Communication method, communication apparatus, chip and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method, a communication apparatus, a chip and a computer-readable storage medium, and the present application can be applied to wireless communication systems. The method comprises: generating a synchronization signal and a master information block (MIB); and periodically sending the synchronization signal and the MIB, wherein the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within a first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within a second time period. In the embodiments of the present application, the ratio of the period of a synchronization signal to the period of an MIB within a first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within a second time period, thus indicating that the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is variable. Compared with a fixed ratio of the period of a synchronization signal to the period of an MIB, a variable ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB can improve the resource utilization rate.

Description

Communication method, communication device, chip and computer-readable storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 5, 2023, with application number 202311142206.3, and priority to the Chinese patent application entitled “Communication Method, Communication Device, Chip and Computer-readable Storage Medium”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a communication method, a communication device, a chip, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0003] In a mobile communication system, after a terminal device is turned on, it is usually necessary to search for a suitable cell as quickly as possible (for example, the cell with the highest power measured by the terminal device). After the terminal device achieves time slot and frequency synchronization with the cell, it needs to continue to read the system information of the cell and then log in (or access) to the cell. After logging in to the cell, the terminal device can use the network services. In order to enable the terminal device to achieve time slot and frequency synchronization with the cell as quickly as possible, the base station periodically sends a synchronization signal. The synchronization signals periodically sent by the base station include the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

[0004] Generally speaking, system information is broadcast repeatedly by network-side devices (such as base stations) so that terminal devices can obtain system information promptly whenever they are powered on. System information broadcast by network-side devices is divided into two categories: master information block (MIB) messages and multiple system information block (SIB) messages. When a network-side device is powered on, it first sends a MIB message, followed by a series of SIB messages.

[0005] A passive IoT communication system refers to a communication system in which terminal devices do not rely on battery power. In this system, there may be three types of terminal devices, and the power consumption of the terminal devices is strictly limited. For example, the power consumption of a passive tag type terminal is 100uW.

[0006] Currently, existing solutions for periodically sending synchronization signals and system messages have the problem of low resource utilization in passive IoT communication systems.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The embodiments of the present application disclose a communication method, a communication device, a chip, and a computer-readable storage medium, which can improve resource utilization.

[0009] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method comprising: generating a synchronization signal and a master information block (MIB); periodically sending the synchronization signal and the MIB, wherein the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in a first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in a second time period.

[0010] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period, indicating that the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB, the variable ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB can improve resource utilization. In other words, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is adjusted according to actual needs, which can improve resource utilization, that is, reduce the waste of air interface resources.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending control information, the control information being used to indicate any one of the following: a ratio of a period of a synchronization signal to a period of a MIB within the first time period; a period of the synchronization signal and a period of the MIB within the first time period; an interval between a first synchronization signal and a first MIB following the first synchronization signal, wherein the first synchronization signal is the synchronization signal with the shortest interval between the first synchronization signal and the control information within the first time period. Hereinafter, the period ratio information is used to replace any one of the following: a ratio of a period of a synchronization signal to a period of a MIB within the first time period; a period of the synchronization signal and a period of the MIB within the first time period; an interval between the first synchronization signal and a first MIB following the first synchronization signal; a ratio of a period of a synchronization signal to a period of a MIB within the first time period; a ratio of a period of a MIB to a period of a system information block (SIB) within the first time period; a period of a synchronization signal, a period of the MIB, and a period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0012] In this implementation, the control information is used to indicate period ratio information, so that the terminal device can know the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: periodically sending SIB; sending first control information, wherein the first control information indicates at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0014] In this implementation, the first control information is used to indicate the period ratio information, so that the terminal device can know the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the first time period.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending first block information, where the first block information is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period.

[0016] In this implementation, first block information is sent so that the terminal device can obtain the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period based on the first block information, and then merge multiple MIB blocks after receiving them to obtain original MIB information.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: periodically sending SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0018] In this implementation, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is variable, rather than fixed. This allows adaptation to different scenarios. For example, when the MIB length and SIB length vary significantly, the period can be adjusted to improve resource utilization. Furthermore, the first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio information; this eliminates the need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, thus reducing signaling overhead.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the periodic sending of synchronization signals and MIBs includes: when the duration of the MIB to be sent is greater than a second threshold, periodically sending synchronization signals and multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the MIB to be sent, and the second threshold is greater than or equal to 320ms.

[0020] In this implementation, when the duration of the MIB to be sent is greater than the second threshold, a synchronization signal and multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the MIB to be sent are periodically sent; the time the terminal device waits to receive the MIB can be reduced.

[0021] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, which includes: receiving a periodically sent synchronization signal and MIB, wherein the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in a first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in a second time period; and parsing the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0022] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period, indicating that the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB, the variable ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB can improve resource utilization. In other words, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is adjusted according to actual needs, which can improve resource utilization, that is, reduce the waste of air interface resources.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving control information, wherein the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal being the synchronization signal with the shortest interval time with the control information within the first time period.

[0024] In this implementation, the control information is used to indicate period ratio information, and the terminal device can obtain the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period based on the control information.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a periodically sent SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0026] In this implementation, the first control information is used to indicate the period ratio information, so that the terminal device can know the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the first time period.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving first block information, where the first block information is used to indicate block information of the MIB sent within the first time period.

[0028] In this implementation, the first block information is received, and based on the first block information, the terminal device can obtain the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and then merge multiple MIB blocks after receiving them to obtain the original MIB information.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a periodically sent SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0030] In this implementation, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is variable, rather than fixed. This allows for adaptation to significant variations in the MIB and SIB lengths in different scenarios, enabling the period to be adjusted to improve resource utilization. Furthermore, the first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio; this eliminates the need to send additional information to indicate this information, thus reducing signaling overhead.

[0031] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate any of the following: a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB within the first time period; a period of the synchronization signal and a period of the MIB within the first time period; an interval between the first synchronization signal and a first MIB following the first synchronization signal, where the first MIB is the MIB following the first synchronization signal with the shortest time interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB. The first MIB may be located within the first time period.

[0032] In this implementation, the first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio information; there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0033] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first synchronization signal includes a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB in the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

[0034] In this implementation, the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information, and there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0035] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items, including: the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB in the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

[0036] In this implementation, the number and / or interval of the frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information. There is no need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0037] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the duration or time gap of the SSS in the time domain is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; or the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB following the first synchronization signal. The duration of the SSS in the time domain refers to the duration of the SSS. The time gap of an SSS in the time domain refers to the duration of the SSS being gapped in the time domain.

[0038] In this implementation, the duration or time gap of the time domain of the SSS is used to indicate the cycle ratio information, and no additional information needs to be sent to indicate the cycle ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0039] In a possible implementation of the first or second aspect, a period of the synchronization signal within the first time period is less than a first threshold, the first threshold is less than or equal to 5 ms, and the MIB periodically transmitted within the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks, and the multiple sub-MIBs are transmitted at different times. Herein, when the periodically transmitted MIB is a sub-MIB, the period of the MIB refers to the period of the sub-MIB, that is, the duration between two adjacent sub-MIBs.

[0040] In this implementation, when the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period is less than the first threshold, the MIB periodically sent within the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks; thereby avoiding the limitation on the MIB transmission length when the synchronization signal period is too short, improving the flexibility of the system, and ensuring that the MIB signal timing resources are complete and available.

[0041] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the MIB periodically sent during the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks, the length of each sub-MIB is less than a second threshold, the sending time of the multiple sub-MIBs is different, and the second threshold is greater than or equal to 320ms.

[0042] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are equal, and the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are obtained based on the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the duration of a synchronization signal in the first time period.

[0043] In this implementation, the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are obtained based on the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the duration of one synchronization signal in the first time period; the durations of the sub-MIBs can be reasonably determined.

[0044] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, at least two MIBs among the multiple sub-MIBs have different durations, and the duration of a sub-MIB among the multiple sub-MIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-MIB among the multiple sub-MIBs.

[0045] In this implementation, the duration of a sub-MIB in multiple sub-MIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-MIB in the multiple sub-MIBs, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the order of the sub-MIB in the multiple sub-MIBs; signaling overhead can be saved.

[0046] In a possible implementation of the first or second aspect, the second synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period. Exemplarily, the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period may include: the duration of the sub-MIB sent within the first time period and the number of sub-MIBs.

[0047] In this implementation, the second synchronization signal is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0048] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the second synchronization signal includes an SSS, and a frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate block information of the MIB sent in the first time period.

[0049] In this implementation, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0050] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate block information of the MIB sent in the first time period.

[0051] In this implementation, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0052] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the first MIB block is f sub-MIBs of equal length; the first MIB block is f sub-MIBs of different lengths; the first MIB block is t sub-MIBs, the t sub-MIBs include s sub-MIBs of the first length and s sub-MIBs of the second length, f is an integer greater than 1, t is an integer greater than 3, and s is an integer greater than 1.

[0053] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes, or at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs (which can be called MIB blocks) use different scrambling for cyclic redundancy checks (CRC).

[0054] In this implementation, the benefit of scrambling the sub-MIB is that it reduces interference from neighboring cells. Only terminal devices within the cell can descramble the information received within the cell based on the cell-specific scrambling code sequence formed by the cell's identity (ID). Secondly, different MIB blocks use different scrambling codes, and the scrambling code initialization seed can be the entire cell ID or a portion of the cell ID. When different blocks of the MIB (i.e., sub-MIBs) use different scrambling codes, then only the current MIB block can descramble the received MIB block based on the dedicated scrambling code sequence formed by the current block's scrambling code. This can prevent terminal devices from incorrectly judging the order of the current block in the original MIB.

[0055] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period is greater than or equal to the first threshold, and the first threshold is less than or equal to 5ms; the duration of the symbol in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the first time period is shorter than the duration of the symbol in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the second time period. The duration of the symbol in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the first time period is shorter than the duration of the symbol in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the second time period can be replaced by: the duration of a MIB in the first time period is shorter than the duration of a MIB in the second time period. Optionally, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is greater than the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period to the period of the MIB. In this article, duration refers to a time length, and duration can be replaced by duration.

[0056] In this implementation, the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the first time period is shorter than the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the second time period, indicating that the MIB in the first time period is compared with the MIB in the second time period. The duration of the symbols in a single MIB is reduced, that is, the duration of the MIB is shortened and the number of repetitions of the MIB is increased; it can improve resource utilization.

[0057] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of a MIB in the first time period.

[0058] In this implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of a MIB in the first time period; a method for determining the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is provided.

[0059] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, a ratio of a duration of the MIB to a duration of the synchronization signal in the first time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), and a ratio of a period of the MIB to a period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0. Exemplarily, when the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal in the first time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

[0060] In this implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is determined based on the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB can be reasonably determined to improve resource utilization.

[0061] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first synchronization signal within the first time period includes an SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB within the first time period to the period of the SIB; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0062] In this implementation, the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information, and there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0063] In a possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items, including: the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB in the first time period.

[0064] In this implementation, the number and / or interval of the frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information. There is no need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0065] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, which includes: generating MIB and SIB; periodically sending MIB and SIB, and the ratio of the period of MIB to the period of SIB in the third time period is different from the ratio of the period of MIB to the period of SIB in the fourth time period.

[0066] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is different from the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the fourth time period, indicating that the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period, the variable ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period can improve resource utilization. In other words, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is adjusted according to actual needs, which can improve resource utilization, that is, reduce the waste of air interface resources.

[0067] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second control information, where the second control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period; the MIB period and the SIB period in the third time period.

[0068] In this implementation, sending the second control information can enable the terminal device to learn the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period.

[0069] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending second block information, where the second block information is used to indicate block information of the SIB sent in the third time period.

[0070] In this implementation, the second block information is sent so that the terminal device can acquire the block information of the SIB sent in the third time period based on the second block information.

[0071] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, which includes: receiving periodically sent MIB and SIB, the ratio of the period of MIB to the period of SIB in the third time period is different from the ratio of the period of MIB to the period of SIB in the fourth time period; parsing the received MIB and SIB.

[0072] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is different from the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the fourth time period, indicating that the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period, the variable ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period can improve resource utilization. In other words, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is adjusted according to actual needs, which can improve resource utilization, that is, reduce the waste of air interface resources.

[0073] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second control information, where the second control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period; the MIB period and the SIB period in the third time period.

[0074] In this implementation, the second control information is received, and the terminal device can obtain the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period based on the second control information.

[0075] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving second block information, where the second block information is used to indicate block information of the SIB sent in the third time period.

[0076] In this implementation, the second block information is received, and the terminal device can obtain the block information of the SIB sent in the third time period based on the second block information.

[0077] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the SIB periodically sent in the third time period includes multiple sub-SIBs obtained by dividing one SIB block, and the sending times of the multiple sub-SIBs are different.

[0078] In this implementation, the SIB periodically sent in the third time period includes multiple sub-SIBs obtained by dividing one SIB into blocks, which can improve resource utilization.

[0079] In a possible implementation of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the durations of the multiple sub-SIBs are equal, and the durations of the multiple sub-SIBs are obtained based on the period of the MIB in the third time period and the duration of a MIB in the third time period.

[0080] In this implementation, the durations of the multiple sub-SIBs are obtained based on the period of the MIB in the third time period and the duration of one MIB in the third time period; the durations of the sub-SIBs can be reasonably determined.

[0081] In a possible implementation of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, at least two SIBs among the multiple sub-SIBs have different durations, and the durations of the sub-SIBs among the multiple sub-SIBs are used to determine the order of the sub-SIBs among the multiple sub-SIBs.

[0082] In this implementation, the duration of a sub-SIB in a plurality of sub-SIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-SIB in the plurality of sub-SIBs, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the order of the sub-SIB in the plurality of sub-SIBs; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0083] In a possible implementation of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, at least two of the multiple sub-SIBs use different scrambling codes, or at least two of the multiple sub-SIBs (which can be called MIB blocks) use different scrambling for CRC.

[0084] In this implementation, the benefit of scrambling the sub-SIB is that it reduces interference from neighboring cells. Only terminal devices within the cell can descramble the information received within the cell based on the cell-specific scrambling sequence formed by the cell's identity (ID). Secondly, different SIB blocks use different scrambling codes, and the scrambling code initialization seed can be the entire cell ID or part of the cell ID. When different blocks of the SIB (i.e., sub-SIBs) use different scrambling codes, then only the current SIB block can descramble the received SIB block based on the dedicated scrambling sequence formed by the scrambling code of the current block, which can prevent the terminal device from incorrectly judging the order of the current block in the original SIB.

[0085] In a possible implementation of the third or fourth aspect, the duration of a symbol in the SIB periodically repeatedly transmitted in the third time period is shorter than the duration of a symbol in the SIB periodically repeatedly transmitted in the fourth time period. The duration of a symbol in the SIB periodically repeatedly transmitted in the third time period is shorter than the duration of a symbol in the SIB periodically repeatedly transmitted in the fourth time period can be replaced by: the duration of a SIB in the third time period is shorter than the duration of a SIB in the fourth time period. Optionally, the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the third time period is greater than the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the fourth time period.

[0086] In this implementation, the duration of the symbols in the SIB periodically repeatedly sent in the third time period is shorter than the duration of the symbols in the SIB periodically repeatedly sent in the fourth time period, indicating that the SIB in the third time period is compared with the SIB in the fourth time period. The duration of the symbols in a single SIB is reduced, that is, the duration of the SIB is shortened and the number of repetitions of the SIB is increased; it can improve resource utilization.

[0087] In a possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is associated with the duration of a MIB and the duration of a SIB in the third time period.

[0088] In this implementation, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is associated with the duration of a MIB and a SIB in the third time period; a method for determining the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is provided.

[0089] In a possible implementation of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, a ratio of the duration of the SIB to the duration of the MIB in the third time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), and a ratio of the period of the SIB to the period of the MIB in the third time period is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0. Exemplarily, when the ratio of the duration of the SIB to the duration of the MIB in the third time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), the ratio of the period of the SIB to the period of the MIB in the third time period is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

[0090] In this implementation, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is determined based on the ratio of the SIB duration to the MIB duration in the third time period. The ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period can be reasonably determined to improve resource utilization.

[0091] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method, which includes: a network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and a master information block MIB, and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in a first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in a second time period; a terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device.

[0092] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period in the first time period is different from the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period in the second time period, indicating that the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period, the variable ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period can improve resource utilization.

[0093] In one possible implementation, the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first MIB being the MIB after the first synchronization signal with the shortest time interval between the first synchronization signal and the first synchronization signal.

[0094] In this implementation, the first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio information; there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0095] In one possible implementation, the first synchronization signal includes SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB in the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

[0096] In this implementation, the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information, and there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0097] In one possible implementation, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items, including: the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

[0098] In this implementation, the number and / or interval of the frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information. There is no need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0099] In one possible implementation, the duration or time gap of the SSS in the time domain is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; or the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB following the first synchronization signal. The duration of the SSS in the time domain refers to the duration of the SSS. The time gap of an SSS in the time domain refers to the duration of the SSS's absence in the time domain.

[0100] In this implementation, the duration or time gap of the time domain of the SSS is used to indicate the cycle ratio information, and no additional information needs to be sent to indicate the cycle ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0101] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: the network device sends control information, and the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal being the synchronization signal with the shortest interval time with the control information in the first time period; and the terminal device receives the control information.

[0102] In this implementation, the control information is used to indicate period ratio information, and the terminal device can obtain the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period based on the control information.

[0103] In a possible implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of a MIB in the first time period.

[0104] In this implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of a MIB in the first time period; a method for determining the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is provided.

[0105] In a possible implementation, a ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal in the first time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), and a ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0. Exemplarily, when the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal in the first time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), a ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

[0106] In this implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is determined based on the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB can be reasonably determined to improve resource utilization.

[0107] In one possible implementation, the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the first threshold is less than or equal to 5ms, and the MIB periodically sent in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks, and the sending times of the multiple sub-MIBs are different.

[0108] In this implementation, when the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than the first threshold, the MIB periodically sent in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks; thus, resource utilization can be improved.

[0109] In one possible implementation, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and MIB, including: the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the MIB to be sent when the duration of the MIB to be sent is greater than a second threshold, and the second threshold is greater than or equal to 320ms.

[0110] In this implementation, when the duration of the MIB to be sent is greater than the second threshold, a synchronization signal and multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the MIB to be sent are periodically sent; the time the terminal device waits to receive the MIB can be reduced.

[0111] In a possible implementation, the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are equal, and the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are obtained based on a period of a synchronization signal in the first time period and a duration of a synchronization signal in the first time period.

[0112] In this implementation, the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are obtained based on the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the duration of one synchronization signal in the first time period; the durations of the sub-MIBs can be reasonably determined.

[0113] In a possible implementation, at least two MIBs among the multiple sub-MIBs have different durations, and the duration of a sub-MIB among the multiple sub-MIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-MIB among the multiple sub-MIBs.

[0114] In this implementation, the duration of a sub-MIB in multiple sub-MIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-MIB in the multiple sub-MIBs, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the order of the sub-MIB in the multiple sub-MIBs; signaling overhead can be saved.

[0115] In one possible implementation, the second synchronization signal in the first time period is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period. Exemplarily, the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period may include: the duration of the sub-MIB sent in the first time period and the number of sub-MIBs.

[0116] In this implementation, the second synchronization signal is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0117] In a possible implementation, the second synchronization signal includes an SSS, and a frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate block information of the MIB sent in the first time period.

[0118] In this implementation, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0119] In a possible implementation, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period.

[0120] In this implementation, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0121] In one possible implementation, the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items: the first MIB block is f sub-MIBs of equal length; the first MIB block is f sub-MIBs of different lengths; the first MIB block is t sub-MIBs, and the t sub-MIBs include s sub-MIBs of the first length and s sub-MIBs of the second length, f is an integer greater than 1, t is an integer greater than 3, and s is an integer greater than 1.

[0122] In a possible implementation, at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes, or at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs (which may be referred to as MIB blocks) use different scrambling for cyclic redundancy checks (CRCs).

[0123] In one possible implementation, the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period is greater than or equal to the first threshold, and the first threshold is less than or equal to 5ms; the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the first time period is shorter than the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent in the second time period.

[0124] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: the network device periodically sends the SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period; the terminal device receives the SIB periodically sent by the network device; the terminal device obtains the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period based on the first synchronization signal.

[0125] In this implementation, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is variable, rather than fixed, improving resource utilization. Furthermore, the first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio information, eliminating the need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, thus reducing signaling overhead.

[0126] In one possible implementation, the first synchronization signal within the first time period includes an SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB within the first time period to the period of the SIB; the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB.

[0127] In one possible implementation, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items, including: the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB in the first time period.

[0128] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the first aspect above. The communication device can be a network device, or a component of a network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the processing module is used to generate a synchronization signal and an MIB; the transceiver module is used to periodically send a synchronization signal and an MIB, and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period.

[0129] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to send control information, and the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal being the synchronization signal with the shortest interval time with the control information within the first time period.

[0130] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to periodically send SIB; send first control information, and the first control information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0131] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to periodically send SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0132] Possible implementations of the communication device of the sixth aspect may refer to the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0133] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the sixth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the first aspect or various possible implementation methods of the first aspect.

[0134] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the embodiment of the method of the second aspect above. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component of a terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the transceiver module is used to receive periodically sent synchronization signals and MIBs, and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period; the processing module is used to parse the received synchronization signals and MIBs.

[0135] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to receive control information, and the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first synchronization signal being the synchronization signal with the shortest interval with the control information within the first time period.

[0136] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to receive a periodically sent SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0137] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to receive first block information, where the first block information is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period.

[0138] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is also used to receive a periodically sent SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

[0139] Possible implementations of the communication device of the seventh aspect can refer to the various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0140] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the seventh aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the second aspect or various possible implementation methods of the second aspect.

[0141] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the method embodiment of the third aspect above. The communication device can be a network device, or a component of a network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the processing module is used to generate an MIB and a SIB; the transceiver module is used to periodically send the MIB and the SIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the third time period is different from the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the fourth time period.

[0142] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is further used to send second control information, and the second control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period; the MIB period and the SIB period in the third time period.

[0143] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to send second block information, where the second block information is used to indicate block information of the SIB sent in the third time period.

[0144] For possible implementations of the communication device of the eighth aspect, reference may be made to the various possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0145] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the eighth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the third aspect or various possible implementation methods of the third aspect.

[0146] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the function of implementing the behavior in the embodiment of the method of the fourth aspect above. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a component of a terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The functions of the communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations, and the hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein: the transceiver module is used to receive periodically sent MIB and SIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the third time period is different from the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the fourth time period; the processing module is used to parse the received MIB and SIB.

[0147] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module is further used to receive second control information, where the second control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period within the third time period; the MIB period and the SIB period within the third time period.

[0148] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module is further configured to receive second block information, where the second block information is used to indicate block information of the SIB sent in the third time period.

[0149] Possible implementations of the communication device of the ninth aspect can refer to the various possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

[0150] For the technical effects brought about by various possible implementation methods of the ninth aspect, reference may be made to the introduction to the technical effects of the fourth aspect or various possible implementation methods of the fourth aspect.

[0151] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication device, which includes one or more processors, and the one or more processors are used to process data and / or information so that the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects is implemented.

[0152] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory storing a program or instruction. When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the communication device performs the method described in any one of the first to fourth aspects. Exemplarily, the communication device may be a chip, the processor may be a processing unit in the chip, and the memory may be a random access memory or cache in the chip.

[0153] In the embodiment of the present application, during the execution of the above method, the process of sending information (or signals) in the above method can be understood as the process of outputting information based on the instructions of the processor. When outputting information, the processor outputs the information to the transceiver so that it can be transmitted by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the information may undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may undergo other processing before being input into the processor.

[0154] For operations such as sending and / or receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or unless they conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be generally understood as instructions output based on the processor.

[0155] During implementation, the processor may be a processor specifically configured to execute these methods, or may be a processor that executes computer instructions in a memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. For example, the processor may also be configured to execute a program stored in a memory. When the program is executed, the communication device performs the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0156] In a possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device. In a possible implementation, the memory is located inside the communication device.

[0157] In a possible implementation, the processor and the memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

[0158] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is configured to receive signals or send signals.

[0159] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides another communication device, which includes a processing circuit and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to obtain data or output data; the processing circuit is used to execute the method shown in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0160] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions, which, when executed, enable the computer to execute the method shown in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0161] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions, which, when executed, enable the computer to execute the method shown in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0162] In the fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a communication interface and a processor; the communication interface is used for transmitting and receiving signals of the chip; the processor is used for executing computer program instructions so that a communication device comprising the chip executes the method shown in any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects.

[0163] In the fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising the communication device described in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect, and the communication device described in the seventh aspect or any possible implementation of the seventh aspect.

[0164] In the sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication system, including the communication device described in the eighth aspect or any possible implementation of the eighth aspect, and the communication device described in the ninth aspect or any possible implementation of the ninth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0165] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the background technology, the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application or the background technology will be described below.

[0166] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application may be applied;

[0167] FIG2 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0168] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0169] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of another network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0170] FIG5 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0171] FIG6 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0172] FIG7A is an example of the number and interval of frequencies used by the SSS according to an embodiment of the present application for indicating the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB;

[0173] FIG7B is another example of the number and interval of frequencies used by the SSS according to an embodiment of the present application for indicating the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB;

[0174] FIG7C is another example of the number and interval of frequencies used by the SSS according to an embodiment of the present application for indicating the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB;

[0175] FIG8A is an example of an embodiment of the present application providing an example of the duration of the SSS time domain used to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB;

[0176] FIG8B is an example of how the time gaps in the time domain of the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application are used to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB;

[0177] FIG8C is an example of how the time gaps in the time domain of the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application are used to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB;

[0178] FIG9 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0179] FIG10 is an example of a network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in a first time period according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0180] FIG11 is an example of an embodiment of the present application providing the number and / or interval of frequencies used by an SSS to indicate block information of an MIB sent in a first time period;

[0181] FIG12 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0182] FIG13 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0183] FIG14 is an example of a network device periodically sending a synchronization signal, MIB, and SIB according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0184] FIG15 is an example of a network device sending SIB in blocks according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0185] FIG16 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0186] FIG17A is an example of the number and / or interval of frequencies used by an SSS to indicate T1:T2:T3 provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0187] FIG17B is another example of the number and / or interval of frequencies used by an SSS to indicate T1:T2:T3 provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0188] FIG18 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0189] FIG19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1900 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0190] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0191] FIG21 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 210 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0192] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims and drawings of the present application are only used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. It will be understood that the various digital numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of each of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes steps or units that are not listed, or optionally also includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0193] References to "embodiments" herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to independent or alternative embodiments that are mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It will be understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0194] The terms used in the following embodiments of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. As used in the specification of the present application and the appended claims, the singular expressions "one", "a kind of", "said", "above", "the" and "this" are intended to also include plural expressions, unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used in the present application refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more listed items. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The term "multiple" used in the present application refers to two or more. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0195] It is understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that there is a corresponding relationship between A and B, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining (or generating) B according to (or based on) A does not mean that B is determined (or generated) only according to (or based on) A, and B can also be determined (or generated) according to (or based on) A and / or other information.

[0196] It should be understood that, in this application, indication includes direct indication (also known as explicit indication) and implicit indication. Direct indication of information A refers to including information A; implicit indication of information A refers to indicating information A through the correspondence between information A and information B and the direct indication of information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured.

[0197] It should be understood that, in this application, information C is used to determine information D, which includes both information D being determined solely based on information C and information D being determined based on information C and other information. Furthermore, information C can also be used to determine information D indirectly, for example, where information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0198] In addition, in each embodiment of the present application, "network element A sends information A to network element B" can be understood as the destination end of the information A or the intermediate network element in the transmission path between the destination end and the network element B, which may include directly or indirectly sending information to network element B. "Network element B receives information A from network element A" can be understood as the source end of the information A or the intermediate network element in the transmission path between the source end and the network element A, which may include directly or indirectly receiving information from network element A. The information may be processed as necessary between the source end and the destination end of the information transmission, such as format changes, but the destination end can understand the valid information from the source end. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be elaborated here.

[0199] To facilitate understanding of the solutions of the present application, the following first introduces the terms and technical solutions involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0200] The base station periodically sends PSS and SSS: In order to enable the terminal device to complete the cell search, that is, to achieve time and frequency synchronization between the terminal device and the cell, the base station periodically sends synchronization signals.

[0201] The terminal device detects the PSS and SSS: The terminal device receives the PSS periodically transmitted by the base station at the center frequency of a possible Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell and uses the received signal strength to determine whether there are cells near this frequency. If the terminal device has saved the frequency and operator information from the last time it was powered off, it will first try the cell it was last stationed on upon powering on. If not, it will perform a full-band scan of the frequency band allocated to the LTE or NR system, searching for a frequency with a strong signal. The terminal device then receives the PSS around this center frequency. The PSS repeats with a 5ms period and is transmitted in subframe #0. It is a ZC (Zadoff-Chu) sequence, which has strong correlation and can be directly detected and received. This signal can be used to determine the cell ID within the cell group, the 5ms slot boundaries, and the cyclic prefix length. Because the PSS repeats 5ms, the terminal device cannot achieve frame synchronization at this stage. After completing 5ms time slot synchronization, the terminal device searches forward for the SSS based on the PSS. The SSS consists of two end-to-end random sequences, with the mapping of the two half-frames opposite each other. Therefore, simply receiving two SSSs can determine the 10ms boundary, achieving frame synchronization. Because the SSS signal carries the cell group ID, it can be combined with the PSS to obtain the physical layer ID (CELL ID), which can further obtain the structural information of the downlink reference signal.

[0202] Reading system broadcast: In order to access the cell normally, the terminal device needs to continue to read the cell's system information after achieving time and frequency synchronization with the cell. System information is continuously and repeatedly broadcast by network equipment (such as base stations), so that no matter when the terminal device is turned on, it can obtain system information in a timely manner. LTE system information is divided into two categories: MIB messages and multiple SIBs messages. The network device will first send the MIB message, and then send a series of SIB messages. The MIB message is transmitted in the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The SIB message is transmitted in the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The MIB message carries the most basic information, which involves the decoding of the PDSCH. Only after decoding the MIB can the terminal device use the parameters in the MIB to continue decoding the data in the PDSCH (including decoding the SIB information).

[0203] MIB: MIB generally contains the following information: cell bandwidth, system frame number, physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH) information, and the number of cell-specific antenna ports.

[0204] SIB: For a terminal device to complete a cell search, it is not enough to just receive the PBCH, because the PBCH only carries very limited system information. More and more detailed system information is carried by the SIB. Therefore, it is necessary to receive the SIB afterwards, that is, the terminal device receives the broadcast control channel (BCCH) information carried on the PDSCH.

[0205] Passive IoT (Passive Internet of Things): Passive IoT is a cellular IoT communication technology that supports battery-free terminals. It targets the next-tier IoT market, which is more sensitive to terminal cost and power consumption than narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Passive IoT terminals require power consumption in the 1uW to 100uW range.

[0206] Passive IoT terminals can be divided into three types: passive tags, semi-passive tags, and active tags. The differences between the three types of terminals are:

[0207] Passive tags do not generate their own carrier signals. They transmit data uplink by reflecting and modulating an external carrier. The reflected signal power depends on the downlink received signal power (which can be as low as -30dBm), and the reflected signal is not amplified. Passive tags typically consume about 1uW of power.

[0208] Semi-passive tags also don't generate their own carrier signals. They transmit data uplink by reflecting and modulating an external carrier. However, the reflected signal undergoes power amplification (for example, with a gain of 10dB to 15dB). The reflected signal power depends on the downlink received signal power (which can be as low as -50dBm) and the power amplification gain. Passive tags typically consume about 100uW of power.

[0209] Active tags can generate their own carrier signals, modulate and transmit data uplink based on their own carrier signals, and the uplink signal transmission power is independent of the downlink received signal power. After power amplification, it can reach a higher power (for example, -20dBm to -10dBm). Active tags typically consume 200 to 500uW of power.

[0210] Among the three types of tags, passive tags are mainly suitable for short-range communications, such as dense deployment scenarios with a head-end spacing of 20 to 30 meters between indoor small stations; semi-passive tags have a communication distance of 100 to 200 meters in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) channels and are suitable for medium- and short-range communications, such as indoor small stations and outdoor (campus) pole stations with a spacing of 200 to 300 meters.

[0211] At low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), the PSS and SSS within a single NB-IoT cycle cannot meet the signal detection miss detection rate and false alarm rate requirements. This requires combining the synchronization signal correlation results from multiple consecutive cycles before performing threshold decision detection. For example, at a -10dB SNR, it may be necessary to combine the synchronization signal correlation results from 16 or more cycles to meet the miss detection rate and false alarm rate requirements.

[0212] Because passive IoT terminals must meet 100uW power consumption requirements, they can withstand extremely low baseband processing complexity, with cache space being particularly limited. This makes it impossible to adopt methods similar to NB-IoT, which improve detection performance by combining multi-cycle signals. Therefore, the synchronization signal of the passive IoT communication system must meet the high requirements for missed detection rate and false alarm rate in a single detection. In addition, the baseband computing power of passive IoT terminals is poor, and the capabilities required for signal detection and synchronization, such as sampling rate and correlation length, are greatly limited, resulting in a certain performance gap compared to NB-IoT. In summary, the PSS / SSS duration of passive IoT communication systems is expected to be significantly longer than the synchronization signal duration of systems such as NB-IoT.

[0213] As the PSS / SSS duration of passive IoT communication systems increases significantly, their periods cannot remain consistent or close to those of long-term evolution (LTE), new radio (NR), and NB-IoT, and must also be significantly increased. Considering different passive devices and different coverage levels, signaling lengths are longer at far coverage levels, and passive devices have longer signaling than active devices (active tags). Fixed synchronization signal periods would affect transmission and be inflexible, so support for different synchronization signal periods may be necessary.

[0214] Similarly, the length of the MIB signal may be significantly longer than that of NB-IoT, resulting in fewer resources remaining for data transmission within each synchronization cycle. Therefore, it may be necessary to consider sending the MIB more sparsely to reduce overall overhead and improve air interface resource utilization. Therefore, it is necessary to study technical solutions for periodic transmission of MIB and SIB in passive IoT communication systems.

[0215] This application provides a technical solution for periodically transmitting MIBs and SIBs in a passive IoT communication system, which can improve resource utilization. In addition, the technical solution provided by this application can also be applied to NB-IoT, 5G, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, etc. Furthermore, the technical solution provided by this application can also improve the efficiency of terminal devices accessing cells.

[0216] The following describes a communication system to which the technical solution provided by this application is applicable.

[0217] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, wireless local area networks (WLAN) systems, satellite communication systems, future communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) mobile communication systems, or fusion systems of multiple systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to other communication systems involving network devices (such as base stations) that periodically send synchronization signals and system messages. The above-mentioned communication system applicable to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. The communication system applicable to the technical solution provided in the present application is not limited to this. It is described uniformly here and will not be repeated below.

[0218] A first device in a communication system can send a signal to a second device or receive a signal from a third device. The signal may include information, signaling, or data, etc. The device may also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a communication device, a communication module, a node, a communication node, etc. The present disclosure uses a network element as an example for description. The first device may be a network device or a terminal device, the second device may be a network device or a terminal device, and the third device may be a network device or a terminal device. For example, the communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device may send a downlink signal to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device may send an uplink signal to the network device. It is understandable that the terminal device in the present disclosure may be replaced by the first device, and the network device may be replaced by the second device, and both perform the corresponding communication method in the present disclosure.

[0219] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system that can be applied in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes a network device 110, a terminal device 120, and a terminal device 130. The communication system that can be applied in an embodiment of the present application includes one or more terminal devices, with terminal device 120 and terminal device 130 being examples of terminal devices in the communication system. Figure 1 is only a schematic diagram, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of network devices and terminal devices included in the communication system. Terminal device 120 and terminal device 130 can access network device 110 and communicate with network device 110. Exemplarily, the communication system shown in Figure 1 is an example of a passive Internet of Things communication system, and terminal device 120 and terminal device 130 are passive tags, semi-passive tags, or active tags.

[0220] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0221] The terminal device may be a device that provides voice / data, such as a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with a wireless connection function. At present, some examples of terminals are: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolved public land mobile communication networks (PLMNs). The terminal equipment in the network (PLMN), etc., is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0222] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0223] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to realize the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device or used in combination with the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices. In the embodiments of the present application, only the terminal device is used as an example for description, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0224] The network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device. For example, the network device may be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. A base station may broadly cover various names as follows, or replace the following names, such as: RAN node, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), master station, secondary station, multi-standard radio (motor slide retainer, MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, etc. A base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station may also refer to a communication module, modem or chip that is set in the aforementioned equipment or device. The base station may also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs the base station function in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, a network side device in a 6G network, a device that performs the base station function in future communication systems, etc. The base station can support networks with the same or different access technologies. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network equipment.

[0225] Base stations can be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells can move based on the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a device that communicates with another base station.

[0226] In some deployments, the network devices mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may include a CU, a DU, or both a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), and a DU node. For example, the network devices may include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP, and a gNB-DU.

[0227] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functionality. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, or RU. The CU and DU can be separate or included in the same network element, such as the BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio unit, such as an RRU, AAU, or RRH.

[0228] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the network device can be a network device; it can also be a device that can support the network device to implement the functions, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit and a software module. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the device for implementing the functions of the network device is used as an example to illustrate, and does not constitute a limitation on the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0229] It should be noted that the network architecture described in the embodiments of this application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0230] In different application scenarios, the length (duration) of the synchronization signal is usually different. Generally, the length (duration) of the synchronization signal sent by the base station is different for different coverage levels. For example, in a far coverage scenario, a single signaling may reach the order of 100ms. At this time, the fixed period of the synchronization signal will affect the transmission efficiency. Therefore, the base station supports different periods of synchronization signals to improve system flexibility. In addition, the length (duration) of the MIB is also variable, not fixed. That is to say, the length of the synchronization signal periodically sent by the base station and / or the length of the MIB are variable. The main principle of some of the embodiments provided in this application is to adjust the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB based on the length of the synchronization signal periodically sent by the base station and the length of the MIB, so as to improve resource utilization. The main principle of another part of the embodiments provided in this application is to adjust the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB based on the length of the MIB periodically sent by the base station and the length of the SIB, so as to improve resource utilization.

[0231] The following first introduces the technical solution provided by this application in conjunction with Figure 2. Figure 2 is an interactive flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 2, the method includes:

[0232] 201. The network device generates a synchronization signal and MIB.

[0233] 202. The network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and MIB.

[0234] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period. The first time period and the second time period are different time periods. For example, the start time of the second time period is after the end time of the first time period. For another example, the start time of the second time period is the end time of the first time period. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and MIB provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the period of the synchronization signal in time period #1 and the period of the MIB are T, that is, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is 1; the period of the synchronization signal in time period #2 is T, and the period of the MIB is 2T, that is, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is 1:2; the period of the synchronization signal in time period #3 is T, and the period of the MIB is 3T, that is, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is 1:3. For example, the network device shown in FIG3 periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in time period #1 is an example of the network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in the first time period, and the network device shown in FIG3 periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in time period #2 is an example of the network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in the second time period. For another example, the network device shown in FIG3 periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in time period #2 is an example of the network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in the first time period, and the network device shown in FIG3 periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in time period #3 is an example of the network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in the second time period.

[0235] In a possible implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of a MIB in the first time period; the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period to the period of the MIB is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of the MIB in the second time period. In the present application, the duration of a synchronization signal is the duration of the PSS and SSS included in the synchronization signal, that is, the length of the PSS+SSS. Exemplarily, the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), and the ratio of the period of the MIB in the first time period to the period of the synchronization signal is (k+1), where k is an integer greater than or equal to 0; the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the second time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than h and less than or equal to (h+1), and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period to the period of the MIB is (h+1), where h is an integer greater than or equal to 0. The first time period and the second time period are merely two examples. If the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal within any time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within that time period is (k+1). In this implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period is associated with the duration of a synchronization signal and the duration of a MIB within the first time period. A method for determining the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period is provided.

[0236] In one possible implementation, the network device determines a ratio of a synchronization signal period to a MIB period within the first time period based on a synchronization signal duration and a MIB duration within the first time period; and determines a ratio of a synchronization signal period to a MIB period within the second time period based on a synchronization signal duration and a MIB duration within the second time period. Exemplarily, before executing step 202, the network device performs the following operations: obtaining a ratio of the MIB duration to the synchronization signal duration within the first time period; when the ratio of the MIB duration to the synchronization signal duration within the first time period is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), determining a ratio of a period of periodic transmission of the synchronization signal to the MIB period within the first time period to be (k+1); obtaining a ratio of the MIB duration to the synchronization signal duration within the second time period; and when the ratio of the MIB duration to the synchronization signal duration within the second time period is greater than h and less than or equal to (h+1), determining a ratio of a period of periodic transmission of the synchronization signal to the MIB period within the second time period to be (h+1). Exemplarily, when the duration of the synchronization signal to be sent by the network device and / or the duration of the synchronization signal of the MIB changes, the ratio of the duration of the synchronization signal to be sent to the duration of the synchronization signal of the MIB is determined.

[0237] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and MIB according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, when the MIB length (i.e., the length of the MIB) is the same as the PSS+SSS length (i.e., the length of the PSS+SSS) (i.e., the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal is equal to 1), the two are in the same ratio, i.e., the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is (k+1), k=0; when the MIB length is 1 to 2 times the length of the PSS+SSS (i.e., the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1)), k is 1, i.e., the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is (k+1), i.e., 2; when the MIB length is 2 to 3 times the length of the PSS+SSS (i.e., the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1)), k is 2, i.e., the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is (k+1), i.e., 3.

[0238] It should be noted that the implementation method provided in this application for the network device to determine the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is only an example. The network device can also determine the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB through other implementation methods, and this application does not limit it.

[0239] 203. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0240] The way the terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB can be the same as the existing way of parsing synchronization signals and MIB, which will not be described in detail here. For example, after parsing the received synchronization signal and MIB, the terminal device further parses the received SIB to access the cell.

[0241] In a possible implementation, the terminal device determines the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB by blind detection.

[0242] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period, indicating that the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB, the variable ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB can improve resource utilization. In other words, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB is adjusted according to actual needs, which can improve resource utilization, that is, reduce the waste of air interface resources.

[0243] FIG5 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in FIG5 is a possible implementation of the method described in FIG2. As shown in FIG5, the method includes:

[0244] 501. The network device generates a synchronization signal and MIB.

[0245] Step 501 may refer to step 201 .

[0246] 502. The network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and MIB within a first time period.

[0247] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device during the first time period. Step 502 may refer to step 202. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB during the first time period is a first ratio, for example, the first ratio is 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 2:3, etc. Exemplarily, the ratio of the duration of the MIB during the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), and the ratio of the period of the MIB during the first time period to the period of the synchronization signal is (k+1).

[0248] 503. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0249] Step 503 may refer to step 203 .

[0250] 504. The network device learns that the duration of the synchronization signal to be sent and / or the duration of the MIB signal to be sent in the second time period has changed.

[0251] In one possible implementation, the network device adjusts the duration of the synchronization signal and / or the duration of the MIB signal it sends due to certain reasons, such as the network device adjusting its coverage level. This application does not limit the conditions that trigger the network device to adjust the duration of the synchronization signal and / or the duration of the MIB signal it is about to send, nor does it limit the manner in which the network device learns that the duration of the synchronization signal and / or the duration of the MIB signal it is about to send has changed.

[0252] 505. The network device periodically sends the synchronization signal and the MIB in the second time period based on the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the second time period to the duration of the synchronization signal.

[0253] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device during the second time period. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB during the second time period is a second ratio, which is different from the first ratio. For example, the first ratio is 1:1, and the second ratio is 1:2. For another example, the first ratio is 1:1, and the second ratio is 1:3. For another example, the first ratio is 1:3, and the second ratio is 2:3. Exemplarily, the ratio of the duration of the MIB during the second time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than h and less than or equal to (h+1), and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB during the second time period is (h+1), where h is an integer greater than or equal to 0. An example of step 404 is: when the ratio of the duration of the MIB during the second time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than h and less than or equal to (h+1), the synchronization signal and MIB are periodically sent during the second time period, and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB during the second time period is (h+1). Steps 503 and 504 may indicate that when the duration of the synchronization signal to be sent by the network device and / or the duration of the MIB signal changes, the network device may adjust the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB based on the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the second time period to the duration of the synchronization signal, so as to improve resource utilization or improve the access efficiency of the terminal device.

[0254] In an embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB is determined based on the ratio of the duration of the MIB in the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB can be reasonably determined to improve resource utilization.

[0255] FIG6 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in FIG6 is a possible implementation of the method described in FIG2. As shown in FIG6, the method includes:

[0256] 601. The network device sends control information.

[0257] Accordingly, the terminal device receives control information. The control information is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB in the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the above-mentioned first synchronization signal, the above-mentioned first synchronization signal is the synchronization signal with the shortest interval with the above-mentioned control information in the above-mentioned first time period. The first MIB is the MIB with the shortest interval with the first synchronization signal among all MIBs after the first synchronization signal. Exemplarily, the control information is used to indicate that the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB is 0, that is, it is used to indicate that there is no interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB; or, the control information is used to indicate that the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB is 1; or, the control information is used to indicate that the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB is 2. In Figure 7C below, k can represent the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB.

[0258] 602. The terminal device obtains a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a first time period based on the control information.

[0259] 603. The network device generates a synchronization signal and MIB.

[0260] Step 603 may refer to step 201 .

[0261] 604. The network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and MIB within a first time period.

[0262] Step 604 may refer to step 202 .

[0263] 605. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0264] Step 605 may refer to step 203 .

[0265] In an embodiment of the present application, the control information is used to indicate period ratio information, and the terminal device can obtain the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB based on the control information.

[0266] FIG6 illustrates how a terminal device acquires the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period based on control information sent by a network device. The following describes how a terminal device acquires the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period based on a received synchronization signal, in conjunction with FIG7A , FIG7B , FIG7C , FIG8A , FIG8B , and FIG8C .

[0267] In one possible implementation, the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first MIB after the first synchronization signal and with the shortest time interval between the first synchronization signal and the first synchronization signal. The first synchronization signal is any synchronization signal within the first time period. The terminal device obtains the period ratio information based on the first synchronization information. In this implementation, the first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio information; there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0268] The first synchronization signal is used to indicate the period ratio information. Possible implementations are as follows: the first synchronization signal includes an SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB following the first synchronization signal. In this application, the period of the synchronization signal is represented by T1, the period of the MIB is represented by T2, and the period of the SIB is represented by T3. T1 / T2 (or T1:T2) represents the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB. T2 / T3 (or T2:T3) represents the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB. T1 / T2 / T3 (or T1:T2:T3) represents the period of the synchronization signal: the period of the MIB: the period of the SIB. The terminal device can obtain the period ratio information based on the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS included in the first synchronization signal.

[0269] Illustratively, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; or the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB following the first synchronization signal. In this example, the terminal device can obtain period ratio information based on the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS.

[0270] Figure 7A is an example of the number and interval of frequencies used by the SSS according to an embodiment of the present application to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB. In Figure 7A, T1 is indicated by the value K1, T2 is indicated by the value K2, the k1 configuration set is {1.2.3}, k1 is any one of 1, 2, 3, and the k2 configuration set is {1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.}, that is, k2 is any one of 1 to 9; SSS uses a single frequency to represent (or indicate) k1=1, k2=1, that is, T1 and T2 are both T; SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 10 kHz, representing k1=1, k2=2, that is, T1 is T, T2 is 2T; SSS uses three frequencies with an interval of 10 kHz and 20 kHz, representing k1=1, k2=3, that is, T1 is T, T2 is 3T. Figure 7B is another example of the number and interval of frequencies used by the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application to indicate the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB. As shown in Figure 7B, the SSS uses a single frequency to represent (or indicate) T1 / T2=1:1, the SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 10 kHz to represent T1 / T2=1:2, and the SSS uses three frequencies with an interval of 10 kHz and 20 kHz to represent T1 / T2=1:3. Figure 7C is an example of the number and interval of frequencies used by the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB. As shown in Figure 7C, k represents the interval between the synchronization signal (for example, the first synchronization signal) and the subsequent MIB (the shortest interval with the synchronization signal, for example, the first MIB), and the k configuration set is {0.1.2}, that is, the value of k is any one of 0, 1, and 2, T1 is indicated by the value k1, and T2 is indicated by the value k2; SSS uses a single frequency point to indicate k=0, SSS uses two frequency points to indicate k=1, and SSS uses three frequency points to indicate k=2; if the SSS included in the synchronization signal uses a single frequency point, the interval between the synchronization signal and the subsequent MIB (the shortest interval with the synchronization signal) is 0, that is, k=0; if the SSS included in the synchronization signal uses two frequency points, the interval between the synchronization signal and the subsequent MIB (the shortest interval with the synchronization signal) is 1, that is, k=1; if the SSS included in the synchronization signal uses three frequency points, the interval between the synchronization signal and the subsequent MIB (the shortest interval with the synchronization signal) is 2, that is, k=2. It should be understood that Figures 7A, 7B, and 7C are only some examples of how the number and / or interval of frequencies used by SSS are used to indicate period ratio information, and are not exhaustive examples. The number and / or interval of frequencies used by SSS are used to indicate period ratio information, eliminating the need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0271] Exemplarily, the duration or time gap of the time domain of the above-mentioned SSS is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the above-mentioned first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB in the above-mentioned first time period; the interval between the above-mentioned first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the above-mentioned first synchronization signal. In this example, the terminal device can obtain the period ratio information based on the duration or time gap of the time domain of the SSS. The duration of the time domain of the SSS refers to the duration of the SSS. The time gap of the time domain of an SSS refers to the duration of the SSS being vacant in the time domain.

[0272] FIG8A is an example of the duration of the time domain of the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application being used to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB. As shown in FIG8A , the duration of the time domain of the SSS is 0.5 ms and is used to indicate that T1 is T and T2 is T; the duration of the time domain of the SSS is 1 ms and is used to indicate that T1 is T and T2 is 2T; the duration of the time domain of the SSS is 2 ms and is used to indicate that T1 is T and T2 is 3T. FIG8B is an example of the time gaps in the time domain of the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application being used to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB. As shown in FIG8B , the time gaps in the time domain of the SSS indicate T1 and T2. The absence of a time gap in the time domain of the SSS indicates that there is a MIB behind the current synchronization signal (i.e., there is an adjacent MIB). The presence of a time gap in the time domain of the SSS (e.g., a time gap of 2 OFDM symbols in length) indicates that there is no adjacent MIB behind the current synchronization signal. Figure 8B shows an example where T1 is T and T2 is T, an example where T1 is T and T2 is 2T, and an example where T1 is T and T2 is 3T. Figure 8C is an example where the time gap in the time domain of the SSS provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to indicate the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB. As shown in Figure 8C, the time gap in the time domain of the SSS indicates T1:T2, and there is no gap in the time domain of the SSS (that is, the time gap is 0 OFDM symbols), which means that T1:T2 is 1:1. The time domain gap of the SSS is 2 OFDM symbols (that is, the time gap is 2 OFDM symbols), which means that T1:T2 is 1:2. The time domain gap of the SSS is 4 OFDM symbols (that is, the time gap is 4 OFDM symbols), which means that T1:T2 is 1:3. The duration or time gap in the time domain of the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information. There is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0273] FIG9 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in FIG9 is a possible implementation of the method described in FIG2. As shown in FIG9, the method includes:

[0274] 901. The network device generates a synchronization signal and MIB.

[0275] Step 901 may refer to step 201 .

[0276] 902. When a signal to be sent meets a first condition, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and an MIB, wherein the MIB periodically sent by the network device in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks.

[0277] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically transmitted by the network device within the first time period. The first condition may include: the period of the synchronization signal to be transmitted by the network device is less than a first threshold, or the duration of the MIB to be transmitted by the network device is greater than a second threshold, or the ratio of the period of the MIB to be transmitted by the network device to the period of the synchronization signal is greater than a third threshold. The first threshold is less than or equal to 5 ms. For example, the first threshold is 5 ms, 4.5 ms, or 4 ms. The second threshold is greater than or equal to 320 ms. For example, the second threshold is 320 ms, 380 ms, or 400 ms. The third threshold is greater than or equal to 6. For example, the third threshold is 8, 9, or 10. In this application, the first, second, and third thresholds can be set according to actual needs and are not limited in this application. One example of step 902 is: the network device periodically transmits the synchronization signal and MIB when the period of the synchronization signal to be transmitted is less than the first threshold. Another example of step 902 is: the network device periodically transmits the synchronization signal and MIB when the duration of the MIB to be transmitted is greater than the second threshold. Another example of step 902 is: when the ratio of the period of the MIB to be sent to the period of the synchronization signal is greater than the third threshold, the network device periodically sends the synchronization signal and the MIB. Before sending the synchronization signal and the MIB, the network device may first determine (or confirm) whether the signal to be sent meets the first condition; if so, step 902 is executed; if not, step 904 is executed.

[0278] When the period of the synchronization signal to be sent by the network device is less than the first threshold, the time domain resources occupied by the synchronization signal (for example, 2ms) are shorter than the period of the synchronization signal, and the length of the MIB allowed to be inserted in the middle is limited. By sending the MIB in blocks, resource utilization is improved. When the duration of the MIB to be sent by the network device is greater than the second threshold, the duration of the MIB itself may be relatively long, so sending it in blocks can avoid the terminal device from waiting for the MIB signal for a long time, which can improve the access efficiency of the terminal device. When the ratio of the period of the MIB to be sent by the network device to the period of the synchronization signal is greater than the third threshold, the frequency of the MIB appearance is too low. Sending the MIB in blocks can improve transmission efficiency, so that the terminal device does not need to wait for a long time to receive the MIB.

[0279] The sending times of the above-mentioned multiple sub-MIBs are different. At least two of the multiple sub-MIBs are different. The terminal device can merge the multiple sub-MIBs it receives in the first time period to obtain one MIB. The start time of the first time period can be a moment after the signal to be sent by the network device meets the first condition. The end time of the start time of the first time period can be a moment after the signal to be sent by the network device does not meet the first condition. Figure 10 is an example of a network device periodically sending a synchronization signal and a MIB in the first time period according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the MIB periodically sent by the network device in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks, namely MIB (B1), MIB (B2), and MIB (B3). The period of the MIB is the interval between the start times of the two sub-MIBs, namely 20ms. The terminal device merges MIB (B1), MIB (B2), and MIB (B3) to obtain the first MIB.

[0280] In one possible implementation, at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes, or at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs (which may be referred to as MIB blocks) use different scrambling codes for CRC. Exemplarily, the network device may scramble the CRC with part of the system frame number (SFN) of the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) where the sub-MIB is located or the sequence within the transmission time interval (TTI). Exemplarily, the network device sends a scrambling code seed through scheduling information. In this implementation, the benefit of scrambling the sub-MIB is that it reduces interference with neighboring cells, and only terminal devices within the cell can descramble the information received within the cell based on the cell-specific scrambling code sequence formed by the identity (ID) of the cell. Secondly, different MIB blocks use different scrambling codes. The scrambling code initialization seed can be the entire cell ID or part of the cell ID. When different blocks of the MIB (i.e., sub-MIBs) use different scrambling codes, then only the current MIB block can descramble the received MIB block according to the dedicated scrambling code sequence formed by the scrambling code of the current block, which can prevent the terminal device from incorrectly judging the order of the current block in the original MIB.

[0281] 903. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0282] Step 903 may refer to step 203 .

[0283] 904. When the signal to be sent does not meet the first condition, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and an MIB, wherein the MIB periodically sent by the network device in the second time period is the same MIB.

[0284] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device during the second time period. Step 904 may be replaced by: when the signal to be sent does not meet the first condition, the network device periodically sends the synchronization signal and MIB, wherein the MIB periodically sent by the network device during the second time period is an independent (or complete) MIB, rather than a sub-MB obtained by dividing a MIB into blocks.

[0285] 905. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0286] Step 905 may refer to step 203 .

[0287] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and an MIB when the signal to be sent meets a first condition, wherein the MIB periodically sent by the network device within the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks; resource utilization or the efficiency of transmitting the MIB can be improved.

[0288] Step 902 indicates that, if the signal to be transmitted meets the first condition, the MIB periodically transmitted by the network device can be transmitted in blocks. The number of blocks in a MIB and the length of each block (i.e., sub-MIB) can be fixed or variable. The terminal device can determine the block information of the MIB and perform decoding based on the control information sent by the network device or the period T1 of the synchronization signal detected.

[0289] The following describes how to divide the MIB into multiple sub-MIBs and how a terminal device obtains information about the MIB sub-MIBs.

[0290] In one possible implementation, the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are equal, and the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are derived based on the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the duration of a synchronization signal within the first time period. The network device may block a MIB into multiple sub-MIBs of equal duration. Exemplarily, when a MIB is divided into multiple sub-MIBs of equal length (i.e., equal duration), the number of blocks of the MIB (i.e., the number of sub-MIBs) is less than T2:T1. For example, if two PSS / SSSs correspond to one MIB period, then a maximum of two MIB blocks are generated. The block length, i.e., the duration of the sub-MIB, is less than (T1-the duration of a synchronization signal), i.e., the difference between T1 and the duration of a synchronization signal. For example, the duration of the multiple sub-MIBs is equal to half the difference between T1 and the duration of a synchronization signal. In this implementation, the durations of the multiple sub-MIBs are derived based on the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the duration of a synchronization signal within the first time period; the durations of the sub-MIBs can be reasonably determined.

[0291] In one possible implementation, the durations of at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs are different, and the durations of the sub-MIBs in the multiple sub-MIBs are used to determine the order of the sub-MIBs in the multiple sub-MIBs. The network device may block a MIB into multiple sub-MIBs with different durations, and the durations of the sub-MIBs are used to determine the order of the sub-MIBs in the multiple sub-MIBs. The terminal device may determine the order of each sub-MIB based on the duration of each sub-MIB. The network device and the terminal device may agree on the duration of the first sub-MIB, the duration of the second sub-MIB, ..., the duration of the last sub-MIB obtained by blocking a MIB, so that the terminal device determines the order of each sub-MIB based on the duration of each sub-MIB. For example, the length relationship of the multiple sub-MIBs obtained by blocking a MIB may satisfy the order from small to large from front to back, or from large to small. The advantage of this approach is that the number of the current block can be identified by identifying the length of the received sub-MIB. The specific size values ​​can be 1:2:3:4:..., or other values ​​related to the length of the sub-MIB and the symbol length. For example, when the MIB has 15 symbols, the lengths of the four sub-MIBs obtained from the MIB block are 1:2:4:8 from front to back. In this implementation, the duration of the sub-MIB in multiple sub-MIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-MIB in the multiple sub-MIBs, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the order of the sub-MIB in the multiple sub-MIBs, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0292] In one possible implementation, the multiple sub-MIBs include s sub-MIBs of the first length and s sub-MIBs of the second length, where s is an integer greater than 1. Exemplarily, the network device divides the first MIB into t sub-MIBs, where the t sub-MIBs include s sub-MIBs of the first length and s sub-MIBs of the second length, where t is an integer greater than 3, and s is an integer greater than 1.

[0293] In a possible implementation, the second synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period. The second synchronization signal is any synchronization signal within the first time period. The terminal device can obtain the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period based on the second synchronization signal. Exemplarily, the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period may include: the duration of the sub-MIB sent within the first time period and the number of sub-MIBs. The implementation method in which the second synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period may be: the second synchronization signal includes SSS, and the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period. In this implementation, the frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent within the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; signaling overhead can be saved.

[0294] Exemplarily, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period. The block information of the MIB sent in the first time period may be any one of the following: the first MIB block is f sub-MIBs of equal length; the first MIB block is f sub-MIBs of different lengths; the first MIB block is t sub-MIBs, and the t sub-MIBs include s sub-MIBs of the first length and s sub-MIBs of the second length, where f is an integer greater than 1, t is an integer greater than 3, and s is an integer greater than 1. For example, when SSS uses a single frequency point, it means: MIB is divided into equal parts, and each synchronization signal has a MIB block; when SSS uses two frequency points with an interval of 10k, it means: MIB is divided into four blocks from small to large, where the length of the first block can be the same as the length of PSS or PSS+SSS, and the length of the last block does not exceed T1-PSS-SSS, that is, the difference between T and the duration of a synchronization signal; when SSS uses three frequency points with an interval of 10k and 20k, it means: MIB blocks are two large and two small (half of the number of blocks are large and half are small), a total of four sub-MIBs, where the length of the small block can be equal to the length of PSS or PSS+SSS, and the length of the large block is equal to T1-PSS-SSS. Figure 11 provides an example of the number of frequency points and / or intervals used by SSS in an embodiment of the present application to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period. As shown in Figure 11, the original period ratio, that is, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the unblocked MIB, is T1:T2=1:4; when SSS uses a single frequency point, it means: the MIB is divided into four blocks after each synchronization signal, and the MIB is divided into four blocks; when SSS uses two frequency points with an interval of 10k, it means: the MIB is divided into four blocks from small to large, where the length of the first block can be the same as the length of PSS or PSS+SSS, and the length of the last block does not exceed T1-PSS-SSS, that is, the difference between T and the duration of a synchronization signal; when SSS uses three frequency points with an interval of 10k and 20k, it means: the MIB block is divided into two large and two small (half of the number of blocks is large and half is small), a total of four sub-MIBs, where the length of the small block can be equal to the length of PSS or PSS+SSS, and the length of the large block is equal to T1-PSS-SSS.

[0295] In this implementation, the second synchronization signal is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent in the first time period, and there is no need to send control information to indicate the block information; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0296] In one possible implementation, the method flow in FIG9 further includes: the network device sends first block information, where the first block information is used to indicate the block information of the MIB sent during the first time period; based on the first block information, the terminal device can obtain the block information of the MIB sent during the first time period. Exemplarily, the first block information is carried in a scheduling information or control information. In this implementation, the terminal device can obtain the block information of the MIB sent during the first time period based on the first block information.

[0297] FIG12 is a flowchart of another communication method interaction provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in FIG12 is a possible implementation of the method described in FIG2. As shown in FIG12, the method includes:

[0298] 1201. The network device generates a synchronization signal and MIB.

[0299] Step 1201 may refer to step 201 .

[0300] 1202. When a signal to be sent meets a first condition, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and an MIB, wherein a duration of symbols in the MIB periodically and repeatedly sent by the network device within a first time period is a first duration.

[0301] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device. The first condition can be referred to the description of the first condition in the method flow of FIG9 , which will not be repeated here.

[0302] 1203. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0303] Step 1203 may refer to step 203 .

[0304] 1204. When the signal to be sent does not meet the first condition, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and an MIB, wherein the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent by the network device within the first time period is a second duration.

[0305] Exemplarily, the first duration is shorter than the second duration, and the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is less than the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period. Compared with the method flow of FIG9 , the method flow of FIG12 is not transmitted in blocks, but is transmitted repeatedly. Specifically, the duration of each symbol in a single MIB is reduced, and the number of repetitions of the MIB is increased. This reduces the time a terminal device waits to receive the MIB, thereby improving the access efficiency of the terminal device.

[0306] 1205. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal and MIB.

[0307] Step 1205 may refer to step 203 .

[0308] The method flow of Figure 12 and the method flow of Figure 9 can be two independent processes, or they can be combined. An example of combining the method flow of Figure 12 with the method flow of Figure 9 is: when the first condition is met, determine whether the MIB meets the conditions for block transmission; if the conditions for block transmission are met, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and MIB, wherein the MIB periodically sent by the network device in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by blocking the first MIB; if the conditions for block transmission are not met, the network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and MIB, wherein the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeatedly sent by the network device in the first time period is the first duration. When the MIB block is a plurality of sub-MIBs of equal length, an example of the conditions for block transmission is: the number of blocks is less than T2:T1, and the block length is less than T1-synchronization signal length.

[0309] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device increases the number of repetitions of the MIB when the signal to be sent meets the first condition, thereby reducing the time the terminal device waits to receive the MIB and improving the access efficiency of the terminal device.

[0310] The above embodiment describes that the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal sent by the network device to the period of the MIB is variable. The following describes an embodiment in which the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal sent by the network device to the period of the MIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB are both variable.

[0311] FIG13 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG13 , the method includes:

[0312] 1301. A network device periodically sends a synchronization signal, MIB, and SIB.

[0313] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the periodically sent synchronization signal, MIB and SIB. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the second time period, and / or the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the first time period is different from the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the second time period. In an embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB are both variable. Figure 14 is an example of a network device providing a periodic transmission of a synchronization signal, MIB and SIB in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 14, T1:T2:T3 in the first time period is 1:1:1, and T1:T2:T3 in the first time period is 1:1:2.

[0314] In one possible implementation, the MIB periodically transmitted by the network device during the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks. For example, when the signal to be transmitted meets the first condition described above, the network device periodically transmits a synchronization signal and an MIB. The MIB periodically transmitted by the network device during the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks. For details, see the relevant description in FIG9 .

[0315] In one possible implementation, the SIB periodically transmitted by the network device during a first time period includes multiple sub-SIBs obtained by dividing the second SIB into blocks. The second SIB is any SIB within the first time period. The period of the SIB can be the interval (or offset) between the starting positions of two sub-SIBs. Exemplarily, the network device transmits the SIB in blocks when the signal to be transmitted meets the second condition. The second condition can be any of the following: (T1 - the duration of a synchronization signal) is less than the duration of a SIB, that is, the difference between T1 and the duration of a synchronization signal is less than the duration of a SIB to be transmitted; (T1 - the duration of a synchronization signal - the duration of a SIB) is less than the duration of a SIB to be transmitted; the duration of a SIB to be transmitted is greater than a fourth threshold, an example of which may be 640 ms. The network device may also transmit the SIB in blocks when the signal to be transmitted meets other conditions, which are not limited in this application. In this implementation, transmitting the SIB in blocks can improve resource utilization or the efficiency of transmitting the SIB.

[0316] When the network device sends the SIB in blocks, the sent sub-SIBs meet any one of the following criteria 1, 2, or 3.

[0317] Criterion 1: The duration of a sub-SIB must be less than (T1 - the duration of the synchronization signal), and the number of blocks (i.e., the number of sub-SIBs) must be equal to the number of synchronization signals without a MIB. In other words, a SIB block, i.e., a sub-SIB, can only be sent after a synchronization signal without a MIB.

[0318] Criterion 2: The duration of each sub-SIB is less than (T1-synchronization signal length-MIB length), and the duration of each sub-SIB is greater than the duration of the synchronization signal. In this case, the SIB block can be sent after each synchronization signal.

[0319] Criterion 3: The duration of each sub-SIB is less than (T1-the length of the synchronization signal-the length of the MIB), and the duration of each sub-SIB is less than the duration of the synchronization signal, and the duration of each sub-SIB is greater than the duration of the PSS signal. At this time, the SIB block can choose to add the SIB block only after the MIB or add the SIB block after each synchronization signal.

[0320] FIG15 shows an example of a network device sending a SIB in blocks according to an embodiment of the present application. FIG15 shows an example of a sub-SIB sent by a network device that meets criteria 1, 2, and 3.

[0321] In one possible implementation, a first duration of a symbol in the MIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during a first time period is shorter than a second duration of a symbol in the MIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during a second time period. For example, when a signal to be transmitted by the network device satisfies the aforementioned first condition, the first duration of a symbol in the MIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the first time period is shorter than the second duration of a symbol in the MIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the second time period. For details, see the relevant description in FIG. 9 .

[0322] In one possible implementation, the third duration of the symbols in the SIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the first time period is shorter than the fourth duration of the symbols in the SIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the second time period. For example, when the signal to be transmitted by the network device satisfies the aforementioned first condition, the third duration of the symbols in the SIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the first time period is shorter than the fourth duration of the symbols in the SIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the second time period. Exemplarily, when the signal to be transmitted by the network device satisfies the aforementioned first condition, the SIB that the network device periodically repeatedly transmits during the first time period satisfies any one of the aforementioned criteria 1, 2, or 3. In other words, the manner in which the network device repeatedly transmits the SIB may be similar to the manner in which the SIB is transmitted in blocks.

[0323] 1302. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal, MIB, and SIB.

[0324] In a possible implementation, the terminal device determines the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB through blind detection.

[0325] In an embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB and / or the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB is variable. Compared with the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB and / or the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB being fixed, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB and / or the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB is variable; resource utilization can be improved.

[0326] FIG16 is a flowchart of another communication method interaction provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method flow in FIG16 is a possible implementation of the method described in FIG13. As shown in FIG16, the method includes:

[0327] 1601. The network device sends first control information.

[0328] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first control information. The first control information is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the above-mentioned first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the above-mentioned first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB within the above-mentioned first time period. 602. The terminal device obtains the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period based on the control information. Exemplarily, the first control information includes T1:T2:T3 or T1, T2, T3.

[0329] 1602. The terminal device obtains the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB based on the first control information.

[0330] 1603. The network device periodically sends a synchronization signal, MIB, and SIB.

[0331] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the synchronization signal, MIB, and SIB sent by the network device. The order of step 1602 and step 1603 is not limited. Step 1603 can refer to step 1301.

[0332] In a possible implementation, the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the first time period is associated with the duration of a MIB and the duration of a SIB in the first time period. Exemplarily, when the ratio of the duration of the SIB to the duration of the MIB in the first time period is greater than q and less than or equal to (q+1), the ratio of the period of the SIB to the period of the MIB in the first time period is (q+1), where q is an integer greater than or equal to 0. In this implementation, the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is determined based on the ratio of the duration of the MIB to the duration of the synchronization signal in the first time period. The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period can be reasonably determined to improve resource utilization.

[0333] 1604. The terminal device parses the received synchronization signal, MIB, and SIB.

[0334] Step 1604 may refer to step 1302 .

[0335] In an embodiment of the present application, the first control information is used to indicate period ratio information. Based on the control information, the terminal device can obtain the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB.

[0336] FIG16 illustrates how a terminal device acquires the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period, and the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period, based on control information sent by a network device. The following describes how a terminal device acquires T1:T2:T3 based on a received synchronization signal, in conjunction with FIG17A and FIG17B .

[0337] In one possible implementation, the first synchronization signal within the first time period includes an SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB, and the period of the SIB within the first time period. In this implementation, the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information, and no additional information needs to be sent to indicate the period ratio information, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0338] More specifically, the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the synchronization signal period to the MIB period within the first time period, and the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period within the first time period; the synchronization signal period, the MIB period, and the SIB period within the first time period. Figure 17A is an example of using the number and / or interval of frequencies used by the SSS to indicate T1:T2:T3, provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 17A, when SSS uses a single frequency point, it indicates: k1=1, k2=1, where k1 indicates whether there is MIB after the current synchronization signal. When the value of k1 is 1, it indicates that there is MIB after the current synchronization signal. When the value of k1 is 0, it indicates that there is no MIB after the current synchronization signal. k2 indicates whether there is SIB after the current synchronization signal. When the value of k2 is 1, it indicates that there is SIB after the current synchronization signal. When the value of k2 is 1, it indicates that there is SIB after the current synchronization signal. When SSS uses two frequency points (interval of 10khz), it indicates k1=1, k2=0; when SSS uses three frequency points (interval of 10khz and 20khz), it indicates k1=0, k2=0; when SSS uses three frequency points (interval of 10khz and 40khz), it indicates k1=0, k2=1. Figure 17A shows an example where the number of frequencies and / or intervals used by SSS indicate T1:T2:T3 is 1:1:2, an example where T1:T2:T3 is 1:2:3, and an example where T1:T2:T3 is 1:2:4. "There is a MIB after the current synchronization signal" means that the network device sends the MIB after sending the current synchronization signal and before sending the next synchronization signal. "There is no MIB after the current synchronization signal" means that the network device does not send the MIB after sending the current synchronization signal and before sending the next synchronization signal.

[0339] Another example of the number and / or interval of frequencies used by SSS to indicate T1:T2:T3 is: k1 represents the ratio of T1 to T2, and the value range of k1 is {1.5 2 3}, k2 represents the ratio of T2 to T3, and the value range of k2 is {1 1.5 2 2.5}, when SSS uses a single frequency point, it is represented by: k1=1k2=1; when SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 10kHz, it is represented by: k1=1k2=1.5; when SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 20kHz, it is represented by: k1=1k2=2; when SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 30kHz, it is represented by: k1=1k2=2.5; when SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 40kHz, it is represented by: k1=2k2=1; when SSS uses three frequencies (interval of 10kHz), it is represented by: k1=2k2=1.5; when SSS uses three frequencies (interval of When SSS uses three frequencies (intervals of 10khz and 20khz), it indicates k1=2k2=2; when SSS uses three frequencies (intervals of 10khz and 30khz), it indicates k1=2k2=2.5; when SSS uses three frequencies (intervals of 10khz and 30khz), it indicates k1=3k2=1; when SSS uses four frequencies (intervals of 10khz), it indicates k1=3k2=1.5; when SSS uses four frequencies (intervals of 20khz), it indicates k1=3k2=2; when SSS uses four frequency intervals (10k, 20k, and 30k), it indicates k1=3k2=2.5. Figure 17B is another example of the number and / or interval of frequencies used by SSS to indicate T1:T2:T3, provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 17A, when SSS uses two frequencies with an interval of 20 kHz, it is expressed as: k1 = 1k2 = 2; when SSS uses three frequency points (interval of 10 kHz), it is expressed as: k1 = 2k2 = 1.5; when SSS uses three frequency points (interval of 20 kHz), it is expressed as: k1 = 2k2 = 2. Figure 17B shows an example of indicating that T1:T2:T3 is 1:1:2 according to the number and / or interval of frequencies used by SSS, an example of T1:T2:T3 is 1:2:3, and an example of T1:T2:T3 is 1:2:4.

[0340] In this implementation, the number and / or interval of the frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information. There is no need to send additional information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0341] The above embodiment describes that the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal sent by the network device to the period of the MIB is variable. The following describes an embodiment in which the ratio of the period of the MIB of the network device to the period of the SIB is variable.

[0342] FIG18 is an interactive flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG18 , the method includes:

[0343] 1801. The network device generates MIB and SIB.

[0344] 1802. The network device periodically sends the MIB and SIB.

[0345] The ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the third time period is different from the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the fourth time period.

[0346] Accordingly, the terminal device receives the MIB and SIB periodically sent by the network device. The ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is different from the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the fourth time period.

[0347] In one possible implementation, the method flow in Figure 18 may also include the following operations: the network device sends second control information, and the above-mentioned second control information is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the above-mentioned third time period, the MIB period and the SIB period in the above-mentioned third time period; the terminal device obtains the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period based on the second control information.

[0348] In one possible implementation, the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS of a synchronization signal in the third time period is used to indicate any of the following: the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the above-mentioned third time period; the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB in the above-mentioned third time period. The terminal device can obtain the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB in the third time period, or the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB in the third time period based on the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS of a synchronization signal in the third time period. In this implementation, the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate the period ratio information, and there is no need to send other information to indicate the period ratio information, which can save signaling overhead.

[0349] In one possible implementation, the SIB periodically transmitted in the third time period includes multiple sub-SIBs obtained by dividing a SIB into blocks, and the transmission time of the multiple sub-SIBs is different. Exemplarily, when the duration of a SIB is greater than a fourth threshold (such as 640ms), the network device sends the SIB in blocks, that is, divides a SIB into multiple sub-SIBs for transmission. Exemplarily, when (T1-the duration of a synchronization signal) is less than the duration of a SIB, the network device sends the SIB in blocks. Exemplarily, when (T1-the duration of a synchronization signal-the duration of a MIB) is less than the duration of a SIB, the network device sends the SIB in blocks. In this implementation, the SIB periodically transmitted in the third time period includes multiple sub-SIBs obtained by dividing a SIB into blocks; resource utilization can be improved.

[0350] Exemplarily, the durations of the multiple sub-SIBs are equal, and the durations of the multiple sub-SIBs are obtained based on the period of the MIB in the third time period and the duration of one MIB in the third time period. The durations of the multiple sub-SIBs are obtained based on the period of the MIB in the third time period and the duration of one MIB in the third time period; the durations of the sub-SIBs can be reasonably determined.

[0351] Exemplarily, at least two of the multiple sub-SIBs have different durations, and the duration of the sub-SIB in the multiple sub-SIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-SIB in the multiple sub-SIBs. The duration of the sub-SIB in the multiple sub-SIBs is used to determine the order of the sub-SIB in the multiple sub-SIBs, and control information does not need to be sent to indicate the order of the sub-SIB in the multiple sub-SIBs; thus, signaling overhead can be saved.

[0352] In one possible implementation, the SIB periodically sent by the network device in the third time period includes multiple sub-SIBs obtained by the second SIB block. The description of the network device sending the SIB in blocks can be found in step 1301 in Figure 13 and will not be repeated here. Exemplarily, the network device may send second block information, and the above-mentioned second block information is used to indicate the block information of the SIB sent in the above-mentioned third time period; the terminal device obtains the block information of the SIB sent in the third time period based on the second block information. The block information of the SIB may include the number, length, or position of the sub-SIBs obtained by a SIB block. In this implementation, the second block information is sent so that the terminal device obtains the block information of the SIB sent in the third time period based on the second block information.

[0353] 1803. The terminal device parses the received MIB and SIB.

[0354] In the embodiment of the present application, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the third time period is different from the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period in the fourth time period, indicating that the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is variable, rather than fixed. Compared with the fixed ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period, the variable ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period can improve resource utilization. In other words, the ratio of the MIB period to the SIB period is adjusted according to actual needs, which can improve resource utilization, that is, reduce the waste of air interface resources.

[0355] The following describes the structure of a communication device that can implement the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following only briefly describes the communication device. For details on the implementation of the solution, please refer to the description of the method embodiment above, which will not be repeated below.

[0356] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1900 can implement the functions or steps implemented by the terminal device in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments, or can also implement the functions or steps implemented by the network device (e.g., a base station) in each of the above-mentioned method embodiments. The communication device may include a processing module 1910 and a transceiver module 1920. In one possible implementation, it may also include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions (code or program) and / or data. The processing module 1910 and the transceiver module 1920 can be coupled to the storage unit. For example, the processing module 1910 can read the instructions (code or program) and / or data in the storage unit to implement the corresponding method. The above-mentioned units can be provided independently or partially or fully integrated. For example, the transceiver module 1920 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module may be a transmitter, and the receiving module may be a receiver. The entity corresponding to the transceiver module 1920 may be a transceiver or a communication interface.

[0357] In some possible implementations, the communication device 1900 can implement the behaviors and functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. For example, the communication device 1900 can be a terminal device, or it can be a component (such as a chip or circuit) used in the terminal device. The transceiver module 1920 can be used to perform all receiving or sending operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 3, 16, and 18. The processing module 1910 is used to perform all operations except the receiving and sending operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 3, 16, and 18.

[0358] In some possible implementations, the communication device 1900 can implement the behaviors and functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. For example, the communication device 1900 can be a network device, or a component (such as a chip or circuit) used in the network device. The transceiver module 1920 can be used to perform all receiving or sending operations performed by the network device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 18. The processing module 1910 is used to perform all operations except the sending and receiving operations performed by the network device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 18.

[0359] FIG20 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device in FIG20 can be the terminal device described above or the network device described above. As shown in FIG20 , the communication device 200 includes at least one processor 2010 and a transceiver 2020.

[0360] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 2010 and the transceiver 2020 may be configured to execute functions or operations performed by a terminal device. The transceiver 2020 may, for example, be configured to execute all receiving or transmitting operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 18. The processor 2010 may, for example, be configured to execute all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 18 except for the transmitting and receiving operations.

[0361] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 2010 and the transceiver 2020 may be configured to execute functions or operations performed by the network device. The transceiver 2020 may be configured to, for example, execute all receiving or transmitting operations performed by the network device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 18. The processor 2010 may be configured to execute all operations except the transmitting and receiving operations performed by the network device in the embodiments of Figures 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 18.

[0362] The transceiver 2020 is used to communicate with other devices / apparatuses via a transmission medium. The processor 2010 uses the transceiver 2020 to send and receive data and / or signaling, and is used to implement the method in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The processor 2010 can implement the functions of the processing module 1910, and the transceiver 2020 can implement the functions of the transceiver module 1920. Optionally, the transceiver 2020 may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals into radio frequency signals and processing radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for sending and receiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc. are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users.

[0363] Optionally, the communication device 200 may further include at least one memory 2030 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 2030 is coupled to the processor 2010. Coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. The processor 2010 may operate in conjunction with the memory 2030. The processor 2010 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 2030. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0364] Processor 2010 can read software programs stored in memory 2030, interpret and execute instructions within the software programs, and process data within the software programs. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, processor 2010 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit then performs RF processing on the baseband signal and transmits it via an antenna in the form of electromagnetic waves. When data is transmitted to the communication device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, converts the RF signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to processor 2010. Processor 2010 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0365] In another implementation, the above-mentioned RF circuit and antenna can be set independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna can be arranged remotely from the communication device.

[0366] The specific connection medium between the transceiver 2020, processor 2010, and memory 2030 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In FIG20 , the memory 2030, processor 2010, and transceiver 2020 are connected via bus 2040. The bus is represented by a bold line in FIG20 . The connection methods between other components are merely illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. Such buses can be divided into address buses, data buses, control buses, and the like. For ease of illustration, FIG20 uses only one bold line, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0367] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be one of the following devices: a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or all or part of the circuits used for processing functions in the aforementioned devices, which may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0368] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device 210 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device in Figure 21 can be the above-mentioned terminal device or a chip for the above-mentioned terminal device, or it can be the above-mentioned network device or a chip for the above-mentioned network device. As shown in Figure 21, the communication device shown in Figure 21 includes a logic circuit 2101 and an interface 2102. The processing module 1910 in Figure 19 can be implemented with a logic circuit 2101, and the transceiver module 1920 in Figure 19 can be implemented with an interface 2102. Among them, the logic circuit 2101 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 2102 can be a communication interface, an input and output interface, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface can also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method of the logic circuit and the interface.

[0369] In some embodiments of the present application, the logic circuit and interface may be used to execute the functions or operations performed by the aforementioned terminal device.

[0370] In some embodiments of the present application, the logic circuit and interface may be used to execute the functions or operations performed by the aforementioned network devices.

[0371] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer executes the method of the above embodiment.

[0372] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes instructions or a computer program. When the instructions or the computer program are run on a computer, the method in the above embodiment is executed.

[0373] The present application also provides a communication system, comprising the above-mentioned network device and the above-mentioned terminal device.

[0374] The present application also provides a chip, which includes: a communication interface and a processor; the communication interface is used for sending and receiving signals of the above-mentioned chip; the processor is used to execute computer program instructions so that the communication device including the above-mentioned chip executes the method in the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0375] 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.

[0376] 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.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Generate synchronization signal and master information block MIB; The synchronization signal and the MIB are sent periodically, and a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a first time period is different from a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a second time period.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first MIB being the MIB after the first synchronization signal with the shortest time interval with the first synchronization signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a secondary synchronization signal SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items, including: the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send control information, where the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, where the first synchronization signal is the synchronization signal with the shortest interval with the control information within the first time period.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the first threshold is less than or equal to 5 ms, and the MIB periodically sent in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks, and the sending time of the multiple sub-MIBs is different.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that At least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes, or at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes for CRC.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period is greater than or equal to the first threshold, and the first threshold is less than or equal to 5ms; the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeated in the first time period is shorter than the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeated in the second time period.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is associated with a duration of a synchronization signal and a duration of a MIB in the first time period.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The ratio of the duration of MIB in the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), the ratio of the period of MIB in the first time period to the period of the synchronization signal is (k+1), and k is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Periodically sending a system information block SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving a synchronization signal and a master information block MIB that are periodically sent, wherein a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a first time period is different from a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a second time period; Parse the received synchronization signal and MIB.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first MIB being the MIB after the first synchronization signal with the shortest time interval with the first synchronization signal.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a secondary synchronization signal SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The frequency domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items, including: the number and / or interval of frequency points used by the SSS is used to indicate any of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal in the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

16. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive control information, where the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: the ratio of a period of a synchronization signal to a period of a MIB within the first time period; the period of a synchronization signal and a period of a MIB within the first time period; an interval between a first synchronization signal and a first MIB after the first synchronization signal, where the first synchronization signal is a synchronization signal having the shortest interval with the control information within the first time period.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that: The period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the first threshold is less than or equal to 5 ms, and the MIB periodically sent in the first time period includes multiple sub-MIBs obtained by dividing the first MIB into blocks, and the sending time of the multiple sub-MIBs is different.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that At least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes, or at least two of the multiple sub-MIBs use different scrambling codes for CRC.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that: The period of the synchronization signal in the first time period is less than a first threshold, the period of the synchronization signal in the second time period is greater than or equal to the first threshold, and the first threshold is less than or equal to 5ms; the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeated in the first time period is shorter than the duration of the symbols in the MIB periodically repeated in the second time period.

20. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is associated with a duration of a synchronization signal and a duration of a MIB in the first time period.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The ratio of the duration of MIB in the first time period to the duration of the synchronization signal is greater than k and less than or equal to (k+1), the ratio of the period of MIB in the first time period to the period of the synchronization signal is (k+1), and k is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

22. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive a periodically sent system information block SIB; the first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate at least one of the following: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period, and the ratio of the period of the MIB to the period of the SIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal, the period of the MIB and the period of the SIB within the first time period.

23. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The network device periodically sends a synchronization signal and a master information block MIB, and a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a first time period is different from a ratio of a period of the synchronization signal to a period of the MIB in a second time period; The terminal device receives the synchronization signal and MIB periodically sent by the network device.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The first synchronization signal within the first time period is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period to the period of the MIB; the period of the synchronization signal within the first time period and the period of the MIB; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal, the first MIB being the MIB after the first synchronization signal with the shortest time interval with the first synchronization signal.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The first synchronization signal includes a secondary synchronization signal SSS, and the frequency domain component and / or time domain component of the SSS is used to indicate any one of the following items: the ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB within the first time period; the period of the synchronization signal and the period of the MIB within the first time period; the interval between the first synchronization signal and the first MIB after the first synchronization signal.

26. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The method further comprises: The network device sends control information, where the control information is used to indicate any one of the following: a ratio of a period of a synchronization signal to a period of a MIB within the first time period; a period of a synchronization signal and a period of a MIB within the first time period; an interval between a first synchronization signal and a first MIB after the first synchronization signal, where the first synchronization signal is a synchronization signal having the shortest interval with the control information within the first time period; The terminal device receives the control information.

27. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 26, characterized in that The ratio of the period of the synchronization signal to the period of the MIB in the first time period is associated with a duration of a synchronization signal and a duration of a MIB in the first time period.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises modules for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for implementing the method of any one of claims 12 to 22.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory stores computer program instructions, and the processor is used to execute the computer program instructions so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

31. A chip, characterized in that: It comprises a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor reads instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface, and executes instructions so that a communication device including the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

32. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

33. A communication system, characterized in that: Includes the communication device described in claim 28 and the communication device described in claim 29.

34. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

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