Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a communication method and apparatus. In the method, a network device sends a first message to a terminal device in an initial access process; and the terminal device performs channel coding on a first bit sequence to obtain first feedback information, and sends first feedback information to the network device, the first feedback information representing that the terminal device has successfully received the first message, or has not successfully received the first message. Since the first feedback information is information obtained after channel coding, the anti-interference capability of signals is improved and the bit error rate is reduced. That is, the reliability of transmitting the first feedback information is improved, facilitating the improvement of the quality of communications between a terminal device and a network device.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on July 21, 2023, with application number 202310907279.0 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0004] During the initial access process of a terminal device, the terminal device may carry hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information via the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). The HARQ-ACK information may be used, for example, to indicate that the terminal device successfully received message 4 (Msg4) from the network device or failed to successfully receive Msg4.

[0005] Currently, because HARQ-ACK information corresponds to a relatively small number of bits, it is generally stipulated that terminal devices use PUCCH format 0 or format 1 to carry HARQ-ACK information. For PUCCH format 0, terminal devices obtain PUCCH using a sequence method. For PUCCH format 1, terminal devices obtain PUCCH using a sequence modulation method.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for improving the reliability of information transmission.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, a software module in the terminal device, or a hardware module (such as a chip). For ease of description, the following description takes the terminal device executing the communication method as an example. The communication method includes: receiving a first message, and sending first feedback information, wherein the first message is a message in an initial access process, the first feedback information is information after channel coding a first bit sequence, and the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received, or the first message has not been successfully received.

[0009] In the embodiment of the present application, since the first bit sequence is channel-coded to obtain the first feedback information, the reliability of transmitting the first feedback information can be improved, which is beneficial to improving the communication quality between the terminal device and the network device. In addition, since the reliability of the transmission of the first feedback information is improved, the probability of the network device successfully receiving the first feedback information is also improved, thereby reducing the probability of the terminal device retransmitting the first feedback information during the initial access process, reducing the delay of the terminal device accessing the network, and improving the efficiency of the terminal device accessing the network. On the other hand, the process of sending the first feedback information is more robust to time-frequency deviations, which makes the embodiment of the present application applicable to communication scenarios with larger time-frequency deviations, such as non-terrestrial network scenarios. In other words, the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application has better universality.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner, the number of bits in the first bit sequence is less than or equal to 2.

[0011] In the above embodiment, even if the number of bits in the first bit sequence is small, the terminal device can still perform encoding processing on the first bit sequence, thereby improving the reliability of transmission between the terminal device and the network device.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: processing the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence, and performing channel coding on the second bit sequence to obtain first feedback information.

[0013] In the above embodiment, the number of bits of the first bit sequence is increased to obtain a second bit sequence with a larger number of bits, which facilitates encoding processing of the second bit sequence.

[0014] In one possible implementation, channel coding is performed on the second bit sequence to obtain first feedback information, including: determining a check sequence corresponding to the second bit sequence; and adding the check sequence to the second bit sequence to obtain a third bit sequence, wherein the first feedback information is determined based on the third bit sequence.

[0015] In the above embodiment, a channel coding method is provided, in which a check sequence can be added to the second bit sequence, so that the network device can check the received first feedback information and improve the accuracy of receiving the first feedback information.

[0016] In one possible implementation, processing the first bit sequence to obtain the second bit sequence includes: replicating the first bit sequence at least once to obtain the second bit sequence; or filling the first bit sequence with at least one first bit value and / or at least one second bit value to obtain the second bit sequence.

[0017] In the above-described embodiments, duplicating or bit-padding the first bit sequence to obtain the second bit sequence is equivalent to obfuscating the first bit sequence, thereby ensuring the security of the transmission of the first feedback information. Furthermore, this method of obtaining the second bit sequence does not involve any complex computational steps, meaning that the method for obtaining the second bit sequence is relatively simple, which also simplifies the process of extracting the first bit sequence from the second bit sequence by the network device. In other words, the above-described embodiments enhance the security of the transmission of the first feedback information without excessively increasing the difficulty for the network device to obtain the first bit sequence. Furthermore, because the first bit sequence is replicated multiple times, subsequent transmissions are equivalent to repeated transmissions of the first bit sequence, which helps increase the success rate of the network device receiving the first bit sequence.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending first information, where the first information indicates to use feedback information after channel coding for feedback during the initial access process.

[0019] In the above implementation, after determining to use the feedback information after channel coding for feedback, the terminal device may notify the network device, so that the network device can successfully decode the first feedback information subsequently.

[0020] In one possible embodiment, the first information includes information of a first random access preamble code, and the first random access preamble code indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process; or, the first information includes an identifier of a first logical channel, and the first logical channel indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process; or a newly added field in the first information indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process.

[0021] In the above embodiment, the terminal device can reuse the first random access preamble code or the first logical channel to indicate the use of channel-coded feedback information for feedback during the initial access process, without using additional bits to indicate the use of channel-coded feedback information for feedback, which is beneficial to reducing the amount of data exchanged between the terminal device and the network device. Alternatively, the terminal device can also use a newly added field to indicate the use of channel-coded feedback information for feedback during the initial access process, so that the network device can intuitively determine whether the terminal device uses the channel-coded feedback information for feedback based on the newly added field.

[0022] In a possible implementation, before sending the first information, the method further includes: determining whether the network device has a first capability, where the first capability is used to decode the feedback information after channel coding.

[0023] In the above embodiment, before sending the first information, the terminal device can determine whether the network device has the capability to decode the feedback information after channel coding. This ensures that the network device can successfully decode the first feedback information. Furthermore, the above embodiment is compatible with network devices that do not have the first capability, that is, the above embodiment has good applicability.

[0024] In a possible embodiment, the method further includes: receiving second information, the second information indicating a first condition and / or a second condition, the first condition being a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information after channel coding for feedback during an initial access process, and the second condition being a condition satisfied by a terminal device that sends feedback information that has not been channel coded for feedback during an initial access process; if the first condition is satisfied and / or the second condition is not satisfied, it is determined that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process.

[0025] In the above embodiment, the terminal device can independently determine whether it meets the first condition and / or the second condition. That is, the terminal device can flexibly determine whether to use the feedback information after channel coding for feedback, thereby improving the flexibility of the terminal device in feeding back feedback information. Furthermore, for the network device, the network device can flexibly indicate the first condition and / or the second condition, which also improves the flexibility of the network device in sending the second information.

[0026] In one possible embodiment, the first condition includes at least one of the following: belonging to a first category of terminal devices; being located within the coverage of at least one first beam; being located within at least one first physical area; the random access preamble used in the initial access process belonging to a first category of random access preamble; or the reference signal receiving power is less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0027] In the above embodiment, multiple implementations of the first condition are provided, enriching the implementation methods of the first condition. Furthermore, when the reference signal received power is less than or equal to the first threshold, it indicates that the communication quality between the terminal device and the network device is poor. In this case, the terminal device uses the feedback information after channel coding to provide feedback, which can improve the reliability of the network device successfully receiving the first feedback information, thereby improving the communication quality between the network device and the terminal device.

[0028] In one possible embodiment, the second condition includes at least one of the following: belonging to a second category of terminal devices; being located within the coverage of at least one second beam; being located within at least one second physical area; the random access preamble used in the initial access process belonging to the second category of random access preambles; or the reference signal receiving power is greater than the first threshold.

[0029] In the above embodiment, multiple implementations of the second condition are provided, enriching the implementation methods of the second condition. Furthermore, when the reference signal received power is greater than the first threshold, it indicates that the communication quality between the terminal device and the network device is good. In this case, the terminal device uses feedback information that has not undergone channel coding for feedback, which can reduce the processing load of the terminal device.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information from a network device, the third information indicating a PUCCH format, the PUCCH format being a first format or a second format, the first format including PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3, or PUCCH format 4, and the second format PUCCH being used to perform channel coding processing on a bit sequence having a bit number less than or equal to 2; and determining a PUCCH format for carrying the first feedback information. Optionally, the third information may be carried in the first message.

[0031] In the above embodiment, the network device can indicate the PUCCH format to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can encode the first bit sequence based on the PUCCH format, and also facilitate the network device to smoothly decode the first feedback information based on the PUCCH format.

[0032] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, a software module in the network device, or a hardware module (such as a chip). For ease of description, the following description takes the network device executing the communication method as an example. The communication method includes: sending a first message, where the first message is a message in the initial access process; receiving first feedback information; channel decoding the first feedback information to determine a first bit sequence, where the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received, or that the first message has not been successfully received.

[0033] In a possible implementation manner, the number of bits in the first bit sequence is less than or equal to 2.

[0034] In one possible implementation, channel decoding is performed on the first feedback information to determine the first bit sequence, including: channel decoding the first feedback information to obtain a second bit sequence, wherein the second bit sequence includes the first bit sequence and the number of bits in the second bit sequence is greater than the number of bits in the first bit sequence; and extracting the second bit sequence to obtain the first bit sequence.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first information, where the first information indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process.

[0036] In one possible embodiment, the first information includes information of a first random access preamble code, and the first random access preamble code indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process; or, the first information includes an identifier of a first logical channel, and the first logical channel indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process; or a newly added field in the first information indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process.

[0037] In a possible embodiment, the method further includes: sending second information, the second information indicating the first condition and / or the second condition, the first condition being a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information after channel coding for feedback during the initial access process, and the second condition being a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information that has not been channel coded for feedback during the initial access process.

[0038] In one possible embodiment, the first condition includes at least one of the following: belonging to a first category of terminal devices; being located within the coverage of at least one first beam; being located within at least one first physical area; the random access preamble used in the initial access process belonging to a first category of random access preamble; or the reference signal receiving power is less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0039] In one possible embodiment, the second condition includes at least one of the following: belonging to a second category of terminal devices; being located within the coverage of at least one second beam; being located within at least one second physical area; the random access preamble used in the initial access process belonging to the second category of random access preambles; or the reference signal receiving power is greater than the first threshold.

[0040] In one possible embodiment, the method also includes: sending third information, the third information indicating the format of PUCCH, the format of PUCCH is the first format or the second format, the first format includes PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3 or PUCCH format 4, and the second format PUCCH is used to perform channel coding processing on a bit sequence with a bit number less than or equal to 2.

[0041] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the terminal device described in the first aspect, or a software or hardware module (such as a chip) in the terminal device. The communication device includes corresponding means or modules for executing the first aspect or any possible implementation method described above. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit), and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit).

[0042] For example, under the control of the processing module, the transceiver module is used to receive a first message, which is a message in the initial access process, and send first feedback information, which is information after channel coding a first bit sequence, and the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received, or the first message has not been successfully received.

[0043] Optionally, the communication device may also execute any possible implementation of the first aspect described above, which will not be listed here.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the network device in the second aspect above, or a software or hardware module (such as a chip) in the network device. The communication device includes corresponding means (means) or modules for executing the second aspect above or any possible implementation method. For example, the communication device includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit), and a transceiver module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver unit).

[0045] For example, the transceiver module is used to send a first message, which is a message in the initial access process, and receive first feedback information; the processing module is used to perform channel decoding on the first feedback information, determine a first bit sequence, and the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received, or the first message has not been successfully received.

[0046] Optionally, the communication device may also execute any possible implementation of the second aspect described above, which will not be listed here.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication system, comprising the communication device described in the third aspect and the communication device described in the fourth aspect. The functions of the communication device described in the third aspect may refer to the discussion of the third aspect above, and the functions of the communication device described in the fourth aspect may refer to the discussion of the fourth aspect above.

[0048] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a processing circuit and an interface circuit; wherein: the interface circuit is used to couple with a memory outside the communication device and provide a communication interface for the processing circuit to access the memory; the processing circuit is used to execute program instructions in the memory to implement the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation method, or to implement the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation method.

[0049] In a specific implementation, the communication device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, or various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. The input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0050] In one implementation, the communication device may be a wireless communication device, that is, a computer device that supports wireless communication functions. Specifically, the wireless communication device may be a terminal such as a smartphone, or a wireless access network device such as a base station. The system chip may also be referred to as a system on chip (SoC), or simply as an SoC chip. The communication chip may include a baseband processing chip and a radio frequency processing chip. The baseband processing chip is sometimes also referred to as a modem or baseband chip. The radio frequency processing chip is sometimes also referred to as a radio frequency transceiver or radio frequency chip. In a physical implementation, some or all of the chips in the communication chip may be integrated inside the SoC chip. For example, the baseband processing chip is integrated into the SoC chip, and the radio frequency processing chip is not integrated with the SoC chip. The interface circuit may be the radio frequency processing chip in the wireless communication device, and the processing circuit may be the baseband processing chip in the wireless communication device.

[0051] In another implementation, the communication device may be a component of a wireless communication device, such as an integrated circuit product such as a system-on-chip (SoC) or a communication chip. The interface circuit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0052] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store one or more computer programs, and the one or more computer programs include computer execution instructions. When the communication device is running, the processor executes the one or more computer programs stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation method, or the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation method.

[0053] Optionally, the communication device further includes other components, such as an antenna, an input / output module, an interface, etc. These components may be hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0054] In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip system comprising: a processor and an interface. The processor is configured to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, the method described in the first aspect or any possible embodiment, or the method described in the second aspect or any possible embodiment, is implemented.

[0055] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, implements the method described in the first aspect or any possible embodiment, or the method described in the second aspect or any possible embodiment.

[0056] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, implements the method as described in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner, or the method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner.

[0057] Regarding the beneficial effects of any technical solution in the above-mentioned second to tenth aspects, reference can be made to the beneficial effects discussion of the corresponding technical solution in the first aspect, and the repeated parts will not be listed here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an NTN applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NTN applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of feeding back HARQ-ACK information;

[0062] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing a principle of obtaining first feedback information according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG7 is a schematic diagram showing a principle for obtaining a second bit sequence according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0070] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0071] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, 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. For example, A / B means: A or B. "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 means: 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.

[0072] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to, for example, long term evolution (LTE) communication networks, 5G mobile communication networks (such as new radio (NR) networks), non-terrestrial networks (NTN), universal mobile telecommunication systems (UMTS), satellite-ground integrated communication networks, sixth-generation communication networks, or communication networks that appear in the process of future communication development (or future evolution). The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to machine-to-machine (M2M) communication networks, machine type communication (MTC) communication networks, or other communication networks, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0073] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario to which an embodiment of the present application may be applied. Alternatively, Figure 1 can be regarded as a structural diagram of a communication system. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device (such as the satellite base station 110a, macro base station 110b or indoor station 110c in Figure 1, etc.), and may also include at least one terminal device (such as the first mobile phone 120a, vehicle 120b, airplane 120c, second mobile phone 120d, printer 120e, third mobile phone 120f or computer 120g in Figure 1, etc.). The network device and the terminal device can be connected to each other by wired or wireless means. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram, and the communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, etc., which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0074] The network equipment includes, for example, access network equipment (or, referred to as access network elements) and / or core network equipment (or, referred to as core network elements).

[0075] (1) Access network equipment, which is a device with wireless transceiver functions, is used to communicate with the terminal device. The access network equipment includes but is not limited to base stations (BTS, Node B, eNodeB / eNB, or gNodeB / gNB) in the above-mentioned communication system, transmission reception points (TRP), base stations of subsequent evolution of 3GPP, access nodes in wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, wireless relay nodes, wireless backhaul nodes, satellites or drones, etc. The base station can be: macro base station, micro base station, pico base station, small station, relay station, etc. Multiple base stations can support the network of the same access technology mentioned above, or they can support the network of different access technologies mentioned above. The base station can include one or more co-site or non-co-site transmission and reception points. The access network equipment can also be a wireless controller in the cloud radio access network (C(R)AN) scenario. The access network equipment can also be a server, a wearable device, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). The following description uses a base station as an example of an access network device. The multiple access network devices in the communication system can be base stations of the same type or different types. A base station can communicate with a terminal device or through a relay station. A terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations using different access technologies.

[0076] (2) The core network device is used to implement at least one of the functions of mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices that implement the core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. Taking the fifth generation (5G) system as an example, the core network devices include: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), PCF or user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0077] In a possible architecture of an access network device, the access network device includes a centralized unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU), and the distributed unit may also be called a distributed unit. CU and DU can be understood as a division of the access network device from a logical functional perspective. Among them, CU and DU can be physically separated or deployed together, and this embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this. A CU can be connected to a DU, or multiple DUs can share a CU. The division of CU and DU can be based on the protocol stack. One possible way is to deploy the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol stack (SDAP) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer in the CU, and the remaining radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer and physical layer in the DU. In the embodiment of the present application, the division of CU and DU according to the above-mentioned protocol stack is not completely limited, and there may be other ways of division, such as division according to service type.

[0078] The access network equipment in the embodiments of the present application may also refer to a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) node or a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) node, or include CU-CP and CU-UP. Among them, CU-CP is responsible for the control plane functions, mainly including RRC and PDCP-C. PDCP-C is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption, integrity protection, data transmission, etc. of the control plane data. CU-UP is responsible for user plane functions, mainly including SDAP and PDCP-U. Among them, SDAP is mainly responsible for processing the data of the core network and mapping the flow to the bearer. PDCP-U is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, data transmission, etc. of the data plane.

[0079] In different systems, CU (including CU-CP or CU-UP) or DU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, and CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP.

[0080] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device may be the network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device in implementing the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the network device as an example.

[0081] A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities and can be a fixed device, mobile device, handheld device, wearable device, vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built into the above devices (e.g., a communication module or chip system, etc.). The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, device-to-device communication (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), machine-to-machine / machine-type communication (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, and other scenarios. The terminal device may sometimes be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication device, or user device, etc.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device may be the terminal device, or may be an apparatus capable of supporting the terminal device in implementing the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the terminal device as an example of the apparatus for implementing the function of the terminal device being the terminal device.

[0083] The network device and / or terminal device can be fixed or movable. The network device and / or terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; or can be deployed on the water surface; or can be deployed on an airplane, balloon or artificial satellite in the air. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the environment / scenario in which the network device and / or terminal device is located. The network device and / or terminal device can be deployed in the same or different environments / scenarios, for example, the network device and / or terminal device are deployed on land at the same time; or, the network device is deployed on land and the terminal device is deployed on the water surface, etc., and examples are not given one by one. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the communication method between terminal devices.

[0084] The following is an introduction to the NTN to which the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable. Compared with terrestrial communication networks, NTN communications have different channel characteristics, such as large transmission delays and large Doppler frequency deviations. NTN may be a communication network involving flying objects, and NTN may include satellite networks, high altitude platform systems (HAPS) or air-to-ground networks, etc. NTN can be deployed alone or as a supplement to terrestrial networks. Satellite networks can be divided into the following three types according to the different orbital altitudes: high orbit (geostationary earth orbit, GEO) satellite networks, also known as synchronous orbit satellite networks, medium orbit (MEO) satellite networks and low earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks.

[0085] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of an NTN. Alternatively, Figure 2 can be viewed as a schematic diagram of another scenario applicable to the embodiments of the present application. Figure 2 illustrates a terminal device, a satellite base station, a gateway, and a core network (CN). The satellite base station in Figure 2 can be used as an example of a network device.

[0086] As shown in Figure 2, the satellite base station has some or all of the functions of an access network device. The satellite base station can provide wireless access services and schedule wireless resources for terminal devices that access the network through the satellite base station. The implementation method of the terminal device can refer to the content discussed above. The satellite base station and the UE communicate through the user-universal terrestrial radio access network-user (Uu) interface. The satellite base station and the CN can communicate through the next generation network (NG) interface, and the satellite base station and the core network can exchange the core network's non-access stratum (NAS) signaling and user service data through the NG interface. The feeder link between the gateway (also called the NTN gateway) and the satellite can be regarded as a satellite radio interface (SRI). In Figure 2, the SRI interface can be used as part of the NG interface to realize communication interaction between the satellite and the core network.

[0087] Please refer to Figure 3, which is a structural diagram of another NTN applicable to the embodiment of the present application, which can be specifically regarded as a structural diagram of a satellite system. Alternatively, Figure 3 can be regarded as a schematic diagram of another scenario applicable to the embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 illustrates a satellite, a gateway station, a base station and a terminal device. Unlike Figure 2, the access network equipment (such as a base station) in Figure 3 is deployed at a gateway station, or the gateway station has some or all of the capabilities of the access network equipment. The gateway station can also be called a signal gateway station, etc. The satellite, signal gateway station or base station in Figure 3 can be used as an example of a network device. The terminal device includes an Internet of Things terminal, and can also be a terminal with other forms and performance, such as a mobile phone terminal and a high-altitude aircraft, etc., which are not limited here. The link between the satellite and the terminal device is called a service link, and the link between the satellite and the gateway station is called a feeder link. The gateway station and the base station can communicate with each other.

[0088] In one possible implementation, satellites (such as satellites or satellite base stations) can operate in either transparent or regenerative modes. When operating in transparent mode, a satellite performs relay functions. Gateway stations have base station functions or partial base station functions, and in this case, gateway stations can be considered base stations. When operating in regenerative mode, a satellite has data processing capabilities and has base station functions or partial base station functions, and in this case, the satellite can be considered a base station.

[0089] The following describes the process of feeding back HARQ-ACK information mentioned in the background art, using the scenario shown in Figure 1 and the example of HARQ-ACK information being used to indicate that a terminal device successfully receives or fails to successfully receive message 4 (Msg4) from a network device. Figure 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of feeding back HARQ-ACK information.

[0090] S401: The network device sends Msg4 to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg4 from the network device. Msg4 indicates contention resolution.

[0091] S402: The terminal device sends HARQ-ACK information to the network device. Accordingly, the network device receives the HARQ-ACK information from the terminal device. The HARQ-ACK information may be carried in the PUCCH. The HARQ-ACK information indicates that the terminal device has successfully received Msg4 from the network device, or has failed to successfully receive Msg4 from the network device.

[0092] At present, since the number of bits of HARQ-ACK information (i.e., the number of bits) is generally 1 or 2, the terminal device generally uses PUCCH format 0 or format 1 to carry HARQ-ACK information. The HARQ-ACK information specifically includes ACK information or negative acknowledgement (NACK) information. ACK indicates that Msg4 has been successfully received, and NACK indicates that Msg4 has not been successfully received.

[0093] In PUCCH format 0, the terminal device uses cyclic shift of the sequence to represent HARQ-ACK information.

[0094] In PUCCH format 1, the terminal device processes HARQ-ACK information using sequence modulation. For example, the terminal device maps the HARQ-ACK information to modulation symbols, multiplies the modulation symbols by the sequence to obtain a complex symbol sequence, and then expands the complex symbol sequence using an orthogonal sequence. This shows that the transmission method of PUCCH format 0 or format 1 is relatively simple.

[0095] Accordingly, under PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 1, it is easier for the network device to obtain HARQ-ACK information, but the transmission reliability is lower. For example, when the time-frequency deviation is large, it is difficult for the network device to accurately obtain or may not be able to obtain HARQ-ACK information.

[0096] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to any of Figures 1 to 3 and any of the communication systems including a terminal device and a network device similar to Figures 1 to 3. In this communication method, the terminal device receives a first message from the network device, and can determine a first bit sequence based on whether the first information is received successfully, and after channel encoding the first bit sequence, obtain first feedback information, and send the first feedback information to the network device. Because the first feedback information is channel-coded, the first feedback information has higher robustness with respect to time and frequency, which can improve the success rate of the network device receiving the first feedback information, that is, improve the reliability of transmitting the first feedback information.

[0097] The following describes the method provided by the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings corresponding to the various embodiments of the present application, all steps represented by dotted lines are optional steps. In addition, the terminal device involved in the various embodiments of the present application is, for example, the terminal device involved in Figure 1, or any terminal device involved in Figure 2 or Figure 3, and the network device is, for example, the network device involved in Figure 1, or the satellite base station involved in Figure 2, or the satellite or base station involved in Figure 3. In addition, if the technical solutions provided by the various embodiments of the present application are applied to other communication systems, the name and / or function of the device may change, and the various embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0098] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 illustrates steps S501 to S505, and each step is described below.

[0099] S501: A network device sends second information to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second information from the network device.

[0100] For example, the second information may be carried in a synchronization signal. For example, the second information may be carried in a synchronization signal and a PBCH (synchronization signal and physical boardcast channel block, SSB). Alternatively, the second information may be carried in a system message (or referred to as system information), specifically, for example, in system information block 1 (SIB1) or system information block 19 (SIB19) of the system message.

[0101] The second information indicates the first condition and / or the second condition. The first condition indicates the condition satisfied by the terminal device using the feedback information after channel coding for feedback during the initial access process. Feedback information is feedback information for a certain message. For example, the feedback information may indicate that the terminal device has successfully received the message or has failed to receive the message. Using the feedback information after channel coding for feedback may also be referred to as feedback information enhancement or uplink enhancement, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Of course, with the continuous evolution of future standards, using the feedback information after channel coding for feedback may also have other names, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. When the feedback information is carried in the PUCCH, using the feedback information after channel coding for feedback may also be referred to as PUCCH enhancement. The initial access process may also be referred to as the initial access phase, which refers to the state in which the terminal device enters the state of accessing the network from a state in which it has not yet accessed the network. The initial access process in the embodiments of the present application includes a sub-process in which the network device configures random access resources for the terminal device and a sub-process in which the terminal device initiates random access based on the random access resources. The initial access process may also include a sub-process in which the terminal device establishes a connection with the network device after random access. For example, S501-S505 shown in FIG5 in the embodiment of the present application can be regarded as steps in the initial access process. To simplify the description, the feedback using the feedback information after channel coding is referred to as uplink enhancement below.

[0102] The second condition refers to the condition satisfied by the terminal device that uses feedback information that has not been channel-coded for feedback during the initial access process. Using feedback information that has not been channel-coded for feedback means that the terminal device sends feedback information that has not been channel-coded to the network device. Using feedback information that has not been channel-coded for feedback may also be referred to as feedback information not being enhanced or uplink not being enhanced, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. When the feedback information is carried in the PUCCH, using feedback information that has not been channel-coded for feedback may also be referred to as PUCCH not being enhanced. In order to simplify the description, the use of feedback information that has not been channel-coded for feedback will be referred to as uplink not being enhanced below.

[0103] The following describes possible implementations of the first condition and the second condition. The first condition may include at least one of the following A1 to A5, which are described below.

[0104] A1. The first condition includes that the terminal device belongs to the first category of terminal devices.

[0105] The information of the first-category terminal device may be preconfigured or predefined in the network device, for example, the protocol is predefined in the network device, or the network device determines it independently. The first-category terminal device may be, for example, a handheld terminal, a wearable terminal, or a vehicle-mounted terminal. Alternatively, the first-category terminal device may be, for example, an IoT terminal device, which is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0106] Under A1, because handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted devices have high requirements for transmission reliability and latency, uplink enhancement for these devices helps improve the communication quality between them and network devices. Furthermore, IoT devices have limited hardware capabilities, so uplink enhancement can also enhance the communication quality between these devices and network devices.

[0107] A2. The first condition includes that the terminal device is located within the coverage of at least one first beam.

[0108] A beam can be called a spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, spatial parameter, spatial parameter, spatial domain setting, spatial setting, or quasi-colocation (QCL) information. A beam can be considered a communication resource, or a spatial behavior of signal transmission. For example, a beam can be understood as the main lobe of the radiation pattern of an antenna array, or a beam can be understood as the distribution of signal strength in different transmission directions in space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. A beam can correspond to one transmission direction.

[0109] The information of at least one first beam may be preconfigured or predefined in the network device, for example, predefined in the network device by a protocol, or determined by the network device itself. At least one first beam is, for example, an edge beam. An edge beam refers to a beam whose coverage is located in an edge area of ​​the signal coverage of the network device. The coverage of the beam includes the coverage of the beam on the ground, and / or the coverage corresponding to the first cross-sectional height. The first cross-sectional height may be preconfigured or predefined in the network device. Specifically, under one beam, different cross-sectional heights correspond to different coverages.

[0110] Under A2, the communication conditions between terminal devices located in the edge beam coverage area and network devices are poor. Therefore, uplink enhancement for this type of terminal devices can improve the communication quality between this type of terminal devices and network devices.

[0111] A3. The first condition includes that the terminal device is located in at least one first physical area. The physical area can be an area covered by the network device signal.

[0112] The information of the at least one first physical area may be preconfigured or predefined in the network device, for example, predefined in the network device by a protocol, or determined by the network device itself. The at least one physical area may be, for example, an edge area of ​​a signal coverage range of the network device.

[0113] Under A3, the communication conditions between terminal devices and network devices at the edge of the signal coverage area are poor. Therefore, uplink enhancement for this type of terminal devices can improve the communication quality between this type of terminal devices and network devices.

[0114] A4. The first condition includes that the random access preamble used by the terminal device during the initial access process belongs to the first type of random access preamble.

[0115] The first type of random access preamble may include a random access preamble whose value of the random access preamble identifier belongs to a first set (e.g., set Y). The information of the first type of random access preamble may be preconfigured or predefined in the network device, for example, predefined in the network device by a protocol, or determined by the network device itself.

[0116] A5. The reference signal received power (RSRP) is less than or equal to a first threshold. The first threshold may be preconfigured or predefined in the network device, or may be determined by the network device itself. The reference signal received power may be the received power of a signal received by the terminal device from the network device.

[0117] The first threshold information may be indicated by the network device to the terminal device via the second message. Alternatively, the first threshold information may be indicated by the network device to the terminal device via a system message. For example, the first threshold information may be indicated by the bandwidth part-uplink common (BWP-UplinkCommon) in the system message. BWP-UplinkCommon is used to configure the common parameters of an uplink BWP.

[0118] The second condition may include at least one of the following B1 to B5, which are introduced below respectively.

[0119] B1. The second condition includes that the terminal device belongs to the second category of terminal devices.

[0120] The second type of terminal device is different from the first type of terminal device. The network device can determine the content of the second type of terminal device by referring to the content of the network device determining the first type of terminal device in the above text. The second type of terminal device is, for example, a phased array terminal.

[0121] B2. The second condition includes that the terminal device is located within the coverage of at least one second beam.

[0122] Any of the at least one second beams is different from any of the at least one first beams described above. The network device may determine the content of the at least one second beam with reference to the network device determining the content of the at least one first beam described above. For example, the at least one second beam may include some or all of the beams of the network device excluding the at least one first beam. For example, the at least one second beam may include a sub-satellite spot beam.

[0123] B3. The second condition includes that the terminal device is located in at least one second physical area.

[0124] Any of the at least one second physical area is different from any of the at least one first physical area described above. The network device's determination of the at least one second physical area may refer to the network device's determination of the at least one first physical area described above. The at least one second beam, for example, is a portion or all of a beam in a physical area within the network device's signal coverage range, excluding the at least one first physical area.

[0125] B4. The second condition includes that the random access preamble code used by the terminal device during the initial access process belongs to the second type of random access preamble code.

[0126] The second type of random access preamble is different from the first type of random access preamble. The network device may determine the content of the second type of random access preamble with reference to the network device determining the content of the first type of random access preamble described above. The second type of random access preamble may be, for example, some or all of the random access preambles in a beam of the network device other than the first type of random access preamble. The second type of random access preamble may be a random access preamble whose identifier value belongs to a second set (e.g., set X).

[0127] B5. The reference signal received power is greater than the first threshold. The method for the network device to determine the first threshold can refer to the content discussed above.

[0128] After receiving the second information, the terminal device can determine whether the terminal device needs to perform uplink enhancement. The content indicated by the second information is different, and the manner in which the terminal device determines whether to perform uplink enhancement is also different, which are explained below.

[0129] C1. The second information indicates the first condition.

[0130] If the terminal device determines that the first condition is met, then it determines to perform uplink enhancement. Alternatively, if the terminal device determines that the first condition is not met, then it determines not to perform uplink enhancement.

[0131] When the first condition includes at least two conditions shown in A1-A5 above, if the terminal device meets the at least two conditions, the terminal device is deemed to meet the first condition. If the terminal device does not meet at least one of the at least two conditions, the terminal device is deemed to not meet the first condition.

[0132] Optionally, when the first condition includes the condition shown in A5 above, the terminal device may measure the synchronization signal or system message from the network device to determine the reference signal receiving power, and then determine whether the reference signal receiving power meets the condition shown in A5 above.

[0133] C2. The second information indicates the second condition.

[0134] If the terminal device determines that the second condition is satisfied, then it determines not to perform uplink enhancement. Alternatively, if the terminal device determines that the second condition is not satisfied, then it determines to perform uplink enhancement.

[0135] When the second condition includes at least two of the conditions shown in B1-B5 above, if the terminal device meets the at least two conditions, the terminal device is deemed to meet the second condition. If the terminal device does not meet at least one of the at least two conditions, the terminal device is deemed to not meet the second condition.

[0136] C3. The second information indicates the first condition and the second condition.

[0137] If the terminal device satisfies the first condition but does not satisfy the second condition, the terminal device determines to perform uplink enhancement. Alternatively, if the terminal device does not satisfy the first condition but satisfies the second condition, the terminal device determines not to perform uplink enhancement.

[0138] S502: The terminal device sends first information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first information from the terminal device. The first information instructs the terminal device to use the feedback information after channel coding for feedback (ie, uplink enhancement) during the initial access process.

[0139] The embodiment shown in FIG5 is described using the example of a terminal device determining to perform uplink enhancement. Under this assumption, step S502 can be performed. In another possible implementation, if the terminal device determines not to perform uplink enhancement, the terminal device may not need to send information to the network device. Alternatively, the terminal device may indicate to the network device that it does not perform uplink enhancement. In these cases, step S502 does not need to be performed.

[0140] The first information indicates that the uplink enhancement method may include any of the following methods D1 to D3, which are introduced below respectively.

[0141] D1. The first information includes information about a first random access preamble, where the first random access preamble is used to instruct the terminal device to perform uplink enhancement. The first random access preamble may be a random access preamble used by the terminal device for random access.

[0142] Exemplarily, the network device and the terminal device may be preconfigured or predefined with a first random access preamble set, and any random access preamble in the first random access preamble set is used to indicate uplink enhancement. The first random access preamble belongs to one of the first random access preamble sets. The first random access preamble set may include a random access preamble whose value of the identifier of the random access preamble belongs to a third set. Optionally, the third set may belong to some or all of the values ​​of the first set mentioned above, and accordingly, the first random access preamble set belongs to the first type of random access preamble.

[0143] Optionally, under D1, the first information may be carried (or borne) in Msg1 or MsgA. Msg1 or MsgA are both used to indicate the random access preamble of the terminal device. For example, Msg1 or MsgA includes an identifier of the random access preamble of the terminal device. Msg1 is a message in a four-step random access process, and MsgA is a message in a two-step random access process.

[0144] D2. The first information may include an identifier of a first logical channel (LC), which instructs the terminal device to perform uplink enhancement.

[0145] Exemplarily, the network device and the terminal device may be preconfigured or predefined with a first logical channel set, and any logical channel in the first logical channel set is used to indicate uplink enhancement. The first logical channel belongs to one of the first logical channel sets. The value of the identifier of the first logical channel set belongs to a fourth set. Optionally, the identifier of the first logical channel may be carried in a MAC subheader of a medium access control (MAC) layer. Optionally, under D2, the first information may be carried in Msg3.

[0146] D3: A newly added field in the first message may instruct the terminal device to perform uplink enhancement. For example, the newly added field may be an uplink enhancement request (ul-EnhancementRequest). Optionally, under D3, the first message may be carried in Msg1, Msg3, or MsgA, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0147] In a possible implementation, before S502 or before S501 , the terminal device may determine that the network device has a first capability, where the first capability refers to a capability of decoding feedback information after channel encoding.

[0148] Exemplarily, the terminal device may receive capability information from the network device and determine whether the network device has the first capability based on the capability information, wherein the capability information is carried in a system message, specifically in SIB1 or SIB19 of the system message.

[0149] If the network device has the first capability and the terminal device meets the first condition; or if the network device has the first capability and the terminal device does not meet the second condition; or if the network device has the first capability and the terminal device meets the first condition but does not meet the second condition, the terminal device determines to perform uplink enhancement. In this case, S502 may be executed. Alternatively, if the network device does not have the first capability, regardless of whether the terminal device meets the first condition and / or the second condition, the terminal device may determine not to perform enhancement. In this case, step S502 may not be executed, and even step S501 may not be executed.

[0150] S503: The network device sends the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third information from the network device.

[0151] If the feedback information to be subsequently sent by the terminal device (such as the first feedback information described below) is carried in the PUCCH, then after the network device determines that the terminal device is performing uplink enhancement, it can indicate the PUCCH format to the terminal device through the third information. For ease of distinction, the PUCCH format indicated by the network device is referred to as the target format of the PUCCH. Optionally, the third information is carried in, for example, Msg4 or MsgB.

[0152] In one possible implementation, the target format may also instruct the terminal device to perform uplink enhancement or not. For example, the terminal device may be preconfigured or predefined with a first format set for not performing uplink enhancement, and / or a second format set for performing uplink enhancement. In this way, after the network device sends the target format to the terminal device, the terminal device may determine whether to perform uplink enhancement based on whether the target format belongs to the first format set or the second format set. The first format set includes at least one format of the PUCCH, and the second format set includes at least one format of the PUCCH.

[0153] The target format is, for example, the first format or the second format. The first format is, for example, PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3, or PUCCH format 4. The PUCCH of the first format can be used to perform channel coding processing on a bit sequence with any number of bits (such as the number of bits is less than or equal to 2, or the number of bits is greater than 2). The second format can be called, for example, PUCCH format 5, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that the second format and PUCCH format 2 are two different concepts. The PUCCH of the second format can be used to perform channel coding processing on a bit sequence with a number of bits less than or equal to 2. The number of bits can also be called the number of bits.

[0154] The third information indicates a first configuration of the PUCCH. The first configuration includes the target format of the PUCCH described above. Optionally, the first configuration also includes at least one of the first symbol of the first PUCCH, the number of occupied symbols, the physical resource block (PRB) interval, or the set of initial cyclic shift indices. The first symbol may also be referred to as a start symbol or a starting symbol.

[0155] The third information may include an index of the first configuration, where the index of the first configuration is equivalent to indicating the first configuration. The index of the first configuration may be used to indicate an index in at least one configuration of a PUCCH in one format (e.g., PUCCH format 4), and may also be used to indicate an index in multiple configurations of a PUCCH in multiple formats (e.g., PUCCH format 0, PUCCH format 1, PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3, PUCCH format 4, and PUCCH format 5).

[0156] Optionally, the terminal device may determine the configuration corresponding to the index of the first configuration in the configuration set as the first configuration. The configuration set may be preconfigured or predefined in the terminal device, or may be obtained by the terminal device from a network device. For example, the network device may indicate the configuration set to the terminal device through system information, and the system information may specifically be SIB1.

[0157] Exemplarily, the configuration set may be in the form of a table including multiple configurations of PUCCHs of multiple formats. The configuration set may also be in the form of multiple tables, wherein each table of at least one table in the multiple tables includes at least one configuration of PUCCH of one format.

[0158] Please refer to Table 1, which is an example of a portion of configurations in a configuration set provided in an embodiment of the present application. Table 1 takes any configuration in the configuration set, including the configuration index, PUCCH format, first symbol, number of occupied symbols, PRB interval, and initial cyclic shift index set, as an example. Table 1 takes a portion of the configurations in the configuration set, including one or more configurations of PUCCH format 4, as an example.

[0159] Table 1

[0160] in, Refers to the number of RBs included in the BWP, Express Performs floor operation.

[0161] As shown in Table 1 above, some configurations in the configuration set may include the 16 configurations indicated by index 0 to index 15. If the index of the first configuration indicated by the third information is 6, then the target format is PUCCH format 4, the first symbol of the PUCCH is 10, the number of symbols occupied by the PUCCH is 4, the PRB interval is 4, and the initial cyclic shift index set includes 0, 3, 6, and 9.

[0162] It should be understood that Table 1 is an example of a partial configuration of a configuration set. In practice, the configuration set may only include some columns or rows in Table 1. Furthermore, the first configuration may include some or all columns in Table 1, or may include some or all rows in Table 1. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0163] Please refer to Table 2 for an example of a configuration set provided in an embodiment of the present application. Table 2 takes as an example any configuration in the configuration set including the configuration index, PUCCH format, first symbol, number of occupied symbols, PRB interval, and initial cyclic shift index set. Table 2 takes as an example a configuration set including at least one configuration of PUCCH format 0, at least one configuration of PUCCH format 1, and at least one configuration of PUCCH format 4.

[0164] Table 2

[0165] As shown in Table 2 above, the configuration set may include 32 configurations indicated by index 0 to index 31. If the index of the first configuration indicated by the third information is 29 and 31, then the target format is PUCCH format 4, the first symbol of PUCCH is 0, the number of symbols occupied by PUCCH is 14, and the PRB interval is 2 or And the initial cyclic shift index set includes 0, 3, 6 and 9.

[0166] It should be understood that Table 2 is an example of a configuration set. In practice, the configuration set may include only some or all of the columns in Table 2, and some or all of the rows in Table 2. Furthermore, the first configuration may include some or all of the columns in Table 2, or even some or all of the rows in Table 2. This is not specifically limited in the present embodiment.

[0167] In another possible implementation, if the network device determines that the terminal device does not perform uplink enhancement, the network device may indicate a second configuration to the terminal device. The second configuration includes a PUCCH format. The PUCCH format is, for example, PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 1. Optionally, the second configuration also includes at least one of the first symbol of the PUCCH, the number of occupied symbols, the PRB interval, or the CS index.

[0168] In one possible implementation, the network device may be configured to require uplink enhancement for terminal devices in each cell of at least one cell, that is, the terminal devices in the at least one cell are required to perform uplink enhancement by default, or all terminal devices served by the network device are required to perform uplink enhancement by default. In this case, there is no need to perform the above steps S501-S503. Alternatively, the terminal device may be pre-configured or pre-defined to perform uplink enhancement. For example, the protocol pre-defines the terminal device to perform uplink enhancement. In this case, there is no need to perform the above steps S501-S503. In other words, S501-S503 are optional steps, which are indicated by dotted lines in Figure 5.

[0169] S504: The network device sends a first message to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message from the network device.

[0170] The first message is a message in the initial access process, for example, the first message can be any downlink message that the terminal device needs to feedback (or respond to, or answer) during the initial access process. The first message can be regarded as an example of the message in S501 above.

[0171] For example, the first message may be Msg4, MsgB, a security authentication message, or a capability query message during the initial access process, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Msg4 or MsgB may be used to indicate contention resolution, where Msg4 is a message during the four-step random access process and MsgB is a message during the two-step random access process. The security authentication message is used to authenticate the terminal device. The capability query message is used to query the capabilities of the terminal device.

[0172] If the third information is carried in Msg4 and the first message is Msg4, then executing S504 is equivalent to executing S503. In this case, there is no need to execute S503 separately. If the third information is carried in MsgB and the first message is MsgB, then executing S504 is equivalent to executing S503. In this case, there is no need to execute S503 separately.

[0173] S505: The terminal device sends first feedback information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first feedback information from the terminal device.

[0174] The first feedback information may be regarded as feedback information of the first message, and the first feedback information may indicate that the terminal device has successfully received the first message, or indicate that the terminal device has not successfully received the first message.

[0175] For example, if the terminal device successfully decodes the first message, the first feedback information indicates that the first message has been successfully received. If the terminal device fails to decode the first message, or the terminal device does not receive the first message from the network device within the first time period, the first feedback information indicates that the first message has not been successfully received. The first time period may be predefined or preconfigured in the terminal device, for example, predefined in the terminal device by a protocol, or configured for the terminal device by the network device.

[0176] In one possible implementation, when executing S503 (i.e., the network device sends the third information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third information from the network device) and the first feedback information is carried on the PUCCH, the terminal device may send the first PUCCH that conforms to the target format indicated by the third information to the network device, which is equivalent to the terminal device sending the first feedback information to the network device.

[0177] In the case where the third information further indicates at least one of the first symbol, the number of occupied symbols, the PRB interval, or the initial cyclic shift index set, the terminal device may send the first PUCCH as indicated by the third information.

[0178] Exemplarily, when the third information further indicates the first symbol, the terminal device may start sending the first PUCCH at the first symbol. When the third information further indicates the number of occupied symbols, the terminal device determines that the number of symbols occupied by the first PUCCH is the number of symbols indicated by the third information. When the third information further indicates the PRB interval, the terminal device may process the first PUCCH according to the PRB interval. When the third information further indicates the initial cyclic shift index, the terminal device may process the first PUCCH according to the initial cyclic shift index.

[0179] In the case that S503 is not executed, after obtaining the first feedback information, the terminal device may directly send the first feedback information to the network device.

[0180] The following describes how a terminal device determines the first feedback information. For example, the terminal device may determine the first feedback information based on a first bit sequence. The first bit sequence may be considered the original bit sequence to be sent by the terminal device. The first bit sequence may include at least one bit. A bit sequence may also be referred to as a bit stream or bit data, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0181] Optionally, the number of bits in the first bit sequence may be less than or equal to 2, or the number of bits in the first bit sequence may be greater than 2, for example, the first bit sequence is 0, 00, 01, 1, 11 or 10.

[0182] If the terminal device successfully decodes the first message, the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received. If the terminal device fails to decode the first message, or the terminal device does not receive the first message from the network device within the first time period, the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has not been successfully received. The first time period may be predefined or preconfigured in the terminal device, for example, predefined in the terminal device by a protocol, or configured for the terminal device by the network device.

[0183] There are many ways for the terminal device to obtain the first feedback information, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The following method E1 or E2 is used as an example for introduction.

[0184] E1. The terminal device processes the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence, and obtains first feedback information based on the second bit sequence. The number of bits in the second bit sequence is greater than the number of bits in the first bit sequence. For example, the number of bits in the first bit sequence is M, where M is a positive integer, and the number of bits in the second bit sequence is N*M, where * represents a product and N is a positive integer. Optionally, the number of bits in the second bit sequence is greater than 2.

[0185] The following first introduces the method of obtaining the second bit sequence.

[0186] In the first acquisition method, the terminal device may perform at least one (e.g., N) replication processing on the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence. N is a positive integer. In this case, the second bit sequence may be equivalent to the combination of multiple first bit sequences. The information on the method for replicating the first bit sequence may be determined by negotiation between the terminal device and the network device, or may be preconfigured or predefined in the terminal device and the network device, for example, a protocol preconfigured in the terminal device and the network device. The information on the method for replicating the first bit sequence may, for example, indicate the number of times the first bit sequence is replicated.

[0187] For example, the first bit sequence is: 01, the terminal device copies the first bit sequence N times, N is 3, then the second bit sequence is: 010101.

[0188] In the first method, the number of bits in the first bit sequence can be increased through replication. This method is relatively simple and can reduce the transmission bit rate, thereby improving communication reliability between the terminal device and the network device. Furthermore, because the first bit sequence is replicated multiple times, it is equivalent to repeated transmission, which can increase the success rate of the network device receiving the first bit sequence.

[0189] In the second obtaining method, the terminal device may perform bit filling (pengding) processing on the first bit sequence to obtain the second bit sequence.

[0190] The information on the manner of performing bit padding on the first bit sequence may be determined by the terminal device and the network device, or may be preconfigured or predefined in the terminal device and the network device, for example, the protocol is preconfigured in the terminal device and the network device. The information on the manner of performing bit padding on the first bit sequence may indicate the starting position for performing bit padding on the first bit sequence and the number of bits of the second bit sequence. The number of bits of the second bit sequence is, for example, N*M. The position for performing bit padding on the first bit sequence may be, for example, the Kth bit of the first bit sequence. A K-bit positive integer, the Kth bit being, for example, the highest bit of the first bit sequence, or the lowest bit of the first bit sequence.

[0191] Exemplarily, the terminal device fills at least one first bit value in the first bit sequence. Alternatively, the terminal device fills at least one second bit value in the first bit sequence. Alternatively, the terminal device fills at least one first bit value and at least one second bit value in the first bit sequence. In this example, the information on the manner of bit filling of the first bit sequence may further include the number of first bit values ​​filled in the first bit sequence, and / or the number of second bit values ​​filled in the first bit sequence. The first bit value and the second bit value are different, for example, the first bit value is 0 and the second bit value is 1. Alternatively, the first bit value is 1 and the second bit value is 0.

[0192] For example, the number of bits of the first bit sequence is N, and the terminal device may fill (N-1)*M bits in the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence with a bit number of N*M.

[0193] For example, if the first bit sequence is 11, the first bit value padded in the first bit sequence is 0, the protocol predefines the number of bits of the second bit sequence to be 8, and the starting position of the first bit value padded in the first bit sequence is the most significant bit of the first bit sequence, then the terminal device may padded 6 zeros in the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence, specifically: 00000011. This embodiment of the application uses the left side of the bit sequence as an example.

[0194] In the second manner, the number of bits in the first bit sequence can be increased by bit filling, thereby increasing the redundant sequence in the second bit sequence, which is beneficial to increasing the probability of the network device successfully receiving the first bit sequence.

[0195] The terminal device may determine whether to perform uplink enhancement based on the target format; or the terminal device may determine whether uplink enhancement is required in accordance with the method described in S502 above; or the terminal device may be preconfigured or predefined to perform uplink enhancement or not. In the embodiment of the present application, an example is given in which the terminal device performs uplink enhancement. Under this assumption, after obtaining the second bit sequence, the terminal device may perform channel coding on the second bit sequence to obtain first feedback information.

[0196] Exemplarily, the terminal device may determine a check sequence for the second bit sequence, and add (or increase) the check sequence to the second bit sequence to obtain a third bit sequence, and obtain the first feedback information based on the third bit sequence. The check sequence is, for example, a check sequence obtained by processing the first bit sequence based on a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). In this case, the check sequence may also be referred to as a CRC sequence or a CRC code. Of course, there are many ways of channel coding, such as polar coding or low-density parity check code (LDPC) coding, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0197] The following describes an example of a process of obtaining the first feedback information based on the second bit sequence with reference to a schematic diagram of a principle for obtaining the first feedback information shown in FIG6 .

[0198] If the number of bits in the second bit sequence is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the second bit sequence may be segmented into code blocks to obtain multiple bit subsequences. Of course, if the number of bits in the second bit sequence is less than the second threshold, segmenting the second bit sequence into code blocks is not necessary. The second threshold may be preconfigured or predefined in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, segmenting the second bit sequence into code blocks is described.

[0199] Under this assumption, the terminal device may perform channel coding on the multiple second bit subsequences. For example, the terminal device may determine a parity subsequence corresponding to each of the multiple second bit subsequences, and add the parity subsequence corresponding to the second bit subsequence to each second bit subsequence to obtain multiple third bit subsequences. The multiple third bit subsequences are an example of a third bit sequence.

[0200] The terminal device may perform rate matching on multiple third bit subsequences to obtain multiple subcode blocks. Rate matching is used to align the number of bits after encoding with the actual number of resources available for transmission. Rate matching may include two parts: bit selection and bit interleaving. The terminal device may splice multiple subcode blocks in sequence to obtain code blocks. The terminal device modulates the code blocks to obtain one or more modulation symbols. The terminal device performs time-frequency resource mapping on these one or more modulation symbols to obtain first feedback information. Among them, the modulation may be pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), QAM, phase shift keying (PSK) modulation, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. PSK may include pulse phase shift keying (PSK, QPSK).

[0201] The above is an example introduction to the process of the terminal device obtaining the first feedback information. In fact, based on the second bit sequence, there can be many ways to obtain the first feedback information, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0202] In another possible implementation, if the terminal device does not perform uplink enhancement, the terminal device does not need to perform channel coding on the second bit sequence. For example, the terminal device may directly modulate the second bit sequence to obtain modulation symbols, and perform resource mapping on the modulation symbols, thereby obtaining feedback information for the first message (such as second feedback information). Of course, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the method for obtaining the second feedback information.

[0203] E2. The terminal device performs channel coding on the first bit sequence to obtain a fourth bit sequence, and obtains first feedback information based on the fourth bit sequence.

[0204] Under E2, the terminal device may directly perform channel coding on the first bit sequence to obtain first feedback information without increasing the number of bits in the first bit sequence. The method for channel coding the first bit sequence may refer to the aforementioned channel coding of the second bit sequence, and the process for obtaining the first feedback information based on the fourth bit sequence may refer to the aforementioned obtaining the first feedback information based on the second bit sequence, and are not further detailed here.

[0205] The network device may process the first feedback information to obtain a first bit sequence, and determine, based on the first bit sequence, whether the terminal device has successfully received the first message or has failed to receive the first message. Depending on how the terminal device obtains the first feedback information, the network device may also obtain the first bit sequence in different ways, which are described below.

[0206] F1. If the terminal device adopts the above-mentioned method E1, the network device may perform channel decoding on the first feedback information to obtain the second bit sequence, and extract the first bit sequence from the second bit sequence.

[0207] When the terminal device replicates the first bit sequence at least once to obtain the second bit sequence, since the network device is preconfigured or predefined with the number of replications, the network device can extract the first bit sequence from the second bit sequence based on information about the manner in which the first bit sequence is replicated (such as the number of replications).

[0208] When the terminal device performs bit filling on the first bit sequence to obtain the second bit sequence, the network device can extract the first bit sequence from the second bit sequence based on information about the method of performing bit filling on the first bit sequence (such as the starting position of the bit filling on the first bit sequence and the number of bits of the second bit sequence).

[0209] The following describes the process of the network device obtaining the second bit sequence by taking the process of the terminal device obtaining the first feedback information using the principle of Figure 6 as an example. Please refer to Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of the principle of the network device obtaining the second bit sequence. The details are as follows:

[0210] The network device performs time-frequency resource demapping on the first feedback information to obtain one or more modulation symbols, and demodulates the one or more modulation symbols to obtain a code block. The network device performs decoding block concatenation on the code block to determine multiple subcode blocks, and performs rate matching on the multiple subcode blocks to obtain multiple third bit subsequences. The network device performs channel decoding on the multiple third bit subsequences to obtain multiple second bit subsequences. The network device performs decoding block segmentation on the multiple second bit subsequences to obtain a second bit sequence.

[0211] F2. If the terminal device adopts the above-mentioned method E2, the network device can decode the first feedback information channel to obtain the first bit sequence. The process of processing the first feedback information can refer to the content of F1 above and is not listed here.

[0212] If the network device determines that the terminal device has successfully received the first message, it may continue with subsequent communication procedures. If the network device determines that the terminal device has not successfully received the first message, it may resend the first message to the terminal device until the terminal device successfully receives the first message. The process for resending the first message is similar to the process for sending the first message described above and is not repeated here.

[0213] In an embodiment of the present application, even if the number of bits of the original bit sequence (i.e., the first bit sequence) corresponding to the first feedback information is less than or equal to 2, the terminal device can still feed back the first feedback information after channel coding to the network device, thereby enhancing the anti-interference capability of the first feedback information, improving the reliability of the transmission of the first feedback information between the terminal device and the network device, and also helping to improve the success rate of the network device receiving the first feedback information. Moreover, since the first feedback information is information after channel coding, even in a scenario with a large time-frequency deviation, the reliability of the transmission of the first feedback information can be guaranteed, so that the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to more communication scenarios, such as NTN scenarios, etc. Moreover, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can also flexibly determine whether to perform uplink enhancement based on actual conditions, which makes the solution provided in this embodiment compatible with scenarios where uplink enhancement is not performed.

[0214] The following describes the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, taking the first message Msg4 as an example. Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 illustrates steps S801 to S807, and each step is described below.

[0215] S801: A network device sends a synchronization signal to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal from the network device. The synchronization signal is, for example, SSB.

[0216] S802: The network device sends system information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the system information from the network device.

[0217] The system information may carry the second information. For example, SIB1 and / or SIB19 in the system information may carry the second information. In other words, S802 uses the system information indicating the first condition and / or the second condition as an example. The content of the second information, the content of the first condition, and the content of the second condition may refer to the content of the second information, the content of the first condition, and the content of the second condition in S501 of FIG. 5 , respectively. Any repetitions are omitted here.

[0218] S803: The terminal device sends Msg1 to the network device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg1 from the network device.

[0219] Optionally, Msg1 may carry first information. The content of the first information may refer to the content of the first information mentioned in S502 of FIG. 5 . Msg1 may include an identifier of a first random access preamble. The content of the first random access preamble may refer to the content of the first random access preamble mentioned in S502 of FIG. 5 , and any repetitions are not listed here. Optionally, the first information is the identifier of the first random access preamble. Alternatively, the first information is information in Msg1 other than the identifier of the first random access preamble.

[0220] S804: The network device sends Msg 2 to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg 2 from the network device. Msg 2 may be a random access response (RAR) message, which is used to respond to Msg 1.

[0221] S805: The terminal device sends Msg3 to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives Msg3 from the terminal device. Msg3 is used to request to establish a connection with the network device, such as an RRC connection.

[0222] In a possible implementation, if Msg1 does not carry the first information, then Msg3 may carry the first information.

[0223] S801-S805 are optional steps, which are indicated by dotted lines in Figure 8. For example, if the terminal device performs uplink enhancement by default, the above steps S801-S805 may not be performed.

[0224] S806: The network device sends Msg4 to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg4 from the network device. In the embodiment of the present application, Msg4 is an example of the first message described above. The content of the first message can refer to the content of the first message involved in S504 of FIG. 5 .

[0225] In addition, Msg4 may also carry third information. The content of the third information may refer to the content of the third information involved in S503 of FIG5 , and the repeated parts are not listed here.

[0226] S807: The terminal device sends first feedback information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first feedback information from the terminal device.

[0227] The content of the first feedback information may refer to the content of the first feedback information involved in S505 of FIG. 5 , and the repeated parts are not listed here.

[0228] In an embodiment of the present application, a scheme is provided for a terminal device to perform uplink enhancement during a four-step random access process. In this scheme, the first feedback information is information that has undergone channel coding, thereby improving transmission reliability. Furthermore, the information used by the network device and the terminal device in the negotiation of whether to perform uplink enhancement can reuse the messages used during the four-step random access process, without increasing the number of messages exchanged between the network device and the terminal device. This makes the implementation of this scheme easy and inexpensive, and also helps reduce the number of interactions between the network device and the terminal device. Furthermore, this scheme is applicable to the four-step random access process, meaning that the scheme has good universality.

[0229] [Corrected 18.07.2024 according to Rule 91] The following describes the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application, taking the first message MsgB as an example. Please refer to Figure 9, which is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9 illustrates steps S901 to S905, and each step is described below.

[0230] S901: A network device sends a synchronization signal to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal from the network device. The synchronization signal is, for example, SSB.

[0231] S902: The network device sends system information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the system information from the network device.

[0232] The system information may carry the second information. For example, SIB1 and / or SIB19 in the system information may carry the second information. In other words, S902 uses the system information indicating the first condition and / or the second condition as an example. The content of the second information, the content of the first condition, and the content of the second condition may refer to the content of the second information, the content of the first condition, and the content of the second condition in S501 of FIG. 5 , respectively. Any repetitions are omitted here.

[0233] S903: The terminal device sends MsgA to the network device. MsgA may include an identifier of the first random access preamble code.

[0234] Optionally, MsgA may carry first information. Optionally, the first information is an identifier of the first random access preamble. Alternatively, the first information is information in MsgA other than the identifier of the first random access preamble. The contents of the first information and the first random access preamble may refer to the contents of the first information and the contents of the first random access preamble involved in S502 of FIG. 5 , respectively. Any repetitions are not listed here.

[0235] S901-S903 are optional steps, which are indicated by dotted lines in Figure 9. For example, if the terminal device performs uplink enhancement by default, the above steps S901-S903 may not be performed.

[0236] At step S904, the network device sends MsgB to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives MsgB from the network device. In this embodiment of the present application, MsgB is an example of the first message described above. MsgB can indicate a random access response message and contention resolution. In other words, MsgB is equivalent to a RAR message and Msg4. The content of the first message can be referenced above in step S504 of FIG. 5 , and any repetitions are omitted here.

[0237] Optionally, MsgB may carry third information. The content of the third information may refer to the content of the third information involved in S503 of FIG5 , and the repeated parts are not listed here.

[0238] S905: The terminal device sends first feedback information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first feedback information from the terminal device. The content of the first feedback information can refer to the content of the first feedback information involved in S505 of Figure 5 above, and the repeated parts are not listed here.

[0239] In an embodiment of the present application, a scheme is provided for a terminal device to perform uplink enhancement during a two-step random access process. In this scheme, the first feedback information is information that has undergone channel coding, thereby improving transmission reliability. Furthermore, the information used in the negotiation between the network device and the terminal device regarding whether to perform uplink enhancement can reuse messages from the two-step random access process, without increasing the number of messages exchanged between the network device and the terminal device, thereby reducing the number of message exchanges between the network device and the terminal device. Furthermore, this scheme is applicable to the two-step random access process, meaning that the scheme has good universality. Furthermore, the number of information exchanges during the two-step random access process is small, further reducing the number of message exchanges between the network device and the terminal device.

[0240] It is understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the base station and the terminal include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in conjunction with the units and method steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, this application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a computer software-driven hardware manner depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0241] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided by an embodiment of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal device, such as one of the terminal devices 120a-120g shown in Figure 1, or a network device, such as the network device 110a, 110b or 110c shown in Figure 1, or a software module or hardware module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal device or a network device.

[0242] As shown in FIG. 10 , the communication device 1000 includes a processing module 1010 and a transceiver module 1020 .

[0243] In one possible embodiment, the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of any of the terminal devices described above. Accordingly, the communication device 1000 can be used to execute the steps performed by any of the terminal devices described above. For example, the communication device 1000 can be used to implement the functions of the terminal devices described in FIG. 5 , FIG. 8 , or FIG. 9 .

[0244] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5, the transceiver module 1020 can receive the first message and send the first feedback information under the control of the processing module 1010. Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 can receive the second information, send the first information, and receive the third information under the control of the processing module 1010. The contents of the first message, the first feedback information, the second information, the first information, and the third information can refer to the content of the first message involved in S504, the content of the first feedback information involved in S505, the content of the second information involved in S501, the content of the first information involved in S502, and the content of the third information involved in S503 in Figure 5 above, respectively.

[0245] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG8 , the transceiver module 1020 may receive the first message (i.e., Msg4) and send the first feedback information under the control of the processing module 1010. Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 may receive the synchronization signal, the system message, and Msg2, and send Msg1 and Msg3 under the control of the processing module 1010. The contents of the first message, the first feedback information, the synchronization signal, the system message, Msg1, Msg2, and Msg3 may refer to the contents of the first message involved in S806, the contents of the first feedback information involved in S807, the contents of the synchronization signal involved in S801, the contents of the system message involved in S802, the contents of Msg1 involved in S803, the contents of Msg2 involved in S804, and the contents of Msg3 involved in S805 in FIG8 , respectively.

[0246] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, the transceiver module 1020 may receive the first message (i.e., MsgB) and send the first feedback information under the control of the processing module 1010. Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 may receive the synchronization signal and the system message and send MsgA under the control of the processing module 1010. The contents of the first message, the first feedback information, the synchronization signal, the system message, and MsgA may refer to the contents of the first message involved in S904, the contents of the first feedback information involved in S905, the contents of the synchronization signal involved in S901, the contents of the system message involved in S902, and the contents of MsgA involved in S903 in Figure 9 above, respectively.

[0247] In another possible embodiment, the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of any of the network devices described above. Accordingly, the communication device 1000 can be used to execute the steps performed by any of the network devices described above. For example, the communication device 1000 can be used to implement the functions of the network devices described in Figures 5, 8, or 9.

[0248] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5, the transceiver module 1020 can send the first message and receive the first feedback information under the control of the processing module 1010. Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 can send the second information, receive the first information, and receive the third information under the control of the processing module 1010. The contents of the first message, the first feedback information, the second information, the first information, and the third information can refer to the content of the first message involved in S504, the content of the first feedback information involved in S505, the content of the second information involved in S501, the content of the first information involved in S502, and the content of the third information involved in S503 in Figure 5 above, respectively.

[0249] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG8 , the transceiver module 1020 may, under the control of the processing module 1010, send a first message (i.e., Msg4) and receive first feedback information. Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 may, under the control of the processing module 1010, send a synchronization signal, a system message, and Msg2, and receive Msg1 and Msg3. The contents of the first message, first feedback information, synchronization signal, system message, Msg1, Msg2, and Msg3 may refer to the contents of the first message involved in S806, the contents of the first feedback information involved in S807, the contents of the synchronization signal involved in S801, the contents of the system message involved in S802, the contents of Msg1 involved in S803, the contents of Msg2 involved in S804, and the contents of Msg3 involved in S805 in FIG8 , respectively.

[0250] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, the transceiver module 1020 can send a first message (i.e., MsgB) and receive first feedback information under the control of the processing module 1010. Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 can send a synchronization signal and a system message and receive MsgA under the control of the processing module 1010. The contents of the first message, the first feedback information, the second information, the synchronization signal, the system message, and MsgA can refer to the contents of the first message involved in S904, the contents of the first feedback information involved in S905, the contents of the synchronization signal involved in S901, the contents of the system message involved in S902, and the contents of MsgA involved in S903 in Figure 9, respectively.

[0251] A more detailed description of the processing module 1010 and the transceiver module 1020 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5, Figure 8 or Figure 9, and will not be repeated here.

[0252] Please refer to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, the communication device 1100 includes a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1120. The processor 1110 and the interface circuit 1120 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1120 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication device 1100 may also include a memory 1130 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1110 or storing input data required by the processor 1110 to execute instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1110 executes instructions.

[0253] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0254] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 10 , the processor 1110 is used to implement the functions of the processing module 1010 , and the interface circuit 1120 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver module 1020 .

[0255] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device; or the chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0256] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a network device, the module implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The module receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device; or the module sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device. The module here can be a baseband chip of the network device, or it can be a DU or other module. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0257] In an embodiment of the present application, another example of a communication device is provided, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being coupled, the at least one memory being used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the communication device executes the method in the above embodiment. Taking the communication device including a processor and a memory as an example, please refer to Figure 12, which is another structural diagram of the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, the communication device 1200 includes a processor 1210 and a memory 1220. The processor 1210 and the memory 1220 are coupled, and instructions are stored in the memory 1220. When the instructions stored in the memory 1220 are executed by the processor 1210, the communication device 1200 executes the method executed by the network device or terminal device in the above embodiment.

[0258] The method steps in each embodiment of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal device. The processor and storage medium can also be present in a network device or a terminal device as discrete components.

[0259] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0260] The present application provides a communication system including a network device and a terminal device. The network device can implement the functions implemented by the network device in any of the above method embodiments, and the terminal device can also implement the functions implemented by the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0261] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is configured to call and execute instructions from the interface, and when the processor executes the instructions, implements any of the aforementioned communication methods, such as any of the communication methods described in FIG. 5 , FIG. 8 , or FIG. 9 .

[0262] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, implements any of the communication methods described above, such as any of the communication methods described in Figures 5, 8, or 9 above.

[0263] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, implements any of the aforementioned communication methods, such as the communication method described in any one of FIG. 5 , FIG. 8 , or FIG. 9 .

[0264] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0265] It should be understood that the various numbers used in the various embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving a first message, where the first message is a message in an initial access process; Sending first feedback information, where the first feedback information is information obtained by channel coding a first bit sequence, and the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received or has not been successfully received.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of bits of the first bit sequence is less than or equal to 2.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Processing the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence, wherein the second bit sequence includes the first bit sequence, and the number of bits of the second bit sequence is greater than the number of bits of the first bit sequence; Channel coding is performed on the second bit sequence to obtain the first feedback information.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Channel coding the second bit sequence to obtain the first feedback information includes: Determining a check sequence corresponding to the second bit sequence; The check sequence is added to the second bit sequence to obtain a third bit sequence, wherein the first feedback information is determined according to the third bit sequence.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: Processing the first bit sequence to obtain a second bit sequence includes: performing at least one replication process on the first bit sequence to obtain the second bit sequence; or, At least one first bit value and / or at least one second bit value is filled in the first bit sequence to obtain the second bit sequence.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending first information, where the first information indicates using feedback information after channel coding for feedback during an initial access process.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first information includes information of a first random access preamble code, where the first random access preamble code indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during an initial access process; or, The first information includes an identifier of a first logical channel, and the first logical channel indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during an initial access process; or The newly added field in the first information indicates that the feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: Before sending the first information, the method further includes: It is determined that the network device has a first capability, where the first capability is used to decode feedback information after channel encoding, and the network device is used to receive the first feedback information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving second information, where the second information indicates a first condition and / or a second condition, where the first condition is a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information after channel coding for feedback during an initial access process, and the second condition is a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information that has not been channel coded for feedback during an initial access process; If the first condition is met and / or the second condition is not met, it is determined to use the feedback information after channel coding for feedback during the initial access process.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The first condition includes at least one of the following: Belongs to the first category of terminal equipment; being located within the coverage of at least one first beam; located within at least one first physical region; The random access preamble used in the initial access process belongs to the first type of random access preamble; or, The reference signal received power is less than or equal to a first threshold.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that: The second condition includes at least one of the following: Belongs to the second category of terminal equipment; being located within the coverage area of ​​at least one second beam; located within at least one second physical region; The random access preamble used in the initial access process belongs to the second type of random access preamble; or, The reference signal received power is greater than a first threshold.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving third information from a network device, the third information indicating a format of a PUCCH, the format of the PUCCH being a first format or a second format, the first format including PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3, or PUCCH format 4, and the PUCCH of the second format being used to perform channel coding processing on a bit sequence having a bit number less than or equal to 2; Determine a format of a PUCCH used to carry the first feedback information.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first message, where the first message is a message in an initial access process; receiving first feedback information; Channel decoding is performed on the first feedback information to determine a first bit sequence, where the first bit sequence indicates that the first message has been successfully received or that the first message has not been successfully received.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The number of bits of the first bit sequence is less than or equal to 2.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that Channel decoding the first feedback information to determine a first bit sequence includes: performing channel decoding on the first feedback information to obtain a second bit sequence, wherein the second bit sequence includes the first bit sequence, and the number of bits of the second bit sequence is greater than the number of bits of the first bit sequence; The second bit sequence is extracted to obtain the first bit sequence.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that: The method further comprises: First information is received, where the first information indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during an initial access process.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first information includes information of a first random access preamble code, where the first random access preamble code indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during an initial access process; or, The first information includes an identifier of a first logical channel, and the first logical channel indicates that feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during an initial access process; or The newly added field in the first information indicates that the feedback information after channel coding is used for feedback during the initial access process.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending second information, wherein the second information indicates a first condition and / or a second condition, wherein the first condition is a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information after channel coding for feedback during an initial access process, and the second condition is a condition satisfied by a terminal device that uses feedback information that has not been channel coded for feedback during an initial access process.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The first condition includes at least one of the following: Belongs to the first category of terminal equipment; being located within the coverage of at least one first beam; located within at least one first physical region; The random access preamble used in the initial access process belongs to the first type of random access preamble; or, The reference signal received power is less than or equal to a first threshold.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The second condition includes at least one of the following: Belongs to the second category of terminal equipment; being located within the coverage area of ​​at least one second beam; located within at least one second physical region; The random access preamble used in the initial access process belongs to the second type of random access preamble; or, The reference signal received power is greater than a first threshold.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send third information, where the third information indicates a format of PUCCH, where the format of PUCCH is a first format or a second format, where the first format includes PUCCH format 2, PUCCH format 3 or PUCCH format 4, and where the PUCCH of the second format is used to perform channel coding processing on a bit sequence with a bit number less than or equal to 2.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising modules for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1-21 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21 is implemented.

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