Communication method and apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, a readable storage medium, and a computer program product, which are used for improving data transmission efficiency, and improving transmission spectrum efficiency. In the present application, a terminal apparatus receives first information. The first information includes information for indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process. The terminal apparatus updates the transmission window of the process at an update time of the at least one update time, and performs communication based on the updated transmission window of the process. Since the terminal apparatus can autonomously update the transmission window at the update time, a network apparatus does not need to frequently issue signaling for updating the transmission window, and thereby a signaling overhead can be saved on.

Description

Communication method, device, readable storage medium and computer program product

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on November 17, 2023, with application number 202311548143.1 and application name “A communication method, device, readable storage medium and computer program product”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device, readable storage medium, and computer program product. Background Art

[0004] Currently, the fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) technology is evolving from version R18 to R19. At the same time, NR technology has also entered the commercial deployment stage from the standardization stage. The NR standard protocol is a wireless communication technology designed for terrestrial cellular network scenarios, capable of providing users with wireless communication services with ultra-low latency, ultra-reliability, ultra-high speed, and excessive connectivity. Compared to terrestrial communications, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) communications have the advantages of large coverage areas and flexible networking, and can achieve seamless global network coverage. NTN communications involve the use of drones, high-altitude platforms, satellites and other equipment to form networks, providing data transmission, voice communication and other services to user equipment (UE).

[0005] Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a method for ensuring data transmission reliability. HARQ transmission can be processed in parallel using multiple HARQ processes. While one HARQ process is waiting for an acknowledgement, the sender can continue sending information using another HARQ process. Similarly, while the receiver is processing information received by one HARQ process, it can continue receiving information using another HARQ process. This shows that HARQ technology can improve data transmission efficiency.

[0006] A significant difference from terrestrial communications is that the distance between network equipment (such as satellite base stations) and terminal devices is greater, resulting in longer round-trip delays. Existing HARQ processes are insufficient to support transmissions in scenarios with long round-trip delays. Currently, HARQ feedback is disabled during transmissions in such scenarios, reducing transmission spectral efficiency.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus, readable storage medium, and computer program product for improving data transmission efficiency and improving transmission spectrum efficiency.

[0009] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, which can be a terminal device or a chip system inside the terminal device.

[0010] In the method, a terminal device receives first information including at least one update time for a transmission window of a process. The terminal device updates the transmission window of the process at the update time in the at least one update time, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present application, data is transmitted through a process mechanism. For a process, after the sender (terminal device or network device) sends a data unit in a transmission window of the process, it can be determined in a relatively short time whether the data unit is successfully received. It can be seen that this scheme enables the sender to obtain feedback information more quickly, thereby improving the transmission spectrum efficiency.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present application, a transmission window of a process can transmit one or more data units. On the other hand, in some scenarios with large transmission delays, it takes a long time for the sender (terminal device or network device) to receive feedback information after sending a data unit in a transmission window. This period of time is wasted. In order to improve the data transmission rate, the sender can add as many processes as possible and transmit data through other processes during this period. On the other hand, the number of processes is limited by the maximum number of processes. Based on this, in one possible implementation method, a transmission window can transmit multiple data units. In this case, this period of time can be utilized more, thereby improving data transmission efficiency.

[0013] On the other hand, the transmission delay between a terminal device and a network device may vary. Therefore, if the transmission window between the terminal device and the network device is fixed, it may increase data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays. For example, in a satellite communication scenario, the communication angle between the terminal device and the satellite device will change as the satellite device moves. If a fixed transmission window is used, a larger transmission window in areas with a large communication angle of the terminal device may increase data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays.

[0014] Based on the above problems, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device can indicate to the terminal device at least one update time of the transmission window of the process, so that the terminal device and the network device update the transmission window at these times, thereby meeting the time domain resource utilization on the one hand, and reducing the data scheduling, processing and feedback delays on the other hand.

[0015] On the other hand, since in an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can autonomously update the window length at the update time indicated by the network device, instead of requiring the network device to send signaling to trigger the terminal device to update at each update time, the number of signaling sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0016] The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives, such as the duration of a transmission window or the number of data units to be transmitted within it. For example, the transmission window for an update process can include the duration of the update process's transmission window. Another example is the transmission window for an update process can include the number of data units to be transmitted within the update process's transmission window. This improves the flexibility of the solution.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the information indicating at least one update time for a process's transmission window includes information indicating the time interval between two adjacent update times within the at least one update time. The information indicating at least one update time for a process's transmission window includes one or more time intervals. This allows the terminal device to update the transmission window at intervals. The update time indicated by the first information may also include these intervals. This solution can reduce the signaling overhead associated with indicating the update time.

[0018] In another possible implementation, the information indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes time information of at least one update time. In this way, the update time of each time window can be set more flexibly, thereby further optimizing the time window update mechanism.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the terminal device may receive information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for a process. Alternatively, the initial value of the transmission window may be preset. Thus, the terminal device may begin communicating with the network device based on the initial value of the transmission window.

[0020] In one possible implementation, a terminal device may receive information indicating a window update amount. Alternatively, the window update amount may be preset. The updated transmission window is determined based on the window update amount and the transmission window before the update. For example, the updated transmission window is the sum or difference of the window update amount and the transmission window before the update. In this solution, the terminal device can autonomously update the transmission window using the specified window update amount as a step size. This solution can reduce the operational complexity of updating the transmission window on the terminal device side.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the terminal device may receive information indicating a limit value of a transmission window of a process, or the limit value of the transmission window is preset.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the terminal device stops updating the transmission window of the process when the updated transmission window of the process is equal to the window limit value; or, since the terminal device can obtain the window limit value, the terminal device can control the transmission window within a certain range, thereby avoiding the problem that the updated transmission window cannot meet the minimum requirements due to multiple updates.

[0023] In another possible implementation, when the updated transmission window of a process equals the window limit value, the terminal device updates the process's transmission window at at least one update time, starting with the window limit value, and communicates based on the updated transmission window length of the process. This solution can also be understood as the terminal device performing a reverse update. During the reverse update process, the terminal device gradually updates the transmission window from the transmission window limit value to the transmission window's initial value, and may stop updating until the transmission window reaches the initial value. The time for each update is the update time determined based on the first information. The step size for each update is the window update amount. In this way, during a single satellite pass, the terminal device can select a relatively suitable transmission window throughout, thereby further improving data transmission efficiency.

[0024] In a possible implementation, after updating the transmission window of a process, the terminal device sends information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is complete. In this way, the terminal device can inform the network device that the terminal device has completed the transmission window update.

[0025] In another possible implementation, after updating the transmission window of a process, the terminal device sends information indicating the updated transmission window of the process. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the updated transmission window used by itself to the network device so that the network device can verify whether the configurations used by each other are the same.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the first information is carried in a broadcast message or a multicast message, thereby saving signaling overhead. Alternatively, the first information is carried in a unicast message, thereby facilitating the network device to provide more optimal parameters for a single terminal device.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the first information is carried by one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, a group downlink control information (DCI), or a medium access control control element.

[0028] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a network device, which can be a network device or a chip system within the network device.

[0029] In the method, a network device sends first information. The first information includes information indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process. The network device updates the transmission window of the process at an update time in the at least one update time, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0030] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can indicate at least one update time of the transmission window of the process to the terminal device, so that the terminal device and the network device update the transmission window at these times, thereby meeting the time domain resource utilization on the one hand and reducing the data scheduling, processing and feedback delays on the other hand.

[0031] On the other hand, since the terminal device can autonomously update the window length at the update time indicated by the network device, instead of requiring the network device to send signaling to trigger the terminal device to update at each update time, the number of signaling sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the network device updates the transmission window of a process, including: updating the duration of the transmission window of the process; or updating the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process. For related details, refer to the aforementioned description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0033] For the first information and the information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process, please refer to the relevant description of the first aspect above and will not be repeated here.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the network device may obtain at least one of information indicating a limit value of a transmission window of a process, information indicating an initial value of the transmission window of the process, or information indicating a window update amount. The updated transmission window is determined based on the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

[0035] In another possible implementation, the network device may send at least one of information indicating a limit value of a transmission window of a process, information indicating an initial value of a transmission window of a process, or information indicating a window update amount.

[0036] In one possible implementation, when the updated transmission window of a process is equal to the window limit value, the network device performs one of the following: stopping updating the transmission window of the process; or, at an update time in at least one update time, updating the transmission window of the process with the window limit value as a starting value, and communicating based on the updated transmission window length of the process. For related details, refer to the aforementioned description of the first aspect and are not repeated here.

[0037] In a possible implementation, after updating the transmission window of the process, the network device receives at least one of the following: information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is complete; or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0038] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, which can be a terminal device or a chip system inside the terminal device.

[0039] In this method, a terminal device receives second information. Based on the second information, the terminal device calculates a transmission window for a process to obtain a first transmission window. If the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, it updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, and communicates based on the first transmission window.

[0040] Since the terminal device can calculate whether the transmission window needs to be updated based on the second information, it can update it independently when necessary, thereby meeting the time domain resource utilization on the one hand, and reducing data scheduling, processing and feedback delays on the other hand, and saving signaling overhead.

[0041] The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives, such as the time length of a transmission window and the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window.

[0042] In one possible implementation, updating the process's transmission window to the first transmission window includes: the terminal device updating the duration of the process's transmission window to the duration corresponding to the first transmission window. Alternatively, updating the process's transmission window to the first transmission window includes: the terminal device updating the number of data units transmitted within the process's transmission window to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window. This can improve the flexibility of the solution.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the second information includes location information of a service link reference point. The location information of the service link reference point may be the location information of the terminal device, or location information within the area where the terminal device is located, or location information of a reference point within the area where the terminal device is located. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in the same device, and the terminal device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (e.g., ephemeris information). The terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device based on the location of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point.

[0044] In another possible implementation, the second information includes location information of the service link reference point and location information of the feeder link reference point. The location information of the feeder link reference point may be location information of a network device (such as a gateway) or location information of a location near the network device. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in different devices, the terminal device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information), and the terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeder link reference point) based on the location of the satellite device, the location information of the service link reference point, and the location information of the feeder link reference point.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the terminal device determines the corresponding data transmission delay based on the second information and the location information of the satellite device. The terminal device calculates the transmission window for the process based on the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit, thereby obtaining a first transmission window. The first transmission window can be associated with these parameters, thereby making the calculated first transmission window more consistent with the current situation. Setting this first transmission window can further improve data transmission efficiency.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated when the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process meet a first condition.

[0047] The first condition may include: the absolute value of the difference between the duration of the process's current transmission window and the duration of the first transmission window is greater than or equal to a time length threshold; or the absolute value of the difference between the number of data units transmitted within the process's current transmission window and the number of data units transmitted within the first transmission window is greater than or equal to a quantity threshold. This avoids frequent transmission window updates, thereby reducing the complexity of the solution.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the time length threshold and / or the quantity threshold are preset values, or the terminal device receives (for example, receives from a network device) the time length threshold and / or the quantity threshold.

[0049] In one possible implementation, after the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, the terminal device sends information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is complete. In this way, the terminal device can inform the network device that the terminal device has completed the transmission window update.

[0050] In another possible implementation, after the terminal device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, the terminal device sends information indicating the updated transmission window of the process. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the updated transmission window used by itself to the network device so that the network device can verify whether the configurations used by both devices are the same.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the second information is carried in a broadcast message or a multicast message, thereby saving signaling overhead. Alternatively, the second information may be carried in a unicast message, thereby facilitating the network device to provide more optimal parameters for a single terminal device.

[0052] In one possible implementation, the second information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a master system information block, RRC signaling, RRC reconfiguration signaling, RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group DCI, or a medium access control element.

[0053] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a network device, which can be a network device or a chip system within the network device.

[0054] In this method, a network device sends second information. The network device calculates a transmission window for a process based on the second information to obtain a first transmission window. If the network device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, the network device updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, and communicates based on the first transmission window.

[0055] Since the network devices can calculate whether the transmission window needs to be updated based on the second information, they can independently update it when it is necessary, thereby meeting the time domain resource utilization rate on the one hand, and reducing data scheduling, processing and feedback delays on the other hand, and saving signaling overhead.

[0056] The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives, such as the time length of a transmission window and the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window.

[0057] In one possible implementation, the network device updates the transmission window of a process to the first transmission window, including: updating the duration of the transmission window of the process to the duration corresponding to the first transmission window. Alternatively, the network device updates the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window. This can improve the flexibility of the solution.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the second information includes location information of a service link reference point. The location information of the service link reference point may be the location information of the terminal device, or location information within the area where the terminal device is located, or location information of a reference point within the area where the terminal device is located. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in the same device. The network device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (e.g., ephemeris information) and calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device based on the location of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point.

[0059] In another possible implementation, the second information includes location information of the service link reference point and location information of the feeder link reference point. The location information of the feeder link reference point may be location information of a network device (such as a gateway) or location information of a location near the network device. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in different devices, and the network device may obtain a motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information). The network device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeder link reference point) based on the location of the satellite device, the location information of the service link reference point, and the location information of the feeder link reference point.

[0060] In one possible implementation, the network device determines the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device based on the second information and the location information of the satellite device. The network device calculates the transmission window of the process based on the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit, thereby obtaining a first transmission window. The relevant content is similar to that of the possible implementation of the third aspect described above and is not further described.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the network device determines the transmission window of the process to be updated when the first condition is met. For details about the first condition, please refer to the description of the third aspect above and will not be repeated here.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the network device sends a time length threshold and / or a quantity threshold. Alternatively, the time length threshold and / or the quantity threshold are preset values.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the network device receives information indicating that the transmission window update process is complete, so that the terminal device can inform the network device that the terminal device has completed the transmission window update.

[0064] In another possible implementation, the network device receives information indicating an updated transmission window of a process. In this way, the terminal device can indicate the updated transmission window used by itself to the network device so that the network device can verify whether the configurations used by each other are the same.

[0065] For the relevant content of the second information, please refer to the third aspect mentioned above and will not be repeated here.

[0066] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device or network device. The communication device may include a communication unit and a processing unit to perform any aspect of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects, or to perform any possible implementation of the first to fourth aspects. The communication unit is used to perform functions related to sending and receiving. The communication unit may be referred to as a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication unit includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, the processing unit may be one or more processors or processor cores, and the communication unit may be an input / output circuit, an input / output interface, or an antenna port of the communication chip.

[0067] In another design, the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication unit may be a transmitter and a receiver.

[0068] Optionally, the communication device further includes modules that can be used to execute any one of the first to fourth aspects above, or execute any possible implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0069] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device or network device. The communication device may include a processor and a memory to perform any of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 4, or to perform any possible implementation of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 4. Optionally, it further includes a transceiver, the memory is used to store a computer program or instruction, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program or instruction from the memory. When the processor executes the computer program or instruction in the memory, the communication device performs any of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 4, or to perform any possible implementation of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 4.

[0070] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0071] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0072] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0073] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided. This communication device may be the aforementioned terminal device or network device. The communication device may include a processor to perform any of the aforementioned aspects 1 to 4, or any possible implementation of the aforementioned aspects 1 to 4. The processor is coupled to a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0074] In one implementation, when the communication device is a terminal device or a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0075] In another implementation, when the communication device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or related circuits on the chip or chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0076] In an eighth aspect, a system is provided, which includes the above-mentioned terminal device.

[0077] In a possible implementation, the system may further include a network device.

[0078] In the ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables the computer to execute any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0079] In the tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer program is run on a computer, the computer executes any one of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects, or executes any possible implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0080] In an eleventh aspect, a processing device is provided, comprising: an interface circuit and a processing circuit. The interface circuit may include an input circuit and an output circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals via the input circuit and transmit signals via the output circuit, thereby implementing any of the first to fourth aspects, or any possible implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0081] In a specific implementation, the processing device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, or various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. The input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0082] In one implementation, when the communication device is a terminal device or a network device, the interface circuit may be a radio frequency processing chip in the terminal device or the network device, and the processing circuit may be a baseband processing chip in the terminal device or the network device.

[0083] In another implementation, the communication device may be a component of a terminal device or a network device, such as an integrated circuit product such as a system-on-chip (SoC) or a communication chip. The interface circuit may be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processing circuit may be a logic circuit on the chip. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0084] FIG1A is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG1B is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG1C is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a possible flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG3 is a possible schematic diagram of data transmission between a sender and a receiver applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG5 is a possible example of an association relationship between a communication perspective and a process window of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a possible flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a possible flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a transmission window change using the implementation method provided in FIG7 ;

[0094] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a possible flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as terrestrial communication systems, NTN communication systems, and satellite communication systems. Among them, the satellite communication system can be integrated with the mobile communication system. For example, the mobile communication system can be a fourth generation (4G) communication system (for example, a long term evolution (LTE) system), a world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5G) communication system (for example, a new radio (NR) system), and future mobile communication systems. The mobile communication system can also be a vehicle to everything (V2X) system and an Internet of Things (IoT) system.

[0098] Figures 1A and 1B illustrate exemplary network architectures of several communication systems applicable to embodiments of the present application. These communication systems may include satellites, network equipment, and terminal devices. They may also include gateways and core network equipment. Figures 1A and 1B illustrate exemplary converged network architectures for NTNs and terrestrial networks. These are described below with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0099] (1) Satellite.

[0100] The satellite can be a highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) satellite, a GEO satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, or a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the operating mode of the satellite. For example, the operating mode of the satellite can be a transparent mode or a regenerative mode. FIG1A illustrates the operating mode of the satellite as the transparent mode, and FIG1B illustrates the operating mode of the satellite as the regenerative mode.

[0101] When the satellite operates in transparent transmission mode, it performs the transparent forwarding function of a relay. The gateway has the functions of a network device (such as a base station) or some of them. In this case, the gateway can be considered a network device (such as a base station). Alternatively, the network device (such as a base station) can be deployed separately from the gateway. In this case, the feeder link latency includes both the satellite-to-gateway and gateway-to-gNB delays. The transparent transmission mode discussed below is based on the case where the gateway and gNB are located together or close together. For cases where the gateway and gNB are farther apart, the feeder link latency is simply the sum of the satellite-to-gateway and gateway-to-gNB delays.

[0102] When the satellite operates in regenerative mode, it has data processing capabilities, the functions of a network device (such as a base station) or partial functions of a network device (such as a base station). At this time, the satellite can be regarded as a network device (such as a base station).

[0103] Satellites can wirelessly communicate with terminals by broadcasting communication and navigation signals. Optionally, each satellite can provide terminal devices with communication, navigation, and positioning services using multiple beams. For example, each satellite can use multiple beams to cover its service area, and the relationships between the beams can be one or more of time division, frequency division, and space division.

[0104] (2) Gateway.

[0105] A gateway (also known as a ground station, earth station, gateway, or gateway station) can be used to connect satellites to terrestrial network equipment (such as terrestrial base stations). One or more satellites can be connected to one or more terrestrial network equipment (such as terrestrial base stations) through one or more gateways, without limitation.

[0106] The link between the satellite and the terminal is called the service link, and the link between the satellite and the gateway is called the feeder link. Network equipment can be deployed separately from the gateway, so the feeder link latency can include both the satellite-to-gateway and gateway-to-network equipment latency.

[0107] (3) Network equipment.

[0108] The network devices in the embodiments of the present application may include network devices deployed on satellites (such as satellite base stations), network devices deployed on gateways, and network devices deployed on the ground (such as ground base stations).

[0109] The network devices involved in the embodiments of the present application may be radio access network (RAN) nodes. The RAN may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a NR system, or a future radio access system defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The RAN may also include two or more of the above-mentioned different radio access systems. The RAN may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0110] A RAN node, also known as a radio access network device, RAN entity, or access node, facilitates wireless access to a communication system by a terminal. In one application scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a base station in a future mobile communication system. A RAN node can be a macro base station, a micro base station, an indoor station, a relay node, or a donor node.

[0111] In another application scenario, multiple RAN nodes can collaborate to help terminals achieve wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functions. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU implements the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) functions, as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) functions. The DU implements the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, as well as some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as in a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) or an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: CU-control plane and CU-user plane.

[0112] In different systems, RAN nodes may have different names. For example, in an O-RAN system, a CU may be called an open CU (O-CU), a DU may be called an open DU (O-DU), and a RU may be called an open RU (O-RU). The RAN node in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. For example, the RAN node may be a server loaded with the corresponding software module. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the RAN node. For ease of description, the following description takes a base station as an example of a RAN node.

[0113] (4) Core network equipment (CN).

[0114] Core network equipment is a device that is installed on the ground and can communicate with NTN equipment in the NTN system. CN equipment is the network element included in the CN part of the mobile communication system. CN equipment can connect terminal equipment to different data networks and perform services such as authentication, billing, mobility management, session management, policy control, and user plane forwarding. CN equipment can be used for current mobile communication systems (such as the 5th generation (5G) th The CN devices in the 5G generation (5G) mobile communication system may also be CN devices in future mobile communication systems. In mobile communication systems of different standards, the names of CN devices with the same function may vary. However, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific names of CN devices with each function.

[0115] For example, in the 4th generation (4 th In the 4G (4th generation) mobile communication system (i.e., long term evolution, LTE), the network element responsible for access control, security control, and signaling coordination is the mobility management entity (MME); the network element serving as the local mobility management anchor point is the serving gateway (S-GW); the network element serving as the anchor point for switching to the external data network and responsible for allocating Internet protocol (IP) addresses is the packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW); the network element storing user-related data and subscription data is the home subscriber server (HSS); and the network element responsible for policy and charging functions is called the policy and charging rule function (PCRF) network element.

[0116] For example, in a 5G mobile communication system, the core network can be divided into a control plane (CP) and a user plane (UP) according to specific logical functional divisions. The network elements in the CN responsible for control plane functions can be collectively referred to as control plane network elements, and the network elements responsible for user plane functions can be collectively referred to as user plane network elements. Specifically, in the user plane, the network element that serves as the interface to the data network and is responsible for user plane data forwarding and other functions is the user plane function (UPF) network element. In the control plane, the network element responsible for access control and mobility management functions is called the access and mobility management function (AMF) network element; the network element responsible for session management and control policy execution is called the session management function (SMF) network element; the network element responsible for managing subscription data, user access authorization, and other functions is called the unified data management (UDM) network element; the network element responsible for billing and policy control functions is called the policy control function (PCF) network element; and the application function (AF) network element is responsible for transmitting the application side's requirements to the network side.

[0117] (5)Terminal.

[0118] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to a base station or receive signals from a base station. A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0119] The embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to other communication system architectures, such as an air-to-ground (ATG) communication system, which includes at least one network device and at least one high-altitude terminal. High-altitude terminals include, for example, high-altitude aircraft and onboard terminals. The satellites in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B may also be replaced with other relay devices, such as other NTN devices such as high altitude platform stations (HAPS). The communication system shown in FIG. 1A or FIG. 1B is provided as an example and does not limit the communication systems to which the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are applicable.

[0120] It is understood that the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to air-to-ground (ATG) communication systems. As an example, see FIG1C , which is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of another communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application. The communication system includes at least one network device and at least one high-altitude terminal device. The high-altitude terminal device includes, for example, a high-altitude aircraft and an onboard terminal device.

[0121] Based on the contents shown in Figures 1A, 1B and 1C and the other contents mentioned above, Figure 2 exemplarily shows a possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. For ease of understanding, Figure 2 takes the interaction between a terminal device, a network device and a satellite device as an example for introduction. The satellite device in the embodiment of the present application can be the satellite in Figure 1A or 1B or the chip system inside the satellite. The terminal device can be the terminal in Figure 1A, 1B or 1C or the chip system inside the terminal. The network device can be the network device in Figure 1A, 1B or 1C or the chip system inside the network device. In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can be integrated with the satellite device into the same device, such as the network device and the satellite device are both satellite base stations. In this case, it can also be understood that the satellite device operates in regeneration mode. In another possible implementation, the network device and the satellite device can also belong to two devices. In this case, it can also be understood that the satellite device operates in transparent transmission mode.

[0122] As shown in Figure 2, the method includes step 201, step 202, and step 203. In a possible implementation, the method may further include step 204, which is an optional step and may not be performed.

[0123] The following is an introduction with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0124] Step 201: The network device sends first information.

[0125] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives first information including information indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process.

[0126] In the embodiment of the present application, a process can be referred to as a thread. Data can be transmitted between a network device and a terminal device through multiple processes. For a process, the sender can send one or more data units to the receiver within a transmission window of a process. A data unit may include: a transport block size (TB), or data carried by a frame, or data carried by a subframe, or data carried by a time slot, or data carried by a symbol. The sender and receiver in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device and a network device, respectively. For example, when the sender is a terminal device, the receiver can be a network device. For another example, when the sender is a network device, the receiver can be a terminal device.

[0127] For ease of understanding, Figure 3 exemplarily shows a possible schematic diagram of data transmission between a sender and a receiver applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, data is transmitted between the sender and the receiver through process #0, process #1 and process #2.

[0128] For a process, such as process #0, after the sender finishes sending the data units (one or more data units, illustrated in Figure 3 using data unit TB as an example) within a transmission window (such as transmission window #00) of process #0, the sender can stop transmitting data units through process #0 and wait for the receiver to confirm whether it has received the data units sent in transmission window #00. The number of data units transmitted within a transmission window can be one or more, and the data units transmitted within a transmission window can also be called a group of data units.

[0129] In one possible implementation, after the sender sends the data unit in transmission window #00, it receives an acknowledgment (ACK) (the ACK corresponding to the data unit in transmission window #00) fed back by the receiver, and it can be considered that the receiver has successfully received the data unit sent in transmission window #00. In the case of confirming that the receiver has successfully received the data unit sent in transmission window #00, the sender can send other data units in the next transmission window of process #0 (such as transmission window #01). In the case of confirming that the receiver has not successfully received the data unit sent in transmission window #00, the sender can retransmit the data unit process in transmission window #00 through transmission window #01, thereby solving the bit error problem. It can be seen that in the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the sender can retransmit in units of one transmission window.

[0130] The retransmission involved in the embodiments of the present application may be located at the physical (PHY) / MAC layer. Figure 3 illustrates an example where the receiver fails to decode a data unit within transmission window #00 and responds with a NACK, while the receiver responds with an ACK for data units in other transmission windows. An ACK indicates a successful transmission, while a NACK indicates a failed transmission.

[0131] As can be seen from Figure 3, after the sender has sent a data unit within a transmission window through a process, it needs to stop and wait for feedback from the receiver, resulting in very low throughput. In the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, the sender can process data in parallel through multiple processes. That is, while one process is waiting for confirmation, the sender can use another process to continue sending information. Similarly, while the receiver is processing information received by one process, it can use another process to continue receiving information. For example, in Figure 3, after the sender has sent a data unit through process #0 and is waiting for feedback information, it can also send data units through process #1 and process #2.

[0132] In the embodiments of the present application, the sender and receiver can be configured with a maximum number of processes. The maximum number of processes only represents the upper limit of the number of processes, not all processes will be used. For example, the maximum number of processes can be 32, and the number of processes used by the sender and receiver can be 32 or a value less than 32.

[0133] The transmission window of a process in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a transmission opportunity, a transmission opportunity, or a TB group window. The transmission window can be defined from multiple perspectives, such as the time length of a transmission window or the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window.

[0134] For example, the time length of a transmission window of a process is a specified value. The dimension of the time length of the transmission window can be the length of a time slot, or it can be milliseconds (ms), seconds, subframe length, frame length, etc. For example, if the time length of the transmission window is 5 milliseconds, the sender can send one or more data units within a transmission window of the process (the duration of the transmission window is 5 milliseconds). When the time lengths of two transmission windows are the same, since the data units may be continuous or discretely distributed in the time domain, the number of data units transmitted in the two transmission windows may be the same or different. For example, the time lengths of transmission window #11 and transmission window #12 are both 5 milliseconds, but 1 data unit is transmitted in transmission window #11, and 4 data units may be transmitted in transmission window #12.

[0135] For example, if the number of data units to be transmitted within a transmission window of a process is a specified value, such as 5, then the sender can send 5 data units within the transmission window of the process. If the number of data units to be transmitted in two transmission windows is the same, the time lengths of the two transmission windows may be the same or different, because the data units may be continuous or discrete in the time domain. For example, the sender transmits 5 data units in transmission window #11 and 5 data units in transmission window #12, but the time length of transmission window #11 may be 5 milliseconds, and the time length of transmission window #12 may be 10 milliseconds.

[0136] In one possible implementation, a transmission window (the duration of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window) of a process in an embodiment of the present application may be related to a variety of factors, such as the round-trip transmission delay between a terminal device and a network device. In some scenarios, such as a satellite scenario, a terminal device needs to communicate with a network device through a satellite device. In this case, a transmission window (the duration of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window) may also be related to the satellite orbit altitude and the positional relationship between the satellite device and the area served by the satellite device.

[0137] In one possible implementation, the transmission window of a process can be determined by the following formula (1):

[0138]

[0139] In formula (1), RTT represents the round-trip delay between the terminal device and the network device, max_process_num can represent the maximum number of processes supported by the system, and slot_duration can represent the length of time a data unit occupies (such as the time slot length). It can be seen that the transmission window of a process can be related to the round-trip delay.

[0140] In one possible implementation, since the satellite device will move, the communication angle of the terminal device will change. The change in the communication angle can also be understood as a change in the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. In this case, the transmission window required by the terminal device at different communication angles (the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window) may be different.

[0141] Figure 4 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a scenario applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, the satellite device moves, and Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the position of the satellite device at time t0, time t1, and time t2. The communication elevation angles of terminal devices corresponding to different positions are different. The communication elevation angle can be the angle between the line between the satellite device and the terminal device and the horizon (the horizon at the location of the terminal device). Figure 4 shows the communication elevation angle r0 corresponding to the terminal device at time t0, the communication elevation angle r1 corresponding to the terminal device at time t1, and the communication elevation angle r2 corresponding to the terminal device at time t2. It can be seen that at time t2, the satellite device is located directly above the terminal device, and the communication elevation angle r2 of the terminal device is 90 degrees, which is the maximum. Taking a satellite device passing over the top as an example, the communication elevation angle of the terminal device will undergo a process of changing from small to large, and then from large to small.

[0142] FIG5 exemplarily shows a possible example of the association between the communication phase angle and the process window of the terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , taking the orbital altitude of the satellite device as 1200 kilometers as an example, the transmission round-trip delay range for different communication phase angles is 16 milliseconds to 32.7 milliseconds, and the corresponding minimum time length of a transmission window of a process is 4 to 9 time slots. Please refer to FIG5 . When the communication phase angle is 20 degrees, a transmission window of a process requires a length of 9 time slots. When the communication phase angle is 20 degrees, a transmission window of a process requires a length of 4 time slots. Other parameters are similar and will not be repeated here.

[0143] To meet the time domain resource utilization requirements for terminal devices with the minimum communication elevation angle (e.g., a round-trip delay of 32.7ms), the transmission window for a process corresponding to the terminal device must be greater than or equal to nine time slots. However, when the terminal device's communication elevation angle is larger, such as when the satellite device moves overhead, the round-trip transmission delay decreases, and the duration of a process's transmission window also decreases. For example, only four time slots are needed to meet time domain resource utilization. However, if a fixed transmission window is maintained between the terminal device and the network device throughout the entire process of a satellite device passing overhead, a larger transmission window may increase data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays in areas with larger communication elevation angles.

[0144] Figure 5 uses the time length of the transmission window as an example to introduce the solution. When a transmission window is defined by the number of data units that can be transmitted within the transmission window, the solution is similar. In order to meet the time domain resource utilization of the terminal device with the minimum communication angle (for example, a round-trip delay of 32.7ms), the number of data units that need to be transmitted within the transmission window of a process corresponding to the terminal device needs to be the number of data units that can be transmitted within a transmission window when the communication angle is small, and this value is larger. However, in areas with a large communication angle, when the number of data units that can be transmitted within a transmission window is large, the data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays may increase.

[0145] In response to the above situation, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device can indicate to the terminal device at least one update time of the transmission window of the process, so that the terminal device and the network device update the transmission window at these times, thereby meeting the time domain resource utilization on the one hand, and reducing data scheduling, processing and feedback delays on the other hand.

[0146] In the embodiments of the present application, there are multiple implementations for the network device to indicate time. The following describes two examples using Implementation A1 and Implementation A2. In Implementation A1, the network device indicates a time interval to the terminal device. In Implementation A2, the network device indicates a specific time to the terminal device.

[0147] In implementation A1, the network device indicates a time interval to the terminal device.

[0148] In implementation A1, the information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: information indicating the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time, thereby reducing the signaling overhead caused by indicating the update time.

[0149] The time interval can be represented as ΔT, and the terminal device updates the time window every ΔT interval. For example, ΔT is 2 minutes. The terminal device updates the transmission window every 2 minutes. In the embodiment of the present application, after updating the transmission window, the transmission windows in all used processes use the new configuration, that is, the updated transmission window is enabled.

[0150] In the embodiment of the present application, the time interval can be a time length, and the unit of the time length can be a frame, a subframe, a time slot, a symbol, or 1ms. For example, if ΔT is 10 frames (which can also be understood as ΔT being the time length occupied by 10 frames), the terminal device updates the transmission window every 10 frames. In the embodiment of the present application, the network device also synchronously updates the transmission window. The scheme for updating the transmission window by the network device is similar to the scheme for updating the transmission window by the terminal device, and will not be repeated here.

[0151] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can be configured with multiple time intervals ΔT. For example, the network device can be configured with two ΔTs, namely 1 minute 6 seconds and 53 seconds.

[0152] In one possible implementation, when the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes smaller (the time length of the updated transmission window or the number of data units is smaller than before the update), the terminal device may select a larger value among the configured multiple time intervals (e.g., 1 minute and 6 seconds). When the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes larger (the time length of the updated transmission window or the number of data units is larger than before the update), the terminal device may select a smaller value among the configured multiple time intervals (e.g., 53 seconds).

[0153] In another possible implementation, the multiple time intervals may be associated with a time, and the terminal device may update the transmission window using the time intervals associated with the time within the time. Alternatively, the multiple time intervals may be associated with an update process, and each time the transmission window is updated, the transmission window is updated using the time intervals associated with the update process.

[0154] In another possible implementation, when multiple time intervals are configured, the network device may configure a usage count for each time interval, and the usage count is used to indicate the number of times the time interval is used. The usage count indication information may be carried in the same signaling as the information indicating the time interval, or may be carried in different signalings. For example, the network device is configured with time interval #1 and time interval #2. The usage count corresponding to time interval #1 is k1, and the usage count corresponding to time interval #2 is k2. Both k1 and k2 are positive integers, such as k1 is 3, and k2 is 1. The terminal device may first use time interval #1 for updating, and after updating 3 times (k1 times), enable time interval #2 for updating, and time interval #2 is used once. Time interval #1 and time interval #2 may be in a sorting relationship, and the terminal device may first use time interval #1 and then use time interval #2.

[0155] In implementation A2, the network device indicates a specific time to the terminal device.

[0156] In implementation A2, the information indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes time information of at least one update time. In this way, the update time of each time window can be set more flexibly, thereby further optimizing the update mechanism of the time window.

[0157] The at least one update time may include one or more. For example, if the at least one update time includes multiple update times, the time information of the update time may be represented as T1, T2, T3..., and the terminal device updates the time window once at these update times T1, T2, T3...

[0158] In an embodiment of the present application, the update time may be a time (such as an absolute time or a relative time). The absolute time may be Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Greenwich Mean Time, or Beijing Time, among others. The relative time may be a time indication relative to a downlink data frame number, subframe number, time slot number, symbol index, and the like. For example, it may be a frame index number, such as the update time including frame #1, frame #11, and frame #21. Frame #1, frame #11, and frame #21 are frame index numbers. The terminal device updates the transmission window once in frame #1 (such as the start time or end time of the frame or a certain time during the frame transmission process) and enables the updated transmission window for transmission; the terminal device updates the transmission window once in frame #11 and enables the updated transmission window for transmission; and the terminal device updates the transmission window once in frame #21 and enables the updated transmission window for transmission. In an embodiment of the present application, the network device also synchronously updates the transmission window. The scheme for updating the transmission window by the network device is similar to the scheme for updating the transmission window by the terminal device, and will not be described again.

[0159] Step 202: The terminal device updates the transmission window of the process at an update time in at least one update time, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0160] Step 203: The network device updates the transmission window of the process at an update time in at least one update time, and communicates based on the updated transmission window of the process.

[0161] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the network device may each update a transmission window. The updated transmission window may be the time length of the transmission window of the update process. Alternatively, the updated transmission window may be the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the update process.

[0162] The following describes the three parameters involved in the embodiments of the present application: the initial value of the transmission window, the limit value of the transmission window, and the window update amount. The initial value of the transmission window and the limit value of the transmission window in the embodiments of the present application can be understood as two values, and their names can be interchanged. For example, the initial value of the transmission window can be referred to as the first value, and the limit value of the transmission window can be referred to as the second value, where the first value and the second value are different. The window update amount can also be understood as a value, a step size, etc., and the name of the window update amount can also be interchanged, for example, it can be replaced with the third value, the window update value, etc.

[0163] (1) The initial value of the transmission window.

[0164] In one possible implementation, the terminal device may obtain an initial value of the transmission window. The initial value of the transmission window may be agreed upon or indicated by a network device. For example, the network device may send the initial value of the transmission window to the terminal device. The information indicating the initial value of the transmission window may be included in the first information or in other information.

[0165] The terminal device and the network device may start data transmission with an initial transmission window value. The initial transmission window value can be understood as the value of the transmission window for a process when the terminal device and the network device first transmit data through the process. The initial transmission window value can be the duration of the transmission window or the number of data units that can be sent within the transmission window.

[0166] The network device determines the initial value of the transmission window based on the corresponding communication elevation angle between the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the coverage area of ​​the satellite device, where the terminal device is located in the coverage area of ​​the satellite device) and the satellite device (such as the satellite device at the current location). In one possible implementation, the initial value of the transmission window can also be determined based on the height of the satellite device (such as the satellite device at the current location) from the ground. The communication elevation angle can be the angle between the line between the satellite device at the current location and the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) and the horizon (the horizon where the terminal device or the service link reference point is located). For example, the network device can determine the transmission window based on formula (1), and the RTT can be the round-trip transmission delay between the current terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) through the satellite device and the network device. The obtained transmission window can be determined as the initial value of the transmission window.

[0167] The initial value of the transmission window can be unicast, and the initial values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to the two terminal devices can be different. The initial value of the transmission window can be multicast or broadcast. For example, the initial values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices in a cell are the same, and the initial values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different cells can be different. For another example, the initial values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices within the coverage of a beam are the same, and the initial values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different beam coverage areas can be different. In this way, the network device can configure more reasonable initial values ​​of the transmission windows for different terminal devices, or terminal devices in different cells, or terminal devices within different beam coverage areas. This can reduce data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays.

[0168] (2) The limit value of the transmission window.

[0169] In one possible implementation, the terminal device may obtain a transmission window limit value. The transmission window limit value may be agreed upon or indicated by a network device. For example, the network device may send the transmission window limit value to the terminal device. Information indicating the transmission window limit value may be included in the first information or in other information. The terminal device and the network device may terminate the communication based on the transmission window limit value.

[0170] For example, after a terminal device has updated its transmission window one or more times, and the updated transmission window reaches the transmission window limit, the terminal device can stop updating. Subsequent transmissions will then use the window limit as the transmission window. Updating the transmission window of a network device is similar and will not be further described.

[0171] For another example, after a terminal device has updated its transmission window one or more times, such that the updated transmission window reaches the transmission window limit value, the terminal device may perform a reverse update, i.e., continue updating starting from the transmission window limit value. The terminal device may perform a reverse update at the update time indicated by the network device, such as continuing to update at intervals, or at the update time indicated by the network device. Updating the transmission window of a network device is similar and will not be further described.

[0172] In the embodiment of the present application, the limit value of the transmission window may be the time length of the transmission window, or the number of data units that can be sent within the transmission window.

[0173] The network device can determine the limit value of the transmission window based on the corresponding communication elevation angle between the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the coverage area of ​​the satellite device, where the terminal device is located in the coverage area of ​​the satellite device) and the satellite device (such as the satellite device at a specified time). In one possible implementation, the limit value of the transmission window can also be determined based on the height of the satellite device (such as the satellite device at a specified time) from the ground. The communication elevation angle can be the angle between the line between the position of the satellite device at a specified time and the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) and the horizon). For example, the network device can determine the transmission window based on formula (1), and the RTT can be the round-trip transmission delay between the terminal device (or the service link reference point in the area where the terminal device is located) and the network device through the satellite device at a specified time. The obtained transmission window can be determined as the limit value of the transmission window.

[0174] In the embodiments of the present application, the initial value and limit value of the transmission window can be considered as parameters of two transmission windows used by the terminal at two points in time while the satellite device is moving. For example, the terminal device may update the transmission window from the initial value of the transmission window to the limit value through one or more updates. Because the satellite device is constantly moving, the position of the satellite device used when calculating the limit value and the initial value of the transmission window may be different.

[0175] For example, the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window may be at or near the starting position during a pass, such as the position of the satellite device at one of time points t0 and t1 in Figure 4. The position of the satellite device used to calculate the limit value of the transmission window may be, for example, the position of the satellite device directly above the terminal device (or the position at which the terminal device's communication elevation angle is maximum), such as the position of the satellite device at or near time point t1 in Figure 4. During a pass, the satellite device first passes through the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window, and then passes through the position of the satellite device used to calculate the limit value of the transmission window.

[0176] For another example, the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window may be at or near the position directly above the terminal device during an overpass (or the position at which the terminal device's communication elevation angle is greatest), such as the position of the satellite device at or near time t1 in FIG4 . The position of the satellite device used for calculating the limit value of the transmission window may be, for example, the position of the satellite device at the end of an overpass, such as the position of the satellite device at or near time t2 in FIG4 . During an overpass, the satellite device first passes through the position of the satellite device when calculating the initial value of the transmission window, and then passes through the position of the satellite device used for calculating the limit value of the transmission window.

[0177] The limit value of the transmission window can be unicast, and the limit values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices can be different. The limit value of the transmission window can be multicast or broadcast. For example, the limit values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices in a cell are the same, and the limit values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different cells can be different. For another example, the limit values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to the terminal devices within the coverage of a beam are the same, and the limit values ​​of the transmission windows corresponding to two terminal devices in different beam coverage areas can be different. In this way, the network device can configure more reasonable limit values ​​of the transmission windows for different terminal devices, or terminal devices in different cells, or terminal devices within different beam coverage areas. This can reduce data scheduling, processing and feedback delays.

[0178] (3) Window update amount.

[0179] In one possible implementation, the terminal device may obtain information about a window update amount. The updated transmission window is determined based on the window update amount and the transmission window before the update. The window update amount may be represented as ΔPWL. The updated transmission window is the sum or difference of the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

[0180] In the embodiment of the present application, the window update amount can be a time length or the number of data units.

[0181] For example, the window update amount is a time length, such as 1 time slot. Each time the terminal device updates the transmission window, the time length of the transmission window is changed (increased or reduced) by 1 time slot.

[0182] For another example, the window update amount is the number of data units, such as 1 data unit. Each time the terminal device updates the transmission window, the number of data units transmitted in the transmission window is changed (increased or reduced) by 1.

[0183] The window update amount can be agreed upon or indicated by the network device. For example, the network device can send the window update amount to the terminal device. The information used to indicate the window update amount can be carried in the first information or in other information.

[0184] The window update amount can be unicast, and the window update amounts corresponding to two terminal devices can be different. The window update amount can be multicast or broadcast. For example, the window update amounts corresponding to terminal devices in a cell are the same, but the window update amounts corresponding to two terminal devices in different cells can be different. For another example, the window update amounts corresponding to terminal devices within the coverage area of ​​a beam are the same, but the window update amounts corresponding to two terminal devices in different beam coverage areas can be different. In this way, the network device can configure more reasonable window update amounts for different terminal devices, or terminal devices in different cells, or terminal devices within different beam coverage areas. This can reduce data scheduling, processing, and feedback delays.

[0185] In one possible implementation, there may be one or more window update amounts. The window update amount may be determined based on the communication angle of the terminal device and the height of the network device from the ground. For example, there are multiple window update amounts. Some possible selection rules may be set for the window update amount. For example, when the terminal device reduces the transmission window (for example, the time length of the transmission window becomes shorter or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes smaller), the terminal device may select a larger window update amount. For another example, when the terminal device increases the transmission window (for example, the time length of the transmission window becomes longer or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes larger), the terminal device may select a smaller window update amount.

[0186] For another example, multiple window update amounts can be associated with time periods and / or geographic locations. For example, when a window is updated within a time period, the window update amount corresponding to the time period is used for the update. For another example, when a window is updated, the window update amount corresponding to the current region of the terminal device is used for the update.

[0187] In embodiments of the present application, a network device may be configured with multiple window update amounts. For example, the network device may be configured with two window update amounts, namely, window update amount #1 and window update amount #2. Window update amount #1 and window update amount #2 may indicate different time lengths or different numbers of data units.

[0188] In one possible implementation, when the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes smaller (the time length of the updated transmission window or the number of data units is smaller than before the update), the terminal device may select a larger value among the multiple configured window update amounts (such as a window update amount with a larger time length or number of data units). When the time length of the transmission window or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window becomes larger (the time length of the updated transmission window or the number of data units is larger than before the update), the terminal device may select a smaller value among the multiple configured window update amounts (such as a window update amount with a smaller time length or number of data units).

[0189] In another possible implementation, multiple window update amounts can be associated with time, and the terminal device can apply the window update amount associated with the time to update the transmission window within the time. Alternatively, multiple window update amounts #1 can be associated with update processes, and each time the transmission window is updated, the transmission window is updated using the window update amount associated with that update process.

[0190] In another possible implementation, when multiple window update amounts are configured, the network device may configure a usage count for each window update amount, and the usage count is used to indicate the number of times the window update amount is used. The usage count indication information may be carried in the same signaling as the information indicating the window update amount, or may be carried in different signalings. For example, the network device is configured with window update amount #1 and window update amount #2. The usage count corresponding to window update amount #1 is s1, and the usage count corresponding to window update amount #2 is s2. Both s1 and s2 are positive integers, such as s1 is 3, and s2 is 1. The terminal device may first use window update amount #1 for updating, and after updating 3 times (s1 times), enable window update amount #2 for updating, and window update amount #2 is used once. Window update amount #1 and window update amount #2 may be in a sorting relationship, and the terminal device may first use window update amount #1 and then use window update amount #2.

[0191] The following describes two exemplary implementations of updating the transmission window by a terminal device, using Implementation B1 and Implementation B2. In Implementation B1, the terminal device determines the transmission window change trend based on the initial value of the transmission window and the transmission window limit value. In Implementation B2, the terminal device determines the transmission window change trend based on the current transmission window and the transmission window limit value.

[0192] In implementation mode B1, the terminal device determines a change trend of the transmission window according to an initial value of the transmission window and a limit value of the transmission window.

[0193] In implementation B1, the terminal device may compare the initial value of the transmission window with the limit value of the transmission window. When the initial value of the transmission window is greater than the limit value of the transmission window, the terminal device may update the transmission window according to the following formula (1): PWL_new = PWL_old - ΔPWL ... Formula (1)

[0194] In the above formula (1), PWL_old is the transmission window before the update, ΔPWL is the window update amount, and PWL_new is the transmission window after the update.

[0195] When the initial value of the transmission window is less than the limit value of the transmission window, the terminal device can update the transmission window according to the following formula (2): PWL_new=PWL_old+△PWL……Formula (2)

[0196] The meanings of the various parameters in the above formula (2) refer to the contents in the above formula (1) and will not be repeated here.

[0197] In implementation mode B2, the terminal device determines a change trend of the transmission window based on the current transmission window and a limit value of the transmission window.

[0198] In implementation B2, the terminal device may compare the current transmission window with the transmission window limit value. If the current transmission window is larger than the transmission window limit value, the terminal device may update the transmission window according to formula (1).

[0199] If the current transmission window is smaller than the transmission window limit, the terminal device may update the transmission window according to formula (2).

[0200] The implementation of the network device updating the transmission window is similar to the above implementation B1 and implementation B2. The network device and the terminal device use the same transmission window configuration, and the process of the network device updating the transmission window is not repeated here.

[0201] Step 204: The terminal device sends third information.

[0202] Correspondingly, the network device receives the third information.

[0203] The third information includes information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed, and / or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0204] The information indicating that the transmission window update process is complete may be ACK information, so as to notify the network device that the terminal device has completed the update.

[0205] Since, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can autonomously update the window length at the update time indicated by the network device, instead of requiring the network device to send signaling to trigger the terminal device to update at each update time, the number of signalings sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead. In another possible implementation, if the update transmission window is at the terminal device granularity, for example, the initial value, limit value or window update amount of the transmission window corresponding to two terminal devices may be different, for example, the network device can configure parameters for the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device or the communication angle of the terminal device, in this case, if the network device wants to send an update instruction, the signaling overhead will be greater, resulting in the update of the transmission window being unable to be applied to the terminal device granularity. After applying the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the signaling overhead can be saved, and then the update transmission window can be configured at the terminal device granularity, thereby further reducing the data scheduling, processing and feedback delay of the terminal device.

[0206] In one possible implementation, data can be transmitted between a terminal device and a network device via multiple processes. If the transmission window of a process is updated earlier than a currently active transmission window, the currently active transmission window can be given a higher priority until the currently active transmission window ends, at which point the updated transmission window takes effect. This ensures that the transmission window update process does not interfere with the currently active transmission window.

[0207] In another possible implementation, the terminal device and the network device obtain a start time for a transmission window update mechanism. For example, the network device may send this time to the terminal device, so that the network device and the terminal device simultaneously enable a transmission window update mechanism (also referred to as automatic transmission window update) at this time (e.g., executing steps 202 and 203 above). The start time of the transmission window update mechanism can be an absolute time or a relative time (see the description of absolute time and relative time above), or an index number of a frame. This allows the network device and the terminal device to enable the transmission window update mechanism at a time corresponding to the same frame (e.g., the start time, end time, or a specified time within the frame).

[0208] Based on the embodiment shown in FIG2 , the terminal device (or network device) may stop updating the transmission window after the transmission window has been updated to the transmission window limit. Alternatively, the terminal device (or network device) may stop updating the transmission window after all update times indicated by the network device have been completed, as there are no more update times (e.g., in an embodiment where the network device indicates a limited number of times, such as embodiment A2 above). Embodiment A1 above can be understood as the network device indicating an unlimited number of update times.

[0209] In another possible implementation, the terminal device (or network device) may reversely update the transmission window after the transmission window is updated to the limit value of the transmission window. In the embodiment of the present application, reverse updating the transmission window may refer to the process in which the first device updates the transmission window from the limit value of the transmission window to the initial value of the transmission window. Reverse updating the transmission window is just a way of calling it. In actual applications, it can also be understood as a way of updating the transmission window, and the name can also be replaced by other names. The terminal device and the network device may both perform reverse updating of the transmission window, or neither may perform reverse updating of the transmission window, but the transmission windows used by the terminal device and the network device after the update need to be consistent in order to communicate.

[0210] In another possible implementation, the network device may be configured with information indicating whether a reverse update is required, so that the terminal device can determine whether a reverse update is required.

[0211] The following describes two exemplary implementations of a terminal device (or network device) for reversely updating the transmission window, using Implementation C1 and Implementation C2. In Implementation C1, the terminal device (or network device) determines the transmission window change trend based on the transmission window limit value and the initial value of the transmission window. In Implementation C2, the terminal device (or network device) determines the transmission window change trend based on the current transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window.

[0212] In implementation mode C1, the terminal device (or network device) determines a change trend of the transmission window according to a limit value of the transmission window and an initial value of the transmission window.

[0213] In implementation C1, the terminal device (or network device) can compare the limit value of the transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window. When the limit value of the transmission window is greater than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) can update the transmission window according to formula (1).

[0214] When the limit value of the transmission window is smaller than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) may update the transmission window according to formula (2).

[0215] In implementation C2, the terminal device (or network device) determines a change trend of the transmission window based on the current transmission window and the initial value of the transmission window.

[0216] In implementation C2, the terminal device (or network device) may compare the current transmission window with the initial value of the transmission window. If the current transmission window is larger than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) may update the transmission window according to formula (1). If the current transmission window is smaller than the initial value of the transmission window, the terminal device (or network device) may update the transmission window according to formula (2).

[0217] In the above-mentioned embodiments B1, B2, C1, and C2, the window update amount is a non-negative number. When the window update amount is a negative number, the above-mentioned formulas (1) and (2) can be adaptively modified. For example, the above-mentioned formula (1) can be modified to: PWL_new = PWL_old + ΔPWL, and the above-mentioned formula (2) can be modified to: PWL_new = PWL_old - ΔPWL. The meanings of the relevant parameters can be found in the description of the above-mentioned formulas (1) and (2), and will not be repeated here.

[0218] Based on the embodiments shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Figure 6 exemplarily shows a possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 is introduced by taking the execution of the first device as an example. The first device can be the terminal device of Figure 2 above, or it can be the network device in Figure 2. When the first device is a terminal device, the example provided in Figure 6 can be understood as an example of the execution scheme of the terminal device involved in the aforementioned steps 201, 202 and 204. When the first device is a network device, the example provided in Figure 6 can be understood as an example of the execution scheme of the network device involved in the aforementioned steps 201, 203 and 204.

[0219] Figure 6 takes the first device as an example to illustrate a possible implementation method for updating the transmission window. The method flow shown in Figure 6 includes steps 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, and 606. This is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0220] Step 601: A first device obtains first information.

[0221] The relevant contents of step 601 refer to the relevant description of the aforementioned step 201 and will not be repeated here.

[0222] Step 602: The first device determines whether the initial value of the transmission window (or the current transmission window) is greater than the limit value of the transmission window;

[0223] If yes, execute step 603;

[0224] If not, execute step 604.

[0225] Step 603: The first device updates the transmission window according to formula (1) at the update time to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicates using the updated transmission window.

[0226] Step 604: The first device updates the transmission window according to formula (2) at the update time to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicates using the updated transmission window.

[0227] Step 605: The first device determines whether the current transmission window has reached a transmission window limit value;

[0228] If not, proceed to step 602;

[0229] If so, execute step 606.

[0230] In another possible implementation, in step 605, if the first device determines that the current transmission window has not reached the transmission window limit, the transmission window may be directly updated according to the formula used in the last update. For example, if formula (1) was used last time, then if the current transmission window has not reached the transmission window limit, the first device directly executes step 603. For example, if formula (2) was used last time, then if the current transmission window has not reached the transmission window limit, the first device directly executes step 604. In this example, step 602 does not need to be performed multiple times.

[0231] When the first device is a terminal device, steps 602, 603, 604, and 605 can refer to the relevant content of step 202 in Figure 2 above and are not repeated here. When the first device is a network device, steps 602, 603, 604, and 605 can refer to the relevant content of step 203 in Figure 2 above and are not repeated here.

[0232] Step 606: The first device stops updating the transmission window.

[0233] In Figure 6, the execution time point (i.e., update time) of step 603 and step 604 can be determined according to the time interval. For example, the first device updates the transmission window once through the corresponding step (such as step 603 or step 604) every time interval.

[0234] In another possible implementation, the network device may indicate a specific time. In this case, the execution time of steps 603 and 604 (i.e., the update time) may be the specific time indicated by the network device. In another possible implementation, if all update times indicated by the network device have been updated, but the current transmission window has not reached the transmission window limit, the first device may stop updating the transmission window.

[0235] Based on the embodiments shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Figure 7 exemplarily shows a possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The difference between the embodiment shown in Figure 7 and the embodiment of Figure 6 is that, in Figure 6, the first device stops updating the transmission window after updating the transmission window to the transmission window limit value. For other relevant contents of Figure 7, please refer to the relevant descriptions of Figures 6 and 2. In Figure 7, the first device reversely updates the transmission window after updating the transmission window to the transmission window limit value. Steps 706, 707, 708, 709 and 710 can be understood as an implementation method in which the first device reversely updates the transmission window. The subsequent scheme for reversely updating the transmission window can also be referred to the relevant descriptions of the aforementioned implementation C1 or implementation C2.

[0236] FIG7 illustrates the implementation of the first device as an example. The first device can be the terminal device described in FIG2 , or the network device described in FIG2 . When the first device is a terminal device, the example provided in FIG7 can be understood as an example of a solution for executing the terminal device involved in steps 201, 202, and 204. When the first device is a network device, the example provided in FIG7 can be understood as an example of a solution for executing the network device involved in steps 201, 203, and 204.

[0237] Figure 7 uses the first device as an example to illustrate a possible implementation method for updating the transmission window. The method flow shown in Figure 7 includes steps 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, and 710. This is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0238] Step 701: A first device obtains first information.

[0239] For the relevant content of step 701, please refer to the relevant description of the aforementioned step 201 and will not be repeated here.

[0240] Step 702: The first device determines whether the initial value of the transmission window (or the current transmission window) is greater than the limit value of the transmission window;

[0241] If yes, execute step 703;

[0242] If not, execute step 704;

[0243] Step 703: The first device updates the transmission window according to formula (1) at the update time to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicates using the updated transmission window.

[0244] Step 704: The first device updates the transmission window according to formula (2) at the update time to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicates using the updated transmission window.

[0245] Step 705: The first device determines whether the current transmission window has reached a transmission window limit value;

[0246] If not, proceed to step 702;

[0247] If yes, execute step 706.

[0248] When the first device is a terminal device, steps 702, 703, 704, and 705 can refer to steps 602, 603, 604, or 605 in FIG. 6 , or to the relevant contents of step 202 in FIG. 2 , and are not described in detail here. When the first device is a network device, steps 702, 703, 704, and 705 can refer to steps 602, 603, 604, or 605 in FIG. 6 , or to the relevant contents of step 203 in FIG. 2 , and are not described in detail here.

[0249] Step 706 , the first device determines whether the limit value of the transmission window (or the current transmission window) is greater than the initial value of the transmission window;

[0250] If yes, execute step 707;

[0251] If not, execute step 708;

[0252] In step 707, the first device may update the transmission window according to formula (1) to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicate using the updated transmission window.

[0253] In step 708, the first device may update the transmission window according to formula (2) to obtain an updated transmission window, and communicate using the updated transmission window.

[0254] Step 709: The first device determines whether the current transmission window has reached the initial value of the transmission window;

[0255] If not, proceed to step 706;

[0256] If so, execute step 710.

[0257] In another possible implementation, in step 709, if the first device determines that the current transmission window has not reached the initial value of the transmission window, the transmission window may be directly updated according to the formula used in the last update. For example, if formula (1) was used last time, then if the current transmission window has not reached the initial value of the transmission window, the first device directly executes step 707. For example, if formula (2) was used last time, then if the current transmission window has not reached the initial value of the transmission window, the first device directly executes step 708. In this example, step 706 does not need to be performed multiple times.

[0258] Step 710: The first device stops updating the transmission window.

[0259] In Figure 7, the execution time points (i.e., update times) of steps 703, 704, 707, and 708 may be determined based on time intervals. For example, the first device updates the transmission window once through corresponding steps (e.g., steps 703, 704, 707, or 708) every time interval.

[0260] In another possible implementation, the network device may indicate a specific time. In this case, the execution time points (i.e., update times) of steps 703, 704, 707, and 708 may be the specific times indicated by the network device. In one possible implementation, if all update times indicated by the network device have been updated, but the current transmission window has not yet reached the initial value of the transmission window (i.e., step 709 has not yet been met), the first device may stop updating the transmission window.

[0261] FIG8 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a transmission window change using the implementation method provided by FIG7 . As shown in FIG8 , the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the transmission window. FIG8 takes the transmission window as the time length as an example for illustration. As shown in FIG8 , the terminal device updates the transmission window once at each update time. The transmission window of the terminal device first gradually changes from a length of 9 time slots to a length of 5 time slots, and then gradually changes from a length of 5 time slots to a length of 9 time slots. The initial value of the transmission window can be regarded as a length of 9 time slots, the limit value of the transmission window can be regarded as a length of 5 time slots, and the gradual change of the transmission window of the terminal device from a length of 5 time slots to a length of 9 time slots can be regarded as a reverse update process.

[0262] If the network device instructs the terminal device to update each transmission signal through signaling. For example, in the process of the terminal device's transmission window gradually changing from 9 time slots to 5 time slots, the network device needs to send 8 medium access control control elements (MAC CE) signaling to the terminal device (the signaling sent by the network device during the first update, second update, third update, fourth update, fifth update, sixth update, seventh update and eighth update). This process may require 8*8=64 bits. If the update of the transmission window is at the terminal device granularity, the network device needs to spend 64 bits for each terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, since the terminal device can update the transmission window by itself, the number of signalings sent by the network device can be reduced, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0263] Based on the embodiments shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, Figure 9 exemplifies a possible flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9 uses the interaction between a terminal device, a network device, and a satellite device as an example for description. For related descriptions, please refer to the description of Figure 2 above and will not be repeated here.

[0264] The method flow shown in Figure 9 includes steps 901, 902, 903, 905, and 906. In one possible implementation, the method may further include at least one of steps 904, 907, and 908. At least one of steps 904, 907, and 908 is optional and may not be performed.

[0265] The following is an introduction with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0266] Step 901: The network device sends second information.

[0267] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second information.

[0268] The second information may be information used to calculate the transmission window. The second information may be used to indicate the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device. The data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device may be understood as the data transmission delay corresponding to the communication link between the terminal device and the network device.

[0269] In one possible implementation, the second information includes location information of the service link reference point. The location information of the service link reference point may be the location information of the terminal device, or the location information within the area where the terminal device is located, or the location information of the reference point within the area where the terminal device is located. The range of the area where the terminal device is located may be the range of a cell served by the satellite device, or the coverage range of a beam. The reference point of the area where the terminal device is located may be the center position of the area where the terminal device is located, or a position near the center, or an edge position of the area where the terminal device is located. In this implementation, the network device and the satellite device may be located in the same device, the terminal device may obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information), and the terminal device may calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device based on the position of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point.

[0270] In another possible embodiment, the second information includes the location information of the service link reference point and the location information of the feeder link reference point. The location information of the feeder link reference point can be the location information of the network device (such as a gateway), or the location information of a reference point in the area where the network device is located. The reference point can be located at the network device or near the network device. In this embodiment, the network device and the satellite device can be located in different devices, the terminal device can obtain the motion trajectory of the satellite device (such as ephemeris information), and the terminal device can calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the satellite device based on the location of the satellite device and the location information of the service link reference point. The terminal device can calculate the data transmission delay between the network device (feeder link reference point) and the satellite device based on the location of the satellite device and the location information of the feeder link reference point. Then, the terminal device calculates the data transmission delay between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the network device (feeder link reference point) based on the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the satellite device, and the data transmission delay between the network device and the satellite device.

[0271] In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can also calculate the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. The calculation method is similar to the above content and will not be repeated here.

[0272] Step 902: The terminal device calculates a transmission window of the process according to the second information to obtain a first transmission window.

[0273] In a possible implementation, the second information is used to indicate a data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device. The terminal device can then calculate a transmission window based on the second information. For distinction, the calculated transmission window is referred to as a first transmission window.

[0274] In one possible implementation, the terminal device determines the corresponding data transmission delay based on the second information and the location information of the satellite device. The terminal device calculates the transmission window for the process based on the data transmission delay, the number of supported processes, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit, thereby obtaining a first transmission window. The first transmission window can be associated with these parameters, thereby making the calculated first transmission window more consistent with the current situation. Setting this first transmission window can further improve data transmission efficiency.

[0275] For example, the terminal device may calculate the first transmission window according to the following formula:

[0276]

[0277] In this formula, PWL_cal is the first transmission window, max_process_num can represent the maximum number of processes supported by the system, slot_duration can represent the time length occupied by a data unit (for example, the time length of a time slot), and data transmission delay can represent the data transmission delay between the terminal device (serving link reference point) and the network device (feeder link reference point) (in the embodiment of the present application, the data transmission delay may include or be a round-trip delay, which in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a transmission round-trip delay). In one possible implementation, data transmission delay = (RTD(RP_service, satellite device) + RTD(RP_feeder, satellite device)), where RTD(RP_service, satellite device) represents the data transmission delay (e.g., round-trip delay) between the terminal device (service link reference point) and the satellite device, and RTD(RP_feeder, satellite device) represents the data transmission delay (e.g., round-trip delay) between the network device (feeder link reference point) and the satellite device. It can be seen that the transmission window of a process can be related to the round-trip delay.

[0278] Step 903 : If the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, it updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window and communicates based on the first transmission window.

[0279] In one possible implementation, the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated if the first condition is determined to be met. In another possible implementation, the terminal device determines that the transmission window of the process does not need to be updated if the first condition is determined not to be met. This can avoid frequent transmission window updates, thereby reducing the complexity of the solution.

[0280] In one possible implementation, the first condition includes: the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is greater than or equal to the time length threshold. Or, the first condition includes: the absolute value of the difference between the number of data units transmitted in the current transmission window of the process and the number of data units transmitted in the first transmission window is greater than or equal to the quantity threshold. The time length threshold (or quantity threshold) in the embodiment of the present application may be equal to the window update amount, or may not be equal to the window update amount.

[0281] In another possible implementation, the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is equal to the time length threshold, which may belong to the case where the first condition is satisfied (part of the embodiments of the present application is introduced as an example), or it may belong to the case where the first condition is not satisfied. For example, the first condition includes that the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is greater than the time length threshold, and the first condition does not include the case where the absolute value of the difference between the time length of the current transmission window of the process and the time length corresponding to the first transmission window is equal to the time length threshold. Similarly, in another possible implementation, the absolute value of the difference between the number of data units transmitted in the current transmission window of the process and the number of data units transmitted in the first transmission window is equal to the number threshold, which may belong to the case where the first condition is satisfied (part of the embodiments of the present application is introduced as an example), or it may belong to the case where the first condition is not satisfied.

[0282] In the embodiments of the present application, the duration threshold and / or quantity threshold may be preset or indicated by a network device, such as when the network device sends the duration threshold and / or quantity threshold to a terminal device, and the terminal device receives the information. The duration threshold and / or quantity threshold may be included in the second information or in other information.

[0283] In step 903, the terminal device updating the process's transmission window to the first transmission window may specifically include updating the duration of the process's transmission window to the duration corresponding to the first transmission window. Alternatively, the terminal device updates the number of data units transmitted within the process's transmission window to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window. For related details, see the aforementioned embodiment related to FIG. 2 and will not be repeated here.

[0284] Step 904 : The terminal device does not update the transmission window of the process if it determines that the transmission window of the process does not need to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window.

[0285] Step 905: The network device calculates the transmission window of the process according to the second information to obtain a first transmission window.

[0286] Step 905 can refer to the previous step 902, which is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0287] Step 906 : If the network device determines that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, it updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window and communicates based on the first transmission window.

[0288] Step 906 can refer to the previous step 903, which is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0289] Step 907 : If the network device determines that the transmission window of the process does not need to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, the network device does not update the transmission window of the process.

[0290] Step 907 can refer to the previous step 904, which is similar and will not be repeated here.

[0291] Step 908: The terminal device sends fourth information.

[0292] Correspondingly, the network device receives the fourth information.

[0293] The fourth information includes information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed, and / or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0294] The information indicating that the transmission window update process is complete may be ACK information, so as to notify the network device that the terminal device has completed the update.

[0295] The fourth information may be sent after the terminal device updates the process's transmission window. If the terminal device does not update the process's transmission window, the fourth information may not be sent. After step 902, the terminal device may execute step 903 or step 904, or alternatively, either step 903 or step 904. Step 908 may also be executed after step 903. Step 908 may not be executed after step 904. After step 905, the terminal device may execute step 906 or step 907, or alternatively, either step 906 or step 907.

[0296] In the embodiment shown in FIG9 , the terminal device may perform step 902 multiple times, for example, at regular intervals. Each time, the terminal device calculates a new first transmission window based on the current satellite device position information and the second information. The second information may be updated before each execution of step 902, or may not be updated, or the same second information may be shared across multiple executions of step 902.

[0297] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the network device can calculate whether the transmission window needs to be updated based on the second information, and update it independently when it is necessary. On the one hand, this can meet the time domain resource utilization rate, and on the other hand, it can also reduce data scheduling, processing and feedback delays, and save signaling overhead.

[0298] In the embodiment of the present application, the information that the network device needs to indicate (such as one or more of the first information, the second information, the initial value of the transmission window, the limit value of the transmission window, the window update amount, the time length threshold, or the quantity threshold) can be carried in at least one of the broadcast information such as the system information block (SIB) 1, other system information (OSI), and the master system information block (MIB), and broadcast or multicasted by the network device to the terminal device. This can avoid scheduling different resources for different terminal devices in order to send the above-mentioned signaling, thereby saving the signaling overhead of scheduling resources and reducing the complexity of system scheduling.

[0299] In another possible implementation, if the network device sends information that needs to be indicated (such as one or more of the first information, the second information, the initial value of the transmission window, the limit value of the transmission window, the window update amount, the time length threshold, or the quantity threshold) during the RRC connection establishment phase and subsequent communication processes, then this information can be carried in at least one of RRC signaling (for example, RRC setup message, RRC reconfiguration signaling, RRC resume signaling, etc.), DCI, group DCI, and media access control (MAC) control element (CE). This information can be indicated through signaling or in a table. Alternatively, the information that the network device needs to indicate (such as one or more of the first configuration information, the first distance threshold, the first signal quality threshold, or the second signal quality threshold) can be transmitted along with data transmission or on a separately allocated physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The information that the network device needs to indicate (such as one or more of the first information, the second information, the initial value of the transmission window, the limit value of the transmission window, the window update amount, the time length threshold, or the quantity threshold) can be sent via unicast or multicast. In this way, the information corresponding to each terminal device or each group of terminal devices can be flexibly controlled.

[0300] For example, the network device can configure different first information, different second information, different initial values ​​of the transmission window, different limit values ​​of the transmission window, different window update amounts, different time length thresholds, or different quantity thresholds to the terminal device based on the location or area of ​​the terminal device, or based on the data transmission delay between the terminal device and the network device, so as to optimize the data scheduling delay and data processing delay performance, avoid excessive scheduling and processing delays, and improve the overall communication performance of the terminal device and the system.

[0301] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the network device may adopt the embodiment given in FIG. 2 or FIG. 9 to update the transmission window. In an embodiment of the present application, the granularity of the update window may be the granularity of the terminal device, for example, the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices in the same cell may be different (or the same). In an embodiment of the present application, the granularity of the update window may be at the cell level, for example, the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices in the same cell are the same (the relevant parameters of the updated transmission window of any two terminal devices in the same cell (such as the update time, the initial value of the transmission window, the limit value of the transmission window and at least one of the window update amount) are the same), and the updated transmission windows of two terminal devices in different cells may be different (or the same). In an embodiment of the present application, the granularity of the update window may be the granularity of the coverage area of ​​the satellite device, for example, for the coverage area of ​​the same satellite device, the updated transmission windows of the two terminal devices in the area are the same (the relevant parameters of the updated transmission window of any two terminal devices in the area (such as the update time, the initial value of the transmission window, the limit value of the transmission window and at least one of the window update amount) are the same); the updated transmission windows of the two terminal devices in the coverage area of ​​the two satellite devices may be different (or the same).

[0302] It is understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device and the network device may include hardware structures and / or software modules that perform the corresponding functions. Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that, in combination with the units and method steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0303] Figures 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above-mentioned method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal device as shown in Figure 1A, Figure 1B, or Figure 1C, or a network device (such as a RAN node) as shown in Figure 1A, Figure 1B, or Figure 1C, or a chip system applied to the terminal device or network device as shown in Figure 1A, Figure 1B, or Figure 1C.

[0304] As shown in Figure 10, communication device 1300 includes a processing unit 1310 and a transceiver unit 1320. Communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of a terminal device or network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 2, 6, 7, or 9. Transceiver unit 1320 may also be referred to as a communication unit. Transceiver unit 1320 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit.

[0305] When communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of a terminal device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 6 , or FIG. 7 , in one possible implementation, transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive first information. Processing unit 1310 is used to update a transmission window for a process during at least one update time, and the updated transmission window for the process is used for communication via transceiver unit 1320 .

[0306] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to: update the time length of the transmission window of the process; or, update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process.

[0307] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive at least one of the following: information for indicating the limit value of the transmission window of the process; information for indicating the initial value of the transmission window of the process; or information for indicating the window update amount.

[0308] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is also used to perform one of the following when the updated transmission window of the process is equal to the window limit value: stop updating the transmission window of the process; or, at an update time in at least one update time, update the transmission window of the process with the window limit value as the starting value, and communicate through the transceiver unit 1320 based on the updated transmission window length of the process.

[0309] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send at least one of the following: information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0310] When communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 , FIG. 6 , or FIG. 7 , in one possible implementation, transceiver unit 1320 is configured to send the first information. Processing unit 1310 is configured to update the transmission window of a process at an update time during at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process via transceiver unit 1320.

[0311] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 2, 6 or 7, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to update the time length of the transmission window of the process; or, to update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process.

[0312] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send at least one of the following: information for indicating the limit value of the transmission window of the process; information for indicating the initial value of the transmission window of the process; or information for indicating the window update amount.

[0313] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is also used to perform one of the following when the updated transmission window of the process is equal to the window limit value: stop updating the transmission window of the process; or, at an update time in at least one update time, update the transmission window of the process with the window limit value as the starting value, and communicate through the transceiver unit 1320 based on the updated transmission window length of the process.

[0314] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 2, Figure 6 or Figure 7, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive at least one of the following: information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0315] When communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG9 , in one possible implementation, transceiver unit 1320 is configured to receive second information. Processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to calculate a transmission window for a process based on the second information to obtain a first transmission window. If it is determined that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, the processing unit 1310 updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, and performs communication based on the first transmission window via transceiver unit 1320.

[0316] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to update the time length of the transmission window of the process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window; or, update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window.

[0317] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is also used to determine the transmission window of the process that needs to be updated when the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process meet the first condition.

[0318] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG9 , in a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is further used to: receive a time length threshold and / or a quantity threshold.

[0319] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to determine the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device based on the second information and the location information of the satellite device, and calculate the transmission window of the process based on the data transmission delay, the number of processes supported, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit to obtain a first transmission window.

[0320] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send at least one of the following: information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0321] When communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , in one possible implementation, transceiver unit 1320 is configured to send the second information. Processing unit 1310 is specifically configured to calculate the transmission window of the process based on the second information to obtain a first transmission window. If it is determined that the transmission window of the process needs to be updated based on the current transmission window of the process and the first transmission window, the processing unit 1310 updates the transmission window of the process to the first transmission window, and performs communication based on the first transmission window via transceiver unit 1320.

[0322] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to: update the time length of the transmission window of the process to the time length corresponding to the first transmission window; or update the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process to the number of data units corresponding to the first transmission window.

[0323] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to determine the transmission window of the process that needs to be updated when the current transmission window and the first transmission window of the process meet the first condition.

[0324] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG9 , in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to send a time length threshold and / or a quantity threshold.

[0325] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the processing unit 1310 is specifically used to determine the data transmission delay corresponding to the terminal device based on the second information and the location information of the satellite device, and calculate the transmission window of the process based on the data transmission delay, the number of processes supported, and the time domain resources occupied by a data unit to obtain a first transmission window.

[0326] When the communication device 1300 is used to implement the function of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1320 is used to receive at least one of the following: information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or information indicating the updated transmission window of the process.

[0327] For a more detailed description of the processing unit 1310 and the transceiver unit 1320 , reference may be made to the relevant description in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 2 .

[0328] As shown in Figure 11, the communication device 1400 includes a processor 1410 and an interface circuit 1420. The processor 1410 and the interface circuit 1420 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1420 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The input / output interface is used to input and / or output information, where output can be understood as sending and input can be understood as receiving. Optionally, the communication device 1400 may also include a memory 1430 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1410, or storing input data required by the processor 1410 to execute instructions, or storing data generated after the processor 1410 executes instructions.

[0329] When the communication device 1400 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 10 , the processor 1410 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1310 , and the interface circuit 1420 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1320 .

[0330] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the terminal chip receives information from the base station, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. When the terminal chip sends information to the base station, it can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules in the terminal (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station by these modules.

[0331] When the above-mentioned communication device is a chip applied to a base station, the base station chip implements the functions of the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. When the base station chip receives information from the terminal, it can be understood that the information is first received by other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the base station chip by these modules. When the base station chip sends information to the terminal, it can be understood that the information is sent to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or antenna) and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0332] In this application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be done directly from A to B or indirectly through another entity. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be done directly from entity B or indirectly through another entity. Entities A and B herein can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules within a RAN node or terminal. The sending and receiving of information can be information exchange between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, between a base station and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between two RAN nodes, for example, between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can also be information exchange between different modules within a device, for example, between a terminal chip and other modules in the terminal, or between a base station chip and other modules within the base station.

[0333] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0334] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions that can be executed by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also be present in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0335] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions of the embodiments of the present application are performed. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media, such as floppy disks, hard disks, or magnetic tapes; optical media, such as digital video disks; or semiconductor media, such as solid-state drives. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0336] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0337] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C. "Including at least one of A, B or C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0338] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of this application (such as the numerical numbers "first" and "second", and the letter numbers "Implementation A1", "Implementation B1", "Implementation C1", etc.) are only for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a terminal device, comprising: receiving first information, the first information comprising information indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; At an update time in the at least one update time, a transmission window of the process is updated, and communication is performed based on the updated transmission window of the process.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The updating of the transmission window of the process includes: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Receive at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: After the updating of the transmission window of the process, the method further includes: Send at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: The method is applicable to a network device, comprising: Sending first information, the first information comprising information for indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; At an update time in the at least one update time, a transmission window of the process is updated, and communication is performed based on the updated transmission window of the process.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The updating of the transmission window of the process includes: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that: After the updating of the transmission window of the process, the method further includes: Receive at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes a processor and an interface circuit; The interface circuit is used to receive first information, wherein the first information includes information indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; The processor is configured to update a transmission window of the process at an update time in the at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process.

14. The device according to claim 13, characterized in that The processor is specifically used for: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

15. The device according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

16. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that: The interface circuit is also used for: Receive at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

17. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that: The interface circuit is also used for: Send at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

18. The device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that: The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The device includes a processor and an interface circuit; The interface circuit is used to send first information, wherein the first information includes information for indicating at least one update time of a transmission window of a process; The processor is configured to update a transmission window of the process at an update time in the at least one update time, and communicate based on the updated transmission window of the process.

20. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that The processor is specifically used for: The time length of the transmission window of the process is updated; or the number of data units transmitted within the transmission window of the process is updated.

21. The device according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The information for indicating at least one update time of the transmission window of the process includes: Indicative information of the time interval between two adjacent update times in the at least one update time; or, The at least one update time is time information.

22. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that The interface circuit is also used for: Send at least one of the following: Information for indicating a limit value of a transmission window of the process; Information indicating an initial value of a transmission window for the process; or, Information indicating a window update amount, wherein the updated transmission window is determined according to the window update amount and the transmission window before the update.

23. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 22, characterized in that The interface circuit is also used for: Receive at least one of the following: Information indicating that the transmission window update of the process is completed; or, Information indicating an updated transmit window for the process.

24. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 23, characterized in that The first information is carried in a broadcast message, a multicast message or a unicast message; and / or, The first information is carried in one of the following: a system information block, a main system information block, a radio resource control RRC signaling, an RRC reconfiguration signaling, an RRC recovery signaling, downlink control information, group downlink control information DCI, or a medium access control control element.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, or comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 12.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method as described in any one of claims 7 to 12 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor, wherein the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 through a logic circuit or executing a code instruction.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 is implemented.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

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