Data transmission method and apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a data transmission method and an apparatus, for reducing the power consumption of a terminal device. The method comprises: if first DCI indicating first data retransmission is transmitted within a first activation time, first data is carried in a first target cell of a first cell group; and if the first DCI is transmitted within a second activation time, the first data is carried in a second target cell of a second cell group, the second cell group being contained in the first cell group, and the number of cells of the second cell group being less than the number of cells of the first cell group. The first activation time is the operation time of a DRX on duration timer or a DRX inactivity timer. The second activation time is an intersection period of the non-operation time of the DRX on duration timer, the non-operation time of the DRX inactivity timer and the operation time of a retransmission timer of the process of the first data.

Description

Data transmission method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on September 7, 2023, with application number 202311160443.2 and application name “A Data Transmission Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of wireless communications, and in particular to a data transmission method and apparatus. Background Art

[0003] In the field of wireless communications, the coverage area of ​​each network device can be divided into one or more cells. For terminal devices that support carrier aggregation (CA), multiple cells can be configured for them. These cells include a master cell that carries control information and a slave cell that carries data. Network devices transmit data to terminal devices via these cells, and if data transmission fails, the data can be retransmitted.

[0004] In existing methods, if data retransmission fails due to an initial transmission failure, the terminal device monitors the entire active cell group to continuously listen to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that carries retransmission scheduling information. Furthermore, the terminal device also monitors the entire active cell group to determine the active carrier for retransmission based on the retransmission scheduling information.

[0005] In this method, the terminal device will continuously monitor all cells in the main cell group and all cells in the tuned cell group, which consumes a lot of power.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a data transmission method and apparatus for reducing the power consumption of terminal equipment.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a terminal device and includes:

[0009] The terminal device communicates with the network device, and the network device sends downlink control information (DCI) to the terminal device to schedule the terminal device. When data is retransmitted, the DCI can indicate the cell that retransmits the data. In the present application, if the terminal device receives the first DCI from the network device within the first activation time, that is, if the network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device within the first activation time, then the first DCI indicates that the first data is retransmitted on the first target cell. Then the terminal device receives the first data on the first target cell, and the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group. The first cell group contains M cells, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Optionally, the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that can carry downlink data, or the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that contain downlink carriers, or the first cell group includes all scheduled cells configured for the terminal device. If the terminal device receives the first DCI from the network device within the second activation time, then the first DCI indicates that the first data is retransmitted on the second target cell. Then the terminal device receives the first data on the second target cell, the second target cell group is any one cell in the second cell group, the second cell group is included in the first cell group and the number of cells in the second cell group is less than the number of cells in the first cell group. That is to say, each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is less than M. The first data is downlink data, and the terminal device receives the first data, including the terminal device demodulating and decoding the first data. The first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer (drx-on Duration Timer) of discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer (drx-InactivityTimer) of discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception and the running time of the retransmission timer (drx-RetransmissionTimer) of the process of the first data.

[0010] It can be seen from the above technical solution that the present application has the following advantages: when the terminal device receives the first DCI indicating the retransmission of the first data within different activation times, the first data will be carried on different cells. For downlink data retransmission, if the first DCI is received within the first activation time, the first data is received on the first target cell of the first cell group. If the first DCI is received within the second activation time, the first data is received on the second target cell of the second cell group. Since the number of cells in the second cell group is less than the number of cells in the first cell group, and each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, the terminal device does not need to receive or store downlink signals from cells outside the second cell group in the first cell group within the second activation time, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0011] In some optional implementations of the first aspect, the first target cell may be a cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell in which the first data was last transmitted. That is, the first data may be retransmitted using cross-cell retransmission.

[0012] In the present application, the terminal device can receive the first data across cells, that is, the first data retransmission is a cross-cell retransmission, which can reduce the delay of data transmission.

[0013] A second aspect of the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a terminal device and includes:

[0014] During uplink data retransmission, if the terminal device receives the first DCI from the network device within the first activation time, that is, if the network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device within the first activation time, then the first DCI indicates that the first data is retransmitted on the first target cell. Then the terminal device sends the first data to the network device on the first target cell, and the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group. Optionally, the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that can carry uplink data, or the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that contain uplink carriers, or the first cell group includes all modulated cells configured for the terminal device. If the terminal device receives the first DCI from the network device within the second activation time, then the first DCI indicates that the first data is retransmitted on the second target cell. Then the terminal device sends the first data to the network device on the second target cell, and the second target cell group is any cell in the second cell group. The relevant descriptions of the first cell group, the second cell group, the first activation time, and the second activation time are similar to those of the first aspect mentioned above and will not be repeated here. Among them, the first data is uplink data.

[0015] It can be seen from the above technical solution that the present application has the following advantages: when the terminal device receives the first DCI indicating the retransmission of the first data within different activation times, the first data will be carried on different cells. For uplink data retransmission, if the first DCI is received within the first activation time, the first data is sent on the first target cell of the first cell group. If the first DCI is received within the second activation time, the first data is sent on the second target cell of the second cell group. Since the number of cells in the second cell group is less than the number of cells in the first cell group, and each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, the terminal device does not need to turn on the radio frequency devices corresponding to the cells outside the second cell group in the first cell group in advance during the second activation time to prepare for transmission, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0016] In some optional implementations of the second aspect, the first target cell may be a cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell in which the first data was last transmitted. That is, the first data may be retransmitted using cross-cell retransmission.

[0017] In the present application, the terminal device can send the first data across cells, that is, the first data retransmission is a cross-cell retransmission, which can reduce the delay of data transmission.

[0018] A third aspect of the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a network device and includes:

[0019] The network device sends a first DCI to the terminal device, and the first DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data. The time when the network device sends the first DCI is different, and the cell indicated by the first DCI for retransmitting the first data is different. Specifically, if the first DCI is sent within the first activation time, then the first DCI indicates the retransmission of the first data on the first target cell of the first cell group. If the first DCI is sent within the second activation time, then the first DCI indicates the retransmission of the first data on the second target cell of the second cell group. Among them, the retransmission of the first data includes the retransmission of the first data in the uplink or the retransmission of the first data in the downlink, which is not specifically limited here. The first target cell is any cell in the first cell group, and the first cell group includes M cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The second target cell group is any cell in the second cell group, and each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is less than M. The relevant descriptions of the first activation time and the second activation time are similar to those of the first aspect mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0020] In the present application, the content indicated by the first DCI is different as the time of sending the first DCI is different. If the network device determines to send the first DCI within the first activation time, then the first DCI indicates to retransmit the first data on the first target cell of the first cell group; if the first DCI is sent within the second activation time, then the first DCI indicates to retransmit the first data on the second target cell of the second cell group. Since the number of cells in the second cell group is less than the number of cells in the first cell group, and each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, when the first data is downlink data, within the second activation time, the terminal device does not need to receive or store downlink signals of cells outside the second cell group in the first cell group, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device. When the first data is uplink data, within the second activation time, the terminal device does not need to turn on the radio frequency devices corresponding to the cells outside the second cell group in the first cell group in advance to prepare for transmission, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0021] In some optional implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the second cell group includes only one cell, which is: a cell that initially transmits the first data, or a cell that most recently transmitted the first data. A cell that initially transmits the first data refers to a cell that transmits the first data for the first time. A cell that most recently transmitted the first data refers to a cell that carries the first data in a first data transmission closest to the time of sending the first DCI. This first data transmission may be an initial transmission or a retransmission of the first data.

[0022] In this implementation, the second cell group includes only one cell, which means that when the first data is downlink data, within the second activation time, the terminal device only needs to receive or store the downlink signal of one cell to retransmit the first data, which greatly reduces the number of cells received or stored by the terminal device and greatly reduces the power consumption of the terminal device. When the first data is uplink data, within the second activation time, the terminal device only needs to turn on the radio frequency device of one cell in advance to prepare for transmission, which greatly reduces the power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, when this cell is the cell that most recently transmitted the first data, when the first data is downlink data, since the cell has already received or stored the cell when the first data was most recently transmitted, the convenience of the technical solution is improved. When the first data is uplink data, since the radio frequency component of the cell has been turned on when the first data was most recently transmitted, it only needs to remain turned on when retransmitting the first data, which improves the convenience of the technical solution.

[0023] In some optional implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the second cell group includes all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same primary cell as the initial transmission cell, where the initial transmission cell is a cell that initially transmits the first data. Alternatively, the second cell group includes all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same primary cell as the historical cell, where the historical cell is a cell that most recently transmitted the first data.

[0024] In this implementation, when the second cell group is all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same main tuning cell as the initial transmission cell or the historical cell, since the main tuning relationship of the cell is pre-configured, in this implementation, it is only necessary to monitor the DCI on one main tuning cell, which can also save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0025] In some optional implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the second cell group is the first preset cell group, the first preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the first cell group, or the first preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the process number of the first data.

[0026] In some optional implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, if the first cell group includes self-scheduling cells, the second cell group only includes self-scheduling cells.

[0027] In this implementation, in the scenario where the first cell group includes a self-scheduling cell, the second cell group may only include the self-scheduling cell. When data is retransmitted, if the first data is downlink data, within the second activation time, the terminal device can only receive or store the self-scheduling cell. Since the self-scheduling cell can also transmit control information and has scheduling capabilities, in the scenario where there is only one self-scheduling cell, the terminal device only needs to receive or store one cell (i.e., the self-scheduling cell) to achieve data retransmission, which greatly saves power consumption. If the first data is uplink data, within the second activation time, the terminal device only needs to turn on the radio frequency device of the self-scheduling cell in advance to prepare for transmission. In the scenario where there is only one self-scheduling cell, the terminal device only needs to turn on the radio frequency device of one cell in advance, which greatly reduces the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0028] In some optional implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the running time is the time during which the timer is started but not reduced to 0, and the non-running time is the time during which the timer is not started, is turned off, or is reduced to 0 after being started. For example, taking a discontinuous reception (DRX) continuous listening timer (drx-on duration timer) as an example, the running time of the timer refers to the time during which the timer is started but not reduced to 0.

[0029] A fourth aspect of the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a terminal device and includes:

[0030] At different activation times, the terminal device monitors the DCI for scheduling data transmission in different cells. The data transmission mentioned here includes initial data transmission or data retransmission, which is not specifically limited here. During the first activation time, the terminal device monitors the first DCI from the network device on all cells in the third cell group. The third cell group contains N cells, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Optionally, the third cell group includes all cells configured for the terminal device that can carry control information, that is, the third cell group includes all main cells configured for the terminal device. During the second activation time, the terminal device monitors the first DCI from the network device on all cells in the fourth cell group, and does not monitor DCI on other cells in the third cell group except for the cells in the fourth cell group. Each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, and the number of cells included in the fourth cell group is less than N. Among them, the relevant descriptions of the first activation time and the second activation time are similar to those of the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here.

[0031] In the present application, the terminal device monitors the first DCI in different cells during different activation times. Specifically, during the first activation time, the first DCI is monitored on all cells in the third cell group, and during the second activation time, the first DCI is monitored on all cells in the fourth cell group. Since the number of cells in the fourth cell group is less than the number of cells in the third cell group, and each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, the terminal device does not need to monitor the DCI of cells in the third cell group other than the fourth cell group during the second activation time, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0032] A fifth aspect of the present application provides a data transmission method, which is applied to a network device and includes:

[0033] The network device will determine to send the first DCI to the terminal device within the first activation time or the second activation time, and the first DCI is used to schedule the transmission of the first data, including the initial transmission or retransmission of the first data. If the network device determines to send the first DCI within the first activation time, then the first DCI is sent on the third target cell of the third cell group. If the network device determines to send the first DCI within the second activation time, then the first DCI is sent on the fourth target cell of the fourth cell group. Among them, the relevant descriptions of the third cell group and the fourth cell group are similar to the aforementioned fourth aspect, and the relevant descriptions of the first activation time and the second activation time are similar to the aforementioned first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0034] In the present application, the network device sends the first DCI on different cells based on the different times at which the first DCI is sent. If it is determined to be sent within the second activation time, the first DCI is sent on the fourth target cell of the fourth cell group. Since the number of cells in the fourth cell group is less than the number of cells in the third cell group, and each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, the terminal device does not need to monitor the DCI of cells in the third cell group other than the fourth cell group during the second activation time, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0035] In some optional implementations of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the fourth cell group includes only one cell, which is: the cell that initially transmits the scheduling information of the first data and the cell that most recently transmits the scheduling information of the first data.

[0036] In this implementation, the fourth cell group includes only one cell, meaning the terminal device only needs to monitor one cell to receive the first DCI. This significantly reduces the number of cells monitored by the terminal device and significantly reduces power consumption. Furthermore, if this cell is the one that most recently transmitted scheduling information for the first data, the convenience of the technical solution is enhanced because the cell was already monitoring this cell when the scheduling information for the first data was most recently transmitted.

[0037] In some optional implementations of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the fourth cell group is the second preset cell group, the second preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the third cell group, or the second preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the process number of the first data.

[0038] In some optional implementations of the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect, the running time is the time after the timer is turned on and has not been reduced to 0, and the non-running time is the time after the timer is not turned on or is turned off or is reduced to 0 after being turned on.

[0039] The sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a module for implementing the method shown in any aspect of the first to fifth aspects, or any possible implementation method of the first to fifth aspects. Its beneficial effects are as shown above and will not be repeated here.

[0040] In the seventh aspect of the present application, a communication device is provided, including a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or to send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor being used to implement the method shown in any possible implementation of the first to fifth aspects or the first to fifth aspects through logic circuits or execution code instructions.

[0041] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method shown in any one of the first to fifth aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to fifth aspects, is implemented.

[0042] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a processor, implements the method shown in any one of the aforementioned first to fifth aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to fifth aspects.

[0043] The beneficial effects of any aspect from the seventh to the ninth aspect are similar to those of any aspect from the first to the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation method of the first to the fifth aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG2 is a flow chart of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of activation time provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a cell configuration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of data retransmission provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG6 is another flowchart of a data transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG7 is another schematic flow chart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG9 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] The embodiments of the present application provide a data transmission method and apparatus for reducing the power consumption of a terminal device.

[0054] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0055] First, please refer to FIG1 , which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application.

[0056] As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system 1000 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a and 110b in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 110) and may also include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 120). RAN nodes may be referred to as network devices. RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1 ). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. RAN node 110 is wirelessly connected to core network 200. Core network devices in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 may be separate physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates the logical functions of core network devices and RAN nodes. The communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300 .

[0057] RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). RAN100 may also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0058] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, facilitates wireless access to a communication system by a terminal. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station, an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, or a donor node.

[0059] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU implements the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) functions, as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) functions. The DU implements the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, as well as some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0060] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU may be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU may be called an open DU (O-DU), and a RU may be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For ease of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0061] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0062] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0063] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. To terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, to base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0064] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0065] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0066] In this application, a base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection in the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it will also be interfered with by signals from neighboring cells.

[0067] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), PDCCH and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) are only used as examples of downlink data channels, downlink control channels and uplink data channels, respectively. In different systems and different scenarios, data channels and control channels may have different names, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0068] Next, relevant concepts that may be involved in the embodiments of the present application are explained.

[0069] Self-scheduling cell: A cell's downlink carrier carries a control channel, scheduling the cell's uplink and downlink data channels. This cell is considered a self-scheduling cell, acting as both a scheduling cell and a scheduled cell. The scheduling cell, also known as the master cell, carries the control channel; the scheduled cell, also known as the scheduled cell, carries the data channel.

[0070] Cross-carrier scheduling: In NR, terminals that support aggregated carriers correspond to multiple cells and can transmit data on multiple carriers. Among them, a cell can be configured with one downlink carrier and one or more uplink carriers. Among multiple cells of aggregated carriers, the downlink carrier of one cell carries the control channel and can schedule the uplink and downlink data channels of another cell. This scheduling form is called cross-carrier scheduling (CCS).

[0071] Data retransmission: The data sent by the network device to the terminal device is called downlink data, and the data sent by the terminal device to the network device is called uplink data. Based on this, data retransmission is divided into uplink data retransmission and downlink data retransmission. If the network device receives an error response from the terminal device after sending downlink data to the terminal device, the network device determines that the transmission of the downlink data has failed and will retransmit the downlink data. If the network device calls the terminal device to send uplink data through the control channel, and the network device fails to parse the uplink data after receiving it, the network device can determine that the uplink data transmission has failed and will reschedule the transmission of the uplink data. In general, when retransmitting data, the network device will resend the scheduling information to schedule the transmission of uplink data or downlink data.

[0072] UE C-DRX mechanism: refers to the DRX mechanism of the UE in the radio resource control connected state (radio resource control_CONNECTED, RRC_CONNECTED) state.

[0073] In the terminal-side C-DRX mechanism, the UE can periodically monitor the PDCCH according to the DRX cycle configured by the access network equipment. A DRX cycle typically consists of two time periods: active time and inactive time. The UE monitors the PDCCH during the active time, while it can remain dormant during the inactive time and not monitor the PDCCH, thereby saving terminal power consumption.

[0074] It should be noted that the C-DRX mechanism is mainly used to control the PDCCH scrambled by the following radio network temporary identity (RNTI): cell-radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI), cancellation indication-radio network temporary identity (CI-RNTI), configured scheduling-radio network temporary identity (CS-RNTI), interruption-radio network temporary identity (INT-RNTI), slot format indicator-radio network temporary identity (SFI-RNTI), semi-persistent-channel state information-radio network temporary identity (SP-CSI-RNTI), transmit power control-physical uplink control channel-radio network temporary identity (SP-CSI-RNTI), transmit power control-physical uplink control channel-radio network temporary identity (SP-CSI-RNTI), and transmit power control-physical uplink control channel-radio network temporary identity (SP-CSI-RNTI). identity, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), transmit power control-physical uplink shared channel-radio network temporary identity (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), transmit power control-sounding reference signal-radio network temporary identity,TPC-SRS-RNTI) and artificial intelligence-radio network temporary identity (AI-RNTI). That is, during the inactive time, the UE does not monitor the PDCCH encrypted by the above RNTI.

[0075] The activation time includes the duration of the DRX onDurationTimer (drx-onDurationTimer), the DRX inactivity timer (drx-InactivityTimer), the DRX downlink retransmission timer (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL), and the DRX uplink retransmission timer (drx-RetransmissionTimerUL). The activation time also includes the duration of the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer (used for contention resolution in random access) or the msgB-ResponseWindow (used for 2-step random access contention resolution); the waiting period after the UE sends a scheduling request (SR) on the PUCCH; and the period after the UE successfully receives a random access response (RAR) for non-contention-based random access but has not yet received a PDCCH indicating a new transmission.

[0076] drx-onDurationTimer: The access network device configures the length of the drx-onDurationTimer to the UE through RRC signaling. Taking the long DRX cycle as an example, the parameter for the long DRX cycle length (drx-LongCycle), the parameter for determining the subframe at the start of the DRX cycle (drx-StartOffset), and the time slot offset within the subframe at the start of the DRX cycle (drx-SlotOffset) are also configured. If the long DRX cycle is used, the terminal starts the drx-onDurationTimer (hereinafter referred to as onDurationTimer) when the subframe number satisfies the following formula:

[0077] [(SFN×10)+subframe number]modulo(drx-LongCycle)=drx-StartOffset

[0078] Where SFN is the system frame number, and modulo represents the modulo operation. A system frame is also called a radio frame. A radio frame is 10ms long and consists of multiple subframes, each of which consists of multiple time slots. That is, the onDurationTimer is enabled after the subframe offset drx-SlotOffset at the start of the Long DRX cycle. If a short DRX cycle is used, the terminal enables the drx-onDurationTimer when the subframe number satisfies the following formula:

[0079] [(SFN×10)+subframenumber]modulo(drx-ShortCycle)=(drx-StartOffset)modulo(drx-ShortCycle)

[0080] That is, onDurationTimer is started after the subframe offset drx-SlotOffset at the start of the short DRX cycle.

[0081] The access network device can send a media access control-control element (MAC-CE) to switch the long DRX cycle to a short DRX cycle, or vice versa. In addition, the access network device can configure a timer (drx-ShortCycleTimer) for the UE. When the device is configured to work in the short DRX cycle and the timer expires, the device automatically switches to the long DRX cycle.

[0082] Because the drx-LongCycle and drx-ShortCycle parameters are different and are not used at the same time, the UE C-DRX parameters can be considered to include two DRX parameter groups. The cycles in these two DRX parameter groups are different, but other parameters, such as drx-onDurationTimer and drx-InactivityTimer, are the same. For these identical parameters, the access network device can be configured only once, and the terminal only receives the configuration once. There is an active DRX parameter group in the two DRX parameter groups. When using the Long DRX cycle, the active parameter group is the DRX parameter group containing drx-LongCycle; when using the Short DRX cycle, the active parameter group is the DRX parameter group containing drx-ShortCycle.

[0083] The C-DRX parameters configured by the access network device to the UE through RRC signaling may be specifically shown in Table 1. The triggering conditions of drx-InactivityTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, and drx-RetransmissionTimerUL are shown in Table 1, that is, these three timers will only be started when there is data transmission.

[0084] Table 1

[0085] The data transmission method provided in the embodiments of this application addresses data retransmission scenarios. During data retransmission, the network device selects a primary cell to transmit control information to schedule data retransmission, and the retransmitted data is carried on a secondary cell. Therefore, the terminal device must not only determine the primary cell for transmitting the scheduling information for data retransmission, but also the secondary cell for retransmitting data. These two aspects are explained below.

[0086] Next, a solution for determining the modulated cell will be described using downlink data retransmission as an example. Please refer to FIG2 , which is a flowchart of a data transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application, including:

[0087] 201. The network device sends DRX parameters to the terminal device.

[0088] Considering that terminal devices do not need to continuously exchange information with network devices, but rather do so at regular intervals, continuously monitoring the control channel would result in unnecessary power consumption. Therefore, in DRX scenarios, while ensuring efficient data transmission, terminal devices periodically enter and exit sleep and active states. In sleep mode, they do not monitor the control channel, but in active mode, they monitor the control channel. By configuring DRX parameters for terminal devices, the terminal device is placed in a DRX scenario.

[0089] The protocol layer above the physical layer can define DRX parameters, allowing network devices to send these DRX parameters to terminal devices. The protocol layer above the physical layer can also be referred to as a higher layer, such as a radio resource control layer or a media access control layer. The terminal device is active during the activation time defined by the DRX parameters. In the embodiment of the present application, the activation time includes a first activation time and a second activation time.

[0090] In an embodiment of the present application, the first activation time is the running time of the DRX continuous listening timer, or the running time of the DRX deactivation timer. The second activation time is the non-running time of the DRX continuous listening timer, the non-running time of the DRX deactivation timer, and the intersection period with the running time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data. When the first data is downlink data, the retransmission timer of the process of the first data is the downlink retransmission timer; when the first data is uplink data, the retransmission timer of the process of the first data is the uplink retransmission timer. The so-called running time refers to the time that the timer is not reduced to 0 after it is turned on. The so-called non-running time refers to the time when the corresponding timer is not turned on or has been turned off or is reduced to 0 after being turned on. The intersection period refers to the non-running time of the DRX continuous listening timer, the non-running time of the DRX deactivation timer, and the overlapping time with the running time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data.

[0091] It should be noted that the first activation time and the second activation time mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are specific to the terminal device, and both the network device and the terminal device can determine the first activation time and the second activation time. The first activation time and the second activation time are described below with reference to a schematic diagram. Please refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the activation time provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0092] Taking the case where retransmission occurs after initial transmission as an example, FIG3 (a) shows the retransmission of downlink data within a DRX cycle, and FIG3 (b) shows the retransmission of uplink data.

[0093] As shown in (a) of Figure 3, a DRX cycle T includes a first activation time tA and a second activation time tB. The first activation time tA includes t1 or t2, and the second activation time tB includes the time in the DRX cycle T except t1 and t2 and overlapping with t3. t1 indicates the time during which the timer drx-onDurationTimer continuously monitors the PDCCH starting at the start of the DRX cycle, that is, the running time of the timer drx-onDurationTimer is t1. t2 indicates the time during which the timer drx-InactivityTimer starts when it detects that the PDCCH indicates a downlink initial transmission and keeps monitoring, that is, the running time of the timer drx-InactivityTimer is t2. t3 indicates the time during which the timer drx-RetransmissionTimer continuously monitors the PDCCH from the time it expects to receive a downlink retransmission until the time it receives the downlink retransmission, that is, the running time of the timer drx-RetransmissionTimer is t3.

[0094] As shown in Figure 3(b), a DRX cycle T includes a first activation time tA and second activation times tB and tC. The first activation time tA includes either t1 or t2, and the second activation time tB includes the time in the DRX cycle T excluding t1 and t2, and overlapping with t3 and t4. t1 represents the time that the drx-onDurationTimer continuously monitors the PDCCH starting at the start of the DRX cycle. That is, the running time of the drx-onDurationTimer is t1. t2 represents the time that the drx-InactivityTimer starts when it detects that the PDCCH indicates an uplink initial transmission and continues monitoring. That is, the running time of the drx-InactivityTimer is t2. t3 and t4 represent the time that the drx-RetransmissionTimer continuously monitors the PDCCH for uplink retransmissions starting from the time it expects to receive an uplink retransmission. That is, the running times of the drx-RetransmissionTimer are t3 and t4.

[0095] 202. The network device sends configuration information of the first cell group to the terminal device.

[0096] The network device may also send configuration information of a first cell group to the terminal device. The first cell group represents a modulated cell group of the terminal device. The first cell group includes M cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0097] Exemplarily, the first cell group may be all service cells of the terminal device, or all activated service cells of the terminal device, or all activated and non-dormant service cells of the terminal device, or all service cells of the terminal device configured with a downlink carrier, or all activated service cells of the terminal device configured with a downlink carrier, or all activated and non-dormant service cells of the terminal device configured with a downlink carrier, or all service cells of the terminal device configured with an uplink carrier, or all activated service cells of the terminal device configured with an uplink carrier, or all activated and non-dormant service cells of the terminal device configured with an uplink carrier.

[0098] Exemplarily, the network device configures a service cell set to the terminal device through high-layer signaling, and the high-layer signaling includes the cell serial numbers of all service cells in the service cell set. The first cell group can be the service cell set, or all activated service cells in the service cell set, or all activated and non-dormant service cells in the service cell set, or all service cells configured with downlink carriers in the service cell set, or all activated service cells configured with downlink carriers in the service cell set, or all activated and non-dormant service cells configured with downlink carriers in the service cell set, or all service cells configured with uplink carriers in the service cell set, or all activated service cells configured with uplink carriers in the service cell set, or all activated and non-dormant service cells configured with uplink carriers in the service cell set.

[0099] For example, for the uplink, the network device configures a service cell set to the terminal device through high-level signaling. This high-level signaling includes the cell serial numbers of all service cells in this service cell set. The first cell group can be this service cell set, or all activated service cells in this service cell set, or all activated and non-dormant service cells in this service cell set.

[0100] For example, for downlink, the network device configures a service cell set to the terminal device through high-level signaling. This high-level signaling includes the cell serial numbers of all service cells in this service cell set. The first cell group can be this service cell set, or all activated service cells in this service cell set, or all activated and non-dormant service cells in this service cell set.

[0101] In some optional implementations, when there are multiple first cell groups, any two first cell groups do not include the same serving cell.

[0102] In some optional implementations, when there are multiple downlink-related first cell groups, any two downlink-related first cell groups do not include the same serving cell. When there are multiple uplink-related first cell groups, any two uplink-related first cell groups do not include the same serving cell. When there are an uplink-related first cell group and a downlink-related first cell group, the uplink-related first cell group and the downlink-related first cell group may be the same or different.

[0103] In actual applications, there are many possible configurations of the first cell group. Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of the cell configuration provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0104] As shown in Figure 4(a), a terminal device can be configured with one master cell and N slave cells, where N is an integer greater than 1. In this case, all N slave cells are scheduled by a common master cell. Alternatively, the master cell can be any one of the N slave cells. In other words, there is a self-scheduling cell that is both a master cell and a slave cell.

[0105] As shown in Figure 4(b), a terminal device can be configured with N master cells and N slave cells in a one-to-one correspondence. Each master cell uniquely schedules one slave cell, and each slave cell is uniquely scheduled by one master cell. Optionally, in the embodiment shown in Figure 4(b), the terminal device can be configured with N cells, each of which is a self-scheduling cell.

[0106] As shown in FIG4(c), K master cells and N controlled cells may be configured for the terminal device, where K and N are both integers greater than 1. The K master cells may schedule any controlled cell in the controlled cell group.

[0107] As shown in Figure 4(d), a terminal device can be configured with K master cells and N slave cells. Each master cell schedules one or more slave cells in the slave cell group. For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 4(d), master cell 1 schedules slave cell 1.1 to slave cell 1.X; master cell 2 schedules slave cell 2.1 to slave cell 2.Y. Where X and Y are both integers greater than 1.

[0108] It should be noted that Figure 4 is only an example of cell configuration. In actual applications, the cells configured for the terminal device may also be other situations, which are not specifically limited here. For example, among the cells configured for the terminal device, on the basis of each dispatched cell corresponding to one dispatching cell as shown in Figure 4 (d), a dispatching cell may be configured for some or all dispatched cells. In other words, in a dispatched cell group, there may also be dispatched cells corresponding to multiple dispatching cells and being dispatched by multiple dispatching cells.

[0109] It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of step 201 and step 202. In actual applications, step 201 can be executed first, step 202 can be executed first, or step 201 and step 202 can be executed at the same time. No specific limitation is made here.

[0110] 203. The network device sends a first DCI within a first activation time.

[0111] If the network device determines to send the first DCI within the first activation time, then the first DCI indicates the retransmission of the first data on the first target cell of the first cell group. Sending the first DCI within the first activation time means that the time of sending the first DCI is included in the first activation time, and can be any time between the start time and the end time of the first activation time, which is not specifically limited here. The first data can be one or more transport blocks (TB) or one or more code block groups (CBG), which are not specifically limited here.

[0112] Optionally, the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group, or the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell in which the first data was last transmitted. The last transmission of the first data may be an initial transmission of the first data or a retransmission of the first data, and the specific details are not limited here. In general, the first target cell for retransmission of the first data is a cell in the first cell group and cannot be a cell outside the first cell group.

[0113] Exemplarily, it is assumed that the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell that last transmitted the first data. For example, assuming that the first cell group includes cells 1 to 5, and the cell that last transmitted the first data is cell 1, then the cell indicated by the first DCI for retransmitting the first data is any one of cells 2 to 5, thereby achieving cross-cell retransmission of data.

[0114] The following diagram illustrates cross-cell retransmission. FIG5 is a diagram illustrating data retransmission according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG5 , a white box represents downlink (D) and a light gray box represents uplink (U).

[0115] In the embodiment shown in Figure 5(a), both cells 1 and 2 operate on time division duplex (TDD) carriers, with complementary uplink and downlink configurations. This complementary uplink and downlink configuration can also be understood as the opposite uplink and downlink configurations. That is, when cell 1 activates the uplink carrier, cell 2 activates the downlink carrier; and when cell 1 activates the downlink carrier, cell 2 activates the uplink carrier.

[0116] As shown in Figure 5 (a), suppose that cell 1 needs to retransmit a PUSCH after initially transmitting it in time slot 4. If it is an intra-cell retransmission (that is, the initial transmission and retransmission of the same process must be on the same carrier), then the earliest retransmission can be performed in slot 8 of cell 1. If it is an inter-cell retransmission (that is, the initial transmission and retransmission of the same process can be on different carriers), then the earliest it can be performed in cell 2 is slot 5. Taking into account factors such as preparation time, the embodiment shown in Figure 5 (a) takes retransmission in slot 6 of cell 2 as an example. Based on the description in this paragraph, it can be seen that when TDD is adopted in different cells and the uplink and downlink configurations are complementary, cross-cell retransmission can reduce data transmission delay and improve spectrum utilization.

[0117] In the embodiment shown in (b) of Figure 5, both cell 1 and cell 2 operate on the TDD carrier and have the same uplink and downlink configurations. As shown in (b) of Figure 5, assume that cell 1 needs to retransmit after initially transmitting a PDSCH on slot 0. When slots 1 and 2 of cell 1 are heavily loaded and cannot retransmit this process, if it is an intra-cell retransmission, then the earliest retransmission can be performed is slot 5 of cell 1. If it is an inter-cell retransmission, then the earliest it can be performed on cell 2 is slot 1. Taking into account factors such as preparation time, the embodiment shown in (b) of Figure 5 takes retransmission on slot 2 of cell 2 as an example. Based on the description in this paragraph, it can be seen that when time division multiplexing is used in different cells and the uplink and downlink configurations are the same, cross-cell retransmission can reduce the delay of data transmission and improve spectrum utilization.

[0118] It is understood that, as mentioned above, a cell can be configured with one downlink carrier and one or more uplink carriers. Carriers are used to carry data channels or control channels. Data channels are used to transmit data, and control channels are used to transmit control information. Therefore, cross-cell retransmission can also be called cross-carrier retransmission.

[0119] It should also be noted that the premise for the network device to send the first DCI to the terminal device is that the last transmission of the first data failed. That is, before the first DCI is sent, the network device determines that the first data transmission is erroneous. The initial transmission of the first data is carried on a cell in the first cell group. Since the first data can be either uplink data or downlink data. Then, as mentioned above, there are many possible ways for the network device to determine that the first data transmission has failed. If the first data is uplink data, when the network device fails to parse the first data, it is determined that the first data transmission has failed. If the first data is downlink data, when the network device receives an error response from the terminal device for the first data, it is determined that the first data transmission has failed. In addition, the first data transmission failure refers to the most recent transmission failure of the first data, which may be either the initial transmission failure of the first data or the retransmission failure of the first data, and the specific details are not limited here.

[0120] It should also be noted that, in this application, the time sequence of the network device sending the first DCI and sending the PDSCH carrying the first data is not limited. The network device can send the first DCI first, or send the PDSCH first, or send the first DCI and PDSCH at the same time, which is not limited here.

[0121] 204. The terminal device receives the first DCI within the first activation time and receives the first data on the first target cell of the first cell group.

[0122] If the network device sends a first DCI to the terminal device within the first activation time to schedule retransmission of the first data, the terminal device may receive the first DCI within the first activation time and determine that the cell carrying the retransmission of the first data is the first target cell of the first cell group. The first target cell is any cell in the first cell group, or any cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell that last transmitted the first data.

[0123] For example, for downlink data retransmission, the first DCI instructs the network device to send first data to the terminal device on the first target cell, and the terminal device receives the first data on the first target cell. The terminal device receives the first data, including demodulating and decoding the first data.

[0124] Optionally, if the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group, during the first activation time, the terminal device continues to receive and store downlink signals from all cells in the first cell group. When the first DCI is received and the first DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data, because the downlink signals of all cells in the first cell group are received and stored, if the retransmission of the first data is carried on any cell in the first cell group, even if the retransmission of the first data starts before the parsing of the first DCI is completed, the terminal device can also parse the retransmission of the first data.

[0125] Similarly, assume that the cell in the first cell group that last transmitted the first data is cell A. If the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell that last transmitted the first data, that is, the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group except cell A. During the first activation time, the terminal device continues to receive and store downlink signals from all cells in the first cell group except cell A. When the first DCI is received and the first DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data, because the downlink signals of all cells in the first cell group except cell A are received and stored, if the retransmission of the first data is carried on any cell other than cell A in the first cell group, even if the retransmission of the first data starts before the parsing of the first DCI is completed, the terminal device can also parse the retransmission of the first data.

[0126] It should also be noted that if, within the first activation time, the terminal device receives retransmission scheduling information for retransmitting the first data on a cell outside the first cell group, the terminal device does not process the retransmission of the first data on a cell outside the first cell group. In other words, the terminal device receives a first DCI within the first activation time, and the first DCI indicates that the first data is to be retransmitted on the first target cell. The terminal device does not expect the first target cell to be a cell outside the first cell group. If the first DCI indicates that the cell for data retransmission is a cell outside the first cell group, the terminal device does not receive the first data on the cell outside the first cell group.

[0127] 205. The network device sends a first DCI within the second activation time.

[0128] If the network device sends the first DCI to the terminal device within the second activation time, then the first DCI indicates that the first data is retransmitted on the second target cell of the second cell group. Sending the first DCI within the second activation time means that the time when the network device sends the first DCI is included in the second activation time, and can be any time between the start time and the end time of the second activation time, and the specific time is not limited here.

[0129] In addition, each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is the number of cells in the first cell group. That is to say, the second cell group is included in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is less than M. In general, the second target cell for retransmitting the first data is any cell in the second cell group and cannot be a cell outside the second cell group. In other words, the terminal device receives the first DCI within the second activation time, and the first DCI indicates that the first data is retransmitted on the second target cell. The terminal device does not expect the second target cell to be a cell outside the second cell group. If the first DCI indicates that the cell for data retransmission is a cell outside the second cell group, the terminal device does not receive the first data on the cell outside the first cell group.

[0130] In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple possibilities for the cells included in the second cell group, which are described below respectively.

[0131] In some optional implementations, the second cell group may include only one cell, which may be the cell that initially transmits the first data, or the cell that most recently transmitted the first data. In this case, the second cell group may be specified by the air interface protocol of the third generation partnership project (3GPP). The cell that initially transmits the first data refers to the cell that sends the first data for the first time. The cell that most recently transmitted the first data refers to the cell that carries the first data in the first data transmission closest to the sending time of the first DCI. Furthermore, the most recently transmitted first data may be either the initial transmission of the first data or the retransmission of the first data, which is not specifically limited here.

[0132] In this embodiment, the second cell group includes only one cell. This means that when the first data is downlink data, during the second activation time, the terminal device only needs to receive or store one modulated cell to receive the retransmitted first data. This significantly reduces the number of cells received or stored by the terminal device, significantly reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. In addition, when this cell is the cell that most recently transmitted the first data, when the first data is downlink data, since the cell has already received or stored the cell during the most recent transmission of the first data, it only needs to continue receiving or storing the cell, thereby improving the convenience of the technical solution.

[0133] In some optional implementations, the second cell group is comprised of all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same master cell as the initial transmission cell, where the initial transmission cell is the cell that initially transmits the first data. Taking Figure 4(d) as an example, the first cell group is the master cell group, including master cells 1.1 through 1.K. If the initial transmission cell is master cell 1.1, since initial transmission cell 1.1 corresponds to master cell 1, the second cell group is the master cell group corresponding to master cell 1, including master cells 1.1 through 1.X as shown in Figure 4(d).

[0134] In some optional implementations, the second cell group is comprised of all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same master cell as the historical cell, where the historical cell is the cell that most recently transmitted the first data. Taking Figure 4(d) as an example, the first cell group is the master cell group, including master cells 1.1 through K. If the historical cell is master cell 2.1, since historical cell 2.1 corresponds to master cell 2, the second cell group is the master cell group corresponding to master cell 2, including master cells 2.1 through 2.Y as shown in Figure 4(d).

[0135] In an embodiment of the present application, when the second cell group is all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same main tuning cell as the initial transmission cell or the historical cell, since the main tuning relationship of the cell is pre-configured, in this implementation mode, it is only necessary to monitor the DCI on one main tuning cell, which can also save the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0136] In some optional embodiments, the second cell group is the first preset cell group, and the first preset cell group is mapped to the first cell group, or the first preset cell group is mapped to the process ID of the first data. In this embodiment, the mapping relationship between the second cell group and the first cell group is specified by a higher layer and then communicated to the terminal device via the network device. For example, process IDs 1 to 16 can be preset to correspond to cell 1, and process IDs 17 to 32 to correspond to cell 2. In this case, if the process ID of the first data is 15, then the cell carrying the first data can be determined to be cell 1.

[0137] In some optional implementations, if the first cell group includes a self-scheduling cell, the second cell group includes only the self-scheduling cell. In actual applications, the first cell group may include one or more self-scheduling cells, and the number of cells included in the second cell group may also vary, as described below.

[0138] For example, taking (a) in Figure 4 as an example, the first cell group is the scheduled cell group. Assuming that scheduled cell 1 is a self-scheduled cell, it means that the master cell and the scheduled cell 1 are actually the same cell, and the master cell is included in the scheduled cell group. At this time, the second cell group only includes the self-scheduled cell, that is, only includes the master cell, or in other words, only includes the scheduled cell 1. When the retransmitted first data is a downlink data retransmission, the carrier carrying the retransmission is the downlink carrier of the master cell; when the retransmitted first data is an uplink data retransmission, the carrier carrying the retransmission is the uplink carrier of the master cell.

[0139] For example, using (d) in Figure 4 as an example, the first cell group is the scheduled cell group. Assuming that scheduled cell 1.1 and scheduled cell 2.1 are self-scheduled cells, the second cell group here only includes scheduled cell 1.1 and scheduled cell 2.1, or in other words, only includes master cell 1 and master cell 2.

[0140] In an embodiment of the present application, in a scenario where the first cell group includes a self-scheduling cell, the second cell group may only include a self-scheduling cell. When downlink data is retransmitted, within the second activation time, the terminal device may only receive or store the self-scheduling cell. Since the self-scheduling cell can also transmit control information and has scheduling capabilities, in a scenario where there is only one main scheduling cell, the terminal device only needs to receive or store one cell to achieve data retransmission, which greatly saves power consumption.

[0141] It should also be noted that, in this application, the time sequence of the network device sending the first DCI and sending the PDSCH carrying the first data is not limited. The network device can send the first DCI first, or send the PDSCH first, or send the first DCI and PDSCH at the same time, which is not limited here.

[0142] 206. The terminal device receives the first DCI within the second activation time and receives the first data on the second target cell of the second cell group.

[0143] If the network device sends a first DCI to the terminal device within the second activation time to schedule retransmission of the first data, the terminal device may receive the first DCI within the second activation time and determine that the cell carrying the retransmission of the first data is a second target cell in the second cell group, where the second target cell is any cell in the second cell group.

[0144] Exemplarily, for downlink data retransmission, that is, the first DCI instructs the network device to send the first data to the terminal device on the second target cell, and the terminal device receives the first data on the second target cell. During the second activation time, the terminal device continues to receive and store downlink signals from all cells in the second cell group. When the second DCI is received and the second DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data, because the downlink signals of all cells in the second cell group are received and stored, if the retransmission of the first data is carried on any cell in the second cell group, even if the retransmission of the first data starts before the parsing of the second DCI is completed, the terminal device can also parse the retransmission of the first data.

[0145] It should also be noted that if, within the second activation time, the terminal device receives retransmission scheduling information for retransmitting the first data on a cell outside the second cell group, the terminal device does not process the retransmission of the first data on a cell outside the second cell group. In other words, the terminal device receives a first DCI within the second activation time, and the first DCI indicates that the first data is to be retransmitted on the second target cell. The terminal device does not expect the second target cell to be a cell outside the second cell group. If the first DCI indicates that the cell for data retransmission is a cell outside the second cell group, the terminal device does not receive the first data on the cell outside the second cell group.

[0146] It should be noted that during a downlink data retransmission process, only steps 203 and 204 may be executed, or only steps 205 and 206 may be executed. The specific execution method depends on whether the network device sends the first DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time, or whether the terminal device receives the first DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time, which will not be further described here.

[0147] In general, in the embodiments of the present application, the contents indicated by the first DCI transmitted by the network device and the terminal device during different activation times are different: for downlink data retransmission, if the first DCI is transmitted during the first activation time, the first DCI indicates that the first data is received on the first target cell of the first cell group. If the first DCI is transmitted during the second activation time, the first DCI indicates that the first data is received on the second target cell of the second cell group. Since the number of cells in the second cell group is less than the number of cells in the first cell group, and each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, the terminal device does not need to receive or store downlink signals from cells outside the second cell group in the first cell group during the second activation time, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0148] The embodiment shown in FIG2 takes downlink data retransmission as an example. In actual applications, uplink data retransmission can also be performed. This situation is described below. Please refer to FIG6 , which is a flow chart of the data transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application, including:

[0149] 601. The network device sends DRX parameters to the terminal device.

[0150] 602. The network device sends configuration information of the first cell group to the terminal device.

[0151] 603. The network device sends a first DCI within the first activation time.

[0152] Steps 601 to 603 are similar to the aforementioned steps 201 to 203, as described above, and will not be repeated here. The difference is that the embodiment shown in FIG2 introduces downlink data retransmission, the first data is downlink data, and the first cell group includes all cells configured for the terminal device that can carry downlink data, or the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that contain downlink carriers, or the first cell group includes all modulated cells configured for the terminal device. The embodiment shown in FIG6 introduces uplink data retransmission, the first data is uplink data, the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that can carry uplink data, or the first cell group may include all cells configured for the terminal device that contain uplink carriers, or the first cell group includes all modulated cells configured for the terminal device.

[0153] 604. The terminal device receives the first DCI within the first activation time and sends the first data on the first target cell of the first cell group.

[0154] For uplink data retransmission, the first DCI instructs the terminal device to send first data to the network device on the first target cell, and the network device receives the first data on the first target cell. The network device receives the first data, including demodulating and decoding the first data.

[0155] Similar to step 204, the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group, or is any cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell to which the first data was transmitted last time.

[0156] Optionally, if the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group, during the first activation time, the terminal device continuously prepares for uplink signal transmission of all cells in the first cell group, for example, by turning on the corresponding RF chain. When the first DCI is received and the first DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data, because the uplink signal transmission preparation work of all cells in the first cell group has been completed, if the retransmission of the first data is carried on any cell in the first cell group, the retransmission of the first data can be sent in a timely manner.

[0157] Similarly, assume that the cell in the first cell group that last transmitted the first data is cell A. If the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group that is different from the cell that last transmitted the first data, that is, the first target cell is any cell in the first cell group except cell A. During the first activation time, the terminal device continuously prepares for uplink signal transmission of all cells in the first cell group except cell A, for example, turning on the corresponding radio frequency chain. When the first DCI is received and the first DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data, because the preparation for uplink signal transmission of all cells in the first cell group except cell A has been completed, if the retransmission of the first data is carried on any cell in the first cell group except cell A, the retransmission of the first data can be sent in time.

[0158] It should also be noted that if, within the first activation time, the terminal device receives retransmission scheduling information for retransmitting the first data on a cell outside the first cell group, the terminal device does not process the retransmission of the first data on a cell outside the first cell group. In other words, the terminal device receives a first DCI within the first activation time, and the first DCI indicates that the first data is to be retransmitted on the first target cell. The terminal device does not expect the first target cell to be a cell outside the first cell group. If the first DCI indicates that the cell for data retransmission is a cell outside the first cell group, the terminal device does not send the first data on the cell outside the first cell group.

[0159] 605. The network device sends the first DCI within the second activation time.

[0160] Step 605 is similar to step 205, as described above and will not be repeated here. That is, the definition and possible implementation of the second cell group and the second target cell are similar to those of step 205. It is understandable that the various possible second cell groups have different beneficial effects on uplink data retransmission.

[0161] For example, if the second cell group includes only one cell, then when the first data is uplink data, during the second activation time, the terminal device only needs to pre-activate the RF components of one cell to prepare for transmission, significantly reducing the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, if this cell is the one that most recently transmitted the first data, since the RF components of this cell were already activated during the most recent transmission of the first data, they only need to remain activated when retransmitting the first data, thus improving the convenience of the technical solution.

[0162] For example, if the second cell group only includes self-scheduling cells, then when the first data is uplink data, during the second activation time, the terminal device only needs to turn on the RF components of the self-scheduling cells in advance to prepare for transmission. In a scenario with only one self-scheduling cell, the terminal device only needs to turn on the RF components of one cell in advance, significantly reducing the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0163] 606. The terminal device receives the first DCI within the second activation time and sends the first data on the second target cell of the second cell group.

[0164] It can be understood that step 606 is similar to the aforementioned step 206, except that the first data in step 206 is downlink data, and the downlink data in step 606 is uplink data.

[0165] Exemplarily, for uplink data retransmission, that is, the first DCI instructs the terminal device to send the first data to the network device on the second target cell, and the network device receives the first data on the second target cell. During the second activation time, the terminal device continues to prepare for uplink signal transmission of all cells in the second cell group, for example, turning on the corresponding RF chain. When the second DCI is received and the second DCI schedules the retransmission of the first data, because the uplink signal transmission preparation work of all cells in the second cell group has been completed, if the retransmission of the first data is carried on any cell in the second cell group, the retransmission of the first data can be sent in time.

[0166] It should also be noted that if, within the second activation time, the terminal device receives retransmission scheduling information for retransmitting the first data on a cell outside the second cell group, the terminal device does not process the retransmission of the first data on the cell outside the second cell group. In other words, the terminal device receives a first DCI within the second activation time, and the first DCI indicates that the first data is to be retransmitted on the second target cell. The terminal device does not expect the second target cell to be a cell outside the second cell group. If the first DCI indicates that the cell for data retransmission is a cell outside the second cell group, the terminal device does not send the first data on the cell outside the second cell group.

[0167] It should be noted that during an uplink data retransmission process, only steps 603 and 604 may be executed, or only steps 605 and 606 may be executed. The specific execution method depends on whether the network device sends the first DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time, or whether the terminal device receives the first DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time, which will not be further described here.

[0168] In general, in the embodiments of the present application, the contents indicated by the first DCI transmitted by the network device and the terminal device at different activation times are different: for uplink data retransmission, if the first DCI is transmitted within the first activation time, the first DCI indicates that the first data is sent on the first target cell of the first cell group. If the first DCI is transmitted within the second activation time, the first DCI indicates that the first data is sent on the second target cell of the second cell group. Since the number of cells in the second cell group is less than the number of cells in the first cell group, and each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, during the second activation time, the terminal device does not need to turn on the radio frequency devices corresponding to the cells outside the second cell group in the first cell group in advance, that is, it is not necessary to prepare for transmission of these cells, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0169] It should be noted that, in the foregoing description, the activation time of the DRX cycle is divided into a first activation time and a second activation time. In some optional implementations, the activation time may not be distinguished. Specifically, when the first data is uplink data, that is, when uplink data is retransmitted, the solution within the first activation time in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 can be used for data retransmission.

[0170] The above describes how to determine the tuned cell. Next, we will describe how to determine the tuned cell in the data retransmission scenario. Please refer to Figure 7, which is a schematic diagram of a data transmission process provided by an embodiment of the present application, including:

[0171] 701. The network device sends DRX parameters to the terminal device.

[0172] Step 701 is similar to step 201 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 . Please refer to the description of step 201 for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0173] 702. The network device sends configuration information of the third cell group to the terminal device.

[0174] The third cell group represents the main cell group of the terminal device, and the configuration information of the third cell group indicates all cells in the cell corresponding to the terminal device that can be used to carry the control channel. In the embodiment of the present application, the third cell group includes N cells, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0175] It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of step 701 and step 702. In actual applications, step 701 can be executed first, step 702 can be executed first, or step 701 and step 702 can be executed simultaneously. No specific limitation is made here.

[0176] In some optional implementations, the network device may also send configuration information of the adjusted cell group (i.e., the first cell group shown in FIG. 2 ) to the terminal device, and the execution order of this step and steps 701 and 702 is not limited.

[0177] 703. If the network device determines to send the first DCI within the first activation time, it sends the first DCI on the third target cell of the third cell group.

[0178] The first DCI is used to schedule retransmission of the first data and can be understood as retransmission scheduling information of the first data. The first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer of the discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer of the discontinuous reception. The specific content of the first activation time has been described in the aforementioned step 201, and is not repeated here.

[0179] It should be noted that the network device may retransmit the first data when it determines that the most recent first data transmission has failed, that is, send the first DCI for scheduling the retransmission of the first data to the terminal device. That is to say, before the first DCI is sent, the network device determines that the first data transmission is erroneous. Since the first data can be either uplink data or downlink data. Then, as mentioned above, there are many possible ways for the network device to determine that the first data transmission has failed. If the first data is uplink data, when the network device fails to parse the first data, it is determined that the first data transmission has failed. If the first data is downlink data, when the network device receives an error response from the terminal device for the first data, it is determined that the first data transmission has failed. In addition, the first data transmission failure refers to the most recent transmission failure of the first data, which may be either the initial transmission failure of the first data or the retransmission failure of the first data, and the specific details are not limited here.

[0180] 704. Within the first activation time, the terminal device monitors the first DCI on all cells in the third cell group.

[0181] During the first activation time, the terminal device monitors the first DCI in all cells within the third cell group. That is, during the first activation time, the terminal device does not monitor the retransmission scheduling information of the first data in cells outside the third cell group, or considers that the retransmission scheduling information of the first data monitored in cells outside the third cell group is invalid.

[0182] 705. If the network device determines to send the first DCI within the second activation time, it sends the first DCI on the fourth target cell of the fourth cell group.

[0183] The first DCI is used to schedule the retransmission of the first data and can be understood as retransmission scheduling information for the first data. The second activation time is the intersection of the non-operating time of the DRX continuous listening timer, the non-operating time of the DRX deactivation timer, and the operating time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data. The relevant content of the second activation time has been described in the aforementioned step 201, and is not repeated here for details.

[0184] Each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, and the number of cells included in the fourth cell group is less than the number of cells included in the third cell group. In other words, the fourth cell group is included in the third cell group. In the embodiment of the present application, there are multiple possibilities for the cells included in the fourth cell group, which are described below.

[0185] In some optional implementations, the fourth cell group includes only one cell, which is either the cell that initially transmitted the scheduling information for the first data or the cell that most recently transmitted the scheduling information for the first data. In this case, the fourth cell group may be defined by the 3GPP air interface protocol. The scheduling information for most recently transmitted first data may be either the initial transmission of scheduling information for the first data or a retransmission of scheduling information for the first data, without limitation herein.

[0186] In this embodiment, the fourth cell group includes only one cell, meaning that the terminal device only needs to monitor one primary cell to obtain the retransmission scheduling information for the first data. This significantly reduces the number of primary cells monitored by the terminal device and significantly reduces the power consumption of the terminal device. Furthermore, if this cell is the scheduling information cell that most recently transmitted the first data, it is already being monitored, improving the convenience of the technical solution.

[0187] In some optional implementations, the fourth cell group is the second preset cell group, and the second preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the third cell group, or the second preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the process ID of the first data. In this implementation, the mapping relationship between the fourth cell group and the third subgroup is specified by high-layer signaling and then notified to the terminal device via the network device.

[0188] In general, in the embodiments of the present application, there are multiple possibilities for the fourth cell group, which enriches the application scenarios of the technical solution of the present application.

[0189] 706. During the second activation time, the terminal device monitors the first DCI only on all cells in the fourth cell group.

[0190] During the second activation time, the terminal device monitors the first DCI only on all cells in the fourth cell group. In other words, the terminal device does not monitor the first DCI on cells other than the cells in the fourth cell group in the third cell group, or considers that the retransmission scheduling information of the first data monitored by the terminal device on cells outside the fourth cell group is invalid.

[0191] It should be noted that during a retransmission of the first data, only steps 703 and 704 may be executed, or only steps 705 and 706 may be executed. The specific execution method depends on whether the network device determines whether to send the first DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time, and will not be further described here.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device and the terminal device transmit the first DCI on different cells at different activation times: specifically, during the first activation time, the network device sends the first DCI on the third target cell of the third cell group, and the terminal device monitors the first DCI on all cells of the third cell group; during the second activation time, the network device sends the first DCI on the fourth target cell of the fourth cell group, and the terminal device monitors the first DCI only on all cells of the fourth cell group. Since the number of cells in the fourth cell group is less than the number of cells in the third cell group, and each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, the terminal device does not need to monitor cells in the third cell group other than the fourth cell group during the second activation time, thereby saving power consumption of the terminal device.

[0193] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the network devices and terminal devices include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0194] Figures 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in the embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be the terminal 120 as shown in Figure 1, or the base station 110 as shown in Figure 1, or a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal or base station.

[0195] As shown in Figure 8, a communication device 800 includes a processing unit 802 and a transceiver unit 801. The communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device or network device in the method embodiments shown in Figure 2, Figure 6, or Figure 7.

[0196] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG2 : the transceiver unit 801 is configured to, if a first DCI is received within a first activation time, receive the first data on the first target cell, in which case the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the first target cell. The transceiver unit 801 is further configured to, if a first DCI is received within a second activation time, receive the first data on the second target cell, in which case the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the second target cell.

[0197] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG6 : the transceiver unit 801 is configured to, if a first DCI is received within a first activation time, send the first data on the first target cell, in which case the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the first target cell. The transceiver unit 801 is further configured to, if a first DCI is received within a second activation time, send the first data on the second target cell, in which case the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the second target cell.

[0198] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2 or Figure 6: the processing unit 802 is configured to determine whether to send the first DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time. The transceiver unit 801 is configured to send the first DCI, where the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data. If the first DCI is sent within the first activation time, the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the first target cell; if the first DCI is sent within the second activation time, the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the second target cell.

[0199] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 6 , the first target cell is any cell within the first cell group, the first cell group includes M cells, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The second target cell is any cell within the second cell group, each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is less than M. The first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer of the discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer of the discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer of the discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer of the discontinuous reception, and the running time of the retransmission timer of the first data process.

[0200] When the communication apparatus 800 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG7 : the processing unit 802 is configured to monitor the first DCI in all cells of the third cell group during the first activation time. The processing unit 802 is further configured to monitor the first DCI in all cells of the fourth cell group during the second activation time, and not monitor the first DCI in cells other than cells in the fourth cell group within the third cell group.

[0201] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 7: the processing unit 802 is configured to determine whether to send the first DCI to the terminal device within the first activation time or the second activation time. The transceiver unit 801 is configured to send the first DCI on the third target cell of the third cell group if it is determined that the first DCI is to be sent within the first activation time. The transceiver unit 801 is further configured to send the first DCI on the fourth target cell of the fourth cell group if it is determined that the first DCI is to be sent within the second activation time.

[0202] In the embodiment shown in FIG7 , the third cell group includes N cells, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. Each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, and the number of cells included in the fourth cell group is less than N. The first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer for discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer for discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer for discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer for discontinuous reception, and the running time of the retransmission timer for the first data process.

[0203] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 802 and the transceiver unit 801 , reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 6 , or FIG. 7 .

[0204] As shown in Figure 9, communication device 900 includes a processor 901 and an interface circuit 902. Processor 901 and interface circuit 902 are coupled to each other. It is understood that interface circuit 902 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 900 may further include a memory 903 for storing instructions executed by processor 901, input data required by processor 901 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 901 after executing instructions.

[0205] When the communication device 900 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 6 , or FIG. 7 , the processor 901 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 802 , and the interface circuit 902 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 801 .

[0206] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the terminal chip receives information from the base station, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. When the terminal chip sends information to the base station, it can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0207] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the base station chip receives information from the terminal, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. When the base station chip sends information to the terminal, it can be understood that the information is sent to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0208] In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be done directly from A to B or indirectly through another entity. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be done directly from entity B or indirectly through another entity. Entities A and B herein can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within a RAN node or terminal. The sending and receiving of information can be information exchange between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between two RAN nodes, for example, between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between different modules within a device, for example, between a terminal chip and other modules in the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules within the base station.

[0209] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0210] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0211] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0212] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0213] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequential order. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable when appropriate, and this is merely a way of distinguishing objects of the same attributes when describing the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that the process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of units need not be limited to those units, but may include other units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. In addition, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "a plurality" refers to two or more. "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects and indicates that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the situation where A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

Claims

1. A data transmission method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: If first downlink control information DCI is received within the first activation time, and the first DCI indicates retransmission of first data on a first target cell, the first data is received on the first target cell, where the first target cell is any cell in a first cell group, where the first cell group includes M cells, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2; If the first DCI is received within the second activation time, and the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on a second target cell, the first data is received on the second target cell, where the second target cell is any cell in a second cell group, each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is less than M; Among them, the first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception and the running time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data.

2. A data transmission method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a network device, and the method comprises: Determine to send the first downlink control information DCI within the first activation time or the second activation time; Sending the first DCI, where the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data; if the first DCI is sent within the first activation time, the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the first target cell; if the first DCI is sent within the second activation time, the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data on the second target cell; The first target cell is any cell in a first cell group, the first cell group includes M cells, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the second target cell is any cell in a second cell group, each cell in the second cell group is a cell in the first cell group, and the number of cells included in the second cell group is less than M; The first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception and the running time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The second cell group includes only one cell, and the one cell is: a cell that initially transmits the first data, or a cell that most recently transmitted the first data.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The second cell group is all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same main modulation cell as the initial transmission cell, and the initial transmission cell is a cell that initially transmits the first data; or, The second cell group is all cells in the first cell group that correspond to the same main tuning cell as the historical cell, and the historical cell is the cell that most recently transmitted the first data.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The second cell group is a first preset cell group, the first preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the first cell group, or the first preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the process number of the first data.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: If the first cell group includes a self-scheduling cell, the second cell group only includes the self-scheduling cell.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The running time is the time after the timer is turned on and has not been reduced to 0, and the non-running time is the time after the timer is not turned on or has been turned off or has been reduced to 0 after being turned on.

8. A data transmission method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: During the first activation time, monitoring first downlink control information DCI on all cells of a third cell group, where the third cell group includes N cells, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; During the second activation time, the first DCI is monitored on all cells of a fourth cell group, and the first DCI is not monitored on cells other than cells in the fourth cell group in the third cell group, each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, and the number of cells included in the fourth cell group is less than N; Among them, the first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception and the running time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data.

9. A data transmission method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a network device, and the method comprises: Determine to send first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device within the first activation time or the second activation time; Sending the first DCI, where the first DCI indicates retransmission of the first data; if it is determined that the first DCI is to be sent within the first activation time, sending the first DCI on a third target cell of a third cell group, where the third cell group includes N cells, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; If it is determined to send the first DCI within the second activation time, sending the first DCI on a fourth target cell in a fourth cell group, each cell in the fourth cell group is a cell in the third cell group, and the number of cells included in the fourth cell group is less than N; Among them, the first activation time is the running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception or the running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception; the second activation time is the intersection period of the non-running time of the continuous listening timer of discontinuous reception, the non-running time of the deactivation timer of discontinuous reception and the running time of the retransmission timer of the process of the first data.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The fourth cell group includes only one cell, and the one cell is: the cell that initially transmits the scheduling information of the first data and the cell that most recently transmitted the scheduling information of the first data.

11. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The fourth cell group is a second preset cell group, and the second preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the third cell group, or the second preset cell group has a mapping relationship with the process number of the first data.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The running time is the time after the timer is turned on and has not been reduced to 0, and the non-running time is the time after the timer is not turned on or has been turned off or has been reduced to 0 after being turned on.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The invention comprises modules for implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: including a processor and an interface circuit; The interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices. The processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 through logic circuits or execution code instructions.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the communication device implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the communication device is caused to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

Images