioned unicast RNTI. When the above-mentioned DCI is a multicast DCI, the RNTI used for scrambling, descrambling and blind detection of the multicast DCI may be the above-mentioned multicast RNTI. Alternatively, regardless of whether the above-mentioned DCI is a unicast DCI or a multicast DCI, the RNTI used for scrambling, descrambling and blind detection of the DCI is the same RNTI. At this time, during the scheduling process, the first communication device and the second communication device may not distinguish between the unicast RNTI and the multicast RNTI.

[0164] S302: The second communication device sends DCI. Correspondingly, the first communication device receives the DCI.

[0165] In the embodiment of the present application, the DCI sent by the second communication device is scrambled DCI. Exemplarily, the DCI sent by the second communication device may be carried on the PDCCH, and correspondingly, the first communication device blindly detects and receives the DCI carried by the PDCCH in the search space corresponding to the DCI.

[0166] Before introducing the search space corresponding to the DCI, the format of the DCI (DCI format) is first introduced below. The DCI format may also be referred to as a DCI format name or a DCI serial number.

[0167] Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, DCI may be defined as a new DCI format specifically used for scheduling the first communication device to send the first signal.

[0168] Optionally, DCI may also reuse the existing DCI format (i.e., continue to use the names or serial numbers of some existing DCIs in the communication protocol). In this case, the first communication device distinguishes the field contents of the existing DCI format through different RNTIs. Specifically, because for the same DCI format, when the DCI format is encrypted using different RNTIs, the information or fields contained in the DCI format may have different definitions. Specifically, when the DCI format is encrypted using the original RNTI, the DCI format is defined or set according to the information or fields originally contained, and the first communication device also understands or interprets it according to the information or fields originally contained. When the DCI format is encrypted using CW-RNTI, the DCI format is defined or set according to the information or fields contained in the CW-triggered DCI, CW-terminated DCI, or CW-adjusted DCI described above, and the first communication device also understands or interprets it according to the information or fields contained in the CW-triggered DCI, CW-terminated DCI, or CW-adjusted DCI described above.

[0169] For example, the format of the above DCI can reuse the DCI format supported by NR defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) protocol 38212. The DCI format supported by NR is shown in Table 1:

[0170] Table 1

[0171] Exemplarily, the above-mentioned DCI can reuse the format of PUSCH scheduling type DCI, such as DCI formats 0_0, 0_1, and 0_2 shown in Table 1. The format of resource indication type DCI can also be reused, such as DCI formats 2_0 and 2_1 shown in Table 1. The format of transmit power type DCI can also be reused, such as DCI formats 2_2 and 2_3 shown in Table 1. It can be understood that when the above-mentioned DCI reuses any of the existing DCI formats listed above, the first communication device can distinguish the above-mentioned DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal as described above. Optionally, the process of the first communication device receiving the above-mentioned DCI can also refer to the process of UE receiving control information defined in Chapter 10 of 3GPP protocol 38213.

[0172] The search space corresponding to the above DCI is described in detail below.

[0173] In an embodiment of the present application, the search space corresponding to the DCI may be a resource set, where the resource unit is CCE. For example, the DCI may share the same search space with DCI of other formats. In this case, when the first communication device blindly detects the DCI, it is necessary to detect DCI of all formats in the search space. The DCI may also occupy a single search space, so that when the first communication device blindly detects the DCI, it does not need to detect DCI of other formats in the search space, which is beneficial to reducing the blind detection complexity and processing delay.

[0174] Exemplarily, when the DCI exclusively occupies a search space, the second communication device may obtain the exclusive search space in the following two ways.

[0175] The first way is: the second communication device can obtain an exclusive search space through the original search space.

[0176] For example, in the original search space definition or configuration parameters, support is given for detecting a variety of different DCI formats including the above-mentioned DCI, and all of them are optional. The second communication device can be configured to use the above-mentioned DCI without configuring DCI of other formats, thereby realizing that DCI exclusively occupies the original search space. For example, please refer to Figure 4A, which is a search space schematic diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4A, in the original search space, the multiple optional DCI formats are DCI format A, DCI format B, ..., CW DCI format, and the DCI of the CW DCI format is used to instruct the first communication device to send a CW signal to the electronic tag, and the DCI of the DCI format A, DCI format B, etc. is used for other functions. Then, in the original search space, the second communication device can configure the CW DCI format without configuring DCI format A, DCI format B, etc. At this time, the first communication device can detect CW DCI in the original search space without detecting other DCI formats, thereby reducing blind detection complexity and processing delay.

[0177] The second way is: the second communication device can also obtain an exclusive search space by newly defining a search space.

[0178] Please refer to Figure 4B, which is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4B, the configuration parameters of the newly defined search space support the CW DCI format, but do not support other DCI formats. In this case, the newly defined search space is dedicated to transmitting CW DCI, so the first communication device does not need to detect other DCI formats during the blind detection process.

[0179] Illustratively, for the above two methods, the CW DCI format may be a newly defined DCI format or a multiplexed original DCI format. For a detailed description of the multiplexed original DCI format, reference may be made to the above description, which will not be described in detail here.

[0180] Optionally, before S302, the second communication device may send second indication information to the first communication device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a search space corresponding to the DCI. The search space may be a search space in any of the two methods described above. Exemplarily, when the search space is the exclusive search space described above, the aggregation level configured for the search space may be a non-empty proper subset of the full set of aggregation levels configured for use by the first communication device, i.e., the number of at least one aggregation level configured for the search space is less than the number of aggregation levels in the full set of aggregation levels. For example, when the full set of aggregation levels is {1, 2, 4, 8, 16} CCEs, the proper subset of the search space configuration indicated by the second indication information is {1, 2, 4} CCEs, and the aggregation level of {8, 16} CCEs is not configured for use or the number of blind detections configured is 0. In this case, the first communication device needs to blindly detect aggregation levels 1, 2, and 4, but not aggregation levels 8 and 16. It can be seen that in this case, the first communication device does not need to blindly detect all aggregation levels, which helps reduce blind detection complexity.

[0181] Optionally, in the search space corresponding to the above-mentioned DCI, for the aggregation levels that are configured for use or for which the number of blind detections is configured to be greater than 0, a smaller number of blind detections can be defined, such as being defined as 1, etc., to further reduce the complexity of blind detection. Specifically, for the first method introduced above, the second communication device can directly implement it by configuring the number of blind detections corresponding to each of the aggregation levels configured for use in the original search space, such as configuring the number of blind detections corresponding to each of the aggregation levels configured for use to be a value greater than 0. For the second method introduced above, the second communication device can directly implement it by configuring the number of blind detections corresponding to each of the aggregation levels configured for use in the newly defined search space, such as configuring the number of blind detections corresponding to each of the aggregation levels configured for use to be a value greater than 0. Alternatively, the second communication device can also define the supported aggregation levels in the parameter configuration of the newly defined search space without defining the number of blind detections corresponding to each aggregation level, such as the number of blind detections corresponding to each of the aggregation levels in the newly defined search space can all default to 1.

[0182] Optionally, a dedicated control-resource set (CORESET) may also be defined for use in the exclusive search space described above.

[0183] S303: The first communication device sends a first signal, and the electronic tag receives the first signal accordingly.

[0184] The first communication device sends a first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI.

[0185] It can be understood that for the scheduling process within a period of time, if the second communication device only schedules the first communication device to send the first signal through the triggered DCI containing the continuous sending time, then after receiving the DCI, the first communication device can start sending the first signal according to the information contained in the triggered DCI, and end sending the first signal according to the continuous sending time indicated in the triggered DCI. At this time, there is no issue of distinguishing DCI.

[0186] Several examples involving distinguishing DCI are introduced below.

[0187] First example:

[0188] If the second communication device schedules the first communication device to send the first signal by triggering DCI and terminating DCI, the first communication device can distinguish whether the received DCI is triggering DCI or terminating DCI in the following manner.

[0189] Method 1: If the triggering DCI contains information for indicating the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal, the first communication device can distinguish according to the order in which the DCI is sent (which can be equivalent to the order in which the DCI is received). For example, when the first communication device has not sent the first signal, the received DCI is a triggering DCI. When the first communication device is sending the first signal, if the time domain resource indicated by the DCI received by the first communication device is earlier than the termination transmission time determined according to the continuous transmission time, the received DCI is a termination DCI, otherwise, the received DCI is a triggering DCI.

[0190] Method 2: If the triggering DCI includes / does not include information for indicating the continuous transmission time corresponding to the first signal, the first communication device can distinguish between the triggering DCI and the termination DCI through the information in the DCI.

[0191] Optionally, in mode 2, the information in the DCI used to distinguish between triggered DCI and terminated DCI can be called a trigger / termination indication field. For example, please refer to Figure 5A, which is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5A, the trigger / termination indication field can be indicated by 1 bit. The triggered DCI includes trigger / termination indication-1 (indicating that the trigger / termination indication field is 1), time domain resource indication (equivalent to the start transmission time corresponding to the first signal introduced above), power control information (equivalent to the power information corresponding to the first signal introduced above), continuous transmission time and other fields. The terminated DCI includes trigger / termination indication-0 (indicating that the trigger / termination indication field is 0), time domain resource indication, padding and other fields. As can be seen from Figure 5A, if the trigger / termination indication field in the DCI received by the first communication device is 1, it indicates that the DCI is a triggered DCI. If the trigger / termination indication field is 0, it indicates that the DCI is a terminated DCI. It is understandable that, when implementing the embodiment of the present application, an indication method opposite to that shown in FIG5A may also be used to distinguish between triggering DCI and terminating DCI, which will not be listed here. For example, the triggering / terminating indication field may be included in the first indication information introduced in S301.

[0192] Optionally, in mode 2, the information used for distinguishing in the DCI may also be the value of the padding bit. It is understandable that when DCI and DCI of other formats share the same search space, when the first communication device blindly detects DCI, multiple blind detections are required for DCI of different lengths, which increases the number and complexity of blind detections. Therefore, the DCI can be aligned with the length of DCI of other formats by padding bits, which helps to reduce the number and complexity of blind detections. In this case, the triggering DCI and the terminating DCI can be distinguished by filling different values ​​with the padding bits. For example, refer to Figure 5B, which is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5B, the triggering DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication, power control information, continuous transmission time, padding bits-all 1 (padding-all 1, indicating that the padding bits are all 1 bits), the terminating DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication, padding bits (padding-all 0, indicating that the padding bits are all 0 bits), and other DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication. The length of the trigger DCI, the termination DCI, and other DCI in the same search space is the same. As can be seen from Figure 5B, if the padding bits in the DCI received by the first communication device are a bit combination of all 1s (such as 11111111), then the DCI is a trigger DCI, and if the padding bits are a bit combination of all 0s (such as 00000000), then the DCI is a termination DCI. It can be understood that when implementing the embodiments of the present application, an indication method opposite to that shown in Figure 5B can also be used to distinguish between trigger DCI and termination DCI, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0193] Exemplarily, when the triggering DCI does not include the continuous transmission time, the termination DCI needs to be used to indicate the end of the first signal. When the triggering DCI includes the continuous transmission time, the first communication device can determine when the first signal needs to end based on the time when the first signal starts to be sent and the continuous transmission time. At this time, the termination DCI is optional. When the termination DCI is used, the termination DCI can be used to indicate that the first signal ends in advance, thereby improving scheduling flexibility. For example, the triggering DCI indicates that the first signal starts at time t1 and indicates a duration of T, then the first communication device can determine that the first signal ends at time t1+T, but the second communication device can also send a termination DCI to the first communication device to indicate that the first signal ends at time t2 (t2 <t1+T)。

[0194] Second example:

[0195] If the second communications device schedules the first communications device to transmit the first signal via both a triggering DCI and an adjustment DCI, because the adjustment DCI can fully reuse the information contained in the triggering DCI, the first communications device can distinguish between the adjustment DCI and the triggering DCI based on its own state of transmitting the first signal at the time of receiving the DCI and the information contained in the DCI. Specifically, if the start transmission time corresponding to the received DCI is still within the continuous transmission time of the previously transmitted first signal, the DCI is the adjustment DCI; otherwise, the DCI is a new triggering DCI.

[0196] Exemplarily, when the first communications device is transmitting the first signal, the second communications device may also adjust the power of the first signal transmitted for the first communications device, or change the duration of the first signal, by transmitting an adjustment DCI. For example, the first communications device may adjust the transmit power of the first signal based on the power control information included in the adjustment DCI, and / or adjust the duration of the first signal transmission based on the continuous transmission time included in the adjustment DCI, such as replacing the original end time of the first signal with the end time of the first signal determined based on the new duration.

[0197] The third example:

[0198] If the second communication device schedules the first communication device to send the first signal by triggering DCI, terminating DCI, and adjusting DCI, the first communication device can distinguish the second communication device through information in the DCI.

[0199] Optionally, the information in the DCI used to distinguish between triggering DCI, terminating DCI, and adjusting DCI can be referred to as a trigger / termination / adjustment indication field. For example, referring to FIG5C , FIG5C is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5C , the trigger / termination / adjustment indication field can be indicated by 2 bits. The triggering DCI includes triggering / terminating / adjustment indication-11 (indicating that the triggering / terminating / adjustment indication field is 11), time domain resource indication, power control information, continuous transmission time, and other fields. The terminating DCI includes triggering / terminating / adjustment indication-10 (indicating that the triggering / terminating / adjustment indication field is 10), time domain resource indication, and padding. The adjusting DCI includes triggering / terminating / adjustment indication-01 (indicating that the triggering / terminating / adjustment indication field is 01), time domain resource indication, power control information, continuous transmission time, and other fields. As can be seen from Figure 5C, if the trigger / termination / adjustment indication field in the DCI received by the first communication device is 11, it indicates that the DCI is a trigger DCI, if the trigger / termination / adjustment indication field is 10, it indicates that the DCI is a termination DCI, and if the trigger / termination / adjustment indication field is 01, it indicates that the DCI is an adjustment DCI. It is understandable that when implementing the embodiment of the present application, other 2-bit combinations or other corresponding relationships different from those shown in Figure 5C can also be used to indicate trigger DCI, termination DCI and adjustment DCI respectively, and they are not listed one by one here. For example, the trigger / termination / adjustment indication field can be included in the first indication information introduced in S301.

[0200] Optionally, the information used for differentiation in the DCI may be the value of the padding bit. It is understandable that when DCI and other DCI share the same search space, triggering DCI, terminating DCI, and adjusting DCI may be aligned with the length of DCI of other formats by means of padding bits, which is beneficial to reducing the number and complexity of blind detection. In this case, triggering DCI, terminating DCI, and adjusting DCI may be differentiated by filling different values ​​with padding bits. For example, refer to FIG5D , which is a schematic diagram of a DCI format provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5D , triggering DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication, power control information, continuous transmission time, and padding bits-all 1 (padding-all 1); terminating DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication and padding bits (padding-all 0); adjusting DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication, power control information, continuous transmission time, and padding bits-all 1 (padding-01, indicating that the padding bits are a repeated bit combination of 01); and other DCI includes fields such as time domain resource indication. The length of the trigger DCI, termination DCI, adjustment DCI and other DCI in the same search space is the same. As can be seen from Figure 5D, if the padding bits in the DCI received by the first communication device are a bit combination of all 1s (such as 11111111), then the DCI is a trigger DCI, if the padding bits are a bit combination of all 0s (such as 00000000), then the DCI is a termination DCI, if the padding bits are a bit combination of 01 that is repeated continuously (such as 01010101), then the DCI is an adjustment DCI, if the padding bits are other bit combinations other than the above three bit combinations, then it means that the DCI received by the first communication device is an erroneous DCI and can be ignored. It can be understood that when implementing the embodiments of the present application, other bit combinations or other corresponding relationships different from those shown in Figure 5D can also be used to indicate trigger DCI, termination DCI and adjustment DCI respectively, and they are not listed one by one here.

[0201] Fourth example:

[0202] When the second communications device schedules the first communications device to transmit the first signal by triggering DCI and adjusting DCI, and does not terminate DCI, the first communications device may only distinguish between triggering DCI and adjusting DCI. In this case, the first communications device may use the above-described method of distinguishing between adjusting DCI and triggering DCI based on the state of the first signal transmitted by the first communications device when receiving DCI and the information contained in the DCI. Alternatively, the first communications device may distinguish between adjusting DCI and triggering DCI by padding padding bits with different values, as described above. This description will not be elaborated here.

[0203] The fifth example:

[0204] When the second communication device schedules the first communication device to send a first signal by combining the trigger DCI and the termination DCI to form a DCI, and adjusting the DCI, the first communication device can distinguish between the combined DCI and the adjusted DCI by filling different values ​​with the padding bits as described above.

[0205] Optionally, for the first communication device, the minimum time interval between the reception time corresponding to the DCI and the first time corresponding to the first signal may be less than the first time interval. The reception time corresponding to the DCI refers to the time when the first communication device receives the trigger DCI / terminates the DCI / adjusts the DCI, the first time corresponding to the first signal refers to the time when the first communication device starts / ends / adjusts the sending of the first signal, and the first time interval refers to the time length corresponding to the processing capability of the DCI-scheduled PUSCH specified in the communication protocol. That is, in the actual process of scheduling the first signal, the minimum time interval between the first communication device receiving the DCI that schedules the first signal and the start of sending the corresponding first signal is less than the above-mentioned first time interval.

[0206] In an embodiment of the present application, the minimum time interval may also be referred to as the dedicated processing capability of the first signal. When the first signal is a CW signal, the dedicated processing capability may be referred to as the CW dedicated processing capability. It can be understood that, based on the information fields contained in the DCI introduced above, it can be seen that the DCI format is relatively simple, and the corresponding blind detection complexity when the first communication device blindly detects the DCI is relatively low. Therefore, compared with DCI scheduling PUSCH, DCI scheduling the first communication device to send the first signal can have a shorter processing delay. That is, assuming that the dedicated processing capability is time D, the first communication device has at least a time interval D between receiving the DCI and starting / ending / adjusting the sending of the first signal. Exemplarily, for general dedicated processing capability (capability 1), at SCS = 15kHz, the dedicated processing capability can be at least 10 symbols long; for stronger dedicated processing capability (capability 2), at the same SCS, the dedicated processing capability can be at least 5 symbols long.

[0207] Please refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, when the first communication device receives the first DCI sent by the second communication device (such as triggering DCI or adjusting DCI), it starts sending or adjusting the sending of the first signal after the time length corresponding to the dedicated processing capability. When the first communication device receives the second DCI sent by the second communication device (such as terminating DCI), it stops sending the first signal after the time length corresponding to the dedicated processing capability.

[0208] For example, the dedicated processing capabilities corresponding to triggering DCI / terminating DCI / adjusting DCI may be the same or different. For example, the dedicated processing capability corresponding to triggering DCI is time D1, the dedicated processing capability corresponding to terminating DCI is time D2, and the dedicated processing capability corresponding to adjusting DCI is time D3. Then D1≠D2, or D2≠D3, or D1≠D3.

[0209] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first signal is a signal for charging, the electronic tag can obtain the energy of the first signal to achieve charging after receiving the first signal. When the first signal is a signal for uplink communication, after receiving the first signal, the electronic tag can send data or signaling to the second communication device based on the first signal, thereby achieving uplink communication between the electronic tag and the second communication device.

[0210] It can be understood that although the embodiment of the present application does not implement the second communication device sending the first signal on the uplink resource, it can schedule the first communication device through DCI so that the second communication device schedules the first communication device to send the first signal on the uplink resource. And DCI scheduling is a dynamic scheduling method, that is, during the DCI scheduling process, DCI can carry relevant parameters for sending the first signal, and can be dynamically adjusted, and can adapt to changes in channel conditions in a timely manner, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling the first communication device to send the first signal to the electronic tag. Therefore, compared with RRC signaling scheduling, the embodiment of the present application can better adapt to changes in channel conditions and improve the flexibility of scheduling the first communication device to send the first signal to the electronic tag.

[0211] In addition, since there may also be a way to schedule through MAC signaling, but MAC signaling actually controls the behavior of the MAC layer and physical layer of the network device and the terminal device, the processing delay will be longer. The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application adopts the DCI scheduling method, and the DCI is carried in the PDCCH. Therefore, compared with MAC signaling scheduling, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can have a shorter processing delay, which is conducive to reducing the scheduling delay.

[0212] Based on the description of FIG3 , the following will introduce implementations of the second communication device scheduling multiple first communication devices to send the first signal to the electronic tag using unicast DCI or multicast DCI.

[0213] Implementation method one:

[0214] In some application scenarios, the DCI described above can be unicast DCI. This means that the second communication device can send DCI to multiple first communication devices via unicast, scheduling these multiple first communication devices to simultaneously start and end transmission of the first signal, thereby increasing the distance over which the first signal can charge the electronic tag and simplifying the scheduling mechanism. The specific implementation of the second communication device scheduling each first communication device to send the first signal to the electronic tag via unicast DCI can be found in the description of S301 to S303 above and will not be repeated here.

[0215] Optionally, when scrambling the unicast DCI, the RNTI used by the second communication device may be a unicast RNTI configured in advance by the second communication device for each first communication device. When the first signal is a CW signal, the unicast DCI may also be referred to as CW DCI, and the unicast RNTI may also be referred to as CW-RNTI.

[0216] It is understandable that when the multiple first communication devices start and stop sending the first signal at the same time, the start sending time and the continuous sending time of the first signal corresponding to each first communication device are the same, or the start sending time and the end sending time of the first signal corresponding to each first communication device are the same. Specifically, if the unicast DCI is a triggering DCI, the start sending time of the first signal indicated by each unicast DCI is the same, and / or the continuous sending time of the first signal indicated by each unicast DCI is the same. If the unicast DCI is a termination DCI, the end sending time of the first signal indicated by each unicast DCI is the same. If the unicast DCI is a DCI formed by a combination of a triggering DCI and a termination DCI, the end sending time of the first signal indicated by each unicast DCI is the same, and the start sending time and / or the continuous sending time of the second signal indicated by each unicast DCI are the same. If the unicast DCI is an adjustment DCI, each first communication device can update the relevant parameters when sending the first signal at the same time according to the indication of the adjustment DCI.

[0217] Optionally, for the above multiple first communication devices, different first communication devices can simultaneously send first signals on the same frequency domain resources. In this case, the scheduling process corresponding to each first communication device can refer to the relevant description of Figure 3. Alternatively, different first communication devices can also simultaneously send first signals on different frequency domain resources to form a charging signal with a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), which is conducive to improving the charging distance and efficiency.

[0218] When the above-mentioned DCI is unicast DCI, the embodiment of the present application further provides an example of configuring the frequency domain resources used for sending the first signal as follows:

[0219] Example 1: The second communication device may configure the frequency domain resources used by each first communication device in advance. Exemplarily, the unicast DCI may include an indication information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the currently scheduled first signal or for indicating the function of the currently scheduled first signal.

[0220] It can be understood that when the first communication device knows the frequency domain resources used by the first signal under different effects, when the DCI indicates any one or both of the effect of the first signal and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the first communication device can determine the effect of the first signal currently scheduled by the DCI, and the frequency domain resources used to send the first signal, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling.

[0221] Taking the second communication device sending a unicast trigger DCI as an example, after the first communication device receives the unicast trigger DCI, it can start sending the first signal on the pre-configured frequency domain resources. At this time, the frequency domain resources corresponding to each first communication device may be different. At this time, the unicast termination DCI and the unicast adjustment DCI are optional. When the second communication device schedules the first communication device to end sending the first signal and / or update the relevant parameters for sending the first signal by sending the unicast termination DCI and / or the unicast adjustment DCI, each first communication device can also end sending the first signal on the pre-configured frequency domain resources, or send the first signal on the frequency domain resources according to the updated relevant parameters. It can be understood that if the adjustment DCI updates the frequency domain resources used to send the first signal, each first communication device sends the first signal on the updated frequency domain resources.

[0222] Optionally, when the first signal is used as a charging signal, the first communication device sends the first signal on the first frequency domain resource, and when the first signal is used as a carrier signal, the first communication device sends the first signal on the second frequency domain resource. The first frequency domain resource and the second frequency domain resource may be different frequency domain resources. Exemplarily, at this time, the first frequency domain resource and the second frequency domain resource may be configured in advance by the second communication device to the first communication device, for example, the second communication device may send first configuration information to the first communication device to indicate the first frequency domain resource and / or the second frequency domain resource. Optionally, the first configuration information may include one or more signalings for configuring the first frequency domain resource and / or the second frequency domain resource.

[0223] For example, the second communication device can pre-configure at least two frequency domain resources for each first communication device. For each first communication device, among the at least two frequency domain resources, there is at least one frequency domain resource for the first communication device to send a first signal used as a carrier signal. In this case, the first signal can be used for uplink communication of the electronic tag (can be called role 1), and there is at least one frequency domain resource for the first communication device to send a first signal used as a charging signal. In this case, the first signal can be sent jointly with other first communication devices as a charging signal (can be called role 2). Exemplarily, the at least two frequency domain resources can be configured together by the second communication device through one signaling, or can be configured separately through multiple signalings.

[0224] For example, the second communication device pre-configures two frequency domain resources for the first communication device: frequency domain resource 1 (i.e., the first frequency domain resource) is used for function 1, and frequency domain resource 2 (i.e., the second frequency domain resource) is used for function 2. The second communication device then sends a DCI (e.g., a unicast triggering DCI) to the first communication device. The indication information contained in the DCI may be a single-bit indication information. When the single bit is 0, it indicates that the first signal is to be sent on frequency domain resource 1; when the single bit is 1, it indicates that the first signal is to be sent on frequency domain resource 2. Alternatively, when the single bit is 0, it indicates that the currently scheduled first signal is to be used for function 1; when the single bit is 1, it indicates that the currently scheduled first signal is to be used for function 2, and so on. Accordingly, after each first communication device receives its corresponding unicast DCI, it may send the first signal of the corresponding function to the electronic tag on the corresponding frequency domain resource according to the single-bit indication information in the unicast DCI and the pre-configured frequency domain resources.

[0225] Example 2: The second communication device may also directly indicate the frequency domain resource of the first signal through unicast DCI. For example, the unicast DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal, where the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal is one of the candidate frequency domain resources set for the first communication device to transmit the first signal.

[0226] In Example 2, the information in the unicast DCI indicating the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal can be referred to as frequency domain resource indication information, which is used to directly indicate on which frequency domain resource the first communication device currently scheduled by the second communication device transmits the first signal. Exemplarily, when the first signal is used for either role 1 or role 2, the DCI can include the frequency domain resource indication information. The frequency domain resource indication information can be a resource sequence number, a bitmap of a resource, or the like.

[0227] In Example 2, the first communication device needs to know the above-mentioned candidate frequency domain resource set in advance. At this time, the above-mentioned candidate frequency domain resource set can also be referred to as the frequency domain resource range available to the first communication device. Then, based on the above-mentioned frequency domain resource indication information, the first communication device can determine the corresponding frequency domain resource position in the candidate frequency domain resource set to send the first signal, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling. Exemplarily, the candidate frequency domain resource set can be configured in advance by the second communication device. For example, the candidate frequency domain resource set can include one or more frequency domain resources configured in advance by the second communication device to the first communication device through second configuration information. The second configuration information can include one or more signalings for indicating frequency domain resources. The candidate frequency domain resource set can also be pre-defined by the communication protocol, or it can be allocated through a random allocation algorithm. Optionally, the frequency domain resource corresponding to the candidate frequency domain resource set can be the system bandwidth range, or it can be a subset of the system bandwidth range, such as a part of the bandwidth (bandwidth part, BWP).

[0228] For example, the candidate frequency domain resource set configured in advance by the second communication device to the first communication device may be frequency domain resources 0 to 7. The second communication device then sends a DCI to the first communication device (e.g., triggers a DCI), and the frequency domain resource indication information included in the DCI indicates a resource number of frequency domain resource 2, in which case the first communication device sends the first signal on frequency domain resource 2. Alternatively, the first signal frequency domain resource indication information indicates an 8-bit bitmap, where each bit of the bitmap corresponds to frequency domain resources 0 to 7, where the bit corresponding to frequency domain resource 2 is 1 and the remaining bits are 0, in which case the first communication device sends the first signal on frequency domain resource 2.

[0229] Optionally, in Example 2, for multiple first communication devices, the frequency domain resources indicated by the unicast DCI received by each first communication device may also be the same. In this case, the above-mentioned multiple first communication devices can simultaneously send the first signal on the same frequency domain resources.

[0230] Example 3: The second communication device may also directly indicate the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal under role 2 through unicast DCI. For example, the unicast DCI includes a first indication field and a second indication field. The first indication field is used to indicate the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, and the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal under role 2. The second indication field is used to indicate the role of the first signal, or to indicate whether the unicast DCI includes information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal.

[0231] In Example 3, the first indication field can also be referred to as frequency domain resource indication information. It is understandable that when the first signal is used for role 1, the unicast DCI does not include the first indication field, and when the first signal is used for role 2, the unicast DCI includes the first indication field. Exemplarily, when the second indication field is used to indicate the role of the first signal, the second indication field can be a 1-bit information field. If the 1-bit is 0, it indicates role 1; if the 1-bit is 1, it indicates role 2, and so on. When the second indication field is used to indicate whether the unicast DCI contains information for indicating the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal, the second indication field can also be a 1-bit information field. If the 1-bit is 0, it indicates that the information is not included; if the 1-bit is 1, it indicates that the information is included, and so on. It is understandable that if the length of the DCI containing the first indication field and the second indication field is different from the length of other formats of DCI within the same search space, the length can be aligned by adding padding bits to reduce the complexity of blind detection.

[0232] Exemplarily, in the embodiments of the present application, the frequency domain resources introduced in any one of Examples 1 to 3 may be one or a group of physical resource blocks (PRBs), or one or a group of subcarriers.

[0233] Implementation method 2:

[0234] In other application scenarios, the DCI described above may be a multicast DCI, i.e., the second communication device may send a DCI to multiple first communication devices via multicast, scheduling the multiple first communication devices to simultaneously start and end transmission of the first signal, thereby reducing scheduling overhead. For example, when the first signal is a CW signal, the multicast DCI may also be referred to as a group CW DCI. Regarding the specific implementation of the second communication device scheduling each first communication device to send the first signal to the electronic tag via the multicast DCI, please refer to the description of S301 to S303 above and will not be repeated here.

[0235] Optionally, the RNTI used by the second communication device to scramble the multicast DCI may be a multicast RNTI configured in advance by the second communication device for the multiple first communication devices. When the first signal is a CW signal, the multicast DCI may also be referred to as a group CW DCI, and the multicast RNTI may be referred to as a group CW-RNTI. In this case, the second communication device may uniformly configure a multicast RNTI for each first communication device and uniformly send the multicast DCI. Correspondingly, the multiple first communication devices may also detect the corresponding multicast DCI based on the multicast RNTI and jointly send the first signal, thereby reducing scheduling overhead.

[0236] It can be understood that if the multicast DCI is a trigger DCI, the start sending time and / or continuous sending time of the first signal corresponding to each first communication device is the same. If the multicast DCI is a termination DCI, the end sending time of the first signal corresponding to each first communication device is the same. If the multicast DCI is a DCI formed by a combination of a trigger DCI and a termination DCI, the end sending time of the first signal corresponding to each first communication device is the same, and the start sending time and / or continuous sending time of the second signal is the same. If the multicast DCI is an adjustment DCI, each first communication device can update the relevant parameters when sending the first signal at the same time according to the instructions of the adjustment DCI.

[0237] Optionally, for the above multiple first communication devices, different first communication devices may also simultaneously send first signals on different frequency domain resources to form a charging signal with a high PAPR, which is beneficial to improving the charging distance and efficiency.

[0238] Optionally, when the above-mentioned DCI is multicast DCI, the present application also provides the following example of configuring the frequency domain resources used for sending the first signal:

[0239] Example 4: The second communication apparatus may configure in advance the frequency domain resources to be used by each first communication apparatus.

[0240] Taking the example of a second communication device sending a multicast trigger DCI, after receiving the multicast trigger DCI, the first communication devices can each begin sending the first signal on the pre-configured frequency domain resources. In this case, the frequency domain resources corresponding to each first communication device may be different. It is understandable that the multicast termination DCI and the multicast adjustment DCI are optional. When the second communication device schedules the first communication device to end sending the first signal and / or update the relevant parameters for sending the first signal by sending the multicast termination DCI and / or the multicast adjustment DCI, each first communication device can also end sending the first signal on the pre-configured frequency domain resources, or send the first signal according to the updated relevant parameters.

[0241] Optionally, when the first signal is used as a charging signal, the first communication device sends the first signal on the first frequency domain resource, and when the first signal is used as a carrier signal, the first communication device sends the first signal on the second frequency domain resource. The first frequency domain resource and the second frequency domain resource may be different frequency domain resources. It is understandable that when the first communication device knows the frequency domain resources used by the first signal under different roles, when the DCI indicates any one or both of the role of the first signal and the frequency domain resource corresponding to the first signal, the first communication device can determine the role of the first signal currently scheduled by the DCI and the frequency domain resource used to send the first signal, thereby improving the flexibility of scheduling. Exemplarily, at this time, the first frequency domain resource and the second frequency domain resource may be configured in advance by the second communication device to the first communication device, for example, the second communication device may send first configuration information to the first communication device to indicate the first frequency domain resource and / or the second frequency domain resource. Optionally, the first configuration information may include one or more signalings for configuring the first frequency domain resource and / or the second frequency domain resource.

[0242] For example, the second communication device may configure at least two frequency domain resources for each first communication device in advance. For each first communication device, among the at least two frequency domain resources, at least one frequency domain resource is used for role 1, and at least one frequency domain resource is used for role 2. Exemplarily, the at least two frequency domain resources may be configured together by the second communication device through one signaling, or may be configured separately through multiple signalings. For example, the second communication device configures two frequency domain resources for the first communication device in advance, frequency domain resource 1 (i.e., the first frequency domain resource) is used for role 1, and frequency domain resource 2 (i.e., the second frequency domain resource) is used for role 2. The second communication device then sends a multicast DCI (e.g., a multicast triggered DCI) to the first communication device.

[0243] Optionally, given that the first signal scheduled by multicast DCI is usually used as a charging signal, after receiving the DCI, each first communication device can also determine on which frequency domain resource the currently scheduled first signal is sent, or which function the currently scheduled first signal is used for, based on whether the DCI is unicast DCI or multicast DCI. For example, the second communication device pre-configures two frequency domain resources for the first communication device, with frequency domain resource 1 used for function 1 and frequency domain resource 2 used for function 2. When the first communication device receives the unicast DCI, it sends the first signal on frequency domain resource 1; when the first communication device receives the multicast DCI, it sends the first signal on frequency domain resource 2.

[0244] Example 5: The second communication device may also directly indicate the frequency domain resources of the first signal via multicast DCI. After receiving the multicast DCI, the multiple first communication devices simultaneously transmit the first signal on the frequency domain resource indicated by the multicast DCI. For other specific implementations of Example 5, please refer to the relevant description of Example 1 and will not be repeated here.

[0245] Example 6: The second communication device may also indicate in the multicast DCI the frequency domain resources corresponding to each of the multiple first communication devices receiving the multicast DCI. For example, the multicast DCI includes information for indicating multiple frequency domain resources for each first communication device receiving the multicast DCI to transmit the first signal. The multiple frequency domain resources are frequency domain resources in a set of candidate frequency domain resources for the first communication device to transmit the first signal. Each of the multiple frequency domain resources corresponds to a first communication device.

[0246] In Example 6, the information in the multicast DCI used to indicate the multiple frequency domain resources for each first communication device receiving the multicast DCI to send the first signal can be called frequency domain resource indication information. Exemplarily, the frequency domain resource indication information can be a resource sequence number, a bit table of resources, etc. It can be understood that the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal indicated in the DCI can include frequency domain resources used by multiple first communication devices respectively. In this case, the second communication device does not need to separately configure the frequency domain resources to be used for sending the first signal for each first communication device, which can save scheduling overhead.

[0247] In Example 6, the above-mentioned multiple first communication devices need to know in advance the above-mentioned candidate frequency domain resource set, as well as the correspondence between the multiple frequency domain resources indicated in the multicast DCI and each first communication device. At this time, the above-mentioned candidate frequency domain resource set can also be referred to as the frequency domain resource range available to the multiple first communication devices, and the correspondence can also be expressed by the order of the frequency domain resources corresponding to each first communication device in the above-mentioned multiple frequency domain resources. Exemplarily, the candidate frequency domain resource set can be configured in advance by the second communication device, and the candidate frequency domain resource set can be configured in advance by the second communication device to the above-mentioned multiple first communication devices through third configuration information, and the third configuration information can include one or more signalings for indicating frequency domain resources. The candidate frequency domain resource set can also be pre-defined by the protocol, or it can be allocated through a random allocation algorithm. Optionally, the frequency domain resource corresponding to the candidate frequency domain resource set can be the system bandwidth range, or it can be a subset of the system bandwidth range, such as a part of the bandwidth (bandwidth part, BWP), etc.

[0248] For example, for four first communication devices (respectively referred to as first communication device A, first communication device B, first communication device C, and first communication device D), the second communication device pre-configures available frequency domain resources ranging from frequency domain resources 0 to 7. Taking a multicast trigger DCI as an example, the frequency domain resource indication information in the DCI indicates four frequency domain resource numbers for sending the first signal, which are 1, 5, 3, and 2, in order. Furthermore, the correspondence between each first communication device and the four frequency domain resources indicated in the multicast DCI can be: the second communication device pre-configures first communication device A to use the indicated first signal frequency domain resource, configures first communication device B to use the indicated second signal frequency domain resource, configures first communication device C to use the indicated third signal frequency domain resource, and configures first communication device D to use the indicated fourth signal frequency domain resource. Then, upon receiving the multicast trigger DCI, the four first communication devices will transmit the first signal on frequency domain resources 1, 5, 3, and 2, respectively.

[0249] Alternatively, the frequency domain resource indication information in the multicast trigger DCI indicates an 8-bit bitmap corresponding to the frequency domain resources 0 to 7, where the bits corresponding to frequency domain resources 1, 2, 3, and 5 are 1, and the remaining bits are 0. According to the pre-configured correspondence, after the four first communication devices receive the multicast trigger DCI, they will send the first signal on frequency domain resources 1, 2, 3, and 5, respectively.

[0250] Exemplarily, in an embodiment of the present application, the frequency domain resources introduced in any one of Examples 4 to 6 may be one or a group of PRBs, or one or a group of subcarriers.

[0251] In the method shown in FIG3 , or in the above-mentioned Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, unicast DCI and multicast DCI may share the same search space. Exemplarily, when unicast DCI and multicast DCI share the same search space, it may be any of the following situations:

[0252] Scenario 1: Unicast DCI and multicast DCI can share the same search space with DCI of other formats. In this case, when the first communication device blindly detects unicast DCI or multicast DCI in this search space, it also blindly detects DCI of other formats. For the specific implementation corresponding to Scenario 1, please refer to the relevant description of DCI and DCI of other formats sharing the same search space in S302, and will not be repeated here.

[0253] For example, when unicast DCI and multicast DCI share the same search space (the search space may have DCI in other formats), both unicast DCI or multicast DCI may need to be filled to the same length through bit padding depending on the information contained therein.

[0254] Case 2: Unicast DCI and multicast DCI can also occupy the same search space exclusively.

[0255] As an example, unicast DCI and groupcast DCI share the original search space. Taking the first signal as a CW signal as an example, unicast DCI can be called CW DCI, and groupcast DCI can be called group CW DCI. For example, please refer to Figure 7A. Figure 7A is a search space schematic diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7A, in the original search space, the supported multiple optional DCI formats are DCI format A, DCI format B, ..., CW DCI format, group CW DCI, then in the original search space, only CW DCI format and group CW DCI can be configured, without configuring other DCI formats such as DCI format A and DCI format B. At this time, the first communication device can detect CW DCI and group CW DCI in the original search space without detecting DCI of other formats, thereby reducing blind detection complexity and processing delay.

[0256] As an example, unicast DCI and multicast DCI share a newly defined dedicated search space. Exemplarily, when the first signal is a CW signal, the dedicated search space may also be referred to as a CW dedicated search space. For example, please refer to Figure 7B, which is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7B, in the newly defined search space, the CW DCI format is a configured mandatory DCI format, and the group CW DCI format is a configured optional DCI format. It can be understood that in the newly defined search space as shown in Figure 7B, it can simultaneously meet the needs of supporting and not supporting the use of multicast DCI for the first communication device to detect the corresponding DCI.

[0257] In some optional embodiments, unicast DCI and multicast DCI may occupy different search spaces respectively. For example, it may be any of the following situations:

[0258] Scenario 3: Unicast DCI and multicast DCI each share the same search space with DCI of other formats. For example, unicast DCI and DCI of other formats share search space 1, and multicast DCI and DCI of other formats share search space 2. For the specific implementation of Scenario 3, refer to the description of DCI and DCI of other formats sharing the same search space in S302 and will not be repeated here.

[0259] Case 4: Unicast DCI and multicast DCI may also occupy different search spaces respectively.

[0260] As an example, unicast DCI and multicast DCI share the original search space with DCI of other formats respectively. Taking the first signal as a CW signal as an example, unicast DCI can be called CW DCI, and multicast DCI can be called group CW DCI. For example, please refer to Figure 8A. Figure 8A is a search space schematic diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8A, in the original search space exclusively occupied by unicast DCI, the multiple optional DCI formats supported are DCI format A, DCI format B, ..., CW DCI format, and group CW DCI. In this original search space, only the CW DCI format can be configured, without configuring other DCI formats such as DCI format A, DCI format B and group CW DCI format. At this time, the first communication device can detect CW DCI in the original search space without detecting DCI of other formats, thereby reducing blind detection complexity and processing delay.

[0261] Please refer to Figure 8B, which is a schematic diagram of a search space provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8B, in the original search space exclusively occupied by multicast DCI, the multiple optional DCI formats supported are DCI format A, DCI format B, ..., CW DCI format, and group CW DCI. In this original search space, only the group CW DCI format can be configured, while other DCI formats such as DCI format A, DCI format B, and CW DCI format are not configured. In this case, the first communication device can detect the group CW DCI in the original search space without detecting DCI of other formats, thereby reducing blind detection complexity and processing delay.

[0262] As an example, unicast DCI and multicast DCI may also share the newly defined dedicated search space respectively. Exemplarily, in the case where the first signal is a CW signal, the dedicated search space may also be referred to as a CW dedicated search space. For example, please refer to Figure 8C, which is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8C, in the newly defined search space 1, the CW DCI format is a configured mandatory DCI format, and the newly defined search space 1 is used to transmit CW DCI. Please refer to Figure 8D, which is a schematic diagram of a search space provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8D, the group CW DCI format is a configured mandatory DCI format, and the newly defined search space 2 is used to transmit group CW DCI.

[0263] Optionally, when the unicast DCI and the multicast DCI correspond to different search spaces, for example, the unicast DCI corresponds to the first search space (such as the newly defined search space 1 introduced above), and the multicast DCI corresponds to the second search space (such as the newly defined search space 2 introduced above), then the first search space and the second search space may satisfy at least one of the following:

[0264] The monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

[0265] It is understandable that when the second communication device uses multicast DCI to schedule the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag, the first signal is usually used as a charging signal to provide energy for the electronic tag. For example, when the tag is activated or after the tag is activated, the electronic tag is charged for a period of time through the first signal. It is relatively rare for the electronic tag to be charged again using the charging signal, or it will take a long time for the electronic tag to need to be charged again. Therefore, the second search space corresponding to the multicast DCI does not need a shorter monitoring period, or does not need to appear frequently. When the second communication device uses unicast DCI to schedule the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag, the first signal is usually used as a carrier signal, and the carrier signal will appear more frequently during the entire communication process. In order to adapt to this, the period of the first search space corresponding to the unicast DCI should also be shorter or appear more frequently. In summary, when implementing the embodiments of the present application, the monitoring period corresponding to the first search space can be less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space.

[0266] In addition, because the multicast DCI is used to schedule the charging signal for a long time and does not appear frequently, it can have a longer processing delay and higher blind detection complexity than the unicast DCI scheduling carrier signal. Therefore, the number of aggregation levels configured for use in the first search space can be less than or equal to the number of aggregation levels configured for use in the second search space, and the number of detections of the aggregation levels in the first search space can also be less than or equal to the number of detections of the aggregation levels in the second search space. For a specific description of the aggregation levels and the corresponding number of blind detections in the first search space and the second search space, please refer to the relevant introduction in S302 above and will not be repeated here.

[0267] Optionally, the first search space may also satisfy at least one of the following:

[0268] The monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the first detection period threshold; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the first aggregation level number threshold; the number of blind detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the first blind detection number threshold.

[0269] The second search space may also satisfy at least one of the following:

[0270] The monitoring period corresponding to the second search space is less than or equal to the second detection period threshold; the second detection period threshold is greater than or equal to the first detection period threshold; the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space is less than or equal to the second aggregation level number threshold, and the second aggregation level number threshold is greater than or equal to the first aggregation level number threshold; the number of blind detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space is less than or equal to the second blind detection number threshold, and the second blind detection number threshold is greater than or equal to the first blind detection number threshold.

[0271] Exemplarily, any one or more of the first detection cycle threshold, the second detection cycle threshold, the first aggregation level number threshold, the second aggregation level number threshold, the first blind detection number threshold and the second blind detection number threshold may be configured by the second communication device or specified by the communication protocol, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0272] Exemplarily, the search space shown in FIG. 4A , FIG. 4B , FIG. 7A , FIG. 7B , and FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D may be a dedicated search space used solely by a first communication device, or may be a common search space shared by multiple first communication devices.

[0273] Optionally, unicast DCI and multicast DCI can define the same dedicated processing capabilities, or they can define different processing capabilities. For example, given that multicast DCI is used to schedule charging signals for a longer duration and does not appear frequently, the former does not require high processing capabilities or latency compared to unicast DCI scheduling carrier signals, and can accept longer latency. Therefore, the dedicated processing capability corresponding to unicast DCI can be lower than the dedicated processing capability corresponding to multicast DCI, that is, the time length corresponding to the dedicated processing capability corresponding to unicast DCI is longer than the time length corresponding to the dedicated processing capability corresponding to multicast DCI. For the specific description of the above-mentioned dedicated processing capability, please refer to the relevant introduction of Figure 6 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0274] Optionally, whether the first communication device supports multicast DCI can also be used as a capability. The first communication device can report this capability to the second communication device. For example, the first communication device can send third indication information to the second communication device, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the first communication device supports multicast DCI. Exemplarily, if the first communication device supports multicast DCI, the second communication device can configure relevant parameters (such as frequency domain resources corresponding to multicast DCI, search space parameters corresponding to multicast DCI, etc.) to use multicast DCI for scheduling.

[0275] Optionally, whether the second communication device adopts multicast DCI when scheduling the first communication device may be configured in advance by the second communication device to the first communication device.

[0276] As an example, when the first communication device supports multicast DCI, the second communication device can send fourth indication information to the first communication device, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to monitor multicast DCI. Optionally, the first communication device can also instruct the first communication device to start monitoring multicast DCI within a specified time period.

[0277] As an example, the second communication device may also inform the first communication device whether to adopt multicast DCI through the configuration parameters of the search space. For example, the second communication device may send a second indication message to the first communication device before sending the DCI. The second indication message is used to indicate the search space corresponding to the DCI. If the configuration parameters corresponding to the search space are configured with relevant parameters of multicast DCI, it means that the second communication device adopts multicast DCI, and the search space supports the sending and detection of multicast DCI. If it is not configured, it is not supported.

[0278] As an example, the first communication device may also determine whether the search space for multicast DCI is configured, and if so, support is provided; otherwise, not support is provided. Alternatively, the first communication device may determine whether the frequency domain resources of the first signal scheduled by multicast DCI are configured, and if so, support is provided; otherwise, not support is provided.

[0279] As an example, the second communication device may also indicate through other signaling, such as through 1 bit in a certain RRC signaling, 0 indicates not supported, 1 indicates supported, and so on.

[0280] The following describes the device provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0281] The present application divides the functional modules of the communication device according to the above-mentioned method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The communication device of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 9 to 11.

[0282] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 may include a transmitting unit 901, a receiving unit 902, and a processing unit 903. The transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 may implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 903 is used to process data. For example, the transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0283] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 may include a sending unit 901, a receiving unit 902 and a processing unit 903.

[0284] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the first communication device shown above. That is, the communication device shown in FIG9 may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the first communication device in the method embodiments above. For example, the first communication device may be a beamforming transmitting device or chip, etc., which is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0285] The receiving unit 902 is configured to receive the DCI, and may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the DCI from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0286] The transmitting unit 901 is configured to transmit the first signal. The transmitting unit 901 may transmit the first signal to the receiving end via a transmitting antenna, or the transmitting unit 901 may output the DCI from the processing unit 903. Therefore, for ease of understanding, the communication device shown in Figure 9 is described below using transmission or output as an example. The description of the transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 is also applicable below and will not be described in detail below.

[0287] Optionally, the processing unit 903 is configured to detect the DCI, which may include: the processing unit 903 detecting the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal.

[0288] Optionally, the sending unit 901, used to send the first signal, may include: the sending unit 901 may send the first signal on the first frequency domain resources based on DCI when the first signal is used as a charging signal; and send the first signal on the second frequency domain resources based on DCI when the first signal is used as a carrier signal.

[0289] Optionally, the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive second indication information, which may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the second indication information from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0290] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is further used to send third indication information, which may include: the sending unit 901 can send the third indication information to the receiving end through the sending antenna, or the sending unit 901 can output the third indication information from the processing unit 903.

[0291] Optionally, the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive fourth indication information, which may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the fourth indication information from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0292] Optionally, the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive the first configuration information, which may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the first configuration information from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0293] Optionally, the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive the second configuration information, which may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the second configuration information from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0294] Optionally, the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive third configuration information, which may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the third configuration information from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0295] It can be understood that for specific descriptions of DCI, first signal, RNTI, second indication information, third indication information, fourth indication information, first configuration information, second configuration information, third configuration information, etc., reference can be made to the method embodiments shown above, such as the method shown in Figure 3, which will not be described in detail here.

[0296] It is understandable that the specific description of the sending unit, receiving unit, and processing unit shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the sending unit, receiving unit, and processing unit, reference can be made to the above-mentioned method embodiment, which will not be described in detail here. Exemplarily, when the communication device is a first communication device, the sending unit 901 can also be used to perform the sending step in S303 corresponding to Figure 3, the receiving unit 902 can also be used to perform the receiving step in S302 corresponding to Figure 3, and the processing unit 903 can also be used to perform the step of detecting DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal corresponding to Figure 3.

[0297] Using Figure 9 as an example, in some other embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the second communication device shown above. Specifically, the communication device shown in Figure 9 may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the second communication device in the method embodiments above. Exemplarily, the second communication device may be a beamforming receiving device or chip, etc., but this embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

[0298] A processing unit 903 is configured to generate a DCI;

[0299] The sending unit 901 is used to send DCI, which may include: the sending unit 901 may send the DCI to the receiving end through a transmitting antenna, or the sending unit 901 may output the DCI from the processing unit 903.

[0300] Optionally, the processing unit 903 is further configured to scramble the DCI, and may include the processing unit 903 scrambling the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal.

[0301] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is further used to send second indication information, which may include: the sending unit 901 can send the second indication information to the receiving end through the sending antenna, or the sending unit 901 can output the second indication information from the processing unit 903.

[0302] Optionally, the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive third indication information, which may include: the receiving unit 902 may receive the third indication information from the transmitting end through a receiving antenna.

[0303] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is further used to send fourth indication information, which may include: the sending unit 901 can send the fourth indication information to the receiving end through the sending antenna, or the sending unit 901 can output the fourth indication information from the processing unit 903.

[0304] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is further used to send the first configuration information, which may include: the sending unit 901 can send the first configuration information to the receiving end through the transmitting antenna, or the sending unit 901 can output the first configuration information from the processing unit 903.

[0305] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is further used to send the second configuration information, which may include: the sending unit 901 can send the second configuration information to the receiving end through the transmitting antenna, or the sending unit 901 can output the second configuration information from the processing unit 903.

[0306] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is also used to send third configuration information, which may include: the sending unit 901 can send the third configuration information to the receiving end through the transmitting antenna, or the sending unit 901 can output the third configuration information from the processing unit 903.

[0307] Optionally, the sending unit 901 is used to send DCI, and may include: the sending unit 901 may send the DCI to multiple receiving ends through a transmitting antenna, or the sending unit 901 may output the DCI from the processing unit 903.

[0308] It can be understood that for specific descriptions of DCI, first signal, RNTI, second indication information, third indication information, fourth indication information, first configuration information, second configuration information, third configuration information, etc., reference can be made to the method embodiments shown above, such as the method shown in Figure 3, which will not be described in detail here.

[0309] It is understood that the specific descriptions of the sending unit, receiving unit, and processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples. For the specific functions or execution steps of the sending unit, receiving unit, and processing unit, reference can be made to the above-mentioned method embodiments and will not be described in detail here. For example, when the communication device is a second communication device, the sending unit 901 can also be used to execute the sending step in S302 corresponding to Figure 3, and the processing unit 903 can also be used to execute the step of S301 corresponding to Figure 3.

[0310] The first communication device and the second communication device of the embodiment of the present application are described above. The following describes possible product forms of the first communication device and the second communication device. It should be understood that any product having the functions of the first communication device described in FIG9 above, or any product having the functions of the second communication device described in FIG9 above, falls within the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application. It should also be understood that the following description is for illustrative purposes only and does not limit the product forms of the first communication device and the second communication device of the embodiment of the present application to these examples.

[0311] In the communication device shown in FIG9 , the processing unit 903 may be one or more processors, the transmitting unit 901 may be a transmitter, the receiving unit 902 may be a receiver, or the transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 may be integrated into a single device, such as a transceiver. Alternatively, the processing unit 903 may be one or more processors (or the processing unit 903 may be one or more logic circuits), the transmitting unit 901 may be an output interface, the receiving unit 902 may be an input interface, or the transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 may be integrated into a single unit, such as an input / output interface. This will be described in detail below.

[0312] In one possible implementation, in the communication device shown in Figure 9, the processing unit 903 may be one or more processors, and the sending unit 901 and receiving unit 902 may be integrated into a transceiver. In the embodiments of the present application, the processor and transceiver may be coupled, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the connection method between the processor and the transceiver. During the execution of the above method, the process of sending information in the above method can be understood as the process of the processor outputting the above information. When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the above information may need to undergo further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above method can be understood as the process of the processor receiving the above information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information may need to undergo further processing before being input into the processor.

[0313] Please refer to FIG. 10 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 10 , the communication device 1000 includes one or more processors 1002 and a transceiver 1001 .

[0314] Exemplarily, when the communication device 1000 is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions performed by the above-mentioned first communication device, the transceiver 1001 is used to receive DCI, and to send a first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI. Optionally, the processor 1002 is used to detect the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to receive second indication information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to send third indication information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to receive fourth indication information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to receive first configuration information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to receive second configuration information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to receive third configuration information, etc.

[0315] Exemplarily, when the communication device 1000 is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions performed by the above-mentioned second communication device, the processor 1002 is used to generate DCI. The transceiver 1001 is used to send DCI to the first communication device. Optionally, the processor 1002 is also used to scramble the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to send second indication information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to receive third indication information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to send fourth indication information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to send first configuration information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to send second configuration information. Optionally, the transceiver 1001 is also used to send third configuration information, etc.

[0316] It can be understood that for specific descriptions of the DCI, the first signal, the RNTI, the second indication information, etc., reference can be made to the method embodiment shown above, such as the method shown in Figure 3, which will not be described in detail here.

[0317] It is understandable that for the specific description of the processor and the transceiver, reference can be made to the introduction of the processing unit, the sending unit, and the receiving unit shown in FIG9 , which will not be repeated here.

[0318] In various implementations of the communication device shown in FIG10 , the transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, wherein the receiver is configured to perform a receiving function (or operation) and the transmitter is configured to perform a transmitting function (or operation). The transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices / apparatuses via a transmission medium.

[0319] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include one or more memories 1003 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1003 is coupled to the processor 1002. The coupling in the embodiment of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1002 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1003. The processor 1002 can execute program instructions stored in the memory 1003. Optionally, at least one of the one or more memories may be included in the processor 1002.

[0320] The specific connection medium between the transceiver 1001, processor 1002, and memory 1003 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 10, the memory 1003, processor 1002, and transceiver 1001 of the embodiment of the present application are connected via bus 1004, which is represented by a bold line in Figure 10. The connection methods between other components are merely illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. Bus 1004 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 10 uses only one bold line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0321] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc., and may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor, etc.

[0322] In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or a portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), etc. The memory is any storage medium that can be used to carry or store program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be read and / or written by a computer (such as the communication device shown in the present application), but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application can also be a circuit or any other device that can realize a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0323] Processor 1002 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 1003 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 1001 may include control circuitry and an antenna. The control circuitry is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0324] When the communication device 1000 is turned on, the processor 1002 can read the software program in the memory 1003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1002 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device 1000, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1002. The processor 1002 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0325] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be arranged independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be arranged remotely from the communication device.

[0326] It is understood that the communication device 1000 shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those in Figure 10, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The methods performed by the processor 1002 and the transceiver 1001 shown above are only examples. For the specific steps performed by the processor and the transceiver, reference can be made to the methods described above.

[0327] In another possible implementation, in the communication device 900 shown in FIG9 , the processing unit 903 may be one or more logic circuits, the sending unit 901 may be an output interface, and the receiving unit 902 may be an input interface. Alternatively, the sending unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 may be integrated into one unit, such as an input / output interface. The input / output interface may also be referred to as a communication interface, an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. As shown in FIG11 , the communication device shown in FIG11 includes a logic circuit 1101 and an interface 1102. That is, the processing unit 903 may be implemented using a logic circuit 1101, and the sending unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 may be implemented using an interface 1102. The logic circuit 1101 may be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 1102 may be a communication interface, an input / output interface, a pin, etc. For example, FIG11 illustrates the communication device as a chip, and the chip includes a logic circuit 1101 and an interface 1102.

[0328] In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit 1101 and the interface 1102 may also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method between the logic circuit 1101 and the interface 1102.

[0329] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the method, function, or step performed by the first communication device described above, interface 1102 is used to input DCI and to output the first signal; optionally, logic circuit 1101 is used to detect DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal, etc. Optionally, interface 1102 is also used to input second indication information. Optionally, interface 1102 is also used to output third indication information. Optionally, interface 1102 is also used to input fourth indication information. Optionally, interface 1102 is also used to input first configuration information. Optionally, interface 1102 is also used to input second configuration information. Optionally, interface 1102 is also used to input third configuration information, etc.

[0330] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the method, function, or step performed by the above-mentioned second communication device, the logic circuit 1101 is used to generate DCI; and the interface 1102 is used to output the DCI. Optionally, the logic circuit 1101 is also used to scramble the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal. Optionally, the interface 1102 is also used to output the second indication information. Optionally, the interface 1102 is also used to input the third indication information. Optionally, the interface 1102 is also used to output the fourth indication information. Optionally, the interface 1102 is also used to output the first configuration information. Optionally, the interface 1102 is also used to output the second configuration information. Optionally, the interface 1102 is also used to output the third configuration information, etc.

[0331] It can be understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of hardware, or can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of software, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0332] It can be understood that for specific descriptions of DCI, first signal, RNTI, second indication information, third indication information, fourth indication information, first configuration information, second configuration information, third configuration information, etc., reference can be made to the method embodiments shown above, such as the method shown in Figure 3, which will not be described in detail here.

[0333] For the specific implementation of each embodiment shown in FIG11 , reference may also be made to the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0334] In addition, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the operations and / or processing performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0335] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor performs the operations and / or processing performed by the second communication device in the method provided in the present application.

[0336] The present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0337] The present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0338] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or computer code. When the computer program or the computer code runs on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0339] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or computer code. When the computer program or the computer code runs on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0340] The present application also provides a communication system, including a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device and the second communication device can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0341] It should be understood that the systems, devices, and methods disclosed in the several embodiments provided in this application can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the unit is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or can be an electrical, mechanical or other form of connection.

[0342] 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, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0343] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0344] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method of each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving downlink control information DCI, where the DCI is used to instruct the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag; The first signal is sent to the electronic tag based on the DCI, where the first signal is a signal for charging sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag, or the first signal is a signal for uplink communication sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Before receiving the DCI, the method further includes: The DCI is detected based on a radio network temporary identifier RNTI corresponding to the first signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The DCI format configured in the search space corresponding to the DCI is the DCI format of the DCI.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The search space corresponding to the unicast DCI is the first search space, and the search space corresponding to the multicast DCI is the second search space; The first search space and the second search space satisfy at least one of the following: The monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; The number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; The number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The DCI includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate any one of the following: The first communication device starts sending the first signal; The first communication device ends sending the first signal; The first communication device ends sending the first signal and the first communication device starts sending a second signal.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first indication information is further used to instruct the first communication device to update at least one of the following information: The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; The start time of sending the first signal; The continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; The transmission power corresponding to the first signal; The at least one item of information is included in the DCI.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: In a case where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI includes information used to indicate at least one of the following: The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; The start time of sending the first signal; The continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; The transmission power corresponding to the first signal; The function of the first signal includes the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that The first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, and sending the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI includes: When the first signal is used as a charging signal, the first signal is sent on a first frequency domain resource based on the DCI; when the first signal is used as a carrier signal, the first signal is sent on a second frequency domain resource based on the DCI.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that In the case where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating a termination time of sending the first signal.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Generate a DCI, where the DCI is used to instruct the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag, where the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for charging, or the first signal is a signal sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag for uplink communication; The DCI is sent to the first communication device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The DCI is scrambled based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that The DCI format configured in the search space corresponding to the DCI is the DCI format of the DCI.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that The search space corresponding to the unicast DCI is the first search space, and the search space corresponding to the multicast DCI is the second search space; The first search space and the second search space satisfy at least one of the following: The monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; The number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; The number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that The DCI includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate any one of the following: The first communication device starts sending the first signal; The first communication device ends sending the first signal; The first communication device ends sending the first signal and the first communication device starts sending a second signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 16, characterized in that The first indication information is further used to instruct the first communication device to update at least one of the following information: The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; The start time of sending the first signal; The continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; The transmission power corresponding to the first signal; The at least one item of information is included in the DCI.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that In a case where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI includes information used to indicate at least one of the following: The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; The start time of sending the first signal; The continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; The transmission power corresponding to the first signal; The function of the first signal includes the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that The first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal. When the first signal is used as a charging signal, the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are first frequency domain resources; when the first signal is used as a carrier signal, the frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal are second frequency domain resources.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that In the case where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating a termination time of sending the first signal.

21. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second communication device generates a DCI, where the DCI is used to instruct the first communication device to send a first signal to the electronic tag, where the first signal is a signal for charging sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag, or the first signal is a signal for uplink communication sent by the first communication device to the electronic tag; The second communication device sends the DCI to the first communication device; The first communication device receives the DCI, and sends the first signal to the electronic tag based on the DCI.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that Before the second communication device sends the DCI to the first communication device, the method further includes: The second communication device scrambles the DCI based on the RNTI corresponding to the first signal; Before the first communication device receives the DCI, the method further includes: The first communication device detects the DCI based on the RNTI.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that The RNTI is a unicast RNTI or a multicast RNTI.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, characterized in that The DCI format configured in the search space corresponding to the DCI is the DCI format of the DCI.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, characterized in that The search space corresponding to the unicast DCI is the first search space, and the search space corresponding to the multicast DCI is the second search space; The first search space and the second search space satisfy at least one of the following: The monitoring period corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the monitoring period corresponding to the second search space; The number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space; The number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the first search space is less than or equal to the number of detections of at least one aggregation level corresponding to the second search space.

26. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 25, characterized in that The DCI includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate any one of the following: The first communication device starts sending the first signal; The first communication device ends sending the first signal; The first communication device ends sending the first signal and the first communication device starts sending a second signal.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The first indication information is further used to instruct the first communication device to update at least one of the following information: The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; The start time of sending the first signal; The continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; The transmission power corresponding to the first signal; The at least one item of information is included in the DCI.

28. The method according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that In a case where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to start sending the first signal, the DCI includes information used to indicate at least one of the following: The frequency domain resources corresponding to the first signal; The start time of sending the first signal; The continuous sending time corresponding to the first signal; The transmission power corresponding to the first signal; The function of the first signal includes the first signal being used as a carrier signal or the first signal being used as a charging signal.

29. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 28, characterized in that In the case where the first indication information is used to instruct the first communication device to end sending the first signal, the DCI includes information for indicating a termination time of sending the first signal.

30. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system comprises a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the second communication device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

31. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus includes a processor coupled to a memory; The memory is used to store computer programs; The processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the processor executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10; or, the processor executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 20.

32. The device according to claim 31, characterized in that The apparatus also includes the memory.

33. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes a logic circuit and an interface, wherein the logic circuit is coupled to the interface; The interface is used to input and / or output code instructions, and the logic circuit is used to execute the code instructions. When the code instructions are executed by the logic circuit, the logic circuit executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 10; or, the logic circuit executes the method as described in any one of claims 11 to 20.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10; or, the processor executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 20.

35. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program or a computer code, and when the computer program or the computer code is run on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed; or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is executed.

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