Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method can be applied to non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications, and can reduce signaling overhead. The method comprises: a first network device acquires and sends to a first terminal device first configuration information and second configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates effective information of the first network device in a first area, the second configuration information indicates effective information of the first network device in a second area, the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and the range of the first area is larger than or equal to the range of the second area; the first terminal device determines an identifier of a third area on the basis of location information of the first terminal device and the first configuration information, and determines an identifier of a fourth area on the basis of the location information of the first terminal device and the second configuration information, wherein the third area is the first area where the first terminal device is located, and the fourth area is the second area where the first terminal device is located; and the first terminal device performs communication on the basis of the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area.

Description

Communication method and device Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular to communication methods and devices. Background Art

[0002] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) offer significant advantages, including global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, easy deployment, and freedom from geographical constraints. They have been widely used in a variety of fields, including maritime communications, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and Earth observation. NTNs can be integrated with terrestrial networks, leveraging their strengths and complementing their weaknesses to form a seamless, integrated global communications network spanning land, sea, air, space, and space, meeting the diverse service needs of users everywhere.

[0003] As a key component of the NTN, the next-generation satellite network is generally showing an ultra-dense and heterogeneous trend. First, the scale of satellites has grown from 66 in the Iridium constellation to 720 in the OneWeb constellation, and ultimately extended to the Starlink ultra-dense low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation of over 12,000. Second, the satellite network is heterogeneous, evolving from traditional single-layer communication networks to multi-layer communication networks. The functions of communication satellite networks are also becoming more complex and diversified, gradually becoming compatible with and supporting functions such as navigation enhancement, Earth observation, and multi-dimensional information processing on-orbit.

[0004] In NTNs, satellite coverage areas can change over time, so satellites need to frequently indicate their coverage areas to terminal devices. Currently, satellite coverage areas are typically described explicitly using latitude and longitude, beam pointing, and angle, resulting in high signaling overhead.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus that can reduce signaling overhead.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a first terminal device, or by a component of the first terminal device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the first terminal device, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first terminal device. The method includes: receiving first configuration information and second configuration information from a first network device, the first configuration information indicating information about a first area in which the first network device is effective, and the second configuration information indicating information about a second area in which the first network device is effective; the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area. The identifier of a third area is determined based on the location information of the first terminal device and the first configuration information, the third area being the first area where the first terminal device is located; the identifier of a fourth area is determined based on the location information of the first terminal device and the second configuration information, the fourth area being the second area where the first terminal device is located. Communication is performed based on the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area.

[0008] Based on this solution, the ground can be discretized into some fixed areas relative to the earth. Since the areas are fixed relative to the earth, that is, the positions of the areas are fixed relative to the earth, the network equipment can indicate its coverage area or service area to the terminal equipment through the area identifier, or can indicate the area information to the terminal equipment (such as the total number of areas and / or the radius of the area), so that the terminal equipment can know the area distribution based on the area information, thereby determining the area where the terminal equipment is located according to the terminal equipment's location information and area distribution, and communicate based on the area where the terminal equipment is located. Compared with the network equipment indicating its coverage area to the terminal equipment in an explicit manner, the signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0009] In addition, the area in this application can be divided into a first area and a second area, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area. In other words, this application can provide multiple levels of regional division, which facilitates terminal devices to determine their areas at different levels according to different connection states, so as to carry out different communication methods and improve communication flexibility.

[0010] In one possible design, the information of the first region includes the total number N of first regions. spot_b and / or the radius R of the first region spot_b ; and / or, the information of the second region includes the total number of second regions N spot_s and / or the radius R of the second region spot_s .

[0011] Based on this possible design, the terminal device can learn the total number of first area identifiers and / or second area identifiers, thereby learning the geographical location of each first area and / or second area according to the area identifiers, and further learning the area distribution.

[0012] In one possible design, the information of the first area also includes access information corresponding to the first area, and the access information is used for terminal devices in the first area to access the first network device.

[0013] In one possible design, the access information includes at least one of the following: a random access timing RO, a random access preamble, a timing advance TA, or a first time period, where the first time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the first area.

[0014] In one possible design, communicating according to an identifier of the third area includes: determining access information corresponding to the third area according to the identifier of the third area; and accessing the first network device according to the access information corresponding to the third area.

[0015] Based on the three possible designs described above, since the first network device can indicate the access information corresponding to the first area, terminal devices in the first area can access the first network device based on the access information. Consequently, the first network device can indicate different random access resources for different first areas, allowing terminal devices in different first areas to access the first network device using different random access resources. This reduces resource collisions during random access by terminal devices, thereby improving access success rates.

[0016] In one possible design, communicating based on the identifier of the fourth area includes: sending first information to the first network device, where the first information indicates the identifier of the fourth area.

[0017] Based on this possible design, the first network device can be informed of the second area where the terminal device is located, so that the first network device can perform processing based on the identification of the fourth area, such as identification of the terminal device location, beam management, etc.

[0018] In one possible design, the information of the second area also includes communication resources corresponding to the second area, and the communication resources are used for information transmission between the terminal device in the second area and the first network device.

[0019] In one possible design, the communication resources include at least one of the following: frequency domain resources, polarization mode, or a second time period, where the second time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the second area.

[0020] In one possible design, communicating according to the identifier of the fourth area includes: determining communication resources corresponding to the fourth area based on the identifier of the fourth area; using the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area to send first information to the first network device, where the first information indicates the identifier of the fourth area.

[0021] Based on the three possible designs described above, since the first network device can indicate the communication resources corresponding to the second area, terminal devices in the second area can use these communication resources to communicate with the first network device. Consequently, the first network device can indicate different communication resources for different second areas, allowing terminal devices in different second areas to communicate with the first network device using different resources, reducing resource collisions and thereby improving communication performance.

[0022] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving second information from the first network device, the second information indicating at least one of the following: access information of a fifth area, an identifier of the fifth area, a total number of sixth areas, a radius of the sixth area, or measurement timing configuration information; the fifth area being the sixth area where the first terminal device is located. The sixth area is fixed relative to the Earth, the geographical location of the sixth area is determined by the identifier of the sixth area, and the total number of sixth areas is the total number of areas where the second network device is effective; the access information of the fifth area is used by the first terminal device to access the second network device, and the measurement timing configuration information is used to configure a time for the first terminal device to measure a signal of the second network device.

[0023] In one possible design, the method also includes: accessing the second network device according to the access information corresponding to the fifth area.

[0024] Based on the above two possible designs, the first network device can determine the sixth area under the second network device where the first terminal device is located, thereby indicating the access information corresponding to the sixth area to the first terminal device, so that the first terminal device can access the second network device according to the access information. However, in the traditional NSA networking process, after the terminal device accesses the eNodeB, it needs to perform NR measurement to find the NR neighboring cell with the strongest signal quality and send the measurement results to the eNodeB so that the eNodeB can add the gNB to which the NR neighboring cell with the strongest signal quality belongs. After the eNodeB adds the gNB, the terminal device performs random access to access the NR cell.

[0025] Therefore, compared to the traditional NSA networking process, the above solution does not require the first terminal device to perform relevant measurements. After the first network device learns the sixth area where the first terminal device is located, it can directly send the access information of the sixth area, so that the first terminal device can access the second network device based on this access information. In other words, this allows the first terminal device to access the second network device more quickly, reducing access time and improving access efficiency.

[0026] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving third information from the first network device, the third information indicating a first area set and / or a second area set, the first area set including a first area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device, and the second area set including a second area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device.

[0027] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving fourth information from the first network device, the fourth information indicating a first area in the first area set served by the beam of the first network device, and / or indicating a second area in the second area set served by the beam of the first network.

[0028] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fifth information from the first network device, the fifth information indicating N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicating M fourth time periods and M second area subsets. The nth first area subset includes the first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device during the nth third time period, where N is a positive integer, n=1, 2, ..., N; and the mth second area subset includes the second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network device during the mth fourth time period, where M is a positive integer, m=1, 2, ..., M.

[0029] In one possible design, communicating according to the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area includes: communicating according to the identifier of the third area during the time period when the third area is served by the beam of the first network device; or communicating according to the identifier of the fourth area during the time period when the fourth area is served by the beam of the first network device.

[0030] Based on the above possible designs, the first network device can indicate to the first terminal device the time period during which the first network device's beam serves the first area and / or the second area, enabling the first terminal device to communicate during the beam service time period, thereby improving communication performance. Furthermore, the first area and / or the second area served by the first network device's beam can be indicated using an area identifier or bitmap. This reduces signaling overhead compared to explicitly describing the geographic area served by the first network device's beam, such as through information such as latitude and longitude.

[0031] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving sixth information from the first network device, the sixth information indicating a first quasi-co-location QCL relationship, and the receiving beam of the first area and the receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship.

[0032] Based on this possible design, a first terminal device can determine the beam of a second area within the first area based on the relationship between the beam of the first area and the first QCL, or determine the beam of the first area to which the second area belongs based on the relationship between the beam of the second area and the first QCL. This can avoid frequent beam matching processes, reduce beam matching delay, and improve beam management efficiency. In addition, since the beam matching delay is reduced, communication delay can be reduced, and communication efficiency can be improved.

[0033] In one possible design, the sixth information further indicates a fifth time period or a timer. The receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship within the fifth time period; alternatively, the receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship before the timer expires.

[0034] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a first network device, or by a component of the first network device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the first network device, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first network device. The method includes: obtaining first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information indicating information about a first area in which the first network device is effective, and the second configuration information indicating information about a second area in which the first network device is effective; the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area; and sending the first configuration information and the second configuration information to a terminal device. The technical effects brought about by the second aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0035] In one possible design, the information of the first region includes the total number N of first regions. spot_b and / or the radius R of the first region spot_b ; and / or, the information of the second region includes the total number of second regions N spot_s and / or the radius R of the second region spot_s .

[0036] In one possible design, the information of the first area also includes access information corresponding to the first area, and the access information is used for terminal devices in the first area to access the first network device.

[0037] In one possible design, the access information includes at least one of the following: a random access timing RO, a random access preamble, a timing advance TA, or a first time period, where the first time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the first area.

[0038] In one possible design, the information of the second area also includes communication resources corresponding to the second area, and the communication resources are used for information transmission between the terminal device in the second area and the first network device.

[0039] In one possible design, the communication resources include at least one of the following: frequency domain resources, polarization mode, or a second time period, where the second time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the second area.

[0040] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending second information to the terminal device, the second information indicating at least one of the following: access information of a fifth area, an identifier of the fifth area, a total number of sixth areas, a radius of the sixth area, or measurement timing configuration information; the fifth area is the sixth area where the first terminal device is located. The sixth area is fixed relative to the Earth, the geographical location of the sixth area is determined by the identifier of the sixth area, and the total number of sixth areas is the total number of areas where the second network device is effective; the access information of the fifth area is used by the first terminal device to access the second network device, and the measurement timing configuration information is used to configure the time when the first terminal device measures the signal of the second network device.

[0041] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending third information to the terminal device, the third information indicating a first area set and / or a second area set, the first area set including a first area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device, and the second area set including a second area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device.

[0042] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending fourth information to the terminal device, the fourth information indicating a first area in the first area set served by the beam of the first network device, and / or indicating a second area in the second area set served by the beam of the first network.

[0043] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending fifth information to the terminal device, the fifth information indicating N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicating M fourth time periods and M second area subsets. The nth first area subset includes the first area served by the beam of the first network device in the first area set during the nth third time period, where N is a positive integer, n=1, 2, ..., N; the mth second area subset includes the second area served by the beam of the first network device in the mth fourth time period, where M is a positive integer, m=1, 2, ..., M.

[0044] In one possible design, the method also includes: sending sixth information to the terminal device, the sixth information indicating a first quasi-co-location QCL relationship, and the receiving beam of the first area and the receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship.

[0045] In one possible design, the sixth information further indicates a fifth time period or a timer. The receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship within the fifth time period; alternatively, the receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship before the timer expires.

[0046] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any possible design of the second aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the corresponding design in the above-mentioned first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0047] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible design, the geographical location of the first area is determined by an identifier of the first area, and the geographical location of the second area is determined by an identifier of the second area.

[0048] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible design, the geographical location of the first area is also determined based on at least one of the following: the radius of the first area, the radius of the earth, the total number of first areas; and / or, the geographical location of the second area is also determined based on at least one of the following: the radius of the second area, the radius of the earth, the total number of second areas.

[0049] Based on this possible design, the total number of regions, the radius of the region, and the radius of the earth can be the same for each region, that is, the total number of regions, the radius of the region, and the radius of the earth can be considered constants. In this case, the variable affecting the geographical location of the region can be considered as the identifier of the region.

[0050] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible design, the first area includes a reference position, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship:

[0051] Where i represents the identifier of the first region, RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position, and R e represents the radius of the earth, [x] represents the decimal part of x, N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first region.

[0052] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible design, the projection RL(x i ,y i ) and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=(1-cosθ i ) / 2

[0053] The unit square is the square in the Cartesian plane with vertices at (0,0), (1,0), (0,1), and (1,1), and RL(x i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position on the x-axis of the unit square, RL(y i ) represents the projection metric of the reference position onto the y-axis of the unit square.

[0054] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible design, the Cartesian coordinate RL (x i ,y i ) and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=i / N spot_b

[0055] Among them, RL(x i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the x-axis direction of the Cartesian coordinate system, RL(y i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the y-axis direction of the Cartesian coordinate system.

[0056] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible design, the first area includes a reference position, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship:

[0057] Where i represents the identifier of the first region, RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position, and R e Represents the radius of the Earth, N spot Indicates the total number of the first region.

[0058] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible design, the first area includes a reference position, and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship: RL(i) = (lon(i), lat(i))

[0059] Where lon(i) represents the longitude of the reference location, lat(i) represents the latitude of the reference location, and N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first region.

[0060] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible design, the radius of the first area and the total number of first areas satisfy the following relationship:

[0061] Among them, R e Represents the radius of the Earth, N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first region, Rspot_b Indicates the radius of the first region.

[0062] Based on the above possible designs, on the one hand, the coordinates of the reference position in the area can be quickly and accurately determined according to the identification of the area, so that the outline, geographical location, etc. of the area can be quickly and accurately determined. On the other hand, the radius of the area can be flexibly adjusted to adapt to different load capacities, such as adapting to different beam radii. On the other hand, since the geographical location of the area can be determined by the identification of the area, information exchange can be carried out between network equipment and terminal equipment based on the identification of the area. Compared with directly exchanging information such as beam reference points and beam coverage area outlines, signaling overhead can be significantly reduced; compared with the division method based on the H3 geographic grid, since the total number of areas is relatively small, the number of bits required to indicate the area identification is also small, which can also reduce signaling overhead.

[0063] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing various methods. The communication device may be the first terminal device in the first aspect, or a device included in the first terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system; or the communication device may be the first network device in the second aspect, or a device included in the first network device, such as a chip or a chip system. The communication device includes a module, unit, or means corresponding to the implementation method, and the module, unit, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing the corresponding software implementation by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions.

[0064] In some possible designs, the communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module may be configured to implement the processing functionality of any of the above aspects and any possible implementations thereof. The transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module, respectively configured to implement the receiving functionality and the transmitting functionality of any of the above aspects and any possible implementations thereof.

[0065] In some possible designs, the transceiver module may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver or a communication interface.

[0066] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device performs the method described in any aspect. The communication device may be the first terminal device described in the first aspect, or a device included in the first terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system; or the communication device may be the first network device described in the second aspect, or a device included in the first network device, such as a chip or a chip system.

[0067] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is configured to communicate with a module external to the communication device; and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction to cause the communication device to perform the method described in any aspect. The communication device may be the first terminal device described in the first aspect, or a device included in the first terminal device, such as a chip or chip system; or the communication device may be the first network device described in the second aspect, or a device included in the first network device, such as a chip or chip system.

[0068] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in a memory, so that the communication device performs the method described in any aspect. The memory may be coupled to the processor, or may be independent of the processor. The communication device may be the first terminal device described in the first aspect, or a device included in the first terminal device, such as a chip or chip system; or the communication device may be the first network device described in the second aspect, or a device included in the first network device, such as a chip or chip system.

[0069] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is run on a communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in the first aspect and any possible design thereof.

[0070] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when run on a communication device, enables the communication device to execute the method described in any aspect and any possible design thereof.

[0071] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a chip system), which includes a processor for implementing the functions involved in any aspect and any possible design thereof.

[0072] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data.

[0073] In some possible designs, when the device is a chip system, it can be composed of a chip or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0074] It can be understood that when the communication device provided in any one of the third to ninth aspects is a chip, the sending action / function of the communication device can be understood as output information, and the receiving action / function of the communication device can be understood as input information.

[0075] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design method in the third to ninth aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by different design methods in the first or second aspects, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0076] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of beam coverage in a non-staring mode and a staring mode in an NTN provided by the present application;

[0077] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a projection of a beam on the ground provided by the present application;

[0078] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a regional description method based on an H3 geographic grid provided by the present application;

[0079] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a group handover scenario provided by the present application;

[0080] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a beam management process provided by the present application;

[0081] FIG6 is a diagram of a satellite network architecture in a transparent transmission mode provided by the present application;

[0082] FIG7 is a diagram of a satellite network architecture in a regeneration mode provided by the present application;

[0083] FIG8 is a diagram of a satellite network architecture in another regeneration mode provided by the present application;

[0084] FIG9 is a diagram of a satellite network architecture in another regeneration mode provided by the present application;

[0085] FIG10 is a network architecture diagram of an NTN and terrestrial network integration provided by the present application;

[0086] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a mapping relationship between beams and areas of a network device provided by the present application;

[0087] FIG12 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0088] FIG13 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0089] FIG14 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0090] FIG15 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0091] FIG16 is a flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0092] FIG17 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of a first area provided by the present application;

[0093] FIG18 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between a first area and a second area provided by the present application;

[0094] FIG19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0095] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by the present application;

[0096] FIG21 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in this application is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural.

[0098] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0099] In addition, to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that the words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0100] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0101] It will be understood that the “embodiment” mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It will be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

[0102] It can be understood that in this application, "when" and "if" both mean that corresponding processing will be taken under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the time, nor do they require any judgment action when implementing, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

[0103] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0104] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can refer to each other. In the various embodiments in this application, and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationships. The implementation methods of this application described below do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.

[0105] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the relevant technologies of the present application is first given as follows.

[0106] 1. Non-terrestrial networks (NTN):

[0107] Currently, the fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) has moved from standardization to commercial deployment. The NR standard is primarily designed to address the unique characteristics of terrestrial communications, which provide high-speed, high-reliability, and low-latency communications for user terminals.

[0108] Compared to terrestrial communications, NTN communications offer significant advantages, including global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, easy deployment, and freedom from geographical constraints. They have been widely used in a variety of fields, including maritime communications, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and Earth observation. NTN networks can be integrated with terrestrial networks, leveraging their strengths and complementing their weaknesses to form a seamless, integrated global communications network covering land, sea, air, space, and ground, meeting the diverse service needs of users everywhere.

[0109] According to the altitude of the flight platform above the ground, the NTN may include a low altitude platform (LAP) subnetwork, a high altitude platform (HAP) subnetwork, and a satellite communication subnetwork (SATCOM subnetwork).

[0110] For example, in the LAP subnetwork, base stations or base station functions are deployed on low-altitude flying platforms (such as drones) at an altitude of 0.1 km to 1 km from the ground to provide coverage for terminals; in the HAP subnetwork, base stations or base station functions are deployed on high-altitude flying platforms (such as airplanes) at an altitude of 8 km to 50 km from the ground to provide coverage for terminals; in the SATCOM subnetwork, base stations or base station functions are deployed on satellites at an altitude of more than 50 km from the ground to provide coverage for terminals.

[0111] Furthermore, according to the orbital altitude of the satellite, the satellite communication system can be divided into geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite communication system, medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite communication system and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication system.

[0112] The GEO satellite communication system is also known as the geostationary orbit satellite system. GEO satellites orbit at an altitude of 35,786 km and move at the same speed as the Earth's rotation, meaning that GEO satellites can remain stationary relative to the Earth. GEO satellite communication systems can provide large cell coverage, typically with a cell diameter of 500 km. However, GEO satellite communication also has significant disadvantages: 1) GEO satellite orbits are far from the Earth, resulting in high free-space propagation losses, which leads to tight communication link budgets. To increase transmit / receive gain, satellites must be equipped with larger antennas; 2) Communication transmission latency is high, such as a round-trip delay of around 500 milliseconds, which cannot meet the needs of real-time services; 3) GEO orbital resources are relatively scarce, launch costs are high, and coverage of the Earth's polar regions is inadequate.

[0113] MEO satellites orbit at altitudes between 2,000 and 35,786 km, enabling global coverage with a relatively small number of satellites. However, MEO satellites orbit at higher altitudes than LEO satellites, resulting in higher transmission latency compared to LEO satellite communications. Therefore, considering the advantages and disadvantages of MEO satellite communications, MEO satellites are primarily used for positioning and navigation.

[0114] The orbital altitude of LEO satellites is between 300 and 2000 km, which is lower than that of MEO satellites. They have the advantages of low transmission delay, low transmission loss, and relatively low launch cost.

[0115] The next generation of satellite communication systems is generally showing a trend towards ultra-dense and heterogeneous systems. First, the scale of satellites has grown from 66 in the Iridium constellation to 720 in the OneWeb constellation, and ultimately to the Starlink ultra-dense LEO satellite constellation of over 12,000. Second, satellite networks are becoming heterogeneous, evolving from traditional single-layer communication networks to multi-layer ones. The functionality of communication satellite networks is also becoming increasingly complex and diverse, gradually becoming compatible with and supporting functions such as navigation augmentation, Earth observation, and multi-dimensional information processing on-orbit.

[0116] 2. Non-gazing mode (earth-moving) and gazing (earth-fixed or quasi-earth fixed) mode:

[0117] In satellite communication systems, beam operating modes can generally be divided into non-staring mode and staring mode. As shown in Figure 1 (a), in non-staring mode, the coverage area of ​​the satellite beam moves with the satellite over a period of time (e.g., between time t0 and time t2). As shown in Figure 1 (b), in staring mode, the satellite dynamically adjusts the beam pointing over a period of time (e.g., between time t0 and time t2) so that the beam covers approximately the same area on the ground. However, in actual applications, due to issues with beam pointing accuracy and the distortion of beam projections on the ground at different incident angles, the coverage area of ​​the beam in staring mode still experiences a certain degree of jitter over time.

[0118] Exemplarily, the embodiment of the beam in the protocol can be a spatial domain filter, or a spatial filter, or a spatial domain parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial domain setting, a spatial setting, or Quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a QCL assumption, a QCL indication, etc. The beam can be indicated by a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state (TCI-state) parameter, or by a spatial relation parameter. Therefore, in this application, the beam can be replaced by a spatial domain filter, a spatial filter, a spatial parameter, a spatial parameter, a spatial setting, a spatial setting, QCL information, a QCL assumption, a QCL indication, TCI-state, a spatial relationship, etc. The above terms are also equivalent to each other. The beam in this application can also be replaced by other terms representing the beam, and this application is not limited thereto.

[0119] 3. Description of NTN's service area:

[0120] As a first possible implementation, the antenna pattern, such as a given antenna model, can be used to calculate the corresponding contours of antenna gain or received power in different areas of the ground (which can be understood as the projection of the beam on the ground) to characterize the service area of ​​the satellite / cell. This contour can also be understood as the beam position.

[0121] For example, Figure 2(a) shows the antenna gain pattern for a single GEO satellite 72-beam reference system. The ellipse represents the projection of the beam on the ground, or the beam position. Figure 2(b) shows the profile of the LEO satellite's beam in the latitude and longitude plane in non-staring mode.

[0122] In the first possible implementation, since the projection of the beam on the ground is understood as the beam position, the beam position can be considered statically bound to the beam. Therefore, this solution is commonly used in GEO satellite networks or satellite networks operating in non-staring mode. However, in staring mode, the inclination angle between the satellite and a certain area on the ground changes dynamically, and the beam projection also changes accordingly. This static binding of the beam position to the beam may no longer be applicable. Furthermore, since the projection of the beam on the ground is used as the beam position, parameters such as the beam reference point, the beam coverage area outline, and the satellite motion vector are usually required to determine the specific location of the beam position, resulting in significant signaling overhead.

[0123] As a second possible implementation, the Earth's surface can be divided into regular pentagonal or hexagonal grids based on the H3 geographic grid. This grid can be used to represent the service area of ​​a satellite / cell. For example, the service area of ​​a satellite / cell can include one or more grids. Each grid can be understood as a wave position. For example, when dividing the Earth based on the H3 geographic grid, each face of the icosahedron is a spherical triangle with 12 vertices, known as a spherical icosahedron. Each face of the spherical icosahedron has hexagons arranged in the same manner.

[0124] This second possible implementation supports hierarchical addressing of wave positions. For example, as shown in Figure 3, there are three types of regular hexagons: small, medium, and large. The regular hexagon with the smallest area represents the wave position, and the regular hexagons with the remaining two areas can be used for hierarchical addressing of wave positions. For ease of description, the following embodiments refer to the regular hexagons with the largest and second largest areas as the first and second regular hexagons, respectively.

[0125] Based on the example shown in Figure 3, when performing hierarchical addressing of wave positions, the index of the first regular hexagon can be understood as the first-level index of the wave position, the index of the second regular hexagon can be understood as the second-level index of the wave position, and the index of the regular hexagon with the smallest area can be understood as the third-level index of the wave position. When indexing a wave position, the first regular hexagon to which the wave position belongs can be first determined based on the first-level index, then the second regular hexagon to which the wave position in the first regular hexagon belongs can be determined based on the second-level index, and finally the wave position in the second regular hexagon can be determined based on the third-level index.

[0126] In the second possible implementation, only 16 different precisions of the beam radius are currently supported, which makes it difficult to adapt to different payload capacities (such as beam radius). For example, when the precision of the beam radius is an integer and the beam radius is not an integer, it may not be possible to accurately use the beam to represent the service area of ​​the satellite / cell. In addition, when determining the specific geographical location of the beam based on the index value of the beam in this solution, it is usually necessary to determine it through an iterative loop, which cannot quickly calculate the exact location of the beam. Moreover, the index value of the beam is usually indicated by 64 bits, and the signaling overhead is also large.

[0127] 4. Group switching and group reselection:

[0128] The movement of the satellite may cause group handover of connected terminal devices in a certain area, or group reselection of idle terminal devices in the area.

[0129] Taking group handover as an example, as shown in Figure 4, assume that a UE cluster (denoted as UE-G1, which includes multiple UEs) exists within sub-area 1 of area 2. At time T1, sub-area 1 is served by one or more beams of satellite 2. At time T2, the movement of satellite 2 causes it to no longer be able to serve sub-area 1. Instead, one or more beams of satellite 1 take over serving sub-area 1. During this process, because the satellite covering sub-area 1 changes, the multiple UEs in UE-G1 undergo group handover, switching from satellite 2 to satellite 1.

[0130] Since the satellite moves at a relatively high speed, for example, the speed of a LEO satellite is about 7.5 km / s, the frequency of group switching is relatively high, about once every few seconds to tens of seconds.

[0131] 5. Beam management:

[0132] For example, a beam management process in an NR system is shown in Figure 5. First, a base station (such as a next-generation node B (gNodeB or gNB)) uses beam scanning within the cell coverage area to send synchronization signal block (SSB) beams in different directions in a time-sharing manner. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the SSB using beam scanning and measures the signal quality of each SSB beam.

[0133] Subsequently, if the terminal device is in the radio resource control (RRC) idle state, the terminal device performs random access (RA) and sends message 1 (Msg1) to the base station, which carries a random access preamble, and the random access preamble carries the SSB index (index) corresponding to the SSB beam with the best signal quality. After the base station receives the random access preamble using beam scanning, it can determine the SSB beam with the best signal quality as the downlink transmit beam, and the base station can reuse the downlink transmit beam when receiving the uplink signal. In addition, the beam that the terminal device receives the downlink signal is the SSB beam with the best signal quality, and the downlink receive beam can be reused when sending the uplink signal.

[0134] If the terminal device is in the RRC connected state, the terminal device sends the SSB measurement result to the base station via a measurement report. The base station determines the downlink transmit beam based on the SSB measurement result and reuses the downlink beam when receiving uplink signals. In addition, the base station can indicate the downlink transmit beam it has determined to the terminal device. The terminal device can determine the downlink receive beam that matches the downlink transmit beam based on the beam pairing result.

[0135] In addition, the base station can use a narrower channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) beam for beam management (BM) (CSI-RS for BM) to perform beam scanning near the downlink transmission beam (i.e., the optimal SSB beam).

[0136] Accordingly, the terminal device feeds back the measurement result of the CSI-RS for MB beam to the base station through a measurement report. The base station determines the downlink transmit beam (such as the optimal CSI-RS for BM beam) based on the measurement result and reuses the downlink transmit beam when receiving uplink signals. The terminal device can receive the CSI-RS for BM beam through beam scanning to determine the downlink receive beam (such as the optimal CSI-RS for BM beam) and reuse the downlink receive beam when sending uplink signals.

[0137] In NTNs, satellite coverage areas can change over time, so satellites need to frequently indicate their coverage areas to terminal devices. Currently, satellite coverage areas are typically described explicitly using latitude and longitude, beam pointing, and angle, resulting in high signaling overhead.

[0138] Based on this, the present application provides a communication method. In this method, the ground can be discretized into some fixed areas relative to the earth. Since the area is fixed relative to the earth, that is, the position of the area is fixed relative to the earth, the network device can indicate its coverage area or service area to the terminal device through the area identifier, or can indicate the area information to the terminal device (such as the total number of areas and / or the radius of the area), so that the terminal device can obtain the area distribution based on the area information, thereby determining the area where the terminal device is located according to the location information and area distribution of the terminal device, and communicating based on the area where the terminal device is located. Compared with the network device indicating its coverage area to the terminal device in an explicit manner, the signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0139] In addition, the area in this application can be divided into a first area and a second area, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area. In other words, this application can provide multiple levels of regional division, which facilitates terminal devices to determine their areas at different levels according to different connection states, so as to carry out different communication methods and improve communication flexibility.

[0140] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be used in NTN systems such as satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communications, and drones. For example, integrated communication and navigation (IcaN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), etc. NTN systems can be integrated with traditional mobile communication systems. For example, the mobile communication system can be a fourth generation (4G) communication system (for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system), a world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a 5G communication system (for example, a NR system), a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT) communication system, an Internet of Vehicles communication system, and future mobile communication systems.

[0141] Among them, the above-mentioned communication system applicable to this application is only an example, and the communication system and communication scenarios applicable to this application are not limited to this. The communication system and communication scenarios provided in this application do not impose any limitations on the solution of this application. They are uniformly explained here and will not be repeated below.

[0142] As a possible implementation, a communication system applicable to the solution of the present application may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. For example, terminal devices may communicate with each other, with each other, and with each other via wired or wireless means.

[0143] Optionally, the terminal device may be a user-side device with wireless transceiver functions, or may be a chip or chip system provided in the device. The terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile terminal (MT), user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc. The terminal device may be, for example, a terminal device in IoT, V2X, D2D, M2M, 5G network, or a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN). The terminal device may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it may also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); it may also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.).

[0144] Exemplarily, the terminal device may be a drone, an IoT device (e.g., a sensor, an electricity meter, a water meter, etc.), a V2X device, a station (ST) in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device (also referred to as a wearable smart device), a tablet computer or a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a smart home, or a similar device. The terminal device can be a mobile or fixed device, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0145] Optionally, the network device may be a network-side device with wireless transceiver functions, or may be a chip or chip system or module provided in the device. The network device is located in the radio access network (RAN) of the mobile communication system and is used to provide access services for terminal devices.

[0146] As a possible implementation, the network device can be a wireless relay node or a wireless backhaul node. For example, the network device can function as a layer 1 relay device to regenerate physical layer signals (i.e., wireless frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification) without any higher protocol layers.

[0147] As another possible implementation, the network device may implement some or all of the functions of a base station. For example, the network device may be an evolutionary Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE or evolved LTE system (LTE-Advanced, LTE-A), such as a traditional macro eNB and a micro eNB in ​​a heterogeneous network scenario; or a next-generation node B (gNodeB or gNB) in a 5G system; or a transmission reception point (TRP); or a base station in a future evolved PLMN; or a device that implements base station functions in IoT, V2X, D2D, or M2M.

[0148] Alternatively, the network device may be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU and a DU, a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU may be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0149] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, the network device may be a network device or a module of a network device in an open radio access network (open RAN, ORAN) system. In the ORAN system, CU may also be referred to as open (open, O)-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. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, 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.

[0150] Exemplarily, the base stations in the embodiments of the present application may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also called small stations), relay stations, access points, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0151] Optionally, the network devices in the embodiments of the present application can be deployed on non-ground platforms, such as low-altitude platforms (such as drones), high-altitude platforms (such as airplanes), or satellites. Therefore, the network devices in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as non-ground network devices.

[0152] For example, in the case where the network device is deployed on a satellite, or the network device is a satellite, the communication system may further include an NTN gateway (also known as a gateway station). Typically, the NTN gateway is deployed on the ground. The NTN gateway can communicate with the satellite, and the link between the satellite and the NTN gateway can be called a feeder link.

[0153] As shown in Figure 6, when a satellite serves as a wireless relay node, or in other words, a satellite has relay and forwarding capabilities, the NTN gateway has base station functions or partial base station functions. In this case, the NTN gateway can function as a base station. Alternatively, the NTN gateway can be deployed separately from the base station. In other words, in addition to the NTN gateway, the communication system also includes a satellite base station deployed on the ground. Figure 6 illustrates the example of separate deployment of the NTN gateway and base station.

[0154] As shown in Figure 7, when a satellite can perform some or all of the functions of a base station, the satellite has data processing capabilities and can be used as a base station. In this case, the NTN gateway and the satellite can transmit user plane data of the terminal device through the satellite radio interface (SRI).

[0155] In addition, satellites can perform some or all of the functions of a base station. As shown in Figure 8, inter-satellite links (ISLs) exist between different satellites, allowing satellites to communicate via ISLs. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 9, a satellite can have the DU processing functions of a base station, or in other words, the satellite can act as a DU. In this scenario, the CU processing functions of the base station can be deployed on the ground, and the CU and DU communicate using the F1 interface through the NTN gateway.

[0156] In the architectures shown in Figures 6 to 9, NG refers to the interface between the base station and the core network. Uu refers to the interface between the base station and the terminal device. Xn refers to the interface between base stations. It is understood that as communication systems evolve, the names of the interfaces between the base station and the core network, between the base station and the terminal device, and between base stations may also change, and this application does not specifically limit this.

[0157] Optionally, when a satellite functions as a wireless relay node and has relay forwarding capabilities, it can be considered to be operating in transparent mode. When a satellite has data processing capabilities and can perform some or all of the functions of a base station, it can be considered to be operating in regenerative mode. A satellite may support only transparent mode, only regenerative mode, or both, and be able to switch between these two modes.

[0158] In some implementation scenarios, NTN and terrestrial networks can be integrated. For example, FIG10 shows the integrated network architecture of NTN and terrestrial networks provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the architecture shown in FIG10, satellites 1 and 2 operate in regeneration mode, and satellites can serve as NTN base stations, or NTN base stations can be deployed on satellites. Satellite 3 operates in transparent transmission mode, so an additional NTN base station needs to be deployed. Among them, NTN base stations refer to base stations in NTN. In addition,

[0159] In addition, the architecture may also include ground base stations, which refer to base stations in the ground network. NTN base stations and ground base stations can be interconnected through a common core network. As a bearer network, the core network provides an interface to the data network, providing terminal equipment with communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and data service carrying. Exemplarily, the core network may include access and mobility management function (AMF) network elements, session management function (SMF) network elements, authentication server function (AUSF) network elements, policy control function (PCF) network elements, user plane function (UPF) network elements, and other network elements.

[0160] Alternatively, NTN base stations and terrestrial base stations can also achieve more timely assistance and interconnection through interfaces defined between base stations. For example, the interface between base stations can be an Xn interface, and the interface between a base station and the core network can be an NG interface. Of course, other implementations of the interface between base stations and the interface between a base station and the core network are also possible, and this application does not specifically limit this.

[0161] Optionally, in embodiments of the present application, satellites can provide services to terminal devices via beams. For example, different beams can provide services to terminal devices via one or more of time division, frequency division, and space division. On the one hand, satellites can operate in either regenerative mode or transparent mode. On the other hand, satellites can operate in either non-staring mode or staring mode. Satellites can be LEO satellites, MEO satellites, GEO satellites, etc., without limitation.

[0162] It is understandable that the satellites in the architectures described in Figures 6 to 10 can be replaced by ground payloads on other flying platforms such as drones and airplanes.

[0163] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0164] The following describes the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application by taking the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example in combination with the communication system shown in Figures 6 to 10.

[0165] It should be noted that in the following embodiments of the present application, the message names, parameter names, or information names between devices are only examples. In other embodiments, they may also be other names, and the method provided in this application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0166] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed.

[0167] As an example, the following embodiments assume that the aforementioned flight platform is a satellite, that is, satellite communications in an NTN are used as an example. Of course, the method can also be applied to other scenarios in the NTN, such as LAP subnetworks or HAP subnetworks, without specific limitation.

[0168] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the relevant terms in the present application is first given as follows.

[0169] 1. Region:

[0170] Unless otherwise specified, the term "region" in the following embodiments of this application refers to a geographic region. A region is fixed relative to the Earth, or it can be understood as referring to a fixed geographic area relative to the Earth. For example, a region can have at least one of the following attributes: shape, outline, size, radius, area, geographic location, etc.

[0171] "Region" can also have an altitude attribute, that is, a region can be understood as a geographical area of ​​a given altitude or altitude range. By default, a region can refer to a geographical area with an altitude of 0 kilometers (km) above sea level or an altitude of about 0 km (such as in the range of [-2, 2] km), or a geographical area with an average altitude. In addition, it can also refer to geographical areas of other specific altitudes or specific altitude ranges, such as a geographical area with an altitude of 10 km above sea level, or a geographical area with an altitude of about 10 km (such as in the range of [7, 13] km).

[0172] In a possible implementation, the above-mentioned region fixed relative to the earth may also be referred to as a "wave position", "geographical region", etc. Of course, other names are also possible, and this application does not specifically limit the name of the region fixed relative to the earth.

[0173] The shapes, outlines, sizes, radii, and areas of different regions may or may not be the same. Different regions may have different geographical locations. Different regions may or may not overlap.

[0174] In one possible implementation, the region is fixed relative to the Earth, which can be understood as: the outline, size, or geographical location of the region remains unchanged, for example, the outline, size, or geographical location of the region does not change over time. Alternatively, the region is fixed relative to the Earth, which can be understood as: the outline of the region and points in the region can be described by a three-dimensional coordinate system such as earth-centered earth-fixed (ECEF) coordinates, a geodetic coordinate system, or an earth-centered inertial (ECI) coordinate system, or the coordinates of each point on the outline of the region in a three-dimensional coordinate system such as the ECEF, geodetic, or ECI coordinate system are fixed and unchanged.

[0175] In a possible embodiment, the shape of the region may be a regular hexagon, or other shapes such as a regular pentagon, a circle, an ellipse, etc. Alternatively, the shape of the region may be an irregular shape, which is not limited.

[0176] For example, the shape of a region can be defined by a protocol or by a network device. The region shapes defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple region shapes. Similarly, the size, radius, and area of ​​a region can be defined by a protocol or by a network device. The size, radius, and area of ​​a region defined by different network devices can be the same or different. The same network device can also define multiple region sizes, multiple region radii, or multiple region areas.

[0177] In a possible implementation, the earth may be divided into multiple regions, and the multiple regions may be indexed (eg, numbered).

[0178] As one possible division method, the geographic location of a region is determined by the region's identifier. That is, the geographic location of a region can be obtained based on the region's identifier, or in other words, there is a correlation between the region's identifier and the region's geographic location. For example, multiple regions can be discretized on the earth, each corresponding to an identifier, and the geographic location of the region can be obtained based on the region's identifier.

[0179] Furthermore, the geographical location of the region can also be determined based on at least one of the following: the total number of regions N spot , the radius of the area R spot , or the Earth's radius R e .

[0180] For example, the total number of regions can be understood as the total number of regions discretely located on the earth. spot The N regions can completely cover the Earth, such that any location on the Earth belongs to a certain region; or spot A region can also cover a part of the geographical location on the earth, for example, spot This region may not cover the South Pole and / or the North Pole of the Earth, that is, the South Pole and / or the North Pole may not have this region. spot is a positive integer, such as N spot =78702.

[0181] For example, the N spot The radius of each region can be the same, that is, the radius of each region is R spot When the shape of the region is a regular hexagon, the radius of the region may be the radius of the circumscribed circle of the regular hexagon; when the shape of the region is a circle, the radius of the region may be the radius of the circle; when the shape of the region is an ellipse, the radius of the region may include a long radius or a short radius. spot The unit can be kilometers (km), for example, R spot =50 kilometers, or other length units such as meters (m) without limitation.

[0182] For example, in an embodiment of the present application, the radius of the earth can be a constant, such as 6378 km; or, the radius of the earth can be different for different time and space positions, for example, the radius of the earth can include the equatorial radius or the polar radius. For example, when dividing regions at the South Pole and / or the North Pole, the polar radius can be used; when dividing regions in non-polar regions, the equatorial radius can be used. Alternatively, when the earth is described by an ellipsoid (i.e., the shape of the earth is considered to be an ellipsoid), the radius of the earth may include a major axis and a minor axis, and the values ​​of the major axis and the minor axis are different.

[0183] As a possible implementation, the total number of regions, the radius of the region, and the radius of the earth can be the same for each region, that is, the total number of regions, the radius of the region, and the radius of the earth can be considered constants. In this case, the variable affecting the geographical location of the region can be considered as the identifier of the region.

[0184] In one possible implementation, each region includes (or has) a reference location, which may be, for example, the center of the region. For example, the geographic location of a region may refer to the geographic location of the reference location in the region. In this case, the geographic location of the region is determined by the region's identifier, which can be understood as follows: the reference location in the region is determined by the region's identifier. Alternatively, the geographic location of the region may represent the outline of the region or the range of the region. In this case, the geographic location of the reference location in the region may be determined based on the region's identifier, and the range or outline of the region may be determined based on the geographic location of the reference location and the radius of the region.

[0185] As a possible implementation, the association relationship between the reference position in the region and the identifier of the region is determined based on the Fibonacci criterion, or in other words, the association relationship between the reference position in the region and the identifier of the region satisfies the Fibonacci criterion. Exemplarily, there are three implementations of this association relationship:

[0186] Method 1: The three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position in the region and the identifier of the region satisfy the following relationship (1):

[0187] Where i represents the region ID. e Indicates the radius of the Earth. [x] indicates the decimal part of x, such as x = 2.3, then [x] = 0.3. N spotRepresents the total number of regions. RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position in the region, which refers to the coordinates in a three-dimensional coordinate system. For example, the three-dimensional coordinate system can be a spherical coordinate system, such as the ECEF coordinate system. Of course, other three-dimensional coordinate systems can also be used, such as the geodetic coordinate system, the earth-centered inertial (ECI) coordinate system, etc.

[0188] For example, the projection RL(x i ,y i ) and the region identity satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=(1-cosθ i ) / 2

[0189] Among them, θ i and Please refer to the above explanation. The unit square refers to the square in the Cartesian plane with vertices at (0,0), (1,0), (0,1) and (1,1). RL(x i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the x-axis direction of the unit square, RL(y i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the y-axis direction of the unit square.

[0190] For example, the reference position is represented by the Cartesian coordinates RL(x i ,y i ) and the region identity satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=i / N spot

[0191] Where [x] represents the fractional part of x. RL(x i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position of the region in the x-axis direction in the Cartesian coordinate system, RL(y i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position of the region in the y-axis direction in the Cartesian coordinate system. Exemplarily, the Cartesian coordinate system refers to the Cartesian rectangular coordinate system.

[0192] Method 2: The three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position in the region and the identifier of the region satisfy the following relationship (2):

[0193] The physical meaning of each parameter can be found in the relevant description in the above relationship (1), which will not be repeated here.

[0194] It can be understood that the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference positions shown in the above relationship (1) and relationship (2) can be equivalently converted into longitude and latitude positions, and this application does not limit the specific form of expression of the reference position.

[0195] Method 3: The latitude and longitude coordinates of the reference position in the region and the identifier of the region satisfy the following relationship (3): RL(i) = (lon(i), lat(i)) (3)

[0196] Where RL(i) represents the latitude and longitude coordinates of the reference location, such as lon(i) represents the longitude of the reference location, and lat(i) represents the latitude of the reference location. spot Indicates the total number of regions.

[0197] It can be understood that the latitude and longitude coordinates of the reference position shown in the above relationship (3) can be equivalently converted into three-dimensional coordinates, and this application does not limit the specific form of expression of the reference position.

[0198] As a possible implementation, the radius of the region and the total number of regions satisfy the following relationship (4):

[0199] Among them, R e Represents the radius of the Earth, N spot Indicates the total number of regions, R spot Indicates the radius of the area. The explanation of each parameter can be found in the previous description and will not be repeated here.

[0200] Based on the above-mentioned area division method, on the one hand, the coordinates of the reference position in the area can be quickly and accurately determined according to the identification of the area, so that the outline, geographical location, etc. of the area can be quickly and accurately determined. On the other hand, the radius of the area can be flexibly adjusted to adapt to different load capacities, such as adapting to different beam radii. On the other hand, since the geographical location of the area can be determined by the identification of the area, information exchange can be carried out between network equipment and terminal equipment based on the identification of the area. Compared with directly exchanging information such as beam reference points and beam coverage area outlines, signaling overhead can be significantly reduced; compared with the division method based on the H3 geographic grid, since the total number of areas is relatively small, the number of bits required to indicate the area identification is also small, which can also reduce signaling overhead.

[0201] 2. Coverage area of ​​network equipment:

[0202] The coverage area of ​​the network device may refer to the maximum area that the network device can cover, or in other words, the coverage area of ​​the network device indicates (or reflects) the maximum coverage capability of the first network device.

[0203] The coverage area of ​​the network device changes with the movement of the network device, that is, the coverage area of ​​the network device may be different at different times. The coverage area of ​​the network device includes at least one of the above areas (ie, wave positions).

[0204] Since the coverage area of ​​a network device changes with the movement of the network device, and the area (wave position) is fixed relative to the earth, the wave positions included in the coverage area of ​​the network device may be different at different times.

[0205] For example, taking the area as a regular hexagon, as shown in Figure 11, the elliptical solid line can represent the coverage area of ​​the network device. The areas represented by all regular hexagons in the elliptical solid line are the areas included in the coverage area of ​​the network device.

[0206] 3. Service area of ​​network equipment:

[0207] The service area of ​​the network device may refer to the maximum area that the beam of the network device can serve (or cover), or in other words, the service area of ​​the network device indicates (or reflects) the maximum service capability of the first network device.

[0208] The service area of ​​a network device is smaller than or equal to the coverage area of ​​the network device. For example, based on the example shown in FIG11 , the service area of ​​a first network device may be the range indicated by the solid ellipse. In this case, the service area of ​​the first network device is equal to the coverage area of ​​the first network device. Alternatively, the service area of ​​the first network device may be smaller than the range indicated by the solid ellipse.

[0209] The service area of ​​a network device changes with the movement of the network device, that is, the service area of ​​the network device may be different at different times. The service area of ​​the network device includes at least one of the above areas (ie, wave positions).

[0210] Since the service area of ​​a network device changes with the movement of the network device, and the area (wavelength) is fixed relative to the earth, the wavelengths included in the service area of ​​the network device may be different at different times.

[0211] In addition, at a certain moment, the beam of the network device may actually serve (or cover) part of the service area, and at different moments, the beam of the network device may serve (or cover) different areas in the service area. For example, as shown in (a) of FIG11 , at time T1, the beam of the network device serves areas x1, x2, and x3 in the service area; and as shown in (b) of FIG11 , at time T2, the beam of the network device serves areas y1, y2, y3, and y4 in the service area.

[0212] 4. Activation area of ​​network equipment:

[0213] The area currently being served (or covered) by the beam of the network device can be called an active area or an activated area. The area currently not being served (or covered) by the beam of the network device can be called an inactive area or an inactive area.

[0214] The following describes a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG12 , which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the communication method may include the following steps:

[0215] S1201. A first network device obtains first configuration information and / or second configuration information.

[0216] The first configuration information indicates information about the first area in which the first network device is effective, or the first configuration information indicates the distribution or division of the first area corresponding to the first network device.

[0217] The first region is fixed relative to the Earth and is a type of the aforementioned region, satisfying all the characteristics of the region described above. For example, the geographic location of the first region is determined by the identifier of the first region. Furthermore, the geographic location of the first region is determined based on at least one of the following: the radius of the first region, the radius of the Earth, or the total number of first regions. The total number of first regions can be understood as the total number of first regions discretely located on the Earth. Please refer to the above description of regions and will not be repeated here.

[0218] The second configuration information indicates information about the second area in which the first network device is effective, or the first configuration information indicates the distribution or division of the second area corresponding to the first network device.

[0219] The second region is fixed relative to the Earth and is a type of the aforementioned region, satisfying all the characteristics of the region described above. For example, the geographic location of the second region is determined by the identifier of the second region. Furthermore, the geographic location of the second region is determined based on at least one of the following: the radius of the second region, the radius of the Earth, or the total number of second regions. The total number of second regions can be understood as the total number of second regions discretely identified on the Earth. For details on regions, refer to the above description and are not further elaborated here.

[0220] The range (or area) of the first region is greater than or equal to the range (or area) of the second region. For example, one first region may include one or more second regions.

[0221] For example, the first area may also be referred to as a "broadcast area", "broadcast wavelength", "broadcast geographical area", etc., and the second area may also be referred to as a "service area", "service wavelength", "service geographical area", etc.

[0222] Illustratively, the first area may be an area that can be served or covered by the broadcast beam of the first network device, and the second area may be an area that can be served or covered by the service beam of the first network device. The broadcast beam of the first network device may be used to send and / or receive broadcast information (such as system information), and the service beam of the first network device may be used to send and / or receive service data. The broadcast beam of the first network device may be a wide beam, and the service beam of the first network device may be a narrow beam.

[0223] In a possible implementation manner, the information of the first region includes the total number N of first regions. spot_b and / or the radius R of the first region spot_b That is, the first configuration information indicates the total number of first areas and / or the radius of the first area.

[0224] In a possible implementation manner, the information of the second area includes the total number N of second areas. spot_s and / or the radius R of the second region spot_s That is, the second configuration information indicates the total number of second areas and / or the radius of the second area.

[0225] For example, when the total number of regions is known, the region identifiers can be obtained, for example, the region identifiers belong to 1, 2, ..., N spot Based on the identification of each area, the geographical location of each area can be obtained. For example, the identification of the area and its reference position satisfy one of the above relations (1) to (3), so that N spot The geographical location of each region is obtained, that is, the distribution of the regions is known. The region can be the first region or the second region, N spot Can be N spot_b or N spot_s .

[0226] In addition, when the radius of the region is known, the total number of regions can be determined based on the relationship between the radius of the region and the total number of regions, such as the above relationship (4), and then the geographical location of each region can be determined based on the identification of the region, thereby determining the distribution of the region.

[0227] For example, the configuration information may include the total number of regions N spot and / or the radius R of the region spotAlternatively, the protocol may predefine multiple total area numbers, or the first network device and the terminal device may pre-negotiate multiple total area numbers. For example, the first network device may pre-configure multiple total area numbers to the terminal device through RRC signaling. In this scenario, the configuration information may include an area total number index, which corresponds to one of the multiple area total numbers. For example, the area total number index may be carried in a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0228] For example, a total of N regions are defined, and the configuration information may include an index n, where n∈1,2,…,N. The total number of regions indicated by the configuration information is the total number of n-th regions in the total number of N regions. The region may be the first region or the second region, and the configuration information may be the first configuration information or the second configuration information. N spot Can be N spot_b or N spot_s , R spot Can be R spot_b or R spot_s .

[0229] In one possible implementation, the first network device obtains the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information, which may include: the first network device determines or generates the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information; or, the first network device receives the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information from the ground device, that is, the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information is generated by the ground device and sent to the first network device.

[0230] Exemplarily, when the first network device is a device deployed on a satellite and has some or all base station functions, the first network device determines or generates the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information. When the first network device is deployed on a satellite and operates in a transparent transmission mode, the first network device receives the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information from a core network element or an NTN base station deployed on the ground.

[0231] S1202: The first network device sends first configuration information and / or second configuration information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first configuration information and / or second configuration information from the first network device.

[0232] In a possible implementation, if the first network device obtains the first configuration information in step S1201, the first network device sends the first configuration information in step S1202; if the first network device obtains the second configuration information in step S1201, the first network device sends the second configuration information in step S1202.

[0233] Exemplarily, the first network device may send the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information via broadcast. In this case, the first terminal device may be any terminal device that receives the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information. Alternatively, the first network device may send the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information to the first terminal device via unicast. For example, the first network device sends the first configuration information and / or the second configuration information to the first terminal device via an RRC connection between the first network device and the first terminal device.

[0234] S1203: The first terminal device determines an identifier of a third area according to the location information of the first terminal device and the first configuration information, wherein the third area is the first area where the first terminal device is located.

[0235] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device executes step S1203 when it receives the first configuration information from the first network device in step S1202, or receives the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0236] For example, the location information of the first terminal device may be the GNSS location information of the first terminal device. The third area may be the N spot_b Among the first areas, the first area where the reference position is closest to the first terminal device.

[0237] Exemplarily, the first configuration information indicates the total number N of first regions. spot_b and / or the radius R of the first region spot_b In the case of the first terminal device receiving the first configuration information, the first terminal device can learn the total number of the first area N spot_b , so that the identifier of the first area can be known, for example, the first area identifier belongs to 1, 2, ..., N spot_b Based on the identifiers of the respective first areas, the geographical locations of the reference positions in the respective first areas can be known. For example, the identifiers of the first areas and their reference positions satisfy one of the above relationships (1) to (3), thereby knowing the distances between the first terminal device and the reference positions in the respective first areas, and then determining the first area to which the reference position closest to the first terminal device belongs as the third area.

[0238] S1204: The first terminal device determines an identifier of a fourth area based on the location information of the first terminal device and the second configuration information, wherein the fourth area is the second area where the first terminal device is located.

[0239] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device executes step S1204 when it receives the second configuration information from the first network device in step S1202, or receives the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

[0240] For example, the location information of the first terminal device may be the GNSS location information of the first terminal device. The fourth area may be the N spot_s The second area of ​​the reference position is the second area closest to the first terminal device. Please refer to the relevant description of determining the third area in step S1203 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0241] It should be noted that the first terminal device may execute step S1203 and not execute step S1204; or, the first terminal device may execute step S1204 and not execute step S1203; or, the first terminal device may execute step S1203 and execute step S1204.

[0242] S1205. The first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area.

[0243] In one possible implementation, when the first terminal device executes the above-mentioned step S1203, in step S1205, the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area; when the first terminal device executes the above-mentioned step S1204, in step S1205, the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the fourth area.

[0244] In one possible implementation, when the first terminal device is in an RRC non-connected state (such as an RRC idle state or an RRC deactivated state), the first terminal device communicates according to an identifier of the third area; when the first terminal device is in an RRC connected state, the first terminal device communicates according to an identifier of the fourth area.

[0245] In one possible implementation, the first terminal device communicating may include: the first terminal device accessing the network device (e.g., initiating random access), or transmitting information and / or data between the first terminal device and the network device. Exemplarily, when the first terminal device is in an RRC non-connected state, the first terminal device accesses the network device; when the first terminal device is in an RRC connected state, information and / or data are transmitted between the first terminal device and the network device.

[0246] Based on the above scheme, the ground can be discretized into some fixed areas relative to the earth. Since the areas are fixed relative to the earth, that is, the positions of the areas are fixed relative to the earth, the network equipment can indicate its coverage area or service area to the terminal equipment through the area identifier, or can indicate the area information to the terminal equipment (such as the total number of areas and / or the radius of the area), so that the terminal equipment can know the area distribution based on the area information, thereby determining the area where the terminal equipment is located according to the terminal equipment's location information and area distribution, and communicate based on the area where the terminal equipment is located. Compared with the network equipment indicating its coverage area to the terminal equipment in an explicit manner, the signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0247] In addition, the area in this application can be divided into a first area and a second area, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area. In other words, this application can provide multiple levels of regional division, which facilitates terminal devices to determine their areas at different levels according to different connection states, so as to carry out different communication methods and improve communication flexibility.

[0248] The above describes the overall process of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The following describes in detail the implementation of the terminal device communicating according to the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area. For example, the terminal device can communicate in the following ways:

[0249] Method 1, as shown in FIG13 , the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area, including:

[0250] S120511. The first terminal device determines access information corresponding to the third area based on the identifier of the third area.

[0251] In one possible implementation, the information about the first area further includes access information corresponding to the first area, that is, the first configuration information further indicates the access information corresponding to the first area. Exemplarily, the first configuration information further indicates the access information corresponding to each first area within the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device, or the first configuration information further indicates the access information corresponding to each first area served by a beam (such as a broadcast beam) of the first network device.

[0252] The access information corresponding to a first area is used for a terminal device in the first area to access the first network device. Exemplarily, the access information corresponding to the first area includes at least one of the following: a random access occasion (RACH occasion, RO), a random access preamble, a timing advance (TA), or a first time period.

[0253] Exemplarily, the RO indicates the time domain and / or frequency domain resources occupied by the random access channel (RACH). The first time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the first area, or the first time period is a time period in which the first network device can be accessed, or the first time period is a valid (or effective) time period for the RO, random access preamble, and TA.

[0254] Optionally, the access information corresponding to different first areas in the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device may be the same or different; the access information corresponding to different first areas served by the beam of the first network device may be the same or different. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0255] For example, taking the case where the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device includes first areas 80 to 150, the first configuration information may include an identifier of the first area and its corresponding access information, such as {80: RO 1, random access preamble 1, TA 1, first time period 1}, {81: RO 2, random access preamble 2, TA 2, first time period 2}, {82-85: RO 3, random access preamble 3, TA 3, first time period 3}, etc.

[0256] Based on the above implementation, after receiving the first configuration information, the first terminal device can search according to the identifier of the third area. The access information corresponding to the identifier of the third area is the access information corresponding to the third area.

[0257] S120512. The first terminal device accesses the first network device according to the access information corresponding to the third area.

[0258] In one possible implementation, accessing the first network device may include: initiating random access to the first network device, or initiating random access to access the first network device. Exemplarily, the first terminal device may send a random access preamble to the first network device on the RO indicated by the access information corresponding to the third area within the first time period.

[0259] Based on the above-described first approach, since the first network device can indicate the identifier of the first zone and its corresponding access information, terminal devices in the first zone can access the first network device based on the access information. Thus, the first network device can indicate different random access resources for different first zones, allowing terminal devices in different first zones to access the first network device using different random access resources. This reduces resource collisions during random access by terminal devices, thereby improving access success rates.

[0260] Method 2, as shown in FIG14 , the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the fourth area, including:

[0261] S120521. The first terminal device sends first information to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first information from the first terminal device. The first information indicates an identifier of the fourth area.

[0262] Exemplarily, the first information may include an identifier of the fourth area. Alternatively, the first information may include a bitmap, wherein the bits in the bitmap correspond one-to-one to the identifier of the second area within the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device, and the first terminal device may set the bit in the bitmap corresponding to the identifier of the fourth area to a preset value (such as "1" or "0"). That is, the identifier corresponding to the bit in the bitmap set to the preset value is the identifier of the fourth area.

[0263] In a possible implementation, after receiving the first information and learning the identifier of the fourth area, the first network device may perform location identification of the first terminal device according to the identifier of the fourth area.

[0264] For example, it is assumed that the first terminal device has sent the location of the first terminal device (denoted as location 1) to the first network device before step S120521. After the first network device learns the identifier of the fourth area, it can determine the reference location of the fourth area based on one or more of the above relationships (1) to (3), and then determine the range of the fourth area in combination with the radius of the fourth area. If location 1 is within the fourth area, or the distance between location 1 and the reference location of the fourth area is less than or equal to a preset threshold, the first network device considers location 1 to be true.

[0265] In another possible implementation, after receiving the first information and learning the identifier of the fourth area, the first network device can determine the reference location of the fourth area (denoted as location 2) based on the identifier of the fourth area, and then determine the first area where location 2 is located in combination with the radius of the first area and the total number of first areas, and determine the first area where location 2 is located as the first area (i.e., the third area) where the first terminal device is located. That is, the first network device can determine the first area where the first terminal device is located based on the identifier of the fourth area.

[0266] In another possible implementation, after receiving the first information and learning the identifier of the fourth area, the first network device may perform measurement configuration for the terminal device in the fourth area. For example, neighboring cell set 1 may be configured for the terminal device in the fourth area so that the terminal device in the fourth area can measure neighboring cells in neighboring cell set 1.

[0267] Optionally, the first network device may configure different neighboring cell sets for different second areas, for example, configuring neighboring cell set 1 for terminal devices in second area 1, and configuring neighboring cell set 2 for terminal devices in second area 2. Based on this implementation, compared to configuring a larger neighboring cell set for all terminal devices, for example, configuring neighboring cell set 1 + neighboring cell set 2, it is possible to avoid unnecessary measurements by the terminal device, reduce the measurement complexity of the terminal device, and reduce the power consumption of the terminal device.

[0268] In another possible implementation, after receiving the first information and learning the identifier of the fourth area, the first network device may perform beam management according to the identifier of the fourth area.

[0269] For example, the first network device can determine the first area (i.e., the third area) where the first terminal device is located based on the identifier of the fourth area. The first terminal device can then be configured with a beam in the fourth area and a beam in the third area that satisfy the QCL relationship, enabling the first terminal device to dynamically and autonomously adjust the beam based on the beam in the fourth area or the beam in the third area. This improves the speed and flexibility of beam matching compared to traditional beam matching solutions based solely on signal quality.

[0270] Mode 3, as shown in FIG15 , the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the fourth area, including:

[0271] S120531. The first terminal device determines the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area according to the identifier of the fourth area.

[0272] In one possible implementation, the information about the second area further includes communication resources corresponding to the second area, that is, the second configuration information further indicates the communication resources corresponding to the second area. Exemplarily, the second configuration information further indicates the communication resources corresponding to each second area within the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device, or the second configuration information further indicates the communication resources corresponding to each second area served by a beam (such as a service beam) of the first network device.

[0273] The communication resources corresponding to a second area are used for information transmission between the terminal device in the second area and the first network device. Exemplarily, the communication resources corresponding to the second area include at least one of the following: frequency domain resources, polarization mode, or second time period.

[0274] Exemplarily, the second time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the second area, or the second time period is an available time period of the frequency domain resource, or the second time period is an effective or valid time period of the frequency domain resource.

[0275] Optionally, the communication resource information corresponding to the second area can also be understood as information about a bandwidth part (BWP) corresponding to the second area. In this case, the frequency domain resource can be understood as the frequency of the BWP, such as the center frequency of the BWP.

[0276] Optionally, the communication resources corresponding to different second areas within the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device may be the same or different; the communication resources corresponding to different second areas served by the beam of the first network device may be the same or different. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0277] For example, taking the case where the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device includes the second areas 50 to 160, the second configuration information may include an identifier of the second area and its corresponding communication resource information, such as {50: communication resource 1}, {51: communication resource 2}, {52-60: communication resource 3}, etc.

[0278] Based on the above implementation, after receiving the second configuration information, the first terminal device can search according to the identifier of the fourth area. The communication resources corresponding to the identifier of the fourth area are the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area.

[0279] S120532: The first terminal device sends first information to the first network device using the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the first information from the first terminal device on the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area.

[0280] The first information indicates the identifier of the fourth area. The implementation of the first information can refer to the relevant description in the above step S120521, which will not be repeated here.

[0281] Exemplarily, the first terminal device may send the first information to the first network device on the frequency domain resources corresponding to the fourth area within the second time period.

[0282] Among them, the first network device can perform relevant processing after receiving the first information. For details, please refer to the relevant instructions in the above step S120521, which will not be repeated here.

[0283] Based on the third approach described above, since the first network device can indicate the identifier of the second zone and its corresponding communication resource, terminal devices in the second zone can use this communication resource to communicate with the first network device. Consequently, the first network device can indicate different communication resources for different second zones, allowing terminal devices in different second zones to communicate with the first network device using different resources, reducing resource collisions and thereby improving communication performance.

[0284] It is understandable that the above-mentioned method 1 and method 2, or method 1 and method 3 can all be executed. For example, after the first terminal device accesses the first network device according to the identifier of the third area, it sends the first information to the first network device.

[0285] The above-mentioned methods 1 to 3 can be applied to standalone (SA) scenarios. In addition, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to non-standalone (NSA) scenarios. In the NSA networking scenario, as shown in FIG16 , based on the above-mentioned method 2 or method 3, the first network device and the first terminal device can further perform the following steps S1206-S1207:

[0286] S1206: The first network device sends the second information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the second information from the first network device.

[0287] The second information indicates at least one of the following: access information of the fifth area, identification of the fifth area, total number N' of the sixth area spot_b , the radius R' of the sixth region spot_b , or measurement timing configuration information.

[0288] The sixth region is fixed relative to the Earth and is a type of the aforementioned region, satisfying all the characteristics of the aforementioned regions. For example, the sixth position of the sixth region is determined by the sixth region identifier. Furthermore, the sixth region's geographic location is further determined based on at least one of the following: the radius of the sixth region, the radius of the Earth, or the total number of sixth regions. Please refer to the above description of regions and will not be repeated here.

[0289] The total number of the sixth area is the total number of areas where the second network device is effective, and the radius of the sixth area is the radius of the area where the second network device is effective. The sixth area is of the same type as the first area, that is, the sixth area can also be understood as a broadcast area or broadcast waveband.

[0290] For example, the total number of the sixth areas in which the second network device is effective and the total number of the first areas in which the first network device is effective can be the same or different. The radius of the sixth area in which the second network device is effective and the radius of the first area in which the first network device is effective can be the same or different, and this application does not specifically limit this.

[0291] Among them, the fifth area is the sixth area where the first terminal device is located. That is, the fifth area is N' spot_b The sixth area in which the first terminal device is located.

[0292] For example, after receiving the first information and learning the identifier of the fourth area, the first network device can determine the reference location of the fourth area (denoted as location A) based on the identifier of the fourth area, and then determine the sixth area where location A is located based on the radius of the sixth area and the total number of sixth areas. The sixth area where location A is located is then determined as the sixth area (i.e., the fifth area) where the first terminal device is located. That is, the first network device can determine the sixth area where the first terminal device is located based on the identifier of the fourth area.

[0293] In addition, before step S1206, the first terminal device may also measure the signal quality of the second network device (such as the signal quality of the SSB) and report the signal quality of the second network device to the first network device. The first network device may determine the sixth area where the first terminal device is located by combining the identifier of the fourth area and the signal of the second network device. For example, if the signal quality of the SSB in the sixth area where the coverage or service location A is located is greater than a preset threshold, the first network device determines the sixth area where location A is located as the sixth area where the first terminal device is located.

[0294] The access information of the fifth area is used for terminal devices (including the first terminal device) in the fifth area to access the second network device. Exemplarily, the access information may include at least one of an RO, a random access preamble, a TA, or a time period. For details about the access information in step S120511 above, no further details are given here.

[0295] The measurement timing configuration information is used to configure the time for the terminal devices (including the first terminal device) in the fifth area to measure the signal (such as SSB) of the second network device. Exemplarily, the measurement timing configuration information can be SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC).

[0296] S1207. The first terminal device accesses the second network device according to the access information of the fifth area.

[0297] Optionally, before accessing the second network device, the first terminal device may measure the SSB of the second network device according to the measurement timing configuration information, and perform downlink synchronization with the second network device based on the SSB.

[0298] Optionally, the implementation of step S1207 may refer to the relevant instructions in the above step S120512, in which the first terminal device accesses the first network device according to the access information corresponding to the third area, and will not be repeated here.

[0299] Based on the above solution, in the NSA networking scenario, the first network device can determine the sixth area under the second network device where the first terminal device is located based on the first area under the first network device where the first terminal device is located, thereby indicating the access information corresponding to the sixth area to the first terminal device, so that the first terminal device can access the second network device according to the access information. However, in the traditional NSA networking process, after the terminal device accesses the eNodeB, it is necessary to perform NR measurement to find the NR neighboring cell with the strongest signal quality and send the measurement results to the eNodeB so that the eNodeB can add the gNB to which the NR neighboring cell with the strongest signal quality belongs. After the eNodeB adds the gNB, the terminal device performs random access to access the NR cell.

[0300] Compared to the traditional NSA networking process, this solution eliminates the need for the first terminal device to perform relevant measurements. After learning the sixth zone in which the first terminal device is located, the first network device can directly send access information for that zone, allowing the first terminal device to access the second network device based on this access information. This allows the first terminal device to access the second network device more quickly, reducing access time and improving access efficiency.

[0301] Method 4: The first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area, including: the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area during a time period in which the third area is served by the beam of the first network device.

[0302] The first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the fourth area, including: the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the fourth area during a time period when the fourth area is served by the beam of the first network device.

[0303] In one possible implementation, the first network device may indicate to the first terminal device the time period during which the third area and / or the fourth area is served by the beam of the first network device, so that the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area and / or the identifier of the fourth area during the time period. Exemplarily, the first network device may indicate in the following ways:

[0304] Mode 1: The first network device sends the third information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the third information from the first network device.

[0305] The third information indicates a first area set and / or a second area set. The first area set includes a first area in the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device. The second area set includes a second area in the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device. It is understood that the first area set includes the third area, and the second area set includes the fourth area.

[0306] Exemplarily, the third information may be implemented in the following two forms:

[0307] In form A, the third information includes an identifier of each first region in the first region set and / or an identifier of each second region in the second region set.

[0308] Exemplarily, taking the example that the coverage area or service area of ​​the first network device includes a first area identified as 1 to 100 and a second area identified as 1 to 150, the third information may include identifications {1, 2,…, 100} and / or identifications {1, 2,…, 150}.

[0309] In form B, the third information includes an identifier of the first reference area and a first threshold value, and / or the third information includes an identifier of the second reference area and / or a second threshold value.

[0310] As a first possible implementation, a distance between the reference position of each first area in the first area set and the reference position in the first reference area is less than or equal to a first threshold value. A distance between the reference position of each second area in the second area set and the reference position in the second reference area is less than or equal to a second threshold value.

[0311] Optionally, after receiving the third information, the first terminal device may determine the reference position in the first reference area based on the identifier of the first reference area (such as 50). Thereafter, the first terminal device may traverse the first area identifiers, calculate the reference position corresponding to each identifier, and determine the identifier whose distance between the corresponding reference position and the reference position in the first reference area is less than or equal to the first threshold value as the identifier of the first area in the first area set. The implementation of the first terminal device determining the second area set is similar to the implementation of determining the first area set and is not further described.

[0312] In one possible implementation scenario, this first possible implementation can also be modified as follows: the third information includes the identifier of the first reference area and the number N of first areas in the first area set. In this case, the first area in the first area set includes the first reference area and the N-1 first areas closest to the first reference area. For example, as shown in Figure 17, taking the total number of first areas as 197, the first area in the first area set can be the first area within the solid ellipse. The method for indicating the second area set is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0313] As a second possible implementation, a difference between the identifier of each first area in the first area set and the identifier of the first reference area is less than or equal to a first threshold value. A difference between the identifier of each second area in the second area set and the identifier of the second reference area is less than or equal to a second threshold value.

[0314] It is understandable that the first threshold value in the second possible implementation is different from that in the first possible implementation. For example, the first threshold value in the first possible implementation is 200 km, while the first threshold value in the second possible implementation is 50. Similarly, the second threshold value in the two implementations may be different.

[0315] Optionally, after receiving the third information, the first terminal device may traverse the first area identifiers, calculate the difference between each identifier and the identifier of the first reference area, and determine the identifier for which the difference with the identifier of the first reference area is less than or equal to a first threshold as the identifier of the first area in the first area set. The implementation of the first terminal device determining the second area set is similar to the implementation of determining the first area set and is not further described.

[0316] For example, in the above two possible implementations, the first terminal device can be from 1 to N spot , or from 0 to N spot Alternatively, the first terminal device may traverse identifiers within a certain identifier range, for example, traverse the region identifiers within the range [aC, a+C]. Where a represents the identifier of the reference region, and 2C may represent the maximum number of regions in the region set.

[0317] On the basis of sending the third information, the first network device also sends the fourth information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the fourth information from the first network device.

[0318] The fourth information indicates a first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device, and / or indicates a second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network device. For example, the first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device is indicated as first area 30 to first area 50, and / or the second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network device is indicated as second area 25 to second area 35.

[0319] Exemplarily, the fourth information may include a first bit map and / or a second bit map. The first bit map includes N bits, and the N bits correspond one-to-one to the N first areas in the first area set, where N is the total number of first areas in the first area set. When a bit in the first bit map is set to a preset value (such as "1" or "0"), it indicates that the first area corresponding to the bit is served by the beam of the first network device. The second bit map corresponds to the second area set. The implementation of the second bit map can refer to the relevant description of the first bit map, which will not be repeated here.

[0320] Mode 2: The first network device sends the seventh information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the seventh information from the first network device.

[0321] The seventh information includes an identifier of a first area served by the beam of the first network device and / or an identifier of a second area served by the beam of the first network device. It can be understood that the second approach does not depend on the third information.

[0322] Optionally, in the above-mentioned method 1 and method 2, the first network device may indicate an identifier of a first area currently served by the beam of the first network device, and / or an identifier of a second area currently served by the beam of the first network device. The start time of the time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the first area and / or the second area may be the current time, and the end time may be the time when the updated fourth information or seventh information is next received.

[0323] The updated fourth information or seventh information indicates the latest identifier of the first area and / or the identifier of the second area served by the beam of the first network device.

[0324] Mode 3: The first network device sends the fifth information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the fifth information from the first network device.

[0325] The fifth information indicates N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicates M fourth time periods and M second area subsets.

[0326] The nth first area subset includes the first area served by the beam of the first network device in the nth third time period in the first area set, where N is a positive integer, n=1, 2, ..., N. That is, the first network device indicates to the first terminal device the time period in which the beam of the first network device serves each first area.

[0327] The mth second area subset includes the second area served by the beam of the first network device in the mth fourth time period in the second area set, where M is a positive integer, m=1, 2, …, M. That is, the first network device indicates to the first terminal device the time period in which the beam of the first network device serves each second area.

[0328] Mode 4: The first network device sends the entry elevation angle and the departure elevation angle to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the entry elevation angle and the departure elevation angle from the first network device.

[0329] The entry elevation angle may be used to determine whether the beam of the first network device begins to serve the first area or the second area, and the exit elevation angle may be used to determine whether the beam of the first network device ends to serve the first area or the second area.

[0330] For example, the first terminal device may determine the first area and / or second area currently served by the beam of the first network device based on the entry elevation angle and the exit elevation angle. If the first area served by the beam of the first network device includes the third area, the first terminal device currently communicates based on the identifier of the third area; if the second area served by the beam of the first network device includes the fourth area, the first terminal device currently communicates based on the identifier of the fourth area.

[0331] In this fourth mode, the specific implementation of the first terminal device communicating according to the identifier of the third area and / or the identifier of the fourth area can refer to the relevant descriptions in the above-mentioned first to third modes, which will not be repeated here.

[0332] Based on the fourth method described above, the first network device can indicate to the first terminal device the first area and / or second area of ​​the beam service of the first network device, so that the first terminal device can communicate within the beam service time, thereby improving communication performance. In addition, the first area and / or second area of ​​the beam service of the first network device can be indicated by an area identifier or bitmap, which can reduce signaling overhead compared to explicitly describing the geographical area of ​​the beam service of the first network device, such as through information such as latitude and longitude.

[0333] In some possible implementation scenarios, the first network device may further send sixth information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the sixth information from the first network device.

[0334] The sixth information indicates a first quasi co-location (QCL) relationship, where the receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area included in the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship. Exemplarily, the first QCL relationship may be QCL type D. Of course, the first QCL relationship may also be other QCL types, such as QCL type C.

[0335] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG18 , a first region includes six second regions, and the receiving beam of the first region and the receiving beams of the six second regions satisfy a first QCL relationship.

[0336] Optionally, the sixth information further indicates a fifth time period or a timer. The receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship within the fifth time period; or, the receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship before the timer expires.

[0337] In this scenario, the first terminal device communicates according to the identifier of the third area, including: the first terminal device determines at least one second area included in the third area according to the identifier of the third area, and communicates using a first beam corresponding to the third area and a second beam corresponding to the at least one second area. The first beam and the second beam satisfy a first QCL relationship.

[0338] Based on this solution, a first terminal device can determine the beam of a second area within the first area based on the beam of the first area, or determine the beam of the first area to which the second area belongs based on the beam of the second area. This can avoid frequent beam matching processes, reduce beam matching delay, and improve beam management efficiency. In addition, the reduced beam matching delay can also reduce communication latency and improve communication efficiency.

[0339] It is understood that in each of the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device may also be implemented by components applicable to the terminal device (e.g., processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software); the methods and / or steps implemented by the network device may also be implemented by components applicable to the network device (e.g., processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software). The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0340] It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0341] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0342] Communication Device Figure 19 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 190. The communication device 190 includes a processing module 1901 and a transceiver module 1902. The communication device 190 can be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned terminal device or network device.

[0343] In some embodiments, the communication device 190 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 19 ) for storing program instructions and data.

[0344] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1902, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is configured to implement a transmitting and / or receiving function. The transceiver module 1902 may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0345] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1902 may include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to execute the receiving and sending steps performed by the network device in the above method embodiments, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein; the processing module 1901 may be used to execute the processing steps (such as determination, etc.) performed by the network device in the above method embodiments, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein.

[0346] Exemplarily, when the communication device 190 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned terminal device:

[0347] The transceiver module 1902 is used to receive first configuration information and second configuration information from the first network device, where the first configuration information indicates information about the first area in which the first network device is effective, and the second configuration information indicates information about the second area in which the first network device is effective; the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area. The processing module 1901 is used to determine the identifier of the third area based on the location information of the first terminal device and the first configuration information, where the third area is the first area where the first terminal device is located; the processing module 1901 is also used to determine the identifier of the fourth area based on the location information of the first terminal device and the second configuration information, where the fourth area is the second area where the first terminal device is located. The processing module 1901 is also used to communicate based on the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area.

[0348] As a possible implementation, processing module 1901 is used to communicate according to the identifier of the third area, including: processing module 1901 is used to determine the access information corresponding to the third area according to the identifier of the third area; processing module 1901 is also used to access the first network device according to the access information corresponding to the third area.

[0349] As a possible implementation, the processing module 1901 is used to communicate according to the identifier of the fourth area, including: the processing module 1901 is used to send first information to the first network device through the transceiver module 1902, where the first information indicates the identifier of the fourth area.

[0350] As a possible implementation, the processing module 1901 is used to communicate according to the identifier of the fourth area, including: the processing module 1901 is used to determine the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area based on the identifier of the fourth area; the processing module 1901 is also used to use the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area to send first information to the first network device through the transceiver module 1902, where the first information indicates the identifier of the fourth area.

[0351] As a possible implementation, transceiver module 1902 is further configured to receive second information from the first network device, where the second information indicates at least one of the following: access information of a fifth area, an identifier of the fifth area, a total number of sixth areas, a radius of the sixth area, or measurement timing configuration information; the fifth area is the sixth area where the first terminal device is located. The sixth area is fixed relative to the Earth, the geographic location of the sixth area is determined by the identifier of the sixth area, and the total number of sixth areas is the total number of areas where the second network device is effective. The access information of the fifth area is used by the first terminal device to access the second network device, and the measurement timing configuration information is used to configure a time for the first terminal device to measure a signal of the second network device.

[0352] As a possible implementation, the processing module 1901 is further configured to access the second network device according to the access information corresponding to the fifth area.

[0353] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is also used to receive third information from the first network device, where the third information indicates a first area set and / or a second area set, where the first area set includes a first area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device, and the second area set includes a second area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device.

[0354] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is also used to receive fourth information from the first network device, the fourth information indicating the first area served by the beam of the first network device in the first area set, and / or indicating the second area served by the beam of the first network in the second area set.

[0355] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is further configured to receive fifth information from the first network device, where the fifth information indicates N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicates M fourth time periods and M second area subsets. The nth first area subset includes the first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device during the nth third time period, where N is a positive integer, n=1, 2, ..., N; and the mth second area subset includes the second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network device during the mth fourth time period, where M is a positive integer, m=1, 2, ..., M.

[0356] As a possible implementation, the processing module 1901 is used to communicate according to the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area, including: the processing module 1901 is used to communicate according to the identifier of the third area during the time period when the third area is served by the beam of the first network device; or, the processing module 1901 is used to communicate according to the identifier of the fourth area during the time period when the fourth area is served by the beam of the first network device.

[0357] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is also used to receive sixth information from the first network device, where the sixth information indicates a first quasi-co-location QCL relationship, and the receiving beam of the first area and the receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship.

[0358] When the communication device 190 is used to implement the functions of the above network device:

[0359] Processing module 1901 is used to obtain first configuration information and second configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates information about a first area in which the first network device is effective, and the second configuration information indicates information about a second area in which the first network device is effective; the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and the range of the first area is greater than or equal to the range of the second area; and transceiver module 1902 is used to send the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device.

[0360] As a possible implementation, transceiver module 1902 is further configured to send second information to the terminal device, where the second information indicates at least one of the following: access information for a fifth area, an identifier for the fifth area, a total number of sixth areas, a radius of the sixth area, or measurement timing configuration information; the fifth area is the sixth area where the first terminal device is located. The sixth area is fixed relative to the Earth, its geographic location is determined by its identifier, and the total number of sixth areas is the total number of areas where the second network device is active. The fifth area access information is used by the first terminal device to access the second network device, and the measurement timing configuration information is used to configure a time for the first terminal device to measure signals from the second network device.

[0361] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is also used to send third information to the terminal device, where the third information indicates a first area set and / or a second area set, where the first area set includes a first area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device, and the second area set includes a second area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device.

[0362] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is also used to send fourth information to the terminal device, where the fourth information indicates the first area served by the beam of the first network device in the first area set, and / or indicates the second area served by the beam of the first network in the second area set.

[0363] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is further configured to send fifth information to the terminal device, where the fifth information indicates N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicates M fourth time periods and M second area subsets. The nth first area subset includes the first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device during the nth third time period, where N is a positive integer, n = 1, 2, ..., N; and the mth second area subset includes the second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network device during the mth fourth time period, where M is a positive integer, m = 1, 2, ..., M.

[0364] As a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1902 is also used to send sixth information to the terminal device, where the sixth information indicates a first quasi-co-location QCL relationship, and the receiving beam of the first area and the receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship.

[0365] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0366] In the present application, the communication device 190 may be presented in the form of various functional modules divided in an integrated manner. The "module" here may refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0367] In some embodiments, when the communication device 190 in Figure 19 is a chip or a chip system, the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1902 can be implemented through the input and output interface (or communication interface) of the chip or chip system, and the function / implementation process of the processing module 1901 can be implemented through the processor (or processing circuit) of the chip or chip system.

[0368] Since the communication device 190 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0369] As a possible product form, the terminal device or network device described in the embodiments of the present application can also be implemented using the following: one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, any other suitable circuits, or any combination of circuits that can perform the various functions described throughout this application.

[0370] As another possible product form, the terminal device or network device described in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a general bus architecture. For ease of explanation, refer to Figure 20, which is a structural diagram of a communication device 2000 provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 2000 includes a processor 2001 and a transceiver 2002. The communication device 2000 can be a terminal device, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device 2000 can be a network device, or a chip or chip system therein. Figure 20 only shows the main components of the communication device 2000. In addition to the processor 2001 and the transceiver 2002, the communication device may further include a memory 2003, and an input and output device (not shown in the figure).

[0371] Optionally, processor 2001 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 2003 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 2002 may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna. The radio frequency circuit is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0372] Optionally, the processor 2001, the transceiver 2002, and the memory 2003 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0373] When the communication device is powered on, processor 2001 can read the software program in memory 2003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, processor 2001 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves via the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal via the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to processor 2001. Processor 2001 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0374] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0375] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may conceive that the above-mentioned communication device 190 may take the form of the communication device 2000 shown in FIG. 20 .

[0376] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing module 1901 in FIG19 can be implemented by the processor 2001 in the communication device 2000 shown in FIG20 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 2003. The functions / implementation process of the transceiver module 1902 in FIG19 can be implemented by the transceiver 2002 in the communication device 2000 shown in FIG20.

[0377] As another possible product form, the terminal device or network device in this application may adopt the structure shown in Figure 21, or include the components shown in Figure 21. Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 2100 provided in this application. The communication device 2100 may be a network device or a module, chip, or system-on-chip in a network device; or the communication device 2100 may be a terminal device or a module, chip, or system-on-chip in a terminal device.

[0378] As shown in FIG21 , the communication device 2100 includes at least one processor 2101 and at least one communication interface ( FIG21 is merely an example of one communication interface 2104 and one processor 2101). Optionally, the communication device 2100 may further include a communication bus 2102 and a memory 2103.

[0379] Processor 2101 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. Processor 2101 can also be other devices with processing capabilities, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0380] Communication bus 2102 is used to connect the various components in communication device 2100, enabling communication between them. Communication bus 2102 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, for example. This bus can be categorized as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and so on. For ease of illustration, FIG21 shows only one thick line, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0381] Communication interface 2104 is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks. Exemplarily, communication interface 2104 can be a module, circuit, transceiver, or any other device capable of communication. Optionally, communication interface 2104 can also be an input / output interface within processor 2101, used to implement signal input and output to the processor.

[0382] The memory 2103 may be a device with a storage function, used to store instructions and / or data, wherein the instructions may be computer programs.

[0383] Exemplarily, the memory 2103 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions, or a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, etc., without limitation.

[0384] It should be noted that the memory 2103 can exist independently of the processor 2101 or can be integrated with the processor 2101. The memory 2103 can be located within the communication device 2100 or outside the communication device 2100, without limitation. The processor 2101 can be used to execute instructions stored in the memory 2103 to implement the methods provided in the following embodiments of the present application.

[0385] As an optional implementation, the communication device 2100 may further include an output device 2105 and an input device 2106. The output device 2105 communicates with the processor 2101 and can display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 2105 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector. The input device 2106 communicates with the processor 2101 and can receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 2106 can be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensor device.

[0386] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may conceive that the communication device 190 shown in FIG. 19 may take the form of the communication device 2100 shown in FIG. 21 .

[0387] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing module 1901 in FIG19 can be implemented by the processor 2101 in the communication device 2100 shown in FIG21 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 2103. The functions / implementation process of the transceiver module 1902 in FIG19 can be implemented by the communication interface 2104 in the communication device 2100 shown in FIG21.

[0388] It should be noted that the structure shown in FIG21 does not constitute a specific limitation on the network device. For example, in other embodiments of the present application, the network device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine or split some components, or arrange the components differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0389] In some embodiments, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which includes a processor for implementing the method in any of the above method embodiments.

[0390] As a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory is used to store necessary computer programs and data. The computer program may include instructions, and the processor may invoke the instructions in the computer program stored in the memory to instruct the communication device to perform any of the above-described method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be located in the communication device.

[0391] As another possible implementation, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is a code / data read / write interface circuit, and the interface circuit is used to receive computer execution instructions (computer execution instructions are stored in a memory, may be read directly from the memory, or may pass through other devices) and transmit them to the processor.

[0392] As another possible implementation, the communication device further includes a communication interface, where the communication interface is used to communicate with a module outside the communication device.

[0393] It can be understood that the communication device can be a chip or a chip system. When the communication device is a chip system, it can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0394] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0395] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0396] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, devices, and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0397] It is understood that the systems, devices, and methods described in this application may also be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0398] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Components shown as units may or may not be physical units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the objectives of this embodiment as needed.

[0399] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0400] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state drive (SSD)). In the embodiment of the present application, the computer may include the aforementioned device.

[0401] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other changes to the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0402] Although the present application has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it is apparent that various modifications and combinations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, this specification and the drawings are merely illustrative of the present application as defined by the appended claims and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of the present application. Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving first configuration information and second configuration information from a first network device, wherein the first configuration information indicates information of a first area in which the first network device is effective, and the second configuration information indicates information of a second area in which the first network device is effective; the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and a range of the first area is greater than or equal to a range of the second area; Determine an identifier of a third area according to the location information of the first terminal device and the first configuration information, the third area being the first area where the first terminal device is located; Determine an identifier of a fourth area according to the location information of the first terminal device and the second configuration information, where the fourth area is the second area where the first terminal device is located; Communicate according to the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The geographical location of the first area is determined by an identifier of the first area, and the geographical location of the second area is determined by an identifier of the second area.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The geographical location of the first region is further determined according to at least one of the following: a radius of the first region, a radius of the earth, a total number of first regions; and / or, The geographical location of the second area is further determined according to at least one of the following: a radius of the second area, a radius of the earth, and a total number of second areas.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first area includes a reference position, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship: Wherein, i represents the identifier of the first region, RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position, and R e represents the radius of the earth, [x] represents the decimal part of x, N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first regions.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The projection RL(x) of the reference position on the unit square i ,y i ) and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=(1-cosθ i ) / 2 The unit square is a square with vertices at (0,0), (1,0), (0,1) and (1,1) in the Cartesian plane. i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position on the x-axis of the unit square, RL(y i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position on the y-axis of the unit square.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The Cartesian coordinates RL(x i ,y i ) and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=i / N spot_b Among them, RL(x i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the x-axis direction of the Cartesian coordinate system, RL(y i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the y-axis direction of the Cartesian coordinate system.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first area includes a reference position, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship: Wherein, i represents the identifier of the first region, RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position, and R e represents the radius of the earth, N spot express The total number of the first regions.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first region includes a reference position, and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(i)=(lon(i),lat(i)) Wherein, lon(i) represents the longitude of the reference position, lat(i) represents the latitude of the reference position, and N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first regions.

9. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that: The radius of the first area and the total number of the first areas satisfy the following relationship: Among them, R e represents the radius of the earth, N spot_b represents the total number of the first regions, R spot_b represents the radius of the first area.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The information of the first area includes the total number N of the first areas spot_b and / or the radius R of the first region spot_b and / or, The information of the second area includes the total number N of the second areas spot_s and / or the radius R of the second region spot_s .

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The information of the first area also includes access information corresponding to the first area, and the access information is used for terminal devices in the first area to access the first network device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The access information includes at least one of the following: a random access timing RO, a random access preamble, a timing advance TA or a first time period, where the first time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the first area.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: Communicating according to the identifier of the third area includes: Determining access information corresponding to the third area according to the identifier of the third area; Access the first network device according to the access information corresponding to the third area.

14. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that Communicating according to the identifier of the fourth area includes: sending first information to the first network device, where the first information indicates the identifier of the fourth area.

15. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The information of the second area also includes communication resources corresponding to the second area, and the communication resources are used for information transmission between the terminal equipment in the second area and the first network equipment.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The communication resources include at least one of the following: frequency domain resources, polarization mode or a second time period, and the second time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the second area.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that Communicating according to the identifier of the fourth area includes: Determining, according to the identifier of the fourth area, a communication resource corresponding to the fourth area; Using the communication resources corresponding to the fourth area, first information is sent to the first network device, where the first information indicates an identifier of the fourth area.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving second information from the first network device, the second information indicating at least one of the following: access information of a fifth area, an identifier of the fifth area, the total number of sixth areas, a radius of the sixth area, or measurement timing configuration information; the fifth area is the sixth area where the first terminal device is located; Among them, the sixth area is fixed relative to the earth, the geographical location of the sixth area is determined by the identifier of the sixth area, and the total number of sixth areas is the total number of areas where the second network device is effective; the access information of the fifth area is used for the first terminal device to access the second network device, and the measurement timing configuration information is used to configure the time for the first terminal device to measure the signal of the second network device.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The method also includes: accessing the second network device according to access information corresponding to the fifth area.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving third information from the first network device, the third information indicating a first area set and / or a second area set, the first area set including the first area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device, the second area set including the first network device The second area in the coverage area of ​​the equipment.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive fourth information from the first network device, wherein the fourth information indicates a first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device, and / or indicates a second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network.

22. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving fifth information from the first network device, the fifth information indicating N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicating M fourth time periods and M second area subsets; The nth first area subset includes the first area served by the beam of the first network device in the nth third time period in the first area set, where N is a positive integer, n=1, 2, ..., N; The mth second area subset includes the second area served by the beam of the first network device in the mth fourth time period in the second area set, where M is a positive integer, m=1, 2, …, M.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that Communicating according to the identifier of the third area or the identifier of the fourth area includes: During a time period in which the third area is served by the beam of the first network device, communicating according to the identifier of the third area; or, During a time period in which the fourth area is served by the beam of the first network device, communication is performed according to the identifier of the fourth area.

24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 23, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sixth information is received from the first network device, where the sixth information indicates a first quasi co-location QCL relationship, and a receive beam of the first area and a receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The sixth information further indicates a fifth time period or timer; The receiving beam of the first area and the receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship in the fifth time period; or, The receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship before the timer times out.

26. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Acquire first configuration information and second configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates information of a first area in which the first network device is effective, and the second configuration information indicates information of a second area in which the first network device is effective; the first area and the second area are fixed relative to the earth, and a range of the first area is greater than or equal to a range of the second area; The first configuration information and the second configuration information are sent to a terminal device.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that The geographical location of the first area is determined by an identifier of the first area, and the geographical location of the second area is determined by an identifier of the second area.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The geographical location of the first region is further determined according to at least one of the following: a radius of the first region, a radius of the earth, a total number of first regions; and / or, The geographical location of the second area is further determined according to at least one of the following: a radius of the second area, a radius of the earth, and a total number of second areas.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The first area includes a reference position, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship: Wherein, i represents the identifier of the first region, RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position, and R e represents the radius of the earth, [x] represents the decimal part of x, N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first regions.

30. The method according to claim 29, characterized in that The projection RL(x) of the reference position on the unit square i ,y i ) and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=(1-cosθ i ) / 2 The unit square is a square with vertices at (0,0), (1,0), (0,1) and (1,1) in the Cartesian plane. i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position on the x-axis of the unit square, RL(y i ) indicates that the reference position is on the y-axis of the unit square The projection metric of .

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that The Cartesian coordinates RL(x i ,y i ) and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(x i )=i / N spot_b Among them, RL(x i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the x-axis direction of the Cartesian coordinate system, RL(y i ) represents the projection measurement of the reference position in the y-axis direction of the Cartesian coordinate system.

32. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The first area includes a reference position, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first area satisfy the following relationship: Wherein, i represents the identifier of the first region, RL(i) represents the three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position, and R e represents the radius of the earth, N spot Indicates the total number of the first regions.

33. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The first region includes a reference position, and the latitude and longitude coordinates of the reference position and the identifier of the first region satisfy the following relationship: RL(i)=(lon(i),lat(i)) Wherein, lon(i) represents the longitude of the reference position, lat(i) represents the latitude of the reference position, and N spot_b Indicates the total number of the first regions.

34. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 33, characterized in that The radius of the first area and the total number of the first areas satisfy the following relationship: Among them, R e represents the radius of the earth, N spot_b represents the total number of the first regions, R spot_b represents the radius of the first area.

35. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 34, characterized in that: The information of the first area includes the total number N of the first areas spot_b and / or the radius R of the first region spot_b and / or, The information of the second area includes the total number N of the second areas spot_s and / or the radius R of the second region spot_s .

36. The method according to claim 35, characterized in that The information of the first area also includes access information corresponding to the first area, and the access information is used for terminal devices in the first area to access the first network device.

37. The method according to claim 36, characterized in that The access information includes at least one of the following: a random access timing RO, a random access preamble, a timing advance TA or a first time period, where the first time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the first area.

38. The method according to claim 35, characterized in that The information of the second area also includes communication resources corresponding to the second area, and the communication resources are used for information transmission between the terminal equipment in the second area and the first network equipment.

39. The method according to claim 38, characterized in that The communication resources include at least one of the following: frequency domain resources, polarization mode or a second time period, and the second time period is a time period in which the beam of the first network device serves the second area.

40. The method according to claim 38 or 39, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending second information to the terminal device, where the second information indicates at least one of the following: access information of a fifth area, an identifier of the fifth area, the total number of sixth areas, a radius of the sixth area, or measurement timing configuration information; the fifth area is the sixth area where the first terminal device is located; Among them, the sixth area is fixed relative to the earth, the geographical location of the sixth area is determined by the identifier of the sixth area, and the total number of sixth areas is the total number of areas where the second network device is effective; the access information of the fifth area is used for the first terminal device to access the second network device, and the measurement timing configuration information is used to configure the time for the first terminal device to measure the signal of the second network device.

41. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 40, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send third information to the terminal device, the third information indicating a first area set and / or a second area set, the first area set including the first area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device, and the second area set including the second area in the coverage area of ​​the first network device.

42. The method according to claim 41, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send fourth information to the terminal device, wherein the fourth information indicates a first area in the first area set that is served by the beam of the first network device, and / or indicates a second area in the second area set that is served by the beam of the first network.

43. The method according to claim 41, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending fifth information to the terminal device, where the fifth information indicates N third time periods and N first area subsets, and / or indicates M fourth time periods and M second area subsets; The nth first area subset includes the first area served by the beam of the first network device in the nth third time period in the first area set, where N is a positive integer, n=1, 2, ..., N; The mth second area subset includes the second area served by the beam of the first network device in the mth fourth time period in the second area set, where M is a positive integer, m=1, 2, …, M.

44. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 43, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sixth information is sent to the terminal device, where the sixth information indicates a first quasi-co-location QCL relationship, and a receiving beam of the first area and a receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship.

45. The method according to claim 44, characterized in that The sixth information further indicates a fifth time period or timer; The receiving beam of the first area and the receiving beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship in the fifth time period; or, The receive beam of the first area and the receive beam of the second area within the first area satisfy the first QCL relationship before the timer times out.

46. ​​A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a processor; the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 25, or so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 26 to 45.

47. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs. When the computer instructions or programs are executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 25 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 26 to 45 is executed.

48. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 25 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 26 to 45 is executed.

49. A chip, characterized in that: include: a memory for storing computer program instructions; A processor, configured to execute the computer program instructions so that a communication device including the chip performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 45.

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