Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of wireless communication, and used for achieving network energy saving. The method comprises: a network device receives, in a first cell, an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal, wherein the terminal is in an idle state or an inactive state; the network device determines, according to the uplink wake-up signal, whether the terminal satisfies a cell reselection condition, and if it is determined that the terminal satisfies the cell reselection condition, downlink instruction information is sent in the first cell, wherein the downlink instruction information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 25, 2023, with application number 202311249104.1 and application name “A Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0004] Cell reselection is a cell selection mechanism for idle and inactive terminals. After residing in a cell, an idle / inactive terminal periodically measures the downlink reference signals of the serving cell and neighboring cells. When the downlink reference signal strength of the serving cell falls below a threshold, the terminal selects a cell with higher priority or better signal quality as its serving cell.

[0005] Currently, during the cell reselection process, the network side needs to send downlink reference signals in multiple cells so that the idle / inactive terminal can measure the downlink reference signals of multiple cells, which is not conducive to network energy saving.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for achieving network energy saving.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network device, or to a device (such as a chip) located inside the network device, and can also be applied to units or modules that constitute the network device and have corresponding functions. The following description takes the network device as an example. The method includes: the network device receives an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal in a first cell, and the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; the network device determines whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition based on the uplink wake-up signal; if it is determined that the terminal meets the cell reselection condition, the network device sends downlink indication information in the first cell, and the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection.

[0009] Idle / inactive terminals can send an uplink wake-up signal, allowing the network device to determine whether the terminal meets the cell reselection conditions based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal, and instruct the terminal to reselect the cell if the cell reselection conditions are met. Because the network device makes the cell reselection decision based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal in the above implementation, compared to the related art in which the network device periodically sends a downlink reference signal for the terminal to measure, network energy saving can be achieved.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the first downlink reference signal further includes resource configuration information, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically. Optionally, the resource configuration information indicates a resource of the first uplink wake-up signal.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information is at a cell level, for example, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, and the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information is at the cell group level, for example, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used by a cell in a first cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal, and the first cell group includes the first cell.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes M configuration information, the M configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and M is an integer greater than 1.

[0014] Optionally, the M configuration information further includes second configuration information, where the second configuration information indicates a second resource, where the second resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the second cell. Based on the above implementation, the terminal can send an uplink wake-up signal in multiple cells, so that the network device can measure the uplink wake-up signals received in multiple cells to make a cell reselection decision.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, the N candidate configuration information indicates N candidate resources used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and the N candidate configuration information is associated with K terminal identifiers, where N and K are both integers greater than or equal to 1. Accordingly, after the first cell receives the uplink wake-up signal from the terminal, it also includes: determining the first configuration information corresponding to the resource of the uplink wake-up signal, the first configuration information being one of the N candidate configuration information; and determining the terminal that sends the uplink wake-up signal according to the terminal identifier associated with the first configuration information.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes one or more of the following information: the sending period of the uplink wake-up signal, the time domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the time domain symbol of the uplink wake-up signal, the frequency domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the frequency domain carrier of the uplink wake-up signal, the root sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the zero correlation domain of the sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the target receiving strength of the uplink wake-up signal, the maximum number of power ramping times of the uplink wake-up signal, and the power ramping step size of the uplink wake-up signal; wherein, the time domain offset indicates the offset of the time domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the time domain where the first downlink reference signal is located, and the frequency domain offset indicates the offset of the frequency domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the frequency domain where the first downlink reference signal is located.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first downlink reference signal also includes an initial access signal block, or includes an initial access signal block and system information; wherein the initial access signal block includes one or more of the following information: a synchronization signal, an SSB, or partial information in a synchronization signal or MIB.

[0018] One possible implementation further includes: determining that no connected terminal exists in the first cell, and that no uplink wake-up signal having a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is received on an uplink signal resource within a set duration, and ceasing to send the first downlink reference signal in the first cell, wherein the uplink signal resource includes a resource indicated by the resource configuration information as used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. This implementation can achieve network energy conservation.

[0019] In one possible implementation, determining that the first cell meets the first condition includes: determining that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that no uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period; wherein the uplink signal resource includes the resources used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell indicated by the resource configuration information.

[0020] Optionally, the receiving of an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal in the first cell includes: receiving the uplink wake-up signal periodically sent from the terminal in the first cell. That is to say, the prerequisite for this implementation method is that the idle or inactive terminal periodically sends the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, so that once the network device does not receive any uplink wake-up signal sent by any idle or inactive terminal for a period of time, or even if it receives an uplink wake-up signal but the signal strength is weak, it can be determined that there are no longer idle or inactive terminals in the first cell, and the first cell can be put to sleep to achieve network energy saving.

[0021] In a possible implementation, it further includes: if an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on an uplink signal resource within a set time period, a second downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, and the second downlink reference signal is used to trigger idle and inactive terminals that receive the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell; wherein the uplink signal resources include the resources indicated by the resource configuration information for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and / or the resources used for sending the uplink response signal in the first cell. Determining that the first cell meets the first condition includes: determining that there are no connected terminals in the first cell, and that the uplink response signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the resources used by the uplink response signal within a set time period.

[0022] Optionally, the uplink wake-up signal is sent by the terminal when it is determined that the signal strength of the received first downlink signal is lower than a set threshold. That is to say, the prerequisite for this implementation method is that when the signal strength of the first downlink signal received by the idle or inactive terminal in the first cell is low (indicating that cell reselection may be required), the uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell, so that the network device determines whether to instruct the terminal to reselect the cell based on the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal. Since the uplink wake-up signal is not sent unconditionally and periodically, the network device cannot determine whether there are still idle and inactive terminals in the first cell based on the uplink wake-up signal alone. In order to determine whether there are idle and inactive terminals in the first cell, the network device can send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell when it does not receive an uplink wake-up signal and / or an uplink response signal with a sufficiently strong signal strength within a period of time, so as to trigger the idle and inactive terminals to send corresponding uplink response signals. In this way, the network device can determine whether there are still idle and inactive terminals in the first cell based on whether it can receive an uplink response signal with a sufficiently strong signal.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes first information, the first information indicates the format of first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and the first configuration information is associated with at least one terminal identifier.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, the downlink indication information further includes third information, and the third information indicates a target cell.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the third information indicates one or more of the following information:

[0026] The cell identifier of the target cell;

[0027] Downlink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate resources used for sending a downlink reference signal on the target cell, the downlink reference signal including resource configuration information, the resource configuration information indicating resources for sending an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell, and the downlink reference signal being sent periodically;

[0028] The uplink signal resource configuration information is used to indicate resources used to send an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell. The uplink wake-up signal is used by a network device to determine whether a cell reselection condition is met after the terminal resides in the target cell.

[0029] A possible implementation method also includes: if the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal has been stopped in the target cell, and the target cell is a cell under the network device, then the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal in the target cell is restarted; or, if the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal has been stopped in the target cell, and the target cell is a cell under other network devices, then the other network devices are instructing to restart the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal in the target cell.

[0030] In one possible implementation, it also includes: receiving an uplink wake-up signal from the terminal in the second cell; determining whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition based on the uplink wake-up signal, including: determining whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition based on the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal received in the first cell and the signal strength of the uplink signal received on the second cell.

[0031] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal, and the method includes: sending an uplink wake-up signal in a first cell, the uplink wake-up signal is used by a network device to determine whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition, the terminal is the terminal that sends the uplink wake-up signal, and the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; receiving downlink indication information in the first cell, the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection; performing cell reselection or making a cell reselection decision based on the downlink indication information.

[0032] In one possible implementation, before the uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell, it also includes: receiving a first downlink reference signal in the first cell, the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically; the sending of the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the resource configuration information.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, and the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell; or, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, and the first resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in a cell in a first cell group, and the first cell group includes the first cell.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes M configuration information, the M configuration information including first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information indicating a first resource, which is a resource used by a cell in a first cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal, and the second configuration information indicating a second resource, which is a resource used by a second cell to send an uplink wake-up signal; the sending of the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the first configuration information. The method further includes: sending the uplink wake-up signal in the second cell according to the second configuration information.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, the N candidate configuration information indicates N candidate resources used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, the N candidate configuration information is associated with K terminal identifiers, and N and K are both integers greater than or equal to 1; sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: determining the first configuration information associated with the identifier of the terminal in the N candidate configuration information according to the identifier of the terminal; and sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the first configuration information.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information includes one or more of the following information: the sending period of the uplink wake-up signal, the time domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the time domain symbol of the uplink wake-up signal, the frequency domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the frequency domain carrier of the uplink wake-up signal, the root sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the zero correlation domain of the sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the target receiving strength of the uplink wake-up signal, the maximum number of power ramping times of the uplink wake-up signal, and the power ramping step size of the uplink wake-up signal; wherein, the time domain offset indicates the offset of the time domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the time domain where the first downlink reference signal is located, and the frequency domain offset indicates the offset of the frequency domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the frequency domain where the first downlink reference signal is located.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the first downlink reference signal also includes an initial access signal block, or includes an initial access signal block and system information; wherein, the initial access signal block includes one or more of the following information: a synchronization signal, a synchronization signal block SSB, and partial information in a synchronization signal or a master information block MIB.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the downlink indication information includes first information, the first information indicates the format of first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and the first configuration information is associated with at least one terminal identifier; the cell reselection or cell reselection decision based on the downlink indication information includes: determining the terminal identifier associated with the format according to the format of the first configuration information indicated by the first information; if the terminal identifier associated with the format includes the identifier of the terminal, cell reselection or cell reselection decision is performed.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the downlink indication information further includes third information, where the third information indicates a target cell; and performing cell reselection or making a cell reselection decision according to the downlink indication information includes: residing in the target cell according to the target cell indicated by the third information; or, measuring the first cell and the target cell to obtain a measurement result, and residing in the first cell or the target cell according to the measurement result.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the third information indicates one or more of the following information: downlink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate the resources used to send a downlink reference signal on the target cell, the downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, the resource configuration information indicates the resources for sending an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell, and the downlink reference signal is sent periodically; uplink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate the resources used to send an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell, and the uplink wake-up signal is used by the network device to determine whether the cell reselection condition is met after the terminal resides in the target cell.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: periodically sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0042] A possible implementation method further includes: receiving a first downlink reference signal in the first cell, the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, the resource configuration information indicates the resources of the uplink wake-up signal, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically; sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: when it is determined that the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal does not meet the set requirements, sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0043] A possible implementation method further includes: receiving a second downlink reference signal in the first cell; wherein the second downlink reference signal is sent when the network device does not receive an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, and the uplink signal resource includes the resources indicated by the resource configuration information for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and / or the resources used for sending the uplink response signal in the first cell; if the signal strength of the second downlink reference signal is greater than the set threshold, an uplink response signal is sent in the first cell, and the uplink response signal is used to determine whether the first cell meets the conditions for stopping sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0044] According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a network device, and the method includes: sending a first downlink reference signal in a first cell, the first downlink reference signal including resource configuration information and an initial access signal block, the resource configuration information indicating the resources used by the terminal to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, the initial access signal block including a synchronization signal, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically; receiving an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal in the first cell, the terminal being an idle or inactive terminal; and stopping sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell when it is determined that the first cell satisfies a first condition.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the uplink wake-up signal is sent periodically; the determination that the first cell meets the first condition includes: determining that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that the uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period; wherein the uplink signal resource includes the resources used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell indicated by the resource configuration information.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the uplink wake-up signal is sent non-periodically; the method also includes: if no uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, a second downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, and the second downlink reference signal is used to trigger the idle and inactive terminals that receive the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell; wherein the uplink signal resources include the resources used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell indicated by the resource configuration information, and / or the resources used to send the uplink response signal in the first cell; determining that the first cell meets the first condition includes: determining that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that the uplink response signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the resources used by the uplink response signal within a set time period.

[0047] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of the first aspect, or a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of the second aspect, or a unit or module for executing the method as described in any one of the third aspect.

[0048] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: one or more processors configured to execute a method as described in any one of the first aspects, or to execute a method as described in any one of the second aspects, or to execute a method as described in any one of the third aspects.

[0049] In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the method described in any one of the first aspects, or the method described in any one of the second aspects, or the method described in any one of the third aspects is implemented.

[0050] In the seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided. When the computer program product is called by a computer, the computer executes the method as described in any one of the first aspect, or the method as described in any one of the second aspect, or the method as described in any one of the third aspect.

[0051] In the eighth aspect, a chip or chip system is provided, comprising: a memory for storing a computer program; a processor; when the processor calls and runs the computer program from the memory, the communication device equipped with the chip system executes the method as described in any one of the first aspect, or executes the method as described in any one of the second aspect, or executes the method as described in any one of the third aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a cell reselection process provided by related art;

[0053] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a mobile communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an implementation process of cell reselection and cell dormancy when an Idle / Inactive terminal periodically sends a first uplink wake-up signal in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of cell reselection and cell dormancy when an Idle / Inactive terminal aperiodically sends a first uplink wake-up signal in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] In order to facilitate those skilled in the art to understand the present application, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are first explained below.

[0061] (1) Radio Resource Control (RRC) Status of the Terminal

[0062] In the new radio (NR) system, depending on whether there is an RRC connection between the terminal and the network device, the terminal has three RRC states, namely RRC idle state (hereinafter referred to as Idle state), RRC inactive state (hereinafter referred to as Inactive state) and RRC connected state (hereinafter referred to as Connected state). There is an RRC connection between the terminal in the Connected state and the network device, and data can be transmitted with the network device. There is no RRC connection between the terminal in the Idle / Inactive state and the network device, and data cannot be transmitted with the network device, but it can receive broadcast information of the cell, such as system messages, paging messages, etc. The terminal in the Idle / Inactive state can switch to the Connected state through the random access process.

[0063] (2) Cell reselection

[0064] Cell reselection is a cell selection mechanism for idle / inactive terminals. Currently, after residing in a cell, idle / inactive terminals periodically measure the downlink reference signals of the serving cell and neighboring cells. When the downlink reference signal strength of the serving cell falls below a threshold, the terminal selects a cell with a higher priority or better signal quality as the serving cell. This process is called cell reselection.

[0065] At present, as shown in Figure 1, the cell reselection process mainly includes three stages: starting neighboring cell measurement, reselection evaluation and judgment, and cell reselection execution. In the starting neighboring cell measurement stage, the terminal determines whether to start neighboring cell measurement based on the measurement start conditions. If the decision is to start neighboring cell measurement, the terminal measures the signal quality of the current serving cell and the neighboring cell. In the reselection evaluation and judgment stage, the terminal determines whether the neighboring cell signal meets the cell reselection criteria. If the neighboring cell signal meets the cell reselection criteria, cell reselection is performed. If the neighboring cell signal does not meet the cell reselection criteria, the terminal remains in the current serving cell. In the cell reselection execution stage, the terminal starts to receive system messages from the new cell. If the new cell has no access restrictions (for example, if the operator configures some reserved cells or cells with access restrictions, the terminal cannot access such cells), the terminal completes its residency in the new cell. Among them, the system messages received by the terminal in the new cell may include synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) and system information block 1 (SIB1).

[0066] (3) Network energy-saving technology

[0067] The embodiments of the present application relate to network energy-saving technology. The scenarios to which the present application is applicable may have the following different interpretations.

[0068] First, the network equipment can divide a cell into "normal mode", "energy-saving mode" and "sleep mode". In normal mode, the network equipment sends all data and all control information normally in each cell. In energy-saving mode, for cells with no data services or extremely light-loaded services, the network equipment turns off data signal transmission and some control signal transmission in the cell. If there are no Connected state terminals in the cell in energy-saving mode, and the network equipment does not perceive the existence of Idle / Inactive state terminals, the network equipment can turn off the transmission of all control signals in the cell, causing the cell to enter sleep mode, thereby further achieving network energy saving.

[0069] In an embodiment of the present application, an Idle / Inactive terminal may send an uplink signal so that the network device can sense the presence of the Idle / Inactive terminal. Accordingly, taking the first cell being in energy-saving mode as an example, when the network device does not sense the presence of an Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell and there is no Connected terminal in the first cell, the network device may switch the first cell from energy-saving mode to sleep mode.

[0070] The second is that the network device does not need to distinguish between "normal mode", "energy-saving mode" and "sleep mode" for a cell. The network device can send signals in each cell according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. Taking the first cell as an example, since the first cell has no data service or the data service load is light, the network device turns off the data signal transmission and part of the control signal transmission in the first cell, and achieves energy saving of the network device by limiting the transmission capacity. Subsequently, when the network device perceives that there are no longer Idle / Inactive terminals in the first cell, and there are no Connected terminals in the first cell, the transmission of the control signal of the first cell can be turned off, so that all data signal transmission and control signal transmission on the first cell are turned off.

[0071] It can be understood that in the above-mentioned first network energy-saving technology or the second network energy-saving technology, still taking the first cell as an example, regardless of whether the data signal transmission and whether the transmission of some control signals are turned off in the first cell, if the network device determines that there is no Connected state terminal in the first cell, and does not perceive the existence of Idle / Inactive state terminals in the first cell, then the network device can turn off the data transmission and the transmission of all control signals in the first cell to achieve energy saving of the network device.

[0072] It can be understood that the "energy-saving mode" and "sleep mode" mentioned in this application are abbreviations for the state in which the network device is in a cost-saving state, and can also be replaced by other names. The embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0073] (4) Synchronous Signal Block (SSB)

[0074] The SSB is used for initial terminal access and is a constantly on broadcast signal from network equipment. This broadcast signal can be sent periodically to carry some public information that the network equipment needs to send periodically. This public information can include the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) used to synchronize the terminal with the network. The PSS and SSS are also collectively referred to as synchronization signals (SS). The PBCH carries the master information block (MIB), which includes information about the cell the terminal is accessing and resource indications for the system information block 1 (SIB1). The PSS and SSS can be used to identify different physical cells.

[0075] In some embodiments of the present application, for the purpose of network energy saving, for cells with no data services or very lightly loaded services, the network equipment may shut down data signal transmission and partial control signal transmission in the cells and only transmit the remaining control signals.

[0076] In a possible implementation, in order to save energy, part of the control signal sent by the network device in the cell may include part of the information in the PSS, SSS or MIB.

[0077] In another possible implementation, in order to save energy, part of the control signals sent by the network device in the cell may include part of the information in SIB1.

[0078] Based on the cell reselection process in the related art shown in FIG1 , the network side needs to send downlink reference signals in multiple cells so that the idle / inactive terminal can measure the downlink reference signals of multiple cells, which is not conducive to network energy saving.

[0079] To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and a related device that can implement the method. In an embodiment of the present application, an Idle / Inactive state terminal can send an uplink signal, so that the network device can determine whether the terminal needs to reselect a cell based on the measurement of the uplink signal sent by the terminal, and when it is determined that the terminal needs to reselect a cell, instruct the terminal to reselect the cell through downlink indication information. Compared with the cell reselection process shown in Figure 1, in which the network device periodically sends downlink reference signals in multiple cells, the embodiment of the present application can reduce the overhead of the network device periodically sending downlink reference signals, and can also reduce the signal reception and measurement overhead of the terminal, thereby facilitating network energy saving.

[0080] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above energy-saving scenarios.

[0081] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application more clear, the application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific operation methods in the method embodiments can also be applied to the device embodiments or system embodiments.

[0082] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), or applied to future communication systems or other similar communication systems.

[0083] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2 , the communication system includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one radio access network device (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 2 ) and at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 2 ). The terminal is wirelessly connected to the radio access network device, and the radio access network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network. The core network device and the radio access network device may be independent, distinct physical devices, or the core network device's functions and the radio access network device's logical functions may be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the radio access network device's functions. Terminals and radio access network devices may be interconnected via wired or wireless connections. Figure 2 is merely a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 2 .

[0084] A radio access network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a Wi-Fi system. It can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The CU performs the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, as well as some or all of the physical layer. For detailed descriptions of each of these protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The wireless access network device can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 2), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 2), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and device form used by the wireless access network device. For ease of description, the wireless access network device is described in detail below using the term "network device" as a shorthand term.

[0085] A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home appliance, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the terminal. For the convenience of description, the following detailed description uses terminal as the abbreviation of terminal.

[0086] Network devices and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; and on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of network devices and terminals.

[0087] The roles of network devices and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 2 can be configured as a mobile network device. With respect to the terminal 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, drone 120i is a network device. However, with respect to network device 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via an interface protocol between network devices. In this case, 120i is also a network device with respect to 110a. Therefore, both network devices and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 2 can be referred to as communication devices with network device functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 2 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0088] Communication between network devices and terminals, between network devices, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0089] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the network device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the network device, or by a control subsystem that includes the network device functions. The control subsystem that includes the network device functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0090] In the embodiments of the present application, a network device sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel. The terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to a base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. To communicate with the network device, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with a cell controlled by the network device. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the terminal's serving cell.

[0091] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, some terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are first explained below. Taking the first cell as an example, the following first downlink reference signal, second downlink reference signal and downlink indication information are reference signals or control information sent by the network device in the first cell, and the first uplink wake-up signal and uplink response signal are reference signals or control information sent by the Idle / Inactive state terminal in the first cell. Optionally, the first cell can be a cell with limited transmission capacity (for relevant instructions on limited transmission capacity, please refer to the previous text), or a cell in energy-saving mode. The first cell can also be a cell with unlimited transmission capacity, or a cell in normal mode.

[0092] (1) First downlink reference signal

[0093] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device may send a first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0094] In one possible implementation, the first downlink reference signal can be used for initial access of the terminal. For example, the first downlink reference signal may include an initial access signal block, and may further include system information. Optionally, the initial access signal block may include a synchronization signal (for example, PSS and / or SSS), or include an SSB, or include a synchronization signal and part of the information in the MIB. Optionally, the system information may be SIB1 defined in the current protocol, or include part of the information in SIB1, or include other system information (SIBs), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0095] In another possible implementation, the first downlink reference signal may include resource configuration information. Optionally, the resource configuration information is used to configure resources for the first uplink wake-up signal for the terminal. For example, the first downlink reference signal may include resource configuration information, and the resource configuration information may indicate the resources used by the terminal to send the first uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0096] Exemplarily, the resource configuration information may include one or more of the following information:

[0097] -The transmission period of the first uplink wake-up signal. In some embodiments of the present application, the first uplink wake-up signal may be sent periodically. In this case, the transmission period of the first uplink wake-up signal may be included in the resource configuration information. In other embodiments of the present application, the first uplink wake-up signal is not sent periodically. In this case, the transmission period of the first uplink wake-up signal may not be included in the resource configuration information, or the transmission period may be configured to be 0.

[0098] - A time domain offset of the first uplink wake-up signal. The time domain offset indicates the offset of the time domain of the first uplink wake-up signal relative to the time domain of the first downlink reference signal. For example, the time domain offset may be the offset of the start symbol of the first uplink wake-up signal relative to the start symbol of the first downlink reference signal (e.g., the start symbol of the SSB).

[0099] -The absolute position of the time-domain symbol of the first uplink wake-up signal, for example, it may be a symbol index.

[0100] - Frequency domain offset of the first uplink wake-up signal. The frequency domain offset indicates the offset of the frequency domain in which the first uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the frequency domain in which the first downlink reference signal is located. For example, the frequency domain offset may be the offset of the starting carrier of the first uplink wake-up signal relative to the starting carrier of the first downlink reference signal (such as the starting carrier of the SSB).

[0101] -The absolute position of the frequency domain carrier of the first uplink wake-up signal, for example, the carrier number.

[0102] -The root sequence of the first uplink wake-up signal.

[0103] - A zero correlation field of the sequence of the first uplink wake-up signal.

[0104] -Target receiving strength of the first uplink wake-up signal.

[0105] - Maximum number of power ramps for the first uplink wake-up signal.

[0106] -Power ramp step size of the first uplink wake-up signal.

[0107] The resource configuration information can be carried on the initial access signal block in the first downlink reference signal, so that the resource configuration information and the synchronization signal are carried on the same signal block. For example, the initial access signal block includes an SSB, and the resource configuration information can be carried in the PBCH in the SSB. The resource configuration information can also be carried in the system information in the first downlink reference signal, so that the resource configuration information and the synchronization signal are carried on different signal blocks. For example, the resource configuration information can be carried in part of the SIB1 information included in the first downlink reference signal, such as in the reserved bits or newly added bits in the part of the SIB1 information. The first downlink reference signal can also be carried on an independent channel, and the resources it occupies are indicated by the initial access signal block or system information.

[0108] According to the content included in the above first downlink reference signal, several examples of the first downlink reference signal are given below. For example, the first downlink reference signal includes SSB, SIB1 and resource configuration information, or the first downlink reference signal includes SSB, part of the information in SIB1 and resource configuration information, or the first downlink reference signal includes a synchronization signal, part of the information in MIB, part of the information in SIB1 and resource configuration information.

[0109] Optionally, the first downlink reference signal may be broadcast and sent in the first cell, so that terminals residing in the first cell may receive the first downlink reference signal.

[0110] Optionally, the first downlink reference signal may be a periodic signal. By periodically sending the first downlink reference signal, the network device can enable both the terminals originally residing in the first cell and the terminals newly residing in the first cell to receive the first downlink reference signal, thereby obtaining the resource configuration information in the first downlink reference signal and sending the first uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the resource configuration information. In addition, for a terminal outside the first cell, if the terminal uses the first cell as the target cell for cell reselection, the terminal can receive the first downlink reference signal sent in the first cell and perform cell reselection based on the initial access signal block in the first downlink reference signal in order to reside in the first cell.

[0111] It is understood that the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the name, form, and function of the "first downlink reference signal." For example, the first downlink reference signal can also be understood as the first downlink signal.

[0112] (2) Uplink wake-up signal (WUS)

[0113] In an embodiment of the present application, an Idle / Inactive terminal in a first cell may send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. A network device may sense the presence of an Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell based on the uplink wake-up signal, and the network device may further determine whether the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell needs to perform cell reselection based on the signal reception strength of the uplink wake-up signal.

[0114] Optionally, the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell may send an uplink wake-up signal on the resources indicated by the resource configuration information according to the resource configuration information in the first downlink reference signal.

[0115] In some embodiments of the present application, the uplink wake-up signal is a periodic signal, that is, the terminal may periodically send the uplink wake-up signal.

[0116] In some other embodiments of the present application, the uplink wake-up signal is a non-periodic signal, and the terminal sends the uplink wake-up signal only when certain conditions are met. For example, the terminal sends the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell only when the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received by the terminal in the first cell is low.

[0117] The uplink wake-up signal may be a reference signal, such as an uplink reference signal periodically transmitted by the terminal. The uplink wake-up signal may also be other signals, such as uplink control information (UCI) transmitted aperiodically. The terminal transmits UCI to the network device when the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received in the first cell is low. Optionally, the UCI may use a specific format to enable the network device to determine whether the terminal needs to perform cell reselection based on measurement of the signal.

[0118] It is understood that the present application does not specifically limit the name, form, and function of the uplink wake-up signal. For example, the uplink wake-up signal can also be understood as an uplink reference signal or a first uplink signal.

[0119] (3) Downlink indication information

[0120] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device may send downlink indication information to the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell to instruct the Idle / Inactive terminal to perform cell reselection.

[0121] Optionally, the downlink indication information may be sent by broadcasting.

[0122] Optionally, the downlink indication information can be carried in downlink control signaling, such as DCI or high-layer signaling; the downlink indication information can also be carried in a radio network temporary identity (RNTI) for scrambling messages sent to Idle / Inactive terminals.

[0123] It can be understood that this application does not specifically limit the name, form and function of the downlink indication information.

[0124] (4) Second downlink reference signal

[0125] In some embodiments of the present application, when the first uplink wake-up signal is a non-periodic signal, the network device may further send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell when it is determined that a certain condition is met.

[0126] Optionally, if the network device does not receive an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, it may send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell. The second downlink reference signal is used to trigger the idle / inactive terminal that receives the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell.

[0127] In one possible implementation, the uplink signal resources include the resources indicated by the resource configuration information for sending the first uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. That is, if the network device does not receive the first uplink wake-up signal sent by any idle / inactive terminal in the first cell, the network device may send the second downlink reference signal in the first cell; or, if the network device receives the first uplink wake-up signal sent by the idle / inactive terminal in the first cell, but the signal strength of the uplink signal is low, the network device may send the second downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0128] In another possible implementation, the uplink signal resources include resources used to send an uplink response signal in the first cell. That is, if the network device does not receive any uplink response signal sent by an Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell, the network device may send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell; alternatively, if the network device receives an uplink response signal sent by an Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell, but the signal strength of the uplink signal is low, the network device may send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0129] In another possible implementation, the uplink signal resources include both the resources used for sending the first uplink wake-up signal in the first cell as indicated by the above resource configuration information, and the resources used for sending the uplink response signal in the first cell. That is, if the network device does not receive any uplink signal (including the first uplink wake-up signal and the uplink response signal) sent by any Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell, it can send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell; or, if the network device receives an uplink signal (including the first uplink wake-up signal or the uplink response signal) sent by an Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell, but the signal strength of the uplink signal is low, the network device can send a second downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0130] Optionally, the resource of the second downlink reference signal may be indicated in an explicit manner, for example, in the above resource configuration information.

[0131] Optionally, the resources of the second downlink reference signal may also be indicated in an implicit manner, for example, there is a certain association between the resources of the second downlink reference signal and the resources of the first downlink reference signal. Accordingly, the network device and the terminal may transmit and receive the second downlink reference signal through the resources of the first downlink reference signal and the above association. For example, the time domain offset between the second downlink reference signal and the first downlink reference signal, as well as the correspondence between the sequence of the second downlink reference signal and the sequence of the first downlink reference signal may be pre-agreed or pre-configured; accordingly, the network device may determine the time domain position of the second downlink reference signal based on the time domain resources occupied by the first downlink reference signal and the time domain offset, and determine the sequence of the second downlink reference signal based on the sequence of the first downlink reference signal and the correspondence between the above sequences, so that the second downlink reference signal may be sent at the corresponding resource position and in the corresponding sequence. Similarly, the terminal may receive the second downlink reference signal sent in the corresponding sequence at the corresponding resource position.

[0132] Optionally, the second downlink reference signal may be DCI, higher layer signaling, or a reference signal.

[0133] It is understood that the present application does not specifically limit the name, form, and function of the second downlink reference signal. For example, the second downlink reference signal may also be referred to as DL-RS.

[0134] (5) Uplink response signal

[0135] In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving the second downlink reference signal, the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell may send an uplink response signal as a response to the second downlink reference signal.

[0136] Optionally, only after the Idle / Inactive state terminal in the first cell receives the second downlink reference signal in the first cell, may it send an uplink response signal in response to the second downlink reference signal. If the Idle / Inactive state terminal in the first cell receives the downlink reference signal (such as DL-RS) of the second cell, it will not send an uplink response signal in the second cell in response to the downlink reference signal, wherein the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell. In this way, the Idle / Inactive state terminal far away from the first cell will not be triggered to send an uplink response signal in the first cell due to the weak signal strength of the received second downlink reference signal, thereby reducing the probability of replying to a distant neighboring cell.

[0137] Optionally, after receiving the second downlink reference signal, the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell sends an uplink response signal if it determines that the signal strength of the second downlink reference signal is greater than a set threshold; if it determines that the signal strength of the second downlink reference signal is less than or equal to the set threshold, it does not send an uplink response signal, thereby reducing the probability of replying to a distant neighboring cell.

[0138] Optionally, the uplink response signal may be a reference signal or other signal, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0139] It is understood that the present application does not impose any specific restrictions on the name, form, and function of the uplink response signal. For example, the uplink response signal may also be called UL-Response (abbreviated as UL-RES).

[0140] (6) Resources

[0141] In the embodiments of the present application, "resources" may be one or more of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, and power domain resources. For example, the resources of the uplink wake-up signal may include one or more of the time domain resources of the uplink wake-up signal, the frequency domain resources of the uplink wake-up signal, the code domain resources of the uplink wake-up signal, and the power of the uplink wake-up signal. In one possible embodiment, the code domain resources may be a sequence.

[0142] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to Figures 3 to 6.

[0143] Based on the network system architecture shown in FIG2 and the contents of the above-mentioned related technical introduction, FIG3 exemplarily shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0144] As shown in FIG3 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0145] Step 301: A network device sends a first downlink reference signal in a first cell.

[0146] For the description of the content and sending method of the first downlink reference signal, please refer to the previous text.

[0147] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information is cell-level, for example, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource, where the first resource is a resource used for sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. That is, the resource configuration information only indicates a resource used for sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0148] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information is cell-level, and the resource configuration information indicates the resources used to send uplink signals on multiple cells, and the resources used to send uplink signals on different cells may be different. Optionally, the multiple cells may include a first cell and one or more neighboring cells of the first cell. For example, the resource configuration information includes M (M is an integer greater than 1) configuration information, and the M configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, and the first resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. Optionally, the M configuration information also includes second configuration information, the second configuration information indicates a second resource, and the second resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the second cell. By analogy, the resource configuration information may also include more configuration information to indicate the resources used to send uplink wake-up signals on more cells. Based on the resource configuration information, the terminal can send uplink wake-up signals on multiple cells. That is to say, the resource configuration information can indicate the resources for sending uplink wake-up signals in multiple cells (such as the first cell and the neighboring cells of the first cell), which makes the resources occupied by the uplink wake-up signals in different cells different. In this case, for an Idle / Inactive terminal, the network device can receive the uplink wake-up signals sent by the terminal in different cells.

[0149] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information is at the cell group level. For example, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, and the first configuration information indicates a first resource. The first resource is a resource used by a terminal in a first cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal, and the first cell group includes the first cell. That is, the resource configuration information can indicate the resource used by the terminal to send an uplink wake-up signal in a cell group including the first cell, and the resource configuration information of the resource used by each cell in the cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal is the same. For example, the sending period, time domain offset, and frequency domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal are the same in each cell in the cell group. Based on the resource configuration information, the terminal can send an uplink wake-up signal on multiple cells.

[0150] In one possible implementation, the resource configuration information of the uplink wake-up signal used by a terminal can be associated with the identifier of the terminal, thereby increasing the richness of the terminal's uplink wake-up signal resource configuration, reducing the number of terminals under the same resource configuration, and facilitating the network side to improve the accuracy of uplink mobility management (such as cell reselection). A specific implementation method may be: the resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, the N candidate configuration information indicates N candidate resources used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and the N candidate configuration information is associated with K terminal identifiers. In this way, the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell can determine one configuration information associated with the terminal identifier in the N candidate configuration information according to its own terminal identifier, and thus send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the resource indicated by the configuration information.

[0151] Optionally, a possible association method is: the formats of the N candidate configuration information are different, and there is a corresponding relationship between the formats of the candidate configuration information and the terminal identifier. Optionally, the corresponding relationship can satisfy the following formula 1:

[0152] Among them, i is used to identify the format of the configuration information, T is the length of the configuration time domain cycle, offset is the offset of the configuration information format, N is the total number of configuration information formats, UE ID Represents the terminal identifier, and mod is the modulo operator. Based on the above formula, the terminal can determine the format of the configuration information used by the terminal to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell based on its own terminal identifier and parameters configured on the network side (such as the configuration time domain cycle length T and the total number of configuration information formats N, etc.), and thus can obtain the corresponding configuration information based on the format, so as to send the uplink wake-up signal according to the resources indicated by the configuration information.

[0153] Optionally, another possible association method is that there is a correspondence between the time domain configuration (such as symbol) or code domain configuration (such as sequence) of the uplink wake-up signal and the terminal identifier. Optionally, the correspondence can be presented in a table form. For example, the above-mentioned resource configuration information indicates N candidate sequences, and the table includes the number of each candidate sequence and one or more terminal identifiers corresponding to each candidate sequence. Based on the table, the terminal can determine the corresponding sequence according to its own terminal identifier, so that the sequence can be used to send the uplink wake-up signal.

[0154] The above step 301 may be an optional step. For example, if the above resource configuration information is pre-configured, the above step 301 may be omitted.

[0155] Optionally, the network device may also transmit downlink signals in other cells. The content and transmission method of the downlink signals may refer to the implementation process of the network device transmitting the first downlink reference signal in the first cell. For example, the network device transmits the downlink signal in the second cell, which is a neighboring cell of the first cell.

[0156] Step 302: An Idle / Inactive terminal in a first cell sends an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. Correspondingly, the network device receives the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal may send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell based on the resources indicated by the resource configuration information. The terminal may obtain the resource configuration information included therein through the received first downlink reference signal. The resource configuration information may also be pre-configured, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0158] In a possible implementation, if the resource configuration information is at a cell level, for example, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, the terminal may send an uplink wake-up signal on the first cell according to the first configuration information.

[0159] In one possible implementation, if the resource configuration information is at the cell group level, for example, the resource configuration information includes first configuration information, the terminal may send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the first configuration information. Optionally, the terminal in the first cell may also send an uplink wake-up signal in other cells in the cell group according to the first configuration information.

[0160] In one possible implementation, if the resource configuration information indicates the resources used to send uplink wake-up signals on multiple cells, and the resources used to send uplink wake-up signals on different cells may be different, for example, the resource configuration information includes M configuration information, the M configuration information includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, and the first resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, then the terminal can send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the first configuration information. Optionally, the M configuration information also includes second configuration information, the second configuration information indicates a second resource, and the second resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the second cell, then the terminal can send an uplink wake-up signal in the second cell according to the second configuration information. By analogy, the terminal can send uplink wake-up signals in multiple cells indicated by the resource configuration information.

[0161] In one possible implementation, resource configuration information for an uplink wake-up signal used by a terminal is associated with an identifier of the terminal. For example, the resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, where the N candidate configuration information indicates N candidate resources used for sending an uplink wake-up signal in a first cell, and the N candidate configuration information is associated with K terminal identifiers. Accordingly, the terminal can determine, based on the terminal identifier, the first configuration information associated with the terminal identifier among the N candidate configuration information, and send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell based on the first configuration information.

[0162] According to the above description, in one possible implementation, the resource configuration information may indicate the uplink wake-up signal resources of multiple cells, and the resource configuration information corresponding to each cell may include multiple candidate configuration information. Taking the resource configuration information including the first resource configuration information corresponding to the first cell and the second resource configuration information corresponding to the second cell as an example, the first resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, and the format of each candidate configuration information is associated with the identifier of one or more terminals, and the association relationship can satisfy the above formula 1. Similarly, the second resource configuration information also includes multiple candidate configuration information, and the format of each candidate configuration information is associated with one or more terminal identifiers. In this case, the terminal can determine the configuration information (or resources used) used to send uplink signals in the first cell and the second cell based on the identifier of the terminal and the above formula 1, and then can send uplink wake-up signals in multiple cells.

[0163] In some embodiments of the present application, the uplink wake-up signal is sent periodically. For example, the terminal may periodically send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the sending period in the resource configuration information.

[0164] In other embodiments of the present application, the uplink wake-up signal is not sent periodically, and the terminal sends the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell only when it determines that the set conditions are met. Optionally, the terminal receives the first downlink reference signal in the first cell, and if it is determined that the signal strength of the received first downlink reference signal does not meet the set requirements, the uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell. In other words, the uplink wake-up signal is not sent unconditionally and periodically, but is triggered to be sent based on certain conditions, thereby achieving terminal energy saving compared to periodically sending the uplink wake-up signal.

[0165] Optionally, the terminal in the first cell determines whether the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal meets a set requirement, which may include the following situations:

[0166] Case 1: A terminal in a first cell receives a first downlink reference signal in the first cell. If the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received in the first cell is lower than a set threshold, it can be determined that the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal does not meet the set requirements, that is, the signal quality of the first cell is poor for the terminal, and cell reselection may be required. Therefore, it is considered that the conditions for sending an uplink wake-up signal are currently met. In this case, the terminal sends an uplink wake-up signal so that the network device can determine whether the terminal needs to reselect the cell by measuring the uplink wake-up signal. If the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal is higher than or equal to the set threshold, it can be determined that the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal meets the set requirements. At this time, there is no need to reselect the cell, so there is no need to send an uplink wake-up signal.

[0167] Case 2: The terminal in the first cell can not only receive the first downlink reference signal sent by the network device in the first cell, but also receive the downlink signal sent by the network device in the neighboring cell (such as the second cell). If the difference between the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received by the terminal in the first cell and the signal strength of the downlink signal received in the second cell is less than the set threshold, it can be determined that the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal does not meet the set requirements, that is, for the terminal, the signal quality of the first cell is not much higher than that of the second cell, and cell reselection may be required. In this case, the terminal sends an uplink wake-up signal so that the network device can determine whether the terminal needs to reselect the cell by measuring the uplink wake-up signal. If the difference is greater than or equal to the set threshold, it can be determined that the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal meets the set requirements, and there is no need to reselect the cell at this time, so there is no need to send an uplink wake-up signal.

[0168] The above merely exemplifies several methods for determining whether the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal meets the set requirements. The embodiments of the present application may also adopt other methods, which are not limited thereto.

[0169] Step 303: The network device determines whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition according to the uplink wake-up signal.

[0170] In one possible implementation, a terminal in a first cell may send an uplink wake-up signal (e.g., WUS) in the first cell. Accordingly, the network device may determine whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition based on the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal sent by the terminal received in the first cell. That is, the network device may make a cell reselection decision based on measuring the uplink wake-up signal of the first cell. Optionally, the way in which the network device makes a cell reselection decision may be: the network device receives an uplink wake-up signal (e.g., WUS) from the terminal in the first cell, and if the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal is lower than a set threshold, it is determined that the terminal needs to reselect the cell; if the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal is not lower than the set threshold, it is determined that the terminal does not need to reselect the cell.

[0171] In one possible implementation, a terminal in a first cell may send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell and the second cell. Accordingly, the network device may determine whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition based on the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal sent by the terminal in the first cell and the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal sent by the terminal in the second cell. In other words, the network device may make a cell reselection decision based on measuring the uplink wake-up signals in the first cell and the second cell. Optionally, the way in which the network device makes a cell reselection decision may be: the network device receives an uplink wake-up signal from the terminal in the first cell and the second cell respectively, and if the difference between the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal received in the first cell and the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal received in the second cell is less than a set threshold, it is determined that the terminal needs to perform cell reselection; if the difference in the signal strength is not less than the set threshold, it is determined that the terminal does not need to perform cell reselection.

[0172] In one possible implementation, the network device can identify the terminal based on the resources occupied by the received uplink wake-up signal (or the configuration information corresponding to the resources) and the association between the configuration information of the uplink wake-up signal and the terminal identifier, thereby indicating whether the terminal needs to reselect the cell or whether the terminal needs to make a cell reselection decision based on the uplink wake-up signal sent by the terminal received in the first cell and the second cell. Among them, the association between the resources occupied by the uplink wake-up signal (or the configuration information corresponding to the resources) and the terminal identifier can refer to the description above.

[0173] Step 304: If the network device determines that the terminal meets the cell reselection condition, it sends downlink indication information in the first cell, where the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection.

[0174] In a possible implementation manner, the downlink indication information is sent by broadcasting.

[0175] In one possible implementation, the downlink indication information may include first information for enabling a terminal to determine whether the downlink indication information is intended for the terminal. Given that resource configuration information may be associated with a terminal identifier, the first information may be used to indicate the format of certain configuration information within the resource configuration information. In this way, the terminal can determine, based on the association between the configuration information and the terminal identifier, whether the format of the configuration information is associated with the terminal identifier, thereby determining whether the downlink indication information is intended for the terminal.

[0176] Exemplarily, after determining that a terminal in a first cell meets a cell reselection condition, the network device determines, based on the terminal identifier and the association between the resource configuration information and the terminal identifier, configuration information associated with the terminal identifier, for example, the configuration information is first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating a first resource, and the first resource is a resource used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell. The network device sends downlink indication information, which includes first information, and the first information indicates a format of the first configuration information.

[0177] Optionally, the first information may be indicated in the following ways:

[0178] Indication method 1: The first information is set in the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI), for example, the reserved bit of the P-RNTI can be used to carry the first information. Accordingly, the downlink indication information can be downlink control information (DCI). When sending the DCI, the network device uses the P-RNTI to scramble the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) paging redundancy check (cyclic redundancy check, CRC) information to indicate that the DCI is the scheduling information of the paging message. Accordingly, the terminal can obtain the first information included in the P-RNTI by descrambling the DCI.

[0179] Indication method 2: The first information is set in the system information network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI). For example, the reserved bit of the SI-RNTI can be used to carry the first information. Accordingly, the downlink indication information can be DCI. When sending the DCI, the network device uses the SI-RNTI to scramble the PDCCH CRC to indicate that the DCI is scheduling information of the system message. Accordingly, the terminal can obtain the first information included in the SI-RNTI by descrambling the DCI.

[0180] Indication method 3: Use the DCI newly defined in the embodiment of the present application to transmit the first information.

[0181] In one possible implementation, the downlink indication information may not include the above-mentioned first information, and the network device may indicate the format of the configuration information in an implicit manner. For example, the association relationship between the time-frequency resources used by the downlink indication information and the format of the configuration information may be set so that different time-frequency resources are associated with different configuration information formats. After the network device determines that the terminal meets the cell reselection conditions, it determines the configuration information format associated with it according to the identifier of the terminal, and then determines the time-frequency resources of the downlink indication information associated with the format of the configuration information according to the association relationship between the format of the configuration information and the time-frequency resources of the downlink indication information, and sends the downlink indication information according to the resources. Accordingly, the terminal can determine the configuration information format associated with it according to the time-frequency resources of the downlink indication information, and then determine the terminal identifier associated with the configuration information format, so as to determine whether the downlink indication information is the downlink indication information sent to this terminal.

[0182] In a possible implementation manner, the downlink indication information may include second information, where the second information indicates whether to perform cell reselection.

[0183] Optionally, the second information may take a first value or a second value, the first value being used to indicate that cell reselection is required, and the second value being used to indicate that cell reselection is not required. Optionally, if the network device determines that the cell reselection condition is met based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal, the second information with the first value is added to the downlink indication information, otherwise the second information with the second value is added to the downlink indication information. Since the configuration information format corresponding to the uplink wake-up signal may be associated with multiple terminals, only some of the multiple terminals may need to perform cell reselection, or all terminals may need to perform cell reselection. Therefore, after these terminals receive the downlink indication information, they may first make a cell reselection decision based on the measurement, and then decide whether to perform cell reselection based on the cell reselection decision result.

[0184] It is understood that the second information can be omitted, that is, the terminal is implicitly instructed to perform cell reselection. For example, if the network device determines that the cell reselection conditions are met based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal, the downlink indication information is sent; otherwise, the downlink indication information is not sent. When the terminal associated with the configuration information format corresponding to the uplink wake-up signal receives the downlink indication information, it can first make a cell reselection decision based on the measurement, and then decide whether to perform cell reselection based on the cell reselection decision result.

[0185] Optionally, the second information may be indicated in the following ways:

[0186] Indication method 1: The second information is set in the P-RNTI. For example, the reserved bits of the P-RNTI can be used to carry the second information. Accordingly, when the network device sends DCI (downlink indication information), it uses the P-RNTI to scramble the PDCCH CRC to indicate that the DCI is scheduling information for a paging message. Accordingly, the terminal can obtain the second information included in the P-RNTI by descrambling the DCI.

[0187] Indication method 2: The second information is set in the SI-RNTI. For example, the reserved bits of the SI-RNTI can be used to carry the second information. Accordingly, when sending DCI (downlink indication information), the network device uses the SI-RNTI to scramble the PDCCH CRC to indicate that the DCI is scheduling information for a system message. Accordingly, the terminal can obtain the second information included in the SI-RNTI by descrambling the DCI.

[0188] Indication method 3: using the newly defined DCI in the embodiment of the present application to transmit the second information. Optionally, the first information and the second information may be sent via the same DCI, or may be sent via different DCIs.

[0189] In a possible implementation manner, the downlink indication information may include third information, where the third information indicates a target cell.

[0190] Optionally, the third information may indicate one or more of the following information, or the third information may include one or more of the following information:

[0191] - the cell identifier of the target cell, such as the physical cell identifier (PCI) of the target cell;

[0192] - Downlink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate resources used to transmit a downlink signal on the target cell. The downlink signal is a periodically transmitted signal. The downlink signal transmitted by the network device in the target cell is similar to the first downlink reference signal transmitted by the network device in the first cell. The downlink signal may be, for example, a downlink signal used for initial access of a terminal. Exemplarily, the downlink signal transmitted in the target cell may be an SSB, SIB1, or other system information block.

[0193] - Uplink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate the resources used to send uplink signals on the target cell. The uplink signal sent by the terminal in the target cell is similar to the uplink wake-up signal sent by the terminal in the first cell.

[0194] Optionally, the third information may be indicated in the following ways:

[0195] Indication method 1: The third information and the first information are transmitted on the same channel, which may be a newly defined channel in an embodiment of the present application.

[0196] Indication method 2: Transmitting the third information through an independent channel. Optionally, the first information or the second information may be used to indicate the resource where the channel for transmitting the third information is located.

[0197] In one possible implementation, if the target cell indicated by the third information in the above-mentioned downlink indication information of the network device has stopped periodically sending downlink signals (the downlink signal is similar to the first downlink reference signal sent in the first cell for initial access of the terminal, for example, it may include an initial access signal block and system information), and the target cell is a cell under the network device, then the network device may restart periodically sending the downlink signal in the target cell. In another possible implementation, if the target cell indicated by the third information in the above-mentioned downlink indication information of the network device has stopped periodically sending the downlink signal, and the target cell is a cell under other network devices, then the network device may instruct the other network devices (for example, through an interface between base stations) to restart periodically sending the downlink signal in the target cell. This allows the terminal to measure the target cell to determine whether to reselect the target cell, or allows the terminal to complete the residency in the target cell based on the downlink signal periodically sent by the target cell.

[0198] Step 305: The terminal receives the downlink indication information, and performs cell reselection or makes a cell reselection decision according to the downlink indication information.

[0199] After receiving the downlink indication information, the terminal can first determine whether the downlink indication information is sent to the terminal. In one possible manner, the downlink indication information includes first information. The terminal can determine the terminal identifier associated with the configuration information indicated by the first information based on the format of the configuration information. If the terminal identifier is included, it is determined that the downlink indication information may be sent to the terminal. In another possible manner, the downlink indication information does not include the first information, but there is an association between the resource where the downlink indication information is located and the format of the resource configuration information. The terminal can determine the configuration information format associated with the resource where the downlink indication information is located, and then determine the terminal identifier associated with the configuration information format, and then determine whether the downlink information may be sent to the terminal.

[0200] When the terminal determines that the downlink indication information may be sent to the terminal and the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection (for example, whether to perform cell reselection can be determined based on the second information in the downlink indication information), the terminal can perform cell reselection or cell reselection decision.

[0201] Optionally, the manner in which the terminal performs cell reselection or makes a cell reselection decision according to the downlink indication information may include the following:

[0202] Mode 1: The downlink indication information includes third information, and the third information indicates the identifier of the target cell. Accordingly, the terminal can directly execute cell camping according to the identifier of the target cell to camp on the target cell.

[0203] Optionally, the third information also indicates the downlink signal resource configuration information of the target cell. The terminal can receive the periodically sent downlink signal in the target cell based on the downlink signal resource configuration information, and can obtain the synchronization information of the target cell based on the received downlink signal to complete downlink synchronization with the target cell, and complete the residency in the target cell based on the system information in the downlink signal received in the target cell. After successfully residing in the target cell, the terminal can also send uplink signals on the target cell based on the resource configuration information included in the downlink signal (used to indicate the resources for sending uplink signals in the target cell).

[0204] Mode 2: The downlink indication information includes third information indicating the identifier of the target cell and the downlink signal resource configuration information of the target cell. Accordingly, the terminal can receive downlink signals in the target cell based on the downlink signal resource configuration information and make a cell reselection decision based on the signal strength of the downlink signal received in the target cell and the signal strength of the downlink signal received in the first cell. If the target cell meets the cell reselection conditions, the terminal resides in the target cell. If the target cell does not meet the cell reselection conditions, the terminal remains in the first cell.

[0205] Optionally, the terminal performs cell reselection when it determines that one or more of the following conditions are met:

[0206] Condition 1: If the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received in the first cell is lower than a set threshold, cell reselection is performed;

[0207] Condition 2: If the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received in the first cell is lower than a first set threshold, and the signal strength of the downlink signal received in the second cell is higher than or equal to a second set threshold, cell reselection is performed;

[0208] Condition 3: If the difference between the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received in the first cell and the signal strength of the downlink signal received in the target cell is less than a set threshold, cell reselection is performed.

[0209] Mode 3: The downlink indication information does not include the third information, and the resource configuration information in the first downlink reference signal transmitted by the network device in the first cell indicates the resources for transmitting the downlink reference signals in multiple cells. Accordingly, the terminal can receive downlink signals in multiple cells based on the resource configuration information. Upon receiving the downlink indication information instructing the terminal to perform cell reselection, the terminal can determine whether the cell reselection conditions are met based on the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal received in the first cell and the signal strength of the downlink signals received in other cells. If the cell reselection conditions are met, the terminal performs cell reselection to reside on the target cell.

[0210] Optionally, the configuration information such as the threshold involved in the above-mentioned cell reselection or cell reselection decision method can be predefined, or can be given in the configuration of the first downlink reference signal or the second downlink reference signal sent by the network device, or can be given in the first downlink reference signal. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0211] It can be understood that the above examples only list several methods in which a terminal performs cell reselection or cell reselection decision according to downlink indication information, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0212] In the process shown in Figure 3 above, the Idle / Inactive terminal can send an uplink wake-up signal, so that the network device can determine whether the terminal meets the cell reselection conditions based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal, and instruct the terminal to reselect the cell when the cell reselection conditions are met. Because the network device in the embodiment of the present application makes the cell reselection decision based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal, compared to the related art in which the network device periodically sends a downlink reference signal for the terminal to measure, network energy saving can be achieved.

[0213] Based on the process shown in Figure 3, since the Idle / Inactive state terminal in the first cell can send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, this allows the network device to perceive the existence of the Idle / Inactive state terminal in the first cell. In order to further save network energy, in a possible implementation method, the network device can turn off the transmission of the downlink signal when it senses that there are no longer Idle / Inactive state terminals in the first cell, so as to achieve network energy saving. Specifically, in the process shown in Figure 3, step 306 can also be included: when the network device determines that the first cell meets the first condition (also referred to as the sleep condition), it can stop sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell; if the first cell does not meet the first condition, it continues to send the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0214] It can be understood that the timing of each step in Figure 3 is only a possible example, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this. For example, step 306 can occur at any possible time, as long as the network device determines that the first cell meets the sleep condition, step 306 can be executed.

[0215] Depending on whether the uplink wake-up signal is a periodic signal, the embodiment of the present application provides the following two cell dormancy methods:

[0216] (1) Cell dormancy method based on the uplink wake-up signal being a periodic signal

[0217] In this method, when the network device determines that there are no connected terminals in the first cell, and no uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, it indicates that the first cell meets the first condition (or sleep condition), and the network device can stop sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell. The uplink signal resource includes the resource used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell as indicated by the resource configuration information in the first downlink reference signal.

[0218] That is to say, since the Idle / Inactive state terminals in the first cell periodically send uplink wake-up signals, the network equipment can measure the uplink wake-up signals. Once no uplink wake-up signals are received from any Idle / Inactive state terminals within a period of time, or even if an uplink wake-up signal is received but the signal strength is weak, it can be determined that there are no longer Idle / Inactive state terminals in the first cell, and the first cell can be put to sleep.

[0219] In response to the problem in the related technology that the network side cannot perceive the Idle / Inactive state terminal, and thus needs to maintain periodic sending of downlink signals (for example, including synchronization information, system information and resource configuration information), which leads to high energy consumption of network equipment, in the above-mentioned implementation method of the embodiment of the present application, the network equipment can perceive the Idle / Inactive state terminal based on the uplink wake-up signal periodically sent by the Idle / Inactive state terminal, enabling the cell to send downlink signals on demand, thereby achieving network energy saving.

[0220] (2) Cell dormancy method based on the uplink wake-up signal not being a periodic signal

[0221] In this method, if the network device does not receive an uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold on an uplink signal resource within a set time period, a second downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, and the second downlink reference signal is used to trigger an idle / inactive terminal that has received the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell. The uplink signal resources include resources used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, as indicated by the resource configuration information included in the first downlink reference signal, and / or resources used for sending the uplink response signal in the first cell.

[0222] Correspondingly, when the network device determines that there is no Connected terminal in the first cell, and no uplink response signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is received on the resources used by the uplink response signal within a set time period, it indicates that the first cell meets the first condition (i.e., the sleep condition), and the network device can stop sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0223] That is to say, the prerequisite of the cell dormancy method is that when the strength of the first downlink reference signal received by the idle / inactive terminal in the first cell is low (indicating that cell reselection may be required), the uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell, so that the network device determines whether to instruct the terminal to reselect the cell based on the measurement of the uplink wake-up signal. Since the uplink wake-up signal is not sent unconditionally and periodically, the network device cannot determine whether there are still idle / inactive terminals in the first cell based on the uplink wake-up signal alone. In order to determine whether there are idle / inactive terminals in the first cell, the network device can send a second downlink reference signal (DL-RS) in the first cell when it does not receive an uplink signal (including a WUS signal and / or an uplink response signal) with sufficient signal strength for a period of time, so as to trigger the idle / inactive terminal to send a corresponding uplink response signal. In this way, the network device can determine whether there are still idle / inactive terminals in the first cell based on whether an uplink response signal with a sufficiently strong signal is received.

[0224] If the first cell satisfies the first condition, the network device will not send data and control information in the first cell. Therefore, the network device can shut down the transmission channel, shut down the signal transmitter, or shut down the transmission antenna to stop sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell. It is understood that stopping sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell can also be achieved through other methods, and this embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0225] In response to the problem in the related art that the network side cannot perceive the Idle / Inactive state terminal, and thus needs to maintain periodic transmission of downlink signals (for example, including synchronization information, system information, and resource configuration information), which leads to high energy consumption of network equipment, in the above-mentioned implementation method of the embodiment of the present application, the network equipment can perceive the Idle / Inactive state terminal based on the uplink response signal sent by the Idle / Inactive state terminal, enabling the cell to send downlink signals on demand, thereby achieving network energy saving. In addition, since the uplink response signal is not sent periodically, but is based on the network equipment measuring the uplink wake-up signal sent aperiodically by the Idle / Inactive state terminal, and triggering the Idle / Inactive state terminal to send it by sending a second downlink reference signal, there is no need for the Idle / Inactive state terminal to periodically send an uplink signal, thereby further achieving network and terminal energy saving.

[0226] In one possible implementation, the network device may transmit the resource configuration information of the second downlink reference signal in the first cell, so that the terminal can receive the second downlink reference signal in the first cell according to the resource configuration information. Optionally, the resource configuration information of the second downlink reference signal may be cell-level or cell group-level.

[0227] In one possible implementation, the network device may send the resource configuration information of the uplink response signal in the first cell, so that the terminal can send the uplink response signal in the first cell according to the resource configuration information. Optionally, the resource configuration information of the uplink response signal may include one or more of the following information: time domain resource indication information of the uplink response signal, frequency domain resource indication information of the uplink response signal, root sequence indication information of the uplink response signal, zero correlation domain indication information of the uplink response signal, and transmit power indication information of the uplink response signal. Optional. The resource configuration information of the uplink response signal may be cell-level or cell group-level.

[0228] In order to more clearly understand the above embodiments of the present application, the implementation process of the above embodiments of the present application is described below in conjunction with the specific scenarios shown in Figures 4 and 5. In the scenarios shown in Figures 4 and 5, for the sake of clarity, the first downlink reference signal is referred to as a downlink reference signal, the uplink wake-up signal is referred to as WUS, the downlink indication information is referred to as DL-Response, the second downlink reference signal is referred to as DL-RS, and the uplink response signal is referred to as UL-Response. Among them, the downlink reference signal includes a synchronization signal (SS) and WUS resource configuration information.

[0229] Referring to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 describes the implementation process of cell reselection and cell dormancy when a terminal in an Idle / Inactive state periodically sends a WUS.

[0230] Referring to (a) in Figure 4, there are currently Idle / Inactive terminals in the first cell, and for the first cell, the transmission channel is in the open state (Tx On). The network device periodically sends a downlink reference signal (including SS and WUS resource configuration information) in the first cell to support new terminals to reside in the first cell, and to support new terminals to periodically send WUS in the first cell after successfully residing in the first cell. The Idle / Inactive terminal residing in the first cell receives the downlink reference signal and periodically sends WUS in the first cell according to the WUS resource configuration information in the downlink reference signal.

[0231] The second cell is currently in sleep mode, and the transmission channel for the second cell is in a closed state (Tx Off).

[0232] Referring to (b) in Figure 4 , the network device measures the WUS and determines, based on the measurement results, that the Idle / Inactive terminal meets the cell reselection conditions. Therefore, the network device sends a DL-Response in the first cell to instruct the Idle / Inactive terminal to perform cell reselection, with the target cell being the second cell. Since the second cell is currently in sleep mode, the network device turns on the transmit channel and begins periodically sending downlink reference signals in the second cell.

[0233] Referring to (c) in Figure 4, after the terminal resides in the second cell, it periodically sends WUS in the second cell based on the WUS resource configuration information in the downlink reference signal received in the second cell, and further stops sending WUS in the first cell. For the first cell, the network device determines that there are no connected terminals in the first cell, and within a certain period of time, no WUS with a signal strength greater than a set threshold is received on the resources indicated by the WUS resource configuration information. Therefore, it is determined that there are no idle / inactive terminals in the first cell, and the transmission channel of the first cell is closed, and the sending of downlink reference signals in the first cell is stopped.

[0234] Referring to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 describes the implementation process of cell reselection and cell dormancy when the Idle / Inactive terminal aperiodically sends a WUS.

[0235] Referring to (a) in Figure 5 , there are currently Idle / Inactive terminals in the first cell. For the first cell, the transmit channel is in the open state (Tx On). The network device periodically sends a downlink reference signal in the first cell to support new terminals to reside in the first cell, and to support new terminals to periodically send WUS in the first cell after successfully residing in the first cell. The second cell is currently in sleep mode. For the second cell, the transmit channel is in the closed state (Tx Off).

[0236] Referring to (b) in Figure 5, the Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell receives a downlink reference signal in the first cell. When the signal strength of the downlink reference signal is lower than the set threshold, the terminal sends a WUS in the first cell according to the WUS resource configuration information in the downlink reference signal. The network device measures the WUS and determines that the Idle / Inactive terminal meets the cell reselection conditions based on the measurement results (for example, the signal strength of the WUS is weak). Therefore, the network device sends a DL-Response in the first cell to instruct the Idle / Inactive terminal to perform cell reselection, and the target cell is the second cell. Since the second cell is currently in sleep mode, the network device turns on the transmission channel and starts to periodically send a downlink reference signal in the second cell.

[0237] Referring to (c) in Figure 5 , if the network device does not receive a WUS and / or UL-Response with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold within a set time period, it sends a DL-RS in the first cell. After an Idle / Inactive terminal receives a DL-RS, if the signal strength of the DL-RS is greater than the set threshold, it sends a UL-Response in the first cell.

[0238] Refer to (d) in Figure 5. After the terminal resides in the second cell, in the first cell, the network device determines that there is no Connected terminal in the first cell, and no UL-Response with a signal strength greater than the set threshold is received within a certain period of time. Therefore, it is determined that there is no Idle / Inactive terminal in the first cell, so the transmission channel of the first cell is closed, and the sending of downlink reference signals in the first cell is stopped. Further, the sending of other downlink signals, such as DL-RS, can also be stopped.

[0239] In the scenario shown in Figure 5 above, the network device sends a DL-Response in the first cell and determines that the conditions for sending a DL-RS in the first cell are met, and then sends a DL-RS in the first cell as an example. It should be understood that as long as the network device determines that the conditions for sending a DL-RS in the first cell are met, it can send a DL-RS in the first cell according to the configuration information of the DL-RS. Therefore, there is no absolute order between the time domain position of the DL-RS and the time domain position of the DL-Response.

[0240] In the cell reselection process shown in Figure 1, idle / inactive terminals independently measure cells based on downlink signals and reselect based on the measurement results. There is no interaction between idle / inactive terminals and network devices, and network devices are unaware of their presence. To ensure that any idle / inactive terminals can reselect cells based on downlink signal measurements, network devices need to periodically transmit downlink signals, resulting in high energy consumption.

[0241] To this end, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and related devices and systems that can implement the method. The method can be applied to the above-mentioned energy-saving scenarios to achieve network energy conservation. Through embodiments of the present application, network devices can be aware of idle / inactive terminals, and can then determine whether to shut down downlink signal transmission based on the presence or absence of idle / inactive terminals, thereby achieving network energy conservation.

[0242] The execution entities of the communication methods provided in other embodiments of the present application are described using network devices and terminal devices as examples. For ease of understanding, the embodiments of the present application are described using the terminal device as a terminal or a chip, unit, or module within a terminal, and the network device as a network device or a chip, unit, or module within a network device as an example.

[0243] Based on the network system architecture shown in FIG2 and the related technical descriptions above, FIG6 exemplarily illustrates a flow diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The solution in FIG6 is described using the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example. Specifically, the flow is described using the network device as a network device and the terminal device as a terminal. The relevant descriptions of the network device and the terminal device are referred to above and are not repeated here.

[0244] The terminals mentioned in the following description, unless otherwise specified, refer to terminals in the idle / inactive state.

[0245] As shown in FIG6 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0246] Step 601: A network device periodically sends a first downlink reference signal in a first cell.

[0247] Step 602: The terminal sends an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell.

[0248] In a possible implementation, the uplink wake-up signal is sent periodically.

[0249] In another possible implementation, the uplink wake-up signal is sent when a set condition is met.

[0250] Step 603: When the network device determines that the first cell meets the first condition, it stops sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0251] In one possible implementation, when an uplink wake-up signal is periodically transmitted, if the network device determines that there are no connected terminals in the first cell and that no uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is received on an uplink signal resource within a set duration, the network device stops transmitting the first downlink reference signal in the first cell. The uplink signal resource includes resources used for transmitting the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell as indicated by resource configuration information in the first downlink reference signal.

[0252] In another possible implementation, the uplink wake-up signal includes an uplink wake-up signal that is sent non-periodically, and the terminal sends the uplink wake-up signal only when it determines that the set conditions are met. For a network device, if the network device does not receive an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold on an uplink signal resource within a set time period, a second downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, and the second downlink reference signal is used to trigger the Idle / Inactive state terminal that receives the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell. The uplink signal resources include the resources used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and / or the resources used for the uplink response signal, as indicated by the resource configuration information in the first downlink reference signal. Accordingly, if the network device determines that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and does not receive an uplink response signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold on the resource used for the uplink response signal within a set time period, it stops sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

[0253] For the specific implementation of each step in the method described in FIG6 , please refer to the relevant content in the previous text.

[0254] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the network devices and terminals include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in conjunction with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0255] Figures 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be one of the terminals 120a-120j shown in Figure 2, or it can be the base station 110a or 110b shown in Figure 2, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal or base station.

[0256] As shown in Figure 7, a communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a transceiver unit 720. The communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal or network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3 or Figure 6 above.

[0257] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3: the transceiver unit 720 receives an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal in a first cell, and the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; the processing unit 710 determines whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition based on the uplink wake-up signal; if it is determined that the terminal meets the cell reselection condition, downlink indication information is sent in the first cell through the transceiver unit 720, and the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection.

[0258] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3: the processing unit 710 is used to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell through the transceiver unit 720, and the uplink wake-up signal is used by the network device to determine whether the terminal meets the cell reselection condition, the terminal is the terminal that sends the uplink wake-up signal, and the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive downlink indication information in the first cell, and the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection; the processing unit 710 is used to perform cell reselection or make a cell reselection decision based on the downlink indication information.

[0259] When the communication device 700 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 6: the processing unit 710 is used to send a first downlink reference signal in the first cell through the transceiver unit 720, the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information and an initial access signal block, the resource configuration information indicates the resources used by the terminal to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, the initial access signal block includes a synchronization signal, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically; the transceiver unit 720 is used to receive an uplink wake-up signal from the terminal in the first cell, and the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; the processing unit 710 is used to stop sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell when it is determined that the first cell meets the first condition.

[0260] A more detailed description of the processing unit 710 and the transceiver unit 720 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in Figure 3 or Figure 6, and is not repeated here.

[0261] As shown in Figure 8, communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and an interface circuit 820. Processor 810 and interface circuit 820 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 820 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 800 may further include a memory 830 for storing instructions executed by processor 810, input data required by processor 810 to execute instructions, or data generated after processor 810 executes instructions.

[0262] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 3 or 6 , the processor 810 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 710 , and the interface circuit 820 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 720 .

[0263] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal, the terminal chip implements the terminal functions in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal; or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the network device.

[0264] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a network device, the network device module implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The network device module receives information from other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal to the network device; or the network device module sends information to other modules in the network device (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal. The network device module here can be a baseband chip of the network device, or it can be a DU or other module. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0265] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0266] This application provides another example of a communication device, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being coupled together, the at least one memory being used to store instructions. When the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the communication device performs the method described in the above embodiments. For example, as shown in FIG8 , a communication device 800 includes a processor 810 and a memory 830. The processor 810 and the memory 830 are coupled together, and the memory 830 stores instructions. When the instructions stored in the memory 830 are executed by the processor 810, the communication device 800 performs the method described in the above embodiments by the terminal or network device.

[0267] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal. The processor and storage medium can also exist in a network device or a terminal as discrete components.

[0268] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0269] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0270] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0271] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving, in a first cell, an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal, where the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; Determining whether the terminal meets a cell reselection condition according to the uplink wake-up signal; If it is determined that the terminal meets the cell reselection condition, downlink indication information is sent in the first cell, and the downlink indication information instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: Before the first cell receives the uplink wake-up signal, a first downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, where the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The resource configuration information includes first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource, where the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell; or The resource configuration information includes first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource, where the first resource is a resource used by a cell in a first cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal, and the first cell group includes the first cell.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The resource configuration information includes M configuration information, the M configuration information includes first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, which is a resource used by a cell in a first cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal, and the second configuration information indicates a second resource, which is a resource used by a second cell to send an uplink wake-up signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: The resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, the N candidate configuration information indicating N candidate resources used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, the N candidate configuration information being associated with K terminal identifiers, where N and K are both integers greater than or equal to 1; After the first cell receives the uplink wake-up signal from the terminal, the method further includes: Determine first configuration information corresponding to the resource of the uplink wake-up signal, where the first configuration information is one of the N candidate configuration information; A terminal that sends the uplink wake-up signal is determined according to the terminal identifier associated with the first configuration information.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: The resource configuration information includes one or more of the following information: The transmission period of the uplink wake-up signal, the time domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the time domain symbol of the uplink wake-up signal, the frequency domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the frequency domain carrier of the uplink wake-up signal, the root sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the zero correlation domain of the sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the target receiving strength of the uplink wake-up signal, the maximum number of power ramping times of the uplink wake-up signal, and the power ramping step size of the uplink wake-up signal; Among them, the time domain offset indicates the offset of the time domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the time domain where the first downlink reference signal is located, and the frequency domain offset indicates the offset of the frequency domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the frequency domain where the first downlink reference signal is located.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that: The first downlink reference signal also includes an initial access signal block, or includes an initial access signal block and system information; wherein the initial access signal block includes one or more of the following information: a synchronization signal, a synchronization signal block SSB, and partial information in a synchronization signal or a master information block MIB.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that: Also includes: Determine that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that an uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, and stop sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell, wherein the uplink signal resource includes the resources used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell indicated by the resource configuration information.

9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that: Also includes: If an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, a second downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, and the second downlink reference signal is used to trigger an idle state and an inactive state terminal that receives the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell; wherein the uplink signal resource includes a resource indicated by the resource configuration information and used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and / or a resource used for sending the uplink response signal in the first cell; The determining that the first cell satisfies a first condition includes: It is determined that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that the uplink response signal having a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the resource used by the uplink response signal within a set time period.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The downlink indication information includes first information, the first information indicates a format of first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and the first configuration information is associated with at least one terminal identifier.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The downlink indication information further includes third information, and the third information indicates a target cell.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The third information indicates one or more of the following information: The cell identifier of the target cell; Downlink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate resources used for sending a downlink reference signal on the target cell, the downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, the resource configuration information indicates resources for sending an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell, and the downlink reference signal is sent periodically; The uplink signal resource configuration information is used to indicate the resources used to send an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell. The uplink wake-up signal is used by a network device to determine whether the terminal satisfies a cell reselection condition after residing in the target cell.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that Also includes: If the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal has been stopped in the target cell, and the target cell is a cell under the network device, restarting the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal in the target cell; or If the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal has stopped in the target cell, and the target cell is a cell under another network device, the other network device is instructed to restart the periodic sending of the downlink reference signal in the target cell.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that: Also includes: Receiving an uplink wake-up signal from the terminal in the second cell; The determining, according to the uplink wake-up signal, whether the terminal meets a cell reselection condition includes: It is determined whether the terminal meets a cell reselection condition according to the signal strength of the uplink wake-up signal received in the first cell and the signal strength of the uplink signal received in the second cell.

15. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Sending an uplink wake-up signal in a first cell, where the uplink wake-up signal is used by a network device to determine whether a terminal meets a cell reselection condition, where the terminal is a terminal that sends the uplink wake-up signal, and the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; receiving downlink indication information in the first cell, the downlink indication information instructing the terminal to perform cell reselection; Perform cell reselection or make a cell reselection decision according to the downlink indication information.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that Before the first cell sends the uplink wake-up signal, the method further includes: receiving, in the first cell, a first downlink reference signal, where the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information and is sent periodically; The sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: The uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell according to the resource configuration information.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The resource configuration information includes first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource, where the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell; or The resource configuration information includes first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource, where the first resource is a resource used by a cell in a first cell group to send an uplink wakeup, and the first cell group includes the first cell.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The resource configuration information includes M configuration information, the M configuration information includes first configuration information and second configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used by a cell in a first cell group to send an uplink wake-up signal, and the second configuration information indicates a second resource, the second resource is a resource used by a second cell to send an uplink wake-up signal; The sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: Sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell according to the first configuration information; The method further comprises: An uplink wake-up signal is sent in the second cell according to the second configuration information.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that: The resource configuration information includes N candidate configuration information, the N candidate configuration information indicating N candidate resources used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, the N candidate configuration information being associated with K terminal identifiers, where N and K are both integers greater than or equal to 1; The sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: Determine, according to the identifier of the terminal, first configuration information associated with the identifier of the terminal among the N candidate configuration information; The uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell according to the first configuration information.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that: The resource configuration information includes one or more of the following information: The transmission period of the uplink wake-up signal, the time domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the time domain symbol of the uplink wake-up signal, the frequency domain offset of the uplink wake-up signal, the absolute position of the frequency domain carrier of the uplink wake-up signal, the root sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the zero correlation domain of the sequence of the uplink wake-up signal, the target receiving strength of the uplink wake-up signal, the maximum number of power ramping times of the uplink wake-up signal, and the power ramping step size of the uplink wake-up signal; Among them, the time domain offset indicates the offset of the time domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the time domain where the first downlink reference signal is located, and the frequency domain offset indicates the offset of the frequency domain where the uplink wake-up signal is located relative to the frequency domain where the first downlink reference signal is located.

21. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, characterized in that: The first downlink reference signal also includes an initial access signal block, or includes an initial access signal block and system information; wherein the initial access signal block includes one or more of the following information: a synchronization signal, a synchronization signal block SSB, and partial information in a synchronization signal or a master information block MIB.

22. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 21, characterized in that: The downlink indication information includes first information, the first information indicates a format of first configuration information, the first configuration information indicates a first resource, the first resource is a resource used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and the first configuration information is associated with at least one terminal identifier; The performing cell reselection or making a cell reselection decision according to the downlink indication information includes: Determine, according to the format of the first configuration information indicated by the first information, a terminal identifier associated with the format; If the terminal identifier associated with the format includes the identifier of the terminal, cell reselection is performed or a cell reselection decision is performed.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein: The downlink indication information further includes third information, and the third information indicates a target cell; The performing cell reselection or making a cell reselection decision according to the downlink indication information includes: camping on the target cell according to the target cell indicated by the third information; or The first cell and the target cell are measured to obtain measurement results, and the mobile station resides in the first cell or the target cell according to the measurement results.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein: The third information indicates one or more of the following information: Downlink signal resource configuration information, used to indicate resources used for sending a downlink reference signal on the target cell, the downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, the resource configuration information indicates resources for sending an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell, and the downlink reference signal is sent periodically; The uplink signal resource configuration information is used to indicate the resources used to send an uplink wake-up signal on the target cell. The uplink wake-up signal is used by a network device to determine whether the terminal satisfies a cell reselection condition after residing in the target cell.

25. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 24, characterized in that The sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: The uplink wake-up signal is periodically sent in the first cell.

26. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 24, characterized in that Also includes: receiving a first downlink reference signal in the first cell, where the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information indicates a resource of the uplink wake-up signal, and where the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically; The sending an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell includes: When it is determined that the signal strength of the first downlink reference signal does not meet the set requirement, the uplink wake-up signal is sent in the first cell.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein: Also includes: Receiving a second downlink reference signal in the first cell; wherein the second downlink reference signal is sent when the network device does not receive an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold on an uplink signal resource within a set time period, and the uplink signal resource includes a resource indicated by the resource configuration information used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and / or a resource used to send the uplink response signal in the first cell; If the signal strength of the second downlink reference signal is greater than a set threshold, an uplink response signal is sent in the first cell, and the uplink response signal is used to determine whether the first cell meets a condition for stopping sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

28. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending a first downlink reference signal in a first cell, where the first downlink reference signal includes resource configuration information and an initial access signal block, The resource configuration information indicates resources used by the terminal to send an uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, the initial access signal block includes a synchronization signal, and the first downlink reference signal is sent periodically; Receiving, in the first cell, an uplink wake-up signal from a terminal, where the terminal is an idle or inactive terminal; When it is determined that the first cell satisfies the first condition, stopping sending the first downlink reference signal in the first cell.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein: The uplink wake-up signal is sent periodically; The determining that the first cell satisfies a first condition includes: Determine that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that the uplink wake-up signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period; wherein the uplink signal resource includes the resources used to send the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell indicated by the resource configuration information.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: The uplink wake-up signal is sent aperiodically; The method further comprises: If an uplink signal with a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the uplink signal resource within a set time period, a second downlink reference signal is sent in the first cell, and the second downlink reference signal is used to trigger an idle state and an inactive state terminal that receives the second downlink reference signal to send an uplink response signal in the first cell; wherein the uplink signal resource includes a resource indicated by the resource configuration information and used for sending the uplink wake-up signal in the first cell, and / or a resource used for sending the uplink response signal in the first cell; The determining that the first cell satisfies a first condition includes: It is determined that there is no connected terminal in the first cell, and that the uplink response signal having a signal strength exceeding a set threshold is not received on the resource used by the uplink response signal within a set time period.

31. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 28 to 30.

32. A communication device, characterized in that: include: The one or more processors are configured to execute the method of any one of claims 1-14, or to execute the method of any one of claims 15-27, or to execute the method of any one of claims 28-30.

33. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or implements the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27, or implements the method according to any one of claims 28 to 30.

34. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is called by a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27, or the method according to any one of claims 28 to 30.

35. A chip system, characterized in that: include: A memory for storing a computer program; a processor; when the processor calls and runs the computer program from the memory, the communication device equipped with the chip system executes the method described in any one of claims 1 to 14, or executes the method described in any one of claims 15 to 27, or executes the method described in any one of claims 28 to 30.

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