Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a communication method and an apparatus, which are used for compatibility between a low-layer signaling-triggered cell handover function and a cross-cell multi-station transmission function. The method comprises: a terminal device receives indication information from a network device, the indication information being used for triggering a random access process, wherein if the network device configures first configuration information and second configuration information for the terminal device, downlink control information comprises a first field and a second field; and, according to both the first field and the second field, determining information corresponding to the random access process.

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 August 11, 2023, with application number 202311019103.8 and application name “A communication method and device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application; this application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on October 31, 2023, with application number 202311442764.1 and application name “A communication method and device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] In a communications system, the network side has multiple network devices (such as base stations). Each network device covers a certain area, called a cell. A terminal device may move from one cell to another, that is, from the coverage area of ​​one network device to the coverage area of ​​another. This process is called cell handover, as shown in Figure 1. After a terminal device switches to another cell, the network device needs to instruct the terminal device to initiate a random access procedure for this cell. This allows the terminal device to obtain the cell's uplink timing information, such as the timing advance (TA), so that the terminal device can perform uplink transmissions in this cell.

[0005] The current communication protocol proposes a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling to achieve fast cell switching. In the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, the network device can configure at least one alternative cell for the terminal device; when the terminal device moves to the edge of the current serving cell and approaches a certain alternative cell, the network device can send downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device in advance, and a field in the DCI is used to indicate the alternative cell, so as to instruct the terminal device to initiate a random access process to the alternative cell in advance, so that the terminal device can obtain the timing advance of the alternative cell in advance, as shown in (1) in Figure 2. In addition, the communication protocol also proposes a cross-cell multi-station transmission function to enable the terminal device to perform multi-station transmission through a serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell. In the cross-cell multi-station transmission function, the network device can configure at least one supplementary cell for the terminal device and send DCI to the terminal device, and a field in the DCI is used to indicate a supplementary cell, so as to instruct the terminal device to initiate a random access process to the supplementary cell, as shown in (2) in Figure 2.

[0006] In both of these functions, the network device uses DCI to indicate to the terminal the cell in which to initiate the random access process. This results in the terminal device receiving a DCI being unsure whether the cell indicated by the DCI is the cell used for cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling or the cell used for inter-cell multi-site transmission. In other words, there is an incompatibility issue between the two functions.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell multi-station transmission function.

[0009] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a component (such as a chip) in the terminal device, without limitation. Taking execution by a terminal device as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information including a first field, the first field being used to indicate a cell in a first cell set or a cell in a second cell set; and sending a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0010] Among them, the first cell set is a cell set used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the elements in the first cell set are cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is composed of cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the cells included in the first cell set are cells involved (or associated) with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is used for the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0011] Optionally, the cell set for performing cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell being a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell being a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. In other words, the first cell set includes the at least one serving cell and the at least one candidate cell; or it can be stated that the first cell set consists of the at least one serving cell and the at least one candidate cell.

[0012] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the elements in the second cell set are cells used for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is composed of cells used for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the cells included in the second cell set are cells involved in (or associated with) the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is used for the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission.

[0013] Optionally, the cell set for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is the serving cell for receiving the indication information. In other words, the second cell set includes the first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell; or the second cell set is composed of the first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0014] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the first field in the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set, so that the terminal device can clearly know whether the cell for which the random access process is to be initiated belongs to the first cell set or the second cell set, that is, it avoids the problem that the terminal device is uncertain whether to initiate the random access process for a cell in the first cell set or for a cell in the second cell set, thereby being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function. Moreover, when the indication information is DCI, the embodiment of the present application only needs to use a field (i.e., the first field) in the DCI to indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. For example, the field in the DCI used to indicate the cell for random access can be reused without changing the format of the DCI or with less changes to the format of the DCI.

[0016] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0017] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0018] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, the indication information also includes a second field. The second field includes two values, such as the first value and the second value. When the value of the second field is the first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the second field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0019] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a component (such as a chip) in the terminal device, without limitation. Taking execution by a terminal device as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receiving indication information from a network device, the indication information including a third field and / or a fourth field, the third field being used to indicate a cell in a first cell set, and the fourth field being used to indicate a cell in a second cell set; and sending a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0020] The first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell being a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell being a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0021] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Optionally, the cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

[0022] For the description of the first cell set and the second cell set, please refer to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0023] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present application, the indication information indicates a cell in the first cell set through the third field, or indicates a cell in the second cell set through the fourth field, so that the terminal device can clearly know whether the cell for which the random access process is to be initiated belongs to the first cell set or the second cell set, that is, avoid the problem that the terminal device is uncertain whether to initiate the random access process for a cell in the first cell set or for a cell in the second cell set, thereby being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function. Moreover, when the indication information is DCI, the embodiment of the present application indicates a cell in the first cell set and a cell in the second cell set respectively through two fields in the DCI, so that after the terminal device receives the DCI, it can parse the DCI to determine whether to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set, thereby reducing the processing complexity of the terminal device.

[0025] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0026] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0027] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. In addition, the indication information also includes a fifth field. The fifth field includes two values, such as the third value and the fourth value. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0028] In another possible implementation, the first cell set includes a first service cell and at least one alternative cell, and the second cell set includes the first service cell and an activated supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the third field and the fourth field. Further, if both the third field and the fourth field are used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activated supplementary cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the fourth field; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activated supplementary cell; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the third field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the third field; the priority of the fourth field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the fourth field.

[0029] Exemplarily, the value of the third field may include a fifth value. When the value of the third field is the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell. When the value of the third field is not the fifth value, or when the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell. Optionally, the fifth value is 0.

[0030] Exemplarily, the value of the fourth field includes a sixth value and a seventh value. When the value of the fourth field is the sixth value, the fourth field is used to indicate the first serving cell; when the value of the fourth field is the seventh value, the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell. Optionally, the sixth value is 0 and the seventh value is 1.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the transmission reception point (TRP) of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information can also be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the first TRP or the second TRP. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, or to indicate the second TRP. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the indication information is used to indicate the first TRP; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the indication information is used to indicate the second TRP.

[0032] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, which can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first timing advance group (TAG), and the first TAG corresponds to the first TRP; or it can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the first control channel group, and the first control channel group corresponds to the first TRP; or it can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first path loss measurement resource, and the first path loss measurement resource corresponds to the first TRP.

[0033] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate the second TRP, which can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second TAG, and the second TAG corresponds to the second TRP; or it can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the second control channel group, and the second control channel group corresponds to the second TRP; or it can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second path loss measurement resource, and the second path loss measurement resource corresponds to the second TRP.

[0034] In another possible implementation, the TRP of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, for example, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell in the first service cell, then the indication information can also be used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information.

[0035] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0036] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in the first service cell, which may be one or more of the following: information for indicating that the same-cell multi-station transmission function is enabled is configured; information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) is configured (such as identification information of two TAGs); information of a timing advance offset parameter is configured; information of two control channel groups (or two control channel groups) is configured; and no supplementary cell is configured.

[0038] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field and a sixth field. Furthermore, if the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP or to indicate the second TRP, then the indication information is used to indicate the first serving cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0039] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. Furthermore, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell, then the indication information is used to indicate the first serving cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0040] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the cell handover function triggered by low-layer signaling and the multi-station transmission function in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. In addition, the indication information may also include the seventh field. The value of the seventh field includes the tenth value and the eleventh value. When the value of the seventh field is the tenth value, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is the eleventh value, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid.

[0041] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and a multi-station transmission function in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field. In addition, the indication information is also used to indicate an index of a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), where the SSB corresponds to the first TRP or the second TRP.

[0042] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a cross-cell multi-station transmission function or a same-cell multi-station transmission function), the indication information includes an eighth field. Further, if the network device configures the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, such as a first serving cell or an activated supplementary cell; or, if the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a first TRP or a second TRP.

[0043] Exemplarily, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a cross-cell multi-station transmission function or a same-cell multi-station transmission function), it can be: the network device configures third configuration information for the terminal device, and the third configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating that the multi-station transmission function is enabled; information on two timing advance offset parameters; information on two TAGs; or information on two control channel groups.

[0044] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the value of the third field is the fifth value (that is, the fifth field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, then the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0045] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0046] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0047] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is not the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0048] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the value of the third field is not the fifth value (that is, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), then the indication information is used to indicate an alternative cell indicated by the third field, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0049] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0050] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0051] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0052] Optionally, the fifth value, the sixth value, and the eighth value are all 0, and the seventh value and the ninth value are all 1.

[0053] In a third aspect, the present application provides another communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a component (such as a chip) in the network device, without limitation. Taking execution by the network device as an example, the method includes: the network device sending indication information to a terminal device, the indication information including a first field, the first field being used to indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set; and receiving a random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0054] The first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell being a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell being a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0055] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Optionally, the cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

[0056] For the description of the first cell set and the second cell set, please refer to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0057] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0058] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set.

[0059] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

[0060] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, the indication information also includes a second field. The second field includes two values, such as the first value and the second value. When the value of the second field is the first value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the second field is the second value, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, and accordingly, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0061] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides another communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a component (such as a chip, etc.) in the network device, without limitation. Taking execution by a network device as an example, the method includes: the network device sending indication information to a terminal device, the indication information including a third field and / or a fourth field, the third field being used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, and the fourth field being used to indicate a cell in the second cell set; and receiving a random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0062] The first cell set is a cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. Optionally, the cell set for performing cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, the at least one serving cell being a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device, and the at least one candidate cell being a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0063] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Optionally, the cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, and the first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive the indication information.

[0064] For the description of the first cell set and the second cell set, please refer to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0065] Exemplarily, the indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information may be included in DCI, without limitation.

[0066] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0067] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0068] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. In addition, the indication information also includes a fifth field. The fifth field includes two values, such as the third value and the fourth value. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set. Alternatively, when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid, which means that the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0069] In another possible implementation, the first cell set includes a first service cell and at least one alternative cell, and the second cell set includes the first service cell and an activated supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes the third field and the fourth field. Further, if both the third field and the fourth field are used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activated supplementary cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the fourth field; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activated supplementary cell; or, if the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field and the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell, the cell indicated by the indication information is the cell indicated by the third field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the third field; the priority of the fourth field can be replaced by: the priority of the cell indicated by the fourth field.

[0070] Exemplarily, the value of the third field may include a fifth value. When the value of the third field is the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell. When the value of the third field is not the fifth value, or when the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell. Optionally, the fifth value is 0.

[0071] Exemplarily, the value of the fourth field includes a sixth value and a seventh value. When the value of the fourth field is the sixth value, the fourth field is used to indicate the first serving cell; when the value of the fourth field is the seventh value, the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell. Optionally, the sixth value is 0 and the seventh value is 1.

[0072] In one possible implementation, the transmission reception point (TRP) of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information can also be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the first TRP or the second TRP. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, or to indicate the second TRP. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the indication information is used to indicate the first TRP; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the indication information is used to indicate the second TRP.

[0073] Optionally, the sixth field used to indicate the first TRP can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first TAG, and the first TAG corresponds to the first TRP; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the first control channel group, and the first control channel group corresponds to the first TRP; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate the first path loss measurement resource, and the first path loss measurement resource corresponds to the first TRP.

[0074] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate the second TRP, which can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second TAG, and the second TAG corresponds to the second TRP; or it can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the identifier of the second control channel group, and the second control channel group corresponds to the second TRP; or it can be: the sixth field is used to indicate the second path loss measurement resource, and the second path loss measurement resource corresponds to the second TRP.

[0075] In another possible implementation, the TRP of the first service cell includes a first TRP and a second TRP. If the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, for example, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell in the first service cell, then the indication information can also be used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by it is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Exemplarily, the indication information may include a sixth field, and the sixth field is used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Optionally, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information.

[0076] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0077] Optionally, the sixth field is used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. It can be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information; or it can also be: the sixth field is used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in the first service cell, which may be one or more of the following: information for indicating that the same-cell multi-station transmission function is enabled is configured; information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) is configured (such as identification information of two TAGs); information of a timing advance offset parameter is configured; information of two control channel groups (or two control channel groups) is configured; and no supplementary cell is configured.

[0079] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field and a sixth field. Furthermore, if the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP or to indicate the second TRP, then the indication information is used to indicate the first serving cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0080] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. Furthermore, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell, then the indication information is used to indicate the first serving cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell; or, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0081] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the cell handover function triggered by low-layer signaling and the multi-station transmission function in the same cell, the indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. In addition, the indication information may also include the seventh field. The value of the seventh field includes the tenth value and the eleventh value. When the value of the seventh field is the tenth value, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is the eleventh value, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid.

[0082] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and a multi-station transmission function in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field. In addition, the indication information is also used to indicate the index of an SSB, which corresponds to the first TRP or the second TRP.

[0083] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a cross-cell multi-station transmission function or a same-cell multi-station transmission function), the indication information includes an eighth field. Further, if the network device configures the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set, such as a first serving cell or an activated supplementary cell; or, if the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information is used to indicate a first TRP or a second TRP.

[0084] Exemplarily, if the network device configures a multi-station transmission function for the terminal device (the multi-station transmission function is a cross-cell multi-station transmission function or a same-cell multi-station transmission function), it can be: the network device configures third configuration information for the terminal device, and the third configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating that the multi-station transmission function is enabled; information on two timing advance offset parameters; information on two TAGs; or information on two control channel groups.

[0085] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the value of the third field is the fifth value (that is, the fifth field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, then the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0086] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0087] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is the fifth value and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0088] Alternatively, if the value of the third field is not the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value, then the indication information is used to indicate the alternative cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0089] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. If the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the value of the third field is not the fifth value (that is, the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell), then the indication information is used to indicate an alternative cell indicated by the third field, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0090] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value (i.e., the third field is used to indicate the first service cell), and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value (i.e., the eighth field is used to indicate the first service cell or to indicate the first TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, if the value of the eighth field is the eighth value, the indication information is also used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the first TRP.

[0091] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state), then the indication information is used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state, and the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission.

[0092] Alternatively, if the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the ninth value (that is, the eighth field is used to indicate the second TRP), then the indication information is used to indicate the first service cell, the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission, and the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the second TRP.

[0093] Optionally, the fifth value, the sixth value, and the eighth value are all 0, and the seventh value and the ninth value are all 1.

[0094] Based on any one of the first to fourth aspects above, in a possible implementation method, the network device configures the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, specifically including: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device can be specifically configured as: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling configured by the network device for the terminal device means: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the network device configures the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device.

[0095] Exemplarily, the first configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating the function of enabling cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; identification information of at least one alternative cell; beam information of at least one alternative cell; relevant parameters for measuring at least one alternative cell; relevant parameters for random access to at least one alternative cell; or, a first information unit, the first information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; wherein, at least one alternative cell is an alternative cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0096] Based on any one of the first to fourth aspects above, in a possible implementation method, the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be expressed as follows: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be expressed as follows: the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device means: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Alternatively, the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device.

[0097] Exemplarily, the second configuration information may include one or more of the following: information for indicating a function of enabling cross-cell multi-station transmission; identification information of at least one supplementary cell; information for indicating an association between at least one supplementary cell and at least one transmission configuration indication state; information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission; information on two timing advance groups; information on two timing advance offset parameters; information on two control channel groups; relevant parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell; or, a second information unit, the second information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission.

[0098] Optionally, the second configuration information packet is configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell, or the second configuration information is a partial configuration of the configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell. In other words, the second configuration information is configured with a serving cell (ie, the first serving cell) as the granularity.

[0099] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device is configured to execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect above, and any possible implementation thereof. The communication device is, for example, a terminal device, or a functional module in the terminal device, such as a baseband device or a chip system.

[0100] In a possible implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device.

[0101] In another possible implementation, 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). The transceiver module can implement both sending and receiving functions. When the transceiver module implements the sending function, it can be referred to as a sending module (sometimes also referred to as a sending unit); when the transceiver module implements the receiving function, it can be referred to as a receiving module (sometimes also referred to as a receiving unit). The sending module and the receiving module can be the same functional module, referred to as a transceiver module, which can implement both sending and receiving functions; alternatively, the sending module and the receiving module can be different functional modules, with the transceiver module being a general term for these functional modules.

[0102] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device is configured to execute the method described in the third aspect or the fourth aspect above, and any possible implementation thereof. The communication device is, for example, a network device, or a functional module in a network device, such as a baseband device or a chip system.

[0103] In a possible implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device.

[0104] In another possible implementation, 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). The transceiver module can implement both sending and receiving functions. When the transceiver module implements the sending function, it can be referred to as a sending module (sometimes also referred to as a sending unit); when the transceiver module implements the receiving function, it can be referred to as a receiving module (sometimes also referred to as a receiving unit). The sending module and the receiving module can be the same functional module, referred to as a transceiver module, which can implement both sending and receiving functions; alternatively, the sending module and the receiving module can be different functional modules, with the transceiver module being a general term for these functional modules.

[0105] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a communication device. The communication device may include at least one processor. Optionally, the communication device may also include a memory. The memory is configured to store one or more computer programs or instructions. The at least one processor is configured to execute the one or more computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method described in any of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible implementation thereof.

[0106] In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a chip system. The chip system may include at least one processor. Optionally, the at least one processor is coupled to a memory. The at least one processor is configured to execute one or more computer programs or instructions in the memory to implement the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects above and any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. Optionally, the chip system may also include a memory.

[0107] In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a communication system, which includes one or more of the following: the communication device described in the fifth aspect, or the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0108] In the tenth aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects and any possible implementation methods thereof is implemented.

[0109] In an eleventh aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects and any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0110] For the technical effects that can be achieved in the above-mentioned third to eleventh aspects and any possible implementation methods thereof, please refer to the technical effects that can be achieved in the above-mentioned first or second aspect and any possible implementation methods thereof, and no repetition will be given. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0111] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover;

[0112] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a random access process;

[0113] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system;

[0114] FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of yet another communication system;

[0115] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of yet another communication system;

[0116] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0117] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0118] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0119] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0120] The embodiments of the present application will be presented around a system including multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood that the system may include other devices, components, modules, etc. not mentioned, or may only include some of the devices, components, or modules, etc. mentioned in the embodiments.

[0121] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for compatibility with low-layer signaling-triggered cell handover and inter-cell multi-station transmission. The method and apparatus described herein are based on the same technical concept. Since the method and apparatus solve similar problems, the implementation of the apparatus and method can refer to each other, and any repetitions will not be repeated.

[0122] 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.

[0123] The following first introduces a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable.

[0124] The network architecture and application scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. It is known to those skilled in the art that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new application scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems. The embodiments of the present application are described using the communication system shown in Figure 3 as an example. When applying the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application to other communication systems, the devices, components, modules, etc. in the embodiments can be replaced with corresponding devices, components, and modules in other communication systems without limitation.

[0125] As shown in Figure 3 , communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 3 , collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 3 , collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment (not shown in Figure 3). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. RAN node 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to core network 200. The core network equipment in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 may be separate physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions.

[0126] The RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, a 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system (such as a long term evolution (LTE) system), a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system (such as a new radio (NR) system), or a future-oriented evolution system (such as a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system). The RAN 100 may also be an open access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0127] RAN node 110, sometimes also referred to as access network equipment, access network element, network equipment, network device, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of a communication system and facilitates wireless access for terminals. Multiple RAN nodes 110 in communication system 1000 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are relative. For example, network element 120i in Figure 3 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal 120j accessing RAN 100 via network element 120i, network element 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, network element 120i is a terminal. RAN node 110 and terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 110a and 110b in Figure 3 can be understood as communication devices with base station functionality, and network elements 120a-120j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0128] In one possible scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 3 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 3 ), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Alternatively, a RAN node can be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or an onboard device. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU).

[0129] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0130] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called open CU (open-CU, O-CU), DU may also be called open DU (open-DU, O-DU), CU-CP may also be called open CU-CP (open-CU-CP, O-CU-CP), CU-UP may also be called open CU-UP (open-CU-UP, O-CU-UP), and RU may also be called open RU (open-RU, O-RU). For convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0131] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the RAN node may be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the RAN node, or by a control subsystem that includes the RAN node functions. The control subsystem that includes the RAN node functions may be a control center in application scenarios such as smart grids, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart cities.

[0132] The terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, a terminal apparatus, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, or a mobile terminal. The terminal can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, or smart city. For example, the terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle, a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, or a smart home device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the terminal.

[0133] In the embodiment of the present application, the functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal, or may be performed by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0134] RAN nodes and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of RAN nodes and terminals.

[0135] A RAN node can transmit data or control signaling to one or more terminals, as shown in (1) in Figure 4. Multiple RAN nodes can also transmit data or control signaling to one terminal at the same time, as shown in (2) in Figure 4.

[0136] Communication between RAN nodes and terminals follows a certain protocol layer structure. The protocol layer may include a control plane protocol layer and a user plane protocol layer. The control plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, or a physical (PHY) layer. The user plane protocol layer may include at least one of the following: a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, or a physical layer.

[0137] As shown in Figure 5, a RAN node may include one or more CUs, one or more DUs, and one or more RUs. For clarity, Figure 5 shows only one CU, DU, and RU. The CU is connected to the core network and one or more DUs. Optionally, the CU may have some of the core network's functionality. The CU may include a CU-CP and a CU-UP.

[0138] The CU and DU can be configured according to the protocol layer functions of the wireless network they implement. For example, the CU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers above it (such as the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer, etc.); the DU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer, etc.). For another example, the CU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer (such as the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer), and the DU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer, etc.).

[0139] When a CU includes a CU-CP and a CU-UP, the CU-CP is used to implement the control plane functions of the CU, and the CU-UP is used to implement the user plane functions of the CU. For example, when the CU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer, RRC layer, and SDAP layer, the CU-CP is used to implement the RRC layer functions and the control plane functions of the PDCP layer, and the CU-UP is used to implement the SDAP layer functions and the user plane functions of the PDCP layer.

[0140] The CU-CP can interact with network elements in the core network that implement control plane functions. The network elements in the core network that implement control plane functions can be access and mobility function network elements, for example, access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements in 5G systems. The access and mobility function network elements are responsible for mobility management in mobile networks, such as location update of terminal devices, registration network of terminal devices, and switching of terminal devices.

[0141] The CU-UP can interact with network elements in the core network that implement user plane functions. Network elements in the core network that implement user plane functions, such as the user plane function (UPF) network element in the 5G system, are responsible for forwarding and receiving data in terminal devices.

[0142] The above configuration of CU and DU is only an example, and the functions of CU and DU can also be configured as needed. For example, the CU or DU can be configured to have the functions of more protocol layers, or the CU or DU can be configured to have partial processing functions of the protocol layer. For example, some functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU. For another example, the functions of the CU or DU can be divided according to the service type or other system requirements, such as by delay, and the functions whose processing time needs to meet the smaller delay requirement are set in the DU, and the functions that do not need to meet the delay requirement are set in the CU.

[0143] The DU and RU can work together to implement the functions of the PHY layer. A DU can be connected to one or more RUs. The functions of the DU and RU can be configured in various ways according to the design. For example, the DU is configured to implement the baseband function, and the RU is configured to implement the mid-RF function. For another example, the DU is configured to implement the high-layer functions in the PHY layer, and the RU is configured to implement the low-layer functions in the PHY layer or to implement the low-layer functions and the RF functions. The high-layer functions in the physical layer may include a part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the MAC layer, and the low-layer functions in the physical layer may include another part of the functions of the physical layer, which is closer to the mid-RF side.

[0144] For example, Table 1 shows the correspondence between network elements in the ORAN system and the protocol layer functions that can be implemented. As shown in Table 1, the O-CU-CP is configured to implement the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP control plane (PDCP-C) layer; the O-CU-UP is configured to implement the functions of the SDAP layer and the PDCP user plane (PDCP-U) layer; the O-DU is configured to implement the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the high (PHY-high) layer in the PHY layer; and the O-RU is configured to implement the functions of the low (PHY-low) layer in the PHY layer.

[0145] Table 1

[0146] The above describes the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. Next, some technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced.

[0147] (1) Cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, multi-site transmission across cells, and multi-site transmission within a cell

[0148] The function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling refers to the implementation of cell switching of terminal equipment based on low-layer (such as layer 1 and / or layer 2) signaling (called L1 / L2 triggered mobility, LTM in the communication protocol). Exemplarily, the network device can obtain the quality of the cell (such as the serving cell and / or the alternative cell) through the measurement reporting process of layer 1 (i.e., the physical layer); the network device instructs the terminal device to switch to the alternative cell through layer 2 (i.e., the media access control layer) signaling.

[0149] The function of cross-cell multi-station transmission refers to transmission through a serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell, such as transmission of data, control signaling, etc.

[0150] The function of multi-station transmission in the same cell refers to joint transmission through the two TRPs of the serving cell. Optionally, the two TRPs can correspond to two timing advance groups (TAGs), that is, one TRP in the two TRPs corresponds to one TAG in the two TAGs, and one TAG in the two TAGs corresponds to one TRP in the two TRPs. For example, the two TRPs are recorded as TRP1 and TRP2, and the two TAGs corresponding to the two TRPs are recorded as TAG1 and TAG2, where TRP1 can correspond to TAG1 and TRP2 can correspond to TAG2.

[0151] Optionally, the two TRPs may also correspond to the identifiers of two control channel groups (or control channel groups), that is, one of the two TRPs corresponds to one of the identifiers of the two control channel groups, and one of the identifiers of the two control channel groups corresponds to one of the two TRPs. For example, the two TRPs are recorded as TRP1 and TRP2, and the identifiers of the two control channel groups corresponding to the two TRPs are recorded as identifier 1 and identifier 2, where TRP1 may correspond to identifier 1 and TRP2 may correspond to identifier 2.

[0152] Optionally, the two TRPs may also correspond to two path loss measurement resources, i.e., one of the two TRPs corresponds to one of the two path loss measurement resources, and one of the two path loss measurement resources corresponds to one of the two TRPs. The path loss measurement resource refers to the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message during the random access process. For example, the two TRPs are denoted as TRP1 and TRP2, and the two path loss measurement resources corresponding to the two TRPs are denoted as path loss measurement resource 1 and path loss measurement resource 2, where TRP1 may correspond to path loss measurement resource 1, and TRP2 may correspond to path loss measurement resource 2.

[0153] For the sake of simplicity, the following text will refer to these two TRPs as the first TRP and the second TRP. Accordingly, the TAG corresponding to the first TRP can be referred to as the first TAG, and the TAG corresponding to the second TRP can be referred to as the second TAG. The identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the first TRP is referred to as the identifier of the first control channel group, and the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the second TRP is referred to as the identifier of the second control channel group. Furthermore, the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the first TRP is referred to as the first path loss measurement resource, and the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the second TRP is referred to as the second path loss measurement resource.

[0154] It should be noted that if a serving cell includes two TRPs, the first TRP may be the first TRP of the serving cell, and the second TRP may be the second TRP of the serving cell. In other words, the term "first TRP" and the term "first TRP" may be used interchangeably, and the term "second TRP" and the term "second TRP" may be used interchangeably.

[0155] Optionally, the first TAG may be a TAG with a smaller index, or a TAG with an earlier configuration order, such as the first TAG configured in the serving cell. The second TAG may be a TAG with a larger index, or a TAG with a later configuration order, such as the second TAG configured in the serving cell. The first control channel group may be a control channel group with a smaller index, such as a control channel group whose identifier is 0. The second control channel group may be a control channel group with a larger index, such as a control channel group whose identifier is 1. In other words, the term "first TAG" may be used interchangeably with the term "first TAG", the term "second TAG" may be used interchangeably with the term "second TAG", the term "first control channel group" may be used interchangeably with the term "first control channel group", and the term "second control channel group" may be used interchangeably with the term "second control channel group".

[0156] The first path loss measurement resource may include any of the following: a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) resource indicated in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a quasi-colocation (QCL) resource used by the PDCCH, a QCL resource in a transmission configuration indicator state (TCI-state) used by the PDCCH, a QCL resource in the first of two TCI-states for downlink indicated by the network device to the terminal device, or a QCL resource in the second of two TCI-states for downlink indicated by the network device to the terminal device. The PDCCH refers to the PDCCH that triggers the random access process, that is, the PDCCH that carries the indication information mentioned later.

[0157] The second path loss measurement resource may include any of the following: a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) resource indicated in the PDCCH, a QCL resource in a TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device (for example, a QCL resource in the first or second TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device), a path loss measurement resource associated with a TCI state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device (for example, a path loss measurement resource associated with the first or second TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device to the terminal device), a QCL resource in a TCI-state associated with a TRP or TAG or control channel group identifier corresponding to a random access procedure triggered by a PDCCH, or a path loss measurement resource associated with a TCI-state associated with a TRP or TAG or control channel group corresponding to a random access procedure triggered by a PDCCH. The PDCCH refers to the PDCCH that triggers the random access procedure, that is, the PDCCH that carries the indication information mentioned later.

[0158] In one implementation, the second path loss measurement resource may be an SSB resource indicated in the PDCCH. The first constraint rule may be further adopted to constrain the SSB resource indicated in the PDCCH. According to the first constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a QCL resource corresponding to one of the two TCI-states indicated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the QCL resource; or, according to the first constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a path loss measurement resource corresponding to one of the two TCI-states indicated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the path loss measurement resource. Alternatively, the second constraint rule may be further adopted to constrain the SSB resource indicated in the PDCCH. According to the second constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a QCL resource corresponding to one of the TCI-states activated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the QCL resource; or, according to the second constraint rule, the SSB resource must be a path loss measurement resource corresponding to one of the TCI-states activated by the network device for the terminal device, or a QCL resource of the path loss measurement resource.

[0159] The above-mentioned first constraint rule and second constraint rule are intended to ensure that the SSB resource indicated by the PDCCH is the QCL resource or path loss measurement resource corresponding to the TCI-state indicated or activated by the network device for the terminal device, thereby reducing the complexity requirements for the terminal device. If there are no such constraint rules, it means that the network device can indicate any SSB resource to the terminal device through the PDCCH, and the terminal device needs to calculate and store the path loss values ​​corresponding to all SSB resources in advance, which is too complex. Of the two constraint rules, the first constraint rule is stricter (because the TCI-state indicated by the network device to the terminal device is a subset of the activated TCI-state). Under the first constraint rule, the network device can be more limited in the SSB resources indicated to the terminal device. In this case, the complexity requirements for the terminal device are lower because the terminal device only needs to calculate and store the path loss corresponding to fewer SSB resources in advance. The protocol can use only the first constraint rule or only the second constraint rule. It can also be decided which constraint rule to use based on the terminal capability report. Specifically, if the terminal device reports that it supports the second constraint rule, that is, supports the network device to indicate the SSB resources constrained by the second constraint rule, then the SSB resources indicated by the PDCCH are constrained by the second constraint rule. If the terminal device reports that it does not support the second constraint rule, then the SSB resources indicated by the PDCCH are constrained by the first constraint rule.

[0160] It should be understood that the first path loss measurement resource and the second path loss measurement resource in this application are not limited to the above definitions, and may also be other resources. In other words, when the first path loss measurement resource and the second path loss measurement resource are other resources, the embodiments of this application are still applicable.

[0161] (2) TCI-state associated with the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process

[0162] The TCI-state associated with the TRP (or TAG, or identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process can be: the TCI-state that is associated with the TRP (or TAG or identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process among the multiple TCI-states (such as two TCI-states) indicated by the network device to the terminal device; or it can also be: one TCI-state in a group of TCI-states that are associated with the TRP (or TAG, or identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process among the multiple groups of TCI-states activated by the network device to the terminal device, for example, the TCI-state with the smallest index in the group of TCI-states or the TCI-state with the smallest value of the corresponding TCI in the group of TCI-states.

[0163] Among them, the association relationship between the TAG and the TCI-state can be indicated by a configuration message, such as configuring an associated TAG for each TCI-state. The association relationship between the identifier of the control channel group and the TCI-state can be indicated by media access control control element (MAC-CE) signaling, such as indicating a group of TCI-states and the identifier of the control channel group associated with the group of TCI-states through MAC-CE. The association relationship between the control channel group and the TCI-state can be indicated by DCI signaling, such as indicating a TCI-state through the DCI corresponding to the identifier of a control channel group, then the TCI-state is associated with the identifier of the control channel group.

[0164] (3) Service cell, alternative cell and supplementary cell

[0165] A serving cell is a cell that a network device configures for a terminal device to use for data transmission. The network device needs to configure all parameters of the serving cell for the terminal device, which means that the terminal device can independently transmit data through the serving cell.

[0166] An alternative cell refers to a cell configured by a network device for a terminal device for cell handover. A terminal device can switch from a serving cell to an alternative cell. After the terminal device switches to the alternative cell, the network device can reconfigure the alternative cell as a serving cell. It should be noted that the network device can configure one alternative cell for the terminal device, or it can configure multiple alternative cells. In the embodiment of the present application, the alternative cell is used for cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0167] A supplementary cell refers to a cell used to coordinate data transmission with a service cell. In addition to the service cell, the network device can also configure a supplementary cell for the terminal device. The network device does not need to configure all the parameters of the supplementary cell for the terminal device, but configures the information of the supplementary cell as the parameters of the service cell to the terminal device. In other words, the supplementary cell depends on its corresponding (or associated) service cell for data transmission, which means that the terminal device cannot independently perform data transmission through the supplementary cell. In an embodiment of the present application, the supplementary cell is used for cross-cell multi-station transmission. Unless otherwise specified, the supplementary cell in the following text can be understood as: the supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell that sends the PDCCH. The supplementary cell in the activated state can be understood as: the supplementary cell in the activated state in the supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell that sends the PDCCH.

[0168] It should be noted that the network device can configure one supplementary cell for the terminal device, or it can configure multiple supplementary cells. When the network device configures multiple supplementary cells for the terminal device, only one supplementary cell is activated at the same time, and this supplementary cell can be called an activated supplementary cell (or an activated supplementary cell). In other words, the terminal device can use a service cell and the activated supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell for joint transmission. In addition, the remaining supplementary cells in the multiple supplementary cells corresponding to the service cell, except for the activated supplementary cell, can be called inactivated supplementary cells (or inactivated supplementary cells).

[0169] (4) Beam

[0170] The embodiment of the beam in the NR protocol can be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state, spatial relation, etc. Therefore, in this application, beam and spatial domain filter, spatial filter, spatial domain parameter, spatial parameter, spatial setting, spatial setting, QCL information, QCL assumption, QCL indication, TCI-state (DL TCI-state, UL TCI-state), spatial relationship, etc. are equivalent, and the above concepts can be replaced with each other.

[0171] The beam used to transmit a signal may be referred to as a transmission beam (Tx beam), or may be referred to as a spatial domain transmission filter, a spatial transmission filter, a spatial domain transmission parameter, or a spatial transmission parameter, or a spatial domain transmission setting. The downlink transmit beam may be indicated by a TCI-state.

[0172] The beam used to receive signals can be called a reception beam (Rx beam), and can also be called a spatial domain reception filter, a spatial reception filter, a spatial domain reception parameter, or a spatial reception parameter, a spatial domain reception setting, or a spatial reception setting. The uplink transmit beam can be indicated by a spatial relation, or an uplink TCI-state, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (indicating the transmit beam using the SRS). Therefore, the uplink beam can also be equivalently replaced with an SRS resource.

[0173] The transmit beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted by the antenna, and the receive beam may refer to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space of the wireless signal received from the antenna.

[0174] Furthermore, the beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The beam forming technology can be beamforming technology or other technologies. The beamforming technology can specifically be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, or hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology.

[0175] Beams generally correspond to resources. For example, when performing beam measurement, the network device sends different resources through different beams, and the terminal device can determine the quality of each beam by measuring each resource. The terminal device feeds back the measured resource quality, and the network device knows the quality of the corresponding beam. When indicating a beam, it is also indicated by indicating the resource corresponding to the beam. For example, the network device indicates the TCI-state used for downlink transmission to the terminal device. The TCI-state includes QCL resources, which are used to indicate a specific beam. For details on how to indicate a beam through the QCL sub-source, please refer to the TCI-state term definition.

[0176] Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered a single beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. The one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be considered an antenna port set.

[0177] (5) The resources involved in the embodiments of the present application may include time domain resources, or frequency domain resources, or both time domain resources and frequency domain resources. Among them, time domain resources may include symbols, slots, mini-slots, partial slots, sub-frames, radio frames, or sensing slots, etc., without limitation. Frequency domain resources may include resource elements (RE), resource blocks (RB), RB sets, subchannels, resource pools, bandwidth parts (BWP), carriers, channels, or interlaces, etc., without limitation.

[0178] (6) In the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" may refer to two or more than two. In view of this, in the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" may also be understood as "at least two". "At least one" may be understood as one or more, for example, one, two or more. For example, "including at least one" means including one, two or more. For example, including at least one of A, B and C, then the included ones may be A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B and C. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects. Specifically, there may be three relationships. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / ", unless otherwise specified, generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0179] In addition, the terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably, and "according to" and "based on" may be used interchangeably.

[0180] The ordinal numbers "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are generally used to distinguish different objects and are not used to define the order, time sequence, priority, or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first cell set and the second cell set are not used to distinguish different cell sets and do not define the priority or importance of the two cell sets.

[0181] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the communication system shown in any of the embodiments in Figures 3 to 5 without limitation. The network device can be the RAN node shown in any of the embodiments in Figures 3 to 5, or a component of the RAN node shown in any of the embodiments in Figures 3 to 5, without limitation. The terminal device can be the terminal shown in any of the embodiments in Figures 3 to 5, or a component of the terminal shown in any of the embodiments in Figures 3 to 5, without limitation.

[0182] Figure 6 shows a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, the method may include the following contents.

[0183] S61: The network device sends instruction information to the terminal device. For example, the RU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 sends instruction information to the terminal device.

[0184] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the indication information from the terminal device.

[0185] In S61, the network device may send indication information to the terminal device to trigger the terminal device to initiate a random access process. The indication information may be DCI, or the indication information may include DCI, or the indication information is included in the DCI, without limitation. Optionally, the indication information may also be MAC-CE signaling. The indication information may be used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set. In other words, the indication information may be used to indicate the cell corresponding to the random access process it triggers, and the cell is a cell in the first cell set, or the cell is a cell in the second cell set.

[0186] The first cell set is a cell set used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the elements in the first cell set are cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is composed of cells used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the cells included in the first cell set are cells involved in (or associated with) the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling; or it is expressed as the first cell set is used for the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling.

[0187] The cell set for performing cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell; or it can be expressed as the cell set for performing cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling consists of at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell. That is, the first cell set includes at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell, or consists of at least one serving cell and at least one candidate cell. The at least one serving cell is a serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. The at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0188] For example, the network device configures two serving cells for the terminal device, which are respectively recorded as serving cell 1 and serving cell 2. In addition, the network device also configures three alternative cells for the terminal device, which are respectively recorded as alternative cell 1, alternative cell 2, and alternative cell 3. Then, the first cell set, or the cell set used for cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling, can be expressed as {serving cell 1, serving cell 2, alternative cell 1, alternative cell 2, alternative cell 3}.

[0189] Alternatively, the cell set for performing cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling includes a first serving cell and at least one candidate cell. The at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. Alternatively, the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell corresponding to the first serving cell. Alternatively, the at least one candidate cell is a candidate cell corresponding to a cell group corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0190] The first serving cell is a serving cell used to receive (or send) the indication information. Alternatively, the first serving cell is a serving cell corresponding to the indication information, for example, a cell used to configure parameters corresponding to the indication information. It should be understood that the at least one serving cell configured by the network device for the terminal device includes the first serving cell.

[0191] Optionally, the first service cell being a service cell for receiving (or sending) the indication information can be replaced by: the first service cell being a service cell for receiving PDCCH, and the PDCCH includes the indication information; or it can also be replaced by: the first service cell being a service cell for receiving DCI, and the DCI includes the indication information.

[0192] For example, the network device configures two serving cells for the terminal device, which are respectively recorded as serving cell 1 and serving cell 2. Among them, serving cell 1 is the serving cell used to receive (or send) the indication information. In addition, the network device also configures three alternative cells for serving cell 1, which are respectively recorded as alternative cell 1, alternative cell 2, and alternative cell 3. Then, the first cell set, or the cell set used for cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling, can be expressed as {serving cell 1, alternative cell 1, alternative cell 2, alternative cell 3}.

[0193] The second cell set is a cell set used for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the elements in the second cell set are cells used for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is composed of cells used for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is a cell set corresponding to the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the cells included in the second cell set are cells involved in (or associated with) the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it is expressed as the second cell set is used for the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission.

[0194] The cell set for inter-cell multi-station transmission includes a first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell; or the cell set for inter-cell multi-station transmission consists of the first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell. In other words, the second cell set includes the first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell; or the second cell set consists of the first serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0195] It should be noted that the second cell set may include all supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell, that is, the terminal device may initiate a random access process for any supplementary cell (an activated supplementary cell or an inactivated supplementary cell) among all the supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell and all supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. Initiating a random access process for a cell (or simply initiating random access for a cell) specifically refers to sending a random access request message to a network device through this cell, for example, using the random access parameters (such as random access resources) of this cell to send a random access request message to the network device.

[0196] Alternatively, the second cell set may include only the supplementary cell in the activated state corresponding to the first serving cell, and not include the supplementary cell in the inactivated state corresponding to the first serving cell. That is, the terminal device only initiates a random access process for the supplementary cell in the activated state corresponding to the first serving cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first serving cell and the supplementary cell in the activated state corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0197] Exemplarily, a terminal device may send capability information to a network device, the capability information being used to indicate whether it supports initiating a random access procedure for an inactive supplementary cell. Accordingly, the network device receives the capability information and determines a second cell set based on the capability information. If the terminal device supports initiating a random access procedure for an inactive supplementary cell, the second cell set consists of the first serving cell and all supplementary cells corresponding to the first serving cell. If the terminal device does not support initiating a random access procedure for an inactive supplementary cell, the second cell set consists of the first serving cell and the activated supplementary cells corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0198] Alternatively, the second cell set may include a set number (such as X, X is a positive integer, for example, X is equal to 1) of inactive supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell, the activated supplementary cell corresponding to the first service cell, and X inactive supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For example, it is predefined that the terminal device is allowed to initiate a random access process to at most any one of the X inactive supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For another example, the value of X is reported by the terminal device to the network device by sending capability information to the network device. Specifically, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information is used to indicate whether to support initiating a random access process for X inactive supplementary cells, or the capability information is used to indicate whether to support including X inactive supplementary cells in the second cell set.

[0199] Alternatively, the second cell set may include a set number (such as Y, where Y is a positive integer, for example, Y is equal to 1) of supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. In other words, the second cell set consists of the first service cell and Y supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For example, it is predefined that the terminal device is allowed to initiate a random access process to at most any one of the Y supplementary cells corresponding to the first service cell. For another example, the value of Y is reported by the terminal device to the network device by sending capability information to the network device. Specifically, the terminal device sends capability information to the network device, and the capability information is used to indicate whether to support initiating a random access process for Y supplementary cells, or the capability information is used to indicate whether to support including Y supplementary cells in the second cell set.

[0200] For the description of the first serving cell, please refer to the above content. In addition, the first serving cell may also be a serving cell corresponding to a supplementary cell for receiving (or sending) the indication information, that is, the terminal device may receive the indication information through the serving cell, or may receive the indication information through a supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell.

[0201] For terms such as service cell, alternative cell, supplementary cell, cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, cross-cell multi-station transmission function, supplementary cell in activated state, or supplementary cell in inactivated state, please refer to the above content and will not be repeated here.

[0202] In the embodiment of the present application, the indication information may indicate the cell corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by it, that is, a cell in the first cell set, or a cell in the second cell set, by the following methods.

[0203] Method 1: The indication information includes a first field, where the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set.

[0204] In one example, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. In this example, the length of the first field (such as L1) can be bits. Among them, is a rounding operation. M is a positive integer, which is the number of service cells configured by the network device for the terminal device. The number of service cells configured by the network device for the terminal device can also be expressed as: the number of cells included in the cell group where the first service cell is located. N is a positive integer, which is the number of alternative cells configured by the network device for the terminal device. The number of alternative cells configured by the network device for the terminal device can also be expressed as: the number of alternative cells configured by the network device for the cell group where the first service cell is located. Among them, the cell group where the first service cell is located is a cell group composed of at least one cell configured by the network device for the terminal device. For the description of the first service cell, please refer to the above content and will not be repeated here.

[0205] Among them, the function of the network device configuring the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of the network device configuring the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device means that the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the network device configures the function of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the function of the network device configuring the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device.

[0206] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the first configuration information, such as the CU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 . Furthermore, the network device may send the first configuration information to the terminal device, such as the RU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 . Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information from the network device. The first configuration information may be carried in RRC signaling, without limitation.

[0207] Exemplarily, the first configuration information may include one or more of the following:

[0208] Information used to indicate whether to enable (or turn on, start, or initiate, etc.) a cell handover function triggered by low-layer signaling;

[0209] Information (such as identification information) of at least one candidate cell, for example, a candidate cell identification set, the set including the identification of at least one candidate cell;

[0210] Beam information of at least one candidate cell, that is, beam used for transmission by at least one candidate cell;

[0211] used to measure relevant parameters of at least one candidate cell, such as resources to be measured, or a measurement triggering state for triggering a measurement process;

[0212] Related parameters for random access to at least one candidate cell, for example, for random access to resources of at least one candidate cell, the network device may allocate (or configure) a set of random access parameters for each serving cell and each candidate cell, for initiating a random access procedure for the serving cell or the candidate cell;

[0213] Alternatively, the first information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, or the first information unit is used to carry relevant parameters for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling. The relevant parameters may, for example, include information for enabling the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, information of at least one alternative cell, beam information of at least one alternative cell, relevant parameters for measuring at least one alternative cell, or relevant parameters for random access to at least one alternative cell. One or more of them.

[0214] It should be noted that in this example, the terminal device can perform a random access process on a serving cell. For example, the terminal device updates the TA of the serving cell through the random access process.

[0215] Accordingly, the function of configuring the terminal device with cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling by the network device can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the activation of the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one alternative cell; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with beam information of at least one alternative cell; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with relevant parameters for measuring at least one alternative cell; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with a first information unit; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the activation of the cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and information of at least one alternative cell. The remaining replacement methods are similar and are not listed here one by one.

[0216] Optionally, the first configuration information is configured by the network device at a cell group granularity. For example, the first configuration information is configuration information configured by the network device for the cell group corresponding to the first service cell. For another example, the first configuration information is configuration information corresponding to the cell group corresponding to the first service cell (or the cell group where the first service cell is located), or is part of the configuration information corresponding to the cell group corresponding to the first service cell, that is, the first configuration information can be included in the configuration information corresponding to the cell group corresponding to the first service cell.

[0217] In another example, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the first field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. In this example, the length of the first field (such as L2) can be bits. Among them, This is a round-up operation. Q is a positive integer representing the number of at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the first serving cell, or the number of supplementary cells included in the second cell set. It should be understood that when the second cell set includes only activated supplementary cells corresponding to the first serving cell, the value of Q is 1, and accordingly, the length of the first field is 1 bit.

[0218] Among them, the function of configuring the terminal device for cross-cell multi-station transmission by the network device specifically includes: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be expressed as, the function of configuring the terminal device for cross-cell multi-station transmission by the network device means that the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be expressed as, the network device configures the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be expressed as: the function of configuring the terminal device for cross-cell multi-station transmission by the network device specifically means: the network device configures the second configuration information for the terminal device.

[0219] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the second configuration information, such as the CU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 . Furthermore, the network device may send the second configuration information to the terminal device, such as the RU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 . Accordingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information from the network device. The second configuration information may be carried in RRC signaling, without limitation.

[0220] Exemplarily, the second configuration information may include one or more of the following:

[0221] Information used to indicate whether to enable (or open, start, or start) a function of cross-cell multi-site transmission;

[0222] Information (such as identification information) of at least one supplementary cell, for example, an additional physical cell index (PCI);

[0223] Information indicating an association between at least one supplementary cell and at least one TCI-state, where one supplementary cell is associated with one TCI-state, that is, an association between the supplementary cell and the TCI-state is configured;

[0224] Information used to indicate the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission;

[0225] Information about two timing advance groups (TAGs) (e.g., identification information of two TAGs). A TAG is a group of cells that share a common TA value. One TAG corresponds to one TA value. Configuring two TAGs means that two cells in an inter-cell multi-site transmission each use one TA value for transmission.

[0226] Information about two timing advance offset parameters (e.g., the values ​​of the two offsets) is used to calculate the TA values ​​of the two tags;

[0227] Information of two control channel groups (or two control channel groups), such as identification information of the two control channel groups (such as CORESETPoolIndex), where one control channel group is used for a serving cell (such as a first serving cell) and the remaining control channel group is used for a supplementary cell;

[0228] Parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell, for example, for random access to resources of at least one candidate cell, the network device may allocate (or configure) a set of random access parameters for each serving cell and supplementary cell for initiating a random access procedure for the serving cell or supplementary cell;

[0229] Alternatively, the second information unit is used to configure relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission, or the second information unit is used to carry relevant parameters for cross-cell multi-station transmission. The relevant parameters may include, for example, information for indicating the function of enabling cross-cell multi-station transmission, information of at least one supplementary cell, information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission, information of two TAGs, information of two timing advance offset parameters, information of two control channel groups, and one or more of the relevant parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell.

[0230] It should be noted that in this example, the terminal device can perform a random access process on a serving cell. For example, the terminal device updates the TA of the serving cell through the random access process.

[0231] Accordingly, the function of configuring the terminal device with cross-cell multi-station transmission by the network device can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the activation of the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one supplementary cell; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the use of two timing advances for cross-cell multi-station transmission; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two TAGs; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two timing advance offset parameters; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two control channel groups; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with relevant parameters for random access to at least one supplementary cell; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal The device is configured with a second information unit; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of two TAGs and a second information unit; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one supplementary cell and information of two TAGs; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information of at least one supplementary cell, information of two TAGs and information of two control channel groups; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the association relationship between at least one supplementary cell and at least one TCI-state; or it can be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device with information for indicating the function of enabling cross-cell multi-station transmission and information for indicating the association relationship between at least one supplementary cell and at least one TCI-state; the remaining replacement methods are similar and will not be listed here one by one.

[0232] Optionally, the second configuration information is configured by the network device at a cell granularity. For example, the second configuration information is configuration information configured by the network device for the first serving cell. In another example, the second configuration information may be configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell; or the second configuration information may be partial configuration information within the configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell, i.e., the second configuration information is included in the configuration information corresponding to the first serving cell.

[0233] When the indication information is DCI, in the above two examples, only one field in the DCI (i.e., the first field) is needed to indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. For example, the field in the DCI used to indicate the random access cell can be reused without changing the format of the DCI, and it is compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0234] As another example, if the network device configures the terminal device with low-layer signaling-triggered cell handover and inter-cell multi-site transmission, the indication information may also include a second field, such as the second field included in the DCI. The second field may have a first value or a second value. When the second field has a first value, the first field indicates a cell in the first cell set. When the second field has a second value, the first field indicates a cell in the second cell set. For example, if the second field has a length of 1 bit and a value of 0, the first field indicates a cell in the first cell set; when the second field has a value of 1, the first field indicates a cell in the second cell set. For another example, if the second field has a length of 1 bit and a value of 1, the first field indicates a cell in the first cell set; when the second field has a value of 0, the first field indicates a cell in the second cell set. In this example, the length of the first field may be the maximum of L1 and L2. For L1 and L2, please refer to the above description and will not be repeated here.

[0235] The network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, which means that the network device configures the terminal device with first configuration information and second configuration information. Among them, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission, the first configuration information, and the second configuration information. Please refer to the aforementioned content for the description, which will not be repeated here.

[0236] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the first configuration information and the second configuration information, as shown in the embodiment of Figure 5, where the CU determines the first configuration information and the second configuration information. Furthermore, the network device may send the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device, as shown in the embodiment of Figure 5, where the RU sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device; accordingly, the terminal device receives the first configuration information and the second configuration information from the network device. The first configuration information is carried in RRC signaling without limitation. The second configuration information may be carried in RRC signaling without limitation. It should be understood that the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be carried in the same signaling, or may be carried in different signalings without limitation.

[0237] When the indication information is DCI, in the above example, two fields in the DCI (i.e., the first field and the second field) are required to jointly indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. For example, one of the fields can reuse the field in the DCI used to indicate the random access cell. The format of the DCI is slightly changed, and it is compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0238] Method 2: The indication information includes the third field, or includes the fourth field, or includes the third field and the fourth field. The third field is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set. The fourth field is used to indicate a cell in the second cell set. For example, if the network device configures the terminal device with a cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling, the indication information may include the third field. For example, if the network device configures the terminal device with a cross-cell multi-station transmission function, the indication information may include the fourth field.

[0239] In one embodiment, the value of the third field may include at least a fifth value. When the value of the third field is the fifth value, the third field can be used for the first serving cell. When the value of the third field is other values ​​(i.e., other values ​​except the fifth value), the third field can be used to indicate an alternative cell. For alternative cells, please refer to the aforementioned terminology introduction and will not be described in detail. Optionally, the fifth value can be 0, which is not limited. In another embodiment, the length of the third field can be L1. Please refer to the aforementioned content for L1 and will not be described in detail. Unless otherwise specified, the fifth value of 0 will be used as an example for explanation.

[0240] In one embodiment, the value of the fourth field may include two values, such as the sixth value and the seventh value. When the value of the fourth field is the sixth value, the fourth field can be used to indicate the first service cell; when the value of the fourth field is the seventh value, the fourth field can be used to indicate the supplementary cell in the activated state. For the supplementary cell in the activated state, please refer to the aforementioned terminology introduction and will not be described in detail. Optionally, the sixth value can be 0 and the seventh value can be 1; or the sixth value can also be 1 and the seventh value can also be 0, without limitation. In another embodiment, the length of the fourth field can be L2. Please refer to the aforementioned content for L2 and will not be described in detail. Unless otherwise specified, the sixth value is 0 and the seventh value is 1 as an example for description.

[0241] As an example, if the network device configures the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, and does not configure the cross-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device, the indication information includes (or exists) the third field, but does not include (or does not exist) the fourth field. In this example, the indication information includes the third field but does not include the fourth field, which means that the terminal device determines a cell indicated by the third field from the first cell set based on the third field. In other words, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the first cell set.

[0242] As another example, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, and does not configure the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling for the terminal device, the indication information includes (or exists) the fourth field, but does not include (or does not exist) the third field. In this example, the indication information includes the fourth field but does not include the third field, which means that the terminal device determines a cell indicated by the fourth field from the first cell set based on the fourth field. In other words, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell in the second cell set.

[0243] When the indication information is DCI, in the above two examples, two fields in the DCI (i.e., the third field and the fourth field) respectively indicate a cell in the first cell set and a cell in the second cell set. In this way, after the terminal device receives the DCI, it can parse the DCI to determine whether to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set (that is, whether to initiate a random access process for a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set), which can reduce the processing complexity of the terminal device and is compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0244] In another example, if the network device configures the terminal device with the functions of cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling and multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. In addition, the indication information also includes a fifth field. The value of the fifth field includes a third value and a fourth value. When the value of the fifth field is the third value, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid; when the value of the fifth field is the fourth value, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid. For example, the length of the fifth field is 1 bit, and when the value of the fifth field is 0, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid; when the value of the fifth field is 1, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid. For another example, the length of the fifth field is 1 bit, and when the value of the fifth field is 1, the third field is valid and the fourth field is invalid; when the value of the fifth field is 0, the third field is invalid and the fourth field is valid. The validity of the third field and the invalidity of the fourth field can be understood as the terminal device ignoring the fourth field and determining a cell indicated by the third field from the first cell set based on the third field. The third field is invalid, and the fourth field is valid, which can be understood as the terminal device ignores the third field and determines a cell indicated by the fourth field from the second cell set based on the fourth field.

[0245] When the indication information is DCI, in the above example, three fields in the DCI (i.e., the third field, the fourth field, and the fifth field) are required to jointly indicate a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set. In this way, the terminal device can determine whether to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set in combination with the fifth field, and can be compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0246] As another example, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. The terminal device can determine the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information based on the cell indicated by the third field and the cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, determine in which cell to perform random access or determine the cell indicated by the indication information. In one embodiment, if the third field and the fourth field are both used to indicate the first service cell, the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first service cell, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is the first service cell. For example, when the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0) and the value of the fourth field is the sixth value (such as 0), the cell indicated by the indication information is the first service cell. In another embodiment, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell and the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell, the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the activated supplementary cell, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is the activated supplementary cell. For example, when the value of the third field is the fifth value (e.g., 0) and the value of the fourth field is the seventh value (e.g., 1), the cell indicated by the indication information is a supplementary cell in the activated state. In another embodiment, if the third field is used to indicate a candidate cell and the fourth field is used to indicate the first serving cell, then the cell corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by the indication information is the candidate cell, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is a candidate cell indicated by the third field. For example, when the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value (e.g., non-zero) and the value of the fourth field is a sixth value (e.g., 0), the cell indicated by the indication information is a candidate cell indicated by the third field. The fifth, sixth, and seventh values ​​can be referred to in the above description and will not be repeated here. It should be understood that it can be pre-specified that the third field cannot indicate a candidate cell and the fourth field cannot indicate a supplementary cell in the activated state. For example, it can be pre-specified that the third field cannot have a value other than the fifth value and the fourth field cannot have a value of the seventh value. For example, the values ​​of the third field and the seventh field cannot both be non-zero.

[0247] In another example, if the network device configures the terminal device with the functions of cell handover triggered by low-layer signaling and multi-station transmission across cells, the indication information includes a third field and a fourth field. The terminal device can determine the cell corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by the indication information based on the priority between the third field and the fourth field, that is, determine the cell in which random access is performed or the cell indicated by the indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device can also determine the cell corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by the indication information based on the priority between the cell indicated by the third field and the cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, determine the cell in which random access is performed or the cell indicated by the indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device can also determine the cell corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by the indication information based on the priority between the third field and the fourth field, and the priority between the cell indicated by the third field and the cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, determine the cell in which random access is performed or the cell indicated by the indication information. In one embodiment, the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the fourth field, and / or the priority of the candidate cell is higher than the priority of the activated supplementary cell and the first serving cell. The terminal device can first determine the cell indicated by the third field. Furthermore, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is not the fifth value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is an alternative cell indicated by the third field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is an alternative cell indicated by the third field (in this case, the terminal device can ignore the fourth field); if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is a cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell indicated by the fourth field (such as the first service cell or the activated supplementary cell). In another embodiment, the priority of the fourth field is higher than the priority of the third field, and / or the priority of the activated supplementary cell is higher than the priority of the alternative cell and the first service cell, and the terminal device can first determine the cell indicated by the fourth field. Further, if the fourth field is used to indicate an activated supplementary cell (for example, the value of the fourth field is the seventh value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is a cell indicated by the fourth field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is an activated compensation cell (in this case, the terminal device can ignore the third field); if the fourth field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the fourth field is the sixth value), the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is a cell indicated by the third field, that is, the cell indicated by the indication information is a cell indicated by the third field.

[0248] Or it can be expressed as follows: When both the cell indication field and the physical cell identifier (PCI) indication field are present in the PDCCH order, the PDCCH order can be understood as follows: If the cell indication field indicates an alternative cell, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to the alternative cell, and the PCI indication field can be ignored by the terminal device; otherwise (i.e., the cell indication field indicates the serving cell), the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to cross-cell multi-station transmission. Further, in the case where the cell indication field indicates the serving cell, if the PCI indication field indicates the serving cell, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to the serving cell; or, if the PCI indication field indicates an activated supplementary cell, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order corresponds to the activated supplementary cell.

[0249] In method 2, the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cross-cell multi-station transmission. The description can refer to the content in method 1 and will not be repeated here.

[0250] In addition to the above-mentioned scenarios of cell switching and multi-station transmission across cells triggered by low-layer signaling, the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to scenarios of multi-station transmission in the same cell. In the scenario of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the two TRPs of the first service cell are jointly transmitted. Please refer to the terminology introduction for details and will not be repeated here. Accordingly, in the scenario of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the random access process triggered by the above-mentioned indication information can be a random access process for the first TRP, or it can also be a random access process for the second TRP. Among them, "random access process for the first TRP" can be replaced by "random access process for the first TAG", or it can be replaced by "random access process for the identifier of the first control channel group", or it can also be replaced by "random access process for the first path loss measurement resource". "Random access process for the second TRP" can be replaced by "random access process for the second TAG", or it can be replaced by "random access process for the identifier of the second control channel group", or it can also be replaced by "random access process for the second path loss measurement resource".

[0251] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell for the terminal device in a serving cell, the above-mentioned indication information includes a sixth field. The sixth field can be used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. In one embodiment, the sixth field can directly indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value and a ninth value. Optionally, the length of the sixth field can be 1 bit, the eighth value can be 0, and the ninth value can be 1; or, the eighth value can also be 1, and the ninth value can also be 0, without limitation. Unless otherwise specified, the eighth value is 0 and the ninth value is 1 as an example. Further, when the value of the sixth field is the eighth value (such as 0), the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value (such as 1), the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP.

[0252] In another embodiment, the sixth field may also indirectly indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. As an example, the sixth field may indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information by indicating the TAG. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field may be used to indicate the first TAG, which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP corresponding to the first TAG; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field may be used to indicate the second TAG, which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP corresponding to the second TAG. Optionally, the TAG indicated by the indication information may be the TAG associated with the TCI-state adopted by the indication information. As another example, the sixth field may indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information by indicating the identifier of the control channel group. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate the identifier of the first control channel group (such as coresetPoolIndex 0), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP corresponding to the identifier of the first control channel group; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate the identifier of the second control channel group (such as coresetPoolIndex 1), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP corresponding to the identifier of the second control channel group. In another example, the sixth field can indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information by indicating the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information.For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first path loss measurement resource (such as the QCL resource corresponding to the indication information), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first TRP corresponding to the first path loss measurement resource; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second path loss measurement resource (the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) resource indicated by the indication information), which means that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the second TRP corresponding to the second path loss measurement resource. Among them, please refer to the above content for the eighth and ninth values ​​and will not be repeated here.

[0253] It is mentioned above that the sixth field can be used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. In another possible implementation, the sixth field can also be used to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Among them, the TRP corresponding to the indication information is the TRP that sends the indication information. In one embodiment, the sixth field can directly indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes the eighth value (such as 0) and the ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. Among them, please refer to the above content for the eighth value and the ninth value, and no further details will be given.

[0254] In another embodiment, the sixth field may also indirectly indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information. As an example, the sixth field may indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information by indicating whether the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information. When the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; conversely, when the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information. As another example, the sixth field can indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information by indicating whether the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information. Among them, when the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information; conversely, when the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information, the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is also different from the TRP corresponding to the indication information. For example, the value of the sixth field includes an eighth value (such as 0) and a ninth value (such as 1). When the value of the sixth field is the eighth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information; when the value of the sixth field is the ninth value, the sixth field can be used to indicate that the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information. Among them, please refer to the above content for the eighth value and the ninth value, and no further details will be given.

[0255] Exemplarily, the network device configures a same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in a serving cell (such as the first serving cell), specifically referring to that the information configured by the network device for the terminal device satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0256] Information for instructing to enable (or open, start, or start, etc.) a function of multi-station transmission in the same cell is configured;

[0257] Information of two timing advance groups (TAGs) is configured (e.g., identification information of two TAGs);

[0258] Configure a timing advance offset parameter;

[0259] Information about configuring two control channel groups (or two control channel groups);

[0260] No supplementary cell is configured.

[0261] Accordingly, the network device configures the same-cell multi-station transmission function for the terminal device in a service cell, which can be replaced by: the network device configures two TAG information and two control channel group information (such as identification information of two control channel groups) for the terminal device in the service cell, and no supplementary cell is configured; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures the terminal device in the service cell with information for indicating the activation of the same-cell multi-station transmission function, two TAG information, and a timing advance offset parameter information, and no supplementary cell is configured; the other replacement methods are similar and will not be listed here one by one.

[0262] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the above-mentioned indication information includes the third field and the sixth field. The third field can be used to indicate a cell from the first cell set. Please refer to the above description for details. The sixth field can be used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. Please refer to the above description for details.

[0263] In this implementation, the indication information includes a third field and a sixth field, and the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission in the same cell. In one embodiment, the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission in the same cell based on the third field and the sixth field. As an example, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0)), and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the eighth value (such as 0)), then the terminal device can determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is for multi-station transmission in the same cell, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the first service cell. Furthermore, the random access process triggered by the indication information satisfies one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the first TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP indicated by the indication information (i.e., the first TRP indicated by the sixth field), or the random access process corresponds to the first TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the first control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the first control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the first path loss measurement resource corresponding to the QCL resource of the indication information. As another example, if the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value (such as 0)), and the sixth field is used to indicate the second TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the ninth value (such as 1)), then the terminal device can determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the first service cell. Furthermore, the random access process triggered by the indication information satisfies one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the second TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP indicated by the indication information (i.e., the second TRP indicated by the sixth field), or the random access process corresponds to the second TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the second control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the second control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the second path loss measurement resource corresponding to the SSB resource indicated in the indication information.As another example, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value (such as non-zero)), and the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is an eighth value (such as 0)), then the terminal device can determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is an alternative cell indicated by the third field. Among them, please refer to the above content for the fifth value, the eighth value and the ninth value, which will not be repeated here. It should be understood that it can be pre-specified that the third field cannot be used to indicate the first alternative cell and the sixth field cannot be used to indicate the second TRP. For example, it is pre-specified that the value of the third field cannot be a value other than the fifth value and the value of the sixth field cannot be the ninth value. For example, the value of both the third field and the sixth field cannot be 0.

[0264] Exemplarily, for intra-cell multi-station transmission and inter-cell multi-station transmission, when the TRP corresponding to the random access procedure is different from the TRP for sending the PDCCH order, the path loss resources used to determine the transmit power for triggering the random access procedure are the SSB resources indicated by the PDCCH order. When the TRP corresponding to the random access procedure is the same as the TRP for sending the PDCCH order, the path loss resources used to determine the transmit power for triggering the random access procedure are the QCL resources used by the PDCCH order.

[0265] Exemplarily, the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order is sent to the TRP that sent the PDCCH order or to another TRP based on the TAG associated with the SSB indicated by the PDCCH order. For example, if the TAG associated with the SSB indicated by the PDCCH order is the same as the TAG associated with the TCI-state adopted by the PDCCH order, the random access process triggered by the PDCCH order is sent to the TRP that sent the PDCCH order; otherwise, it is sent to another TRP.

[0266] In another embodiment, the terminal device may also determine, based on the priority between the third field and the sixth field, whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission in the same cell. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the terminal device may first determine the cell indicated by the third field. Furthermore, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the cell indicated by the third field (in this case, the terminal device may ignore the sixth field). If the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission in the same cell, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the first service cell.

[0267] Exemplarily, when the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the sixth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell, the terminal device can also determine one or more of the TAG, TRP, control channel group identifier, or path loss measurement resources corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information based on the sixth field. For details, please refer to the definition of the sixth field above. As an example, if the sixth field is used to indicate the first TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the eighth value (such as 0)), the random access process triggered by the indication information satisfies one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the first TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP indicated by the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the first TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the first control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (that is, the identifier of the first control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the first path loss measurement resource corresponding to the QCL resource of the indication information. As another example, if the sixth field is used to indicate the second TRP (for example, the value of the sixth field is the ninth value (such as 1)), the random access process triggered by the indication information may satisfy one or more of the following characteristics: the random access process corresponds to the second TRP of the first service cell, or the TRP corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP indicated by the indication information (i.e., the second TRP indicated by the sixth field), or the random access process corresponds to the second TAG of the first service cell, or the TAG corresponding to the random access process is different from the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or the random access process corresponds to the identifier of the second control channel group of the first service cell, or the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process is different from the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information (i.e., the identifier of the second control channel group), or the random access request message in the random access process uses the second path loss measurement resource corresponding to the SSB resource indicated in the indication information.

[0268] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the above indication may include the seventh field in addition to the third field and the sixth field. The value of the seventh field includes the tenth value and the eleventh value. When the value of the seventh field is the tenth value, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is the eleventh value, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid. For example, the length of the seventh field is 1 bit, when the value of the seventh field is 0, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is 1, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid. For another example, the length of the seventh field is 1 bit, when the value of the seventh field is 1, the third field is valid and the sixth field is invalid; when the value of the seventh field is 0, the third field is invalid and the sixth field is valid. The validity of the third field and the invalidity of the sixth field can be understood as the terminal device ignoring the sixth field and determining the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information based on the third field. The invalidity of the third field and the validity of the sixth field can be understood as the terminal device ignoring the third field and determining the TRP corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by the indication information based on the sixth field. Furthermore, the terminal device can also determine one or more of the TAG, the identifier of the control channel group, or the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the random access procedure triggered by the indication information based on the valid field.

[0269] In another possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell, the indication information includes a third field. In addition, the indication information may also indicate the index of an SSB to indicate the SSB corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information. The terminal device can determine one or more of the following based on the third field and the TAG associated with the SSB: the cell corresponding to the random access process, the TRP, the TAG, the identifier of the control channel group, the path loss measurement resource, or the TRP (or TAG, or the identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process and the TRP (or TAG, or the identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the indication information.

[0270] For the sake of simplicity, the following text will refer to one or more of the TRP, TAG, control channel group identifier, path loss measurement resources corresponding to the random access process, or whether the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process is the same as the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the indication information as the first information.

[0271] Exemplarily, the terminal device may first determine the cell indicated by the third field. Further, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell (for example, the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the cell indicated by the third field. In this case, the terminal device may not need to determine the first information based on the TAG associated with the SSB. If the third field is used to indicate the first service cell (for example, the value of the third field is the fifth value), the terminal device may determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the first service cell, and determine the first information based on the TAG associated with the SSB. For example, if the first TAG of the first service cell associated with the SSB means that the first TRP, the first TAG, the identifier of the first control channel group, the first path loss measurement resource, or the TRP (or TAG, or the identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP (or TAG, or the identifier of the control channel group) corresponding to the indication information. For another example, if the second TAG of the first service cell associated with the SSB means that the random access process triggered by the indication information corresponds to the second TRP, the second TAG, the second control channel group identifier, the second path loss measurement resource, or the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the random access process is different from the TRP (or TAG, or control channel group identifier) ​​corresponding to the indication information.

[0272] Different fields in the above indication information can be used for scenarios of multi-station transmission across cells and multi-station transmission within the same cell, respectively; or, a field in the above indication information (such as recorded as the eighth field) can be used for scenarios of multi-station transmission across cells and multi-station transmission within the same cell. In one embodiment, the meaning of the eighth field can be different in the scenario of multi-station transmission across cells and multi-station transmission within the same cell. The terminal device can first determine which scenario it is currently in, and then determine which method to use to understand the eighth field. For example, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, and does not configure the function of multi-station transmission within the same cell for the terminal device, the eighth field can be understood as the fourth field above, or the function of the eighth field is the same as the function of the fourth field above. In other words, the terminal device can interpret the eighth field in the same way as the fourth field. Please refer to the above content for details and will not repeat them. If the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission within the same cell for the terminal device, and does not configure the function of multi-station transmission across cells for the terminal device, the eighth field can be understood as the sixth field above, or the function of the eighth field is the same as the function of the sixth field above. Accordingly, the terminal device may interpret the eighth field in the same manner as the sixth field.

[0273] In another embodiment, the meaning of the eighth field may be the same in the scenario of multi-station transmission across cells and the scenario of multi-station transmission within the same cell. For example, regardless of the scenario of multi-station transmission across cells or the scenario of multi-station transmission within the same cell, the eighth field is used to indicate the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information, or to indicate whether the TRP corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TRP corresponding to the indication information, or to indicate the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information, or to indicate whether the TAG corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the TAG corresponding to the indication information, or to indicate the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information, or to indicate whether the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the random access process triggered by the indication information is the same as the identifier of the control channel group corresponding to the indication information, or to indicate the path loss measurement resource used by the random access request message in the random access process triggered by the indication information. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the relevant content of the TRP indicated by the aforementioned indication information, which will not be repeated here.

[0274] In one possible implementation, if the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission for the terminal device in a service cell (such as the first service cell) (i.e., the function of multi-station transmission across cells, or the function of multi-station transmission in the same cell), the above-mentioned indication information may include the above-mentioned eighth field. The function of the network device configuring multi-station transmission for the terminal device in a service cell specifically includes: the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can be stated that the function of the network device configuring multi-station transmission for the terminal device means that the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the network device configures the function of multi-station transmission for the terminal device in the following manner: the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device. Or it can also be stated that the function of the network device configuring multi-station transmission for the terminal device specifically includes: the network device configures the third configuration information for the terminal device.

[0275] Exemplarily, the network device may determine the third configuration information, such as the CU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 . Furthermore, the network device may send the third configuration information to the terminal device, such as the RU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 . Accordingly, the terminal device receives the third configuration information from the network device. The third configuration information may be carried in RRC signaling, without limitation.

[0276] Exemplarily, the third configuration information may include one or more of the following:

[0277] Information used to indicate that a multi-station transmission function is enabled (or turned on, or started, or initiated, etc.);

[0278] Information about two timing advance offset parameters (e.g., the values ​​of the two offsets) is used to calculate the TA values ​​of the two tags;

[0279] Information of two tags (such as identification information of two tags);

[0280] Information of two control channel groups (or called two control channel groups), such as identification information of the two control channel groups.

[0281] Accordingly, the function of configuring multi-station transmission for a terminal device in a service cell by a network device can be replaced by: the network device configures two TAG information and two control channel group information for the terminal device in the service cell; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures information for the terminal device in the service cell for indicating the function of enabling multi-station transmission; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures two timing advance offset parameter information for the terminal device in the service cell; or it can also be replaced by: the network device configures information for the terminal device in the service cell for indicating the function of enabling multi-station transmission, two TAG information and two control channel group information; the remaining replacement methods are similar and are not listed here one by one.

[0282] In a possible implementation, if the network device configures the terminal device with the function of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling and the function of multi-station transmission, the above-mentioned indication information includes the third field and the eighth field. Please refer to the above content for the third field and the eighth field and will not be repeated here. In one embodiment, the terminal device can determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission based on the values ​​or indicated information of the third field and the eighth field. As an example, if the values ​​of the third field and the eighth field are both 0 (or the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value), the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine the specific characteristics of the random access process based on the value of the eighth field being 0, and the meaning of the eighth field can refer to the definition of the eighth field. For example, the terminal device can determine the meaning represented by the eighth field value being 0 based on whether the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission or same-cell multi-station transmission. Specifically, if the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 0, indicating that the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is the first service cell; if the configured multi-station transmission is same-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 0, indicating that the random access triggered by the indication information corresponds to the first TRP (or the first TAG, or the identifier of the first control channel group, or the first path loss measurement resource, etc.) of the first service cell. As another example, if the value of the third field is 0 and the value of the eighth field is 1 (or the value of the third field is the fifth value, and the value of the eighth field is the seventh value or the ninth value), the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for multi-station transmission. Furthermore, the terminal device can determine the specific characteristics of the random process based on the value of the eighth field being 1, and the meaning of the eighth field can be found in the definition of the eighth field. For example, the terminal device can determine the meaning represented by the value of the eighth field being 1 based on whether the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission or same-cell multi-station transmission. Specifically, if the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 1, indicating that the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is an activated supplementary cell; if the configured multi-station transmission is same-cell multi-station transmission, the value of the eighth field is 1, indicating that the random access triggered by the indication information corresponds to the second TRP (or second TAG, or second control channel group, or second path loss measurement resource, etc.) of the first serving cell. In another example, if the value of the third field is not 0 (or the value of the third field is other than the fifth value), and the value of the eighth field is 0 (or the value of the eighth field is the sixth value or the eighth value), then the random access process triggered by the indication information is used for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determines that the cell corresponding to the pair of random access processes is an alternative cell indicated by the third field.It should be understood that it can be pre-specified that the third field cannot have a non-zero value and the eighth field cannot also have a non-zero value. In other words, the third field cannot have a value other than the fifth value and the eighth field cannot have a value of the seventh or ninth value.

[0283] In another embodiment, the terminal device may also determine whether the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling or for multi-station transmission based on the priority between the third field and the eighth field. Exemplarily, the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the terminal device may first determine the cell indicated by the third field or the value of the third field. Furthermore, if the third field is used to indicate an alternative cell or the value of the third field is a value other than the fifth value, the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is for cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and determine that the cell corresponding to the random access process is the cell indicated by the third field (in this case, the terminal device may ignore the eighth field). If the third field is used to indicate the first serving cell or the value of the third field is the fifth value, the terminal device may determine that the random access process triggered by the indication information is for multi-station transmission.

[0284] Exemplarily, when the priority of the third field is higher than the priority of the eighth field, and the third field is used to indicate the first service cell or the value of the third field is the fifth value, the terminal device can also determine the specific characteristics of the random access process according to the value of the eighth field, and the meaning of the eighth field can refer to the definition of the eighth field. For example, the terminal device can determine the meaning represented by the eighth field based on whether the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission or same-cell multi-station transmission. Specifically, if the configured multi-station transmission is cross-cell multi-station transmission (meaning that the eighth field can be interpreted according to the fourth field), the terminal device can determine whether the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is the first service cell or an activated supplementary cell according to the value of the eighth field. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the aforementioned related content and will not be repeated. If the configured multi-station transmission is same-cell multi-station transmission (meaning that the eighth field can be interpreted according to the sixth field), it is determined according to the value of the eighth field that the cell corresponding to the random access triggered by the indication information is the first service cell. Furthermore, when the configured multi-station transmission is multi-station transmission in the same cell, the terminal device can also determine the first TRP (or first TAG, or first control channel group, or first path loss measurement resource, etc.) or the second TRP (or first TAG, or first control channel group, or first path loss measurement resource, etc.) corresponding to the random access process based on the value of the eighth field. For the specific implementation process, please refer to the aforementioned related content and will not repeat it here.

[0285] In the above S61, the terminal device may determine a cell from the first cell set or the second cell set, and then the terminal device initiates a random access process to the cell, that is, executes the content of S62.

[0286] S62: The terminal device sends a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0287] Accordingly, the network device receives the random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information. For example, the RU in the embodiment shown in FIG5 receives the random access request message from the terminal device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0288] The terminal device sends a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information. Specifically, the terminal device uses the random access parameters (such as random access resources, etc.) corresponding to the cell indicated by the indication information to send the random access request message to the network device. In addition, sending a random access request message to the network device through a cell can also be expressed as initiating a random access request process for this cell. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation method of the random access process.

[0289] In an embodiment of the present application, the indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set, so that the terminal device can clearly identify the cell in which the random access process is to be initiated, and can avoid the problem that the terminal device is uncertain whether to initiate the random access process for the cell in the first cell set or for the cell in the second cell set, thereby being compatible with the cell switching function triggered by low-layer signaling and the cross-cell transmission function.

[0290] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. Among them, the steps performed by the terminal device can be implemented by different functional entities that constitute the terminal device. The steps performed by the network device can be implemented by different functional entities that constitute the network device. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and the network device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and implement the above-mentioned functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a certain function among the above-mentioned functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0291] The following describes the communication device used to implement the above method in the embodiment of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the above contents can be used in subsequent embodiments, and repeated contents will not be repeated.

[0292] Fig. 7 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 700. The communication device 700 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0293] In one possible implementation, the communication device 700 may include a processing module 701 and a transceiver module 702. The processing module 701 is configured to perform processing operations other than transceiver operations. For example, the processing module 701 may be configured to perform processing operations other than transceiver operations for the terminal device or network device in the embodiment shown in FIG6 . The transceiver module 702, which may also be referred to as a communication interface or communication unit, is configured to receive or transmit relevant data, information, or messages. For example, the transceiver module 702 is configured to perform the receiving and transmitting operations for the terminal device or network device in the embodiment shown in FIG6 .

[0294] In another possible implementation, the communication device 700 may include a transceiver module 702, which may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit, for receiving or sending relevant data, information, or messages. For example, the transceiver module 702 is configured to perform the receiving and sending operations of the terminal device or network device in the embodiment shown in FIG6 .

[0295] It should be noted that the above modules can be independently configured or partially or fully integrated. For example, the transceiver module 702 can include a sending module and a receiving module.

[0296] As an example, the communication device 700 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in any of the above method embodiments. The transceiver module 702 is configured to receive indication information from a network device and send a random access request message to the network device via the cell indicated by the indication information. Optionally, the processing module 701 is configured to determine a cell from the first cell set or a cell from the second cell set based on the indication information.

[0297] As another example, the communication device 700 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the network device in any of the above method embodiments. In particular, the transceiver module 702 is configured to send indication information to the terminal device and send a random access request message to the network device through the cell indicated by the indication information.

[0298] The indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set. A more detailed description can be obtained by directly referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG6 , which is not repeated here.

[0299] As shown in Figure 8, an embodiment of the present application provides a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 800. The communication device 800 may include a processor 820 for implementing or supporting the communication device 800 in implementing the functions of a terminal device or a network device in any method embodiment of the present application. For details, please refer to the detailed description of the aforementioned method embodiment, which is not repeated here. For example, the processor 820 is used to read and execute program instructions through a communication interface so that the communication device 800 implements the corresponding method. The processor 820 may include one or more processors, without limitation.

[0300] Specifically, the communication device 800 can be a terminal device or a functional module located in the terminal device, which can realize the functions of the terminal device in any method embodiment of the present application; or, the communication device 800 can be a network device or a functional module located in the network device, which can realize the functions of the network device in any method embodiment of the present application.

[0301] It should be noted that the above-mentioned functional modules can be implemented by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software without limitation.

[0302] For example, the communication device 800 may be a chip system, wherein the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete components, without limitation.

[0303] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 830 is coupled to the processor 820. Coupling can be understood as an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. The processor 820 may operate in conjunction with the memory 830. The memory 830 may include one or more memories, without limitation.

[0304] Furthermore, the processor 820 is configured to execute program instructions stored in the memory 830 so that the communication device 800 implements a corresponding method.

[0305] One or more memories in memory 830 may be included in the processor, or memory 830 may exist independently, such as an off-chip memory, connected to processor 820 via a communication bus (represented by a bold line 840 in FIG. 8 ). Memory 830 and processor 820 may also be integrated together.

[0306] Optionally, the communication device 800 further includes a communication interface 810 (indicated by a dotted line in FIG8 ) for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium, thereby enabling the device in the communication device 800 to communicate with the other device. For example, when the communication device is a terminal device, the other device may be a network device, etc. The processor 820 may use the communication interface 810 to send and receive data.

[0307] Specifically, the communication interface 810 can be a transceiver. Optionally, the device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver can be called a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the transmitting function can be called a transmitting unit. That is, the transceiver includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A receiving unit is sometimes also referred to as a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit. A transmitting unit is sometimes also referred to as a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit. In hardware implementation, the transceiver can be used to implement the functions of the transceiver module 702 described above. The transceiver is integrated into the communication device 800 to form the communication interface 810.

[0308] It should be noted that the specific connection medium between the communication interface 810, processor 820, and memory 830 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In FIG8 , the memory 830, processor 820, and communication interface 810 are connected via a communication bus 840. The connection methods between other components are merely schematic and not limiting. The communication bus 840 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, FIG8 shows only a single thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one communication bus or only one type of communication bus.

[0309] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor 820 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The methods disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be executed by hardware in the processor, or by a combination of hardware and software in the processor.

[0310] In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 830 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory may also be any other medium for carrying or storing program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer; or a circuit or any other device capable of performing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0311] Based on the same concept, referring to FIG9 , an embodiment of the present application also provides another communication device 900, including: an input / output interface 910 and a logic circuit 920; the input / output interface 910 is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the logic circuit 920; the logic circuit 920 is used to run code instructions to execute the method executed by the terminal device or network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0312] The following describes in detail the operations performed by the communication device when applied to a terminal device or a network device.

[0313] In an optional embodiment, the communication device 900 may be applied to a terminal device to execute the method executed by the terminal device described above, specifically, the method executed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 . For example, the communication device 900 receives indication information from a network device; and transmits a random access request message to the network device via the cell indicated by the indication information. The indication information indicates a cell in the first cell set or a cell in the second cell set.

[0314] Since the communication device 900 provided in this embodiment can be applied to a terminal device to implement the method executed by the terminal device, the technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0315] In another optional embodiment, the communication device 900 may be applied to a network device to execute the method executed by the aforementioned network device, specifically, the method executed by the network device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 . For example, the communication device 900 sends indication information to a terminal device; and receives a random access request message from the terminal device via the cell indicated by the indication information. The indication information is used to indicate a cell in the first cell set, or to indicate a cell in the second cell set.

[0316] Since the communication device 900 provided in this embodiment can be applied to a network device to implement the method executed by the above network device, the technical effects that can be obtained can be referred to the above method embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0317] The present application also provides a communication system, which may include one or more of the following: a terminal device or a network device. For the terminal device or the network device, please refer to the descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0318] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, including program instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method or steps of any communication device (e.g., terminal device, or network device) in the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0319] A computer program product is also provided in an embodiment of the present application, including program instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method or steps of any communication device (e.g., terminal device, or network device) in the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0320] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor for implementing the functions of the terminal device or network device in the aforementioned method (for example, executing the corresponding method or step). The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0321] Optionally, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions so that the above-mentioned processor reads and executes them to implement the corresponding method.

[0322] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0323] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0324] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0325] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0326] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0327] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0328] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the part that essentially contributes to the technical solution of the present application or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0329] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, and such changes or substitutions should be included in the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving downlink control information, where the downlink control information is used to trigger a random access process, wherein if the network device configures the first configuration information and the second configuration information for the terminal device, the downlink control information includes a first field and a second field; Information corresponding to the random access process is jointly determined according to the first field and the second field.

2. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending downlink control information, where the downlink control is used to trigger a random access process, wherein if the network device configures the first configuration information and the second configuration information for the terminal device, the downlink control information includes a first field and a second field; Receive a random access request message of the random access process sent by the terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first configuration information is used to configure relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling include: relevant parameters for random access to at least one candidate cell.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The second configuration information is used to configure relevant parameters of multi-station transmission, and the relevant parameters of multi-station transmission include: two timing advance groups and two control channel groups.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first field is used to indicate a cell corresponding to the random access procedure from a first cell set, where the first cell set includes a serving cell and at least one candidate cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that If the value of the first field is 0, the first field indicates the serving cell; and / or, if the value of the first field is non-0, the first field indicates one of the at least one candidate cells.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that If the first condition is met, the second field is used to indicate the cell corresponding to the random access process from a second cell set, the second cell set including a service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell, wherein the first condition is that the network device configures at least one supplementary cell for the terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The second cell set includes a serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell, including: the second cell set includes the serving cell and an activated supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that If the second condition is met, the second field is used to indicate the path loss measurement resources used by the random access request message of the random access process, wherein the second condition is that the network device has not configured a supplementary cell for the terminal device.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that If the value of the second field is 0, the second field indicates a first path loss measurement resource, and the first path loss measurement resource is the quasi-co-site QCL resource corresponding to the downlink control information; and / or, if the value of the second field is 1, the second field indicates a second path loss measurement resource, and the second path loss measurement resource is the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB resource indicated by the downlink control information.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1, 3 to 10, characterized in that: The jointly determining information corresponding to the random access process according to the first field and the second field includes: If the value of the first field is non-zero, the cell corresponding to the random access procedure is determined according to the cell indicated by the first field, and the second field is ignored; or, If the value of the first field is 0, the cell corresponding to the random access process is determined according to the value of the second field, or the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the random access process is determined according to the value of the second field.

12. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: The transceiver module is used to receive downlink control information, where the downlink control information is used to trigger a random access process, wherein if the network device configures the first configuration information and the second configuration information for the terminal device, the downlink control information includes a first field and a second field; The processing module is used to jointly determine information corresponding to the random access process according to the first field and the second field.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a transceiver module, wherein: The transceiver module is used to send downlink control information, and the downlink control information is used to trigger the random access process, wherein if the network The network device configures the first configuration information and the second configuration information for the terminal device, and the downlink control information includes a first field and a second field; The transceiver module is also used to receive a random access request message of the random access process sent by the terminal device.

14. The device according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The first configuration information is used to configure relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling, and the relevant parameters of cell switching triggered by low-layer signaling include: relevant parameters for random access to at least one candidate cell.

15. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that The second configuration information is used to configure relevant parameters of multi-station transmission, and the relevant parameters of multi-station transmission include: two timing advance groups and two control channel groups.

16. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that The first field is used to indicate a cell corresponding to the random access procedure from a first cell set, where the first cell set includes a serving cell and at least one candidate cell.

17. The device according to claim 16, characterized in that If the value of the first field is 0, the first field indicates the serving cell; and / or, if the value of the first field is non-0, the first field indicates one of the at least one candidate cells.

18. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 17, characterized in that If the first condition is met, the second field is used to indicate the cell corresponding to the random access process from a second cell set, the second cell set including a service cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the service cell, wherein the first condition is that the network device configures at least one supplementary cell for the terminal device.

19. The device according to claim 18, characterized in that The second cell set includes a serving cell and at least one supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell, including: the second cell set includes the serving cell and an activated supplementary cell corresponding to the serving cell.

20. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 17, characterized in that If the second condition is met, the second field is used to indicate the path loss measurement resources used by the random access request message of the random access process, wherein the second condition is that the network device has not configured a supplementary cell for the terminal device.

21. The device according to claim 20, characterized in that If the value of the second field is 0, the second field indicates a first path loss measurement resource, and the first path loss measurement resource is the quasi-co-site QCL resource corresponding to the downlink control information; and / or, if the value of the second field is 1, the second field indicates a second path loss measurement resource, and the second path loss measurement resource is the synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB resource indicated by the downlink control information.

22. The device according to any one of claims 12, 14 to 21, characterized in that When the information corresponding to the random access process is determined jointly according to the first field and the second field, the processing module is used to: If the value of the first field is non-zero, the cell corresponding to the random access procedure is determined according to the cell indicated by the first field, and the second field is ignored; or, If the value of the first field is 0, the cell corresponding to the random access process is determined according to the value of the second field, or the path loss measurement resource corresponding to the random access process is determined according to the value of the second field.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: comprising at least one processor and a memory; The memory is used to store one or more computer programs or instructions, and the at least one processor is used to execute the one or more computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1, 3 to 11, or performs the method as described in any one of claims 2 to 10.

24. A chip system, characterized in that: The chip system includes at least one processor, which is coupled to a memory and is used to execute one or more computer programs or instructions in the memory to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1, 3 to 11, or to implement the method as described in any one of claims 2 to 10.

25. A communication system, characterized in that: It comprises a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 and 3 to 11, and the network device is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 10.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: A computer program or instruction is stored, wherein the computer program or instruction is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1, 3 to 11, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 2 to 10.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program or an instruction, which, when being executed on a computer, enables the method according to any one of claims 1, 3 to 11 to be implemented, or enables the method according to any one of claims 2 to 10 to be implemented.

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