Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal device receives first information from a network device, wherein the first information is used for indicating configuration information of time-frequency resources, the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of a first time-frequency resource and configuration information of a second time-frequency resource, the first time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement of a first geographic coverage area, the second time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement of a second geographic coverage area, and the second geographic coverage area is a partial area within the first geographic coverage area; and the terminal device performs interference measurement on the basis of the configuration information of the time-frequency resources. By means of the method, interference measurement can be effectively achieved to solve interference problems in communication, and additionally, the resource overhead occupied by the interference measurement process can be reduced.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 19, 2023, with application number 202311216062.1 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] With the widespread application and development of satellite communications, spectrum resources are rapidly being occupied and becoming increasingly scarce. To expand bandwidth, satellite communications are increasingly exploring spectrum resource sharing. While this sharing of spectrum resources can improve resource utilization and reduce construction costs, it can also lead to co-frequency and adjacent-frequency interference between satellites and the Earth, and between high and low orbits.

[0005] Specifically, inter-system interference can be divided into downlink interference and uplink interference based on signal direction. Compared to downlink interference, uplink interference has more sources and stronger aggregate interference. In scenarios with multiple beams from a single satellite, beam-level interference (i.e., different beam directions experience different interference) exists. Therefore, how to effectively address uplink interference is currently a significant issue.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application proposes a communication method and apparatus that can effectively implement interference measurement to solve interference problems existing in communications, while also reducing the resource overhead occupied by the interference measurement process.

[0008] In the first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the terminal device, without limitation. Taking the terminal device as an example, the specific steps of the method may include: the terminal device receives first information, and the first information is used to indicate the configuration information of the time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes the configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resources, the first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area, and the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage area is a partial area within the first geographical coverage area; the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device (e.g., a base station), and the terminal device is a terminal device served by the network device. For example, if the network device is a satellite base station, then the terminal device is a terminal device served by the satellite base station and may be referred to as a satellite terminal device. In the above description, the first information sent by the network device to the terminal device may be, but is not limited to, radio access control (RRC) information.

[0010] In addition, the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area are both within the range covered by the communication of the network device. The first geographic coverage area is larger than the second geographic coverage area. The first geographic coverage area may be the area covered by the wide beam transmitted by the network device, and the second geographic coverage area may be the area covered by the narrow beam transmitted by the network device. Therefore, in the above description, the first time-frequency resource can be considered as being used for wide-beam interference measurement, and the second time-frequency resource can also be considered as being used for narrow-beam interference measurement.

[0011] In the present application scheme, the first information received by the terminal device is used to indicate the configuration information of the time-frequency resources, and the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes the configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resources. The first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement in the first geographical coverage area, and the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement in the second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage area is a partial area in the first geographical coverage area; then the terminal device can flexibly cooperate with the network device to perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources, thereby ensuring the implementation of interference measurement and effectively reducing the resource overhead occupied by the interference measurement process.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; then the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to the configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; receiving MAC CE activation information, the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; and performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0013] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, allowing the network device to continuously track and determine the first geographic coverage area with strong interference. The second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, allowing the network device to flexibly activate / deactivate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographic coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographic coverage area. This allows the network device to quickly determine areas with strong interference and reduces the overhead generated by beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving MAC CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

[0015] Through this implementation, the second time-frequency resource is deactivated so that the terminal device can communicate normally with the network device on the second time-frequency resource.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is non-periodically configured; then the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to the configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; receiving first downlink control information DCI information, the first downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate activation of the second time-frequency resource; and performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0017] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, allowing the network device to continuously track and identify the first geographic coverage area with strong interference. The second time-frequency resource is aperiodically configured, allowing the network device to flexibly activate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographic coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographic coverage area. This allows the network device to quickly identify areas with strong interference and reduces the overhead of beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; then the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: receiving first MAC CE activation information, the first MAC CE activation information is used to activate the first time-frequency resource; performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; receiving first MAC CE deactivation information, the first MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the first time-frequency resource; receiving second MAC CE activation information, the second MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; and performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0019] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, so that the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the first time-frequency resource based on the time-varying characteristics of the uplink interference or the measurement requirements to perform interference measurements in the first geographical coverage area. The second time-frequency resource is also semi-statically configured, so that the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographical coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographical coverage area. Through this method, the network device side can quickly determine areas with strong interference and reduce the overhead generated by beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving second MAC CE deactivation information, where the second MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

[0021] Through this implementation, the second time-frequency resource is deactivated so that the terminal device can communicate normally with the network device on the second time-frequency resource.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is aperiodically configured; and the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: receiving MAC CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to indicate activation of the first time-frequency resource;

[0023] Perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; receive MAC CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to indicate deactivation of the first time-frequency resource; receive second downlink control information DCI information, where the second downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate activation of the second time-frequency resource; perform interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0024] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, so that the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the first time-frequency resource based on the time-varying characteristics of the uplink interference or the measurement requirements to perform interference measurements in the first geographical coverage area. The second time-frequency resource is also configured non-periodically, so that the network device side can flexibly activate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographical coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographical coverage area. Through this method, the network device side can not only quickly determine areas with strong interference, but also reduce the overhead generated by beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the time-frequency resource indicates that the time-frequency resource is periodically configured; the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area and interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the time-frequency resource according to the period of the time-frequency resource.

[0026] Through this implementation, the time-frequency resources used for interference measurement are periodically configured, so that the network device side can use the time-frequency resources to perform interference measurement in the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area based on the configuration period of the time-frequency resources. Furthermore, the time-frequency resources are not fixed to be used for interference measurement in a specific geographic coverage area. Instead, the network device side flexibly uses the time-frequency resources for interference measurement in the two geographic coverage areas based on the requirements of the interference measurement. This not only effectively determines the area with strong interference, but also effectively reduces signaling overhead.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the time-frequency resource indicates that the time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: receiving MAC-CE activation information, the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the time-frequency resource; and performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area and interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the time-frequency resource.

[0028] Through this implementation, the time-frequency resources used for interference measurement are semi-statically configured, so that the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the time-frequency resources based on the time-varying characteristics of uplink interference or measurement requirements to perform interference measurement in the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area. In addition, the above-mentioned time-frequency resources are not fixedly used for interference measurement in a certain geographic coverage area. Instead, the network device side flexibly uses the time-frequency resources for interference measurement in the above-mentioned two geographic coverage areas based on the requirements of the interference measurement. This not only effectively determines the area with strong interference, but also effectively reduces signaling overhead.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal device receiving MAC-CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the time-frequency resource.

[0030] On the second aspect, the present application implements a communication method, which can be executed by a network device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the network device, without limitation. Taking a network device as an example, the method may specifically include: the network device generates configuration information of time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of a first time-frequency resource and configuration information of a second time-frequency resource, the first time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement of a first geographical coverage area, the second time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement of a second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage area is a partial area within the first geographical coverage area; the network device sends first information, the first information is used to indicate the configuration information of the time-frequency resource; the network device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource.

[0031] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device (e.g., a base station), and the terminal device is a terminal device served by the network device. For example, if the network device is a satellite base station, then the terminal device is a terminal device served by the satellite base station and may be referred to as a satellite terminal device. In the above description, the first information sent by the network device to the terminal device may be, but is not limited to, radio access control (RRC) information.

[0032] In addition, the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area are both within the range covered by the communication of the network device. The first geographic coverage area is larger than the second geographic coverage area. The first geographic coverage area may be the area covered by the wide beam transmitted by the network device, and the second geographic coverage area may be the area covered by the narrow beam transmitted by the network device. Therefore, in the above description, the first time-frequency resource can be considered as being used for wide-beam interference measurement, and the second time-frequency resource can also be considered as being used for narrow-beam interference measurement.

[0033] In the scheme of the present application, the first information sent by the network device is used to indicate the configuration information of the time-frequency resources, and the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes the configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resources. The first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement in the first geographical coverage area, and the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement in the second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage area is a partial area in the first geographical coverage area; then the network device can flexibly perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources, and on the basis of ensuring the implementation of interference measurement, it can also effectively reduce the resource overhead occupied by the interference measurement process.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; the network device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to the configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, sending MAC CE activation information, the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, sending MAC CE deactivation information, the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

[0035] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, allowing the network device to continuously track and identify the first geographic coverage area with strong interference. The second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, allowing the network device to flexibly activate / deactivate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographic coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographic coverage area. This allows the network device to quickly identify areas with strong interference and reduces the overhead of beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is non-periodically configured; the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to the configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, sending first downlink control information DCI information, the first downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate the activation of the second time-frequency resource; and performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0037] With this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, allowing the network device to continuously track and identify the first geographic coverage area with high interference. The second time-frequency resource is aperiodically configured, allowing the network device to flexibly activate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographic coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographic coverage area. This allows the network device to quickly identify areas with high interference and reduces the overhead of beam scanning used to identify interference areas.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; the network device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: sending first MAC CE activation information, and the first MAC CE activation information is used to activate the first time-frequency resource; performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, sending first MAC CE deactivation information, and the first MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the first time-frequency resource; sending second MAC CE activation information, and the second MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, sending second MAC CE deactivation information, and the second MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

[0039] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the first time-frequency resource based on the time-varying characteristics of the uplink interference or the measurement requirements to perform interference measurements in the first geographical coverage area. The second time-frequency resource is also semi-statically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographical coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographical coverage area. Through this method, the network device side can not only quickly determine areas with strong interference, but also reduce the overhead generated by beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is non-periodically configured; the network device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: sending MAC CE activation information, the MAC CE activation information is used to indicate the activation of the first time-frequency resource; performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, sending MAC CE deactivation information, the MAC CE deactivation information is used to indicate the deactivation of the first time-frequency resource; sending second downlink control information DCI information, the second downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate the activation of the second time-frequency resource; and performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0041] Through this implementation, the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the first time-frequency resource based on the time-varying characteristics of the uplink interference or the measurement requirements to perform interference measurements in the first geographical coverage area. The second time-frequency resource is also non-periodically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate the second time-frequency resource based on the interference measurement results of the first geographical coverage area to perform more fine-grained interference measurements in the second geographical coverage area. Through this method, the network device side can not only quickly determine areas with strong interference, but also reduce the overhead generated by beam scanning used to determine interference areas.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the time-frequency resource indicates that the time-frequency resource is periodically configured; the network device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area according to the configuration period of the time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area.

[0043] Through this implementation, the time-frequency resources used for interference measurement are periodically configured. The network device side can use the time-frequency resources to perform interference measurement in the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area based on the configuration period of the time-frequency resources. Furthermore, the time-frequency resources are not fixed to be used for interference measurement in a specific geographic coverage area. Instead, the network device side flexibly uses the time-frequency resources for interference measurement in the two geographic coverage areas based on the requirements of the interference measurement. This not only effectively determines the area with strong interference, but also effectively reduces signaling overhead.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the configuration information of the time-frequency resource indicates that the time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; the network device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, including: sending MAC CE activation information, which is used to activate the time-frequency resource; performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area; after the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, sending MAC CE deactivation information, which is used to deactivate the time-frequency resource.

[0045] Through this implementation, the time-frequency resources used for interference measurement are semi-statically configured. The network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the time-frequency resources based on the time-varying characteristics of uplink interference or measurement requirements to perform interference measurement in the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area. In addition, the above-mentioned time-frequency resources are not fixedly used for interference measurement in a certain geographic coverage area. Instead, the network device side flexibly uses the time-frequency resources for interference measurement in the above-mentioned two geographic coverage areas based on the requirements of the interference measurement. This not only effectively determines the area with strong interference, but also effectively reduces signaling overhead.

[0046] In one possible embodiment, the network device performs interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area, which may include: transmitting at least one wide beam and receiving an uplink signal through the at least one wide beam; each wide beam corresponds to one of the first geographic coverage areas, and the first geographic coverage area corresponding to the at least one wide beam is located within the ground area covered by the network device and does not overlap with each other; counting the uplink signal power corresponding to each wide beam; and the first geographic coverage area corresponding to the wide beam whose uplink signal power reaches a preset first threshold is defined as the first interference area.

[0047] Through this implementation, a larger coverage geographical area with greater interference can be effectively determined.

[0048] In one possible embodiment, the network device performs interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area, which may include: transmitting at least one narrow beam to the first interference area, and receiving an uplink signal through the at least one narrow beam; each narrow beam corresponds to one of the second geographic coverage areas, and the second geographic coverage areas corresponding to the at least one narrow beam do not overlap with each other; counting the uplink signal power corresponding to each narrow beam; and taking the second geographic coverage area corresponding to the narrow beam whose uplink signal power reaches a preset second threshold as the target interference area.

[0049] Through this embodiment, the geographical coverage area with greater interference can be determined in a more fine-grained manner from the larger coverage geographical area with greater interference.

[0050] On the third aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the first aspect. The device can be a terminal device, or the device can be a component in the terminal device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or it can be a device that can be used in conjunction with the terminal device.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect. The module or unit may be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit may be used to perform the functions of receiving and / or sending, and the processing unit may be used to perform the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0052] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the second aspect. The device may be a network device, or the device may be a component in the network device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or may be a device that can be used in conjunction with the network device.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the second aspect. The module or unit may be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit may be used to perform the functions of receiving and / or sending, and the processing unit may be used to perform the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0054] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, which includes: at least one processor and a communication interface; wherein the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processor is used to run a set of programs so that the device can implement the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof; or so that the device can implement the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0055] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium storing a software program, which, when read and executed by one or more processors, can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0056] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the execution of the method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or enables the execution of the method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or enables the execution of the method provided in the above-mentioned third aspect or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0057] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising a terminal device capable of implementing the method provided in the first aspect above, and a network device capable of implementing the method provided in the second aspect above.

[0058] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a terminal device to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned first aspect; or for supporting a network device to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned second aspect.

[0059] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data for execution by the loading device. The chip system can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0060] It should be noted that the technical effects that can be achieved by any possible implementation method of the above-mentioned third to ninth aspects or the third to ninth aspects can be correspondingly described with reference to the technical effects that can be achieved by any possible implementation method of the above-mentioned first to second aspects or the first to second aspects; they will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0061] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a typical scenario in which an NTN network provides user equipment access in this application;

[0062] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of another typical scenario of an NTN network providing user equipment access in this application;

[0063] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of downlink interference in this application;

[0064] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of uplink interference in this application;

[0065] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of an interference scenario between a LEO satellite and a terrestrial cell in this application;

[0066] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of an interference scenario between a low-orbit satellite and a high-orbit satellite in this application;

[0067] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure in this application;

[0068] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a mobile communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG9 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a measurement method for determining an interference area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG11A is a schematic diagram of configuration mode 1 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG11B is a schematic diagram of configuration mode 2 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG12A is a schematic diagram of configuration mode 3 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG12B is a schematic diagram of configuration mode 4 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG13A is a schematic diagram of configuration mode 5 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG13B is a schematic diagram of configuration mode 6 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0080] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in the specification and appended claims of the present application, the singular expressions "one", "a kind of", "said", "above", "the" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0081] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" described in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations involved in this application all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized. Words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding.

[0082] The multiple involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order. In addition, the term "used for indication" mentioned in the description of the embodiments of the present application can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing a certain indication information used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0083] In order to better understand the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following first explains the terms (words), concepts, and processes involved in the embodiments of the present application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of the present application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0084] 1. NTN

[0085] NTN refers to a network that utilizes radio frequency resources on satellites (or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or high altitude platform stations (HAPS)). Compared to terrestrial cellular networks (e.g., 5th-generation mobile communication technology (5G)), NTN networks offer wide coverage, low latency, broadband, and low cost. As a supplement and extension of terrestrial cellular networks, NTN networks can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that neither wired telephone networks nor terrestrial mobile communication networks can achieve, effectively addressing internet access challenges in areas lacking communication infrastructure. With a large number of satellites deployed in low-Earth orbit, the round-trip data transmission delay between satellites and ground-based terminal devices is significantly reduced, reaching a low latency of tens of milliseconds. The use of technologies such as high-frequency bands, multi-spot beams, and frequency reuse significantly enhances satellite communication capabilities, reduces unit bandwidth costs, and meets the needs of high-information-rate services. Compared to communication infrastructure such as terrestrial cellular base stations and submarine fiber optic cables, NTNs offer significant cost advantages. Modern small satellites are inexpensive to develop and manufacture, and software-defined technologies can further extend the service life of in-orbit satellites. NTN networks can be used in scenarios such as global coverage (such as remote areas and ocean-going ships), emergency relief (such as disaster monitoring and emergency communications), the Internet of Everything, and high-speed mobility (such as high-speed rail and airplanes).

[0086] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) began conducting satellite-ground integration research in R14, and discussed the role and advantages of satellites in 5G systems in TS22.261, stipulating for the first time that 5G supports satellite access. In R15, the first 5G and satellite integration technical report TR 38.811 was formed, which defined 8 eMBB scenarios and 2 massive machine-type communications (mMTC) scenarios, and defined the channel model of NTN. R16 further studied the architecture and solutions for NR to support NTN in TR 38.821. Based on the research results of R16, the standardization work of 5G new air interface support for NTN was launched in R17, and the first version of the integration technical specification was formed. R18 will continue the enhancement research of NTN.

[0087] Typical scenarios for NTN networks to provide user equipment access include transparent payloads and regenerative payloads. In the transparent payload scenario, there is no baseband demodulation, decoding, or other processing on the satellite. Therefore, the signal waveform remains unchanged and is repeated, as shown in Figure 1. In the regenerative payload scenario, the satellite (or UAS platform) has all or part of the base station functions (e.g., gNB), as shown in Figure 2. It should be noted that Figures 1 and 2 are only examples of NTN scenarios, and NTN scenarios can also include other specific scenarios, which are not limited in this application.

[0088] NTN networks typically have the following elements:

[0089] 1. There are one or more gateways connecting the NTN network and the public data network.

[0090] 2. Feeder link: The wireless link between the gateway and the satellite (or UAS platform).

[0091] 3. Service link: The wireless link between the terminal device and the satellite (or UAS platform).

[0092] 4. Satellites (or UAS platforms) that can achieve transparent payloads and regenerative payloads.

[0093] 5. Whether a satellite constellation has an inter-satellite link (ISL) is optional. If an ISL is present, the satellites are regenerative payloads. ISLs can operate at radio frequency (RF) or optical bands.

[0094] 6. The terminal device is served by a satellite (or UAS platform) within the target service area.

[0095] 2. Beam:

[0096] Beam: A beam is a communication resource. A beam can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams.

[0097] A wide beam refers to the broadening of the wavefront during electromagnetic wave propagation. Wide-beam communication requires a wide-beam antenna. Wide beams are characterized by wide beam angles, wide coverage, and short transmission distances, making them suitable for transmitting signals in a wide range of directions. However, wide beams offer weak signal strength, are susceptible to interference and attenuation, and have slow transmission rates, making them unsuitable for high-speed data transmission and high-density user scenarios.

[0098] Narrow beam refers to the concentrated wavefront of electromagnetic waves during spatial transmission. Narrow beam antennas are required to achieve narrow beam communication. Narrow beams are characterized by a narrow beam angle, narrow coverage, and longer transmission distances. However, due to their high signal strength and rapid transmission rates, they are suitable for high-speed data transmission and high-density user scenarios.

[0099] The technology for forming a beam can be beamforming technology or other technical means. Beamforming technology can specifically include digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology, hybrid digital / analog beamforming technology, etc. Different beams can be considered as different communication resources, and the same information or different information can be sent through different beams. Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered as one beam. A beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the signal strength distribution formed in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted by an antenna, and a receive beam can refer to the signal strength distribution of a signal received from an antenna in different directions in space. It can be understood that the one or more antenna ports forming a beam can also be regarded as an antenna port set, and a beam can also be called a spatial filter. The transmit beam can also be called a spatial transmit filter, and the receive beam can also be called a spatial receive filter.

[0100] In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, signals are received or transmitted between the terminal and the network device via beams. Specifically, the beams can be divided into receive beams and transmit beams according to the direction in which the signals are received or transmitted. The receive beams are used to receive signals, and the transmit beams are used to transmit signals. For example, the network device uses a transmit beam to send a downlink signal, while the terminal device uses a receive beam to receive a downlink signal. For another example, the terminal device uses a transmit beam to send an uplink signal, and the network device uses a receive beam to receive an uplink signal. The transmit beam used by the terminal device and the receive beam used by the network device constitute a beam pair, and the receive beam used by the terminal device and the transmit beam used by the network device also constitute a beam pair.

[0101] It should be noted that for a terminal device, a receive beam can also be referred to as a downlink beam, and a transmit beam can also be referred to as an uplink beam. The receive beam used by a terminal device to receive downlink signals can also be referred to as a downlink operating beam, and the transmit beam used by a terminal device to send uplink signals can also be referred to as an uplink operating beam. If the terminal device supports beam reciprocity, the terminal device can determine the uplink operating beam based on the downlink operating beam, or determine the downlink operating beam based on the uplink operating beam.

[0102] 3. Satellite spectrum:

[0103] Satellite communications operate in the microwave band, which ranges from 1 GHz to 40 GHz. Frequency bands are categorized as L, S, C, X, Ku, K, and Ka. Different frequency bands serve different purposes. The K band is unsuitable for satellite communications because it falls within the frequency window most susceptible to atmospheric absorption losses. Therefore, the commonly used satellite communication frequency bands are L, S, C, X, Ku, and Ka.

[0104] The L and S bands are used for mobile satellite communications, such as handheld satellite phones. The C band has a relatively low frequency, resulting in wide signal coverage and minimal weather impact. It is commonly used for private network communications within government and businesses, international dedicated lines, and content distribution for television stations. The X band is a regulated band, typically used by government and military agencies and not for civilian or commercial use. The Ku band has a relatively high frequency and is susceptible to antenna fluctuations, but its signal strength is higher than that of the C band. Therefore, ground receiving antennas can be much smaller, typically as small as 0.35 meters in diameter, making it ideal for direct-to-home satellite TV broadcasts. The Ka band has been put into use in recent years. Because the C and Ku bands are nearing saturation and cannot carry more services, the search for the higher-frequency Ka band has begun.

[0105] Higher frequency bands offer greater bandwidth resources and support greater service capacity. With the surge in demand for satellite internet access in recent years, interest has shifted to the higher-frequency Ka-band. Although more susceptible to weather than the Ku-band, its larger operating bandwidth, higher signal strength, and smaller antenna aperture make it more valuable for development. Common satellite communication frequency bands and their primary uses are shown in Table 1.

[0106] Table 1

[0107] For frequency range (FR) 1, the frequency range and band number of NTN are shown in Table 2.

[0108] Table 2 3GPP NTN frequency band (FR1)

[0109] For frequency bands above 10 GHz, the frequency range and band number of NTN are shown in Table 3.

[0110] Table 3 3GPP NTN frequency band (FR2)

[0111] 4. Interference between systems:

[0112] Spectrum co-construction and sharing can improve resource utilization and reduce construction costs, but it can also lead to inter-system interference, such as co-channel and adjacent-channel interference between satellites and ground, or between high and low orbits. Inter-system interference can generally be categorized as downlink interference or uplink interference based on the signal direction.

[0113] Downlink interference has the following characteristics:

[0114] 1. Fewer interference sources. Taking the case of a low-orbit satellite interfering with a ground terminal device as an example, as shown in Figure 3, the main interference source is satellite 1, which covers this terminal device. Satellite 2's interference to this terminal device mainly comes from side lobes, has greater path loss, and has a lower interference level.

[0115] 2. Since ground base stations / low-orbit satellites are closer to terminal devices, the interference is stronger.

[0116] Uplink interference has the following characteristics:

[0117] 1. Multiple interference sources: Taking the case of ground terminal equipment interfering with a low-orbit satellite as an example, as shown in Figure 4, the interference sources are all ground terminal equipment within the satellite's visual range;

[0118] 2. Strong aggregate interference: The main interference source is the terminal equipment near the main lobe of the satellite beam, where the satellite receiving gain is large.

[0119] 3. Beam level: For a single-satellite multi-beam scenario, different beam directions of the satellite are subject to different interference;

[0120] 4. Frequency selection characteristics: Interference signals present different interference characteristics in different frequency bands;

[0121] 5. Time-varying characteristics: The interference signal presents different interference characteristics at different times.

[0122] Inter-system interference can be divided into satellite-to-ground interference and high-orbit and low-orbit interference according to the interference scenario.

[0123] (1) Satellite-to-ground interference

[0124] Due to the large number of base stations and terminal devices in terrestrial cellular networks, and the fact that LEO satellites are closer to the ground and have less path loss, interference is likely to occur between LEO satellites and terrestrial cellular networks. Figure 5 shows the interference scenario between LEO satellites and terrestrial cellular networks. Solid lines represent valid signals, dashed lines represent interfering signals, and arrows indicate signal directions.

[0125] As shown in Table 4, interference situations can be divided into the following six categories.

[0126] Table 4 Classification of satellite-to-ground interference

[0127] (2) High and low orbit interference

[0128] High-orbit satellites cover a large area, and the coverage of low-orbit satellites can overlap with that of high-orbit satellites. Because low-orbit satellites have less path loss, interference between high-orbit and low-orbit satellites is more likely to occur. Figure 6 shows the interference scenario between low-orbit and high-orbit satellites. Solid lines represent valid signals, dashed lines represent interfering signals, and arrows indicate signal directions.

[0129] As shown in Table 5, interference situations can be divided into the following four categories.

[0130] Table 5 Classification of high and low orbit interference

[0131] To measure uplink interference, a method for filtering out interference signals has been proposed. This method consists of two phases: sounding periods and signaling periods. During the sounding periods, the satellite terminal does not transmit signals, and the satellite base station receives the interference signal and forms a sounding base signal. During the signaling periods, the satellite base station receives the signal and filters out the interference signal to form a valid signal. Taking the GSM frame structure as an example, as shown in Figure 7, time slot 0 is the sounding period, used for measuring uplink interference. Time slots 1 to 7 are the sounding periods, during which the satellite base station receives the signal sent by the satellite terminal and filters out the interference signal to obtain a valid signal. Time slot 0 occupies all frequency domain resources during this period, resulting in significant resource waste. Assuming that the frequency domain resources in time slots 1 to 7 are all used for data scheduling, 1 / 8 of the time-frequency domain resources are wasted, which is equivalent to 12.5%.

[0132] In response to the above problems, an embodiment of the present application proposes a communication method, which can effectively solve the problem of time-frequency resource waste caused by measuring uplink interference.

[0133] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, 5G systems or new radio (NR), non-terrestrial networks (NTN), and future communication systems such as the sixth generation mobile communication system. This application is not limited to this.

[0134] Figure 8 shows a possible, non-restrictive communication system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the communication system 800 may include at least one access network device (such as 110a, 110b, 110c in Figure 8), and may also include at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120g in Figure 8). Access network devices can be connected to each other via wired or wireless means. Figure 8 is only a schematic diagram, and other communication devices may also be included in the communication system, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices.

[0135] The network device provided in the embodiments of the present application may be an access network device, such as a base station, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation Node B (gNB) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, an access network device in an open radio access network (O-RAN or open RAN), a next generation base station in a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. Alternatively, the network device may be a module or unit that performs part of the functions of a base station, for example, a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a centralized unit control plane (CU-CP) module, or a centralized unit user plane (CU-UP) module. The network device can be a satellite (such as 110a in Figure 8), a macro base station (such as 110b in Figure 8), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110c in Figure 8), a relay node or a donor node, etc. This application does not limit the specific communication technology and specific device form used by the network device. For ease of description, the following description uses a network device as an example.

[0136] It should be noted that in different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), or DU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (O-RAN) system, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as O-RU. For the sake of convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any of the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0137] The terminal device provided in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a terminal, including but not limited to user equipment (UE), mobile station, or mobile terminal. The terminal device can be widely used in various communication scenarios. The scenarios include, but are not limited to, at least one of the following: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, or smart city. The terminal device can be a mobile phone (such as mobile phones 120a, 120d, and 120f in Figure 8), a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function (such as computer 120g in Figure 8), a wearable device, a vehicle (such as 120b in Figure 8), a drone, a helicopter, an airplane (such as 120c in Figure 8), a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, or a smart home device (such as printer 120e in Figure 8). This application does not limit the specific communication technology and specific device form used by the terminal device. For ease of description, the following description uses a terminal device as an example.

[0138] The network equipment and / or terminal equipment can be fixed or movable. The network equipment and / or terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; or can be deployed on the water surface; or can be deployed on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites in the air. This application does not limit the environment / scenario in which the network equipment and terminal equipment are located. The network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed in the same or different environments / scenarios, for example, the network equipment and terminal equipment are deployed on land at the same time; or, the network equipment is deployed on land and the terminal equipment is deployed on water surface, etc., and no further examples are given.

[0139] The technical solution of this application is introduced below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0140] The embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which is applicable to but not limited to the communication system shown in Figure 8. The method can be executed by a terminal device, a network device, or can be executed by a component (module, chip, etc.) in the terminal device or the network device, or can be executed by a device corresponding to the terminal device or the network device. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific form and quantity of the terminal device and the network device. Please refer to Figure 9. The specific process of the method is as follows:

[0141] S901: A network device sends first information to a terminal device, where the first information is used to indicate configuration information of time-frequency resources.

[0142] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the network device.

[0143] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be an access network device (e.g., a base station), and the terminal device is a terminal device served by the network device. For example, if the network device is a satellite base station, then the terminal device is a terminal device served by the satellite base station and may be referred to as a satellite terminal device. In the above description, the first information sent by the network device to the terminal device may be, but is not limited to, radio access control (RRC) information.

[0144] In the above, the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes the configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resources. The first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area, and the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area. The second geographical coverage area is a partial area of ​​the first geographical coverage area.

[0145] In this embodiment of the present application, both the first geographic coverage area and the second geographic coverage area are within the range covered by network device communications. The first geographic coverage area is larger than the second geographic coverage area. The first geographic coverage area may be the area covered by a wide beam transmitted by the network device, while the second geographic coverage area may be the area covered by a narrow beam transmitted by the network device. Therefore, in the above description, the first time-frequency resource can be considered to be used for wide-beam interference measurement, and the second time-frequency resource can also be considered to be used for narrow-beam interference measurement.

[0146] In one embodiment, before the network device sends the first message to the terminal device, the network device generates configuration information of the time-frequency resource.

[0147] In the embodiment of the present application, the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource is used to indicate the configuration mode of the first time-frequency resource, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource is used to indicate the configuration mode of the second time-frequency resource. Therefore, the configuration modes indicated by the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource may include but are not limited to the following:

[0148] Configuration mode 1: the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured.

[0149] Configuration mode 2: the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is aperiodically configured.

[0150] Configuration mode three: the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured.

[0151] Configuration mode four: the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is non-periodically configured.

[0152] Configuration mode five: the configuration information of the time-frequency resource indicates that the time-frequency resource is periodically configured.

[0153] Configuration mode six: the configuration information of the time-frequency resource indicates that the time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured.

[0154] S902: The network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource.

[0155] For the above-mentioned configuration method 1, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, which may include: first, according to the configuration period of the first time-frequency resource, performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource. Then, after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends MAC CE activation information to the terminal device, and the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; then, the network device performs interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource; further, after the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends MAC CE deactivation information to the terminal device, and the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

[0156] For the above-mentioned configuration method 2, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, which may include: first, according to the configuration period of the first time-frequency resource, performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends first downlink control information DCI information to the terminal device, and the first downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate the activation of the second time-frequency resource; and then the network device and the terminal device can perform interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0157] For the above-mentioned configuration mode three, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, which may include: the network device sends first MAC CE activation information to the terminal device, where the first MAC CE activation information is used to activate the first time-frequency resource; and perform interference measurement in the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource;

[0158] After the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends a first MAC CE deactivation message to the terminal device, and the first MAC CE deactivation message is used to deactivate the first time-frequency resource; then, the network device sends a second MAC CE activation message to the terminal device, and the second MAC CE activation message is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; then, the network device and the terminal device can perform interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource; finally, after the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends a second MAC CE deactivation message to the terminal device, and the second MAC CE deactivation message is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

[0159] For the fourth configuration mode, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, which may include:

[0160] The network device sends MAC CE activation information to the terminal device, and the MAC CE activation information is used to indicate the activation of the first time-frequency resource; then the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends MAC CE deactivation information to the terminal device, and the MAC CE deactivation information is used to indicate the deactivation of the first time-frequency resource; further, the network device sends second downlink control information DCI information to the terminal device, and the second downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate the activation of the second time-frequency resource; and then the network device and the terminal device can perform interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area on the second time-frequency resource.

[0161] For the above-mentioned configuration method five, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, which may include: the network device and the terminal device can perform interference measurement in the first geographical coverage area according to the configuration period of the time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement in the first geographical coverage area is completed, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement in the second geographical coverage area.

[0162] For the sixth configuration mode, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resource, which may include:

[0163] The network device sends MAC CE activation information to the terminal device, and the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the time-frequency resource; then the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the time-frequency resource; after the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area; after the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, the network device sends MAC CE deactivation information to the terminal device, and the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the time-frequency resource.

[0164] In one embodiment, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area, which may specifically include: the network device transmits at least one wide beam and receives an uplink signal through the at least one wide beam; each wide beam corresponds to one of the first geographical coverage areas, and the first geographical coverage areas corresponding to the at least one wide beam are located within the ground area covered by the network device and do not overlap with each other. During the period when the network device performs interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area, the terminal device does not send an uplink signal to the network device. Furthermore, the network device counts the uplink signal power corresponding to each wide beam; and the first geographical coverage area corresponding to the wide beam whose uplink signal power reaches a preset first threshold is used as the first interference area.

[0165] In one embodiment, the network device and the terminal device perform interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area, which may specifically include: the network device transmits at least one narrow beam to the first interference area determined above, and receives an uplink signal through the at least one narrow beam; each narrow beam corresponds to one of the second geographical coverage areas, and the second geographical coverage areas corresponding to the at least one narrow beam do not overlap with each other. During the period when the network device performs interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area, the terminal device does not send an uplink signal to the network device. Furthermore, the network device counts the uplink signal power corresponding to each narrow beam; and the second geographical coverage area corresponding to the narrow beam whose uplink signal power reaches a preset second threshold is used as the target interference area.

[0166] Based on the scheme of Figure 9 above, Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application for avoiding uplink interference through interference measurement; referring to (a) in Figure 10, in the wide-beam interference measurement stage, the satellite base station sends time-frequency resource configuration information #1 (which may be equivalent to the configuration information of the first time-frequency resource mentioned above) for wide-beam interference measurement to the satellite terminal. After receiving the time-frequency resource configuration information #1, the satellite terminal does not send an uplink signal on the time-frequency resource. The satellite base station transmits a wide beam to the ground on the time-frequency resource, and scans different ground areas in turn through the wide beam. At the same time, uplink signals from different ground areas are received through the wide beam. After scanning the entire ground area through the wide beam, the satellite base station counts the power value of the uplink signal corresponding to each ground area scanned by the wide beam; the satellite base station determines that the power value of the uplink signal from ground area 1 reaches a preset threshold, and then determines that ground area 1 is an area with strong interference.

[0167] As shown in (b) of Figure 10, in the narrow beam interference measurement phase, the satellite base station sends time-frequency resource configuration information #2 (which may be equivalent to the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource described above) for narrow beam interference measurement to the satellite terminal. After receiving the time-frequency resource configuration information #2, the satellite terminal does not send an uplink signal on the time-frequency resource. The satellite base station transmits a narrow beam to ground area 1 on the time-frequency resource, and sequentially scans different ground areas in ground area 1 (such as ground area 1-1, ground area 1-2, ground area 1-3, and ground area 1-4) using the narrow beam. At the same time, uplink signals from different ground areas are received using the narrow beam. After scanning the entire ground area 1 using the narrow beam, the satellite base station counts the power value of the uplink signal corresponding to each ground area scanned by the narrow beam. The satellite base station determines that only the power values ​​of the uplink signals from ground area 1-1 and ground area 1-4 reach a preset threshold, and then determines that ground area 1-1 and ground area 1-4 are areas with strong interference.

[0168] As shown in (c) of FIG10 , in the interference avoidance phase, the satellite base station can instruct the beam not to point to the ground area 1-1 and the ground area 1-4 during beam scheduling, thereby effectively avoiding uplink interference.

[0169] It should be noted that in Figure 10 above, during both the wide-beam interference measurement phase and the narrow-beam interference measurement phase, a single beam is used to sequentially scan multiple ground areas for interference measurement. In practical applications, in Figure 10 (a), the satellite base station may also simultaneously transmit multiple wide beams to the ground, with each wide beam corresponding to a specific ground area, and the ground areas covered by the multiple wide beams do not overlap. The satellite base station may simultaneously calculate the power value of the interfering uplink signal from each ground area to determine which ground area has stronger interference. Similarly, in Figure 10 (b), the satellite base station can also simultaneously transmit multiple narrow beams to the ground area 1, each narrow beam corresponding to a sub-ground area in the ground area 1, and the sub-ground areas covered by the multiple narrow beams do not overlap with each other. The satellite base station can simultaneously count the power value of the uplink signal of the interference from each sub-ground area to determine which specific sub-ground area in the ground area 1 has stronger interference. Therefore, when the satellite base station and the satellite terminal communicate normally subsequently, the sub-ground area with stronger interference can be avoided to reduce uplink interference, so as to ensure the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the uplink signal received by the satellite base station from the satellite terminal, which is simply referred to as the signal-to-noise ratio.

[0170] In summary, an embodiment of the present application proposes a communication method, which includes: a terminal device receives first information from a network device, the first information is used to indicate configuration information of time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and configuration information of the second time-frequency resources, the first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area, and the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage area is a partial area of ​​the first geographical coverage area; the terminal device performs interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources. Through this method, interference measurement can be effectively implemented to solve the interference problem existing in communication, and the resource overhead occupied during the interference measurement process can also be effectively reduced.

[0171] Based on the data processing method shown in FIG9 , several specific embodiments are further described below.

[0172] Example 1:

[0173] In the first embodiment, taking the network device as a satellite base station and the satellite base station serving the terminal UE1 as an example, configuration mode 1 and configuration mode 2 in step S901 of the solution described in FIG. 9 are described in detail.

[0174] The satellite base station can carry the configuration information of time-frequency resource 1 for wide beam interference measurement and the configuration information of time-frequency resource 2 for narrow beam interference measurement in RRC signaling, and then send the RRC signaling to UE1, so that UE1 can obtain the configuration information corresponding to time-frequency resource 1 and time-frequency resource 2 by parsing the RRC signaling. The specific configuration methods corresponding to time-frequency resource 1 and time-frequency resource 2 are as follows:

[0175] Configuration method 1: As shown in Figure 11A, the time-frequency resource 1 used for wide beam interference measurement is periodically configured, and the period of this time-frequency resource 1 is T1. The time-frequency resource 2 used for narrow beam interference measurement is semi-statically configured, and the period of this time-frequency resource 2 is T2. This time-frequency resource 2 needs to be activated and deactivated through MAC CE commands. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0176] According to the configuration period T1 of time-frequency resource 1, the satellite base station can first perform wide-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 1. UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 1. After completing the wide-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends a MAC CE activation command to UE1 to activate time-frequency resource 2, so that the satellite base station can perform narrow-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 2. After receiving the MAC CE activation command and the activation command takes effect, UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 2. After completing the narrow-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends a MAC CE deactivation command to UE1. After receiving the MAC CE deactivation command and the deactivation command takes effect, UE1 can use time-frequency resource 2 to communicate with the satellite base station.

[0177] Configuration mode 2: As shown in Figure 11B, the time-frequency resource 1 used for wide beam interference measurement is periodically configured with a period of T1; the time-frequency resource 2 used for narrow beam interference measurement is aperiodically configured and needs to be activated through DCI signaling. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0178] According to the configuration period T1 of time-frequency resource 1, the satellite base station can first perform wide-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 1. UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 1. After completing the wide-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends DCI signaling to UE1 to activate time-frequency resource 2. In this way, the satellite base station can perform narrow-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 2. After receiving the DCI signaling, UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 2. In order for the satellite base station to continuously use time-frequency resource 2 for narrow-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station needs to intermittently send DCI signaling to UE1 multiple times to activate time-frequency resource 2.

[0179] In FIG11A and FIG11B , on the time axis t, the black-filled boxes represent the time-frequency resource 1 for wide-beam interference measurement, and the white-filled boxes represent the time-frequency resource 2 for narrow-beam interference measurement.

[0180] In this embodiment 1, the uplink interference characteristics may be different at different times. The time-frequency resource 1 used for wide-beam interference measurement is periodically configured, and the network device side can continuously track and determine areas with strong interference through periodic wide-beam scanning. The time-frequency resource 2 used for narrow-beam interference measurement is semi-statically or non-periodically configured, so that the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the time-frequency resource 2 based on the results of the wide-beam scanning to perform more fine-grained interference area scanning through a narrow beam. Through this method, the network device side can not only quickly determine areas with strong interference, but also reduce the overhead generated by the beam scanning used to determine the interference area.

[0181] Example 2:

[0182] In the second embodiment, taking the network device as a satellite base station and the satellite base station serving the terminal UE1 as an example, configuration mode 3 and configuration mode 4 in step S901 of the solution described in FIG. 9 are described in detail.

[0183] The satellite base station can carry the configuration information of time-frequency resource 1 for wide beam interference measurement and the configuration information of time-frequency resource 2 for narrow beam interference measurement in RRC signaling, and then send the RRC signaling to UE1, so that UE1 can obtain the configuration information corresponding to time-frequency resource 1 and time-frequency resource 2 by parsing the RRC signaling. The specific configuration methods corresponding to time-frequency resource 1 and time-frequency resource 2 are as follows:

[0184] Configuration method three: As shown in Figure 12A, the time-frequency resource 1 used for wide beam interference measurement is semi-statically configured, with a period of T1. Time-frequency resource 1 needs to be activated and deactivated through a MAC CE command. The time-frequency resource 2 used for narrow beam interference measurement is semi-statically configured, with a period of T2. Similarly, time-frequency resource 2 also needs to be activated and deactivated through a MAC CE command. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0185] The satellite base station first sends MAC CE activation command 1 to UE1 to activate time-frequency resource 1 for wide-beam interference measurement. After the command takes effect, the satellite base station performs wide-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 1. UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 1. After completing the wide-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends MAC CE deactivation command 1 to UE1 to deactivate time-frequency resource 1.

[0186] Next, the satellite base station sends a MAC CE activation command 2 to UE1 to activate time-frequency resource 2 for narrow-beam interference measurement. After the command takes effect, the satellite base station performs narrow-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 2. UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 2. After completing the narrow-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends a MAC CE deactivation command 2 to UE1 to deactivate time-frequency resource 2.

[0187] Configuration mode 4: As shown in Figure 12B, the time-frequency resource 1 used for wide beam interference measurement is semi-statically configured, with a period of T1. Time-frequency resource 1 needs to be activated and deactivated through MAC CE commands. The time-frequency resource 2 used for narrow beam interference measurement is aperiodically configured and needs to be activated through DCI signaling. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0188] The satellite base station first sends a MAC CE activation command to UE1 to activate time-frequency resource 1 for wide-beam interference measurement. After the command takes effect, the satellite base station performs wide-beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 1. UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on time-frequency resource 1. After completing the wide-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends a MAC CE deactivation command to UE1 to deactivate time-frequency resource 1.

[0189] Next, the satellite base station sends DCI signaling to UE1 to activate time-frequency resource 2 for narrow beam interference measurement, so that the satellite base station can perform narrow beam interference measurement on time-frequency resource 2. After receiving the DCI signaling, UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on the time-frequency resource 2. In order for the satellite base station to be able to continuously use time-frequency resource 2 for narrow beam interference measurement, the satellite base station needs to send DCI signaling to UE1 intermittently multiple times to activate time-frequency resource 2.

[0190] In FIG12A and FIG12B , on the time axis t, the black-filled boxes represent the time-frequency resource 1 for wide-beam interference measurement, and the white-filled boxes represent the time-frequency resource 2 for narrow-beam interference measurement.

[0191] In the second embodiment, the time-frequency resources for interference measurement of a wide beam (i.e., the interference measurement time-frequency resources associated with a wide beam) are semi-statically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the time-frequency resources for interference measurement of a wide beam according to the time-varying characteristics of the uplink interference or the measurement requirements, so as to perform interference area scanning through a wide beam. The time-frequency resources for interference measurement of a narrow beam (i.e., the interference measurement time-frequency resources associated with a narrow beam) are semi-statically or non-periodically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the time-frequency resources for interference measurement of a narrow beam according to the results of the wide beam scanning, so as to perform more fine-grained interference area scanning through a narrow beam. Through this method, the network device side can not only quickly determine the area with strong interference, but also reduce the overhead generated by the beam scanning for determining the interference area.

[0192] Example 3:

[0193] In the third embodiment, taking the network device as a satellite base station and the satellite base station serving the terminal UE1 as an example, configuration mode five and configuration mode six in step S901 of the solution described in FIG. 9 are described in detail.

[0194] The satellite base station can carry the configuration information of time-frequency resource 1 for wide beam interference measurement and the configuration information of time-frequency resource 2 for narrow beam interference measurement in RRC signaling, and then send the RRC signaling to UE1, so that UE1 can obtain the configuration information corresponding to time-frequency resource 1 and time-frequency resource 2 by parsing the RRC signaling. The specific configuration methods corresponding to time-frequency resource 1 and time-frequency resource 2 are as follows:

[0195] Configuration mode 5: As shown in FIG13A , a time-frequency resource segment used for wide-beam interference measurement and narrow-beam interference measurement is periodically configured, and the period of the time-frequency resource segment is T3. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0196] According to the configuration period T3 of this segment of time-frequency resources, the satellite base station can first perform wide-beam interference measurement on this segment of time-frequency resources. After completing the wide-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station can perform narrow-beam interference measurement. After completing the narrow-beam interference measurement, the time-frequency resources can be used for wide-beam interference measurement again, and so on.

[0197] Configuration mode 6: As shown in Figure 13B, a time-frequency resource segment is used for wide-beam interference measurement and narrow-beam interference measurement. The specific range of this time-frequency resource segment can be flexibly pre-set, and this time-frequency resource segment is semi-statically configured and needs to be activated and deactivated through MAC CE. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0198] The satellite base station first sends a MAC CE activation command to UE1 to activate this time-frequency resource. After this command takes effect, UE1 does not send uplink signals to the satellite base station on this time-frequency resource, and the satellite base station performs wide-beam interference measurement. After completing the wide-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station can perform narrow-beam interference measurement. After completing the narrow-beam interference measurement, the satellite base station sends a MAC CE deactivation command to UE1 to instruct it to deactivate this time-frequency resource. UE1 can then communicate normally with the satellite base station on this time-frequency resource.

[0199] In FIG13A and FIG13B , on the time axis t, the black-filled boxes represent the time-frequency resource 1 for wide-beam interference measurement, and the white-filled boxes represent the time-frequency resource 2 for narrow-beam interference measurement.

[0200] In this third embodiment, the time-frequency resources used for interference measurement are periodically or semi-statically configured, and the network device side can flexibly activate / deactivate the time-frequency resources according to the time-varying characteristics of the uplink interference or the measurement requirements, so as to scan the interference area through wide beams and narrow beams. The above-mentioned time-frequency resources for interference measurement are not fixedly associated with wide beams and narrow beams (that is, they are not fixedly used for wide beam interference measurement or narrow beam interference measurement), but the network device side flexibly uses the time-frequency resources for wide beam or narrow beam interference measurement according to the scanning requirements, thereby effectively determining the areas with strong interference and effectively reducing the signaling overhead.

[0201] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between various devices. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the network device or terminal device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module to implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a function of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

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

[0203] Similar to the above concept, as shown in FIG14 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1400 for implementing the functions of the network device or terminal device in the above method. For example, the communication device 1400 may be a software module or a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. The communication device 1400 may include: a communication unit 1401 and a processing unit 1402.

[0204] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication unit 1401 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, and may include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, each configured to execute the steps of sending and receiving by the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiments. The processing unit 1402 may be configured to read instructions and / or data from the storage module to enable the communication device 1400 to implement the above method embodiments.

[0205] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage unit 1403 , which is equivalent to a storage module and may be used to store instructions and / or data.

[0206] The communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 14 and 15. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, reference can be made to the method embodiment described in Figure 9 above. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0207] Communication unit 1401 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. A processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing device. Alternatively, the device in communication unit 1401 that implements the receiving function may be considered a receiving unit, and the device in communication unit 1401 that implements the transmitting function may be considered a transmitting unit. That is, communication unit 1401 includes both a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver circuit. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit. A transmitting unit may also be referred to as a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit.

[0208] When the communication device 1400 executes the terminal device in the process shown in FIG. 9 in the above embodiment:

[0209] The communication unit 1401 is configured to receive first information indicating configuration information of time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and configuration information of the second time-frequency resources, the first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement in a first geographic coverage area, the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement in a second geographic coverage area, and the second geographic coverage area is a partial area in the first geographic coverage area;

[0210] The processing unit 1402 is configured to perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources.

[0211] When the communication device 1400 executes the network device in the process shown in FIG. 9 in the above embodiment:

[0212] The processing unit 1402 is configured to generate configuration information of time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of a first time-frequency resource and configuration information of a second time-frequency resource, the first time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement in a first geographic coverage area, the second time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement in a second geographic coverage area, and the second geographic coverage area is a partial area in the first geographic coverage area;

[0213] The communication unit 1401 is configured to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate configuration information of the time-frequency resources;

[0214] The processing unit 1402 is configured to perform interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources.

[0215] The above is just an example. The processing unit 1402 and the communication unit 1401 can also perform other functions. For more detailed description, please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, which is not repeated here.

[0216] FIG15 shows a communication device 1500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in FIG15 may be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication device shown in FIG14 . The communication device 1500 can be applied to the flowchart shown above to perform the functions of the terminal device, the first access network device, or the second access network device in the above-described method embodiment. For ease of illustration, FIG15 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0217] As shown in Figure 15 , communication device 1500 includes a communication interface 1501 and a processor 1502. Communication interface 1501 and processor 1502 are coupled to each other. It is understood that communication interface 1501 can be a transceiver or input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, communication device 1500 can also include a memory 1503 for storing instructions executed by processor 1502, input data required by processor 1502 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1502 after executing instructions.

[0218] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 9 , the communication interface 1501 is used to implement the functions of the communication unit 1401 , and the processor 1502 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1402 .

[0219] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 1501, the processor 1502, and the memory 1503 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 15, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 1503, the processor 1502, and the communication interface 1501 are connected via a communication bus 1504. The communication bus 1504 is represented by a bold line in Figure 15. The connection method between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not intended to be limiting. The communication bus 1504 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 15, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0220] When the communication device is a chip, FIG16 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the chip structure, wherein the chip 1600 includes an interface circuit 1601 and one or more processors 1602. Optionally, the chip 1600 may further include a bus.

[0221] The processor 1602 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above-mentioned communication method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 1602 or instructions in the form of software. The above-mentioned processor 1602 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital communicator (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The various methods and steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0222] The interface circuit 1601 can be used to send or receive data, instructions or information. The processor 1602 can use the data, instructions or other information received by the interface circuit 1601 to process it, and can send the processing completion information through the interface circuit 1601.

[0223] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 1603, which may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides operating instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory 1603 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0224] Optionally, the memory stores an executable software module or a data structure, and the processor can perform corresponding operations by calling an operation instruction stored in the memory (the operation instruction may be stored in an operating system).

[0225] Optionally, the chip can be used in a network device or terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application. Optionally, the interface circuit 1601 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 1602. For the communication method provided in one or more embodiments of the present application, reference can be made to the aforementioned embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0226] It should be noted that the corresponding functions of the interface circuit 1601 and the processor 1602 can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of hardware and software, and there is no limitation here.

[0227] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiment are stored.

[0228] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0229] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method executed by the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0230] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, including a processor, configured to call a computer program or computer instruction stored in the memory so that the processor executes the communication method of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 .

[0231] In a possible implementation, the input of the chip corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , and the output of the chip corresponds to the sending operation in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 .

[0232] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0233] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0234] The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program of a communication method according to the embodiment 9 above. The memory mentioned in any of the above may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0235] It should be noted that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the communication devices provided above may refer to the corresponding communication method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0236] In the present application, the communication devices may further include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as the Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0237] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0238] Through the description of the above embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, the above functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein the communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to: a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection can be appropriately a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used in the embodiments of the present application, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs use lasers to reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of protection of computer-readable media.

[0239] In short, the above description is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made based on the disclosure of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device or a chip of the terminal device, and includes: Receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate configuration information of time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of the first time-frequency resources and configuration information of the second time-frequency resources, the first time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of a first geographical coverage area, the second time-frequency resources are used for interference measurement of a second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage area is a partial area of ​​the first geographical coverage area; Interference measurement is performed based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to a configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; receiving MAC CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resources.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive MAC CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is aperiodically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to a configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; receiving first downlink control information DCI information, where the first downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate activation of the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resources.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: receiving first MAC CE activation information, where the first MAC CE activation information is used to activate the first time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; receiving first MAC CE deactivation information, where the first MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the first time-frequency resource; receiving second MAC CE activation information, where the second MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resources.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive second MAC CE deactivation information, where the second MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is non-periodically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: receiving MAC CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to indicate activation of the first time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; receiving MAC CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to instruct to deactivate the first time-frequency resource; receiving second downlink control information DCI information, where the second downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate activation of the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resources.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The configuration information of the time-frequency resources indicates that the time-frequency resources are periodically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: According to the period of the time-frequency resource, interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area and interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area are performed on the time-frequency resource. Interference measurements for geographical coverage areas.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The configuration information of the time-frequency resources indicates that the time-frequency resources are semi-statically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: receiving MAC-CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the time-frequency resources; Interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area and interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area are performed on the time-frequency resources.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive MAC-CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the time-frequency resources.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The first information is radio access control RRC information.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a network device or a chip of the network device, and includes: Generate configuration information of time-frequency resources; the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes configuration information of a first time-frequency resource and configuration information of a second time-frequency resource, the first time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement in a first geographic coverage area, the second time-frequency resource is used for interference measurement in a second geographic coverage area, and the second geographic coverage area is a partial area of ​​the first geographic coverage area; Sending first information, where the first information is used to indicate configuration information of the time-frequency resources; Interference measurement is performed based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to a configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; After the interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area is completed, sending MAC CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resource; After the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, MAC CE deactivation information is sent, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resource.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is periodically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is aperiodically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area on the first time-frequency resource according to a configuration period of the first time-frequency resource; After the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, sending first downlink control information DCI information, where the first downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate activation of the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resources.

15. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Sending first MAC CE activation information, where the first MAC CE activation information is used to activate the first time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; After the interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area is completed, sending first MAC CE deactivation information, where the first MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the first time-frequency resource; Sending second MAC CE activation information, where the second MAC CE activation information is used to activate the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resource; After the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, second MAC CE deactivation information is sent, where the second MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the second time-frequency resources.

16. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The configuration information of the first time-frequency resource indicates that the first time-frequency resource is semi-statically configured, and the configuration information of the second time-frequency resource indicates that the second time-frequency resource is non-periodically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Sending MAC CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to indicate activation of the first time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area on the first time-frequency resource; After the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, sending MAC CE deactivation information, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to indicate that the first time-frequency resource is deactivated; Sending second downlink control information DCI information, where the second downlink control information DCI information is used to indicate activation of the second time-frequency resource; Perform interference measurement of the second geographic coverage area on the second time-frequency resources.

17. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The configuration information of the time-frequency resources indicates that the time-frequency resources are periodically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Perform interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area according to the configuration period of the time-frequency resources; After the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is performed.

18. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The configuration information of the time-frequency resources indicates that the time-frequency resources are semi-statically configured; The performing interference measurement based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources includes: Sending MAC CE activation information, where the MAC CE activation information is used to activate the time-frequency resources; Perform interference measurement of the first geographic coverage area on the time-frequency resources; After the interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area is completed, performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area; After the interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area is completed, MAC CE deactivation information is sent, where the MAC CE deactivation information is used to deactivate the time-frequency resources.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, characterized in that The performing interference measurement of the first geographical coverage area includes: Transmit at least one wide beam, and receive an uplink signal through the at least one wide beam; each wide beam corresponds to one of the first geographical coverage areas, and the first geographical coverage areas corresponding to the at least one wide beam are located in the ground area covered by the network device and do not overlap with each other; Count the uplink signal power corresponding to each wide beam; The first geographical coverage area corresponding to the wide beam whose uplink signal power reaches a preset first threshold is used as a first interference area.

20. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that The performing interference measurement of the second geographical coverage area includes: Transmitting at least one narrow beam to the first interference area, and receiving an uplink signal through the at least one narrow beam; each narrow beam corresponds to one second geographical coverage area, and the second geographical coverage areas corresponding to the at least one narrow beam do not overlap with each other; Count the uplink signal power corresponding to each narrow beam; The second geographical coverage area corresponding to the narrow beam whose uplink signal power reaches a preset second threshold is used as a target interference area.

21. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, characterized in that The first information is radio access control RRC information.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module or a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or a module or a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 12 to 21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 21 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions.

24. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A terminal device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11, and a network device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 12 to 21.

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

26. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21 is executed.

27. A chip, characterized in that: The chip comprises at least one processor, and the processor is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

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