Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of mobile communication, and used to enable a base station to provide to a terminal device a downlink control channel monitoring configuration that adapts to the capability of the terminal device, so as to avoid missing detection of downlink control information. A network apparatus can acquire capability information reported by the terminal device, comprising acquiring at least two downlink control channel monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device. The network apparatus can also, on the basis of at least two downlink control channel monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device and the positions of a number M of downlink control channel monitoring occasions, determine a number N of downlink control channel monitoring time span combinations. Subsequently the network apparatus may, on the basis of a maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and / or a maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations, determine a PDCCH monitoring time span combination used by the terminal device to monitor a PDCCH, and send the PDCCH on the basis of the combination.

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 the People's Republic of China on September 26, 2023, with application number 202311288658.2 and invention name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] In a communication system, a network device can send downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal device through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). For example, the network device can configure the search space set (SS set) corresponding to each DCI to the terminal device through high-layer signaling, but does not inform the terminal device on which candidate PDCCH in the search space set the DCI will be sent. The terminal device can determine the PDCCH monitoring occasion (MO) based on the search space set, and monitor the candidate PDCCH in the PDCCH MO to see whether the DCI is carried. The terminal device will attempt to decode each candidate PDCCH to determine whether the corresponding DCI is received. This behavior is called blind detection (BD).

[0005] Currently, the monitoring mechanism of the terminal device for PDCCH MO needs to be optimized, which may lead to missed detection of DCI in some cases.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for enabling a base station to provide a terminal device with a PDCCH monitoring configuration adapted to the terminal device's capabilities to avoid DCI missed detection.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be implemented by a network device. The network device may be a network device or a component of a network device. The component in this application may include at least one of a chip, a chip system, a processor, a transceiver, a processing unit, or a transceiver unit. Taking the execution subject as a network device as an example, the method can be implemented through the following steps: the network device receives capability information sent by the terminal equipment, the capability information includes at least two physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring time span combinations for indicating support by the terminal equipment, and the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations have different maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span; the network device determines the positions of M PDCCH monitoring opportunities according to the search space set configuration information, where M is a positive integer greater than 1; the network device sends the search space set configuration information; the network device determines N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations according to the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations and the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; the network device determines the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH according to the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and / or the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations; the network device can also send PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH.

[0009] It can be understood that the network device determines N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations based on the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations and the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities, which can also be replaced by: the network device determines N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations based on the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations and / or the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities.

[0010] Based on the method shown in the first aspect, the network device can obtain the capability information reported by the terminal device, including obtaining at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device. The network device can also determine the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities based on the search space set configuration information, and further determine the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations based on the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device and the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities. Therefore, the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations can be the PDCCH monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device. The subsequent network device can determine the PDCCH monitoring time span combination used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH from the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations based on the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and / or the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations, and send the PDCCH according to the combination. Since the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations are determined based on the multiple PDCCH monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device, the PDCCH monitoring time span combination used to send the PDCCH is the PDCCH monitoring time span combination supported by the terminal device, so that the terminal device can monitor the PDCCH sent by the base station and avoid DCI missed detection.

[0011] In a possible implementation manner, the base station may select the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations that match the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities from the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations.

[0012] Based on this implementation method, the base station can sequentially use the PDCCH monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device to match the positions of M PDCCH monitoring opportunities to determine N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations that can match the positions of M PDCCH monitoring opportunities.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities satisfy: the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities are located in the same time slot, the length of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities is 1 symbol or 2 symbols, and the consecutive 3 symbols in the time slot include 3 PDCCH monitoring opportunities with a length of 1 symbol, or include 1 PDCCH monitoring opportunity with a length of 2 symbols and 1 PDCCH monitoring opportunity with a length of 1 symbol; the next symbol of the consecutive 3 symbols does not include a PDCCH monitoring opportunity.

[0014] Based on this implementation method, the base station can execute the method shown in this application when the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities meet the conditions, so as to avoid missed DCI detection due to inconsistent understanding of the PDCCH monitoring time span combination between the terminal device and the base station in the ambiguous scenario that meets the above conditions.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH is a PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the minimum maximum number of corresponding monitored candidate PDCCHs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations; and / or, the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH is a PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the minimum maximum number of corresponding non-overlapping CCEs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations.

[0016] Based on this implementation method, the base station can determine the PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the smallest maximum number of candidate PDCCHs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations and / or the PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the smallest maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs to avoid exceeding the configuration upper limit of the terminal device and causing DCI missed detection.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the number of candidate PDCCHs configured for the first PDCCH monitoring time span in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH does not exceed the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH; and / or, the number of non-overlapping CCEs configured for the first PDCCH monitoring time span does not exceed the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCH.

[0018] Based on this implementation, the base station does not allow PDCCH over-configuration in the first PDCCH monitoring time span, in order to avoid the terminal device missing DCI detection due to over-configuration.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations include: a PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the starting symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 2 symbols, and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 2 symbols. In addition, the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations also include: a PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the starting symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 4 symbols, and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols; and / or. A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the starting symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 7 symbols, and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols.

[0020] In a second aspect, a communication device is provided. The device can implement the method described in the first aspect and any possible design thereof. The device has the functions of the network device or the first terminal device described above. The device can be, for example, a terminal device, a functional module in a terminal device, a network device, or a functional module in a network device.

[0021] In an optional implementation, the device may include a module that performs the method / operation / step / action described in the first aspect, and the module may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In an optional implementation, the device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module, a communication module, etc.). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0022] Exemplarily, when the device is used to execute the method described in the first aspect, the device may include a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0023] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, comprising a processor for executing a computer program (or computer executable instructions) stored in a memory, so that when the computer program (or computer executable instructions) is executed, the device executes the method in the first aspect and its various possible implementations.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the processor and memory are integrated;

[0025] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0026] The communication device also includes a communication interface, which is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface can be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface.

[0027] In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program or instruction, which, when executed, enables the method shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0028] In a fifth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0029] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device for executing the method in the above-mentioned first aspect and its various possible implementations.

[0030] In the seventh aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a logic circuit (or it can be understood that the chip system includes a processor, and the processor may include a logic circuit, etc.), and may also include an input and output interface. The input and output interface can be used to input messages, and may also be used to output messages. The input and output interfaces may be the same interface, that is, the same interface can implement both the sending function and the receiving function; or, the input and output interfaces include an input interface and an output interface, the input interface is used to implement the receiving function, that is, for receiving messages; the output interface is used to implement the sending function, that is, for sending messages. The logic circuit can be used to perform operations other than the sending and receiving functions in the method shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof; the logic circuit can also be used to transmit messages to the input and output interface, or receive messages from other communication devices from the input and output interface. The chip system can be used to implement the method shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0031] Optionally, the chip system may further include a memory, which may be used to store instructions, and the logic circuit may call the instructions stored in the memory to implement corresponding functions.

[0032] In an eighth aspect, a communication system is provided, which may include a terminal device and a network device. The network device may be used to execute the method shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0033] The technical effects brought about by the above second to eighth aspects can be found in the description of the above first aspect and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a PDCCH MO position provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an upper limit of blind detection capability provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG4 is a span diagram of different PDCCH blind detection span groups provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a method for determining a PDCCH MO according to SS set configuration information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a method for determining a monitoring span combination for a UE to monitor a PDCCH provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another method for determining a monitoring span combination for a UE to monitor a PDCCH provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of an unreasonable PDCCH MO position provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 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 1 ) and at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1 ). 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 1 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 1 .

[0046] Radio access network equipment is the access device that terminals use to wirelessly access a communication system. Radio access network equipment can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, a next-generation base station in sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication systems, a base station in future mobile communication systems, or an access node in a WiFi 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 here implements the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and can also implement the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU implements the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, and can also implement some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The wireless access network device can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The wireless access network device can also be an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the wireless access network device. For example, the access network device can be applied to point-to-point transmission between the access network device and the UE or between UEs, multi-hop or relay transmission between a base station and the UE, dual connectivity (DC) or multi-connection between multiple base stations and UEs, and other scenarios. The present application can also be applied to transmission scenarios such as uplink, downlink, access link, backhaul link, and sidelink. For ease of description, network device is referred to as the abbreviation of wireless access network device, and base station is used as an example of wireless access network device.

[0047] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0048] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0049] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. To terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, to base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0050] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 GHz, spectrum above 6 GHz, or both. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0051] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0052] In this application, a base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal. When the terminal communicates with the serving cell, it will also be subject to interference from signals in neighboring cells.

[0053] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) are only used as examples of downlink data channels, downlink control channels and uplink data channels, respectively. In different systems and different scenarios, data channels and control channels may have different names, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0054] The current 3GPP related technical specifications support terminal devices to monitor PDCCH with a time span (span) as the granularity (or called span level). Among them, span can be defined as a number of consecutive orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time slot in which the terminal device is configured to monitor PDCCH. It can be understood that one span contains at least one PDCCH monitoring occasion (PDCCH MO). The starting symbol of one span is the starting symbol of one PDCCH MO, and the ending symbol of one span is the ending symbol of one PDCCH MO. Each PDCCH MO is completely contained in one span, that is, one PDCCH MO cannot cross the boundary of the span.

[0055] The PDCCH MO represents the starting time domain position and duration of a terminal device's blind detection of the PDCCH. The PDCCH MO is determined jointly by the monitoring start position of an SS set and the control resource set (CORESET) associated with the monitored SS set. In this application, "search space (SS)" and "search space set" are interchangeable. Alternatively, it can be understood that the SS set configuration information in this application includes SS configuration information or parameters.

[0056] As shown in Figure 2, the terminal device starts monitoring an SS set from the first symbol within a slot. This SS set is bound to a CORESET with a duration of three OFDM symbols. Therefore, the PDCCH MO for monitoring this SS set is the first three symbols of the slot: the first, second, and third symbols. The time domain symbol interval between PDCCH MO#1 and PDCCH MO#2 is three OFDM symbols. In the various figures of this application, PDCCH MO can be represented as MO.

[0057] In this application, the time span may also be referred to as a PDCCH monitoring time span (PDCCH monitoring span).

[0058] Compared with slot-based PDCCH monitoring, span-based PDCCH monitoring can achieve more flexible PDCCH monitoring. Generally speaking, the length of a span is much smaller than a slot. Therefore, when using span-based PDCCH monitoring, terminal devices do not need to use the same configuration for monitoring within a slot.

[0059] In this application, slot-level PDCCH monitoring or span-level PDCCH monitoring refers to the granularity of PDCCH monitoring or the granularity of the upper limit of blind detection capability. Among them, the granularity of PDCCH monitoring refers to the granularity of the upper limit of blind detection capability. The granularity of the upper limit of blind detection capability refers to the granularity applicable to the blind detection capability configured by the base station. If it is slot-level PDCCH monitoring, the upper limit of blind detection capability refers to the upper limit of blind detection capability within a slot; if it is span level, the upper limit of blind detection capability refers to the upper limit of blind detection capability within a span. In this application, the upper limit can refer to the maximum number. The maximum number can also be called the maximum number.

[0060] As shown in Figure 3, if slot-level PDCCH monitoring is used, the terminal device monitors within a single slot. The upper limit of the terminal device's blind detection capability is defined at the slot level. For example, for a cell with a 15 kHz subcarrier, the upper limit of the terminal device's blind detection capability is 44 times, defined based on a single 15 kHz subcarrier slot. In Figure 3, MO#1 to MO#4 represent four different PDCCH MOs.

[0061] If span-level PDCCH monitoring is used, the terminal device will monitor within each span within a slot. The upper limit of the terminal device's blind detection capability is defined by the span level. For example, for a cell with a 15kHz subcarrier and a span combination of (2,2), the terminal device's blind detection limit is 14 times. These 14 times are defined based on a span with a span combination of (2,2) within a 15kHz subcarrier slot. For another example, span#1 and span#2 shown in Figure 3 represent different PDCCH monitoring spans. For a cell with a 15kHz subcarrier and a span combination of (4,3), the terminal device's blind detection limit is 28 times. For span#1 and span#2 in Table 3, the upper limit of the blind detection limit for each span is 28 times.

[0062] Among them, the upper limit of blind detection capability includes the blind detection upper limit (BD limit) and the control channel element (CCE) upper limit. Among them, the blind detection upper limit refers to the maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates (maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates). The number of blind detections refers to the number of candidate PDCCHs to be monitored or the number of candidate PDCCHs used for monitoring or the number of monitored candidate PDCCHs. For example, the number of blind detections is 7 times, which can be understood as the number of candidate PDCCHs to be monitored is 7, or the number of candidate PDCCHs used for monitoring is 7, or the number of monitored candidate PDCCHs is 7. For span-level PDCCH monitoring, it refers to the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs contained in a span. The control channel element upper limit refers to the maximum number of non-overlapped CCEs. For span-level PDCCH monitoring, it refers to the maximum number of non-overlapped CCEs contained in a span.

[0063] Currently, the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP support a variety of span combinations, or combinations, or span patterns. The span combination can be expressed as a combination (X, Y), where X represents the minimum time domain interval between the starting symbols of two adjacent spans, and the unit is, for example, an OFDM symbol. For example, X represents the maximum number of symbols between the starting symbols of every two adjacent spans. Y represents the maximum length of each span, and the unit is, for example, an OFDM symbol. For example, Y represents the maximum number of symbols for each span. Span-level PDCCH monitoring introduces three span combinations, which are respectively denoted as (X, Y) = (7, 3), (X, Y) = (4, 3), and (X, Y) = (2, 2). In this application, the separation between the first symbols of every two spans is denoted as X'.

[0064] It can be understood that in the present application, (2, 2) can be used to represent a span combination with X=2 and Y=2, that is, a PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 2 symbols, and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 2 symbols. (4, 3) can be used to represent a span combination with X=4 and Y=3, that is, a PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 4 symbols, and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols. (7, 3) can be used to represent a span combination with X=7 and Y=3, that is, a PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 7 symbols, and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols. Subsequently, the span combination (X, Y) is represented by (X, Y).

[0065] In addition, the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP set different capacity upper limits for different span combinations (X, Y). As shown in Table 1, the blind detection upper limits of the three span combinations (X, Y) = (7, 3), (4, 3), and (2, 2) are recorded as In addition, as shown in Table 2, the upper limit of the control channel unit of the three span combinations (X, Y) = (7, 3), (4, 3), and (2, 2) is recorded as

[0066] Table 1

[0067] Table 2

[0068] In Table 1 and Table 2, μ=0 indicates that the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, and μ=1 indicates that the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz.

[0069] Currently in the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP, the description of the number of span time domain symbols Y is that each span contains at most Y symbols, that is, for a certain (X, Y), Y is the maximum number of consecutive OFDM symbols contained in a span. When a terminal device reports that it supports (X, Y) = {(2, 2), (4, 3)}, or reports (X, Y) = {(2, 2), (7, 3)}, or reports (X, Y) = {(2, 2), (4, 3), (7, 3)}, Y can take the value of 2 or 3. This will result in different understandings of the span combination used for PDCCH monitoring in a cell by the terminal device and the base station under certain PDCCH configurations. In this application, (X, Y) = {(X1, Y1), (X2, Y2)...} means that the UE supports all span combinations in {}.

[0070] For example, when Y can take the values ​​of 2 and 3, there may be at least two span combinations that meet the protocol constraints, that is, both span combinations can be used by the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH. At this time, if the terminal device and the base station have different understandings of the span combination, it will lead to the following problems: If the base station over-configures the PDCCH in the first span of a slot (PDCCH overbooking), it may cause PDCCH missed detection, reduce the transmission success rate, and increase transmission delay. PDCCH over-configuration means that the number of candidate PDCCHs for monitoring and / or the number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the search space set configured by the base station exceeds the blind detection capability of the terminal device. For example, the first span of the span combination (2, 2) screens candidate PDCCHs based on a BD upper limit of 14 and a CCE upper limit of 18, while the first span of the span combination (4, 3) screens candidate PDCCHs based on a BD upper limit of 28 and a CCE upper limit of 36. Although the maximum number of BDs or the maximum number of CCEs in the first three symbols of (2, 2) and (4, 3) are the same, when PDCCH is over-configured, the search space set or candidate PDCCHs used by the terminal for blind detection may be different from the search space set or candidate PDCCHs used by the base station to send the PDCCH, resulting in missed PDCCH detection. This is described below in conjunction with Figure 4. The terminal device performs candidate PDCCH screening according to predefined rules in the relevant 3GPP technical specifications (e.g., the pseudocode in Section 38.213-ge0, 10.1).

[0071] For example, for the PDCCH MO shown in MO#1 to MO#4 in Figure 4, the user-specific search space set (USS) includes USS#1 and USS#2. Among them, USS#1 includes 7 blind detection times corresponding to the configured candidate PDCCH, and USS#2 includes 10 blind detection times corresponding to the configured candidate PDCCH. USS#1 and USS#2 are configured in the first two symbols respectively, and USS#3 includes 14 blind detection times corresponding to the configured candidate PDCCH, which is configured on symbol 2. When the terminal device understands it according to the span combination (2, 2), USS#1 on span#1 does not exceed the BD upper limit of 14, but exceeds the BD upper limit of 14 when USS#2 is included. At this time, the terminal device does not monitor USS#2 on span#1 but only monitors USS#1. It can be seen that the terminal device monitors USS#1 and USS#3 on the first 3 symbols of this slot. If the base station interprets the span combination (4, 3), USS#1 on span#1 does not exceed the BD upper limit of 28, and including USS#2 does not exceed the BD upper limit either. However, including USS#3 will exceed the BD upper limit. Therefore, the base station does not send DCI on USS#3, but can send DCI on USS#1 and USS#2. Therefore, the terminal device may miss the DCI sent on USS#2 in the first three symbols of this time slot. In addition, on spans other than the first span in a slot, the base station ensures that the number of blind detections does not exceed the terminal device's capabilities. The terminal device performs blind detection according to the BD upper limit of 14 or the CCE upper limit of 18, while the base station transmits according to the BD upper limit of 28 and the CCE upper limit of 36. This will cause PDCCH to be missed, reducing the transmission success rate and increasing the transmission delay.

[0072] The present application provides a communication method for avoiding DCI missed detection caused by inconsistent understanding of span combinations between a terminal device and a base station, thereby reducing transmission delay. The execution subject of the method can be a terminal device or a module applied to a terminal device, and a network device or a module applied to a network device. The method is described below with reference to FIG5. In FIG5, the execution subject is described as a base station. The base station can be replaced by a network device, an access network device, a network device, or an access network device, etc. as needed.

[0073] S101: A base station receives capability information sent by a UE, where the capability information includes at least two PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE, wherein the at least two PDCCH span combinations have different maximum numbers of symbols of the PDCCH span.

[0074] S102: The base station determines the positions of M PDCCH MOs according to the SS set configuration information, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0075] S103: The base station sends SS set configuration information.

[0076] S104: The base station determines N PDCCH monitoring span combinations according to the positions of M PDCCH MOs of at least two PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE, where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0077] S105: The base station determines a PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH according to the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and / or the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations.

[0078] S106: The base station sends the PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitoring span combination used by the UE to monitor the PDCCH.

[0079] Accordingly, the UE monitors the PDCCH sent by the base station according to any one or more combinations of at least two PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE.

[0080] Based on the process shown in Figure 5, the base station can obtain at least two PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE based on the report of the UE, and select N PDCCH monitoring span combinations from them according to the positions of the M PDCCH MOs. Furthermore, the base station can determine a PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH from the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations. It can be seen that in this communication method, the base station can select the PDCCH monitoring span combination based on the capability information of the UE, thereby avoiding misunderstanding of the span combination. Optionally, the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs of the PDCCH monitoring span combination is the minimum value of the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs of the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and / or the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs of the PDCCH monitoring span combination is the minimum value of the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs of the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations.

[0081] The following is an introduction to S101.

[0082] In S101, the capability information sent by the UE may include information about span combinations supported by the UE, such as X information and / or Y information of the span combinations supported by the UE, so that the base station can learn the X information and / or Y information of the span combinations supported by the UE. For example, the UE can report that it supports the three PDCCH monitoring span combinations (X, Y) = {(7, 3), (4, 3), (2, 2)}, or the UE can report that it supports the two PDCCH monitoring span combinations (X, Y) = {(7, 3), (2, 2)}, or the UE can report that it supports the two PDCCH monitoring span combinations (X, Y) = {(4, 3), (2, 2)}. Accordingly, the UE and / or the base station can determine N span combinations based on the information about the span combinations supported by the UE and the positions of the M PDCCH MOs determined in S102.

[0083] Exemplarily, in the capability information, one way to indicate the span combinations supported by the UE is that each span combination supported by the relevant 3GPP technical specifications corresponds to an information element (IE) field or bit or bit string, which is used to indicate whether the UE supports the corresponding span combination. Taking bits as an example, when the value of the bit corresponding to the span combination (2, 2) is a numerical value indicating support (such as 0 or 1), it can be indicated that the UE supports the span combination (2, 2). Taking a bit-map as an example, the information reported by the UE may be a bitmap, and the subcarrier spacing of 15kHz and 30kHz corresponds to a three-bit bitmap respectively. The leftmost or first bit (bit 0) of the bitmap represents the combination (X, Y) = (7, 3), the next bit (bit 1) represents the combination (X, Y) = (4, 3), and the rightmost bit (bit 2) represents the combination (X, Y) = (2, 2). When the bit value is 1, it indicates that the corresponding span combination is supported. When the bit value is 0, it indicates that the corresponding span combination is not supported. For example, a bitmap of "100" indicates that the UE only supports the combination (X, Y) = (2, 2).

[0084] In addition, in the present application, it is not excluded that the capability information includes the value of Y supported by the UE, such as including Y=2 and Y=3.

[0085] S102 is introduced below.

[0086] In this application, SS set configuration information can be used to determine the location of PDCCH MO.

[0087] For example, the SS set configuration information may include any one or more of the following configurations: the index of the SS set, such as the search space identifier (e.g., the RRC parameter searchSpaceID); the index of the CORESET associated with the SS set, such as the control resource set identifier (e.g., the RRC parameter controlResourceSetId); the PDCCH monitoring period and time slot offset value, such as the monitoring time slot period and offset (e.g., the RRC parameter monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset); the starting symbol of PDCCH monitoring within a time slot, such as the monitoring symbol within the time slot (e.g., the RRC parameter monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot); the format of the monitored DCI; the type of the SS set, such as the search space type (e.g., the RRC parameter searchSpaceType).

[0088] As an example, the SS set configuration information may include the PDCCH monitoring start symbol of the SS set in a time slot and the index of the CORESET associated with the SS set. At this time, the base station may determine the position of the PDCCH MO according to the monitoring start symbol of the SS set and the CORESET associated with the SS set.

[0089] Taking Figure 6 as an example, the starting symbol of SS set 1 in a time slot is symbol 0, and the time domain symbol length of CORESET 1 associated with SS set 1 is 3 OFDM symbols. Therefore, based on the time domain symbol length of SS set 1 and the associated CORESET 1, the base station can determine that the corresponding PDCCH MO 1 starts at symbol 0 in the time slot and continues for 3 consecutive OFDM symbols. That is, the positions of PDCCH MO 1 are symbols 0, 1, and 2. It can also be understood that the PDCCH monitoring opportunity 1 determined by SS set 1 and CORESET 1 is located at symbols 0, 1, and 2 in the time slot. Similarly, the starting symbol of SS set 2 in a time slot is symbol 4, and the time domain symbol length of CORESET 2 associated with SS set 2 is 2 OFDM symbols. Therefore, based on SS set 2 and CORESET 2, the base station determines that PDCCH MO 2 is located at symbols 4 and 5 in the time slot.

[0090] The positions of the M PDCCH MOs in this application may satisfy the following conditions 1 or 2:

[0091] Condition 1: M PDCCH MOs are located in the same time slot, the length of the M PDCCH MOs is 1 symbol or 2 symbols, the consecutive 3 symbols in the time slot contain 3 PDCCH MOs with a length of 1 symbol, the next symbol after the consecutive 3 symbols does not contain PDCCH MO, or the consecutive two symbols after the consecutive 3 symbols do not contain PDCCH MO.

[0092] The three consecutive symbols may be the first three symbols of the time slot. When condition 1 is met, the positions of the M PDCCH MOs are shown in FIG7 , whereby symbols 0 to 3 in the time slot contain three PDCCH MOs of length 1 symbol.

[0093] Condition 2: M PDCCH MOs are located in the same time slot, the length of the M PDCCH MOs is 1 symbol or 2 symbols, the consecutive 3 symbols in the time slot contain 1 PDCCH MO with a length of 2 symbols and 1 PDCCH MO with a length of 1 symbol, the next symbol after the consecutive 3 symbols does not contain PDCCH MO, or the two consecutive symbols after the consecutive 3 symbols do not contain PDCCH MO.

[0094] The three consecutive symbols may be the first three symbols of the time slot. When condition 2 is met, the positions of the M PDCCH MOs are shown in FIG8 . It can be seen that symbols 0 to 1 in the figure contain a PDCCH MO of length 2 symbols, and symbol 3 contains a PDCCH MO of length 1 symbol.

[0095] The above conditions 1 and 2 can be used as the applicable conditions of this application. For example, after determining that the PDCCH MO meets condition 1 or condition 2, the base station can implement the method shown in the embodiment of this application.

[0096] It can be understood that if there is no interval of at least one symbol between three consecutive symbols containing PDCCH MO and the next PDCCH MO, then as shown in Figure 9, if Y = 3 is used to determine the span, span #1 will start with symbol 0 and end with symbol 2, meaning that span #1 contains three consecutive OFDM symbols. Span #2 is immediately adjacent to span #1, meaning that the start symbol of span #2 is the symbol following the end symbol of span #1, and there is no interval of at least one OFDM symbol between them. Therefore, the interval between the start symbols of span #1 and span #2 is 3, and the time domain length of span #1 is 3. This is the span combination (3, 3). However, this span combination is not defined in the current 3GPP technical specifications, meaning it is not a protocol-specified span combination. Therefore, terminal devices and base stations may consider the span combination determined by Y = 3 to be unreasonable, while considering the span combination determined by Y = 2 to be reasonable. This is not a scenario with span combination ambiguity. Therefore, if there is no symbol gap between three consecutive symbols containing PDCCH MO and the next PDCCH MO, it is not the scenario discussed in this application.

[0097] S103 is described below.

[0098] In S103, the SS set configuration information can refer to the description in S102.

[0099] It is understandable that the base station may execute S102 and S103 after generating the SS set configuration information of the UE. It is also understandable that the present application does not limit the time sequence between S103 and S102. For example, the base station may determine the positions of the M PDCCH MOs based on the SS set configuration information before sending the SS set configuration information to the UE. The base station may also determine the positions of the M PDCCH MOs after sending the SS set configuration information, or may send the SS set configuration information and determine the positions of the M PDCCH MOs at the same time.

[0100] S104 is described below.

[0101] Among them, the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE. In the present application, the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations may also be referred to as valid span combinations. For example, the base station may select N PDCCH monitoring span combinations that can match the positions of the M PDCCH MOs from at least two PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE, or the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations satisfy the rules predefined in the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP (e.g., 38.213-ge0). In the present application, "select" may also be replaced by "determine."

[0102] In the present application, the position matching of the PDCCH monitoring span combination and the M PDCCH MOs may mean that the span that meets the X and Y requirements of the PDCCH monitoring span combination can meet the following requirements: the start symbol of one span is the start symbol of one PDCCH MO among the M PDCCH MOs, the end symbol of one span is the end symbol of one PDCCH MO among the M PDCCH MOs, and each PDCCH MO among the M PDCCH MOs is completely contained in one span, that is, any PDCCH MO cannot cross the boundary of the span.

[0103] Optionally, among the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, the X values ​​of any two PDCCH monitoring span combinations are different, and / or the Y values ​​of any two PDCCH monitoring span combinations are different. That is, the maximum number of symbols of the spans in any two PDCCH monitoring span combinations is different, and / or the minimum time intervals between the start symbols of adjacent spans in any two PDCCH monitoring span combinations are different. For example, the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations include at least two span combinations of (7, 3), (4, 3), and (2, 2). For example, the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are the three span combinations of (X, Y) = {(7, 3), (4, 3), (2, 2)}, or the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are the two span combinations of (X, Y) = {(4, 3), (2, 2)}, or the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are the two span combinations of (X, Y) = {(7, 3), (2, 2)}.

[0104] Taking the PDCCH MO position shown in Figure 7 as an example, the time domain symbol length of PDCCH MO#1 is 1, and it is located at symbol 0; the time domain symbol length of PDCCH MO#2 is 1, and it is located at symbol 1; the time domain symbol length of PDCCH MO#3 is 1, and it is located at symbol 2; the time domain symbol length of PDCCH MO#4 is 2, and it is located at symbols 5 and 6; the time domain symbol length of PDCCH MO#5 is 2, and it is located at symbols 9 and 10. Assume that the PDCCH monitoring span combinations supported by the UE are (2, 2) and (4, 3), that is, the maximum time domain length of the span supported by the UE is Y=2 and / or Y=3. In S103, the base station can start from the starting symbol of the first PDCCH MO of a slot and determine the time domain position of the span according to Y=2 and Y=3 respectively. The determined span needs to meet the rules predefined by the protocol to be a valid span. For example, the protocol predefined rules may include: a span contains at least one PDCCH MO; the start symbol of a span is the start symbol of a PDCCH MO, the end symbol of a span is the end symbol of a PDCCH MO, and each PDCCH MO is completely contained within a span, that is, a PDCCH MO cannot cross the span boundary. It can be assumed that the time domain positions of the PDCCH MOs contained in each time slot are the same, or that the start symbol time interval between the first span of the next time slot and the last span of the previous time slot is at least four symbols.

[0105] Specifically, for the PDCCH MO positions shown in Figure 7, the base station can use Y = 2 to determine the span. Span #1 starts with symbol 0 and ends with symbol 1, meaning span #1 contains two PDCCH MOs, PDCCH MO #1 and PDCCH MO #2, satisfying the protocol's predefined constraints. Span #2 starts with symbol 2 and ends with symbol 2, containing one PDCCH MO, PDCCH MO #3. Similarly, span #3 and span #4 shown in Figure 7 are determined. After determining all spans within a slot, the base station can determine the span combination (X, Y) based on the time domain positions of two adjacent consecutive spans. The interval between the first symbols of span #1 and span #2 is X' = 2, so span #1 and span #2 satisfy the X of the span combination (2, 2). The interval between the first symbols of span #2 and span #3 is X' = 3, which is greater than 2, so span #2 and span #3 satisfy the X of the span combination (2, 2). The interval between the first symbols of span#3 and span#4 is X'=4, so span#3 and span#4 satisfy the X of span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3) at the same time. In one possible scenario, the base station also determines the satisfied span combination based on the distance between span#1 and span#3, the satisfied span combination based on the distance between span#1 and span#4, and the satisfied span combination based on the distance between span#2 and span#4. Since span#1 and span#2 only satisfy the X of span combination (2, 2), and span#2 and span#3, as well as span#3 and span#4, both satisfy the X of span combination (2, 2), then we understand that the valid span combination corresponding to this cell is (2, 2).

[0106] In addition, the base station can also use Y=3 to determine the span. Here, the starting symbol of span#1 is symbol 0 and the ending symbol is symbol 2, that is, span#1 can contain three PDCCH MOs, namely PDCCH MO#1, PDCCH MO#2, and PDCCH MO#3, satisfying the constraints predefined by the protocol. The starting symbol of span#2 is symbol 5 and the ending symbol is symbol 6, containing one PDCCH MO, namely PDCCH MO#4. The starting symbol of span#3 is symbol 9 and the ending symbol is symbol 10, containing one PDCCH MO, namely PDCCH MO#5. After all spans within a slot are determined, the span combination (X, Y) is determined based on the time domain position of the span. The interval between the first symbols of span#1 and span#2 is X'=5, which is greater than 4 and greater than 2. Therefore, span#1 and span#2 satisfy the X of the span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3). The interval between the first symbols of span#2 and span#3 is X'=4, which is equal to 4 and greater than 2. Therefore, span#2 and span#3 satisfy X for the span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3). In one possible scenario, the base station may also determine the span combination based on the distance between span#1 and span#3. The interval between the first symbols of span#1 and span#3 is X'=9, which is greater than 7, greater than 4, and greater than 2. Therefore, span#1 and span#3 satisfy X for the span combinations (2, 2), (4, 3), and (7, 3). Since span#1, span#2 and span#3 simultaneously meet the X of span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3), according to the predefined rules of the protocol, when multiple span combinations are met at the same time, the span combination (X, Y) with the smallest upper limit of the corresponding blind detection capability is determined as the span combination of the cell. According to Table 1 and Table 2, the span combination with the smallest upper limit of the blind detection capability among the span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3) is the span combination (4, 3). Therefore, the base station can determine that the valid span combination corresponding to this cell is (4, 3).

[0107] Therefore, the base station can determine that there are two valid span combinations for the PDCCH MO shown in Figure 7, namely span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3). In other words, at this time, the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3), that is, N=2.

[0108] Based on the same determination method, the base station can also determine that there are two valid span combinations for the PDCCH MO shown in Figure 8, namely span combinations (2, 2) and (7, 3). In other words, at this time, the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are span combinations (2, 2) and (7, 3), that is, N=2.

[0109] In the same manner as the base station determines N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, the base station can determine N span combinations according to the positions of the M PDCCH MOs. Still taking FIG. 7 as an example, the base station can determine the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations to be span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3).

[0110] Similarly, based on the scenario shown in FIG8 , the PDCCH monitoring span combination determined by the base station for monitoring the PDCCH is (7, 3).

[0111] S105 is described below.

[0112] It is understood that the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring PDCCH in this application can be used by the base station to send PDCCH (or DCI), and can also be used by the UE to monitor PDCCH. Therefore, the "PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring PDCCH" in this application can also be replaced by "PDCCH monitoring span combination used by the UE to monitor PDCCH".

[0113] Among them, the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored corresponding to the PDCCH monitoring span combination may be the BD upper limit corresponding to the PDCCH monitoring span combination, which can be obtained by querying Table 1. The maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the PDCCH monitoring span combination may be the CCE upper limit corresponding to the PDCCH monitoring span combination, which can be obtained by querying Table 2.

[0114] As an example of S104, the base station may determine the PDCCH monitoring span combination for the UE to monitor the PDCCH based on the size relationship between the maximum numbers of candidate PDCCHs corresponding to the N span combinations. For example, from the N span combinations, the PDCCH monitoring span combination with the smallest maximum number of candidate PDCCHs is selected as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH. For example, when the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are the two PDCCH monitoring span combinations (X, Y) = {(4, 3), (2, 2)}, according to Table 1, taking the BD upper limit of 15kHz subcarrier spacing as an example, the BD upper limit corresponding to the span combination (4, 3) is 28, which is greater than the BD upper limit of 14 corresponding to the span combination (2, 2). Therefore, the predefined rules in the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP can enable the base station to select the PDCCH monitoring span combination (2, 2) as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for the UE to monitor the PDCCH.

[0115] As an example of S104, the base station may determine the PDCCH monitoring span combination for the UE to monitor the PDCCH based on the size relationship between the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the N span combinations. For example, from the N span combinations, the PDCCH monitoring span combination with the smallest maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs is selected as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH. For example, when the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are the two PDCCH monitoring span combinations (X, Y) = {(4, 3), (2, 2)}, according to Table 2, taking the CCE upper limit of 15kHz subcarrier spacing as an example, the CCE upper limit corresponding to the span combination (4, 3) is 36, which is greater than the CCE upper limit of 18 corresponding to the span combination (2, 2). Therefore, the predefined rules in the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP can enable the base station to select the PDCCH monitoring span combination (2, 2) as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for the UE to monitor the PDCCH.

[0116] Taking Figure 7 as an example, based on S103, the base station can determine that the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations are span combinations (2, 2) and (4, 3). By querying Table 1, it can be seen that (2, 2) corresponds to Less than (4, 3) Therefore, the base station can determine the PDCCH monitoring span combination (4, 3) as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring PDCCH. In addition, by querying Table 2, it can be known that (2, 2) corresponds to Less than (4, 3) Therefore, the base station may determine the PDCCH monitoring span combination (2, 2) as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH.

[0117] S106 is described below.

[0118] It can be understood that the present application does not make specific requirements on how the UE determines the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH. As an example, the UE can adopt any one of the at least two PDCCH monitoring span combinations it supports as the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH. As another example, after receiving the SS set configuration information shown in S103, the UE can refer to the method for the base station to determine the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH described in S105 to determine the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring the PDCCH, that is, select the PDCCH monitoring span combination with the smallest blind detection capability.

[0119] For example, the UE may determine that the span combination used for PDCCH monitoring is the smallest span combination among the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs of the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and / or that the span combination used for PDCCH monitoring is the smallest span combination among the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs of the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations. The UE may also determine that the span combination used for PDCCH monitoring is the largest span combination among the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs of the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and / or that the span combination used for PDCCH monitoring is the largest span combination among the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs of the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations. Since the base station sends PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitoring span combination corresponding to the minimum value of the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs and / or the minimum value of the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs, if the UE also monitors PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitoring span combination corresponding to the minimum value of the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs and / or the minimum value of the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs, it is exactly consistent with the base station's understanding of the span combination of this cell, and the UE will not miss the PDCCH; in addition, if the UE monitors PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitoring span combination corresponding to the maximum value of the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs and / or the maximum value of the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs, the UE will also not miss the PDCCH. Therefore, it can avoid the UE and the base station using different PDCCH monitoring span combinations for transmission, which may cause the terminal device to miss the DCI, thereby improving the PDCCH transmission success rate.

[0120] Still taking Figure 7 as an example, when the UE supports span combination (2, 2) and span combination (4, 3), the base station can use span combination (2, 2) to send PDCCH, and accordingly, the UE can use span combination (2, 2) or span combination (4, 3) to monitor PDCCH.

[0121] In a possible embodiment, when configuring the blind detection capability at the span level, the base station may also ensure that the PDCCH is not over-configured in the first span within a time slot.

[0122] Among them, on the one hand, when using the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring PDCCH, the number of candidate PDCCHs configured by the base station in the first PDCCH monitoring span in any time slot does not exceed the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored by the PDCCH monitoring span combination for monitoring PDCCH For example, for the span combination (2,2), when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, the number of candidate PDCCHs configured for the first PDCCH monitoring span in the time slot does not exceed 14.

[0123] On the other hand, the number of non-overlapping CCEs configured by the base station for the first PDCCH monitoring span in any time slot does not exceed the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination used to monitor the PDCCH. For example, for the span combination (2,2), when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, the number of non-overlapping CCEs configured for the first PDCCH monitoring span in the time slot does not exceed 18.

[0124] It can be understood that the present application does not limit the time sequence in which the base station determines the positions of the M PDCCH MOs, determines the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and determines the PDCCH monitoring span combinations used by the UE to monitor the PDCCH in the process of Figure 5. For example, the base station can determine the positions of the M PDCCH MOs, determine the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and determine at least one of the PDCCH monitoring span combinations used by the UE to monitor the PDCCH based on the SS set configuration information before sending the SS set configuration information to the UE. The base station can also determine the positions of the M PDCCH MOs, determine the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and determine at least one of the PDCCH monitoring span combinations used by the UE to monitor the PDCCH after sending the SS set configuration information. It can also send the SS set configuration information and determine the positions of the M PDCCH MOs, determine the N PDCCH monitoring span combinations, and determine at least one of the PDCCH monitoring span combinations used by the UE to monitor the PDCCH at the same time.

[0125] It is understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the base station and the terminal 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 the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, this 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 computer software-driven hardware manner depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0126] Figures 10 and 11 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 base station in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by 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 1, or it can be the base station 110a or 110b shown in Figure 1, or it can be a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal or base station.

[0127] As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processing unit 1010 and a transceiver unit 1020. The communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the UE or base station in the method embodiment shown in Figure 5 above.

[0128] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of a base station in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 , the transceiver unit 1020 may be used to receive capability information of a UE; the processing unit 1010 may be used to execute one or more of S102 , S104 , and S105 to determine a listening time span combination for monitoring a PDCCH and receive the PDCCH. The transceiver unit 1020 may also be used to send SS set configuration information and / or send a PDCCH based on the listening time span combination used by the UE to monitor the PDCCH.

[0129] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1010 and the transceiver unit 1020 , reference may be made to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG5 .

[0130] As shown in Figure 11, communication device 1100 includes a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1120. Processor 1110 and interface circuit 1120 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 1120 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1100 may further include a memory 1130 for storing instructions executed by processor 1110, input data required by processor 1110 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1110 after executing instructions.

[0131] When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 5 , the processor 1110 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1010 , and the interface circuit 1120 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1020 .

[0132] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a UE, the UE chip implements the functions of the UE in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The UE chip receives information sent by the base station to the UE through other modules in the UE (such as a radio frequency module or antenna); or the UE chip sends information to other modules in the UE (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the UE to the base station.

[0133] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a base station, the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the UE to the base station; or, the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the UE. The base station module here can be a baseband chip of a base station, or a CU, DU or other module, or a device under an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture, such as an open CU, open DU or other devices.

[0134] 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.

[0135] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disk, mobile hard disk, CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a UE. The processor and storage medium can also exist in a base station or a UE as discrete components.

[0136] 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.

[0137] 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.

[0138] Part or all of the operations and functions performed by the communication device described in the above method embodiments of the present application can be completed using a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0139] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the above method embodiment.

[0140] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above method embodiment.

[0141] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include a terminal device and a network device, for implementing the methods shown in various embodiments of the present application.

[0142] 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.

[0143] 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.

[0144] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application can be applied to wireless communications between communication devices. Wireless communications between communication devices may include: wireless communications between network devices and terminals, wireless communications between network devices, and wireless communications between terminals. In the embodiments of this application, the term "wireless communications" may also be referred to as "communication," which may also be described as "data transmission," "information transmission," or "transmission."

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving capability information sent by a terminal device, the capability information including at least two physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device, the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations having different maximum numbers of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time spans; Determine the positions of M PDCCH monitoring opportunities according to the search space set configuration information, where M is a positive integer greater than 1; Sending the search space set configuration information; Determine N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations according to the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations and the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; Determine a PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH according to the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and / or the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations; The PDCCH is sent according to the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations according to the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations and the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities includes: The N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations matching the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities are selected from the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities satisfy: The M PDCCH monitoring opportunities are located in the same time slot, the length of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities is 1 symbol or 2 symbols, and 3 consecutive symbols in the time slot include 3 PDCCH monitoring opportunities with a length of 1 symbol, or include 1 PDCCH monitoring opportunity with a length of 2 symbols and 1 PDCCH monitoring opportunity with a length of 1 symbol; The next symbol of the three consecutive symbols does not include a PDCCH monitoring opportunity.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH is the PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the smallest maximum number of corresponding monitored candidate PDCCHs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations; and / or, The PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH is a PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the smallest maximum number of corresponding non-overlapping CCEs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The number of candidate PDCCHs configured for the first PDCCH monitoring time span in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCHs does not exceed the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCHs; and / or, The number of non-overlapping CCEs configured in the first PDCCH monitoring time span does not exceed the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination used to monitor the PDCCH.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations include: A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 2 symbols and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 2 symbols; The N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations also include: A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 4 symbols and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols; and / or, A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 7 symbols and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols.

7. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A communication module, configured to receive capability information sent by a terminal device, wherein the capability information includes at least two physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring time span combinations supported by the terminal device, wherein the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations have different maximum numbers of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time spans; A processing module, used to determine the positions of M PDCCH monitoring opportunities according to the search space set configuration information, where M is a positive integer greater than 1; The communication module may also be used to send the search space set configuration information; The processing module is further configured to: The position of the machine determines N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations, where N is a positive integer greater than 1; and determines a PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH according to the maximum number of monitored candidate PDCCHs and / or the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs corresponding to the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations; The communication module may also be configured to send the PDCCH according to the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH.

8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that The processing module is specifically used for: The N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations matching the positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities are selected from the at least two PDCCH monitoring time span combinations.

9. The device according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The positions of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities satisfy: The M PDCCH monitoring opportunities are located in the same time slot, the length of the M PDCCH monitoring opportunities is 1 symbol or 2 symbols, and 3 consecutive symbols in the time slot include 3 PDCCH monitoring opportunities with a length of 1 symbol, or include 1 PDCCH monitoring opportunity with a length of 2 symbols and 1 PDCCH monitoring opportunity with a length of 1 symbol; The next symbol of the three consecutive symbols does not include a PDCCH monitoring opportunity.

10. The device according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH is the PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the smallest maximum number of corresponding monitored candidate PDCCHs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations; and / or, The PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring the PDCCH is a PDCCH monitoring time span combination with the smallest maximum number of corresponding non-overlapping CCEs among the N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations.

11. The device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that: The number of candidate PDCCHs configured for the first PDCCH monitoring time span in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCHs does not exceed the maximum number of candidate PDCCHs monitored in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination for monitoring PDCCHs; and / or, The number of non-overlapping CCEs configured in the first PDCCH monitoring time span does not exceed the maximum number of non-overlapping CCEs in the PDCCH monitoring time span combination used to monitor the PDCCH.

12. The device according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that: The N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations include: A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 2 symbols and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 2 symbols; The N PDCCH monitoring time span combinations also include: A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between the start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 4 symbols and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols; and / or, A PDCCH monitoring time span combination in which the minimum time interval between start symbols of adjacent PDCCH monitoring time spans is 7 symbols and the maximum number of symbols of the PDCCH monitoring time span is 3 symbols.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor configured to execute a computer program or an instruction to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is implemented.

15. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is executed by a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

16. A chip, characterized in that: The method comprises a logic circuit, wherein the logic circuit is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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