Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and a communication apparatus. The communication method comprises: before a user equipment performs switching, a network device indicating, to the user equipment, resource sets corresponding to a plurality of candidate cells, such that the user equipment performs communication with the network device after the user equipment is switched to a target cell. The method can avoid signaling overheads caused by frequent indication of resource sets; especially in a continuous switching scenario such as an NTN scenario, a satellite moves relatively fast, and a user equipment performs frequent switching; therefore, the user equipment requires higher switching efficiency; and after a network device configures resource sets for a plurality of cells in advance, no frequent signaling transmission is required, thereby improving the switching efficiency.

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 202311266612.0 and invention name “A Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] Satellite networks are a hot topic of research in the world today. Satellite communication technology has become increasingly mature. For example, non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) use radio frequency networks or network segments onboard satellites to achieve communication, which can provide wider coverage. Satellite base stations are also less susceptible to damage from natural disasters or external forces.

[0004] In the current new radio (NR) protocol, beam information can be indicated by the quasi colocation (QCL) relationship of the antenna ports. The QCL relationship is used to indicate that the beams corresponding to multiple antenna ports have one or more identical or similar spatial characteristics. The QCL information of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) can be configured by a transmission configuration indicator (TCI). Specifically, the TCI-state can be used to indicate a reference signal that satisfies the QCL relationship with the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PDSCH.

[0005] In existing terrestrial networks, when a UE undergoes a handover, the network sends a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) signaling message to the user equipment (UE), indicating the set of resources to be activated at the UE, such as the TCI state. The UE then determines the beam to receive the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) based on this TCI state. However, in NTN scenarios, due to the rapid movement of satellites and frequent handovers, frequently sending the TCI state to be activated results in high signaling overhead and poor flexibility.

[0006] In the NTN scenario, a communication method is urgently needed to reduce the signaling overhead caused by indicating resource sets during frequent UE switching and improve switching efficiency.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which reduce the signaling overhead caused by indicating resource sets during frequent switching of UE and improve switching efficiency.

[0009] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be executed by a network device, or may be executed by a chip or circuit configured in the network device, and this application does not limit this.

[0010] The method includes: determining first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, where the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by a terminal device; and sending the first configuration information.

[0011] In the present application, the first configuration information indicates a plurality of resource sets, and the plurality of resource sets correspond one-to-one to a plurality of cells, and the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

[0012] The multiple resource sets correspond to the multiple cells one-to-one. It can be understood that each resource set in the multiple resource sets is used for the UE to communicate with the network device in the corresponding cell.

[0013] It can be understood that the resource set can be determined by the network device according to information such as the movement trajectory of the satellite, the movement state of the UE, and the range of the cell within the coverage area of ​​the satellite.

[0014] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can indicate the resource sets corresponding to multiple candidate cells to the terminal device before the terminal device switches, so that the terminal device can communicate with the network device after switching to the target cell. It can be understood that in this method, the network device does not need to send signaling to the terminal device to indicate the resource set each time the terminal device switches cells. A simpler way is to configure the resource sets corresponding to multiple cells to be switched to the terminal device at one time before the terminal device switches. This method can avoid the signaling overhead caused by frequent indication of resource sets, especially in continuous switching scenarios, such as NTN scenarios, where satellites move faster and terminal devices switch frequently. Therefore, the terminal device requires higher switching efficiency. After the network device configures the resource sets of multiple cells in advance, frequent signaling transmission is not required, thereby improving switching efficiency.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and / or bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

[0016] In the above technical solution, the resource set may indicate the reference signal resources used by the terminal device when communicating in the corresponding cell, or may indicate the bandwidth information used. It is understood that both the reference signal resources and the bandwidth information can be used for communication between the terminal device and the network device. The resource set may also include other resource information used for communication between the terminal device and the network device, and this application does not limit this.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a bandwidth part (BWP) set, wherein the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

[0018] It can be understood that TCI state is an example of reference signal resources, and BWP is an example of bandwidth information.

[0019] Among them, when the UE switches to a candidate cell, it is necessary to activate one or more corresponding TCI states. One or more TCI states can be referred to as a TCI state set, or a TCI state list, or can be indicated by other terms that identify one or more TCI states. In the embodiment of the present application, the TCI state set is used for illustration, but is not limited.

[0020] Similarly, when the UE switches to a candidate cell, it can communicate according to the corresponding one or more BWPs, and can determine the corresponding TCI state set. One or more BWPs can be called a BWP set, or a BWP list, or can be indicated by other terms that identify one or more BWPs. The BWP set is used for illustration in the embodiment of the present application, but is not limited thereto.

[0021] In the above technical solution, the specific indication content of the resource set can be flexibly configured. For example, the resource set can indicate the TCI state corresponding to the cell, or the BWP corresponding to the cell, or both the TCI state and the BWP, so that the terminal device can select the corresponding configuration for communication according to actual needs, thereby increasing the flexibility of the configuration information.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, first indication information is sent, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first resource set, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and where the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

[0023] In the above technical solution, the network device indicates the first resource set corresponding to the first cell to the terminal device through the first indication information, so that the terminal device uses the first resource set to communicate when switching to the first cell.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

[0025] In the above technical solution, the multiple resource sets included in the first configuration information correspond to different indexes, and the network device can indicate the resource set corresponding to the first cell to the terminal device through the index corresponding to the resource set.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first beam, and the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

[0027] In the above technical solution, the content of the resource set can be configured as a TCI state set, then the first resource set can include a first TCI state set, and by indicating the index of the first TCI state set, the terminal device can switch to the first cell (target cell) and activate the TCI state in the first TCI state set. The content of the resource set can be configured as a BWP set, then the first resource set can include a first BWP set, and by indicating the index of the first BWP set, the terminal device can switch to the first cell (target cell) and activate the TCI state in the first TCI state set corresponding to the first BWP set. Each resource set may also include an indication of a beam, and the indication of the beam is used to indicate a beam for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the cell corresponding to the resource set.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the order in which the terminal device performs switching of the multiple cells is determined; the order of the multiple resource sets corresponding to the multiple cells is determined according to the order of switching of the multiple cells, and the order of the multiple resource sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of the multiple cells.

[0029] In the above technical solution, the terminal device can perform continuous cell switching, that is, switch multiple cells in a certain order, and the network device can determine the order of the corresponding multiple resource sets according to the switching order of the multiple cells.

[0030] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the multiple resource sets include the first resource set, and the first resource set is the next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell in the multiple resource sets.

[0031] In the above technical solution, when the terminal device performs continuous cell switching, the first resource set indicated by the first indication information may be the next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell, that is, the first indication information indicates that the first resource set is determined according to the cell switching order. It can also be said that the first resource set indicated by the first indication information is determined according to the cell switching order.

[0032] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information is 1-bit information.

[0033] In the above technical solution, when the terminal device performs continuous cell switching, the network device can use 1-bit information to indicate the resource set corresponding to the next cell to be switched, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0034] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information is further used to instruct the terminal device to switch to the first cell.

[0035] In the above technical solution, the network device indicates to the terminal device the resource set corresponding to the next cell to be switched, which can trigger the cell switching at the same time. In other words, the network device can indicate the resource set corresponding to the switching cell in the existing switching signaling, thereby saving the signaling process and reducing the switching time.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, at least one first information is sent, and each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

[0037] The first information may be the condition information for switching of the terminal device, such as switching time period / location information / pitch angle / remaining service time, etc. and corresponding threshold information.

[0038] According to this technical solution, when the access network device configures the UE to perform N consecutive conditional switches in advance, the corresponding switching time period / location information / pitch angle / remaining service time, etc., as well as the threshold corresponding to the switching condition and other information are configured to the UE together with the resource set, so that the UE can switch to the target cell through the switching condition to activate the corresponding resource set, thereby avoiding the signaling overhead caused by the need to frequently indicate the resource set in the conditional switching scenario and improving the switching efficiency.

[0039] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

[0040] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a chip or circuit configured in the terminal device, and this application does not limit this.

[0041] The method includes: receiving first configuration information; determining a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells according to the first configuration information, the plurality of cells being a plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

[0042] In this application, the first configuration information and resource set can refer to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0043] In the above technical solution, before the terminal device switches, it can receive indications of resource sets corresponding to multiple candidate cells from the network device, and the terminal device communicates with the network device after switching to the target cell based on the multiple resource sets indicated by the network device. It can be understood that in this method, the terminal device does not need to receive indication information signaling from the network device to determine the resource set each time the cell is switched. A simpler way is to receive the resource sets corresponding to multiple cells to be switched configured by the network device at one time before the terminal device switches. This method can avoid the signaling overhead caused by frequent indication of resource sets, especially in continuous switching scenarios, such as NTN scenarios, where the satellite moves faster and the terminal device switches frequently. Therefore, the terminal device requires higher switching efficiency. After the network device configures the resource sets of multiple cells in advance, frequent signaling transmission is not required, thereby improving the switching efficiency.

[0044] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

[0045] In the above technical solution, the resource set may indicate the reference signal resources used by the terminal device when communicating in the corresponding cell, or may indicate the bandwidth information used. It is understood that both the reference signal resources and the bandwidth information can be used for communication between the terminal device and the network device. The resource set may also include other resource information used for communication between the terminal device and the network device, and this application does not limit this.

[0046] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

[0047] In this application, TCI state and BWP can refer to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0048] In the above technical solution, the specific content of the resource set can be flexibly configured. For example, the resource set can indicate the TCI state corresponding to the cell, or the BWP corresponding to the cell, or both the TCI state and the BWP. The terminal device selects the corresponding configuration for communication according to actual needs, thereby increasing the flexibility of the configuration information.

[0049] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, first indication information is received; a first resource set is determined based on the first indication information, the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

[0050] In the above technical solution, the terminal device determines the first resource set corresponding to the first cell according to the first indication information sent by the network device, so that the terminal device uses the first resource set to communicate when switching to the first cell.

[0051] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

[0052] In the above technical solution, the multiple resource sets included in the first configuration information correspond to different indexes. The terminal device determines the index of the first resource set based on the first indication information sent by the network device, thereby determining the resource set corresponding to the first cell.

[0053] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first beam, and the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

[0054] In the above technical solution, the content of the resource set can be configured as a TCI state set, then the first resource set can include a first TCI state set, and by indicating the index of the first TCI state set, the terminal device can switch to the first cell (target cell) and activate the TCI state in the first TCI state set. The content of the resource set can be configured as a BWP set, then the first resource set can include a first BWP set, and by indicating the index of the first BWP set, the terminal device can switch to the first cell (target cell) and activate the TCI state in the first TCI state set corresponding to the first BWP set. Each resource set can also include an indication of a beam, and the indication of the beam is used to indicate a beam for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the cell corresponding to the resource set.

[0055] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first resource set is a next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell among the multiple resource sets.

[0056] In the above technical solution, the terminal device can perform continuous cell switching, that is, switch multiple cells in a certain order. The first resource set indicated by the first indication information sent by the network device can be the next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell, that is, the first indication information indicates that the first resource set is determined according to the cell switching order. It can also be said that the first resource set indicated by the first indication information is determined according to the cell switching order, and the terminal device can determine the first resource set according to the next cell of the current cell.

[0057] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information is 1-bit information.

[0058] In the above technical solution, when the terminal device performs continuous cell switching, the network device can use 1-bit information to indicate the resource set corresponding to the next cell to be switched, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0059] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, switching to the first cell is performed according to the first indication information.

[0060] In the above technical solution, the first indication information received by the terminal device not only indicates the resource set corresponding to the next cell to be switched, but also indicates the triggering of cell switching. In other words, the first indication information may be the existing switching signaling, which also indicates the resource set corresponding to the switching cell. The terminal device performs cell switching and determines the corresponding resource set according to the first indication information, thereby saving signaling procedures and reducing switching time.

[0061] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, at least one first information is received, and each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

[0062] In the above technical solution, when the access network device configures the UE to perform N consecutive conditional switches in advance, the corresponding switching time period / location information / pitch angle / remaining service time, etc., as well as the threshold corresponding to the switching condition and other information are configured to the UE together with the resource set, so that the UE can switch to the target cell through the switching condition to activate the corresponding resource set, thereby avoiding the signaling overhead caused by the need to frequently indicate the resource set in the conditional switching scenario and improving the switching efficiency.

[0063] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

[0064] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be a network device, or a chip or circuit configured in the network device, which is not limited in this application.

[0065] The device includes: a processing unit, used to determine first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, where the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by a terminal device; and a transceiver unit, used to send the first configuration information.

[0066] In this application, the first configuration information and resource set can refer to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0067] Based on the above technical solution, the network device can indicate the resource sets corresponding to multiple candidate cells to the terminal device before the terminal device switches, so that the terminal device can communicate with the network device after switching to the target cell. It can be understood that in this method, the network device does not need to send signaling to the terminal device to indicate the resource set each time the terminal device switches cells. A simpler way is to configure the resource sets corresponding to multiple cells to be switched to the terminal device at one time before the terminal device switches. This method can avoid the signaling overhead caused by frequent indication of resource sets, especially in continuous switching scenarios, such as NTN scenarios, where satellites move faster and terminal devices switch frequently. Therefore, the terminal device requires higher switching efficiency. After the network device configures the resource sets of multiple cells in advance, frequent signaling transmission is not required, thereby improving switching efficiency.

[0068] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and / or bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

[0069] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

[0070] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the sending unit is further used to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first resource set, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and where the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

[0071] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

[0072] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first beam, and the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

[0073] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the processing unit is also used to determine the order in which the terminal device performs switching of the multiple cells; the processing unit is also used to determine the order of the multiple resource sets corresponding to the multiple cells respectively according to the order of switching of the multiple cells, and the order of the multiple resource sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of the multiple cells.

[0074] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the multiple resource sets include the first resource set, and the first resource set is the next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell in the multiple resource sets.

[0075] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information is 1-bit information.

[0076] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first indication information is further used to instruct the terminal device to switch to the first cell.

[0077] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to send at least one first information, and each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a cell switching condition among the multiple cells.

[0078] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

[0079] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device may be a terminal device, or a chip or circuit configured in the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

[0080] The device includes: a transceiver unit for receiving first configuration information; a processing unit for determining a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells according to the first configuration information, wherein the plurality of cells are the plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

[0081] In this application, the first configuration information and resource set can refer to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In the above technical solution, before the terminal device switches, it can receive indications of resource sets corresponding to multiple candidate cells from the network device, and the terminal device communicates with the network device after switching to the target cell based on the multiple resource sets indicated by the network device. It can be understood that in this method, the terminal device does not need to receive indication information signaling from the network device to determine the resource set each time the cell is switched. A simpler way is to receive the resource sets corresponding to multiple cells to be switched configured by the network device at one time before the terminal device switches. This method can avoid the signaling overhead caused by frequent indication of resource sets, especially in continuous switching scenarios, such as NTN scenarios, where the satellite moves faster and the terminal device switches frequently. Therefore, the terminal device requires higher switching efficiency. After the network device configures the resource sets of multiple cells in advance, frequent signaling transmission is not required, thereby improving the switching efficiency.

[0083] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

[0084] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

[0085] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to receive first indication information; the processing unit is further used to determine a first resource set based on the first indication information, the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

[0086] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

[0087] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or, the first indication information includes an index of a first beam, and the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

[0088] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the first resource set is a next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell among the multiple resource sets.

[0089] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first indication information is 1-bit information.

[0090] In combination with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is further used to switch to the first cell according to the first indication information.

[0091] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the transceiver unit is further used to receive at least one first information, and each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

[0092] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

[0093] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is used to perform the method provided in the first or second aspect. Specifically, the communication device may include units and / or modules, such as a processing unit and / or a communication unit, for performing the method provided in any one of the above implementations of the first or second aspect.

[0094] In one implementation, the communication device includes a communication unit and a processing unit. The communication unit may be a transceiver or an input / output interface; 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.

[0095] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip, chip system, or circuit in a network device. When the communication device is a chip, chip system, or circuit in a network 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.

[0096] In the sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a processor and, optionally, a memory, wherein the processor is used to control the transceiver to send and receive signals, the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program from the memory, so that the sending device executes the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect above.

[0097] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0098] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0099] Optionally, the network device further includes a transceiver, which may specifically be a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0100] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or code. When the computer program or code is run on a computer, the computer executes the method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect above.

[0101] In the eighth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising at least one processor, which is coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, and the processor being used to call and run the computer program from the memory, so that a sending device equipped with the chip system executes the method in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect above.

[0102] The chip may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0103] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program code, which, when the computer program code is executed by a sending device, executes the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0104] The beneficial effects of the third to ninth aspects can refer to the beneficial effects of the first to second aspects and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0105] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture 100 of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0106] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture 200 of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0107] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture 300 of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0108] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an architecture 400 of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0109] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of an architecture 500 of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0110] FIG6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0111] FIG7 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0112] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0113] FIG9 is a structural block diagram of a communication device applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0114] FIG10 is a structural block diagram of a communication device applicable to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0115] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0116] 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, etc. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication system. 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.

[0117] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device is an access device that the terminal device accesses to the mobile communication system in a wireless manner, for example, including an access network (AN) device, such as a base station. The network device may also refer to a device that communicates with the terminal device at the air interface. The network device may include an evolved Node B (also referred to as eNB or e-NodeB) in an LTE system or an advanced long term evolution (LTE-A); the network device may also include a next generation node B (gNB) in a 5G NR system; or, the network device may also include an access node in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system; or the network device may be a relay station, an on-board device, and a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN) device, a device in a D2D network, a device in a machine to machine (M2M) network, a device in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, or a network device in a PLMN network. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0118] In addition, the base station in the embodiment of the present application may include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), and multiple DUs can be centrally controlled by one CU. CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layer functions of the wireless network they possess, for example, the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and above protocol layers are set in the CU, and the protocol layers below the PDCP, such as the radio link control (RLC) layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer, are set in the DU. It should be noted that this division of the protocol layer is only an example, and it can also be divided in other protocol layers. The radio frequency device can be remote and not placed in the DU, or it can be integrated in the DU, or partially remote and partially integrated in the DU. The embodiment of the present application does not impose any restrictions. In addition, in some embodiments, the control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) of the CU can be separated and divided into different entities for implementation, namely the control plane CU entity (CU-CP entity) and the user plane CU entity (CU-UP entity). In this network architecture, the signaling generated by the CU can be sent to the terminal device through the DU, or the signaling generated by the UE can be sent to the CU through the DU. The DU can directly encapsulate the signaling through the protocol layer and transparently transmit it to the UE or CU without parsing it. In this network architecture, the CU is divided into a network device on the radio access network (RAN) side. In addition, the CU can also be divided as a network device on the core network (CN) side. This application does not limit this.

[0119] The access network device may also be a server, etc. For example, the network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology may be a roadside unit (RSU). The following description uses a base station as an example of an access network device. A base station can communicate with a terminal device, or it can communicate with the terminal device through a relay station. A terminal device can communicate with multiple base stations using different access technologies.

[0120] In the embodiments of the present application, core network equipment is used to implement functions such as mobility management, data processing, session management, policy and billing. The names of the devices implementing core network functions in systems with different access technologies may be different, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. Taking the 5G system as an example, the core network equipment includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF) or user plane function (UPF), etc.

[0121] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can send signals to a network device or receive signals from a network device. The terminal device may include user equipment (UE), sometimes also referred to as a terminal, an access station, a UE station, a remote station, a wireless communication device, or a user device, etc. The terminal device is used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: cellular communication, D2D, V2X, machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots and other scenarios. For example, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a VR terminal, an AR terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a smart speaker in an IoT network, a wireless terminal device in telemedicine, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc. As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices or smart wearable devices, etc., 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. The various terminal devices introduced above, if located on a vehicle (for example, placed in a vehicle or installed in a vehicle), can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices, which are also called on-board units (OBUs). The terminal device of the present application can also be a vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit that is built into the vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the method of the present application through the built-in vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit.

[0122] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device for implementing the network device function may be a network device, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the network device. In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are described by taking the network device as an example of the device for implementing the network device function being a network device.

[0123] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the fourth generation mobile communication technology (4G) system, 5G system, NTN system, vehicle to everything (V2X), long-term evolution - vehicle network (LTE-vehicle, LTE-V), vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle network, machine type communication (MTC), Internet of things (IoT), long-term evolution - machine to machine (LTE-machine to machine, LTE-M), machine to machine (M2M), Internet of Things, or future mobile communication systems.

[0124] As a possible application scenario, the NTN system may include a satellite system. Based on the satellite altitude, that is, the satellite orbit height, the satellite system can be divided into high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellites, geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. In addition, the NTN system may also include aerial network equipment such as high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication systems. The aerial network equipment involved in this application is not limited to the above examples.

[0125] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of them. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0126] First, a communication system applicable to this application is briefly introduced as follows.

[0127] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture 100 of an NTN communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0128] The NTN network includes a first network device, a second network device, a ground access network device, a ground core network, and a terminal. The first network device can be a satellite, such as a HEO satellite, a GEO satellite, a MEO satellite, or a LEO satellite, or a HAPS, etc., without limitation. The second network device can be a gateway (also known as a ground station, earth station, gateway, or gateway station), which can be used to connect the first network device and the base station. One or more first network devices can be connected to one or more ground base stations through one or more second network devices, without limitation. In Figure 1, the communication mode of the first network device is transparent mode, that is, the first network device acts as an analog RF repeater to achieve wireless frequency conversion and amplification, and can transparently transmit or copy the signal between the base station and the terminal. For example, the signal sent by the terminal can be transparently transmitted through the first network device, forwarded by the second network device, and enter the ground base station.

[0129] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the communication mode of the first network device. For example, the communication mode of the first network device may also be a regenerative mode.

[0130] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an NTN communication system architecture 200 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. In Figure 2 , the communication mode of the first network device is regeneration mode. This means that the first network device can function as a wireless communication base station, regenerating signals received from the ground and understanding and processing these signals. For example, the first network device can be a base station mounted on an artificial satellite or high-altitude aircraft, such as an evolved base station (eNB) or a 5G base station (gNB). The second network device can forward signaling between the first network device (i.e., base station) and the core network.

[0131] It should be noted that Figure 2 only shows one first network device and one second network device. In actual use, an architecture with multiple first network devices and / or multiple second network devices may be adopted as needed. Each first network device may provide services to one or more terminals, each second network device may correspond to one or more first network devices, and each first network device may correspond to one or more second network devices. This embodiment of the application does not specifically limit this.

[0132] As an example, Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of another NTN network architecture 300. Figure 3 uses two first network devices and two second network devices as an example. The communication mode between the two first network devices is regenerative mode, meaning the two first network devices can function as wireless communication base stations. This differs from Figure 2 in that an inter-satellite link (ISL) exists between the two first network devices. In this network architecture, different first network devices can communicate with each other and can also connect to the same terrestrial core network.

[0133] As an example, the first network device can also serve as the DU of the base station, separated from the CU of the ground base station, forming a CU DU distributed architecture.

[0134] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of another architecture 400 of an NTN network. Figure 4 differs from Figure 1 in that the first network device, acting as a DU of a base station, can understand, process, and regenerate signals from the ground, rather than simply transparently transmitting or replicating them, while the ground base station acts only as a CU. In this network architecture, the service link between the terminal device and the first network device can transmit NR-Uu wireless interface signals, and the feeder link between the first network device and the second network device transmits satellite radio interface (SRI) signals, over which the F1 interface signals between the DU and the CU are transmitted.

[0135] The following is a detailed introduction to the method for verifying the location of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following introduction, the method can be applied to any communication system shown in Figures 1 to 4. In an embodiment of the present application, the location of the terminal device can be verified by an access network device, or by a core network device. The access network device can be, for example, the first network device and / or the ground base station in Figures 1 to 4. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application only takes the communication system shown in Figures 1 to 4 as an example, and is not limited to this scenario.

[0136] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained below.

[0137] 1. Antenna port

[0138] The antenna port is a logical concept. An antenna port can correspond to one physical transmit antenna or multiple physical transmit antennas. In both cases, the terminal's receiver does not decompose the signal from the same antenna port. Because from the terminal's perspective, regardless of whether the channel is formed by a single physical transmit antenna or the combination of multiple physical transmit antennas, the reference signal (RS) corresponding to this antenna port defines this antenna port. For example, the antenna port corresponding to the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is the DMRS port. The terminal can obtain the channel estimate for this antenna port based on this reference signal. Each antenna port corresponds to a time / frequency resource grid (TFRG) and has its own reference signal. An antenna port is a channel, and the terminal can perform channel estimation and data demodulation based on the reference signal corresponding to this antenna port.

[0139] 2. Beam

[0140] A beam is a communication resource. It can be wide, narrow, or any other type of beam. Beam formation can be achieved through beamforming or other techniques. Beamforming techniques include digital beamforming, analog beamforming, and hybrid digital / analog beamforming. Different beams can be considered different resources. Different beams can transmit the same or different information.

[0141] Optionally, multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered a single beam. A beam can be formed by one or more antenna ports and used to transmit data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. The one or more antenna ports that form a beam can be considered an antenna port set.

[0142] Beams include transmit beams and receive beams. A transmit beam refers to the distribution of signal strength in different directions in space after a signal is transmitted by an antenna. A receive beam refers to the distribution of wireless signal strength in different directions in space as a result of the antenna array strengthening or weakening the reception.

[0143] In the current NR protocol, beam information can be indicated by the quasi colocation (QCL) relationship of antenna ports. Specifically, it can be indicated in indication information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI)) that a resource (or antenna port) has a quasi colocation relationship with another resource (or antenna port), indicating that the beams corresponding to the two resources (or antenna ports) have one or more identical or similar spatial characteristics (or parameters) and can be received using the same receive beam.

[0144] The beam can be specifically represented in the protocol by various signal identifiers, such as the resource index of the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), the index of the synchronous signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), the resource index of the sounding reference signal (SRS), and the resource index of the tracking reference signal (TRS).

[0145] In addition, in general, a beam corresponds to a DMRS port or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) or a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRS resource indicator, SRI) (used for uplink data transmission). Therefore, different beams can also be represented by different DMRS ports or TCI or SRI.

[0146] 3. QCL

[0147] The QCL relationship is used to indicate that the beams (or resources) corresponding to multiple antenna ports have one or more identical or similar communication characteristics. For multiple resources with a QCL relationship, the same or similar communication configuration can be used.

[0148] Specifically, antenna ports having a QCL relationship have the same parameters, or the parameters of one antenna port (also referred to as QCL parameters) can be used to determine the parameters of another antenna port having a QCL relationship with the antenna port, or the two antenna ports have the same parameters, or the parameter difference between the two antenna ports is less than a certain threshold. The parameters may include one or more of the following: delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average delay, average gain, and spatial Rx parameters. The spatial Rx parameters may include one or more of the following: angle of arrival (AOA), average AOA, AOA spread, angle of departure (AOD), average AOD, AOD spread, receive antenna spatial correlation parameter, transmit antenna spatial correlation parameter, transmit beam, receive beam, and resource identifier.

[0149] 4. Transmission Configuration Indicator State (TCI State)

[0150] The TCI state can be used to indicate the QCL information of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) / physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Specifically, the high-level signaling parameter PDSCH-config can be used to configure up to M TCI-states to indicate reference signals that meet the QCL relationship with the DMRS of the PDCCH / PDSCH. The value of M depends on the terminal capabilities. Each TCI-state defines one or more reference signals that meet the QCL relationship with the DMRS of the PDSCH.

[0151] For example, in TCI-state, a reference signal index may be used to indicate a reference signal that satisfies a QCL relationship with a DMRS of a PDCCH / PDSCH.

[0152] It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of TCI state. For example, the TCI state can be a downlink (DL) TCI state, an uplink (UL) TCI state, or a joint TCI state (used for both uplink and downlink).

[0153] At present, network devices usually configure TCI states for each terminal device based on the granularity of the terminal device. In the subsequent communication process, when the number of TCI states configured by the network device for the terminal is greater than 8, the network device first sends a media access control control element (MAC CE) to activate up to 8 TCI states, and then indicates the final TCI state used among the multiple activated TCI states through the "TCI-PresentInDCI" field (or information element) in the DCI. The terminal device can determine the beam for receiving the PDSCH based on the final TCI state used. When the number of TCI states configured by the network device for the terminal device is less than or equal to 8, the network device directly indicates the TCI state used through the "TCI-PresentInDCI" field in the DCI, and the terminal device can determine the beam for receiving the PDSCH based on the final TCI state used; or, when the "TCI-PresentInDCI" field is not carried in the DCI, the terminal device assumes that the PDSCH and PDCCH satisfy the QCL relationship. At this time, the beam for receiving the PDSCH can be determined based on the beam for receiving the PDCCH.

[0154] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of a process of UE switching cells in the prior art. The switching process shown in Figure 5 takes Layer 1 / L2 triggered mobility (LTM) switching as an example. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0155] In LTM handover, the access network device changes the UE's serving cell through a cell handover command based on the UE's L1 measurement report.

[0156] The specific process includes the following steps:

[0157] S510: The UE sends a measurement report to the access network device.

[0158] Correspondingly, the access network device receives the measurement report, determines to perform LTM handover according to the measurement report, and starts a candidate cell preparation operation.

[0159] S520: The access network device sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

[0160] The RRC reconfiguration message includes LTM candidate cell configurations of one or more candidate cells.

[0161] S530, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the access network device.

[0162] The UE saves the LTM candidate cell configuration and sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the access network device.

[0163] S540: The UE performs downlink synchronization with the candidate cell and obtains the TA.

[0164] The UE may perform downlink synchronization and TA acquisition with the candidate cell before receiving the cell switching command.

[0165] The UE may support downlink synchronization with the candidate cell via SSB before receiving a cell switch command (CSC), wherein the CSC indicates the configuration of the LTM candidate cell provided to the UE in advance by the access network device via RRC signaling.

[0166] The UE can support random access (RACH) initiated by PDCCH order to obtain the TA value of the candidate cell before LTM CSC, where the PDCCH order can only be triggered by the source cell.

[0167] S550: The UE performs L1 measurement on the configured candidate cell and sends a measurement report.

[0168] After performing L1 measurement, the UE sends an L1 measurement report to the access network device.

[0169] S560: The access network device sends a cell switching command to the UE to trigger switching of the target cell.

[0170] The access network device decides to perform cell handover and triggers the cell handover by sending MAC CE signaling containing the candidate configuration index of the target cell. After receiving the handover command, the UE switches to the target cell configuration.

[0171] S570: The UE performs a random access procedure.

[0172] If random access is required for cell handover, the UE performs a random access procedure to the target cell.

[0173] S580: The UE indicates that the handover to the target cell is completed. The UE may repeat steps S540-S570 according to the configuration provided in S520 to perform continuous LTM cell handover.

[0174] In the present application, continuous LTM between LTM candidate cell configurations (ie, the UE does not release other LTM candidate cell configurations after LTM is triggered) can be performed without the need for RRC reconfiguration. This embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0175] LTM handover supports intra-gNB-DU and inter-gNB-DU mobility within a gNB-CU. LTM also supports inter-frequency mobility, including mobility to an inter-frequency cell other than the current serving cell. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0176] In existing terrestrial networks, when a UE undergoes a handover, the network sends a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) signaling message to the user equipment (UE), indicating the set of resources to be activated at the UE, such as the TCI state. The UE then determines the beam to receive the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) based on this TCI state. However, in NTN scenarios, due to the rapid movement of satellites and frequent handovers, frequently sending the TCI state to be activated results in high signaling overhead and poor flexibility.

[0177] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which reduces the signaling overhead caused by indicating resource sets during frequent switching of UE and improves switching efficiency.

[0178] The solution of this application is described in detail below.

[0179] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment provided by the present application can be applied to the communication system shown in Figures 1 to 4 above, without limitation.

[0180] Figure 6 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of description, method 600 is exemplified below using the interaction between a network device and a terminal device as an example. It is understood that the terminal device may be a component of the terminal device (e.g., a chip or circuit), or the network device may be a component of the network device (e.g., a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0181] S610: The network device determines first configuration information.

[0182] The first configuration information is used to indicate a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, where the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

[0183] An optional understanding is that the first configuration information is used to indicate multiple resource sets, and the multiple resource sets correspond one-to-one to multiple cells to be switched by the terminal device.

[0184] The resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and / or bandwidth used by the network device when communicating with each cell. In one possible implementation, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set.

[0185] A TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and a BWP set includes at least one BWP.

[0186] It should be understood that when the UE switches to a candidate cell, it is necessary to activate one or more corresponding TCI states. One or more TCI states can be referred to as a TCI state set, or a TCI state list, or can be indicated by other terms that identify one or more TCI states. The TCI state set is used for illustration in the embodiment of the present application, but is not limited thereto.

[0187] Similarly, when the UE switches to a candidate cell, it can communicate according to the corresponding one or more BWPs, and can determine the corresponding TCI state set. One or more BWPs can be called a BWP set, or a BWP list, or can be indicated by other terms that identify one or more BWPs. The BWP set is used for illustration in the embodiment of the present application, but is not limited thereto.

[0188] In the present application, the first configuration information indicates a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, which is exemplified by the following two implementations.

[0189] In a possible implementation, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a TCI state set.

[0190] An optional understanding is that each cell corresponds to a TCI state set, and multiple cells correspond one-to-one to multiple TCI state sets.

[0191] Each TCI state set is used for the UE to communicate with the network in the corresponding cell. In other words, when the UE switches to a candidate cell, the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set needs to be activated.

[0192] The number of TCI states in each TCI state set in the multiple TCI state sets may be the same or different, the number of TCI states in each TCI state set does not exceed the capability limit of the UE, and each TCI state set includes at least one TCI state.

[0193] The number of TCI states in each TCI state set may be determined by a standard and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0194] Exemplarily, the network device determines the TCI state set that the UE needs to activate when switching to each candidate cell based on information such as the satellite's motion trajectory, the UE's motion state, and the cell range within the satellite's coverage area.

[0195] In this application, the TCI state set can be represented in a list form, as shown in Table 1 below.

[0196] Table 1

[0197] As shown in Table 1 above, TCI state list 0 to TCI state list N-1 represent N TCI state sets, each of which corresponds to N candidate cells. Each TCI state set can include x TCI states, where x can be an integer greater than or equal to 1. When the UE switches to each candidate cell, it can activate the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set to complete the switching of the candidate cell.

[0198] It should be noted that the TCI state set can also be indicated in other forms, which is not limited in this application.

[0199] In another possible implementation, the resource set corresponding to each cell includes a partial bandwidth BWP set.

[0200] An optional understanding is that each cell corresponds to a BWP set, and multiple cells correspond one-to-one to multiple BWP sets.

[0201] Each BWP set is used to indicate the bandwidth for communication in the corresponding cell, and multiple BWP sets correspond one-to-one to multiple cells.

[0202] Each BWP set includes at least one BWP.

[0203] It should be noted that multiple BWP sets correspond to multiple TCI state sets, and the corresponding TCI state set can be determined based on the BWP set.

[0204] Specifically, the TCI state includes the BWP ID.

[0205] Exemplarily, the configuration of the TCI state may include the following signaling content:

[0206] TCI-state::=SEQUENCE{

[0207] tci-StateId TCI-StateId,

[0208] qcl-Type1 QCL-Info,

[0209] qcl-Type2 QCL-Info OPTIONAL,--Need R,

[0210] …,

[0211] [[,

[0212] additional PCI-r17 AdditionalPCIIndex-r17 OPTIONAL,--Need R,

[0213] pathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 PathlossReferenceRS-r17 OPTIONAL,--Cond JointTCI1,

[0214] ul-powerControl-r17 Uplink-powerControlId-r17 OPTIONAL,--Cond JointTCI,

[0215] ]]

[0216] }

[0217] QCL-Info::=SEQUENCE{

[0218] cell ServCellIndex OPTIONAL,--Need R,

[0219] bwp-Id BWP-Id OPTIONAL,--Cond CSI-RS-Indicated,

[0220] referenceSignal CHOICE{

[0221] csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,

[0222] ssb SSB-Index,

[0223] },

[0224] qcl-Type ENUMERATED{typeA,typeB,typeC,typeD},

[0225] …,

[0226] }.

[0227] It can be seen from the above signaling content that the QCL-info in the TCI state contains the BWP ID, and the UE can determine the TCI state set based on the BWP-ID.

[0228] Exemplarily, the network device determines the bandwidth that the UE needs to use when communicating in each candidate cell based on information such as the satellite's motion trajectory, the UE's motion state, and the cell range within the satellite's coverage area.

[0229] In this application, the BWP set can be represented in a list form, as shown in Table 2 below.

[0230] Table 2

[0231] As shown in Table 2 above, BWP list 0 to BWP list N-1 represent N BWP sets, which correspond to N candidate cells respectively. Each BWP set can include y BWPs, where y can be an integer greater than or equal to 1. After switching to each candidate cell, the UE can communicate according to the BWP in the corresponding BWP set.

[0232] It should be understood that the above Table 2 may be for a downlink BWP set and / or an uplink BWP set, and the downlink BWP set and the uplink BWP set may also be configured with two lists respectively corresponding to uplink and downlink communications.

[0233] Among them, the BWP in Table 2 can be an initial uplink / downlink BWP (initial downlink / uplink bandwidth part, initial DL / UL BWP) or a UE-dedicated BWP (UE-dedicated BWP), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0234] In the present application, a BWP set may be configured with a BWP ID or a BWP pair (bandwidth part pair, BWP pair), which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0235] The BWP pair includes an uplink UL BWP ID and a downlink DL BWP ID, and the UL BWP ID and the DL BWP ID are the same. The DL BWP and the UL BWP have the same center frequency, but the bandwidth and subcarrier spacing may be different.

[0236] It should be noted that the BWP set may also be indicated in other forms, which is not limited in this application.

[0237] Optionally, the first indication information includes an index of a first beam, the first beam corresponds to a first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

[0238] It can be understood that each resource set may include a beam indication, and the beam indication is used to indicate a beam for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the cell corresponding to the resource set.

[0239] Exemplarily, the first beam may also be indicated by a TCI state identifier.

[0240] For example, the last TCI state or the first TCI state in each TCI state set may be specified to be used for beam indication.

[0241] For another example, TCI state may not be used for beam indication, but only the reference signal ID may be included in the resource set (such as adding a reference signal ID to each TCI state set). After receiving the set, the UE finds the corresponding TCI state for activation based on the mapping relationship between the reference signal ID and the TCI state.

[0242] For another example, in the delivered resource set, the TCI state may not be used, but only the reference signal ID may be added. After receiving the set, the UE finds the corresponding TCI state according to the mapping relationship between the reference signal ID and the TCI state and activates it.

[0243] S620: The network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device.

[0244] First, the method for sending the first configuration information is described in detail.

[0245] In a possible implementation, the network device may send the first configuration information to the terminal device via radio resource control signaling.

[0246] Exemplarily, the network device may send the first configuration information through separate RRC signaling.

[0247] Exemplarily, the network device may also send the first configuration information via RRC signaling carrying the candidate configuration of the LTM, for example, step S520 in FIG. 5 .

[0248] Among them, when the first configuration information is sent through the RRC signaling that carries the candidate configuration of LTM, the first configuration information can be carried in the RRC message at the same time as the candidate configuration, and the first configuration information can also be carried in the candidate configuration of LTM. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0249] The above-mentioned method of sending the first configuration information is merely an example and is not limited to this embodiment of the present application.

[0250] Optionally, the network device may also send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first resource set.

[0251] The first resource set corresponds to a first cell, which is one of multiple cells.

[0252] It should be understood that the first cell can be understood as the current target cell, and the first resource set includes reference signal resources and / or bandwidth used for communication when the terminal device switches to the target cell.

[0253] It should be understood that the first resource set may include a first TCI state set.

[0254] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information includes an index of the first TCI state set.

[0255] An optional understanding is that the first indication information is used to indicate a first TCI state set.

[0256] Among them, the first TCI state set is one of multiple TCI state sets, the first TCI state set corresponds to the first cell, and the first cell is the target cell to be switched by the terminal device.

[0257] It can be understood that the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device. The first configuration information is used to indicate the resource set required by the terminal device when performing multiple consecutive cell switching. When the network device instructs the terminal device to switch to the first cell (one of the candidate cells), it can indicate the first resource set corresponding to the first cell. The first resource set may include a first TCI state set. Further, by indicating the index of the first TCI state set, the terminal device can switch to the first cell (target cell) and activate the TCI state in the first TCI state set.

[0258] It should also be understood that the first set of resources may include a first set of BWPs.

[0259] In another possible implementation, the first indication information includes an index of the first BWP set.

[0260] In an optional understanding, the first indication information is used to indicate the first BWP set.

[0261] Among them, the first BWP set is one of multiple BWP sets, the first BWP set has a mapping relationship with the TCI state, the first BWP set corresponds to the first cell, and the first cell is the target cell to be switched by the terminal device.

[0262] It can be understood that the network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device, and the first configuration information is used to indicate the resource set required by the terminal device when performing multiple consecutive cell switching. When the network device instructs the terminal device to switch to the first cell (one of the candidate cells), it can indicate the first resource set corresponding to the first cell. The first resource set may include a first BWP set. Further, by indicating the index of the first BWP set, the terminal device can switch to the first cell (target cell) and activate the TCI state in the TCI state set corresponding to the first BWP set.

[0263] In another possible implementation manner, the first resource set indicated by the first indication information is a resource set next to a resource set corresponding to the current cell among multiple resource sets.

[0264] In other words, the first resource set corresponds to the first cell. In this case, the first cell is the next cell to be switched after the currently connected cell when switching according to the order of multiple cells. In other words, the first indication information indicates that the resource set corresponding to the next switching cell is the first resource set based on the current cell switching order. It can also be said that the first resource set indicated by the first indication information is determined based on the cell switching order.

[0265] An optional understanding is that the terminal device can switch according to the order of multiple cells. In this case, the network device can instruct the terminal device to determine the resource set (first resource set) corresponding to the next target cell according to the current switching order, or the network device can determine the order of multiple resource sets, and the order of multiple resource sets corresponds to the switching order of multiple cells, so that it can instruct to determine the resource set (first resource set) corresponding to the next target cell according to the order of multiple resource sets.

[0266] In one possible implementation, the first resource set includes a first TCI state set, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first TCI state set is determined according to the order of multiple TCI state sets; or, the first resource set includes a first BWP set, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first TCI state set is determined according to the order of multiple BWP sets.

[0267] In this case, the terminal device performs sequential switching, that is, performs switching of multiple cells in a certain order.

[0268] Exemplarily, the network device can determine the order in which the terminal device performs switching of multiple cells, and determine the order of multiple resource sets corresponding to the multiple cells according to the order of switching of the multiple cells, and the order of the multiple resource sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of the multiple cells.

[0269] For example, the order of multiple TCI state sets and / or the order of multiple BWP sets are determined according to the order of switching of multiple cells. The order of multiple TCI state sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of multiple cells, and the order of multiple BWP sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of multiple cells.

[0270] Among them, the network device can determine the order in which the UE performs N subsequent cell switching according to the satellite's motion trajectory and the UE's motion state (including position, motion speed and direction). The network device can also determine the UE's cell switching order according to other methods, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0271] Exemplarily, the first indication information may be 1-bit information.

[0272] Exemplarily, in a case where the UE does not perform sequential switching, the resource set corresponding to the UE can be indicated by sending the first indication information.

[0273] For example, when the UE moves and the UE cannot be switched according to a predetermined order, the first indication information may be sent to indicate the resource set corresponding to the UE.

[0274] For example, when the UE moves slowly or does not move, the order in which the UE switches to the target cell can be determined in advance, multiple resource sets can also be determined in order, and the network device can also send down 1 bit of information to indicate whether the UE needs to activate the next resource set in order.

[0275] It should be understood that when the UE switches in a predetermined order, the network device may not send down 1 bit of information or the index of the first TCI state set / the index of the first BWP set, and the terminal device directly determines the corresponding resource set according to the order.

[0276] It should be understood that the first indication information is also used to instruct the terminal device to switch to the first cell.

[0277] The following is an exemplary description of the method for sending the first indication information.

[0278] The timings for sending the first indication information may include but are not limited to the following:

[0279] Sending the first indication information before or after the network device receives the L1 measurement report; or

[0280] Sending the first indication information before or after the network device sends the switching instruction; or

[0281] sending the first indication information when the network device sends a switching instruction; or

[0282] The first indication information is sent when the first configuration information is sent.

[0283] The first indication information may be included in any one of the following items: downlink control information, a media access control layer control unit, a radio resource control signaling, etc.

[0284] Exemplarily, the network device may send the first indication information before or after step S550 (sending a measurement report) in Figure 5, or may send the first indication information before step S560 (sending a switching command), or may send the first indication information in step S560, or may send the first indication information after step S560. This application does not limit this.

[0285] When the first indication information is sent before the network device sends the handover command (S560), the first indication information may be sent in the following circumstances: For example, after the network device triggers the PDCCH-order for the target cell and the UE sends a preamble to the target cell, the first indication information may be sent to the UE along with the RAR of the target cell.

[0286] When the first indication information is sent in the handover command (S560) reported on the network, the index of the candidate cell configuration may be bound to the first indication information. In this case, only the index of the target cell candidate configuration needs to be sent in the handover command.

[0287] It should be understood that when the terminal device performs cell switching according to the switching order of the cells, the first indication information may be 1-bit information, and the 1-bit information may be sent in the switching command. In this case, the 1-bit information instructs the terminal device to switch to the next cell of the current cell according to the switching order. The switching command may only include the 1-bit indication information, and the switching command may not include the index of the target cell candidate configuration.

[0288] It should be noted that the above solution is applicable to the activation or indication of the TCI state of PDSCH / PUSCH / PUCCH / PDCCH / SRS, and this application does not limit this.

[0289] In a possible implementation, the network device may also configure and send TCI state information in advance.

[0290] For example, the network device may configure tci-StatesToAddModList and / or tci-StatesToReleaseList and / or dl-OrJointTCI-StateList in each TCI state set.

[0291] In this application, this solution is also applicable to the scenario of conditional switching.

[0292] The following is a detailed description of the conditional switching scenario.

[0293] In a possible implementation, the network device may further send at least one first information to the terminal device, where each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

[0294] For example, the first information corresponding to the first cell is used to indicate the switching condition of the first cell. After the switching condition is met, the TCI state in the first TCI state set can be activated. Optionally, switching to the first cell can be performed.

[0295] The at least one first information may be included in the first configuration information.

[0296] For example, the first information corresponding to the first cell can be configured in the first configuration information simultaneously with the first resource set, or can be configured separately from the first resource set. This application does not limit this.

[0297] For example, the network device can determine the order in which the UE performs N subsequent consecutive handovers, the handover conditions, and the resource set corresponding to the UE in each candidate cell based on the measurement results reported by the terminal device, the satellite's motion trajectory, and the UE's location information.

[0298] Exemplarily, the switching condition may include but is not limited to one or more of the following: switching time information, switching position information, pitch angle information, remaining service time and other information and corresponding switching event threshold information.

[0299] It can be understood that the threshold information in the switching condition may include the threshold value related to the signal quality of the neighboring cell or the service cell, and may also include other threshold information based on the specific condition information, for example, it may include any one or more of the threshold value related to the distance between the UE and the cell, the angle range related to the elevation / depression angle between the UE and the satellite, the threshold value related to the remaining service time of the service cell or the service satellite, etc.

[0300] In one implementation, when the handover conditions are met, the UE applies the target cell configuration and activates the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set (TCI state list0), and optionally, can be handed over to the target cell.

[0301] For example, the switching condition includes time information. Specifically, each TCI state set in the multiple TCI state sets corresponds to a switching time period.

[0302] In one implementation, when the UE enters a corresponding time period, the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set is activated, and optionally, the UE may be handed over to a target cell.

[0303] For another example, the switching condition includes switching time information and threshold information. Specifically, each TCI state set in the multiple TCI state sets corresponds to a switching time period and a threshold value.

[0304] The threshold information includes a threshold value related to the signal quality of a neighboring cell or a serving cell.

[0305] In one implementation, when the UE enters the corresponding time period, the UE may begin to measure the corresponding serving cell and the adjacent cell. Further, when a preset event is met, the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set is activated, and optionally, the target cell may be switched. For example, the corresponding TCI state may be activated when the A3 event is met, that is, the signal quality of the adjacent cell is higher than the signal quality of the serving cell; or the corresponding TCI state may be activated when the A4 condition is met, that is, the signal quality of the adjacent cell is higher than the corresponding threshold value; or the corresponding TCI state may be activated when the A5 condition is met, that is, the signal quality of the serving cell is lower than the threshold value 1 and the signal quality of the adjacent cell is higher than the threshold value 2. This application does not limit this.

[0306] In another implementation, when the UE meets the switching conditions, it starts measuring the signal quality of the serving cell and the neighboring cell. Further, when a preset event is met, the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set is activated, and optionally, the UE can be switched to the target cell.

[0307] For example, the switching condition may further include location information and threshold information. Specifically, each TCI state set in the plurality of TCI state sets corresponds to a reference location and a threshold value 1 and a threshold value 2 related to the distance.

[0308] The threshold information may include a threshold value related to the distance between the UE and the cell, and may also include a threshold value related to signal quality.

[0309] When the distance between the UE and the reference position of the cell is greater than threshold 1 and the distance between the UE and the candidate cell configured by the condition is less than threshold 2, the UE can start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the neighboring cell; or when the distance between the UE and the reference position of the primary cell (Pcell) of the primary cell group is greater than threshold 1, the UE can start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the neighboring cell; or when the distance between the UE and the candidate cell configured by the condition is less than threshold 2, the UE can start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the neighboring cell. After the measurement, it is determined whether the A3 / A4 / A5 event conditions are met according to the threshold value related to the signal quality, thereby determining whether the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set can be activated. Optionally, it can be switched to the target cell. For specific judgment, please refer to the previous text and will not be repeated here.

[0310] The switching conditions can also use elevation / depression angle and threshold information.

[0311] The threshold information may include an angle range related to the elevation angle / depression angle between the UE and the satellite, and may also include a threshold value related to signal quality.

[0312] For example, when the elevation angle between the UE and the satellite of the serving cell is less than a certain range, and / or the elevation angle between the UE and the satellite of the target cell is greater than a certain range, the UE can begin measuring the signals of the serving cell and the neighboring cell. After the measurement, the UE determines whether the A3 / A4 / A5 event conditions are met based on the threshold values ​​related to the signal quality, thereby determining whether the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set can be activated. Optionally, the UE can be switched to the target cell. The specific judgment can be referred to above and will not be repeated here.

[0313] The switching condition may also use the remaining service time and threshold information.

[0314] The threshold information may include a threshold value related to the remaining service time of the serving cell or the serving satellite, and may also include a threshold value related to the signal quality.

[0315] For example, when the remaining service time between the UE and the serving cell is less than a certain threshold, the UE may begin measuring the signals of the serving cell and neighboring cells. Alternatively, when the remaining coverage time between the UE and the satellite where the serving cell resides is less than a certain threshold, the UE may begin measuring the signals of the serving cell and neighboring cells. After the measurement, the UE determines whether the A3 / A4 / A5 event conditions are met based on the signal quality threshold, thereby determining whether a TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set can be activated. Optionally, a handover to the target cell can be performed. The specific determination is described above and will not be repeated here.

[0316] It should be understood that all the corresponding parameters mentioned above can be configured in the resource set in advance, and this application does not limit this.

[0317] It should be understood that the parameters corresponding to the aforementioned A3 / A4 / A5 events can all be pre-configured in the TCI state set. For example, when using the A5 event, two thresholds need to be configured, and the measurement results corresponding to the thresholds can be either L1 or L3 measurement results. This application does not limit this.

[0318] It should be understood that the above-mentioned A3 / A4 / A5 events are merely exemplary and do not limit the embodiments of the present application.

[0319] According to the above technical solution, the network device can indicate the resource set corresponding to the candidate cell to the terminal device in advance. When the terminal device performs continuous switching, it activates the resource set corresponding to the current candidate cell based on the instruction of the network device or in sequence, thereby avoiding the signaling overhead caused by the need to frequently indicate the resource set in the continuous switching scenario and improving the switching efficiency.

[0320] The following solution takes the configuration of the TCI state set in the first resource set as an example, and describes the specific switching process in detail through the method 700 shown in Figure 7.

[0321] FIG7 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0322] For ease of description, method 700 is described below using the interaction between an access network device and a terminal device as an example. It is understood that the terminal device may be a component of the terminal device (e.g., a chip or circuit), or the access network device may be a component of the access network device (e.g., a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0323] S710: The UE sends a measurement report to the access network device.

[0324] Correspondingly, the access network receives the measurement report.

[0325] The measurement report may include user information of the UE (such as geographic location), and the access network device may also obtain user motion status information (including location, motion speed and direction, etc.) in advance through other means. This application does not limit this.

[0326] S720: The access network device sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

[0327] The access network decides to start LTM handover based on the measurement report and can determine candidate cells.

[0328] Exemplarily, the access network device may determine the order in which the UE performs N subsequent cell switching operations based on the motion trajectory of the satellite and the motion state of the UE (including position, motion speed, and direction).

[0329] The RRC reconfiguration message includes LTM candidate configurations of one or more candidate cells.

[0330] S721: The access network device sends the TCI state set configuration to the UE.

[0331] For example, the access network device can determine the TCI state that the UE needs to activate when switching to each candidate cell based on information such as the satellite's motion trajectory, the UE's motion status, and the cell range within the satellite coverage area, to form multiple TCI state sets, such as Table 1 in method 600.

[0332] Optionally, the access network device may send the TCI state set configuration via an RRC message.

[0333] Optionally, the access network device may also send the TCI state set configuration through step S720. For the specific method, please refer to the detailed description in method 600 and will not be repeated here.

[0334] The access network device may send the TCI state set configuration to the UE in a variety of ways, which are not limited in this application.

[0335] S730: The UE sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the access network device.

[0336] The UE saves the LTM candidate cell configuration and sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the access network device.

[0337] S731, the UE sends a TCI state set configuration completion message to the access network device.

[0338] The UE saves the TCI state set configuration configured by the access network device and sends a TCI state set configuration completion message to the access network device.

[0339] S740: The UE performs downlink synchronization with the candidate cell and obtains the TA.

[0340] This step may refer to step S540 in method 500 and will not be described in detail.

[0341] S750: The UE sends a measurement report to the access network device.

[0342] The UE performs L1 measurement on the configured candidate cells according to the L1 measurement configuration and sends an L1 measurement report.

[0343] S760: The access network device sends a TCI state set index to the UE.

[0344] The access network device decides to trigger LTM handover based on the L1 measurement report, and indicates the TCI state list index (TCI state list index) corresponding to the target cell to the UE.

[0345] In this embodiment, the TCI state list index is used as an example of the first indication information.

[0346] Exemplarily, the access network device may send the TCI state list index to the UE via DCI, RRC or MAC CE signaling.

[0347] It should be understood that this step is an optional step. In this step, the access network device may also send 1 bit of information to the UE to instruct the UE to activate the TCI state in the next TCI state set in the order of multiple TCI state sets. The following embodiment uses the TCI state list index as an example for illustration.

[0348] It should be noted that when the TCI state set is sent through an RRC reconfiguration message, the TCI state list index can be carried in the signaling content of the RRC reconfiguration message.

[0349] For example, the TCI state list index can be placed in LtmCellSwitchInfo, and the RRC reconfiguration message includes the following signaling content:

[0350] LtmCellSwitchInfo-r18::=SEQUENCE{

[0351] spCellConfigCommon ServingCellConfigCommon OPTIONAL,--Need M

[0352] newUE-Identity RNTI-Value,

[0353] TCI-state-list…….TCI-state-List-index

[0354] …

[0355] }.

[0356] It should be understood that LtmCellSwitchInfo is carried in SpCellConfig, and SpCellConfig is carried in CellGroupConfig.

[0357] Among them, CellGroupConfig is used to configure the master cell group (MCG) or secondary cell group (SCG). A cell group includes a MAC entity, a group of logical channels with associated RLC entities, the master cell of the MCG or the Pscell (special cell, spcell) of the SCG, and one or more secondary cells (scell). The spCellConfig in CellGroupConfig contains the relevant parameters of the Spcell in the cell group. The LtmCellSwitchInfo in spCellConfig contains the information required by the UE to perform the LTM target cell handover process.

[0358] In summary, when the cell is an LTM target cell, the corresponding TCI state can be activated directly according to the TCI state list index in LtmCellSwitchInfo.

[0359] For another example, the TCI state list index can be placed in the LTM-Candidate, and the RRC reconfiguration message includes the following signaling content:

[0360] LTM-Candidate-r18::=SEQUENCE{

[0361] ltm-CandidateId-r18 LTM-CandidateId-r18,

[0362] TCI-state-list…….TCI-state-List-index

[0363] …

[0364] }.

[0365] It should be understood that LTM-Candidate is carried in LTM-CandidateConfig.

[0366] LTM-CandidateConfig is used to provide LTM candidate cell configuration, and LTM-Candidate contains LTM candidate cell configuration information. Therefore, when the cell is determined to be an LTM target cell, the corresponding TCI state can be directly activated based on the TCI state list index in LTM-Candidate.

[0367] In this application, the corresponding TCI state list can also be directly placed in the configuration of the corresponding candidate cell or target cell. In this case, there is no need to use the TCI state list index for indication.

[0368] S761: The access network device sends a cell switching command to the UE.

[0369] The access network device may trigger handover by sending an index containing a target cell candidate configuration in MAC CE signaling.

[0370] The UE switches to the target cell configuration and activates the TCI state corresponding to the TCI state list index accordingly.

[0371] It should be understood that the order of the above steps S760 and S761 is not fixed, and the switching command can also be sent first and then the TCI state list index.

[0372] For example, the access network device may send the TCI state list index after receiving the L1 measurement report, or may send the TCI state list index before receiving the L1 measurement report, or may send the TCI state list index before sending the switching command, or may send the TCI state list index when the access network device sends the switching command, or may send the TCI state list index after the network side sends the switching command. This application does not limit this.

[0373] When the TCI state list index is sent before the access network device sends a handover command, the TCI state list index can be sent in the following situations. For example, when the PDCCH-order for the target cell is triggered on the network side and the UE sends a preamble sequence to the target cell, the TCI state list index can be sent to the UE along with the RAR of the target cell.

[0374] Among them, when the access network device sends the TCI state list index in the handover command, the index of the cell candidate configuration can also be bound to the TCI state list index. At this time, only the index of the target cell candidate configuration needs to be sent in the handover command.

[0375] Among them, the access network device may not send the TCI state list index or 1-bit information. After receiving the handover command, the UE directly activates the TCI state in the TCI state set corresponding to the target cell.

[0376] S770: The UE performs a random access procedure.

[0377] If the cell handover needs to include performing a random access procedure, the UE performs a random access procedure to the target cell;

[0378] S780, LTM switchover completed.

[0379] The UE indicates to the network that the handover is complete.

[0380] The UE may perform steps S740-S780 multiple times in subsequent LTM cell handovers according to the configuration provided in step S720; and after each handover is completed, the UE may delete the relevant configuration about the source cell (including the corresponding TCI state set).

[0381] In the present application, each TCI state set may be delivered in differential form, that is, each time a part different from the previous TCI state set or the first TCI state set (TCI state list 0) is delivered.

[0382] Table 3 below shows the configuration of the TCI state set when N is equal to 4.

[0383] Table 3

[0384] As shown in Table 3 above, the TCI state set is delivered in a differential manner. When delivering TCI state list 1, it can indicate that the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th TCI states in TCI state list 0 are deactivated, and TCI state 40, TCI state 55, and TCI state 1 are newly added.

[0385] In this application, the TCI state set may also be sent to the UE together with the LTM candidate configuration of one or more candidate cells through the RRC reconfiguration message RRCReconfiguration.

[0386] According to the above scheme, when the network device pre-configures the UE for continuous switching, the TCI state set that the UE needs to activate when switching to the target cell, and the terminal device activates the TCI state set corresponding to the current candidate cell based on the instructions of the network device or in sequence, thereby avoiding the signaling overhead caused by the need to frequently indicate the TCI state in the continuous switching scenario and improving the switching efficiency.

[0387] The following describes a handover scenario in which a BWP set is configured in the first resource set based on Figure 7. Some similar steps are not described in detail.

[0388] In this solution, in step S720 or S721, the access network device sends multiple BWP sets.

[0389] The multiple BWP sets have a corresponding relationship with the multiple TCI state sets. The corresponding TCI state set can be determined based on the BWP set. The specific content of the BWP set can refer to the content in Figure 6 and Table 2, and will not be repeated here.

[0390] In step S760, the access network device sends a BWP index to the UE to indicate activation of the TCI state set corresponding to the BWP set indicated by the BWP index; alternatively, the access network device sends 1 bit of information to the UE to indicate activation of multiple TCI state sets according to the order of multiple BWP sets.

[0391] According to the above solution, when the network device pre-configures the UE for continuous switching, the BWP ID that the UE can use when switching to the target cell. Based on the BWP ID, the UE can determine the TCI state set or TCI state corresponding to the current cell to be switched, thereby avoiding the signaling overhead caused by the need to frequently indicate the TCI state in the continuous switching scenario and improving the switching efficiency.

[0392] The following solution details the process of conditional switching under the preconfigured resource set of the network device.

[0393] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0394] For ease of description, method 800 is described below using the interaction between an access network device and a terminal device as an example. It is understood that the terminal device may be a component of the terminal device (e.g., a chip or circuit), or the access network device may be a component of the access network device (e.g., a chip or circuit), without limitation.

[0395] In this embodiment, the conditional switching under the pre-configured TCI state set in the resource set is taken as an example. The solution in this embodiment is also applicable to the pre-configured BWP set of the network device, and the specific description is not repeated.

[0396] S810, the UE sends a measurement report.

[0397] The measurement report may include user information of the UE (such as geographic location), and the access network device may also obtain user motion state information (including location, motion speed and direction, etc.) in advance through other steps. This application does not limit this.

[0398] S820: The access network device sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

[0399] Specifically, the access network device may determine the switching information according to the measurement result, the movement trajectory of the satellite and the location information of the UE.

[0400] The handover information may include the order in which the UE performs N subsequent consecutive handovers, handover conditions, and the TCI state (TCI state set) to be activated by the UE in each candidate cell.

[0401] The access network device can send multiple TCI state sets and handover conditions (an example of the first information) to the UE, for example, via an RRC reconfiguration message. Table 4 below shows the handover conditions. Table 4 illustrates the handover conditions using time periods and corresponding thresholds as an example.

[0402] Table 4

[0403] It should be noted that the TCI state list can also be configured separately, and only the corresponding TCI state list index is placed in Table 4. This application does not limit this.

[0404] S830: The UE performs measurement according to the RRC reconfiguration message.

[0405] When entering the time period [T 0,on ,T 0,off ], the UE starts to measure the serving cell and neighboring cell signals.

[0406] S840: When the handover condition is met, the cell is switched to the target cell, and the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set is activated.

[0407] In a possible implementation, when the UE enters a corresponding time period, the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set is directly activated.

[0408] For example, entering the time period [T 0,on ,T 0,off ], the UE activates TCI state list 0; enters the time period [T 1,on ,T 1,off ], the UE activates the TCI state in TCI state list 1.

[0409] In another possible implementation, the UE measures the serving cell and neighboring cell signals in the corresponding time period and determines whether the A3 / A4 / A4 event is met. For example, when the signal quality of the neighboring cell is higher than that of the serving cell and exceeds the threshold value θ0, the UE applies the target cell configuration and activates the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set (TCI state list 0).

[0410] S850: The UE sends uplink data to the access network device.

[0411] The UE sends uplink data to the target cell to access the target cell.

[0412] Optionally, the UE may initiate random access to the target cell to access the target cell.

[0413] Optionally, the above steps S830-850 may be repeated to access a subsequent cell.

[0414] It should be understood that the switching conditions may also include one or more of the following: location information, elevation angle / depression angle, remaining service time and corresponding threshold information, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0415] It can be understood that the threshold information in the switching condition may include the threshold value related to the signal quality of the neighboring cell or the service cell, and may also include other threshold information based on the specific condition information, for example, it may include any one or more of the threshold value related to the distance between the UE and the cell, the angle range related to the elevation / depression angle between the UE and the satellite, the threshold value related to the remaining service time of the service cell or the service satellite, etc.

[0416] For example, the switching condition may use conditional handover (CHO) based on location information. For example, when the distance between the UE and the reference position of the Pcell is greater than threshold 1 and the distance between the UE and the conditionally configured candidate cell is less than threshold 2, the UE may start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the adjacent cell; or when the distance between the UE and the reference position of the Pcell is greater than threshold 1; or when the distance between the UE and the conditionally configured candidate cell is less than threshold 2, the UE may start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the adjacent cell. After the measurement, it may be determined whether the A3 / A4 / A5 event conditions are met according to the threshold value related to the signal quality, thereby determining whether to activate the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set. For specific judgment, please refer to the previous text and will not be repeated here.

[0417] For another example, the switching condition can also use the elevation angle / depression angle and the corresponding threshold information. For example, when the elevation angle between the UE and the satellite where the serving cell is located is less than the preset range, and / or the elevation angle between the UE and the satellite where the target cell is located is greater than the preset range, the UE can start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the adjacent cell. After the measurement, it can be determined whether the A3 / A4 / A5 event conditions are met based on the threshold value related to the signal quality, thereby determining whether to activate the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set. For specific judgment, please refer to the previous text and will not be repeated here.

[0418] For another example, the switching condition can also use the remaining service time. When the remaining service time between the UE and the serving cell is less than a preset threshold, the UE can start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the adjacent cell; or when the remaining coverage time between the UE and the satellite where the serving cell is located is less than a preset threshold, the UE can start measuring the signals of the serving cell and the adjacent cell. After the measurement, it can be determined whether the A3 / A4 / A5 event conditions are met according to the threshold value related to the signal quality, thereby determining whether to activate the TCI state in the corresponding TCI state set. For specific judgment, please refer to the previous text and will not be repeated here.

[0419] According to this technical solution, when the access network device configures the UE to perform N consecutive conditional switches in advance, the corresponding switching time period / location information / pitch angle / remaining service time, etc., as well as the threshold corresponding to the switching condition and other information are configured to the UE together with the resource set, so that the UE can switch to the target cell through the switching condition to activate the corresponding resource set, thereby avoiding the signaling overhead caused by the need to frequently indicate the resource set in the conditional switching scenario and improving the switching efficiency.

[0420] It should be understood that other possible implementations of the embodiments of the present application are similar to the above-mentioned methods 600 to 800. Please refer to the descriptions in methods 600 to 800 and will not be repeated here.

[0421] It should be understood that the size of the serial numbers of the above 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 embodiments of the present application.

[0422] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the interaction between various network elements. It can be understood that each network element, such as a transmitting end device or a receiving end device, includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function in order to implement the above functions. 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 executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner 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.

[0423] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the transmitting device or the receiving device can be divided according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module according to each function.

[0424] The method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 6 to 8. Below, the apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail in conjunction with Figures 9 and 10. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, please refer to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0425] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0426] The device 900 includes a transceiver unit 910 and a processing unit 920 , wherein the transceiver unit 910 can be used to implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 920 can be used to perform data processing.

[0427] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 may also be referred to as a communication interface or communication unit, and may include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit. The transceiver unit 910 may be a transceiver (including a transmitter and / or a receiver), an input / output interface (including an input and / or output interface), a pin, or a circuit. The transceiver unit 910 may be configured to perform the sending and / or receiving steps in the above-described method embodiments.

[0428] Optionally, the processing unit 920 may be a processor (may include one or more), a processing circuit with processor functions, etc., and may be used to execute other steps except sending and receiving in the above method embodiment.

[0429] Optionally, the apparatus 900 further includes a storage unit, which may be a memory, an internal storage unit (e.g., a register, a cache, etc.), an external storage unit (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.), etc. The storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit 920 executes the instructions stored in the storage unit to cause the communication apparatus to perform the above method.

[0430] In one design, the apparatus 900 can be used to perform the actions performed by the network device in each of the above method embodiments. For example, the apparatus 900 can be used to perform the actions performed by the network device in the above methods 600 to 800. In this case, the apparatus 900 can be a component of the network device, the transceiver unit 910 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations on the network device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 920 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiments.

[0431] For example, the processing unit 920 is used to determine the first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, where the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device; the transceiver unit 910 is used to send the first configuration information.

[0432] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further used to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first resource set, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

[0433] Optionally, the processing unit 920 is further used to determine the order in which the terminal device performs switching of the multiple cells; the processing unit is also used to determine the order of the multiple resource sets corresponding to the multiple cells according to the order of switching of the multiple cells, and the order of the multiple resource sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of the multiple cells.

[0434] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to send at least one first information, where each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a cell switching condition of the multiple cells.

[0435] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 910 and the processing unit 920 may also perform other operations performed by the network device in any of the above methods 600 to 800, which are not described in detail here.

[0436] In one design, the apparatus 900 can be used to perform the actions performed by the terminal device in each of the above method embodiments, for example, the apparatus 900 can be used to perform the actions performed by the terminal device in the above methods 600 to 800. In this case, the apparatus 900 can be a component of the terminal device, the transceiver unit 910 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations on the terminal device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 920 is used to perform the processing-related operations on the terminal device side in the above method embodiments.

[0437] For example, the transceiver unit 910 is used to receive first configuration information; the processing unit 920 is used to determine the resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells according to the first configuration information, and the plurality of cells are the plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

[0438] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further used to receive first indication information; the processing unit is further used to determine a first resource set based on the first indication information, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

[0439] Optionally, the processing unit 920 is further configured to switch to the first cell according to the first indication information.

[0440] Optionally, the transceiver unit 910 is further configured to receive at least one first information, where each first information in the at least one first information is configured to indicate a cell switching condition of one of the multiple cells.

[0441] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 910 and the processing unit 920 can also perform other operations performed by the terminal device in any of the above methods 600 to 800, which are not described in detail here.

[0442] It should also be understood that the device 900 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can 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 combined 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 900 can be specifically a network device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, they will not be described here.

[0443] The apparatus 900 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the device in the above-mentioned method, or the apparatus 900 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 function can be implemented by hardware, or the corresponding software can be implemented by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver 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.

[0444] In addition, the transceiver unit 910 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

[0445] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG9 may be a network element or device in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a chip or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

[0446] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 shown in Figure 10 includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, and a transceiver 1030. The processor 1010 is coupled to the memory 1020 and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 1020 to control the transceiver 1030 to transmit and / or receive signals.

[0447] It should be understood that the processor 1010 and memory 1020 can be combined into a processing device, and the processor 1010 is used to execute the program code stored in the memory 1020 to implement the above functions. In a specific implementation, the memory 1020 can also be integrated into the processor 1010, or independent of the processor 1010. It should be understood that the processor 1010 can also correspond to the various processing units in the aforementioned communication device, and the transceiver 1030 can correspond to the various receiving units and transmitting units in the aforementioned communication device.

[0448] It should also be understood that the transceiver 1030 may include a receiver (or receiver) and a transmitter (or transmitter). The transceiver may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more. The transceiver may also be a communication interface or interface circuit.

[0449] Specifically, the communication device 1000 may correspond to the terminal device in methods 600 to 800 according to the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1000 may include the units of the methods 600 to 800 performed by the network device. It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the above-mentioned corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0450] When the communication device 1000 is a chip, the chip includes an interface unit and a processing unit, wherein the interface unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; and the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip.

[0451] 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.

[0452] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, 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 combination with its hardware.

[0453] The present application also provides a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0454] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0455] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0456] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete way.

[0457] 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.

[0458] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application. The names of all nodes and messages in this application are merely names set by this application for the convenience of description. The names in the actual network may be different. It should not be understood that this application limits the names of various nodes and messages. On the contrary, any name with the same or similar function as the node or message used in this application is regarded as the method or equivalent replacement of this application, and is within the scope of protection of this application.

[0459] It should also be understood that in this application, "when", "if" and "if" all mean that the UE or base station will take corresponding measures under certain objective circumstances. It does not limit the time, and does not require the UE or base station to take judgment actions when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0460] Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. The term "and / or" is simply used to describe an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone.

[0461] As used herein, the term "at least one of" or "at least one of" refers to all or any combination of the listed items. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" can mean: A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, B and C together, and A, B, and C together. As used herein, "at least one" means one or more. "A plurality" means two or more.

[0462] It should be understood that in each embodiment of the present application, the terms "include", "comprise", "have" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0463] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the first, second, and various numerical numbers are merely distinctions for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0464] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software 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 beyond the scope of this application.

[0465] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working 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.

[0466] 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 schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0467] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown 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 these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0468] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0469] 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, a server, or a 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 read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0470] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to network equipment, including: Determine first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, where the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device; Send the first configuration information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and / or bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: First indication information is sent, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first resource set, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determining the order in which the terminal device performs switching of the multiple cells; The order of the multiple resource sets respectively corresponding to the multiple cells is determined according to the order of switching of the multiple cells, and the order of the multiple resource sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of the multiple cells.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The multiple resource sets include the first resource set, and the first resource set is the next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell in the multiple resource sets.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first indication information is 1-bit information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The first indication information is also used to instruct the terminal device to switch to the first cell.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: At least one first information is sent, each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

13. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to terminal equipment, including: receiving first configuration information; A resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells is determined according to the first configuration information, and the plurality of cells are the plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving first indication information; A first resource set is determined according to the first indication information, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

19. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that: The first resource set is a resource set next to a resource set corresponding to a current cell among the multiple resource sets.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first indication information is 1-bit information.

21. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: Switch to the first cell according to the first indication information.

22. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 21, characterized in that The method further comprises: At least one first information is received, each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processing unit is used to determine first configuration information, where the first configuration information is used to indicate a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells, where the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by a terminal device; and a transceiver unit is used to send the first configuration information.

25. The communication device according to claim 24, characterized in that The resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and / or bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

26. The communication device according to claim 25, characterized in that The resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

27. The communication device according to any one of claims 24 to 26, characterized in that: The sending unit is further used to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first resource set, where the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

28. The communication device according to claim 27, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

29. The communication device according to claim 28, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

30. The communication device according to any one of claims 24 to 27, characterized in that: The processing unit is also used to determine the order in which the terminal device executes switching of the multiple cells; the processing unit is also used to determine the order of multiple resource sets corresponding to the multiple cells respectively according to the order of switching of the multiple cells, and the order of the multiple resource sets corresponds one-to-one to the order of switching of the multiple cells.

31. The communication device according to claim 30, characterized in that: The multiple resource sets include the first resource set, and the first resource set is the next resource set of the resource set corresponding to the current cell in the multiple resource sets.

32. The communication device according to claim 31, characterized in that The first indication information is 1-bit information.

33. The communication device according to any one of claims 24 to 32, characterized in that: The first indication information is also used to instruct the terminal device to switch to the first cell.

34. The communication device according to any one of claims 24 to 33, characterized in that: The transceiver unit is further used to send at least one first information, each first information in the at least one first information is used to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

35. The communication device according to claim 34, characterized in that The at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

36. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A transceiver unit, configured to receive first configuration information; A processing unit is used to determine a resource set corresponding to each cell in a plurality of cells according to the first configuration information, and the plurality of cells are a plurality of cells to be switched by the terminal device.

37. The communication device according to claim 36, characterized in that: The resource set corresponding to each cell is used to indicate the reference signal resources and bandwidth used when the network device communicates with each cell.

38. The communication device according to claim 37, characterized in that: The resource set corresponding to each cell includes a transmission configuration indication state TCI state set and / or a partial bandwidth BWP set, the TCI state set includes at least one TCI state, and the BWP set includes at least one BWP.

39. The communication device according to any one of claims 36 to 38, characterized in that: The transceiver unit is further used to receive first indication information; the processing unit is further used to determine a first resource set according to the first indication information, the first resource set corresponds to a first cell, and the first cell is one of the multiple cells.

40. The communication device according to claim 39, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of the first resource set.

41. The communication device according to claim 40, characterized in that The first indication information includes an index of a first TCI state set, and the first TCI state set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first BWP set, and the first BWP set corresponds to the first resource set; or The first indication information includes an index of a first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first resource set, and the first beam is used for uplink communication and / or downlink communication in the first cell.

42. The communication device according to any one of claims 36 to 39, characterized in that: The first resource set is a resource set next to a resource set corresponding to a current cell among the multiple resource sets.

43. The communication device according to claim 42, characterized in that The first indication information is 1-bit information.

44. The communication device according to any one of claims 36 to 43, characterized in that: The processing unit is further configured to switch to the first cell according to the first indication information.

45. The communication device according to any one of claims 36 to 44, characterized in that: The transceiver unit is further configured to receive at least one first information, each first information in the at least one first information being configured to indicate a switching condition of a cell among the multiple cells.

46. ​​The communication device according to claim 45, characterized in that The at least one first information is included in the first configuration information.

47. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 12 or 13 to 23.

48. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program or instructions, and the processor being used to execute the computer program or instructions in the memory, so that the device performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, or performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 23.

49. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12; or, the method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 23.

50. A chip system, characterized in that: include: A processor, used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip system executes the method described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or executes the method described in any one of claims 13 to 23.

51. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, or to execute the steps of the method according to any one of claims 13 to 23.

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