Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. In the method, a terminal device sends, on the basis of a first time domain resource, a preamble to a network device on a first RO satisfying a first condition among first PRACH resources, wherein the first time domain resources comprise at least one time domain resource of the network device for data channel transmission or control channel transmission, and the first condition is that a first time unit is within a first time window, the first time window being a window for monitoring a PDCCH corresponding to an RAR in response to said preamble, and the first time unit being a time unit that can be used for transmitting the PDCCH corresponding to an RAR among the first time domain resources. In the method, the terminal device can select, on the basis of the first time domain resources, an appropriate first RO from the first PRACH resources to initiate random access, so as to reduce the probability of random access failure of the terminal device caused by a RAR window timeout. The present method may be applied in an emergency ad hoc network.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 27, 2023, with application number 202311261031.8 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] In existing cellular mobile communication systems, terminal devices in various usage scenarios need to initiate random access in various scenarios. During the random access process, the terminal device can send a preamble to the network device on a PRACH resource in the PRACH resource set configured by the network device. Therefore, a PRACH resource is also called a random access channel occasion (RO). After receiving the preamble on the RO, the network device will send a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in response to the RAR of the preamble to the terminal device within the random access response (RAR) window corresponding to the RO. Correspondingly, the terminal device will also listen for the PDCCH in response to the RAR of the preamble within the corresponding RAR window after sending the preamble.

[0004] In some communication scenarios, to avoid interference, multiple network devices need to time-division multiplex air interface resources. For example, network device #1's available resources are system frame #1, network device #2's available resources are system frame #2, and network device #3's available resources are system frame #3. In this case, some time domain resources may be unavailable on each network device, causing random access failures for terminal devices.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device to reduce the probability of random access failure.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a terminal device, or may be executed by a component of the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0008] The method may include: receiving first indication information from a network device, the first indication information indicating a first time domain resource, the first time domain resource including a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; sending a preamble to the network device on a first random access opportunity RO, wherein the first RO is an RO in a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set that meets a first condition, the first PRACH resource set includes multiple ROs, the first condition is that the first time unit is within a first time window, the first time window is a window for monitoring a physical downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR in response to the preamble, and the first time unit is a time unit in the first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR.

[0009] In the above technical solution, the terminal device can select a suitable first RO in the first PRACH resource set based on the first time domain resource to initiate random access, so that the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the leading RAR transmitted on the first RO within the RAR window corresponding to the first RO (that is, the first time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0010] Optionally, in the present application, the transmission of the RAR and the PDCCH of the RAR uses the first time domain resources. The first time domain resources may fully or partially overlap with the first PRACH resource set, or may not overlap at all. In other words, PRACH does not belong to a control channel or a data channel.

[0011] In certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: determining a first RO based on the first indication information and the first PRACH resource set.

[0012] In certain implementations of the first aspect, the first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

[0013] In the above technical solution, by directly indicating the pattern corresponding to the first time domain resource, the signaling overhead of the network device can be saved. For example, if there are three different time-frequency resource patterns, the network device can indicate the pattern corresponding to the first time domain resource to the terminal device through 2 bits of information.

[0014] In certain implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information is carried in a master information block (MIB) message, a system information block (SIB1) message, or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.

[0015] In certain implementations of the first aspect, the first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource associated with a first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to the terminal device or an SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0016] It can be understood that the first SSB is the SSB corresponding to the terminal device, which means that the first SSB is any SSB among the SSBs received by the terminal device whose reference signal receiving power is greater than the corresponding threshold value.

[0017] For example, the first SSB is the optimal SSB corresponding to the terminal device, and the optimal SSB is the SSB with the highest reference signal receiving power or the largest signal strength among the SSBs received by the terminal device.

[0018] In certain implementations of the first aspect, the first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource determined based on a configuration from a network device.

[0019] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a network device, or may be executed by a component of the network device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0020] The method includes: sending first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information indicating a first time domain resource, the first time domain resource including a time domain resource used by a network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; receiving a preamble from the terminal device at a first random access opportunity RO, wherein the first RO satisfies a first condition, the first condition being that a first time unit is located within a first time window, the first time window being a window for the terminal device to monitor a downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR in response to the preamble, and the first time unit being a time unit in the first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR.

[0021] For the beneficial effects of the second aspect, please refer to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0022] In certain implementations of the second aspect, the first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

[0023] In certain implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information is carried in a master information block (MIB) message, a system information block (SIB1) message, or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.

[0024] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a component of the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0025] The method may include: receiving first indication information from a network device, the first indication information indicating a first time domain resource, the first time domain resource including a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; sending a preamble to the network device on a first RO, the first RO being an RO in a first PRACH resource set, the first PRACH resource set including multiple ROs; monitoring a downlink control channel PDCCH of a random access response RAR in response to the preamble sent on the first RO within a second time window, the starting position of the second time window being the starting position of a first time unit, and the first time unit being a time unit located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0026] In the above technical solution, by modifying the starting position of the RAR window specified in the existing standard, the starting position of the second RAR window is newly defined as the starting position of a time unit after the first RO in the first time domain resource, so that the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the leading RAR transmitted on the first RO within the RAR window corresponding to the first RO (that is, the second time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0027] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the length of the second time window is the length of a configured RAR window.

[0028] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the first time unit is the first time unit in the first time domain resource that is located after the first RO.

[0029] In the above technical solution, a specific method for determining the starting position of the RAR window corresponding to the RO is given, so that the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the leading RAR transmitted on the first RO within the RAR window corresponding to the first RO (i.e., the second time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0030] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the first time unit is a first time unit of a PDCCH that can be used to transmit an RAR and is located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0031] In the above technical solution, another specific method for determining the starting position of the RAR window corresponding to the RO is given, so that the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the leading RAR transmitted on the first RO within the RAR window corresponding to the first RO (i.e., the second time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0032] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

[0033] In the above technical solution, by directly indicating the pattern corresponding to the first time domain resource, the signaling overhead of the network device can be saved. For example, if there are three different time-frequency resource patterns, the network device can indicate the pattern corresponding to the first time domain resource to the terminal device through 2 bits of information.

[0034] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information is carried in a master information block (MIB) message, a system information block (SIB1) message, or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.

[0035] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource associated with a first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to the terminal device or an SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0036] It can be understood that the first SSB is the SSB corresponding to the terminal device, which means that the first SSB is any SSB among the SSBs received by the terminal device whose reference signal receiving power is greater than the corresponding threshold value.

[0037] For example, the first SSB is the optimal SSB corresponding to the terminal device, and the optimal SSB is the SSB with the highest reference signal receiving power or the largest signal strength among the SSBs received by the terminal device.

[0038] In certain implementations of the third aspect, the first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource determined based on a configuration from a network device.

[0039] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a network device, or can be executed by a component of the network device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0040] The method includes: sending first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information indicating a first time domain resource, the first time domain resource including a time domain resource used by a network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; receiving a preamble from the terminal device on a first random access opportunity RO; sending a downlink control channel PDCCH of a random access response RAR in response to the preamble to the terminal device within a second time window, the starting position of the second time window being the starting position of a first time unit, and the first time unit being a time unit located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0041] For the beneficial effects of the fourth aspect, please refer to the description of the third aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0042] In certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the length of the second time window is the length of a configured RAR window.

[0043] In certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first time unit is the first time unit in the first time domain resource that is located after the first RO.

[0044] In certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first time unit is a first time unit of a PDCCH that can be used to transmit an RAR and is located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0045] In certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

[0046] In certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first indication information is carried in a master information block MIB message, a system information block SIB1 message, or a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a component of the terminal device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0048] The method may include: receiving first information from a network device, the first information indicating a first PRACH resource set and a time domain offset value, the first PRACH resource set including multiple ROs, at least one first RO in the first PRACH resource set and at least one second RO corresponding to the offset based on the time domain offset value all satisfy a first condition, the first condition being that the first time unit is within a first time window, the first time window being a window for the terminal device to monitor a downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR in response to a preamble sent on a second RO, the first time unit being a time unit in the first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR, the first time domain resource including a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; and sending a preamble to the network device on one of the at least one second ROs.

[0049] Optionally, each first RO in the first PRACH resource set and its corresponding second RO after being offset based on the time domain offset value satisfies the first condition.

[0050] In the above technical solution, the network device adds a time domain offset configuration on the basis of the configuration of the first PRACH resource set according to the location of its own available resources, and instructs the terminal device to initiate random access on the RO corresponding to the RO offset in the first PRACH resource set. When the terminal device sends a preamble on the second RO after the time domain offset, the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the preamble transmitted on the second RO within the RAR window corresponding to the second RO (i.e., the second time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0051] In certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the method further includes: determining a second PRACH resource set, where the second RO is an RO in the second PRACH resource set, and the second PRACH resource set is the PRACH resource set corresponding to the RO in the first PRACH resource set after being offset based on the time domain offset value.

[0052] In certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and Δy is an integer; or, the time domain offset value includes a subframe offset value Δs, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δs subframes, and Δs is an integer; or, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy and a subframe offset value Δs, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by (s n +Δs)mod 10 subframes, sn Indicates the subframe where the RO in the first PRACH resource set is located, Δy is an integer, and Δs is an integer.

[0053] In certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first PRACH resource set is part or all of the PRACH resources associated with the first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is the SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0054] In certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the first PRACH resource set is part of the PRACH resources configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0055] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or can also be executed by a component of the network device (such as a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0056] The method includes: sending first information to a terminal device, the first information indicating a first physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set and a time domain offset value, the first PRACH resource set including multiple random access opportunities (ROs), at least one first RO in the first PRACH resource set corresponding to at least one second RO offset based on the time domain offset value meeting a first condition, the first condition being that a first time unit is located within a first time window, the first time window being a window for the terminal device to monitor a downlink control channel (PDCCH) corresponding to a random access response (RAR) in response to a preamble sent on a second RO, the first time unit being a time unit in a first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR, the first time domain resource including a time domain resource used by a network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; and receiving a preamble from the terminal device on one of the at least one second ROs.

[0057] Optionally, each first RO in the first PRACH resource set and its corresponding second RO after being offset based on the time domain offset value satisfies the first condition.

[0058] For the beneficial effects of the sixth aspect, please refer to the description of the fifth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0059] In certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the method further includes: determining a second PRACH resource set, the second RO being an RO in the second PRACH resource set, and the second PRACH resource set being the PRACH resource set corresponding to the RO in the first PRACH resource set after being offset based on the time domain offset value.

[0060] In certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and Δy is an integer; or, the time domain offset value includes a subframe offset value Δs, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δs subframes, and Δs is an integer; or, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy and / or a subframe offset value Δs, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by (s n +Δs)mod 10 subframes, s n Indicates the subframe where the RO in the first PRACH resource set is located, Δy is an integer, and Δs is an integer.

[0061] In certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first PRACH resource set is part or all of the PRACH resources associated with the first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is the SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0062] In certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first PRACH resource set is part of the PRACH resources configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0063] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, configured to execute the method provided in the first, third, or fifth aspects. Specifically, the device may include units and / or modules, such as a processing unit and / or a communication unit, configured to execute the method in any of the first, third, or fifth aspects, or any possible implementation of the first, third, or fifth aspects.

[0064] In one implementation, the apparatus is a terminal device. When the apparatus is a terminal device, the communication unit may be a transceiver or an input / output interface; and the processing unit may be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0065] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a terminal device. When the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a terminal device, the communication unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; and the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0066] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, the device being configured to execute the method provided in the second, fourth, or sixth aspect. Specifically, the device may include units and / or modules, such as a processing unit and / or a communication unit, for executing the method in any of the second, fourth, or sixth aspects, or any possible implementation of the second, fourth, or sixth aspects.

[0067] In one implementation, the apparatus is a network device. When the apparatus is a network device, the communication unit may be a transceiver or an input / output interface; and the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0068] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a network device. When the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a terminal device, the communication unit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip, chip system, or circuit; and the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0069] In the ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being used to store computer programs or instructions, and the at least one processor being used to call and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device executes the method in any one of the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect, or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the third aspect, or the fifth aspect.

[0070] In one implementation, the apparatus is a terminal device.

[0071] In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a chip system, or a circuit used in a terminal device.

[0072] In the tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being used to store computer programs or instructions, and the at least one processor being used to call and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, so that the communication device executes the method in any one of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the sixth aspect.

[0073] In one implementation, the apparatus is a network device.

[0074] In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a chip system, or a circuit used in a network device.

[0075] In an eleventh aspect, a processor is provided for executing the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0076] For the operations such as sending and acquiring / receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or if they do not conflict with their actual functions or internal logic in the relevant descriptions, they can be understood as processor output, reception, input and other operations, and can also be understood as sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and antenna. This application does not limit this.

[0077] In the twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program code for execution by a device, and the program code includes a method for executing any one of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 6 or any possible implementation of the aspects 1 to 6.

[0078] In the thirteenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any one of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 6 and any possible implementation of the aspects 1 to 6.

[0079] In the fourteenth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor reads instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface and executes the method in any one of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 6 or any possible implementation of aspects 1 to 6.

[0080] Optionally, as an implementation method, the chip also includes a memory, in which a computer program or instruction is stored, and the processor is used to execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the processor is used to execute the method in any one of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 6 or any possible implementation method of aspects 1 to 6.

[0081] In the fifteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the communication device shown in the ninth aspect and the tenth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0082] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0083] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an IAB network topology applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0084] FIG3 is a schematic flowchart of a contention-based random access.

[0085] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of configured PRACH resources in the time domain.

[0086] FIG5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 500 provided in this application.

[0087] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of patterns of multiple different time domain resources.

[0088] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of determining an RO for initiating random access based on method 500 .

[0089] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method 800 provided in this application.

[0090] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of determining a RARA time window corresponding to an RO based on method 800 .

[0091] FIG10 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method 1000 provided in this application.

[0092] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of shifting the RO in the first PRACH resource in the time domain based on method 1000 .

[0093] FIG12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0094] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0095] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0096] Before introducing the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained.

[0097] 1. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, “multiple” means two or more.

[0098] 2. In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided for by logic, 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 based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0099] 3. The various numerical numbers involved in this application are only used for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of this application. The size of the serial numbers involved in this application does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic. For example, the terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth" and other various terminology labels (if any) in the specification and claims and drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first information and the second information do not represent the difference in the amount of information, content, priority or importance.

[0100] 4. The terms "comprise", "include", "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such process, method, product or apparatus.

[0101] 5. In each embodiment of the present application, "network element A sends information A to network element B" can be understood as the destination end of the information A or the intermediate network element in the transmission path between the destination end and the network element B, which may include directly or indirectly sending information to network element B. "Network element B receives information A from network element A" can be understood as the source end of the information A or the intermediate network element in the transmission path between the source end and the network element A, which may include directly or indirectly receiving information from network element A. The information may be processed as necessary between the source end and the destination end of the information transmission, such as format changes, etc., but the destination end can understand the valid information from the source end. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be elaborated here.

[0102] In other words, sending and receiving can be performed between devices, for example, between terminal device #1 and terminal device #2, or can be performed within a device, for example, sending or receiving between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within the device through a bus, traces or interface.

[0103] 6. In the embodiments of the present application, indications include direct indications (also called explicit indications) and implicit indications. Direct indication of information A refers to including information A; implicit indication of information A refers to indicating information A through the correspondence between information A and information B and the direct indication of information B. The correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured.

[0104] 7. In the embodiments of the present application, information C is used to determine information D, which includes information D being determined solely based on information C, as well as information D being determined based on information C and other information. Furthermore, information C can also be used to determine information D indirectly, for example, where information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0105] 8. "Storage" or "saving" in the embodiments of this application may refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be provided separately or integrated into an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories may also be provided in part separately and in part integrated into a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of memory may be any form of storage medium and is not limited in this application.

[0106] 9. The “protocol” involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include a fourth generation (4G) network / fifth generation (5G) network protocol, a new radio (NR) protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems. This application does not limit this.

[0107] 10. The dotted arrows or boxes in the schematic diagrams in the accompanying drawings of this application specification represent optional steps or optional modules.

[0108] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, wireless local area networks (WLAN) systems, satellite communication systems, future communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) mobile communication systems, or a fusion system of multiple systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems.

[0109] A device in a communication system can send signals to or receive signals from another device. The signals may include information, signaling, or data. The term "device" may also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a communication device, a communication module, a node, a communication node, and the like. This disclosure uses devices as examples for description. For example, a communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device may send downlink signals to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device may send uplink signals to the network device. It is understood that the terminal device in this disclosure may be replaced by the first device, and the network device may be replaced by the second device, with both devices performing the corresponding communication methods in this disclosure.

[0110] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0111] The terminal device may be a device that provides voice / data, such as a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with a wireless connection function. At present, some examples of terminals are: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolved public land mobile communication networks (PLMNs). The terminal equipment in the network (PLMN), etc., is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0112] By way of example and not limitation, in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a portion of a network device used to implement terminal device functions. For example, the network device may be an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The IAB node integrates a mobile terminal (MT) and a distributed unit (DU), or an MT and a base station (BS), where the BS includes a CU and a DU. When the IAB node faces its parent node, it can be considered a terminal. In this case, the IAB node plays the role of the MT.

[0113] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0114] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the terminal device can be a terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to realize the function, such as a chip system, which can be installed in the terminal device or used in combination with the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices. In the embodiments of the present application, only the terminal device is used as an example for description, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0115] The network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device. For example, the network device may be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. The base station can broadly cover various names as follows, or be replaced with the following names, such as: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, IAB node (such as the BS functional part in the IAB node), access point, transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmitting point (transmitting point, TP), master station, auxiliary station, multi-standard radio (motor slide retainer, MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station can also refer to a communication module, a modem or a chip that is provided in the aforementioned device or apparatus. The base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs the base station function in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, a network side device in a 6G network, a device that performs the base station function in future communication systems, and the like. The base station can support networks with the same or different access technologies. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, and the like. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network equipment.

[0116] In some deployments, the network devices mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may include a CU, a DU, or both a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), and a DU node. For example, the network devices may include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP, and a gNB-DU.

[0117] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functionality. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, or RU. The CU and DU can be separate or included in the same network element, such as the BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio unit, such as an RRU, AAU, or RRH.

[0118] The RAN node may support one or more types of fronthaul interfaces, with different fronthaul interfaces corresponding to DUs and RUs with different functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more radio frequency functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is another type of interface, relative to the CPRI, some of the downlink and / or uplink baseband functions, such as precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or one or more of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) for downlink, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation; and for uplink, one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) removal, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In one possible implementation, the interface may be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). In the eCPRI architecture, the division between the DU and RU is different, corresponding to different types (category, Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, and F.

[0119] Taking eCPRI Cat A as an example, for downlink transmission, based on layer mapping, the DU is configured to implement layer mapping and one or more functions preceding it (i.e., one or more of coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, and layer mapping). Other functions after layer mapping (e.g., RE mapping, digital beamforming (BF), or one or more of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) addition) are moved to the RU for implementation. For uplink transmission, based on RE demapping, the DU is configured to implement demapping and one or more functions preceding it (i.e., one or more of decoding, rate matching, descrambling, demodulation, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), channel equalization, and RE demapping). Other functions after demapping (e.g., one or more of digital BF or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / CP removal) are moved to the RU for implementation. It is understandable that for the functional description of DU and RU corresponding to various types of eCPRI, reference can be made to the eCPRI protocol, which will not be described in detail here.

[0120] In one possible design, the processing unit for implementing baseband functions in the BBU is called a baseband high layer (BBH) unit, and the processing unit for implementing baseband functions in the RRU / AAU / RRH is called a baseband low layer (BBL) unit.

[0121] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0122] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the network device can be a network device; it can also be a device that can support the network device to implement the functions, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit and a software module. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the device for implementing the functions of the network device is used as an example to illustrate, and does not constitute a limitation on the solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0123] The network device and / or terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface; it can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and satellites in the air. The embodiments of this application do not limit the scenarios in which the network device and the terminal device are located. In addition, the terminal device and the network device can be hardware devices, or they can be software functions running on dedicated hardware, software functions running on general-purpose hardware, such as virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform), or entities including dedicated or general-purpose hardware devices and software functions. This application does not limit the specific forms of the terminal device and the network device.

[0124] The system architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0125] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system 100 includes at least one network device, such as the network device 110 shown in Figure 1; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as the terminal device 120 and / or the terminal device 130 shown in Figure 1. The network device 110 and the terminal devices 120 / 130 can communicate via a wireless link and exchange information. The communication devices in the communication system, for example, the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, can communicate via multi-antenna technology. It is understood that network devices and terminal devices may also be referred to as communication devices.

[0126] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to any of the following scenarios: relay, wireless mesh network, IAB, ad hoc network, etc. For example, the IAB scenario is introduced below.

[0127] With the development of technologies like VR, AR, and the Internet of Things, future networks will see an increasing number of devices, leading to a continuous increase in network data usage. To accommodate this growing number of devices and the rapidly increasing market demand for network data, higher capacity requirements are currently being placed on 5G networks. In hotspots, the use of high-frequency small cell networks is becoming increasingly popular to meet the ultra-high capacity demands of 5G. High-frequency carriers have poor propagation characteristics, suffer from severe attenuation due to obstruction, and have limited coverage. Therefore, a large number of small cells need to be densely deployed in hotspots. These small cells can serve as IAB nodes.

[0128] In order to design flexible and convenient access and backhaul solutions, the access link (AL) and backhaul link (BL) in the IAB scenario both adopt wireless transmission solutions. In a network containing IAB nodes (hereinafter referred to as the IAB network), the IAB node can provide wireless access services for terminal devices and connect to the donor node through a wireless backhaul link to transmit user business data. For example, the donor node can be called a donor base station. The donor base station can be referred to as an IAB donor or a donor next generation node base station (DgNB) in a 5G network. The donor node can be a complete entity, or it can be in a form where the CU and DU are separated, that is, the host node consists of a host CU (donor-CU) and a host DU (donor-DU). Among them, the donor-CU can also be in a form where the UP and CP are separated, that is, the donor-CU consists of CU-UP and CU-CP. The IAB node is connected to the core network through a wired link via the host node. For example, in a standalone 5G architecture, the IAB node connects to the 5G core (5GC) via a wired link via a donor node. In a non-standalone 5G architecture, the IAB node connects to the evolved packet core (EPC) via the eNB on the control plane and to the EPC via the donor node and eNB on the user plane.

[0129] To ensure the reliability of service transmission, the IAB network supports multi-hop IAB nodes and multi-connection IAB node networking. Therefore, there may be multiple transmission paths between host nodes. On a path, there is a definite hierarchical relationship between IAB nodes, as well as between IAB nodes and the host nodes they serve. Each IAB node regards the node that provides backhaul services to it as its parent node. Accordingly, each IAB node can be regarded as a child node of its parent node, or in other words, downstream (lower-level) nodes that are away from the host node of the IAB node and adjacent to the IAB node are called child nodes of the IAB node.

[0130] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an IAB network topology applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The parent node of IAB node 1 is the host node, which is in turn the parent node of IAB node 2 and IAB node 3. IAB node 2 and IAB node 3 are both the parent nodes of IAB node 4, and the parent node of IAB node 5 is IAB node 2. In the network architecture shown in Figure 2, the uplink data packet of the terminal can be transmitted to the host node via one or more IAB nodes, and then sent by the host node to a mobile gateway device (such as a user plane function (UPF) network element in a 5G network). The downlink data packet will be received by the host node from the mobile gateway device and then sent to the terminal via one or more IAB nodes. Exemplarily, the IAB node can be customer premises equipment (CPE) or a residential gateway (RG). Exemplarily, the terminal device and network device in the embodiment of the present application can correspond to a node and the parent node of the node in Figure 2. For example, the terminal device and network device in the embodiment of the present application can be terminal 1 and IAB node 4 (i.e., the parent node of terminal 1). For another example, the terminal device and the network device in the embodiment of the present application may be IAB node 3 and IAB node 1 (ie, the parent node of IAB node 3).

[0131] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of this application, a brief introduction to the relevant concepts involved in the application embodiments is first given.

[0132] 1. Radio frame: A radio frame can be divided into multiple radio frames in the time domain, and each radio frame has a length of 10 ms. For example, in this application, a radio frame may also be referred to as a system frame, a wireless system frame, or a frame.

[0133] 2. Subframe: A radio frame is divided into 10 subframes, numbered #0 to #9, and the length of each subframe is 1ms.

[0134] In the LTE system, since there is only one type of subcarrier spacing, that is, 15kHz, each subframe has 2 time slots, each time slot is 0.5ms. However, in the NR system, the time slot length depends on the subcarrier spacing. There are multiple optional subcarrier spacings, such as 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz, etc. The wider the subcarrier spacing, the shorter the time slot duration. For example, when the subcarrier is 30kHz, each subframe has 2 time slots, each time slot is 0.5ms, and each radio frame contains 20 time slots, numbered #0 to #19.

[0135] 3. System frame number (SFN): the number of each wireless frame.

[0136] 4. Time domain resources: In the embodiments of the present application, data or information can be carried by time domain resources. Time-frequency resources can include one or more time domain units (also called time units, time units, etc.).

[0137] In the time domain, the smallest granularity is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. A time domain unit (also called a time unit) can be a symbol, several OFDM symbols, a slot, a mini-slot, or a subframe. A slot can consist of 7 or 14 symbols; a mini-slot can include at least one symbol (e.g., 2 symbols, 7 symbols, 14 symbols, or any number of symbols less than or equal to 14 symbols); and a subframe can last 1 millisecond (ms) in the time domain.

[0138] In existing cellular mobile communication systems, terminal devices need to initiate random access in various scenarios for various purposes. Only after the random access is completed can data interoperation between the network device and the terminal device be carried out normally.

[0139] Figure 3 is a schematic flow chart of a contention-based random access process. The following describes the steps included in the process in detail.

[0140] S301: The terminal device sends a message 1 (Msg1) to the network device, and the network device receives the Msg1.

[0141] Before sending Message 1, in an existing LTE or NR system, the network device will configure a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource set in the uplink time slot for the terminal device in the cell. The PRACH resource set includes multiple PRACH resource subsets with a certain periodicity. The periodicity can be configurable. Each PRACH resource subset includes multiple PRACH resources. During the random access process, the terminal device can send a preamble to the network device on a PRACH resource in the PRACH resource set. Among them, a PRACH resource can include a random access occasion (RO).

[0142] Based on the system message received from the network device and the determined synchronization signal block (SSB or SS / PBCH) index, the terminal device selects one of the one or more ROs associated with the SSB index on the configured PRACH resource set to send the preamble. After determining the RO, the terminal device sends the preamble on the determined RO. It is understood that this preamble can also be referred to as Message 1 (Msg1).

[0143] In one technology, a network device can configure PRACH resources for a terminal device in an uplink timeslot using the RACH-ConfigGeneric (Random Access Channel - General Configuration) information element. The terminal device can then use the RO in the PRACH resources in the uplink timeslot for random access. Specifically, the terminal device can obtain time-domain location information such as the period, frame number, subframe number, timeslot number, and number of ROs in the timeslot by looking up Table 6.3.3.2-2 based on the prach-ConfigurationIndex (Physical Random Channel - Configuration Index) parameter in the high-layer RACH-ConfigGeneric information element sent by the network device. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the top three diagonal squares in Figure 4 are the frames where the PRACH is located. The time domain distance between two adjacent diagonal squares is the period of the PRACH resource. The middle layer is the subframe structure of the frame where the PRACH resource is located, where each diagonal square is filled with a subframe where the PRACH resource is located. The bottom layer is the time slot structure of the subframe where the PRACH resource is located, where the previous long square filled with a slash is the time slot where the PRACH resource is located. The time slot including the PRACH resource can be called a PRACH time slot. The PRACH time slot contains 6 small squares filled with slashes, each of which is 1 RO, that is, the PRACH time slot contains 6 ROs. Table 6.3.3.2-2 is introduced below.

[0144] Table 1 shows the information obtained by looking up Table 6.3.3.2-2 when the prach-ConfigurationIndex is 103. The following describes the parameters in Table 1.

[0145] Table 1

[0146] 1) prach-ConfigurationIndex is configured in the RACH-ConfigGeneric message. The value range of this parameter is 0 to 255. For example, Table 1 shows the corresponding table when this parameter is 103.

[0147] 2) Preamble format. For example, in Table 1, this parameter is A1, which means the preamble format is Format A1.

[0148] 3)n SFN modx=y is used to indicate the sequence number of the radio frame where the PRACH resource is located (i.e., the period of the PRACH resource in the time domain and the radio frame in which it is located). Where x is equivalent to the periodic value of the PRACH resource, and y represents the radio frame in which the PRACH resource is located. For example, in Table 1, n sFN mod 1=0, indicating that the network device configures PRACH resources for the terminal device in each radio frame.

[0149] 4) The subframe number is used to indicate the subframe number in which the PRACH resource is located. For example, in Table 1, this parameter is {2,7}, indicating that the network device configures PRACH resources for the terminal device in subframes 2 and 7 of each radio frame.

[0150] 5) Starting symbol l0 is used to indicate the position of the starting symbol of the first RO in the subframe where the PRACH resource is located. For example, in Table 1, this parameter is l0=0, indicating the position of the starting symbol of the first RO contained in subframe 2 and subframe 7 in each radio frame.

[0151] 6) Number of PRACH slots within a subframe Used to indicate the sequence number of the time slot where the PRACH resource is located. For example, in Table 1, this parameter is 2, indicating

[0152] 7) Number of time-domain RACH occasions within a PRACH slot Used to indicate the number of ROs contained in a PRACH time slot. For example, in Table 1 Indicates that a PRACH time slot contains 6 ROs. These are the serial numbers of the six ROs.

[0153] 8)PRACH duration Indicates the number of OFDM symbols occupied by a RO in the time domain. For example, in Table 1 Indicates that one RO occupies 2 OFDM symbols in the time domain.

[0154] Then, based on Table 1, the position of the starting symbol of the RO configured by the network device for the terminal device in a subframe is:

[0155] Specifically, in this example, When l = {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10}; When l = {14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24}, that is, in subframe 2 and subframe 7, each time slot of PRACH includes 6 ROs.

[0156] S302: The network device sends message 2 (Msg2) to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg2.

[0157] After receiving the preamble, the network device allocates the time and frequency domain resources for the terminal to send Msg2, as well as the scheduling information for Msg3. Msg2 is also called RAR information. The RAR includes the scheduling information for Msg3, namely the RAR uplink (UL) grant information.

[0158] It should be understood that after sending the preamble, the terminal device listens for the PDCCH of the RAR in response to the preamble within the configured RAR window. Currently, the position of the RAR window is determined as follows: in the LTE standard, the starting position of the RAR window is the starting position of the third subframe after the subframe corresponding to the sending of the preamble. In the NR standard, the starting position of the RAR window is the first PDCCH occasion after the sending of the preamble. In addition, the configured RAR window size is N milliseconds (ms), 2≤N≤10, and N is an integer.

[0159] It should be understood that the subframe corresponding to the completion of sending the preamble is the subframe corresponding to the end position of the RO that sends the preamble.

[0160] S303: The terminal device sends message 3 (Msg3) to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives Msg3.

[0161] Msg3 is sent on the time-frequency resources specified by Msg2 and is carried by the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0162] S304: The network device sends message 4 (Msg4) to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives Msg4.

[0163] Msg4 is mainly used for conflict resolution. When multiple terminal devices use the same RO to send the same preamble for random access, the network device needs to determine which terminal device to select for access in this random access. That is, after the random access process is completed, only one terminal device can access successfully.

[0164] In some possible scenarios, to avoid interference, multiple network devices need to time-division multiplex air interface resources. At this time, some time domain resources of each network device may be unavailable, which may cause the target network device to be unable to send the RAR PDCCH to the target terminal device within the RAR window defined by the protocol, thereby causing random access failure.

[0165] In view of this, the present application proposes a communication method that can effectively solve the above technical problems. The method proposed in the present application is described in detail below with reference to FIG5 .

[0166] Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 500 provided by the present application. The method 500 includes the following steps.

[0167] S510: A network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information indicates first time domain resources, where the first time domain resources include time domain resources used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission and control channel transmission. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the network device.

[0168] For example, the first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

[0169] For example, multiple time domain resource patterns are configured on the network device side, and the time domain resource distribution represented by any two patterns of the multiple time domain resource patterns is different. The pattern of the first time domain resource is the pattern of the time domain resource determined by the network device among the multiple time domain resource patterns based on the current available time domain resources. For example, as shown in Figure 6, the patterns of multiple time domain resources include pattern 0, pattern 1 and pattern 2. A square in the figure represents one subframe. When the first indication information indicates pattern 0, pattern 0 indicates that starting from the first subframe of the frame with the system frame number 3*n, the first 10 subframes in every 3 frames are included in the first time domain resource. When the first indication information indicates pattern 1, pattern 1 indicates that starting from the first subframe of the frame with the system frame number 3*n, the 10 subframes located in the middle position in every 3 frames are included in the first time domain resource. When the first indication information indicates pattern 2, pattern 2 indicates that starting from the first subframe of the frame with the system frame number 3*n, the last 10 subframes in every 3 frames are included in the first time domain resource, where n is a natural number.

[0170] For example, a network device is configured with multiple time domain resource pattern sets, each pattern set including at least one time domain resource pattern. For example, the first pattern set includes a pattern for one time domain resource, the second pattern set includes patterns for two time domain resources, and the third pattern set includes patterns for three time domain resources. The pattern for the first time domain resource is a pattern for a time domain resource determined by the network device from one of the multiple time domain resource pattern sets based on currently available time domain resources.

[0171] For example, the pattern or pattern set of multiple time domain resources may be predefined by a protocol or configured by other network devices, which is not limited in this application.

[0172] For ease of description, the first time domain resource is referred to as the available time domain resource of the network device in this application. Then, optionally, the first indication information may also indicate the second time domain resource, and the second time domain resource is the unavailable time domain resource of the network device. That is to say, the first indication information may directly indicate the first time domain resource, or the first indication information may also indicate the second time domain resource. The terminal device may determine the first time domain resource based on the second time domain resource. This application does not limit this. For example, the second time domain resource is a resource that repeats periodically in the time domain, and the second indication information indicates a pattern of the second time domain resource. The pattern of the second time domain resource represents the unavailable time domain resource of the network device within a period corresponding to the second time domain resource.

[0173] For example, the first indication information is carried in a master indication block (MIB) message or a system information block (SIB) 1 message or a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.

[0174] For example, when the first indication information is carried in the MIB, it can be a new information element (IE) introduced in the MIB, or a reserved bit in the MIB, or an occupied IE in the MIB can be reused. The occupied IE can be BCCH-BCH-MessageType, subCarrierSpacingCommon, cellBarred and other IEs.

[0175] For example, when the first indication information is carried in SIB1, it can be carried in a new IE introduced in SIB1, or a new IE can be introduced in a sub-IE of SIB1, or an IE in SIB1 can be reused, such as ServingCellConfigCommon.

[0176] For example, the first indication information may also be carried in other system information, and may be carried in a newly added IE in other system information or a reused IE in other system information. When the IE is reused, the reused IE may extend its meaning or update its current meaning.

[0177] S520: The terminal device sends a preamble to the network device on a first RO, where the first RO is an RO in a first PRACH resource set that satisfies a first condition, the first PRACH resource set includes multiple ROs, the first condition is that the first time unit is within a first time window, the first time window is a window for monitoring a PDCCH corresponding to a RAR in response to the preamble, and the first time unit is a time unit in a first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR. Correspondingly, the network device receives the preamble on the first RO.

[0178] It is understood that in this implementation, the terminal device may determine the first time window based on the definition of the RAR time window specified in the existing standard. For the definition of the RAR time window specified in the existing standard, refer to the description in S302 and will not be repeated here.

[0179] The first condition may also be understood as the first time window overlapping with the first time domain resource, and the overlapping time domain resource includes a time unit that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the preamble.

[0180] For example, the first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource determined based on a configuration from a network device. For example, the first PRACH resource set may be a PRACH resource configured by the network device for the terminal device via prach-ConfigurationIndex.

[0181] For example, the first PRACH resource set is the PRACH resource associated with the first SSB, and the first SSB is the SSB corresponding to the terminal device or the SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0182] It can be understood that the first PRACH resource set can be the PRACH resources associated with the first SSB in the PRACH resources configured by the network device for the terminal device through prach-ConfigurationIndex.

[0183] It can be understood that the first SSB is the SSB corresponding to the terminal device, which means that the first SSB is any SSB among the SSBs received by the terminal device whose reference signal received power (RSRP) is greater than the corresponding threshold value.

[0184] For example, the first SSB is the optimal SSB corresponding to the terminal device, and the optimal SSB is the SSB with the highest reference signal receiving power or the largest signal strength among the SSBs received by the terminal device.

[0185] Optionally, before S520, the method further includes:

[0186] S530: The terminal device determines a first RO based on the first indication information and the first PRACH resource set.

[0187] For example, when a terminal device has a random access request, the terminal device may search for an RO that meets the first condition in the first PRACH resource set starting from the moment when the random access request is made. For example, to reduce access latency, the terminal device may send a preamble on the first RO that meets the first condition (i.e., the first RO) after the moment when the random access request is made.

[0188] In the above technical solution, the terminal device can select a suitable first RO in the first PRACH resource set based on the first time domain resource to initiate random access, so that the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the leading RAR transmitted on the first RO within the RAR window corresponding to the first RO (that is, the first time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0189] To facilitate understanding of the method, method 500 is illustrated below with reference to FIG7 . As shown in FIG7 , RO#1 to RO#3 are ROs included in the first PRACH resource set, and window #1, window #2, and window #3 are RAR windows corresponding to RO#1, RO#2, and RO#3, respectively. When a terminal device has a random access requirement, the terminal device determines whether the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the preamble sent on RO#1 can be received in window #1 corresponding to RO#1. As shown in FIG7 , window #1 partially overlaps with the available time domain resources of the network device. If the time domain resources of the overlapping part can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR in response to the preamble sent on RO#1, the terminal device can send a preamble on RO#1 to initiate random access. Otherwise, the terminal device will not initiate random access on RO#1. If random access cannot be initiated on RO#1, the terminal device will continue to determine whether the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the preamble sent on RO#2 can be received in window #2 corresponding to RO#2. It can be seen that window #2 does not overlap with the available time domain resources of the network device. Therefore, the terminal device will not initiate random access on RO#2. The terminal device will continue to determine whether the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the preamble sent on RO#3 can be received in window #3 corresponding to RO#3. It can be seen that window #3 completely falls within the available time domain resources of the network device. Therefore, the terminal device can send a preamble on RO#3 to initiate random access.

[0190] The method 500 shown in FIG5 above can be regarded as the terminal device judging whether the RAR window corresponding to the RO resources that the terminal device can use overlaps with the available resources of the network device indicated by the network device without changing the RAR time window defined by the existing standard. If there is an overlap, the terminal device can initiate random access on the RO in order to reduce the probability of random access failure. It can be understood that the method 500 shown in FIG5 is still applicable even if the RAR time window is changed from the existing standard definition but there is still the problem that the RAR time window is not located in the available resources of the network device. The present application proposes another method in conjunction with FIG8 below. The main difference between this method and method 500 is that this method redefines the RAR time window corresponding to the RO in order to reduce the probability of random access failure. The method is described in detail below.

[0191] Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of another communication method 800 provided by the present application. The method 800 includes the following steps.

[0192] S810: A network device sends first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information indicates first time domain resources, where the first time domain resources include time domain resources used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission and control channel transmission. In response, the terminal device receives the first indication information from the network device.

[0193] For details about S810, please refer to S510, which will not be repeated here.

[0194] S820: The terminal device sends a preamble to the network device on a first RO, where the first RO is an RO in a first PRACH resource set, and the first PRACH resource set includes multiple ROs. Correspondingly, the network device receives the preamble from the terminal device on the first RO.

[0195] For the description of the first PRACH resource set, please refer to the description in S520, which will not be repeated here.

[0196] It should be noted that the first RO is any RO in the first PRACH resource set that the terminal device can use to initiate random access.

[0197] S830: The network device sends a PDCCH in response to the RAR of the preamble to the terminal device within a second time window, where the starting position of the second time window is the starting position of the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit located after the first RO in the first time domain resource. Correspondingly, the terminal device monitors the PDCCH following the RAR in response to the preamble within the second time window.

[0198] For example, the length of the second time window is the length of the RAR window configured by the network device.

[0199] For example, the first time unit is the first time unit after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0200] For example, the first time unit is the first time unit of the PDCCH that can be used to transmit the RAR of the preamble and is located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0201] For example, the first time unit is the starting position of the first time unit of the first first time domain resource period located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

[0202] It can be understood that in this embodiment, by modifying the starting position of the RAR window specified in the existing standard, the starting position of the newly defined RAR window is the starting position of a time unit after the first RO in the first time domain resource, so that the terminal device has the opportunity to receive the PDCCH of the RAR sent by the network device in response to the leading RAR sent on the first RO within the newly defined RAR window (i.e., the second time window), thereby reducing the probability of random access failure of the terminal device.

[0203] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, method 800 is illustrated below with reference to FIG9 . As shown in FIG9 , RO#1 and RO#2 are ROs included in the first PRACH resource set. Based on the possible RAR window starting positions provided by method 800 , the following example illustrates the RAR windows corresponding to RO#1 and RO#2 determined based on method 800 .

[0204] For example, the position of RO#1 is shown in Figure 9. Based on method 800, the starting position of the RAR window corresponding to an RO is defined as the starting position of the first time unit, and the first time unit is the starting position of the time unit of the first available time domain resources of the network device (i.e., the first time domain resources) after the RO that can be used to transmit the PDCCH of the RAR in response to the leading sent on the RO. Then, as shown in Figure 9, if position #1 is the starting position of the time unit of the first available time domain resources of the network device after RO#1 that can be used to transmit the PDCCH of the RAR in response to the leading sent on RO#1, then the RAR window corresponding to RO#1 is window #1, the starting position of window #1 is position #1, and the length is the length of the RAR window configured by the network device.

[0205] For another example, the position of RO#2 is shown in Figure 9. Based on method 800, the starting position of the RAR window corresponding to an RO is defined as the starting position of the first time unit after the RO in the available time domain resources of the network device. Then, as shown in Figure 9, if position #2 is the starting position of the first time unit after RO#2 in the available time domain resources of the network device, then the RAR window corresponding to RO#2 is window #2, the starting position of window #2 is position #2, and the length is the length of the RAR window configured by the network device.

[0206] It can be understood that the RO used by the terminal device for random access in the methods shown in Figures 5 and 8 can be regarded as the RO configured by the network device for the terminal device based on the PRACH configuration of the current protocol. Below, the present application proposes another method in conjunction with Figure 10. The main difference between this method and method 500 and method 800 is that in this method, the network device adds a time offset configuration on the basis of the current protocol PRACH configuration to indicate to the terminal device the PRACH resources that can be used to initiate random access in order to reduce the probability of random access failure. It can be understood that method 1000 shown in Figure 10 is still applicable even if the PRACH configuration has changed compared to the current protocol, but there is still a problem that the RAR time window defined based on the protocol is not located in the available resources of the network device. The method is described in detail below.

[0207] Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of another communication method 1000 provided by the present application. The method 1000 includes the following steps.

[0208] S1010: A network device sends first information to a terminal device, where the first information indicates a first PRACH resource set and a time domain offset value. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information from the network device.

[0209] Among them, the first PRACH resource set includes multiple ROs, and the first RO in the first PRACH resource set satisfies the first condition based on the second RO corresponding to the offset value of the time domain offset. The first RO is any RO in the first PRACH resource set. The first condition is that the first time unit is located in the first time window. The first time window is a window for the terminal device to monitor the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the leading signal sent on the second RO. The first time unit is a time unit in the first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the leading signal. The first time domain resource includes the time domain resources used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission.

[0210] The first condition may also be understood as the first time window overlapping with the first time domain resource, and the overlapping time domain resource includes a time unit that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR of the preamble.

[0211] For example, the first PRACH resource set may be part of the PRACH resources determined based on the configuration from the network device. For example, the first PRACH resource set may be part of the PRACH resources configured by the network device for the terminal device via prach-ConfigurationIndex.

[0212] For example, the first PRACH resource set is part or all of the PRACH resources associated with the first SSB, and the first SSB is the SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

[0213] For example, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy, where the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, where Δy is an integer. For example, if the frame number of the system frame in which the first RO in the first PRACH resource set is located is y, then the frame number of the system frame in which the corresponding RO after the first RO is offset based on the frame offset value Δy is (y+Δy).

[0214] For example, the time domain offset value includes a subframe offset value Δs, where the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δs subframes, where Δs is an integer. For example, if the subframe number of the subframe in which the first RO in the first PRACH resource set is located is s, then the subframe number of the subframe in which the corresponding RO after the first RO is offset based on the subframe offset value Δs is (s+Δs).

[0215] For example, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy and a subframe offset value Δs, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by (s n +Δs)mod 10 subframes, s n Indicates the subframe in which the RO in the first PRACH resource set is located, where Δy is an integer and Δs is an integer. For example, if the system frame in which the first RO in the first PRACH resource set is located is frame number y and the subframe number is s, then after the first RO is offset based on the frame offset value Δy and the subframe offset value Δs, the system frame in which the RO is located is frame number (y+Δy) and the subframe number is (s+Δs) mod 10. It can be understood that a system frame includes 10 subframes. Therefore, when (s+Δs) is greater than 10, it indicates that the first RO will require a system frame offset in the time domain. Therefore, (s+Δs) mod 10 can be used to allow the first RO to perform subframe offsets only in one system frame.

[0216] S1020: The terminal device sends a preamble to the network device on a second RO, where the second RO is an RO corresponding to the first RO in the first PRACH resource set after being offset based on the time domain offset value. Correspondingly, the network device receives the preamble from the terminal device on the second RO.

[0217] Optionally, before S1020, the method further includes:

[0218] S1030, the terminal device determines a second PRACH resource set, where the second RO is an RO in the second PRACH resource set, and the second PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource set corresponding to the RO in the first PRACH resource set after being offset based on the time domain offset value.

[0219] It should be noted that since the second PRACH resource set is not the PRACH resource configured by the network device to the terminal device based on the current protocol, before the network device receives the preamble from the terminal device on the second RO, the network device also needs to determine the second PRACH resource set so as to listen to the preamble sent by the terminal device on the second PRACH resource set.

[0220] In the above technical solution, the network device adds a time domain offset configuration on the basis of the configuration of the first PRACH resource set according to the location of its own available resources, and instructs the terminal device to initiate random access on the RO corresponding to the RO offset in the first PRACH resource set. When the terminal device sends the preamble on the second RO after the time domain offset, the terminal device can have the opportunity to receive the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR sent by the network device in response to the preamble transmitted on the second RO within the RAR window corresponding to the second RO (i.e., the second time window), thereby avoiding random access failure due to RAR window timeout.

[0221] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, method 1000 is illustrated below with reference to FIG11. FIG11 is illustrated by taking the NR system with a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz as an example. Then, a system frame includes 20 time slots, and the TDD uplink and downlink time slot configuration is DSUUU, where D represents a downlink time slot, U represents an uplink time slot, S represents a special time slot, and S includes flexible symbols. FIG11 only exemplarily illustrates the positions of the subframes, time slots, and protocol-configured ROs (i.e., RO#1 to RO#4) included in system frame 0 and system frame 1. For example, if the first PRACH resource set includes RO#1, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy=1. Since RO#1 occupies time slot 3 and time slot 4 in system frame 0, the RO corresponding to RO#1 after the offset based on the frame offset value occupies time slot 3 and time slot 4 in system frame 1, that is, the RO corresponding to RO#1 after the offset based on the frame offset value is RO#5 in the figure. For example, if the first PRACH resource set includes RO#1, the time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy=1 and a subframe offset value Δs=5. Since RO#1 occupies time slot 3 and time slot 4 in system frame 0, the corresponding RO after RO#1 is offset based on the frame offset value and the subframe offset value occupies time slot 8 and time slot 9 in system frame 1, that is, the corresponding RO after RO#2 is offset based on the frame offset value and the subframe offset value is RO#6 in the figure.

[0222] It can be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the information names involved are merely examples and do not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0223] It is also understood that the formulas involved in the various embodiments of the present application are merely illustrative and do not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. In the process of calculating the various parameters involved above, calculations can also be performed according to the above formulas, or based on variations of the above formulas, or calculations can be performed in other ways to meet the results of the formula calculations.

[0224] It can also be understood that some optional features in the various embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in certain scenarios, and may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios, without limitation.

[0225] It can also be understood that the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of this application.

[0226] It is also understood that in some of the above embodiments, devices in existing network architectures are mainly used as examples for illustrative purposes, and it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific form of the devices. For example, devices that can achieve the same functions in the future are applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0227] It can also be understood that in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by devices (such as the above-mentioned terminal devices, network devices, etc.) can also be implemented by components of the devices (such as chips or circuits).

[0228] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above with reference to Figures 1 to 11. The above method is mainly described from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. It is understood that in order to implement the above functions, the terminal device and the network device include the corresponding hardware structure and / or software modules for performing each function.

[0229] Those skilled in the art should be aware that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0230] Hereinafter, the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to Figures 12 and 13. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for the content not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, some contents will not be repeated here. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device or network device can be divided into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function.

[0231] The communication method provided by this application has been described in detail above. The following describes the communication device provided by this application. In one possible implementation, the device is used to implement the steps or processes corresponding to the network device in the above method embodiment. In another possible implementation, the device is used to implement the steps or processes corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0232] Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, the device 200 may include a communication unit 210 and a processing unit 220. The communication unit 210 can communicate with the outside world, and the processing unit 220 is used to process data. The communication unit 210 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a transceiver unit.

[0233] In one possible design, the device 200 can implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment, wherein the processing unit 220 is used to perform processing-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the communication unit 210 is used to perform sending-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0234] In another possible design, the device 200 can implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the network device in the above method embodiment, wherein the communication unit 210 is used to perform reception-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 220 is used to perform processing-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0235] It should be understood that the device 200 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a merging logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 200 can be specifically the terminal device in the above embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or the device 200 can be specifically the network device in the above embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the network device in the above method embodiment. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0236] The apparatus 200 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the terminal device in the above-mentioned method, or the apparatus 200 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the network device in the above-mentioned method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the communication unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the communication unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the communication unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the sending and receiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0237] In addition, the above-mentioned communication unit can also be a transceiver circuit (for example, it can include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit can be a processing circuit. In an embodiment of the present application, the device in Figure 12 can be a terminal device or network device in the aforementioned embodiment, or it can be a chip or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). Among them, the communication unit can be an input and output circuit, a communication interface; the processing unit is a processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

[0238] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 300 includes a processing circuit 310 and a transceiver circuit 320. The processing circuit 310 and the transceiver circuit 320 communicate with each other via an internal connection path. The processing circuit 310 is used to execute instructions to control the transceiver circuit 320 to send and / or receive signals. The transceiver circuit 320 can also be referred to as a transceiver interface.

[0239] Optionally, the apparatus 300 may further include a memory 330, which communicates with the processing circuit 310 and the transceiver circuit 320 via an internal connection path. The memory 330 is used to store instructions, and the processing circuit 310 can execute the instructions stored in the memory 330. In one possible implementation, the apparatus 300 is used to implement the various processes and steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. In another possible implementation, the apparatus 300 is used to implement the various processes and steps corresponding to the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0240] It should be understood that the device 300 can be specifically a terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned embodiment, or a chip or a chip system. Correspondingly, the transceiver circuit 320 can be the transceiver interface of the chip, which is not limited here. Specifically, the device 300 can be used to execute the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the terminal device or network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 330 can include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory can also include a non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory can also store information about the device type. The processing circuit 310 can be used to execute instructions stored in the memory, and when the processing circuit 310 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processing circuit 310 is used to execute the various steps and / or processes of the above-mentioned method embodiment corresponding to the terminal device or network device.

[0241] During implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0242] It should be noted that the processing circuit in the embodiments of the present application can be a processing circuit in an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above-mentioned method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processing circuit or by software instructions. The above-mentioned processing circuit can be or be included in the following devices: a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processing (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor in the embodiments of the present application can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly implemented and executed by a hardware decoding processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium well-known in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processing circuit reads the information in the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above-mentioned method.

[0243] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0244] It should be noted that when the processing circuit is a processor or is included in a processor, and the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0245] In addition, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions. When the computer instructions are run on a computer, the operations and / or processes performed by the terminal device or network device in each method embodiment of the present application are executed.

[0246] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer program code or instructions. When the computer program code or instructions are run on a computer, the operations and / or processes performed by the terminal device or network device in the various method embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0247] In addition, the present application further provides a chip, the chip including a processing circuit. A memory for storing a computer program is provided independently of the chip or is provided within the chip, and the processing circuit is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the operations and / or processes performed by the terminal device or the network device in any of the method embodiments are performed.

[0248] Furthermore, the chip may further include a communication interface. The communication interface may be an input / output interface, or an interface circuit, etc. Furthermore, the chip may further include a memory.

[0249] In addition, the present application also provides a communication system, including the terminal device and network device in the embodiments of the present application.

[0250] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0251] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary units and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented using hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application. Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for ease of description and brevity, the specific operating processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here. In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units described is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other divisions may be used, such as multiple units or components being combined or integrated into another system, or some features being omitted or not implemented. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interface, or indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0252] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0253] It should be understood that references to "embodiments" throughout this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, various embodiments throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0254] It should also be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the network element will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, which is not a time limit, and does not require the network element to make judgment actions when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0255] It should also be understood that, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one item" or similar expressions refers to one or more items, that is, any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c.

[0256] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" in this document simply describes a relationship between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A alone, including A and B, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, "A / B" means: A or B.

[0257] It should also be understood that in each embodiment of the present application, "A corresponds to B" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined based on A. However, it should also be understood that determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A, and B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information indicates a first time domain resource, where the first time domain resource includes a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; A preamble is sent to the network device at a first random access opportunity RO, wherein the first RO is an RO that satisfies a first condition in a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set, the first PRACH resource set includes multiple ROs, the first condition is that a first time unit is located within a first time window, the first time window is a window for monitoring a physical downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR in response to the preamble, and the first time unit is a time unit in the first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first RO is determined based on the first indication information and the first PRACH resource set.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first indication information is carried in a master information block MIB message or a system information block SIB1 message or a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource associated with a first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to a terminal device or an SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource determined based on a configuration from the network device.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information indicates a first time domain resource, where the first time domain resource includes a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; A preamble is received from the terminal device at a first random access opportunity RO, wherein the first RO satisfies a first condition, the first condition being that a first time unit is located within a first time window, the first time window being a window for the terminal device to monitor a downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR in response to the preamble, and the first time unit being a time unit in the first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource. The pattern of the first time domain resource represents a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried in a master information block MIB message or a system information block SIB1 message or a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving first indication information from a network device, where the first indication information indicates a first time domain resource, where the first time domain resource includes a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; Sending a preamble to the network device at a first random access opportunity RO, where the first RO is an RO in a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set, and the first PRACH resource set includes multiple ROs; The downlink control channel PDCCH in response to the leading random access response RAR sent on the first RO is monitored within a second time window, wherein the starting position of the second time window is the starting position of a first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The length of the second time window is the length of the configured RAR window.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The first time unit is the first time unit in the first time domain resource and is located after the first RO.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The first time unit is a first time unit of the PDCCH that can be used to transmit the RAR and is located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that The first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource, and the pattern of the first time domain resource indicates a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that The first indication information is carried in a master information block MIB message or a system information block SIB1 message or a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource associated with a first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is an SSB corresponding to a terminal device or an SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource determined based on a configuration from the network device.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending first indication information to a terminal device, where the first indication information indicates a first time domain resource, where the first time domain resource includes a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; Receiving a preamble from the terminal device on a first random access opportunity RO; A downlink control channel PDCCH in response to the leading random access response RAR is sent to the terminal device within a second time window, wherein the starting position of the second time window is the starting position of the first time unit, and the first time unit is a time unit in the first time domain resource located after the first RO.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The length of the second time window is the length of the configured RAR window.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The first time unit is the first time unit in the first time domain resource and is located after the first RO.

21. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The first time unit is a first time unit of the PDCCH that can be used to transmit the RAR and is located after the first RO in the first time domain resource.

22. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, characterized in that The first time domain resource is a resource that is periodically repeated in the time domain, and the first indication information indicates a pattern of the first time domain resource, and the pattern of the first time domain resource indicates a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission within a period corresponding to the first time domain resource.

23. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that The first indication information is carried in a master information block MIB message or a system information block SIB1 message or a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message.

24. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receive first information from a network device, the first information indicating a first PRACH resource set and a time domain offset value, the first PRACH resource set including multiple ROs, at least one first RO in the first PRACH resource set corresponding to at least one second RO offset based on the time domain offset value satisfies a first condition, the first condition is that a first time unit is located within a first time window, the first time window is a window for a terminal device to monitor a downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR in response to a preamble sent on the second RO, the first time unit is a time unit in a first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR, and the first time domain resource includes a time domain resource used by the network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; A preamble is sent to the network device at one of the at least one second RO.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: A second PRACH resource set is determined, where the second RO is an RO in the second PRACH resource set, and the second PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource set corresponding to the RO in the first PRACH resource set after being offset based on the time domain offset value.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and Δy is an integer; or, The time domain offset value includes a subframe offset value Δs, where the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δs subframes, where Δs is an integer; or, The time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy and a subframe offset value Δs, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the first PRACH resource The RO in the source set is offset by Δy system frames, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by (s n +Δs) mod 10 subframes, the s n Indicates the subframe where the RO in the first PRACH resource set is located, the Δy is an integer, and the Δs is an integer.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 26, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is part or all of the PRACH resources associated with the first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is the SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

28. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 27, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is part of the PRACH resources configured by the network device for the terminal device.

29. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending first information to a terminal device, the first information indicating a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set and a time domain offset value, the first PRACH resource set including multiple random access opportunities RO, at least one first RO in the first PRACH resource set corresponding to at least one second RO offset based on the time domain offset value satisfies a first condition, the first condition is that a first time unit is located within a first time window, the first time window is a window for the terminal device to monitor a downlink control channel PDCCH corresponding to a random access response RAR sent in response to a preamble on the second RO, the first time unit is a time unit in a first time domain resource that can be used to transmit the PDCCH corresponding to the RAR, and the first time domain resource includes a time domain resource used by a network device for at least one of data channel transmission or control channel transmission; A preamble from the terminal device is received at one of the at least one second ROs.

30. The method according to claim 29, characterized in that The method further comprises: A second PRACH resource set is determined, where the second RO is an RO in the second PRACH resource set, and the second PRACH resource set is a PRACH resource set corresponding to the RO in the first PRACH resource set after being offset based on the time domain offset value.

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that The time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and Δy is an integer; or, The time domain offset value includes a subframe offset value Δs, where the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δs subframes, where Δs is an integer; or, The time domain offset value includes a frame offset value Δy and / or a subframe offset value Δs, wherein the frame offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by Δy system frames, and the subframe offset value indicates that the RO in the first PRACH resource set is offset by (s n +Δs) mod 10 subframes, the s n Indicates the subframe where the RO in the first PRACH resource set is located, the Δy is an integer, and the Δs is an integer.

32. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 31, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is part or all of the PRACH resources associated with the first synchronization signal block SSB, and the first SSB is the SSB configured by the network device for the terminal device.

33. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 32, characterized in that The first PRACH resource set is part of the PRACH resources configured by the network device for the terminal device.

34. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a module or unit for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method of any one of claims 7 to 9, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method of any one of claims 10 to 17, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method of any one of claims 18 to 23, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method of any one of claims 24 to 28, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method of any one of claims 29 to 33.

35. A communication system, characterized in that: Including terminal equipment and network equipment, among which, The terminal device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, the network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 9, or the terminal device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 10 to 17, the network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 18 to 23, or the terminal device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 28, and the network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 33.

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