Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: using first access technology to receive a first message from a second network device, wherein the first message is used for paging and comprises first information, and the first information indicates second access technology; and using the second access technology to send a second message, wherein the second message is used for paging a terminal device. On the basis of the method described in the present application, the coverage range can be enlarged.

Description

Communication method and device Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0002] Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a type of automatic identification technology that uses wireless radio frequency to perform contactless two-way data communication. The main application scenario is identity recognition, and in some scenarios it can also be used to read and write user data. The radio frequency identification system includes a reader and a tag. The reader can be understood as a network device in the RFID system, and the tag can be understood as a terminal device in the RFID system. For example, the tag can be an electronic price tag in a supermarket, the reader can be a handheld terminal device that can read and write electronic price tags, and the reader can also be a network device in the supermarket's self-built local area network. The reader can read the tag information in the tag or write the tag information to the tag. At present, due to the low cost and design complexity of the tag terminal, the coverage supported by the tag is poor, which limits the coverage of the reader.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus that can improve the coverage of a reader / writer.

[0005] In the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the reader / writer functions are jointly performed by a first network device and a second network device, wherein the first network device is a network device with a forwarding function, and the second network device is a network device with a function of communicating with the core network. In this method, the tag can be understood as a terminal device.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the method can be performed by a first network device (e.g., a relay node, a distributed unit, etc.), or by a component of the first network device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network device. The method includes:

[0007] A first message is received from a second network device using a first access technology, the first message is used for paging, the first message includes first information, and the first information indicates a second access technology; a second message is sent using the second access technology, the second message is used for paging a terminal device.

[0008] By adopting this method, a first network device can be introduced, and the first network device can forward the paging message from the second network device to the terminal device, allowing the second network device to page terminal devices at a greater distance, thereby improving the coverage range. By carrying the first information in the first message, the first network device can distinguish between terminal devices using the second access technology and terminal devices using the first access technology, and determine to use the second access technology to page the terminal device, so that the first network device can serve two terminal devices using different access technologies. In addition, by adopting this method, the first network device and the second network device communicate using the first access technology, and the first network device and the terminal device communicate using the second access technology, thus realizing network node layer 2 relay.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the second access technology is used to receive first data from the first terminal device; and the first access technology is used to send a third message to the second network device, where the third message includes the first data and the first information.

[0010] Using this method, the first data from the first terminal device can be forwarded to the second network device via the first network device, enabling the second network device to receive data sent by terminal devices further away, thereby improving coverage. By carrying the first information in the third message, the second network device can distinguish between terminal devices using the second access technology and terminal devices using the first access technology, and determine to use the second access technology to process the first data, allowing the second network device to serve terminal devices using two different access technologies.

[0011] It is understood that the first information carried in the third message may be the first information carried in the first message, a variation of the first information carried in the first message, or information with a similar function to the first information carried in the first message. Alternatively, the third message may include the first information, and the third message may include third information, where the third information indicates the second access technology. For the third information, reference may be made to the description of the first information.

[0012] In another possible embodiment, the second message indicates N random access opportunities, and the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N; the method also includes: in a first random access opportunity among the N random access opportunities, using the second access technology to receive first data from a first terminal device, where the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; using the first access technology to send a third message to the second network device, where the third message includes the first data and the first information; and using the second access technology to send a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity.

[0013] By adopting this method, by carrying the first information in the third message, the second network device can determine to use the second access technology to process the data from the M terminal devices, without the network having to maintain a terminal-specific identifier for each of the M terminal devices, or maintain a terminal-specific context, thereby reducing the complexity of network implementation.

[0014] In another possible embodiment, the second message indicates N random access opportunities, and the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N; the method also includes: in a first random access opportunity among the N random access opportunities, using the second access technology to receive first data from a first terminal device, and the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; using the second access technology to send a fourth message, and the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity; in a second random access opportunity after the first random access opportunity, using the second access technology to receive second data from a second terminal device, wherein the second terminal device is one of the M terminal devices, and the second random access opportunity is one of the N random access opportunities; using the first access technology to send a third message to the second network device, the third message including the first data and / or the second data, and the third message also including the first information.

[0015] Using this method, the first network device can forward data received from the first terminal device to the second network device before or after triggering the next random access opportunity. The first network device can also forward data received from the terminal device one at a time to the second network device, or can forward two or more data received from the terminal devices to the second network device at a time. This improves the flexibility of the first network device.

[0016] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among service types of services using the second access technology. The method also includes: determining the number of interactions for data interaction with the terminal device based on the first service type; and sending the fourth message using the second access technology includes: sending the fourth message after completing data transmission for the number of interactions.

[0017] By adopting this method, the first network device can determine the number of data interactions required for the service through the first service type, thereby determining whether the terminal device can be released or whether the next random access opportunity can be triggered.

[0018] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among service types of services using the second access technology. The method also includes: determining the duration of data interaction with the terminal device based on the first service type; and sending the fourth message using the second access technology includes: sending the fourth message after transmitting data with the first terminal device for the said duration.

[0019] By adopting this method, the first network device can determine the data interaction duration required for the service through the first service type, thereby determining whether the terminal device can be released or whether the next random access opportunity can be triggered.

[0020] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of services using the second access technology, and the sending of the fourth message using the second access technology includes: sending the fourth message after receiving indication information indicating end or release from the second network device.

[0021] By adopting this method, the first network device can determine the need to receive an instruction from the second network device through the first service type, and determine whether the terminal device can be released or whether the next random access opportunity can be triggered based on the instruction.

[0022] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of the service using the second access technology; the method also includes: determining the number of data interactions or the duration of data interaction with the terminal device based on the first service type; when transmitting data with the second network device for the number of interactions or the duration, carrying the terminal device-specific identifier.

[0023] Using this method, the first network device can determine the number of data exchanges or the duration of data exchanges required for the first service type, and simultaneously assign a terminal-specific identifier to the terminal device, indicating that the exchanged data belongs to the terminal device. This allows data exchanges for the first service type to occur outside of the random access opportunity during which the terminal device successfully accesses the service, improving flexibility.

[0024] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of services using the second access technology; the method also includes: carrying a specific identifier of the terminal device when transmitting data with the second network device; and releasing the terminal device after receiving an indication information indicating end or release from the second network device.

[0025] Using this method, the first network device can determine, based on the first service type, that it needs to assign a terminal-specific identifier to the terminal device. This identifier is used to indicate that the interacted data belongs to the terminal device. This allows data interaction related to the first service type to occur outside of the random access opportunity during which the terminal device successfully accessed, improving flexibility. Furthermore, based on the first service type, the first network device can determine that it needs to receive an instruction from the second network device and, based on the instruction, determine whether to release the terminal device.

[0026] In another possible embodiment, the first information or the third information is one of the following: the terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identification of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identification of the service using the second access technology, and the identification of the second access technology.

[0027] In another possible implementation, the second information is one of the following: a service type of a service using the second access technology, and a service identifier of a service using the second access technology.

[0028] It can be understood that the first information and the second information can be the same information element, the same field or the same parameter, etc., or can be different information elements, different fields or different parameters, etc.

[0029] In another possible implementation, the first access technology is the New Radio (NR) technology; and the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0030] This method can, on the one hand, increase the coverage range supported by IoT devices, and on the other hand, use NR technology for relaying, thereby reducing implementation complexity.

[0031] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the method can be performed by a second network device (such as a base station, a centralized unit, etc.), or by a component of the second network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second network device. The method includes:

[0032] A first message is sent to a first network device using a first access technology, where the first message is used to page a first terminal device. The first message includes first information, where the first information indicates a second access technology; the first information is used to instruct the first network device to send a second message using the second access technology, where the second message is used to page the first terminal device.

[0033] By using this method, a first network device can be introduced, and the first network device forwards the paging message to the terminal device, allowing the second network device to page terminal devices at a greater distance, thereby improving coverage. By carrying the first information in the first message, the first network device can distinguish between terminal devices using the second access technology and terminal devices using the first access technology, and determine to use the second access technology to page the terminal device, allowing the second network device to page two terminal devices using different access technologies. In addition, using this method, the first network device and the second network device communicate using the first access technology, and the first network device and the terminal device communicate using the second access technology, thus realizing network node layer 2 relay.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the first access technology is used to receive a third message from the first network device, where the third message includes first data and the first information; and the second access technology is used to process the first data.

[0035] Using this method, the first network device can forward the first data from the terminal device, allowing the second network device to receive data sent by a terminal device further away, thereby improving coverage. By carrying the first information in the third message, the second network device can distinguish between terminal devices using the second access technology and terminal devices using the first access technology, and determine to use the second access technology to process the first data, allowing the second network device to serve terminal devices using two different access technologies.

[0036] It is understood that the first information carried in the third message may be the first information carried in the first message, a variation of the first information carried in the first message, or information with a similar function to the first information carried in the first message. Alternatively, the third message may include the first information, and the third message may include third information, where the third information indicates the second access technology. For the third information, reference may be made to the description of the first information.

[0037] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, the second information indicating a first service type among the service types of services using the second access technology, and the method also includes: indicating the number of data interactions or the duration of data interactions with the terminal device through the first service type.

[0038] By adopting this method, the first network device can determine the number of data interactions required for the service through the first service type, thereby determining whether the terminal device can be released or whether the next random access opportunity can be triggered.

[0039] In another possible implementation, the first message further includes second information, where the second information indicates a first service type among service types of services using the second access technology, and the method further includes: sending indication information indicating end or release to the first network device.

[0040] By adopting this method, the first network device can determine the need to receive an instruction from the second network device through the first service type, and determine whether the terminal device can be released or whether the next random access opportunity can be triggered based on the instruction.

[0041] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of the service using the second access technology; the method also includes: indicating the number of data interactions or the duration of data interactions with the terminal device through the first service type; when transmitting data with the first network device for the number of interactions or the duration, carrying the terminal device-specific identifier.

[0042] Using this method, the first network device can determine the number of data exchanges or the duration of data exchanges required for the first service type, and simultaneously assign a terminal-specific identifier to the terminal device, indicating that the exchanged data belongs to the terminal device. This allows data exchanges for the first service type to occur outside of the random access opportunity during which the terminal device successfully accesses the service, improving flexibility.

[0043] In another possible embodiment, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of services using the second access technology; the method also includes: carrying a specific identifier of the terminal device when transmitting data with the first network device; and sending an indication information indicating end or release to the first network device.

[0044] Using this method, the first network device can determine, based on the first service type, that it needs to assign a terminal-specific identifier to the terminal device. This identifier is used to indicate that the interacted data belongs to the terminal device. This allows data interaction related to the first service type to occur outside of the random access opportunity during which the terminal device successfully accessed, improving flexibility. Furthermore, based on the first service type, the first network device can determine that it needs to receive an instruction from the second network device and, based on the instruction, determine whether to release the terminal device.

[0045] In another possible embodiment, the first information or the third information is one of the following: the terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identification of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identification of the service using the second access technology, and the identification of the second access technology.

[0046] In another possible implementation, the second information is one of the following: a service type of a service using the second access technology, and a service identifier of a service using the second access technology.

[0047] It can be understood that the first information and the second information can be the same information element, the same field or the same parameter, etc., or can be different information elements, different fields or different parameters, etc.

[0048] In another possible implementation, the first access technology is the New Radio (NR) technology; and the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0049] This method can, on the one hand, increase the coverage range supported by IoT devices, and on the other hand, use NR technology for relaying, thereby reducing implementation complexity.

[0050] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the method can be performed by a first network device (e.g., a relay node, a distribution unit, etc.), or by a component of the first network device (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network device. The method includes:

[0051] Receive first data from a terminal device; when the first data is received using a second access technology, send a second message to a second network device using the first access technology, wherein the second message includes the first data and first information, and the first information indicates the second access technology.

[0052] By adopting this method, a first network device can be introduced, and the first network device can forward the first data from the terminal device to the second network device, so that the second network device can receive data sent by terminal devices farther away, thereby improving the coverage range. By carrying the first information in the second message, the second network device can distinguish between terminal devices using the second access technology and terminal devices using the first access technology, and determine to use the second access technology to process the first data, so that the second network device can serve two terminal devices using different access technologies. In addition, by adopting this method, the first access technology is used for communication between the first network device and the second network device, and the second access technology is used for communication between the first network device and the terminal device, thereby realizing network node layer 2 relay.

[0053] In a possible implementation, before receiving the first data from the terminal device, the method further includes: sending a first message using the second access technology, where the first message is used to configure parameters for random access of the terminal device.

[0054] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: using the first access technology to receive a response message from the second network device, where the response message includes the first information.

[0055] It is understood that the first information carried in the response message may be the first information carried in the second message, a variation of the first information carried in the second message, or information with a similar function to the first information carried in the second message. The response message including the first information may alternatively include the second information indicating the second access technology. For the second information, reference may be made to the description of the first information.

[0056] In another possible embodiment, the first information or the second information is one of the following: the terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identification of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identification of the service using the second access technology, and the identification of the second access technology.

[0057] In another possible implementation, the first access technology is the New Radio (NR) technology; and the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0058] This method can, on the one hand, increase the coverage range supported by IoT devices, and on the other hand, use NR technology for relaying, thereby reducing implementation complexity.

[0059] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the method can be performed by a second network device (such as a base station, a centralized unit, etc.), or by a component of the second network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second network device. The method includes:

[0060] A second message is received from a first network device using a first access technology, where the second message includes first data and first information, and the first information indicates a second access technology; and the first data is processed using the second access technology.

[0061] By adopting this method, by introducing a first network device and forwarding the first data from the terminal device through the first network device, the second network device can receive data sent by a terminal device at a greater distance, thereby improving the coverage range. By carrying the first information in the second message, the second network device can distinguish between terminal devices using the second access technology and terminal devices using the first access technology, and determine to use the second access technology to process the first data, so that the second network device can serve two terminal devices using different access technologies. In addition, by adopting this method, the first access technology is used for communication between the first network device and the second network device, and the second access technology is used for communication between the first network device and the terminal device, thus realizing network node layer 2 relay.

[0062] In another possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a response message to the first network device using the first access technology, where the response message includes the first information.

[0063] It is understood that the first information carried in the response message may be the first information carried in the second message, a variation of the first information carried in the second message, or information with a similar function to the first information carried in the second message. The response message including the first information may alternatively include the second information indicating the second access technology. For the second information, reference may be made to the description of the first information.

[0064] In another possible embodiment, the first information or the second information is one of the following: the terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identification of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identification of the service using the second access technology, and the identification of the second access technology.

[0065] In another possible implementation, the first access technology is the New Radio (NR) technology; and the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0066] This method can, on the one hand, increase the coverage range supported by IoT devices, and on the other hand, use NR technology for relaying, thereby reducing implementation complexity.

[0067] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be the first network device or the second network device mentioned above, or a device in the first network device or the second network device mentioned above, or a device that can be used in combination with the first network device or the second network device mentioned above. The communication device may also be a chip system. The communication device may execute the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect. The functions of the communication device may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions. The unit or module may be software and / or hardware.

[0068] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor. When the processor calls a computer program, the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect is executed.

[0069] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and a memory, and the processor and the memory are coupled; when the processor calls the computer program in the memory, the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect or the third aspect or the fourth aspect is executed.

[0070] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the processor and the memory are coupled; the transceiver is used to send and receive data, and the processor is used to implement the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect.

[0071] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor and an interface, and the processor and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions so that the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect or the third aspect or the fourth aspect is executed.

[0072] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a device, the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect is implemented.

[0073] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when read and executed by a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect.

[0074] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first network device and a second network device, the first network device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect, and the second network device is used to execute the method described in the second aspect; or, the first network device is used to execute the method described in the third aspect, and the second network device is used to execute the method described in the fourth aspect.

[0075] Possible implementations and beneficial effects of the fifth to twelfth aspects can refer to the implementations and beneficial effects described in the first, second, third or fourth aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0076] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by this application;

[0077] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a random access process provided by this application;

[0078] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an access scenario provided by this application;

[0079] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG7 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG8 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG10 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG11a is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack architecture of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG11b is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack architecture of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG11c is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack architecture of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0090] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by the present application;

[0091] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0092] To better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0093] Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a contactless, automatic identification technology. RFID systems involve readers and tags. Tags can also be called RFID tags or RFID terminals.

[0094] A reader / writer (also known as an RFID reader / writer) is a device with read / write functions, for example, a device that reads or writes tag information. Alternatively, a reader / writer can be understood as a device that can read (and sometimes write) tag information.

[0095] Tags (also known as electronic tags or RFID tags) can be categorized into passive tags, semi-passive tags, and active tags. Passive tags can also be called passive tags, semi-passive tags can also be called semi-active tags, and active tags can also be called active tags. Passive and semi-passive tags communicate with readers based on backscatter carrier waves, while active tags can actively generate carrier waves to communicate with readers. Tags can also be called other names, and the different tag types mentioned above can be replaced by different device types. Device Type A (I): lacks energy storage and independent signal generation capabilities and can be understood as operating based on backscatter. Device Type B (II): has energy storage but no independent signal generation capabilities, but operates based on reflection, using energy to amplify reflected signals. Device Type C (III): has energy storage capabilities and independent signal generation capabilities, i.e., it is an active RF device. Tags can also be called user equipment (UE) of the Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT).

[0096] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the system architecture includes a first network device, a second network device, and one or more terminal devices. Among them, the architecture including the first network device and the second network device is proposed in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 takes the system architecture including the first terminal device and the second terminal device as an example. Of course, the number of terminal devices communicating with the network device in the system architecture can also be greater than 2, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit it.

[0097] In the architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application, the functions of the reader / writer are jointly performed by the first network device and the second network device, wherein the first network device is a network device with a forwarding function, and the second network device is a network device with a function of communicating with the core network.

[0098] The first network device is a network device with a forwarding function. Exemplarily, the first network device is a relay node, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, or the first network device is a DU of a base station.

[0099] In an architecture where the first network device is a relay or IAB node, or performs functions similar to a relay or IAB node, the second network device may be an access network device or access network node, i.e., a node or device that connects a terminal device to the network. For example, (radio) access network (R)AN) nodes include, but are not limited to, base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), IAB donor stations, access points (APs), transmission reception points (TRPs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs), next-generation base stations in mobile communication systems, base stations in future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in Wi-Fi systems. RAN nodes may be macro base stations, micro base stations, indoor base stations, or wireless controllers in CRAN scenarios. Optionally, RAN nodes may also be servers, wearable devices, vehicles, or onboard devices. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the RAN node in this application may also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The RAN node in this application may also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the RAN node functions.

[0100] In another possible scenario, the functions of the second network device can be collaboratively performed by multiple RAN nodes, which jointly assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, while different RAN nodes respectively perform part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU here performs the functions of the radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also perform the functions of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU performs the functions of the radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as the baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0101] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0102] In the CU-DU separation architecture, the first network device is the DU of the base station or a device that performs similar functions, and the second network device is the CU of the base station or a device that performs similar functions. For the description of the DU or CU of the base station, please refer to the above content. Similarly, the functions of the CU or DU of the base station can also be completed by multiple modules or nodes, and please refer to the above content for details.

[0103] In the architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device in Figure 1 can be a tag, or it can be a terminal device in future Internet of Things technology. In view of the advantage of RFID communication technology in low power consumption, 5G Ambient IoT came into being. In order to meet the ultra-low power consumption requirements, the terminal devices in Ambient IoT also use low-precision, low-power medium- and low-frequency ring oscillators or completely no local oscillators to receive downlink signals. This receiving method can further reduce the power consumption of the terminal device's downlink reception. For such low-power receiving methods, only amplitude detection such as envelope detection can be performed, because only a low-precision ring oscillator cannot guarantee accurate demodulation of the signal phase information. The types of tags can also be classified according to other dimensions, such as classification by operating frequency, or classification by packaging type, or classification by influencing medium, etc.

[0104] The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application can be a device with wireless transceiver functions. The terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (for example, on airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). For example, the terminal device can be a wireless terminal in industrial control, a vehicle-mounted terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a wearable terminal device or tag, etc.

[0105] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system, new radio (NR) or future communication systems, etc.

[0106] The technical solution provided in this application can also be applied to machine type communication (MTC), long term evolution-machine (LTE-M), device-to-device (D2D) network, machine-to-machine (M2M) network, Internet of Things (IoT) network or other networks. Among them, the IoT network can include, for example, the Internet of Vehicles. Among them, the communication mode in the Internet of Vehicles system is collectively referred to as vehicle to other devices (vehicle to X, V2X, X can represent anything), for example, the V2X can include: vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle to pedestrian (V2P) communication or vehicle to network (V2N) communication, etc.

[0107] In RFID technology, readers can perform operations such as tag selection, inventory, and access. The selection operation selects one or a group of tags for inventory and access. Inventory can be understood as the process by which a reader identifies a tag. Access can be understood as the interaction between a reader and a tag. Tags must be identified by the reader before they can be accessed.

[0108] With the diversification of communication needs and the development of communication technologies, the use of RFID technology in cellular networks has become an important research direction. In this scenario, the reader's selection of tags can be understood as a paging operation. The reader's inventory operation of tags can be understood as a random access process. The reader's access operation of tags can be understood as a data transmission process, etc.

[0109] For example, the process of selecting (paging), taking inventory (random access), and accessing (data transmission) a tag by a reader can be shown in FIG2 . Referring to FIG2 , the process includes the following steps:

[0110] S201: The reader sends a select command, which is used to select one or a group of tags.

[0111] Exemplarily, the select command may include memory information, and the tag whose data stored in the storage area indicated by the memory information is consistent with the mask value is the tag selected by the select command (or paging message). The mask value may be indicated in the select command.

[0112] For example, the select command may include the following fields: Command field, Target field, Action field, MemBank field, Pointer field, Length field, Mask field, Truncate field, and cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field.

[0113] Command field: When its value is 1010, it indicates that the command is the select command.

[0114] Target field: indicates whether the select command is used to change the state of the select flag (SL) bit or the inventory flag (Inventoried) bit.

[0115] The inventory flag has four types (or sessions), each corresponding to two states: State A and State B. The inventory flag of a tag currently being inventoried flips its state to prevent the same tag from being identified multiple times during an inventory round. SL includes two states: declared and undeclared.

[0116] Action field: Used to indicate the change strategy of the SL or inventory flag status. Tags paged by the reader can change the status of the SL or inventory flag according to this strategy.

[0117] MemBank field, Pointer field, and Length field: collectively indicate the above memory information.

[0118] Mask field: indicates the Mask value.

[0119] Truncate field: Instructs the tag to return part or all of the electronic product code (EPC).

[0120] CRC field: used to carry CRC.

[0121] It should be noted that step S201 is an optional step, that is, step S201 may not be performed.

[0122] S202: The reader triggers random access (RA).

[0123] Optionally, the reader can send a Query command to trigger random access. The Query command can indicate a certain type of inventory flag (i.e., Sx, where x can be 0, 1, 2, or 3) and its status X (X can be A or B), indicating that the reader selects tags with inventory flag Sx in status X for access. Furthermore, the Query command can also indicate the parameter Q, which can indicate the maximum access time slot range.

[0124] Optionally, a timeslot may refer to a continuous duration triggered (or activated) by a Query / QueryRep command. The duration of a timeslot is determined by the Query / QueryRep command that triggers the timeslot and the next Query / QueryRep command that follows it. A tag may initiate random access in a timeslot. Furthermore, data transmission may also be performed in a timeslot. The timeslot herein may also be referred to as a random access opportunity or a time unit, which is not limited in this application.

[0125] The reader performs inventory access on multiple tags selected using time-division multiplexing. That is, after the reader completes inventory access on one tag, it begins accessing the next. The following steps use inventory access on a single tag as an example.

[0126] S203: The tag sends a random number (RN) A. Exemplarily, the random number A may be a 16-bit random number (RN16).

[0127] If a tag matches the reader's selection, or is the tag selected by the reader, and the status of the tag's inventory flag Sx is consistent with the status of the inventory flag Sx indicated by the Query command, then after receiving the Query command, the tag can select the tag in the range [0,2 Q-1] as the initial value of the counter. This initial value can be understood as the timeslot number selected by the tag. After a Query command, the tag decrements the counter by 1 for each QueryRep command it receives. When the counter reaches 0, the tag sends a random number A. Alternatively, after a Query command, the tag can increment the counter by 1 for each QueryRep command it receives. When the decremented value matches the selected value, the tag sends a random number A.

[0128] Optionally, the random number A may be carried in a message A and sent. The message A may be analogous to or understood as message 3 (Msg3) of a random access procedure in a cellular network.

[0129] It should be noted that the reader can trigger time slot 0 after sending the Query command in step S202. Therefore, a tag in the range [0,2 Q -1] selects 0 as the initial value of the counter, the tag can execute step S203 after receiving the Query command.

[0130] S204: If the reader successfully receives the random number A, it sends an acknowledgment (ACK) message, which includes the random number A.

[0131] Optionally, the ACK message may be analogous to or understood as message 4 (Msg4) of a random access procedure in a cellular network, or the ACK message may be understood as a random access response message or a contention resolution message.

[0132] After the tag receives the confirmation message carrying the random number A sent by itself within the specified time, the tag may execute the following step S205.

[0133] S205: The label sends the electronic product code (EPC).

[0134] S206-S207, after step S205, the reader / writer optionally sends a command to the tag, performs operations such as reading or writing on the tag, and interacts with the tag. After receiving the command, the tag can respond to the command.

[0135] After completing the inventory access for the current tag, the reader can send a QueryRep command to begin the inventory access for the next tag. Upon receiving the QueryRep command, the current tag needs to flip the state of its inventory flag, Sx. For example, if X is B, the current tag flips the state of Sx from B to A to prevent duplicate inventories. Upon receiving the QueryRep command, if the counter of the other tags decreases to 0, the reader executes steps S203-S207 described above.

[0136] For example, let's assume that the reader selects two tags (Tag 1 and Tag 2) via the Select command and indicates that the number of time slots is 4 via the Query command, i.e., Q equals 2. As shown in Figure 3, the Query command sent by the reader triggers time slot 0, QueryRep#1 triggers time slot 1, Query#2 triggers time slot 2, and Query#3 triggers time slot 3. Assuming that the initial value of the counter selected by Tag 1 is 0, Tag 1 can execute the above steps S203-S205 after receiving the Query command (i.e., in time slot 0). Assuming that the initial value of the counter selected by Tag 2 is 2, the counter value of Tag 2 is reduced to 1 after receiving QueryRep#1, and the counter value is reduced to 0 after receiving QueryRep#2. Therefore, Tag 2 will be connected in time slot 2.

[0137] With the widespread adoption of machine-type communications (MTC) and the Internet of Things (IoT), the number of connected IoT devices in networks is increasing. Consequently, the industry is increasingly demanding lower costs and power consumption for IoT devices. During the fourth generation (4G) era, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced the narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) system. In the NB-IoT system, NB-IoT terminals require external power (such as a battery) and are capable of generating a local high-frequency local oscillator carrier, resulting in milliwatt-level power consumption. With the evolution and development of the fifth generation (5G) IoT, the demand for lower-power terminals in 5G networks is increasing. RFID technology provides a valuable technical reference for achieving this goal.

[0138] For example, RFID tags operate with power and carrier frequencies derived from the reader, enabling them to use low-precision, low-power, medium- and low-frequency ring oscillators or downlink signal reception with no local oscillator, thus achieving microwatt-level power consumption. Given the low-power advantages of RFID technology, the 5G Ambient IoT (IoT) has emerged. To meet ultra-low power requirements, terminals in the Ambient IoT (AIOT), similar to RFID terminals, also use low-precision, low-power, medium- and low-frequency ring oscillators or downlink signal reception with no local oscillator, thus reducing terminal power consumption.

[0139] Currently, due to the low cost and design complexity of tags, the coverage range supported by tags is relatively poor, typically only a few meters. This limits the coverage range supported by readers directly connected to tags. The present application provides a communication method that can improve the coverage range of a reader, illustratively increasing the coverage range to tens or even hundreds of meters.

[0140] The following further describes a communication method and apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application:

[0141] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 4 can be a first network device, or the subject can be a chip in the first network device, or the subject can be a partial unit or module in the first network device. Alternatively, the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 4 can also be other types of products, and those skilled in the art can make further expansions based on the contents disclosed in the specification. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 4 takes the first network device as an example. The method shown in Figure 4 includes steps 401 and 402.

[0142] S401: A second network device sends a first message to a first network device using a first access technology. In response, the first network device receives the first message from the second network device using the first access technology. The first message is used for paging and includes first information, which indicates the second access technology. Alternatively, the second network device sends a first message to the first network device, and in response, the first network device receives the first message from the second network device.

[0143] The second access technology is used for communication between the terminal device and the first network device, and the first access technology is used for communication between the first network device and the second network device. The first access technology or the second access technology can be a wireless access technology or a wired access technology for accessing the terminal to the network. The first access technology can be NR, LTE, WiFi technology, or a communication technology evolved in the future. The second access technology can be an access technology for the Internet of Things, an access technology for the Ambient Internet of Things, or an access technology for ultra-low complexity / ultra-low power consumption terminals. Exemplarily, the second access technology can be an ambient Internet of Things (AIOT) technology.

[0144] It is understood that the second access technology in the embodiments of the present application may be a special access technology under the first access technology. For example, the second access technology may be an access technology for a specific service type based on the first access technology. In one example, the second access technology may be an access technology based on the NR access technology and used for the Internet of Things.

[0145] The first message may be an F1-AP interface message. Specifically, the first message may be an F1-AP message for a first access technology, or an F1-AP message for a second access technology (such as AIOT). The F1-AP interface message may also be replaced by an interface message between the DU and the CU. The first message is used for paging, and the first message may select or trigger access to at least one terminal device. The first message may be called a paging message, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0146] The first information indicates the second access technology. Based on the first information, the first network device can determine to communicate with the terminal device using an action corresponding to the second access technology. For example, based on the first information, the first network device can determine when to release the terminal, when to forward data received from the terminal to the second network device, or whether to package multiple data received from one or more terminals and forward them to the second network device. For more details, please refer to the description in subsequent steps.

[0147] The first information may indicate the second access technology in an explicit manner. For example, the first information is an identifier of the second access technology, or the first information indicates that the first network device uses the second access technology for communication.

[0148] The first information may also implicitly indicate the second access technology. For example, the first information may be a terminal type or terminal identifier, or the first information may be a service type (or service mode) or service identifier, etc. The terminal or service indicated by the first information is a terminal or service using the second access technology. Therefore, the first information may be a terminal identifier of a terminal using the second access technology, a terminal type of a terminal using the second access technology, a service type of a service using the second access technology, a service identifier of a service using the second access technology, etc. The first information may also be an RRC message for the second access technology.

[0149] In one example, the first information may be a transaction ID, and the first network device may determine that the ongoing service is a service corresponding to the second access technology through the transaction ID, or may determine that the paged terminal is a terminal corresponding to the second access technology through the transaction ID. In another example, the first information may indicate that the ongoing service is a service related to the second access technology, or the first information may indicate a specific service type or service identifier, and the specific service type or service identifier is a service type or service identifier specific to the second access technology. In another example, the service in the above example may be replaced with the terminal. In one possible implementation, the first message includes a non-access stratum (NAS) packet data unit (PDU), and the NAS PDU contains information for selecting the terminal (i.e., the first information), such as an application layer mask or other information. The NAS PDU may be application layer data, or contain information for paging the UE. In another example, the first information may also be one of the device types A, B, and C described above.

[0150] Taking the second access technology as an AIOT technology as an example, the first information may indicate that the service is an AIOT service. Alternatively, the first information may indicate a specific AIOT service mode, such as indicating that the service mode is an inventory mode, a read mode, or a write mode, or positioning or other service modes that may correspond to AIOT. Alternatively, the first information may indicate (or select or trigger) that the terminal currently being paged is an AIOT terminal. Alternatively, the first information may indicate one or more terminal devices, and the one or more terminal devices are AIOT devices.

[0151] Alternatively, the first message may not include the first information, but instead may indicate the second access technology. For example, if the first message is dedicated to the second access technology, then the first message indicates the second access technology. Accordingly, based on the first message, the first network device may determine to communicate with the terminal device using the behavior corresponding to the second access technology. For specific examples, please refer to the above description.

[0152] Optionally, before S401, the second network device receives a first paging message from the core network. The message may include the first information, or the message may include fourth information, where the fourth information indicates the second access technology. The first information may be a variation of the fourth information, or information that performs a similar function to the fourth information. For a description of the fourth information, reference may be made to the first information. Alternatively, the first paging message may not include the first information or the fourth information, but instead may indicate the second access technology.

[0153] S402: The first network device sends a second message using the second access technology, or the first network device sends a second message. Accordingly, the first information included in the first message sent by the second network device, or the first message sent by the second network device, is used for indication. Furthermore, the first information or the first message is used to instruct the first network device to send the second message using the second access technology, or to instruct the first network device to send the second message. The second message is used to page the first terminal device.

[0154] The first network device receives the first message carrying the first information in S401, or after receiving the first message, can determine to page the terminal device. In a possible implementation, the second access technology, such as the method shown in FIG2 , can be used to page the terminal device.

[0155] Specifically, the first network device may send a second message. The second message may be used to select or trigger access of at least one terminal device. In one possible implementation, the first network device may implement the behavior of the reader / writer shown in Figures 2 and 3. The second message may be a Select command or a Query command as shown in Figure 2, or a message with similar functionality.

[0156] The second message can also indicate N random access opportunities, and the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N. The second message can be a Query command as shown in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 3, a time slot in Figure 3 is a random access opportunity. The first network device can select 2 terminal devices (i.e., M is equal to 2) through the select command, and indicate that the number of time slots is 4 (i.e., N is equal to 4) through the Query command. The content contained in the second message here can be divided into multiple messages or sent in one message. For example, the information triggering access is sent through one message, and the configuration information of random access is sent through another message.

[0157] Accordingly, the terminal device can be understood as a label as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and the terminal device can access the network based on the received second message. Specifically, after receiving the second message, the terminal device can determine that the terminal device has been selected or triggered to access the network based on the second message. Furthermore, the terminal device can receive system messages and initiate access based on the access resources indicated in the system information.

[0158] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may access according to the Select command or Query command shown in Figure 2, or according to the QueryRep command. Specifically, the terminal device may access according to the method of S203-S205 shown in Figure 2.

[0159] Steps S401 and S402 effectively expand the coverage of the reader-writer paging tag by introducing a relay into the RFID system.

[0160] After being paged, the terminal device will access. After the terminal device completes access, the terminal device can transmit data with the first network device. Optionally, the method shown in Figure 4 also includes steps 403 and 404. It can be understood that steps 403 and 404 can be used as separate embodiments. Steps S403 and S404 can effectively expand the coverage of data communication between the reader and the tag by introducing a relay in the RFID system. When steps 403 and 404 are used as separate embodiments, a paging method different from that of S401 and S402 can be used for paging, and this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0161] S403: The first network device receives the first data from the first terminal device using the second access technology. Alternatively, the first network device receives the first data from the first terminal device.

[0162] The first data may be carried in a NAS message, namely, a NAS PDU. The NAS message may be carried in an uplink RRC message, or the NAS message may be carried in a MAC layer message.

[0163] S404: The first network device sends a third message to the second network device using the first access technology, or the first network device sends the third message to the second network device. Accordingly, the second network device receives the third message from the first network device using the first access technology, or the second network device receives the third message from the first network device. Optionally, the second network device processes the first data using the second access technology. The third message includes the first data and the first information.

[0164] It can be understood that the first information carried in the third message can be the first information carried in the first message, or it can be a variation of the first information carried in the first message, or it can be information with similar functions to the first information carried in the first message. The third message includes the first information, which can be replaced by the third message including the third information, and the third information indicates the second access technology. In the subsequent description, the first information included in the third message can be replaced by the third information. Regarding the third information, reference can be made to the description of the first information. The third information can be the same as the first information, or it can be part of the content of the first information, such as the first information includes a thing identifier and an AIOT business-specific identifier, etc., and the third information is part of it, such as the third information is a transaction identifier.

[0165] Alternatively, the third message may not contain the first information or the third information, but the third message may indicate the second access technology. For example, if the third message is a message dedicated to the second access technology, the third message indicates the second access technology. The second network device can determine through the third message that the content of the message is associated with the second access technology, or determine to use the second access technology to process the first data. For example, the content contained in the message is processed through the AIOT corresponding protocol stack. The third message described here can also replace the subsequent related descriptions, and will not be repeated later.

[0166] After receiving the first data sent by the terminal, the first network device may forward the received first data to the second network device by sending a third message.

[0167] The third message can be an interface message between the relay and the base station, or a control plane interface message between the DU and the CU, or an interface message between the first network device and the second network device. Exemplarily, the above-mentioned interface message can be an F1 port message, or an F1-AP message, or other names. It can be understood that the interface message here is a high-level message, and there can be multiple implementation methods in the transmission process of the underlying layer. In one possible implementation, the interface messages are all carried on the IAB backhaul link, that is, the interface messages are carried by the backhauled RLC channel.

[0168] The third message may be an RRC message containing the first data. Exemplarily, the third message may include an RRC container containing the first data. Alternatively, the third message may be a MAC layer message containing the first data. Exemplarily, the first network device may send the data portion (or payload) of a MAC PDU received from the terminal to the second network device via the third message, or the first network device may send the entire MAC data packet to the second network device via the third message. Alternatively, the third message may include a NAS message or a container.

[0169] The third message carries the first information. Therefore, the second network device can determine to use the second access technology to process the first data based on the first information carried in the third message. For example, the first data carried in the third message can be interpreted according to the protocol stack or signaling format of the second access technology. Specifically, the second network device can determine that the third message is for AIOT business services, and therefore can use the RRC or PDCP protocol of AIOT to decode the message. In an embodiment of the present application, determining to use the second access technology to process the first data can be replaced by using the second access technology to parse the first data.

[0170] In one possible implementation, the network can page multiple terminal devices. After the first network device receives the first message in S401, it can determine, based on the first information or the first message, that the data of the multiple UEs being paged can be forwarded to the second network device through one message. Alternatively, the first network device can determine, based on the first information or the first message, that the multiple UEs being paged can be grouped, and the data of each UE group can be forwarded to the second network device through one message in multiple messages. Optionally, the data of different UE groups can be forwarded through different messages in the multiple messages. Alternatively, the first network device can determine, based on the first information or the first message, that the data of the multiple UEs being paged can be forwarded to the second network device through multiple messages, wherein the data of each UE in the multiple UEs being paged is forwarded to the second network device through one message. Optionally, the data of different UEs can be forwarded through different messages in the multiple messages.

[0171] The number of the plurality of UEs may be determined based on a base station implementation or based on the number of paged UEs.

[0172] It can be understood that when the first network device forwards the data of multiple UEs being paged to the second network device via a single message, or when the first network device groups the multiple UEs being paged and forwards the data of each UE group to the second network device via one of multiple messages, the single message sent by the first network device to the second network device includes the data from the multiple UEs, i.e., the first network device packages the data from the multiple UEs and sends it to the second network device. The advantage of this is that multiple scheduling on the backhaul link is avoided, thereby avoiding increased latency and air interface overhead.

[0173] Specifically, the one or more messages sent by the first network device to the second network device may refer to the description of the third message. Furthermore, when a message includes data from multiple UEs, the message may include an RRC message, or the message may include an RRC message list, or the message may include an RRC container list. The above-mentioned RRC message, or an RRC message in the above-mentioned RRC message list, or an RRC container in the above-mentioned RRC container list, includes a NAS message (or includes data from a UE).

[0174] The one or more messages sent by the first network device to the second network device may carry the first information or the third information, wherein the third information may be a variation of the first information or may be associated with the first message. When the third information is associated with the first message, the first message may not carry the first information. The first information or the third information is used to indicate the second access technology, or to indicate that the one or more messages sent by the first network device to the second network device are associated with the first message. Specifically, the one or more messages sent by the first network device to the second network device may be response messages or reply messages to the first message.

[0175] Specifically, after receiving the first message, the first network device may determine to send the data of the UE to be paged to the second network device through one message or multiple messages together.

[0176] An example is that the first network device may include an RRC message or an RRC message list or an RRC container list in one or more messages sent to the second network device. Each RRC container may include a NAS message. The first network device may determine the operation based on the first message, or may determine it based on the first indication information included in the first message. The advantage of sending multiple data in a package is that it avoids the need for multiple scheduling on the backhaul link, which increases latency and air interface overhead. The uplink transmission message may include indication information, and the indication information may be associated with the first message to indicate the response message or reply message corresponding to the first message, so as to facilitate transmission to the core network.

[0177] In another example, after receiving the first message, the first network device may also forward the data sent by each paged terminal to the second network device separately. The specific operations of the first network device are all based on the instructions of the first message. The uplink message may include indication information, which may be associated with the first message to indicate that the uplink message is a response message or reply message corresponding to the first message, facilitating transmission to the core network.

[0178] In one possible example, the first network device may forward data from K paged terminal devices via a message, which may be the third message mentioned above. K is a positive integer and K is less than or equal to the number of terminal devices being paged. K may be a value indicated by the base station, or K may be a predefined value, or K may be the number of terminal devices being paged. Alternatively, data from K paged terminal devices may be forwarded via multiple messages, which may be messages similar to the third message mentioned above. The multiple messages correspond to the same identifier, such as a service identifier, a transaction identifier (transcation ID), a group identifier, or a process identifier. Alternatively, the multiple messages correspond to the same group of terminal devices. Optionally, after receiving the first message carrying the first information in S401, the first network device may determine to forward the data from the K terminal devices in the above manner based on the first information, or the first network device may determine to forward the data from the K terminal devices in the above manner based on the manner in which the data is received. The first network device may determine in other ways, which is not limited in this application.

[0179] Similarly, the second network device can send multiple data to the first network device via a single message, which can be the eighth message in a subsequent embodiment. The multiple data will be forwarded by the first network device to the multiple terminal devices that were paged (or selected). Alternatively, the second network device can group the multiple terminal devices that were paged and send the data for each terminal device group to the first network device via one of the multiple messages. Optionally, the data for different terminal device groups is forwarded via different messages in the multiple messages. Alternatively, the second network device can send the data for each terminal device to the first network device via one of the multiple messages. Optionally, the data for different terminal devices is forwarded via different messages in the multiple messages. The one or more messages described above can be messages similar to the eighth message. The multiple messages correspond to the same identifier, such as a service identifier, transaction identifier (transcation ID), group identifier, or process identifier. Alternatively, the multiple messages correspond to the same group of terminal devices. Optionally, after receiving an uplink message (e.g., the third message) carrying the first information or the third information, the second network device can determine, based on the first information or the third information, whether to send data to the first network device in the above manner.

[0180] The following description is made by taking the first network device as an example.

[0181] In one possible implementation, when the network pages multiple terminals, the first network device can forward the uplink data sent by any of the multiple terminals in the above manner. By carrying the first information or the third information in the message forwarding the uplink data, the second network device can determine to use the second access technology to process (or parse, decode) the data from the multiple terminal devices, or the second network device can determine that the message forwarding the uplink data is associated with the first message. The second network device does not require the network to maintain a terminal-specific identifier for each of the multiple terminal devices, or to maintain a terminal-specific context, thereby reducing the complexity of the network implementation.

[0182] If the first information is the service type or service identifier of the second access technology, the second network device can determine the identifier of the ongoing service association based on the first information carried in the third message, and send the data to the core network, such as AMF, and other control plane network elements (such as network exposure function (NEF), application function entity (AF), etc.), and finally send it to the application layer.

[0183] In one possible implementation, when multiple terminals being paged by the network are associated with the same service type or service identifier, the second network device can determine the identifier of the ongoing service association and, therefore, the destination address of the data, by including the same service type or service identifier in the message forwarding data from the multiple terminals. This eliminates the need for the network to maintain a terminal-specific identifier or context for each of the multiple terminal devices, thereby reducing network implementation complexity.

[0184] Considering the group nature of AIOT services, this embodiment introduces public F1-AP messages, which can be used to transmit multi-user data and implement F1-AP-based control plane transmission. This eliminates the need for the network to maintain a terminal-specific identifier or a terminal-specific context for each of the multiple terminal devices, thereby reducing the complexity of network implementation.

[0185] In one possible implementation, the second message indicates N random access opportunities, where the N random access opportunities are used for access by M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N. Alternatively, the N random access opportunities may be indicated by a third message, and the following description will be made using the second message indicating the N random access opportunities as an example.

[0186] The first network device can forward data received from the first terminal device to the second network device before or after triggering the next random access opportunity. Alternatively, when the first network device completes a data transmission with a terminal, it can communicate with the next terminal. Alternatively, when the first network device receives a signal from the second network device that communication with a terminal has ended, it can communicate with the next terminal. The first network device can also forward data received from a terminal device one at a time to the second network device, or it can forward data received from two or more terminal devices to the second network device at a time. The following examples illustrate this.

[0187] Example 1: In the first random access opportunity among N random access opportunities, first data is received from a first terminal device, which is one of the M terminal devices. A third message is sent to a second network device, which in turn receives the third message. The third message includes the first data and the first information. A fourth message is sent to trigger the next random access opportunity. The third message can be sent before or after the fourth message.

[0188] Optionally, the first data is data received from the first terminal device using the second access technology, the third message is sent or received using the first access technology, and the fourth message is sent using the second access technology. The description here also applies to the first data, second data, third message, and fourth message in subsequent examples and will not be repeated here.

[0189] As shown in Figure 5, Figure 5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Taking N=4 and M=1 as an example, the second message indicates 4 random access opportunities (opportunity 1, opportunity 2, opportunity 3, opportunity 4), and these 4 random access opportunities are used for access of a terminal device (first terminal device). The first terminal device completes access in opportunity 1 and sends the first data to the first network device. Accordingly, the first network device receives the first data. The first network device can send a third message to the second network device in opportunity 1, and the third message includes the first data and the first information. After sending the third message, the first network device sends a fourth message in opportunity 1, and the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity. The first network device may also send the fourth message first and then send the third message. The third message may be sent at opportunity 2 or opportunity 3 or opportunity 4 or other times, and this application does not impose any restrictions. For the case where M is greater than 1, any terminal among the M terminal devices can refer to the first terminal device.

[0190] Example 2: In the first random access opportunity among N random access opportunities, first data is received from a first terminal device, and the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; a fourth message is sent, and the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity; in the second random access opportunity after the first random access opportunity, second data is received from a second terminal device, wherein the second terminal device is one of the M terminal devices, and the second random access opportunity is one of the N random access opportunities; a third message is sent to a second network device, and accordingly, the second network device receives the third message, the third message includes the first data and / or the second data, and the third message also includes the first information.

[0191] As shown in Figure 6, Figure 6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Taking N=4 and M=2 as an example, the second message indicates 4 random access opportunities (opportunity 1, opportunity 2, opportunity 3, opportunity 4), and these 4 random access opportunities are used for access of a terminal device (first terminal device, second terminal device). The first terminal device completes access at opportunity 1 and sends first data to the first network device. Accordingly, the first network device receives the first data. After receiving the first data, the first network device sends a fourth message, and the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity. In opportunity 3 after opportunity 1, the second terminal device completes access and sends second data to the first network device. Accordingly, the first network device receives the second data. The first network device sends a third message. As described in Example 1, the third message may be sent at opportunity 3 or opportunity 4 or other times, and this application does not limit it. The third message may include the first data and the second data. Alternatively, the third message may include the first data (or the second data). At this time, the first network device may send a seventh message, and the seventh message includes the second data (or the first data).

[0192] In the case of more terminal accesses, in one possible embodiment, the first network device may continue to receive data from the terminal device during random access opportunities after sending the third message. In another possible embodiment, the first network device may include some or all of the received data in the third message. If some data is included, the remaining data may be included in a subsequent message similar to the third message, such as the seventh message. Alternatively, there may be more messages similar to the third message.

[0193] Generally, a network device can perform various types of business operations on a terminal device. Among them, some business types require the terminal to transmit uplink data once, such as an inventory mode, some business types require multiple data interactions (data interactions may include uplink data transmission and may also include downlink data transmission), some business types require the terminal to receive downlink data without the terminal sending uplink data, and so on. The first network device can determine when (or whether) to release the connection with the terminal device, or determine when (or whether) to complete the data transmission with the terminal device, or whether to send a release / completion transmission indication to the terminal device based on the receipt of the indication information or message, or whether downlink feedback is required, or whether to wait for downlink data sent by the core network or the application layer before releasing. For example, the first network device can determine, through the first message or the information carried in the first message, to release the terminal device after receiving uplink data once, or to release the terminal device after receiving downlink data once, or to release the terminal device after receiving uplink data and downlink feedback of uplink data, or to release the terminal device after receiving a release indication from the core network or the second network device.

[0194] Optionally, the first message further includes second information indicating a first service type among service types of the second access technology. In this case, the first network device may communicate with the terminal device as required by the first service type, or determine when (or whether) to terminate communication with the terminal device, or release the terminal device.

[0195] In a possible example, the data interaction required by the first service type is completed in the same random access opportunity, which is described below with an example.

[0196] Example 3: Determine the number of data interactions with the terminal device according to the first service type; after completing data transmission for the number of interactions, send the above-mentioned fourth message.

[0197] The first network device determines the number of interactions for data interaction with the terminal device, for example, determining the total number of uplink transmissions and downlink transmissions required for the first service type, or determining the number of uplink transmissions required for the first service type, or determining the number of downlink transmissions required for the first service type. It will be understood that when the first service type only requires uplink (or downlink) data transmission, the number of interactions is the number of uplink transmissions (or downlink transmissions).

[0198] As shown in Figure 7, Figure 7 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The first network device determines the number of interactions based on the first service type. For example, the first service type includes two data transmissions, or the first service type includes one uplink data transmission and one downlink data transmission (which can be a response message to the uplink data transmission). The first network device can receive the first data sent by the first terminal device in opportunity 1, and forward the first data to the second network device via a third message. Furthermore, the first network device can receive the eighth message sent by the second network device in opportunity 1, and forward the third data carried in the eighth message to the first terminal device. After completing the above data transmission, the first network device sends a fourth message to trigger the next random access opportunity. For another example, the first service type includes three data transmissions, or the first service type includes two uplink data transmissions and one downlink data transmission. As shown in Figure 7, the first network device can receive the fourth data sent by the first terminal device after forwarding the third data, and forward the fourth data to the second network device via a ninth message. After completing the above data transmission, the first network device sends a fourth message to trigger the next random access opportunity.

[0199] In the example of Figure 7 , the third, eighth, and ninth messages may include the first information or a variation of the first information, or may not include the first information. Sending the fourth message can be understood as releasing the first terminal device, i.e., releasing the connection between the network and the first terminal device. Sending the fourth message is one way for the first network device to release the first terminal device. Other ways of releasing the first terminal device are possible, and this application does not limit this.

[0200] Example 4: Determine the duration of data interaction with the terminal device according to the first service type; after data transmission for the duration is performed with the first terminal device, send the fourth message.

[0201] Example 4 replaces the number of interactions in Example 3 with the interaction duration. For related descriptions, please refer to FIG. 7 and the description of Example 3, which will not be repeated here.

[0202] Example 5: After receiving the indication information indicating the end or release from the second network device, the fourth message is sent. Accordingly, after completing the data interaction with the terminal device, the second network device sends the indication information indicating the end or release to the first network device.

[0203] As shown in Figure 8, Figure 8 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The first network device determines when (or whether) the terminal device can be released according to the instruction of the second network device based on the first service type, or determines whether the next random access opportunity can be triggered. For example, the first network device can receive the first data sent by the first terminal device in opportunity 1, and forward the first data to the second network device through the third message. Furthermore, the first network device can receive the eighth message sent by the second network device in opportunity 1, and forward the third data carried in the eighth message to the first terminal device. After completing the above-mentioned data transmission, the first network device receives an indication message indicating the end or release from the second network device, and the first network device sends a fourth message to trigger the next random access opportunity.

[0204] In the example of Figure 8 , the third message, the eighth message, and the indication information may include the first information or a variation of the first information, or may not include the first information. Sending the fourth message may also be understood as releasing the first terminal device. For details, please refer to the above-mentioned related descriptions and will not be repeated here.

[0205] In another possible example, the data exchange required by the first service type does not need to be completed within the same random access opportunity. The first network device may be communicating with a terminal device while also communicating with other terminal devices. The first network device determines when to terminate communication with the terminal based on an indication in the first information or an indication from the second network device. This is illustrated below with an example.

[0206] Example 6: Determine the number of data interactions or the duration of data interactions with the terminal device based on the first service type; carry a terminal device-specific identifier when transmitting the number of interactions or the duration of data interactions with the second network device; release the first terminal device after transmitting the number of interactions or the duration of data interactions with the first terminal device.

[0207] As shown in Figure 9, Figure 9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The first network device determines the number of interactions or the interaction duration based on the first service type. For example, the first service type includes two data transmissions, or the first service type includes one uplink data transmission and one downlink data transmission. The first network device can receive the first data sent by the first terminal device in opportunity 1, and forward the first data to the second network device through the third message, and carry the first terminal device specific identifier in the third message. Furthermore, the first network device can receive the eighth message sent by the second network device in opportunity 2 (or other time), and forward the third data carried in the eighth message to the first terminal device, wherein the eighth message carries the first terminal device specific identifier. After completing the above-mentioned data transmission, the first network device releases the first terminal device. In the example of Figure 9, the first terminal device specific identifier carried in the third message or the eighth message can be the same identifier or different identifiers.

[0208] It can be understood that the first network device can also communicate with other terminal devices in opportunity 2. As shown in the fifth data in the figure, the first network device receives the fifth data from the second terminal device in opportunity 2, and forwards the fifth data to the second network device through the tenth message. The tenth message carries a specific identifier of the second network device. Among them, the first network device can receive the fifth data before or after receiving the eighth message, or before or after sending the third data, and the first network device can send the tenth message before or after receiving the eighth message, or before or after sending the third data. This application does not limit the order of messages communicated between the first network device and multiple terminal devices. After the first network device transmits data for the number of interactions or duration with each terminal device in the multiple terminal devices, it releases the terminal device.

[0209] Example 7: When transmitting data with the second network device, the terminal device carries a specific identifier of the terminal device; after receiving an indication message indicating the end or release from the second network device, the terminal device is released.

[0210] For the description related to Example 7, please refer to the description of Figure 9 and Example 6, and replace the condition for releasing the first terminal device with the receipt of indication information from the second network device indicating the end or release, which will not be repeated here.

[0211] In the above examples 3 to 7, the second information may be one of the following: a service type of a service using the second access technology, and a service identifier of a service using the second access technology.

[0212] The second information may explicitly indicate the first service type among the service types of the service using the second access technology. For example, the second information may be an identifier of the first service type, or the second information may indicate that the ongoing service is of the first service type. The second information may also implicitly indicate the first service type. For example, the second information may be a service identifier, and the service identifier may indicate that the service is of the first service type.

[0213] The first information and the second information may be the same information element, the same field or the same parameter, etc., or may be different information elements, different fields or different parameters, etc.

[0214] The above-mentioned terminal device-specific identifier may also carry a group identifier or a process identifier, etc. The group identifier may be a group identifier of a terminal device group, or an identifier of a group of terminal devices.

[0215] In this application, there may be multiple relay nodes between the access network node and the terminal device. Therefore, in the method on the first network device side, the second network device may also be a network device with a forwarding function, and the second network device may be a parent node of the first network device, or a node closer to the network side or the access network device in the communication link. Alternatively, in the method on the second network device side, the first network device communicates with the terminal device, which may be replaced by communicating with a third network device, wherein the third network device is a network device with a forwarding function, and the third network device may be a child node of the first network device, or a node closer to the terminal side in the communication link.

[0216] The embodiment of the present application introduces a relay architecture, using a first network device and a second network device to jointly perform the functions of the reader / writer, effectively improving the coverage of the reader / writer. At the same time, by enhancing and improving the IAB architecture, a method based on network node layer 2 relay can be implemented. This embodiment is also applicable to data transmission of AIOT services under the CU-DU separation architecture.

[0217] Figure 4 shows the process of the network performing paging, triggering the terminal to access and perform data transmission in the scenario where the network performs service triggering or downlink service triggering. For the scenario where the terminal performs service triggering or uplink service triggering, please refer to Figure 10, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 10 can be a first network device, or the subject can be a chip in the first network device, or the subject can be a partial unit or module in the first network device. Alternatively, the execution subject of the method shown in Figure 10 can also be other types of products, and those skilled in the art can make further expansions based on the contents disclosed in the specification. The execution subject of the method shown in Figure 10 takes the first network device as an example. The method shown in Figure 10 includes steps 1001 to 1004.

[0218] S1001: A first network device sends a first message using a second access technology, or the first network device sends a first message, wherein the first message is used to configure parameters for random access of a terminal device. This step is optional.

[0219] Specifically, the first network device may periodically send a first message, wherein the first message may be a broadcast message, for example, system information, a master system information block MIB, a system information block SIB, or Beacon information.

[0220] The first message can be used to configure parameters for random access by the terminal device. For example, random access resources can be configured, which are used for terminal device access. Accordingly, when the terminal device needs to transmit services or access the network, it can determine the random access resource based on the parameter configuration in the first message. Furthermore, the terminal device can send a pilot signal on the random access resource, i.e., initiate random access.

[0221] The terminal device initiates random access, and its access process can refer to the above description or the relevant process in Figure 2. That is, the terminal device can actively initiate random access after receiving the random access parameter configuration, or can initiate random access after being selected by the first network device.

[0222] If the terminal device receives a valid response message, it means that the terminal device is successfully connected.

[0223] S1002: The first network device receives first data from the terminal device.

[0224] The first data is carried in an uplink message, such as an uplink direct transfer message. The uplink message may be an RRC message, or a MAC PDU or MAC SDU. The message may include a NAS message, which primarily includes service data but may also include a registration request, a UE identifier, and destination address information. The core network performs authentication based on the content of the NAS message or determines the destination of the data transmission based on the content of the NAS message.

[0225] S1003: When the first data is received using the second access technology, the first network device sends a second message to the second network device using the first access technology. Alternatively, the first network device sends a second message to the second network device, where the second message includes the first data and the first information, and the first information indicates the second access technology. Accordingly, the second network device receives the second message and optionally processes the first data using the second access technology.

[0226] After the first network device receives the first data sent by the terminal, it can forward the received first data to the second network device by sending a second message. The second message carries the first information. Therefore, the second network device can determine to use the second access technology to process the first data based on the first information carried in the second message. For example, the first data carried in the third message can be interpreted based on the protocol stack or signaling format of the second access technology. Specifically, the second network device can determine that the third message is for AIOT service services and therefore can use the AIOT RRC or PDCP protocol to decode the message.

[0227] Alternatively, the second message may not contain the first information, but the second message may indicate the second access technology. For example, if the second message is a message dedicated to the second access technology, the second message indicates the second access technology. The second network device can determine through the second message that the content of the message is associated with the second access technology, or determine to use the second access technology to process the first data. For example, the content contained in the message is processed through the AIOT corresponding protocol stack. For the description of the second message here, please refer to the description of the third message in Figure 4.

[0228] For the above-mentioned first information, first access technology or second access technology, please refer to the relevant description in Figure 4. The second message may be an uplink RRC transmission message, or an initial uplink RRC transmission message, which includes an RRC message or MAC PDU or MAC SDU received from the terminal device.

[0229] Alternatively, the first information in step S1003 may also be an identifier specific to the terminal device. When the first network device forwards the received first data, the second message carries an identifier specific to the terminal. The second network device can use the identifier to determine whether to use the second access technology to process the first data. If the network and the terminal device have multiple data interactions, during these multiple data interactions, the interaction message between the first network device and the second network device may carry an identifier specific to the terminal. Furthermore, in any of the multiple data interactions, the same identifier may be carried, or different identifiers may be carried. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions of Example 6 and Example 7.

[0230] Optionally, the second network device sends the first data and the first information to the core network device. The first information here may also be a variation of the first information. In one possible implementation, the first information may be included in an interface message sent by the second network device to the core network device. In another possible implementation, the first data and the first information may be included in a NAS message. Alternatively, the second network device sends the first data to the core network device, but may not include the first information. Instead, the second radio access technology may be indicated in the message sending the first data.

[0231] Optionally, the core network device may be an access and mobility management function (AMF). In one possible implementation, the AMF sends a link establishment request to the NEF. The NEF determines the association relationship with the external server based on the first information (e.g., UE identifier), and then sends data to the NEF. In another implementation, the AMF may also obtain the UE's subscription information based on the first information (e.g., UE identifier), establish a relationship with the external server, send the label data to the SMF, forward it to the NEF, and then forward it to the external server.

[0232] S1004: The first network device receives a response message from the second network device using the first access technology, or the first network device receives a response message from the second network device, wherein the response message includes the first information. In response, the second network device sends a response message. This step is optional.

[0233] If the external server still has downlink data for the terminal device, it can send the downlink data to the AMF, which then sends the data to the second network device, which then forwards the data to the first network device. If the first network device supports both the first and second access technologies, or if the first network device serves both terminal devices using the first and second access technologies, the second network device can include the first information when forwarding data to the first network device. Alternatively, the response message may not include the first information, meaning that the response message indicates the second access technology.

[0234] It is understood that the first information carried in the response message may be the first information carried in the second message, a variation of the first information carried in the second message, or information with a similar function to the first information carried in the second message. The response message including the first information may alternatively include the second information indicating the second access technology. For the second information, reference may be made to the description of the first information.

[0235] The embodiment of the present application introduces a relay architecture, using a first network device and a second network device to jointly perform the functions of the reader / writer, effectively improving the coverage of the reader / writer. At the same time, by enhancing and improving the IAB architecture, a method based on network node layer 2 relay when terminal services are triggered can be implemented, effectively expanding the coverage of AIOT UEs. At the same time, this embodiment is also applicable to the data transmission of AIOT services under the CU-DU separation architecture.

[0236] Please refer to Figures 11a, 11b, and 11c, which are schematic diagrams of a protocol stack architecture for a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the relay protocol stack architecture described below can be adopted. It can be understood that this architecture can also be applied to CU-DU separation scenarios.

[0237] In the protocol stack architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first network device has a partial protocol stack of the layer 2 peer protocol stack of the terminal device.

[0238] Specifically, referring to Figure 11a, the protocol stack of the terminal device may include a physical layer (PHY layer), a MAC layer, a radio link control layer (RLC layer), a PDCP layer and an RRC layer, wherein the PDCP layer and the RLC layer are optional, that is, there may be no PDCP layer and / or RLC layer in the protocol stack of the terminal device. Or RLC / PDCP only has a transparent transmission mode. In Figure 11a, the first network device can support the peer protocol stacks of the PHY layer and the MAC layer in the protocol stack of the terminal device. Optionally, if the terminal device supports the RLC layer protocol, the first network device also supports the peer protocol stack of the RLC layer. The protocol stacks of each layer in the above description are all protocol stacks related to the second access technology. For example, the terminal device and the first network device use the AIOT-uu port to communicate, and the relevant protocol stack is the AIOT protocol stack. In Figure 11a, the protocol stack related to the first access technology is also supported in the first network device. The protocol stack includes an F1-AP layer, a Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer, an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, a Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. In Figure 11a, the second network device supports a protocol stack related to the first access technology, and the protocol stack includes a protocol equivalent to the protocol stack related to the first access technology supported by the first network device. At the same time, the second network device also supports protocols related to the second access technology that are supported by the terminal device but not supported by the first network device. This may include a peer protocol stack of the RRC layer. Optionally, if the terminal device supports the PDCP layer but the first network device does not support the PDCP layer, the second network device also supports a peer protocol stack of the PDCP layer. It should be understood that the dotted box in Figure 11a indicates that the corresponding protocol layer may or may not be present.

[0239] In one possible example, the first network device may receive control plane signaling sent by the terminal device, wherein the control plane signaling is signaling encapsulated (or encoded) by the terminal device through a protocol related to the second access technology. For example, the RRC message of AIOT is sent, or the NAS message is sent. Furthermore, the first network device may interpret (or decode) through a protocol related to the second access technology, and then encapsulate the interpreted information through a protocol related to the first access technology or other protocols, such as through an F1-AP message. Furthermore, the first network device may send information encapsulated using a protocol related to the first access technology, and accordingly, the second network device receives the information. The second network device may use a peer protocol stack related to the first access technology to interpret the received information, and further, the second network device may use a peer protocol related to the second access technology to interpret the information interpreted in the previous step. Ultimately, the second network device may interpret the content of the control signaling originally sent by the terminal device.

[0240] In the above example, the IAB backhaul mechanism is used between the first network device and the second network device, that is, the first access technology is used for backhaul. The control plane signaling can be sent from the first network device to the second network device wirelessly or by wire.

[0241] The protocol architectures provided in Figures 11b and 11c differ from the protocol architecture provided in Figure 11a. In Figure 11b, the first network device may support the PDCP layer protocol. In Figure 11c, the first network device does not support the PDCP layer protocol or the RLC layer protocol. For the description of Figures 11b and 11c, reference can be made to Figure 11a and will not be repeated here.

[0242] It can be seen that by adopting the protocol stack architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application, the first network device or the second network device can adopt the protocol related to the second access technology to interpret the signaling sent by the terminal device. Therefore, when sending signaling, the terminal device can not distinguish whether it is connected to the first network device or the traditional reader / writer. That is, when the terminal device accesses the first network device or accesses the traditional reader / writer, the air interface protocol adopted is consistent, or it can be said that the air interface signaling used by the terminal device for access is not affected by the different nodes accessed. For example, when the AIOT terminal accesses the first network device or accesses the traditional reader / writer, it can use the AIOT protocol for access. In this way, the terminal device does not need to support multiple access technology-related protocols. Therefore, this method can reduce the implementation complexity of the terminal device.

[0243] Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device. The communication device 1800 can be the first network device or the second network device in the above method embodiment, or can be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the first network device or the second network device to implement the above method. This communication device can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiment.

[0244] The communication device 1800 may include one or more processors 1801. The processor 1801 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU may be used to control the communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal, a terminal chip, a DU or a CU), execute software programs, and process software program data.

[0245] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may include one or more memories 1802, on which instructions 1804 may be stored. The instructions may be executed on the processor 1801, causing the communication device 1800 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 1802 may also store data. The processor 1801 and memory 1802 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0246] Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a transceiver 1805 and an antenna 1806. The transceiver 1805 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, and is configured to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 1805 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, and is configured to implement a receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, and is configured to implement a transmitting function. The processing unit 1702 shown in FIG12 may be the processor 1801. The communication unit 1701 may be the transceiver 1805.

[0247] When the communication device is applied to the first network device:

[0248] The transceiver 1805 can complete the receiving action in S401, the sending action in S402, the receiving action in S403, and the sending action in S404 of the above embodiment.

[0249] Transceiver 1805 is used to receive a first message from a second network device using a first access technology, where the first message is used for paging and includes first information, where the first information indicates a second access technology; transceiver 1805 is also used to send a second message using the second access technology, where the second message is used for paging a terminal device.

[0250] Optionally, the second message indicates N random access opportunities, and the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the second access technology to receive first data from a first terminal device in a first random access opportunity among the N random access opportunities, and the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the first access technology to send a third message to the second network device, and the third message includes the first data and the first information; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the second access technology to send a fourth message, and the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity.

[0251] Optionally, the second message indicates N random access opportunities, and the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the second access technology to receive first data from a first terminal device in a first random access opportunity among the N random access opportunities, and the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the second access technology to send a fourth message, and the fourth message is used to trigger the next random access opportunity; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the second access technology to receive second data from a second terminal device in a second random access opportunity after the first random access opportunity, wherein the second terminal device is one of the M terminal devices, and the second random access opportunity is one of the N random access opportunities; the transceiver 1805 is also used to use the first access technology to send a third message to the second network device, and the third message includes the first data and / or the second data, and the third message also includes the first information.

[0252] Optionally, the first message also includes second information, the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of the second access technology, and the processor 1801 is used to determine the number of data interactions with the terminal device based on the first service type; the use of the second access technology to send the fourth message includes: sending the fourth message after completing the data transmission of the number of interactions.

[0253] Optionally, the first information is one of the following: the terminal type of the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the second access technology, the service type of the second access technology, the service identifier of the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

[0254] Optionally, the first access technology is the new radio NR technology; the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0255] When the communication device is applied to the second network device:

[0256] The transceiver 1805 can complete the sending action in S401, the receiving action before S401, and the receiving action in S404 of the above embodiment. The processor 1801 can complete the processing action in S404.

[0257] Transceiver 1805 is used to send a first message to a first network device using a first access technology, where the first message is used to page a first terminal device. The first message includes first information, where the first information indicates a second access technology. Transceiver 1805 is also used to send a second message using the first information to indicate that the first network device uses the second access technology, where the second message is used to page the first terminal device.

[0258] Optionally, the transceiver 1805 is further used to receive a third message from the first network device using the first access technology, where the third message includes first data and the first information; the processor 1801 is used to process the first data using the second access technology.

[0259] Optionally, the first message also includes second information, and the second information indicates a first service type among the service types of the second access technology. The method also includes: the processor 1801 is used to indicate the number of data interactions with the terminal device through the first service type.

[0260] Optionally, the first information is one of the following: the terminal type of the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the second access technology, the service type of the second access technology, the service identifier of the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

[0261] Optionally, the first access technology is the new radio NR technology; the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0262] When the communication device is applied to the first network device:

[0263] The transceiver 1805 can complete the sending action in S1001, the receiving action in S1002, the sending action in S1003, and the receiving action in S1004 of the above embodiment.

[0264] Transceiver 1805 is used to receive first data from a terminal device; transceiver 1805 is also used to send a second message to a second network device using the first access technology when the first data is received using the second access technology, the second message including the first data and first information, and the first information indicating the second access technology.

[0265] Optionally, before receiving the first data from the terminal device, the transceiver 1805 is further used to send a first message using the second access technology, where the first message is used to configure parameters for random access of the terminal device.

[0266] Optionally, the transceiver 1805 is further configured to receive a response message from the second network device using the first access technology, where the response message includes the first information.

[0267] Optionally, the first information is one of the following: the terminal type of the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the second access technology, the service type of the second access technology, the service identifier of the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

[0268] Optionally, the first access technology is the new radio NR technology; the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0269] When the communication device is applied to the second network device:

[0270] The transceiver 1805 can complete the receiving action in S1003 and the sending action in S1004 of the above embodiment. The processor 1801 can complete the processing action in S1003.

[0271] The transceiver 1805 is used to receive a second message from the first network device using the first access technology, where the second message includes first data and first information, and the first information indicates the second access technology; the processor 1801 is used to process the first data using the second access technology.

[0272] Optionally, the transceiver 1805 is further configured to send a response message to the first network device using the first access technology, where the response message includes the first information.

[0273] Optionally, the first information is one of the following: the terminal type of the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the second access technology, the service type of the second access technology, the service identifier of the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

[0274] Optionally, the first access technology is the new radio NR technology; the second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

[0275] In another possible design, processor 1801 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0276] In another possible design, processor 1801 may optionally store instructions 1803. Instructions 1803, when executed on processor 1801, may cause communication device 1800 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Instructions 1803 may be fixed in processor 1801. In this case, processor 1801 may be implemented by hardware.

[0277] In another possible design, the communication device 1800 may include a circuit that can implement the sending or receiving or communication function of the first network device or the second network device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor and transceiver described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented on an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit RFIC, a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (Bipolar Junction Transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0278] The communication device described in the above embodiment may be a first network device or a first terminal device, but the scope of the communication device described in the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited to Figure 13. The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

[0279] (1) An independent integrated circuit (IC), or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0280] (2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally including a storage component for storing data and instructions;

[0281] (3) ASIC, such as modem (MSM);

[0282] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

[0283] (5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.;

[0284] (6)Others, etc.

[0285] In the case where the communication device can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the chip structure diagram shown in Figure 14. The chip 1900 shown in Figure 14 includes a processor 1901 and an interface 1902. Optionally, it may also include a memory 1903. The number of processors 1901 can be one or more, and the number of interfaces 1902 can be multiple.

[0286] For the case where the chip is used to implement the functions of the first network device or the second network device in the embodiments of the present application:

[0287] The interface 1902 is used to receive or output signals;

[0288] The processor 1901 is configured to execute data processing operations of the first network device or the second network device.

[0289] It is understandable that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0290] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component.

[0291] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0292] The present application also provides a computer-readable medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the functions of any of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0293] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which enables a computer to implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments when the computer reads and executes the computer program product.

[0294] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0295] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish between different objects, not to describe a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or elements is not limited to the listed steps or elements, but may optionally include steps or elements not listed, or may optionally include other steps or elements inherent to the process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0296] In this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, "at least two (items)" refers to two or three and more than three, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. 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 items 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.

[0297] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first network device or a device in the first network device, and the method includes: Receiving a first message from a second network device using a first access technology, where the first message is used for paging and includes first information, where the first information indicates a second access technology; The second access technology is used to send a second message, where the second message is used to page the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The second message indicates N random access opportunities, where the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N; The method further comprises: In a first random access opportunity among the N random access opportunities, using the second access technology to receive first data from a first terminal device, where the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; Sending a third message to the second network device using the first access technology, where the third message includes the first data and the first information; A fourth message is sent using the second access technology, where the fourth message is used to trigger a next random access opportunity.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The second message indicates N random access opportunities, where the N random access opportunities are used for access of M terminal devices, where N and M are positive integers, and M is less than or equal to N; The method further comprises: In a first random access opportunity among the N random access opportunities, using the second access technology to receive first data from a first terminal device, where the first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices; Using the second access technology to send a fourth message, where the fourth message is used to trigger a next random access opportunity; In a second random access opportunity after the first random access opportunity, using the second access technology to receive second data from a second terminal device, wherein the second terminal device is one of the M terminal devices, and the second random access opportunity is one of the N random access opportunities; A third message is sent to the second network device using the first access technology, wherein the third message includes the first data and / or the second data, and the third message also includes the first information.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first message further includes second information, where the second information indicates a first service type among service types of services using the second access technology, and the method further includes: Determining the number of interactions for data interaction with the terminal device according to the first service type; The sending of the fourth message by using the second access technology includes: sending the fourth message after completing the data transmission of the number of interactions.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first information is one of the following: The terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identifier of the service using the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that include: The first access technology is the new radio NR technology; The second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a second network device or a device in the second network device, and the method includes: Sending a first message to a first network device using a first access technology, where the first message is used to page a first terminal device, the first message includes first information, and the first information indicates a second access technology; The first information is used to instruct the first network device to send a second message using the second access technology, and the second message is used to page the first terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving a third message from the first network device using the first access technology, wherein the third message includes first data and the first information; The first data is processed using the second access technology.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first message further includes second information, where the second information indicates a first service type among service types of services using the second access technology, and the method further includes: The first service type indicates the number of interactions for data interaction with the terminal device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The first information is one of the following: The terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identifier of the service using the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that: include: The first access technology is the new radio NR technology; The second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first network device or a device in the first network device, and the method includes: receiving first data from a terminal device; In the case where the first data is received using a second access technology, a second message is sent to a second network device using the first access technology, the second message includes the first data and first information, and the first information indicates the second access technology.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that Before receiving the first data from the terminal device, the method further includes: The first message is sent using the second access technology, and the first message is used to configure parameters for random access of the terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: A response message from the second network device is received using the first access technology, where the response message includes the first information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that: The first information is one of the following: The terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identifier of the service using the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that: include: The first access technology is the new radio NR technology; The second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

17. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a second network device or a device in the second network device, and the method includes: Receiving a second message from a first network device using a first access technology, wherein the second message includes first data and first information, and the first information indicates a second access technology; The first data is processed using the second access technology.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: A response message is sent to the first network device using the first access technology, where the response message includes the first information.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that The first information is one of the following: The terminal type of the terminal using the second access technology, the terminal identifier of the terminal using the second access technology, the service type of the service using the second access technology, the service identifier of the service using the second access technology, and the identifier of the second access technology.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that include: The first access technology is the new radio NR technology; The second access technology is an access technology used for the Internet of Things.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, or comprises a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 12 to 16.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, or a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 17 to 20.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a processor, the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 17 to 20.

24. A chip, characterized in that: The invention comprises a processor and an interface, wherein the processor and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions so that the method described in any one of claims 1 to 6 is executed, or the method described in any one of claims 12 to 16 is executed, or the method described in any one of claims 7 to 11 is executed, or the method described in any one of claims 17 to 20 is executed.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which, when called by the computer, enable the computer to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 6, or the method described in any one of claims 12 to 16, or the method described in any one of claims 7 to 11, or the method described in any one of claims 17 to 20.

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