Method for synchronization, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

Provided in the present disclosure are a method for synchronization, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, a user equipment determines an offset change amount between the user equipment and a network device on the basis of a received first reference signal, the offset change amount comprising a time offset change amount and / or a frequency offset change amount, then determines a time domain position of a second reference signal on the basis of a time domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, the time domain delay amount being lower than the transmission cycle of the first reference signal, and updates the offset change amount on the basis of the second reference signal detected at the time domain position. Thus, on the basis of the time domain delay amount, the user equipment can determine the offset change amount within the range of the transmission cycle on the basis of both the first reference signal and the second reference signal, so that the occasions for determining the offset change amount within the transmission cycle are increased, thereby enabling the offset change amount to be updated more quickly, and further ensuring the communication efficiency.

Description

Method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for synchronization Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for synchronization. Background Art

[0002] Communication systems involve information exchange between network devices and user devices. To ensure communication quality, alignment between the transmitting and receiving devices is generally required, such as time and frequency alignment. However, due to various reasons, offsets between network devices and user devices may exist, such as time and / or frequency offsets. These offsets are not fixed but vary over time. Therefore, accurately and timely determining the offset change is a pressing issue.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for determining an offset change between a user equipment and a network device.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method for synchronization is provided. The method may be used in a user device or a chip disposed in the user device. The method comprises: determining an offset change between the user device and a network device based on a received first reference signal, the offset change comprising a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change; determining a time domain position of a second reference signal based on a time domain delay of a second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, the time domain delay being less than a transmission period of the first reference signal; and updating the offset change based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

[0006] In this way, the user equipment can determine the offset change based on the time domain delay, both based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal within the transmission period. This increases the timing of determining the offset change within the transmission period, allowing the offset change to be updated faster, thereby ensuring communication efficiency.

[0007] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information indicating a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. In this way, the network device can indicate the time domain delay via the configuration information, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0008] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further includes: receiving updated configuration information from the network device, the updated configuration information indicating an updated time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. In this manner, the network device can adaptively update the time domain delay by updating the configuration information, thereby increasing or decreasing an opportunity for the user equipment to determine the offset change.

[0009] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method includes: receiving configuration information from a network device, the configuration information indicating a time domain delay of a second signal group relative to a first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group having the same beam coverage, the first signal group including a first reference signal, and the second signal group including a second reference signal. In this manner, the network device can notify a user equipment of the time domain delay between the first signal group and the second signal group having the same coverage, thereby enabling pairing between the signal groups without having to indicate the time domain delay at the granularity of the reference signal, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0010] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, and determining the time domain position of the second reference signal includes: determining the time domain position with a time domain delay after the received time domain position of the first reference signal as a starting point and with the signal measurement window as a duration. In this manner, the network device can configure the signal measurement window, thereby enabling the user equipment to receive the second reference signal with a better signal, thereby ensuring that the offset change determined based on the second reference signal is more accurate.

[0011] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further includes: detecting at least one signal during the time domain location; and determining a second reference signal from the at least one signal based on a signal parameter of each signal in the at least one signal.

[0012] In some embodiments of the first aspect, determining the second reference signal from at least one signal includes: determining a signal parameter for each of the at least one signal; and determining a signal whose signal parameter exceeds a preset threshold as the second reference signal. Optionally, the signal parameter includes at least one of the following: signal strength, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio. In this manner, the user equipment can determine the offset change based on the signal whose signal parameter exceeds the preset threshold, thereby obtaining a more accurate result.

[0013] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the method further comprises: determining a first portion of an offset change between the user device and the network device based on location information of the network device and location information of the user device, wherein the offset change is the second portion of the offset change. Optionally, the network device is a satellite base station in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). Optionally, the location information of the network device is included in ephemeris information of the network device.

[0014] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB), and the second reference signal is a tracking reference signal (TRS). In this way, the SSB and the TRS can be sent alternately at regular intervals to increase the opportunity for the user equipment to determine the offset change.

[0015] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the configuration information may include a time domain location of a TRS associated with the user equipment, for example, the TRS associated with the user equipment is a user-level TRS. In some embodiments of the first aspect, the configuration information may also include one or more SSBs paired with the user-level TRS, where the one or more SSBs are one or more potential SSBs to be measured for the user equipment determined by the network device.

[0016] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the first reference signal and the second reference signal both belong to a TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverages.

[0017] Exemplarily, in response to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a first reference signal exceeding a predetermined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold, the user equipment determines an offset change based on the first reference signal. Exemplarily, in response to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a second reference signal exceeding a predetermined SNR threshold, the user equipment updates the offset change based on the second reference signal. Exemplarily, the user equipment further receives a third reference signal, and in response to a SNR of the third reference signal falling below a predetermined SNR threshold, the user equipment stops or abandons updating the offset change based on the third reference signal. For example, the third reference signal is a TRS.

[0018] In a second aspect, a method for synchronization is provided. The method may be used in a network device or a chip disposed in the network device. The method includes: sending a first reference signal to a user equipment; determining a time domain position of the second reference signal based on a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, the time domain delay being less than a transmission period of the first reference signal; and sending the second reference signal to the user equipment at the time domain position.

[0019] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information indicates a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0020] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending updated configuration information to the user equipment, where the updated configuration information indicates an updated time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0021] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending configuration information to a user equipment, the configuration information indicating a time domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group having the same beam coverage range, the first signal group including a first reference signal, and the second signal group including a second reference signal.

[0022] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, where the signal measurement window is used to represent a time length of a time domain position.

[0023] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first reference signal belongs to SSB and the second reference signal belongs to TRS.

[0024] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the first reference signal and the second reference signal both belong to a TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverages.

[0025] It should be noted that some embodiments and beneficial effects of the aforementioned first aspect are also applicable to the second aspect, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0026] In a third aspect, a method for synchronization is provided, which can be used in a user device or a chip provided in the user device. The method includes: determining an offset change between the user device and a network device based on a received first reference signal, the offset change including a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change; determining a time domain position of a second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on a pairing relationship between a first-type signal and a second-type signal, wherein a time domain delay between a first reference signal in the paired first-type signal and a second reference signal in the second-type signal is a fixed value that is less than a transmission period of the first reference signal; and updating the offset change based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

[0027] In this way, the network device can pair the first and second reference signals to a fixed interval, where the interval is less than the transmission period. This allows the user equipment to determine the offset change based on both the first and second reference signals within the transmission period. This increases the number of opportunities to determine the offset change within the transmission period, allowing for faster updates and ensuring communication efficiency.

[0028] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the method further includes: receiving configuration information from a network device, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between the first type of signal and the second type of signal.

[0029] In some embodiments of the third aspect, determining the time domain position of the second reference signal includes: determining, based on configuration information and the received first reference signal, the time domain position of the second reference signal paired with the first reference signal. For example, the configuration information may indicate the time domain position of the second reference signal. The user equipment may determine, based on the pairing information, that the second reference signal is paired with the first reference signal, and then obtain the time domain position of the second reference signal from the configuration information. In this manner, the network device may configure the time domain position, thereby simplifying operations at the user equipment.

[0030] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage.

[0031] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the first type of signal belongs to SSB, and the second type of signal belongs to TRS.

[0032] In a fourth aspect, a synchronization method is provided, which can be used in a network device or a chip disposed in the network device. The method includes: sending configuration information to a user equipment, the configuration information indicating a pairing relationship between a first-type signal and a second-type signal, wherein a time domain delay between a first reference signal in the first-type signal and a second reference signal in the second-type signal that are paired is a fixed value, the fixed value being less than a transmission period of the first reference signal; sending the first reference signal to the user equipment; and sending the second reference signal to the user equipment.

[0033] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the time domain delay between the third reference signal in the first type of signal and the fourth reference signal in the second type of signal having a paired relationship is also a fixed value. For example, the paired relationship can be indicated by QCL in the TCI state.

[0034] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage.

[0035] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the first type of signal belongs to SSB, and the second type of signal belongs to TRS.

[0036] It should be noted that some embodiments and beneficial effects of the aforementioned third aspect are also applicable to the fourth aspect, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0037] In a fifth aspect, a communication device for synchronization (e.g., a user equipment or a chip provided in the user equipment) is provided, comprising components for performing the operations according to the method of the first aspect or any of its embodiments, or comprising components for performing the operations according to the method of the third aspect or any of its embodiments. Optionally, the components may be implemented as units, modules, etc.

[0038] In a sixth aspect, a communication device for synchronization (e.g., a network device or a chip provided in the network device) is provided, comprising components for performing the operations according to the method of the aforementioned second aspect or any embodiment thereof, or comprising components for performing the operations according to the method of the aforementioned fourth aspect or any embodiment thereof. Optionally, the components may be implemented as units, modules, etc.

[0039] In the seventh aspect, a network device is provided, comprising a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions executed by the processor, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the network device performs the operations of the method of the aforementioned second aspect, fourth aspect, or any embodiment thereof via the transceiver.

[0040] In an eighth aspect, a network device is provided, comprising a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions executed by the processor, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the network device performs the operations of the method of the aforementioned second aspect, fourth aspect, or any embodiment thereof via the transceiver.

[0041] In a ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the operation of the method according to the first to fourth aspects or any embodiment thereof is implemented.

[0042] In a tenth aspect, a chip or a chip system is provided, wherein the chip or the chip system includes a processing circuit configured to perform the operations according to the method of the first to fourth aspects or any embodiment thereof.

[0043] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program or computer program product is provided. The computer program or computer program product is tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium and includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a device to implement the operations of the method according to the first to fourth aspects or any of the embodiments thereof.

[0044] It should be noted that some embodiments and beneficial effects of the aforementioned method aspects are also applicable to device aspects, user equipment aspects, network equipment aspects, computer-readable storage media aspects, chips or chip systems aspects, computer programs or computer program products aspects, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The above and other features, advantages and aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements, wherein:

[0046] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a transparent forwarding scenario based on satellite communication;

[0047] FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of a transparent forwarding scenario based on satellite communication;

[0048] FIG3 shows a schematic diagram of a regeneration mode scenario based on satellite communication;

[0049] FIG4 shows a schematic diagram of a system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0050] FIG5 shows a schematic interactive flow chart of a communication process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0051] FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing an SSB transmission pattern to which an embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied;

[0052] FIG7 shows a schematic diagram of a second transmission period of 640 ms and a time domain delay of 325 ms;

[0053] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing a second transmission period of 320 ms and a time domain delay of 165 ms;

[0054] FIG9 shows a schematic diagram of a second transmission period of 1280 ms and a time domain delay of 325 ms;

[0055] FIG10 shows an example of a change in SSB measured by a user equipment due to movement of a network device;

[0056] FIG11 is a schematic diagram showing a first part of determining a time-frequency offset variation based on position information;

[0057] FIG12 shows a schematic diagram of determining an offset variation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0058] FIG13 shows an example of a change in SSB measured by a user equipment due to movement of a network device;

[0059] FIG14 shows a schematic diagram of determining an offset variation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0060] FIG15 shows a schematic diagram taking 16 TRSs as an example;

[0061] FIG16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transmission order of a TRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0062] FIG17 shows a schematic diagram of determining an offset variation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0063] FIG18 shows a schematic interactive flow chart of a communication process according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0064] FIG19 shows a schematic diagram of determining an offset variation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0065] FIG20 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0066] FIG21 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0067] FIG22 shows a schematic block diagram of an example device that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0069] In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "including" and similar terms should be understood as open inclusion, that is, "including but not limited to." The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on." The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment." The terms "first," "second," etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

[0070] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G) and other cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future.

[0071] Figures 1 to 3 illustrate schematic diagrams of scenarios in which some embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied. Specifically, Figure 1 illustrates a transparent forwarding scenario 100 based on satellite communications accessed via a non-Third Generation Partnership Project (N3GPP) radio protocol, Figure 2 illustrates a transparent forwarding scenario 200 based on satellite communications accessed via a New Radio (NR) protocol, and Figure 3 illustrates a regeneration mode scenario 300 based on satellite communications accessed via an NR protocol.

[0072] In transparent forwarding scenarios 100 and 200, satellites 110 and 210 perform frequency conversion forwarding. In regeneration mode scenario 300, satellite 310 includes a gNode B (gNB) or a distributed unit (DU).

[0073] The core network is designed to perform three major functions: registration, connection, and session management. For example, the core network may include core network 102 in Figure 1, core network 202 in Figure 2, and core network 302 in Figure 3. The core network can communicate with data networks 103, 203, and 303 via the N6 interface. The core network may include a Network Exposure Function (NEF), which exposes the services and capabilities of 3GPP network functions to application functions (AF) and enables the AF to provide information to 3GPP network functions. The core network may include a Policy Charge Function (PCF), which manages charging and Quality of Service (QoS) policies. The core network may also include a Session Management Function (SMF), which performs session management functions such as UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation, user plane function (UPF) selection, and charging and QoS policy control. The core network may include UPF, which performs specific data forwarding on the user plane, generates call records based on traffic conditions, and serves as a data plane anchor point.

[0074] The term "user equipment (UE)" in the embodiments of the present disclosure may refer to any terminal device capable of wired or wireless communication with a network or between user devices. For example, device 101 in Figure 1, device 201 in Figure 2, and device 301 in Figure 3 may all be user equipment. A user equipment is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, etc.). A user device may be a mobile phone, a tablet, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, an in-vehicle terminal device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a wearable terminal device, etc. A user device may also be sometimes referred to as a terminal device, a user unit, an access terminal device, an in-vehicle terminal, an industrial control terminal, a UE unit, a UE station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal device, a mobile device, a UE terminal device, a terminal device, a wireless communication device, a UE agent, a UE device, or a terminal, etc. A user device may be fixed or mobile.

[0075] The term "network device" in the embodiments of the present disclosure may refer to an entity or node that communicates with a user device and provides services to the user device. For example, satellite 110 and base station 120 in Figure 1, satellite 210 and base station 220 in Figure 2, and satellite 310 and base station 320 in Figure 3 may all be network devices. A network device may be any satellite base station with wireless transceiver capabilities in a satellite network, including but not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in Long Term Evolution (LTE) carried on a satellite, a base station (gNodeB or gNB) or a Transmission Receiving Point / Transmission Reception Point (TRP) in NR, a base station of subsequent 3GPP evolution, an access node in a WiFi system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, etc. A satellite base station may be: a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, a small base station, or a relay station, etc. A network device may also be a balloon base station, a drone base station, etc. Multiple network devices can support networks of the same technology mentioned above, or can support networks of different technologies mentioned above. Multiple network devices can be network devices of the same type or of different types. A network device can include one or more co-sited or non-co-sited TRPs. A network device can communicate with a user device, or can communicate with a user device through a relay station. A user device can communicate with multiple network devices of different technologies. For example, a user device can communicate with a network device that supports an LTE network, or with a network device that supports a 5G network, and can also support dual connections with a network device that supports an LTE network and a network device that supports a 5G network.

[0076] A non-terrestrial network (NTN) refers to a network that uses radio frequency resources from satellite platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or high altitude platform stations (HAPS) to provide communication services. Satellite platforms can include low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Compared to terrestrial cellular networks (such as 5G NR), NTNs offer wider coverage, lower path loss, greater latency, faster speeds, and lower costs. As a supplement and extension of terrestrial networks, NTNs can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that neither wired telephone networks nor terrestrial mobile communication networks can achieve, effectively solving internet access challenges in areas lacking communication infrastructure. For example, by deploying a large number of satellites in low earth orbit (LEO), through appropriate constellation construction, seamless coverage can be achieved across the ground. Furthermore, the round-trip data transmission delay between satellites and ground terminals can be significantly reduced to tens of milliseconds compared to that of satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO). With the use of technologies such as high-frequency bands, multi-spot beams, and frequency reuse, the communication capabilities of satellites have been significantly improved, while the unit broadband cost has been reduced, thus meeting the needs of high-information-rate services. Compared with communication infrastructure such as terrestrial 5G networks and submarine optical fiber cables, NTN also has significant cost advantages. Modern small satellites have low R&D and manufacturing costs, and software-defined technology can further extend the service life of in-orbit satellites. In addition to global coverage (such as remote areas, ocean-going ships, etc.), NTN can also be used in scenarios such as emergency rescue (such as disaster monitoring, emergency communications), the Internet of Things, and high-speed mobility (such as high-speed rail and airplanes), and has therefore attracted widespread attention from industry and academia.

[0077] As NTN research intensifies, the 3GPP standards organization has also conducted standardization research on NTN, committed to implementing NTN construction using the NR architecture. 3GPP began research on satellite-ground integration in Release 14 (R14), exploring the role and advantages of satellite in 5G systems and stipulating that 5G support satellite access. In Release 15, a technical report on 5G and satellite integration was developed, defining eight enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) scenarios and two massive machine-type communication (mMTC) scenarios, as well as the NTN channel model. Release 16 further explored the architecture and solutions for NR support of NTN. Based on the research findings of Release 16, the standardization work on 5G NR support for NTN was initiated in Release 17, resulting in the first version of the integrated technical specification. Research on NTN enhancements will continue in Release 18.

[0078] Compared to terrestrial network (TN) communication systems, high time-frequency offset and rapid time-frequency offset variations are key characteristics of NTN systems. Time offset refers to the time difference between the transmitting and receiving sides of the same signal, primarily including propagation delay, which is the time delay in signal arrival caused by long propagation distance. Frequency offset refers to the frequency difference between the transmitting and receiving sides of the same signal, primarily including Doppler shift, which is the phase and frequency change caused by propagation distance differences when a mobile station moves in a certain direction at a constant speed. Time offset and frequency offset are collectively referred to as time-frequency offset. Taking the 3.6 GHz frequency band as an example, the maximum speed of a terrestrial NR system is approximately 500 km / h, the maximum transmission range is approximately 3 km, the maximum Doppler shift is approximately 1.6 kHz, and the maximum transmission delay is approximately 10 μs. In contrast, for an NTN system at an orbital altitude of 600 km, the satellite moves at a speed of 7.6 km / s, the maximum transmission range is approximately 900 km, the maximum Doppler shift is approximately 70 kHz, and the maximum transmission delay is approximately 3 ms. Comparing the two reveals that the satellite's Doppler frequency shift and propagation delay are significantly greater than those of the terrestrial system. Furthermore, due to the satellite's rapid motion, the Doppler frequency shift can vary by 100 Hz and the propagation delay by 1.6 μs within 80 ms. In addition to the Doppler frequency shift and propagation delay caused by the satellite, non-ideal factors such as terminal movement and crystal oscillator errors on the transmitting and receiving sides also contribute significantly to frequency and timing deviations.

[0079] In communication systems, frequency and time offsets cause misalignment between the transmitting and receiving signals, which can severely impact communication performance. For example, NR networks employ waveforms and modulation related to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). Frequency and time deviations can destroy the orthogonality between OFDM signal subcarriers, causing interference between carriers and symbols, significantly reducing the demodulation performance of OFDM signal data. Therefore, NR systems must accurately estimate, track, and compensate for time-frequency offsets to minimize the time-frequency differences between the transmitting and receiving signals and ensure system performance. For NTN systems, the absolute value and variation of time-frequency offsets are hundreds or even thousands of times greater than those of terrestrial networks, placing higher demands on accurate estimation and tracking methods.

[0080] On the other hand, compared to terrestrial communication systems, NTN systems are distinguished by their wider coverage area and greater transmission loss per satellite. In terrestrial systems, a single base station's service area can be covered with a maximum of eight synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in frequency range 1 (FR1) and a maximum of 64 SSBs in frequency range 2 (FR2). However, NTN systems require hundreds or even thousands of SSB beams. For example, an NTN system operating at an orbital altitude of 600 km can provide a service area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. To overcome the impact of path loss due to transmission distance and ensure communication service quality, satellites typically employ large-scale antenna arrays to provide higher array gain, but this also results in a narrower main lobe. For example, a 3dB beamwidth has a coverage radius of only a dozen kilometers, covering an area of ​​several hundred square kilometers. Using narrow beams to achieve seamless coverage of a single satellite's service area would require thousands of beams. Furthermore, even with some beam widening, maintaining sufficient gain still requires hundreds of beams to achieve complete coverage.

[0081] In light of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a synchronization solution. In this solution, a user device can determine the offset change between the user device and a network device based on the time domain delay between two reference signals. In this way, this solution can be used to estimate the time offset change and / or frequency offset change, thereby ensuring system performance.

[0082] 4 shows a schematic diagram of a system 400 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. System 400 includes a network device 410 and a user device 420. Network device 410 and user device 420 can communicate with each other. For example, network device 410 can provide network access services for user device 420.

[0083] For example, network device 410 and user device 420 may communicate directly or indirectly via other devices. For example, multi-hop communication may be performed via one or more other relay devices. For example, user device 420 may be in a dual-connection or multi-connection scenario.

[0084] It should be understood that the system 400 shown in FIG4 is merely illustrative. Although a network device 410 and a user device 420 are shown in the scenario shown in FIG4 , the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this. For example, the system 400 may include a greater number of devices.

[0085] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to NTN systems or TN systems. For example, network devices such as satellite base stations in NTN systems or network devices such as television signal towers in TN systems have a large coverage range, for example, the coverage can reach hundreds of kilometers, thousands of kilometers, or even larger, and the present disclosure is not limited to this.

[0086] The various embodiments of the present disclosure are described using network devices and user equipment, wherein the functions performed by the network devices and user equipment may also be applicable to chips of the network devices and user equipment, respectively. Optionally, under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, the functions of the physical layer and media layer of the network device may be implemented by a distributed unit (DU) of the network device, and the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, packet data convergence (PDCP) layer, and radio resource control (RRC) layer may be implemented by a centralized unit (CU) of the network device.

[0087] Fig. 5 shows a schematic interactive flow chart of a communication process 500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 5 takes the network device 410 and the user device 420 shown in Fig. 4 as an example for explanation.

[0088] At 510, network device 410 transmits a first reference signal to user equipment 420. At 520, user equipment 420 determines an offset change between itself and network device 410 based on the first reference signal. At 530, user equipment 420 determines a time domain position of a second reference signal based on the time domain delay. At 540, network device 410 transmits a second reference signal to user equipment 420; and at 550, user equipment 420 receives the second reference signal based on the time domain position. At 560, user equipment 420 updates an offset change between itself and network device 410 based on the second reference signal. Optionally, the function of transmitting the first reference signal may be performed by a DU of the network device.

[0089] Exemplarily, the offset change between the user equipment 420 and the network device 410 may include a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change. For example, the offset change may be referred to as a time-frequency offset change or simply a time-frequency offset change.

[0090] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "determining the offset change" can be used interchangeably with any of the following: determining the time-frequency offset change, estimating the time-frequency offset change, tracking the time-frequency offset change, updating the time-frequency offset change, determining the time-frequency offset, measuring the time-frequency offset, tracking the time-frequency offset, estimating the time-frequency offset, compensating for the time-frequency offset, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this.

[0091] Exemplarily, the time domain delay amount represents the time domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal. Optionally, at 501, the network device 410 may send configuration information to the user equipment 420. For example, the configuration information may indicate the time domain delay amount. In some examples, the network device 410 may send a radio resource control (RRC) message or signaling to the user equipment 420, and the RRC message or signaling includes the configuration information. Optionally, the sending of the configuration information may be performed by a CU of the network device.

[0092] In some implementations of the disclosed embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal are of different types and can be configured at the cell level. For ease of description, the following embodiments assume that the first reference signal is of type SSB and the second reference signal is of type Tracking Reference Signal (TRS). However, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal can be of other types.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the configuration information may indicate the time domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, wherein the first signal group and the second signal group have the same coverage. Exemplarily, the first signal group may include one or more SSBs, which include the aforementioned first reference signal. Exemplarily, the second signal group may include one or more TRSs, which include the aforementioned second reference signal. For example, the time domain delay amount may be expressed as OffsetFromSSBtoTRS. Optionally, since the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage, the first signal group and the second signal group may also be referred to as the first beam group and the second beam group, respectively, which is not limited in the present disclosure. As an example, the first signal group may be referred to as the SSB beam group, and the second signal group may be referred to as the TRS beam group.

[0094] Network device 410 may transmit SSB beam groups according to a first transmission period, with each SSB covering a specific terrestrial area. Network device 410 may configure a cell-level TRS and transmit TRS beam groups according to a second transmission period. Optionally, the first transmission period and the second transmission period may be equal. Alternatively, the first transmission period and the second transmission period may be unequal.

[0095] For example, the number of TRS beams may be the same as the number of SSB beams, so that each TRS beam corresponds to an SSB beam with the same coverage. For example, the number of SSBs in the first signal group is equal to the number of TRSs in the second signal group.

[0096] For example, the number of TRS beams may not be equal to the number of SSB beams. In this case, multiple TRSs may be grouped together to form an SSB beam group consisting of one or more SSBs with the same coverage. For example, the number of SSBs in the first signal group may not be equal to (greater than or less than) the number of TRSs in the second signal group.

[0097] FIG6 shows a schematic diagram of an SSB transmission pattern 600 to which an embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied. As shown in FIG6 , a maximum of 8 SSBs can be sent within the first 2 ms of every 20 ms. Then the time required for the network device to send 256 SSBs is 640 ms. In other words, the first transmission period of the SSB can be 640 ms. It should be noted that for the sake of convenience of description, in various examples of the present disclosure, it is assumed that the first transmission period of the SSB is 640 ms, but it should be noted that the first transmission period can be other values ​​in other scenarios, such as 320 ms, 1280 ms, etc., and the present disclosure is not limited to this.

[0098] As described above, the second transmission period may be equal to the first transmission period, for example, 640 ms. The second transmission period may not be equal to the first transmission period, for example, the second transmission period may be equal to 320 ms or 1280 ms.

[0099] The network device 410 may pair an SSB beam group and a TRS beam group with the same coverage. For example, the network device 410 may configure the time domain location of each TRS through, for example, an RRC message or signaling. For example, the network device 410 may define the pairing relationship between the SSB beam group and the TRS beam group through a Quasi Co-Located (QCL) relationship.

[0100] The network device 410 may stagger the transmission of the paired TRS beam group and the SSB beam group in time, for example, so that the transmission time interval between the paired TRS beam group and the SSB beam group is the aforementioned time domain delay amount. For example, the time domain delay amount may be determined based on half of the second transmission period (1 / 2TRS period), 1 / 4 (1 / 4TRS period), or other values. Optionally, the time domain delay amount is also determined based on the transmission duration of the first signal group. Exemplarily, the transmission duration of the first signal group may represent the total duration required for transmitting each signal in the first signal group. For example, in the examples shown in Figures 7 to 9, the first signal group includes 8 SSBs, and the transmission duration of the first signal group (i.e., one SSB beam group, such as SSB#0 to SSB#7) is 5ms.

[0101] As an example, assume that the first signal group includes 8 SSBs, the second signal group includes 8 TRSs, and the first transmission period is 640ms. Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram 700 in which the second transmission period is 640ms and the time domain delay is 325ms. Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram 800 in which the second transmission period is 320ms and the time domain delay is 165ms. Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram in which the second transmission period is 1280ms and the time domain delay is 325ms. In Figures 7 to 9, the transmission duration of one SSB beam group is 5ms. Therefore, the time domain delay is equal to 1 / 2 or 1 / 4 of the second transmission period (such as 320ms in Figures 7 and 9 or 160ms in Figure 8) + the transmission duration of one SSB beam group.

[0102] Taking Figure 7 as an example, the TRS beam groups (TRS#0-7) paired with the SSB beam groups (SSB#0-7) are configured after SSB#128-135. This results in a 325ms time interval (i.e., time-domain delay) between the TRS beam groups. This allows user equipment 420 to determine the time-frequency offset change based on the received SSB at update timing 710 and the time-frequency offset change based on the received TRS at update timing 720. For example, if user equipment 420 receives SSB#1 at update timing 710, it can then receive TRS#1 at update timing 720 based on the time-domain delay (325ms). This ensures that within the first transmission period (640ms), user equipment 420 has two opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset change based on the SSB and TRS, respectively, and to perform time-frequency offset estimation and tracking at both times. It is understood that the situations in Figures 8 and 9 are similar and will not be further described here to avoid repetition.

[0103] In some examples, assuming that the network device 410 is moving, for example, the network device 410 is a satellite base station, then considering the satellite movement, for the user device 420, the SSB to be measured may change over time, and accordingly the TRS to be measured will also change accordingly.

[0104] FIG10 illustrates an example 1000 of a change in the SSB measured by user equipment 420 due to movement of network device 410. Referring to FIG10 , assuming that user equipment 420 is initially located at SSB#14, as network device 410 (e.g., a satellite) rapidly moves upward, the SSB to be measured by user equipment 420 changes from SSB#14 to SSB#13, SSB#12, and so on. Due to the pairing relationship between TRS beam groups and SSB beam groups, the TRS to be measured by the user equipment also changes accordingly. In some examples, network device 410 may indicate the change in the SSB / TRS to be measured by user equipment 420 via another RRC message or signaling.

[0105] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the configuration information may indicate the time domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group and the signal measurement window, wherein the first signal group and the second signal group have the same coverage range, wherein the signal measurement window may indicate the time domain range (or duration) in which the second signal group is located. Exemplarily, the time domain delay amount may be expressed as OffsetFromSSBtoTRS, and the signal measurement window may be expressed as TRSwindow. As an example, the first signal group may be referred to as an SSB beam group, and the second signal group may be referred to as a TRS signal group. In this way, the signal measurement window may be used to indicate the duration for the user equipment 420 to continuously measure TRS, so that the network device 410 does not need to frequently indicate changes in the TRS to be measured of the user equipment 420, thereby reducing the indication overhead and reconfiguration overhead.

[0106] Optionally, the network device 410 may determine the duration of the signal measurement window based on its moving speed and / or other factors. For example, the signal measurement window is 3 ms, 6 ms, or other values, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0107] Exemplarily, the user equipment 420 may detect the TRS during a duration indicated by a signal measurement window, where a starting point of the signal measurement window is determined based on the reception time and the time domain delay of the SSB. For example, the user equipment 420 may determine a time range for detecting the TRS, where the time range starts at the time domain delay after the reception time domain position of the SSB and has a duration of the signal measurement window.

[0108] The user equipment 420 may detect one or more TRSs within the time range and may determine the time-frequency offset variation based on at least one of the one or more TRSs. Alternatively, if only one TRS is detected within the time range, the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the detected TRS.

[0109] Alternatively, if multiple TRSs are detected within the time range, one TRS may be selected from the multiple TRSs, and the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the selected TRS. For example, the selected TRS may be determined based on signal parameters of the multiple TRSs detected. For example, the TRS with the strongest signal parameter may be selected, where the signal parameter may be signal strength, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio.

[0110] Alternatively, if multiple TRSs are detected within the time range, at least one TRS may be selected from the multiple TRSs, and the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the selected at least one TRS. For example, the selected TRS may be determined based on signal parameters of the multiple TRSs detected. For example, at least one TRS may be selected whose signal parameter exceeds a threshold, where the signal parameter may be signal strength, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio.

[0111] For example, referring to FIG7 , assuming the signal measurement window is 3 ms, user equipment 420 may receive SSB#1 at update timing 710. Based on the time domain delay (325 ms) and the signal measurement window (3 ms), user equipment 420 may perform detection within the transmission time range of TRS#0-7. For example, if user equipment 420 detects TRS#0 at update timing 720, user equipment 420 may determine the updated time-frequency offset change based on TRS#0.

[0112] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the user equipment 420 may further determine the time-frequency offset based on the location information of the network device 410 and the location information of the user equipment 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset variation may be determined based on the first reference signal or the second reference signal.

[0113] For example, assuming that network device 410 is an ephemeris base station, the location information of network device 410 may be included in the ephemeris information. FIG11 shows a schematic diagram 1100 of the first part of determining the time-frequency offset variation based on the location information. For example, the time offset and frequency offset may be determined using the following equations (1)-(2):

[0114] In equations (1) and (2), f0 is the carrier frequency, ΔV is the relative speed between the satellite and the user equipment, α is the angle between the satellite and the user equipment, c is the speed of light, and Δd is the relative distance between the satellite and the user equipment.

[0115] Optionally, the second portion of the time-frequency offset variation can be understood as the residual time-frequency offset variation caused by computational errors, user device movement, irrational factors, and the like. Based on the above description, the residual time-frequency offset variation can be estimated and updated based on SSB or TRS. Optionally, the second portion of the time-frequency offset variation can be smaller than the first portion of the time-frequency offset variation. For example, the magnitude of the second portion can be smaller than the magnitude of the first portion, or the granularity of the second portion can be finer than that of the first portion.

[0116] FIG12 illustrates a schematic diagram of determining an offset change 1200 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the configuration information may include location information, a time domain delay, and a signal measurement window of the network device 410. Accordingly, at 1210, the user device 420 may determine a first portion of the offset change based on the location information. At 1220, the user device 420 may determine a second portion of the offset change based on the received SSB. The user device 420 may detect and receive a TRS based on the time domain delay and the signal measurement window. Furthermore, at 1230, the second portion of the offset change may be updated.

[0117] 12 , within the second transmission period, the user equipment 420 has at least two opportunities to determine the second part of the offset variation.

[0118] Additionally or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further: for the remaining reference signals and / or data, perform time-frequency offset compensation on the remaining reference signals and / or data based on the determined offset change, where the remaining reference signals and / or data may include but are not limited to: a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a signal or data received via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc.

[0119] The number of opportunities for determining the time-frequency offset change based on this solution can be compared with the number of opportunities for determining the time-frequency offset change based solely on the TRS in existing solutions. The comparison results are shown in Table 1 below. It can be seen that for different transmission cycles (the first transmission cycle and the second transmission cycle), the number of opportunities within the same duration (e.g., 640 ms) increases by 50%, 100%, and 200%, respectively.

[0120] Table 1

[0121] Through the implementation described above, network equipment can pair the TRS and SSB configured at the cell level according to beam directions, staggering the transmission of TRS and SSB beam groups with the same coverage area according to the time domain delay. This increases the opportunity for user equipment to determine the change in time-frequency offset within the second transmission period. This solves the problems of excessive resource overhead caused by relying solely on TRS for time-frequency offset estimation and insufficient time-frequency offset tracking capability caused by relying solely on location information for time-frequency offset estimation.

[0122] In some implementations of the disclosed embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal are of different types and can be configured at the user level. For ease of description, the following embodiments assume that the first reference signal is of SSB type and the second reference signal is of TRS type. However, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal can be of other types.

[0123] It is understood that for a specific user (or user equipment 420), the time domain position of the TRS to be measured is relatively fixed, and the TRS uses a narrow beam to point to a single user equipment to be served or multiple user equipment within a single area. Therefore, in some implementations, the network device 410 can pair the user-level configured TRS with the corresponding SSB.

[0124] In some examples, the network device 410 may determine the time domain location of the TRS to be measured of the user device 420, for example, based on the location information of the user device 420. Optionally, the time domain location of the TRS to be measured of the user device 420 is user-level TRS time domain information associated with the user device 420, or simply referred to as user-level TRS. In some examples, the network device 410 may determine one or more potential SSBs to be measured of the user device 420, and may pair the one or more potential SSBs to be measured with the user-level TRS, and inform the user device 420 of the pairing information.

[0125] In some examples, the configuration information may include a user-level TRS and pairing information. It is understandable that the user device 420 can determine the time domain position of the user-level TRS, for example, it is included in the configuration information. It is understandable that since the SSB is sent periodically, the time domain position of one or more potential SSBs to be measured is determined, then the user device 420 can determine the time domain position of one or more potential SSBs to be measured based on the pairing information. It is understandable that there is a certain time interval between the time domain position of one or more potential SSBs to be measured and the time domain position of the user-level TRS, that is, the above-mentioned time domain delay. That is, for the user device 420, the configuration information can indicate the time domain delay of the second signal group (such as the user-level TRS) relative to the first signal group (such as one or more potential SSBs to be measured) through the user-level TRS and pairing information.

[0126] Exemplarily, the network device 410 may determine a potential SSB beam (or SSB beam group) to be measured by the user device 420 based on the coverage area of ​​the SSB in which the user device 420 is currently located and the mobility information of the network device 410 and / or the user device 420. Exemplarily, the network device 410 may configure the time domain position of the user-level TRS of the user device 420 to be at a position that is spaced apart from the potential SSB beam (or SSB beam group) to be measured by a time domain delay amount. Exemplarily, the network device 410 may configure a pairing relationship between the user-level TRS and the potential SSB beam (or SSB beam group) to be measured.

[0127] FIG13 illustrates an example 1300 of SSB changes measured by user device 420 due to the movement of network device 410. Referring to FIG13 , assume that user device 420 is currently within the coverage of SSB #3, and as the satellite moves, user device 420 may subsequently be within the coverage of SSB #2-0. Network device 410 may then determine a potential SSB beam group to be measured for user device 420 (i.e., SSB #3-0). Referring to FIG14 , a schematic diagram 1400 illustrating determining offset changes according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Network device 410 may configure the time-domain position of the user-level TRS of user device 420 after SSB #128-135. In this manner, the interval between the TRS-based timing 1420 for determining the time-frequency offset change and the SSB-based timing 1410 for determining the time-frequency offset change (potential SSB beam group to be measured, SSB #3-0) can be maintained between, for example, 320 ms and 340 ms within the 640 ms second transmission period.

[0128] For example, the network device 410 may indicate the pairing relationship to the user device 420 through the QCL relationship.

[0129] Optionally, the network device 410 may configure multiple sets of TRS resources (also referred to as multiple TRS resource sets) and corresponding multiple TCI states through RRC signaling, for example, the aforementioned configuration information may include multiple sets of TRS resources and multiple TCI states, wherein the time domain positions of the multiple sets of TRS resources are the same, but the TCI states are different. The QCL relationship within each TCI state may indicate the SSB paired with the TRS. In conjunction with the example of Figure 13, the configuration information may indicate 4 TCI states and corresponding TRS resource sets, and the QCL relationship in one TCI state may indicate that the SSB paired with the TRS is SSB#0~3. Optionally, when the user equipment 420 is within the beam coverage of an SSB (e.g., SSB#2) among SSB#0~3, the network device 410 may activate or indicate the TCI state including the SSB (e.g., SSB#2) through MAC CE or DCI. Furthermore, the user equipment 420 may determine, based on the MAC CE or DCI, a QCL relationship in the TCI state indicated by activation, for example, the QCL relationship indicating a pairing relationship between the SSB (e.g., SSB#2) and a previously configured TRS. Optionally, the previously configured TRS is a user-level TRS, i.e., the second reference signal mentioned above, and the SSB (e.g., SSB#2) paired with it is the first reference signal mentioned above.

[0130] Optionally, the network device 410 may configure only one set of TRS resources (also referred to as a TRS resource set) through RRC signaling, etc., without associating the TCI state. Optionally, the network device 410 may determine a specific TRS based on the location information of the user equipment 420, such as the TRS beam direction with the strongest signal parameter, i.e., the second reference signal mentioned above; the network device 410 may then configure the specific TRS as the user-level TRS corresponding to the user equipment 420. Optionally, the user equipment 420 may determine the SSB with the strongest signal parameter (e.g., exceeding a predetermined threshold) during RRM measurement or beam management, i.e., the first reference signal mentioned above.

[0131] As shown in Figure 14, network device 410 can configure the time domain position 1401 of the user-level TRS. Network device 410 can also, for example, enable or indicate a TCI state, so that user device 410 determines the SSB paired with the configured user-level TRS. User device 420 can then determine the time-frequency offset change based on the SSB at time 1410 and update the time-frequency offset change based on the TRS at time 1420. For example, network device 410 can configure the user-level TRS after SSBs #128-135. Accordingly, the time interval between time 1410 and time 1420 does not exceed 340 ms.

[0132] Exemplarily, the network device 410 may further reconfigure the time domain position of the user-level TRS for the user equipment 420. Optionally, if the time interval between the previously configured time domain position of the TRS and the time domain position of the paired SSB is lower than a duration threshold (e.g., 320 ms or other value), the network device 420 may reconfigure the time domain position of the user-level TRS for the user equipment 410. For example, the reconfigured time domain position of the TRS may be sent by the network device 410 to the user equipment 420 via another RRC signaling. Optionally, the time interval between the reconfigured time domain position of the TRS and the time domain position of the paired SSB exceeds a duration threshold (e.g., 320 ms or other value). Optionally, the time interval between the reconfigured time domain position of the TRS and the time domain position of the paired SSB is lower than another duration threshold (e.g., 340 ms or other value), where the other duration threshold is greater than the duration threshold.

[0133] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, user equipment 420 may also determine the time-frequency offset based on the location information of network device 410 and the location information of user equipment 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the first reference signal or the second reference signal. For a more detailed description of the first and second portions, please refer to the embodiments described above; to avoid repetition, these descriptions are omitted here.

[0134] Additionally or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further: perform time-frequency offset compensation on the remaining reference signals and / or data based on the determined offset change, wherein the remaining reference signals and / or data may include but are not limited to: DMRS, signals or data received via PDCCH or PDSCH, etc.

[0135] Through the implementation method described above, the network device can configure a user-level TRS for the user device, and then pair the user-level TRS with one or more potential SSBs to be measured. For example, the pairing relationship can be indicated by a QCL relationship. And the time interval between the paired one or more potential SSBs to be measured and the user-level TRS is lower than the second transmission period, thereby increasing the opportunity for the user device to determine the change in time-frequency offset within the second transmission period. In this way, the problems of excessive resource overhead caused by relying solely on TRS for time-frequency offset estimation and insufficient time-frequency offset tracking capability caused by relying solely on location information for time-frequency offset estimation can be solved, thereby avoiding performance degradation caused by inaccurate time-frequency offset estimation.

[0136] In some implementations of the disclosed embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal are of the same type, and have adjacent beam coverage areas. For ease of description, the following embodiments assume that both the first reference signal and the second reference signal are of TRS type. However, it should be understood that in other embodiments, the first reference signal and the second reference signal can be of other types.

[0137] In some embodiments, the network device 410 can configure a cell-level TRS and can send two TRSs with adjacent beam coverage at intervals of a time domain delay. Exemplarily, the network device 410 can determine the transmission pattern of the TRS so that the interval between different TRSs with adjacent beam coverage is less than the second transmission period. For example, the network device 410 can send a first TRS at a first moment and send a second TRS after the time domain delay, and the first TRS and the second TRS have adjacent beam coverage. Accordingly, the user device 420 can receive the first TRS at a first moment and determine the time-frequency offset variation. The user device 420 can then receive the second TRS after the time domain delay at the first moment and redetermine the time-frequency offset variation. Since the time domain delay is lower than the transmission period of the TRS (i.e., the second transmission period), the user device 420 can obtain more opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset variation.

[0138] It is understandable that, considering that the width of a general SSB beam is relatively wide, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the center area of ​​the beam is relatively high, which can ensure sufficient estimation accuracy; however, the SNR in the edge area of ​​the beam is relatively low, which may not ensure sufficient estimation accuracy, but the SSB in the adjacent beam coverage range can be received. For SSB beams and TRS beams with the same receiving SNR, since TRS can have higher estimation accuracy, the user equipment can obtain multiple opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset change within one TRS transmission period (i.e., the second transmission period) by using the TRS beam covering the user equipment and one or more TRS beams covering the adjacent beam range.

[0139] 15 shows a schematic diagram 1500 taking 16 TRSs as an example. Assuming that the user equipment is located within the beam coverage of TRS#1, illustratively, it can be determined that the TRSs in the adjacent coverage 1510 include TRS#0, TRS#2, and TRS#4-6.

[0140] As an example, the network device can configure the time domain positions of TRSs as shown in Figure 16. In the TRS transmission sequence 1600 shown in Figure 16, the interval between TRS#0 / 2 and TRS#1 is approximately 1 / 2 of the second transmission period, the interval between TRS#5 and TRS#1 is approximately 1 / 4 of the second transmission period, and the interval between TRS#4 / 6 and TRS#1 is approximately 1 / 4 of the second transmission period. In this way, the user equipment can obtain at least two opportunities within the second transmission period to determine the change in time-frequency offset.

[0141] In some embodiments, the network device 410 can configure multiple sets of TRS resources (also known as multiple TRS resource sets) and corresponding multiple TCI states through RRC signaling, for example, the configuration information mentioned above may include multiple sets of TRS resources and multiple TCI states.

[0142] Exemplarily, when the user equipment is within the beam coverage of a certain TRS (such as TRS#1 in Figure 15), the network device 410 may activate or indicate at least two TCI states corresponding to the TRS (such as TRS#1 in Figure 15) where the user equipment is located through a MAC CE or DCI. Exemplarily, the at least two TCI states activated or indicated may correspond to the TRS within the beam coverage of the user equipment (such as TRS#1 in Figure 15) and TRSs in adjacent beam coverage (such as TRS#0, TRS#2, and TRS#4-6).

[0143] For example, the user equipment 420 may determine at least two TRSs to be measured based on the at least two activated or indicated TCI states. Further, the user equipment 420 may determine the time domain resources of the at least two TRSs based on the configuration information, and receive the at least two TRSs in the corresponding time domain resources.

[0144] Optionally, user equipment 420 may determine the time-frequency offset change based on each of the at least two received TRSs. Optionally, user equipment 420 may select a portion of the at least two received TRSs and determine the time-frequency offset change for each portion. For example, the user equipment 420 may select a portion of the TRSs whose SNR exceeds a predetermined SNR threshold. In other words, the user equipment 420 may select a portion of the TRSs whose SNR exceeds a predetermined SNR threshold.

[0145] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, user equipment 420 may also determine the time-frequency offset based on the location information of network device 410 and the location information of user equipment 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the first reference signal or the second reference signal. For a more detailed description of the first and second portions, please refer to the embodiments described above; to avoid repetition, these descriptions are omitted here.

[0146] FIG17 illustrates a schematic diagram of determining an offset change 1700 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the configuration information may include location information of the network device 410, such as included in ephemeris information. Optionally, the configuration information may include multiple sets of TRS resources and corresponding multiple TCI states. Optionally, the network device 410 may send a MAC CE to the user equipment 420 based on the TRS in which the user equipment 420 is located, activating at least two TCI states.

[0147] Accordingly, the user equipment 420 may determine a first portion of the offset delta based on the location information at 1710. The user equipment 420 may determine a second portion of the offset delta based on a received TRS whose SNR exceeds a predetermined SNR threshold at 1720. The user equipment 420 may update the second portion of the offset delta based on another received TRS whose SNR exceeds a predetermined SNR threshold at 1730.

[0148] Alternatively, since the SNR of the TRS received by the user equipment 420 at 1725 between 1720 and 1730 is lower than a predetermined SNR threshold, the second part of the offset variation is not updated at 1725 .

[0149] 17 , within the second transmission period, the user equipment 420 has at least two opportunities to determine the second part of the offset variation.

[0150] Additionally or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further: perform time-frequency offset compensation on the remaining reference signals and / or data based on the determined offset change, wherein the remaining reference signals and / or data may include but are not limited to: DMRS, signals or data received via PDCCH or PDSCH, etc.

[0151] Through the implementation described above, the network device can stagger the transmission of different TRSs within adjacent beam coverage areas according to the time domain delay. This allows the user device to obtain at least two opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset change within the second transmission period without increasing the TRS resource overhead of the network device. This allows the user device to update the time-frequency offset change more promptly, avoiding degradation in data transmission performance.

[0152] Further referring to Figure 18, a schematic interaction flow chart of a communication process 1800 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 18 involves the network device 410 and the user device 420 shown in Figure 4.

[0153] At 1810, the network device 410 sends configuration information to the user equipment 420. The configuration information may indicate a pairing relationship between a first type of signal and a second type of signal, and the time domain delay between a first reference signal in the first type of signal and a second reference signal in the second type of signal having the pairing relationship is a fixed value. Exemplarily, the fixed value may be lower than the transmission period (first transmission period) of the first reference signal. Exemplarily, the fixed value may be lower than the transmission period (second transmission period) of the second reference signal. Optionally, each reference signal in the first type of signal has a first transmission period, and each reference signal in the second type of signal has a second transmission period. Optionally, the first transmission period and the second transmission period may be equal or unequal, which is not limited in this disclosure. Exemplarily, assuming that the configuration information indicates that the first reference signal in the first type of signal and the second reference signal in the second type of signal have a pairing relationship, the time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal is a fixed value. Exemplarily, the first reference signal and the second reference signal may have the same beam coverage. Exemplarily, the configuration information may also indicate the time domain position of each reference signal in the first type of signal. Exemplarily, the configuration information may further indicate the time domain position of each reference signal in the second type of signal.

[0154] At 1820, network device 410 sends a first reference signal to user equipment 420. At 1830, user equipment 420 determines an offset change between itself and network device 410 based on the first reference signal. At 1840, user equipment 420 determines a time domain position of a second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on the configuration information.

[0155] At 1850, network device 410 transmits a second reference signal to user equipment 420, and user equipment 420 receives the second reference signal based on the time domain position at 1860. At 1870, user equipment 420 updates the offset change between itself and network device 410 based on the second reference signal.

[0156] Exemplarily, the offset change between the user equipment 420 and the network device 410 may include a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change. For example, the offset change may be referred to as a time-frequency offset change or simply a time-frequency offset change.

[0157] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "determining the offset change" can be used interchangeably with any of the following: determining the time-frequency offset change, estimating the time-frequency offset change, tracking the time-frequency offset change, updating the time-frequency offset change, determining the time-frequency offset, measuring the time-frequency offset, tracking the time-frequency offset, estimating the time-frequency offset, compensating for the time-frequency offset, etc., and the present disclosure does not limit this.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first type of reference signal is an SSB, and the second type of reference signal is a TRS, which may be, for example, a cell-level SSB beam and a cell-level TRS beam, respectively. For example, the network device 410 may determine a fixed value, such as a fixed value equal to 1 / 2, 1 / 4, or other values ​​of the first transmission period (or the second transmission period).

[0159] For example, the network device 410 may configure multiple sets of TRS resources (also referred to as multiple TRS resource sets) and corresponding multiple TCI states through, for example, RRC signaling. For example, the aforementioned configuration information may include multiple sets of TRS resources and multiple TCI states. For example, the QCL relationship within the TCI state may indicate the pairing relationship between the SSB and the TRS. For example, assuming that SSB#0 is paired with TRS#0, the following Table 2 shows the configuration information associated with this pairing relationship.

[0160] Table 2

[0161] In this way, after receiving the configuration information, the user equipment 420 can determine the pairing relationship between SSB#0 and TRS#0, and the QCL type (qcl-Type) is type C (typeC).

[0162] Exemplarily, the network device 410 may further send a MAC CE or DCI to the user equipment 420 to activate or indicate at least one TCI state among the multiple TCIs. Optionally, when the user equipment 420 is within the beam coverage of a specific SSB or a specific TRS, the network device 410 may activate or indicate at least one TCI state associated with the specific SSB or specific TRS through a MAC CE or DCI.

[0163] Exemplarily, the user equipment 420 may determine at least one activated or indicated TCI state based on a MAC CE or DCI, and further determine the pairing relationship indicated by the QCL relationship in the at least one TCI state. As an example, assuming that the user equipment 420 determines that the activated or indicated pairing relationship is a pairing relationship between SSB#1 and TRS#1, the user equipment 420 may determine the first time domain position of SSB#1 and the second time domain position of TRS#1 based on the configuration information, and further determine the time-frequency offset change based on the SSB#1 received at the first time domain position, and determine the time-frequency offset change based on the TRS#1 received at the second time domain position. Since the time domain delay (time interval) between the two reference signals (such as SSB#1 and TRS#1) indicated by the configuration information as being in a paired relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is less than the first transmission period (and / or the second transmission period), the user equipment has more than one opportunity to determine the time-frequency offset change within the first transmission period (and / or the second transmission period).

[0164] In some embodiments, if the beam coverage of user equipment 420 changes due to movement of network device 410 or user equipment 420 or other reasons, network device 410 can activate or instruct another TCI state through another MAC CE or another DCI. Because the time domain delay between each paired first reference signal and second reference signal in the configuration information is a fixed value, it can be seen that even if the SSB / TRS actually received by user equipment 420 changes, the update period for determining the time-frequency offset change can remain basically unchanged. In this way, the universal applicability of the solution can be ensured.

[0165] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, user equipment 420 may also determine the time-frequency offset based on the location information of network device 410 and the location information of user equipment 420. For example, a first portion of the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the location information, and a second portion of the time-frequency offset change may be determined based on the first reference signal or the second reference signal. For a more detailed description of the first and second portions, please refer to the embodiments described above; to avoid repetition, these descriptions are omitted here.

[0166] FIG19 shows a schematic diagram of determining an offset change 1900 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Optionally, the configuration information may include location information of the network device 410, such as included in the ephemeris information. Optionally, the configuration information may include multiple sets of TRS resources and corresponding multiple TCI states. And the time domain delay between the first reference signal and the second reference signal in the paired relationship indicated by the QCL relationship in the TCI state is a fixed value. Optionally, the network device 410 may send a MAC CE or DCI to the user equipment 420 based on the SSB or TRS in which the user equipment 420 is located to activate or indicate at least one TCI state.

[0167] Accordingly, user equipment 420 may determine a first portion of the offset change based on the location information at 1910. User equipment 420 may determine a second portion of the offset change based on the received SSB at 1920. User equipment 420 may update the second portion of the offset change based on the received TRS at 1930. Optionally, the first time domain resource for user equipment 420 to receive the SSB may be configured by network device 410, and the second time domain resource for user equipment 420 to receive the TRS may be configured by network device 410.

[0168] 19 , assuming that the fixed value is equal to 1 / 2 of the second transmission period, the user equipment 420 has at least two opportunities to determine the second part of the offset variation within the second transmission period.

[0169] Additionally or optionally, the user equipment 420 may further: perform time-frequency offset compensation on the remaining reference signals and / or data based on the determined offset change, wherein the remaining reference signals and / or data may include but are not limited to: DMRS, signals or data received via PDCCH or PDSCH, etc.

[0170] Through the implementation method described above, the network device can pair SSB with TRS, and the interval between the time domain positions of the paired SSB and TRS is a fixed value, and the fixed value is less than the first transmission period (and / or the second transmission period). In this way, the network device can stagger the transmission of TRS and SSB according to a fixed value, so that the user device can obtain at least two opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset change within the second transmission period without increasing the TRS resource overhead of the network device. In this way, the user device can update the time-frequency offset change more promptly to avoid a decrease in data transmission performance.

[0171] Some implementations of the embodiments of the present disclosure are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that those skilled in the art can form some other implementations through modification, combination, etc. on the basis of the above implementations, which are still within the scope of protection of the present disclosure. For example, the network device can stagger the transmission of different TRSs in adjacent beam coverage areas at a certain time interval. Furthermore, the network device can also determine the transmission order of SSBs based on the transmission order of TRSs, for example, there is a specific time interval between SSBs and TRSs with the same coverage area, for example, SSBs and TRSs with the same coverage area can be paired, for example, the transmission order of SSBs is the same as the transmission order of TRSs, and so on.

[0172] In this way, the embodiments of the present disclosure enable the user equipment to obtain multiple opportunities to determine the time-frequency offset change in the second transmission period, thereby enabling more accurate time-frequency offset estimation and tracking, thereby ensuring transmission performance.

[0173] It should also be understood that the division of the modes, situations, categories and embodiments in the embodiments of the present disclosure is only for the convenience of description and should not constitute a special limitation. The features in various modes, categories, situations and embodiments can be combined with each other when it is logical.

[0174] It should also be understood that the above content is only intended to help those skilled in the art better understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art may make various modifications, variations, or combinations based on the above content. Such modifications, variations, or combinations are also within the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0175] It should also be understood that the description of the above content focuses on emphasizing the differences between the various embodiments, and the same or similar points can be referenced or borrowed from each other. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0176] Figure 20 shows a schematic block diagram of a communications device 2000 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 2000 may be implemented as user equipment 420 as shown in Figure 4 , or as a portion of user equipment 420 (e.g., a chip), etc., although this disclosure is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 20 , device 2000 includes an offset change determination module 2010, a time-domain position determination module 2020, and an offset change update module 2030.

[0177] In some implementations of the present disclosure, the offset change determination module 2010 is configured to determine the offset change between the user equipment and the network device based on a received first reference signal, where the offset change includes a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change. The time domain position determination module 2020 is configured to determine the time domain position of the second reference signal based on a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, where the time domain delay is less than the transmission period of the first reference signal. The offset change update module 2030 is configured to update the offset change based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

[0178] In some embodiments, the apparatus 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive configuration information from a network device, where the configuration information indicates a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0179] In some embodiments, the apparatus 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive updated configuration information from the network device, where the updated configuration information indicates an updated time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0180] In some embodiments, the apparatus 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive configuration information from a network device, the configuration information indicating a time domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group having the same beam coverage range, the first signal group including a first reference signal, and the second signal group including a second reference signal.

[0181] Exemplarily, the configuration information also indicates a signal measurement window, and the time domain position determination module 2020 can be specifically configured to: determine the time domain position with the time domain delay amount after the received time domain position of the first reference signal as the starting point, and the signal measurement window as the time length.

[0182] In some examples, apparatus 2000 may further include a second reference signal determination module configured to: detect at least one signal during a time domain location; and determine a second reference signal from the at least one signal based on a signal parameter of each of the at least one signal. Optionally, the second reference signal determination module is configured to: determine a signal parameter of each of the at least one signal; and determine a signal whose signal parameter exceeds a preset threshold as the second reference signal. Optionally, the signal parameter includes at least one of the following: signal strength, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio.

[0183] In some embodiments, the offset change determination module 2010 can also be configured to: determine the first part of the offset change between the user device and the network device based on the location information of the network device and the location information of the user device, and wherein the offset change is the second part of the offset change.

[0184] Exemplarily, the first reference signal belongs to SSB, and the second reference signal belongs to TRS.

[0185] Exemplarily, the first reference signal and the second reference signal both belong to a TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

[0186] In some other implementations of the present disclosure, the offset change determination module 2010 is configured to determine the offset change between the user equipment and the network device based on the received first reference signal, wherein the offset change includes a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change. The time domain position determination module 2020 is configured to determine the time domain position of a second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on a pairing relationship between the first type of signal and the second type of signal, wherein the time domain delay between the first reference signal in the first type of signal having the pairing relationship and the second reference signal in the second type of signal is a fixed value that is less than the transmission period of the first reference signal. The offset change update module 2030 is configured to update the offset change based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

[0187] Exemplarily, the apparatus 2000 may further include a receiving module configured to receive configuration information from a network device, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between the first type of signal and the second type of signal.

[0188] In some examples, the time domain position determination model 2020 may be specifically configured to determine the time domain position of the second reference signal paired with the first reference signal based on the configuration information and the received first reference signal.

[0189] Optionally, the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage. Optionally, the first type of signal belongs to SSB, and the second type of signal belongs to TRS.

[0190] The apparatus 2000 of FIG. 20 can be used to implement the various processes performed by the user equipment 420 in conjunction with FIG. 4 to FIG. 19 , and for the sake of brevity, they are not described again here.

[0191] Figure 21 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 2100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 2100 can be implemented as network device 410 as shown in Figure 4 , or as a portion of network device 410 (e.g., a chip), etc., without limitation in this disclosure. As shown in Figure 21 , device 2100 includes a sending module 2110 and a processing module 2120.

[0192] In some implementations of the present disclosure, the transmitting module 2110 is configured to transmit a first reference signal to a user equipment. The processing module 2120 is configured to determine a time domain position of the second reference signal based on a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, where the time domain delay is less than a transmission period of the first reference signal. The transmitting module 2110 is further configured to transmit the second reference signal to the user equipment at the time domain position.

[0193] In some embodiments, the sending module 2110 is further configured to send configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information indicates a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0194] In some embodiments, the sending module 2110 is further configured to send updated configuration information to the user equipment, where the updated configuration information indicates an updated time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

[0195] In some embodiments, the sending module 2110 is also configured to send configuration information to the user equipment, the configuration information indicating the time domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage range, the first signal group includes a first reference signal, and the second signal group includes a second reference signal.

[0196] Exemplarily, the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, where the signal measurement window is used to represent the time length of a time domain position.

[0197] Optionally, the first reference signal belongs to SSB, and the second reference signal belongs to TRS.

[0198] Optionally, the first reference signal and the second reference signal both belong to a TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage ranges.

[0199] In some other implementations of the present disclosure, the sending module 2110 is configured to send configuration information to a user equipment, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first-category signal and a second-category signal, and where the time domain delay between a first reference signal in the paired first-category signal and a second reference signal in the second-category signal is a fixed value that is less than the transmission period of the first reference signal. The sending module 2110 is further configured to send the first reference signal to the user equipment. The sending module 2110 is further configured to send the second reference signal to the user equipment.

[0200] In some embodiments, the time domain delay between the third reference signal in the first type of signal and the fourth reference signal in the second type of signal that are in a paired relationship is also a fixed value.

[0201] Optionally, the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage. Optionally, the first type of signal belongs to SSB, and the second type of signal belongs to TRS.

[0202] The division of modules or units in the embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the disclosed embodiments may be integrated into a single unit, exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0203] 22 shows a schematic block diagram of an example device 2200 that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 2200 can be implemented as or included in the network device 410 of FIG. 4 , or can be implemented as or included in the user device 420 of FIG. 4 .

[0204] As shown in FIG. 22 , the device 2200 includes one or more processors 2210 , one or more memories 2220 coupled to the processors 2210 , and a communication module 2240 coupled to the processors 2210 .

[0205] The communication module 2240 can be used for two-way communication. The communication module 2240 can have at least one communication interface for communication. The communication interface can include any interface necessary for communicating with other devices.

[0206] Processor 2210 can be any type suitable for the local technology network and can include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), or one or more of a controller-based multi-core controller architecture. Device 2200 can have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips, which are time-slave to a clock synchronized with a main processor.

[0207] The memory 2220 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: read-only memory (ROM) 2224, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), or other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: random access memory (RAM) 2222, or other volatile memories that do not persist during a power outage.

[0208] Computer program 2230 includes computer executable instructions executed by associated processor 2210. Program 2230 may be stored in ROM 2224. Processor 2210 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 2230 into RAM 2222.

[0209] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented with the aid of the program 2230 so that the device 2200 can perform any of the processes discussed with reference to Figures 4 to 19. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0210] The program 2230 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in the device 2200 (such as in the memory 2220) or other storage device accessible by the device 2200. The program 2230 may be loaded from the computer-readable medium into the RAM 2222 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.

[0211] In some embodiments, the communication module 2240 in the device 2200 may be implemented as a transmitter and a receiver (or transceiver), which may be configured to transmit / receive information such as multiple TCIs, at least one message, capability information, etc. In addition, the device 2200 may further include one or more of a scheduler, a controller, and a radio frequency / antenna, which will not be elaborated in detail in this disclosure.

[0212] For example, the device 2200 in FIG. 22 may be implemented as an electronic device, or may be implemented as a chip or a chip system in an electronic device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0213] The present disclosure also provides a chip that may include an input interface, an output interface, and a processing circuit. In the present disclosure, the input interface and the output interface may be used to implement signaling or data interaction, while the processing circuit may be used to implement signaling or data information generation and processing.

[0214] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a chip system, including a processor for supporting a computing device to implement the functions involved in any of the above embodiments. In one possible design, the chip system may also include a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data. When the processor executes the program instructions, the device in which the chip system is installed implements the method involved in any of the above embodiments. Exemplarily, the chip system may be composed of one or more chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0215] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a processor for coupling with a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions. When the processor executes the instructions, the processor executes the methods and functions involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0216] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program or computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the methods and functions involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0217] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer instructions stored thereon. When a processor executes the instructions, the processor executes the methods and functions involved in any of the above embodiments.

[0218] In general, various embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects can be implemented in hardware, while other aspects can be implemented in firmware or software, which can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein can be implemented as, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or a controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0219] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules, which are executed in a device on a real or virtual processor of a target to perform the process / method as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of program modules can be combined or divided between program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions for the program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0220] The computer program code for implementing the disclosed method can be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program codes can be provided to the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device so that the program code, when executed by the computer or other programmable data processing device, causes the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be implemented. The program code can be executed entirely on a computer, partially on a computer, as an independent software package, partially on a computer and partially on a remote computer or entirely on a remote computer or server.

[0221] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, and the like. Examples of signals may include electrical, optical, radio, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, and the like.

[0222] A computer-readable medium may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program for or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of computer-readable storage media include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0223] In addition, although the operations of the method of the present disclosure are described in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in this particular order, or that all the operations shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. On the contrary, the steps depicted in the flowchart can change the order of execution. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps can be omitted, multiple steps can be combined into one step, and / or one step can be decomposed into multiple steps. It should also be noted that the features and functions of two or more devices according to the present disclosure can be embodied in one device. Conversely, the features and functions of a device described above can be further divided into being embodied by multiple devices.

[0224] While various implementations of the present disclosure have been described above, the foregoing description is intended to be illustrative, non-exhaustive, and non-limiting to the disclosed implementations. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described implementations. The terminology used herein is selected to facilitate explanation of the principles, practical applications, or improvements to existing technologies, or to enable others skilled in the art to understand the various implementations disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for synchronization, comprising: Determine, based on the received first reference signal, an offset change between the user equipment and the network equipment, wherein the offset change includes a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change; Determining a time domain position of the second reference signal based on a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, wherein the time domain delay is less than a transmission period of the first reference signal; as well as The offset change is updated based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Configuration information is received from the network device, where the configuration information indicates the time domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: Updated configuration information is received from the network device, the updated configuration information indicating an updated time domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicating the time domain delay amount of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage, the first signal group includes the first reference signal, and the second signal group includes the second reference signal.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, and determining the time domain position of the second reference signal comprises: The time domain position is determined with the time domain delay amount after the received time domain position of the first reference signal as a starting point and the signal measurement window as a time length.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: detecting at least one signal during the time domain location; as well as The second reference signal is determined from the at least one signal based on a signal parameter of each of the at least one signal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the second reference signal from the at least one signal comprises: determining a signal parameter for each of the at least one signal; as well as The signal whose signal parameter exceeds a preset threshold is determined as the second reference signal.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the signal parameter comprises at least one of the following: signal strength, signal quality, or signal-to-noise ratio.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: Based on the location information of the network device and the location information of the user equipment, a first part of the offset change between the user equipment and the network device is determined, and the offset change is the second part of the offset change.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first reference signal belongs to a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second reference signal belongs to a tracking reference signal TRS. 11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal both belong to a TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverages.

12. A method for synchronization, comprising: Sending a first reference signal to a user equipment; Determining a time domain position of the second reference signal based on a time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal, wherein the time domain delay is less than a transmission period of the first reference signal; as well as The second reference signal is sent to the user equipment at the time domain position.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Sending configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information indicates the time domain delay of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: Updated configuration information is sent to the user equipment, where the updated configuration information indicates an updated time domain delay amount of the second reference signal relative to the first reference signal.

15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: Configuration information is sent to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information indicates the time domain delay of the second signal group relative to the first signal group, the first signal group and the second signal group have the same beam coverage, the first signal group includes the first reference signal, and the second signal group includes the second reference signal. 16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the configuration information further indicates a signal measurement window, and the signal measurement window is used to represent a time length of the time domain position.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the first reference signal belongs to a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second reference signal belongs to a tracking reference signal TRS.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal both belong to a TRS, and the first reference signal and the second reference signal have adjacent beam coverage.

19. A method for synchronization, comprising: Determine, based on the received first reference signal, an offset change between the user equipment and the network equipment, wherein the offset change includes a time offset change and / or a frequency offset change; Determine, based on a pairing relationship between a first type of signal and a second type of signal, a time domain position of a second reference signal paired with the first reference signal, wherein a time domain delay between the first reference signal in the first type of signal and the second reference signal in the second type of signal having a pairing relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is lower than a transmission period of the first reference signal; as well as The offset change is updated based on the second reference signal detected at the time domain position.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: Configuration information is received from the network device, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between the first type of signal and the second type of signal.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein determining the time domain position of the second reference signal comprises: Based on the configuration information and the received first reference signal, the time domain position of the second reference signal paired with the first reference signal is determined.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein the first type of signal belongs to a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second type of signal belongs to a tracking reference signal TRS.

24. A method for synchronization, comprising: Sending configuration information to a user equipment, where the configuration information indicates a pairing relationship between a first type of signal and a second type of signal, and a time domain delay between a first reference signal in the first type of signal and a second reference signal in the second type of signal that have a pairing relationship is a fixed value, and the fixed value is lower than a transmission period of the first reference signal; sending the first reference signal to the user equipment; as well as The second reference signal is sent to the user equipment. 25 . The method according to claim 24 , wherein a time domain delay between a third reference signal in the first type of signal and a fourth reference signal in the second type of signal that have a paired relationship is also the fixed value.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal have the same beam coverage.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the first type of signal belongs to a synchronization signal block SSB, and the second type of signal belongs to a tracking reference signal TRS.

28. A communication device for synchronization, comprising: Means for performing a method according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 11 or any of claims 19 to 23.

29. A communication device for synchronization, comprising: Means for performing a method according to any of the preceding claims 12 to 18 or any of claims 24 to 27.

30. A user equipment, comprising: at least one memory; as well as At least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to execute program instructions stored in the at least one memory and causing the user equipment to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 19 to 23.

31. A network device comprising: at least one memory; as well as At least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to execute program instructions stored in the at least one memory and causing the network device to perform a method according to any one of claims 12 to 18 or any one of claims 24 to 27.

32. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

Images