Communication method, communication apparatus and medium

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application are applied to the field of communications, and disclosed are a communication method, a communication apparatus and a medium, which are used for indicating synchronous signal power in a satellite coverage range. The method in the embodiments of the present application comprises: receiving broadcast information, the broadcast information comprising a value corresponding to a target parameter in one or more terrestrial geographic position areas; and acquiring, on the basis of a target area and the broadcast information, a first value, the target area being the terrestrial geographic position area where a terminal device is located, the first value being a value corresponding to the target parameter in the target area, and the first value being used for indicating the power of a synchronization signal corresponding to the target area. The embodiments of the present application can enable a terminal device to acquire, on the basis of different terrestrial geographic position areas, the power of a corresponding synchronization signal.

Description

Communication method, communication device and medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on November 30, 2023, with application number 202311636263.7 and invention name “A communication method, communication device and medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] In non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), satellite communications offer a wider coverage area than terrestrial cellular networks. They also boast long communication distances, high deployment flexibility, and immunity to geographical factors, natural disasters, and climatic conditions. Consequently, they are widely used in aerospace, maritime, and military communications. The introduction of satellites into sixth-generation mobile communication technology (6G) can provide connectivity in areas difficult to reach with terrestrial cellular networks, enabling access to a wider range of devices, thereby achieving an integrated air-space-ground network and providing comprehensive communication services to user devices.

[0004] When performing uplink power control, the terminal device needs to obtain the synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) power from the system information block (SIB) broadcast by the base station, that is, the energy per resource element (EPRE). Combined with the reference signal receiving power (RSRP), it calculates the path loss. Under the existing New Radio (NR) standard, the transmit power of all SSBs sent by the base station is the same.

[0005] Since the coverage range of satellites is much larger than that of terrestrial cellular networks, the path loss of satellite-transmitted signals to the coverage edge area is significantly different from the path loss of the signal to the sub-satellite point. Therefore, existing technologies cannot guarantee the communication performance of SSB transmission within the satellite coverage area.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication device, and a medium, which are applied in the field of communications and are used to improve the communication performance of SSB transmission.

[0008] The first aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, optionally, the execution subject of the method can be a terminal device, or a component or device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.) applied to the terminal device, or a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the terminal device functions. Taking the terminal device as an example, the terminal device is within the coverage of the satellite, and the satellite acts as an NTN node to broadcast to the terminal devices within the coverage. In this method, the terminal device receives a broadcast message from the NTN node, and the broadcast message includes a mapping relationship between the target parameter and the ground geographical location area, that is, the corresponding value of the target parameter in one or more ground geographical location areas. The terminal device confirms the value of the target parameter in the target area based on its own target area and the mapping relationship, that is, the first value. The first value is used to indicate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the target area.

[0009] In the embodiment of the present application, since the broadcast information includes the values ​​of the target parameter in one or more terrestrial geographic locations, the terminal device can obtain the corresponding first value from the broadcast message based on the region where the terminal device is located. The first value indicates the synchronization signal power required by the terminal device, allowing the NTN node to use different transmission powers to transmit synchronization signals based on different terrestrial geographic locations. At the same time, the terminal device can obtain the corresponding synchronization signal power. This improves the communication performance of SSB transmission and also allows the terminal device to obtain the corresponding power information.

[0010] A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a communication method. Optionally, the method may be performed by an NTN node, a component (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to the NTN node, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the NTN node's functions. In this method, the NTN node broadcasts to terminal devices within its ground coverage area, sending broadcast information to the terminal devices. The broadcast information includes the corresponding values ​​of a target parameter in one or more ground geographic locations, where the values ​​represent the power of a synchronization signal sent by the NTN node to the area.

[0011] A third aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device, or a component or device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system) applied to the terminal device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the terminal device's functions. The communication device includes:

[0012] A receiving unit, configured to receive broadcast information, the broadcast information including values ​​of the target parameter corresponding to one or more terrestrial geographical locations;

[0013] An acquisition unit is used to obtain a first value based on a target area and broadcast information. The target area is the ground geographical location area where the terminal device is located. The first value is the value corresponding to the target parameter in the target area. The first value is used to indicate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the target area.

[0014] Based on the first and third aspects of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the terminal device receives ephemeris information from the NTN node, and the ephemeris information is used by the terminal device to determine the orbit and position of the NTN node. The terminal device obtains the specific coverage range of the ground geographical location area based on the ephemeris information, and then obtains its position information on the ground based on its own global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The terminal device obtains the ground geographical location area information, and the ground geographical location area information is used to represent the specific position of the ground geographical location area in the mapping relationship. The terminal device determines that it is in a target area of ​​one or more ground geographical location areas within the coverage range of the NTN node based on the ephemeris information, the ground position information and the ground geographical location area information, and then obtains the first value of the target parameter in the target area from the broadcast message.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can more accurately determine its own ground geographical location area based on the ephemeris information and ground position information, thereby obtaining the corresponding synchronization signal power.

[0016] Based on the first and third aspects of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, after obtaining the synchronization signal power corresponding to the target area, the terminal device calculates the path loss of the downlink signal based on the synchronization signal power, and further reports the downlink path loss to the NTN node.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present application, based on the first aspect and the third aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can calculate the downlink path loss according to the acquired synchronization signal power, thereby realizing uplink power control of the terminal device.

[0018] Based on the first and third aspects of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the terminal device also receives SSB from the NTN node.

[0019] A fourth aspect of the present application provides a communication device, which may be an NTN node, or a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to an NTN node, or a logic module or software (e.g., a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU)) capable of implementing all or part of the functions of an NTN node. The communication device includes:

[0020] The sending unit is used to send broadcast information, where the broadcast information includes values ​​corresponding to the target parameter in one or more terrestrial geographical locations, where the values ​​are used to indicate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the one or more terrestrial geographical locations.

[0021] Based on the second aspect and the fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the NTN node sends ephemeris information to the terminal device, where the ephemeris information is used to enable the terminal device to determine its terrestrial geographical location area and thereby obtain the corresponding synchronization signal power.

[0022] Based on the second aspect and the fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the NTN node receives a measurement result from the terminal device, where the measurement result includes the downlink path loss calculated by the terminal device.

[0023] Based on the second aspect and the fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the NTN node sends an SSB to the terminal device.

[0024] Based on the first to fourth aspects of the embodiments of the present application, the ground geographic location area can optionally be represented by the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the NTN node relative to the ground geographic location area. Specifically, an angle is formed between a line connecting the NTN node to the sub-satellite point and a line connecting the NTN node to the center point of the ground geographic location area. This angle is the elevation angle of the NTN node relative to the ground geographic location area. The specific position of the center point of the ground geographic location area can then be determined based on the azimuth angle of the center point of the ground geographic location area relative to the sub-satellite point.

[0025] Based on the first to fourth aspects of the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may optionally further obtain the size of the ground geographic location area coverage. Specifically, the size of the ground geographic location area coverage may be represented by the radius of the ground geographic location area. The terminal device obtains the reference coordinates and radius of the ground geographic location area, or the terminal device obtains the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the NTN node relative to the ground geographic location area and the radius of the ground geographic location area to determine the ground geographic location area in which the terminal device is located.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present application, by obtaining the specific coverage size of the ground geographic location area, and then combining the reference coordinates of the center point of the ground geographic location area or the pitch angle and azimuth angle of the NTN node relative to the ground geographic location area, the terminal device can locate the ground geographic location area where it is located, thereby obtaining the corresponding synchronization signal power.

[0027] Based on the first to fourth aspects of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the target parameter in the broadcast information may be energy per resource element (EPRE), a scaling factor, or an offset. The scaling factor is used to indicate the proportional relationship between the EPRE corresponding to each terrestrial geographic location area and a fixed EPRE value, and the offset is used to indicate the difference between the EPRE corresponding to each terrestrial geographic location area and a fixed EPRE value.

[0028] Based on the first to fourth aspects of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, when the target parameter is a proportional factor or an offset, the broadcast information also includes a preset second value, which serves as a reference value. The terminal device calculates the first value and the second value to obtain the synchronization signal power corresponding to the target area.

[0029] Based on the first to fourth aspects of the embodiments of the present application, optionally, the broadcast information includes an emergency demand level, which is used to indicate the urgency of the signal demand in the ground geographic location area, and the mapping relationship in the broadcast information is used to indicate the values ​​of the target parameters corresponding to one or more ground geographic location areas under different emergency demand levels.

[0030] Based on the first to fourth aspects of the embodiments of the present application, the ground geographic location area can optionally be represented by reference coordinates. Specifically, the reference coordinates can be the longitude and latitude of a reference point, and the reference point can be the center point of the ground geographic location area. The terminal device can determine which ground geographic location area's center point the terminal device is closer to based on its own longitude and latitude coordinates, thereby determining which ground geographic location area the terminal device is in.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device, or a component or device applied to a terminal device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions. Alternatively, the communication device may be an NTN node, or a component applied to an NTN node (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software (such as a CU, DU, or RU, etc.) that can implement all or part of the NTN node functions. The communication device includes:

[0032] A processor is configured to execute a program so that the communication device executes the method according to the first aspect or the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0033] Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory, and the processor is coupled to the memory; the memory is used to store programs.

[0034] A sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a chip or chip system, which includes at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected through lines, and the at least one processor is used to run computer programs or instructions to perform the communication method described in any one of the possible implementation methods of the first to second aspects above.

[0035] The communication interface in the chip may be an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the chip or chip system described above in this application further includes at least one memory, wherein instructions are stored in the at least one memory. The memory may be a storage unit within the chip, such as a register or cache, or a storage unit of the chip, such as a read-only memory or random access memory.

[0037] A seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising a communication device that performs the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and a communication device that performs the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0038] An eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method as described in the first aspect above, or enable the computer to execute the method as described in the second aspect above.

[0039] A ninth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method as described in the first aspect above, or enables the computer to execute the method as described in the second aspect above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] FIG1 is a diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the relative positions of NTN nodes and the ground in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for representing a ground geographical location area in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for representing a ground geographical location area in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication device, and a medium, which are applied in the field of communications and are used to indicate the synchronization signal power within the coverage area of ​​a satellite.

[0050] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0051] The terms "first", "second" etc. in the specification, claims and drawings of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequential order. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, and this is merely a way of distinguishing the objects of the same attributes when describing them in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that the process, method, system, product or equipment comprising a series of units need not be limited to those units, but may include other units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or equipment.

[0052] Please refer to Figure 1. The following briefly describes the network architecture based on the communication method in the embodiment of the present application:

[0053] As shown in Figure 1, multiple terminal devices 101 are connected to an NTN node 102, receiving the SIB broadcast by the NTN node and obtaining information from the SIB. When performing uplink power control, the terminal device needs to obtain the power of the SSB transmitted by the NTN node from the SIB. By calculating the SSB power and RSRP to obtain the path loss of the downlink signal, the terminal device determines the power of the transmitted uplink signal based on the downlink path loss.

[0054] The terminal device in Figure 1 can be located within the beam or cell coverage of the network device. The terminal device can communicate with the network device via an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) over the air interface. For example, the terminal device can send uplink data to the network device via an uplink physical layer shared channel (PUSCH) in the UL direction; and the network device can send downlink data to the terminal device via a downlink physical layer shared channel (PDSCH) in the DL direction. The terminal device can be a terminal device that supports the new air interface, can access the NTN node via the air interface, and initiate calls, Internet access, and other services. The terminal device can also be called user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), etc. Specifically, the terminal device in Figure 1 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities. It can also be a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in unmanned driving, a wireless terminal in telemedicine, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability, an intelligent connected vehicle, a drone with UAV to UAV (U2U) communication capability, etc., and the specific details are not limited here.

[0055] Exemplarily, an NTN node can be an access network device mounted on a flight platform. When the access network device is mounted on the flight platform, the access network device moves synchronously with the flight platform. The access network device and the flight platform can be considered as a whole. In this case, the flight platform can be regarded as an access network device, or it can be described as the flight platform operating in regenerative mode (regenerative mode), that is, the flight platform has the function of an access network device. In addition, the communication link between the flight platform and the terminal device can be called a service link. When the communication system includes multiple flight platforms, the flight platforms can communicate with each other through the Xn interface. In actual applications, the network device can also be an access network device distributedly mounted on the flight platform based on a distributed unit (DU), or directly used as a flight platform, which is not limited here.

[0056] The access network device can be any device with wireless transceiver functions, mainly used to implement wireless physical control functions, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control and mobility management, and provide reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols. Specifically, the access network device can be a device that supports wired access or a device that supports wireless access. Exemplarily, the access network device can be an access network (AN) device, a radio access network (RAN) device, or an open radio access network (O-RAN) device. The RAN device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation base station (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a long-range radio (LoRa) system, or an access node in a vehicle network system. The RAN device can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of the base station, for example, it can be a CU, DU or RU. The CU here performs the functions of the radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also perform the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU performs the functions of the radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also perform some or all of the physical layer functions. For detailed descriptions of the above-mentioned protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as the baseband unit (BBU).The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, CU, DU or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, and RU may also be called O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0057] The flight platform may be an aircraft such as a satellite or a drone. For example, the flight platform may include a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a non-geostationary orbit satellite, a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium-earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geosynchronous orbit satellite, an unmanned aerial system platform, or a high-orbit satellite, etc., without limitation herein.

[0058] Low- and medium-orbit satellites can have their own trajectory, and generally multiple satellites collaborate to provide communications for a fixed area. High-orbit satellites are generally stationary, with one or a few high-orbit satellites providing communications for a fixed area.

[0059] Figure 2 shows the relative position of NTN nodes and the ground. Based on the different satellite orbits in which NTN nodes reside, the coverage area of ​​an NTN node is referred to as a terrestrial mobile cell or a terrestrial fixed cell. For a terrestrial mobile cell, the NTN node is stationary relative to the ground; that is, the NTN node and the ground move synchronously. Therefore, the NTN node corresponding to a terrestrial mobile cell remains fixed. For a terrestrial fixed cell, the NTN node moves relative to the ground, so the NTN node corresponding to a terrestrial fixed cell changes as the NTN node moves. A terrestrial geographic location area is a portion of a terrestrial mobile cell or a terrestrial fixed cell. Its specific location can be represented in various ways. The terrestrial geographic location area where the terminal device is located is the target area.

[0060] Currently, all SSBs transmitted by base stations have the same power. Because satellite coverage is much larger than terrestrial cellular networks, the path loss between satellite signals transmitted to the edge of coverage and the path loss to the sub-satellite point differs significantly. If the SSB transmit power is too low, transmission performance in the coverage edge cannot be guaranteed. However, if the SSB transmit power is too high, power is wasted in the center of the coverage area.

[0061] To accommodate satellite coverage, which is much larger than that of terrestrial cellular networks, flexible SSB transmission power can be employed. For example, SSB transmission power can be increased in areas at the edge of coverage, while relatively low power is used in the center.

[0062] However, when performing some power control-related processes, the terminal device needs to know the power of the base station's SSB transmission. For example, when performing uplink power control, the terminal device needs to obtain the SSB power from the SIB, namely EPRE, and combine it with RSRP to calculate the path loss.

[0063] Therefore, a method is provided in an embodiment of the present application. Please refer to FIG3 . A communication method in an embodiment of the present application includes:

[0064] 301. The NTN node sends broadcast information to a terminal device, and the terminal device receives the broadcast information accordingly. The broadcast information includes corresponding values ​​of a target parameter in one or more terrestrial geographical locations.

[0065] In one embodiment, the broadcast information indicates a mapping relationship between a terrestrial geographical location area and a target parameter.

[0066] The NTN node sends broadcast information to terminal devices, which includes the mapping between ground geographic regions and target parameters. The NTN node can send broadcast information to all terminal devices within its entire coverage area, or to terminal devices within a specific ground geographic region. Multiple terminal devices within that ground geographic region receive the same broadcast information. The broadcast information includes one or more ground geographic regions within the NTN node's coverage area and the target parameter values ​​corresponding to those one or more ground geographic regions.

[0067] For example, the mapping relationship between the ground geographical location area and the target parameter is shown in Table 1. Among them, the target parameter is EPRE. The values ​​in the table shown in the embodiments of this application are only examples and do not represent the values ​​in actual situations.

[0068] Table 1

[0069] As shown in Table 1, the broadcast information includes the identifier of the terrestrial geographic location region and the corresponding target parameter value, such as Region 1, and the EPRE value corresponding to that region. The correspondence between the terrestrial geographic location region identifier and the terrestrial geographic location region can be predefined by the protocol, or can be pre-indicated to the terminal device, or can be indicated to the terminal device together with the broadcast information. The terrestrial geographic location region can be indicated by the terrestrial geographic location region information, that is, the terrestrial geographic location region information is used to indicate the specific range and size of the terrestrial geographic location region.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the ground geographic location area identifier can be replaced with ground geographic location area information.

[0071] The ground geographic location area information may specifically be the reference coordinates of the center point of the area and the radius of the area. Specific examples are shown in Table 2:

[0072] Table 2

[0073] As shown in Table 2, the ground geographic location area can be represented by the reference coordinates of the center point of the area and the radius of the area. Please refer to Figure 4, which shows a representation of the ground geographic location area. The ground geographic location area information includes the reference coordinates of the center point of the ground geographic location area and the radius of the area. The reference coordinates can be represented by the longitude and latitude of the reference point in the ground geographic location area. The reference point can be the center point of the area or other points in the area, and the specific details are not limited here. The terminal device determines the range size and specific location of the ground geographic location area based on the ground geographic location area information, and then determines its own coordinates based on GNSS, and then determines which ground geographic location area the terminal device is in, thereby determining the target area.

[0074] In actual applications, the ground geographic location area information may include the reference coordinates of the center point of the ground geographic location area. The terminal device calculates the distance of the terminal device relative to all center points based on its own coordinates and the reference coordinates of the center point, and selects the ground geographic location area corresponding to the nearest center point as the target area.

[0075] The ground geographic location area information may also specifically include the azimuth and elevation angles of the center point of the area relative to the NTN node and the radius of the area, as shown in Table 3:

[0076] Table 3:

[0077] Table 3 shows another way to represent ground geographic location area information. The ground geographic location area can be represented by the area's elevation angle and azimuth angle relative to the NTN node, as well as the area's radius. Specifically, as shown in Figure 5, when the satellite is stationary relative to the ground, the point directly below the NTN node relative to the ground is the subsatellite point. The line connecting the NTN node to the subsatellite point is perpendicular to the ground. The line connecting the NTN node to the center point of the ground geographic location area and the line connecting the NTN node to the subsatellite point are at an angle. This angle is the elevation angle of the ground geographic location area relative to the NTN node. The line connecting the center point of the ground geographic location area to the subsatellite point and the ray in the true north direction are at an angle. This angle is the azimuth angle of the ground geographic location area relative to the NTN node. The two angles can be used to determine the specific location of the area's center point, and the radius of the area can then be used to determine the size of the ground geographic location area.

[0078] In practical applications, the center point of the ground geographical location area may also be determined by an angle and distance relative to the center point of a ground mobile cell or a ground fixed cell, which is not specifically limited here.

[0079] In the embodiment of the present application, since the satellite is stationary relative to the terrestrial mobile cell, the elevation and azimuth angles of the NTN node relative to the terrestrial geographic location in the terrestrial mobile cell remain fixed. However, the satellite is mobile relative to the terrestrial fixed cell, so the elevation and azimuth angles of the NTN node relative to the terrestrial geographic location in the terrestrial fixed cell constantly change. Therefore, in the terrestrial fixed cell, the specific position of the terrestrial geographic location cannot be represented by the elevation and azimuth angles of the NTN node relative to the terrestrial geographic location. Instead, the specific position of the terrestrial geographic location can only be represented by the angle and distance of the center point of the terrestrial geographic location relative to the center point of the cell, or by the reference coordinates of the center point of the terrestrial geographic location.

[0080] It should be understood that calculating the size of a ground geographic location area using a radius is merely an example. The size of a ground geographic location area can also be calculated or pre-configured using side lengths, and this is not a limitation here. In practical applications, any point within a ground geographic location area can also be used as a reference point to represent the ground geographic location area, and this is not a limitation here.

[0081] In some possible implementations, the target parameter may be an EPRE scaling factor, an EPRE offset, or other EPRE-related parameters, which are not specifically limited herein. In other words, the EPRP in Table 1 above may be replaced by an EPRE scaling factor, an EPRE offset, or other EPRE-related parameters.

[0082] For example, the target parameter may be an EPRE scaling factor, and the broadcast information may also include a preset EPRE, which may be the EPRE of one of the terrestrial geographic locations or the EPRE corresponding to the NTN node sub-satellite area, and the specific details are not limited here. The EPRE scaling factor is used to indicate the proportional relationship between the EPRE in each terrestrial geographic location area and the preset EPRE, as shown in Table 4:

[0083] Table 4

[0084] In Table 4, the broadcast information includes the terrestrial geographic location region identifier and the EPRE scaling factor corresponding to that region. For example, if the preset EPRE value included in the broadcast information is 20 dBm and the EPRE scaling factor corresponding to region 1 is 0.8, the EPRE corresponding to region 1 can be calculated based on the scaling factor and the preset EPRE to be 16 dBm.

[0085] For another example, the target parameter is an EPRE offset. The broadcast information includes a preset EPRE. The EPRE offset is used to indicate the difference between each terrestrial geographical location area and the preset EPRE, as shown in Table 5:

[0086] Table 5

[0087] In Table 5, the broadcast information includes the terrestrial geographic location region identifier and the EPRE offset corresponding to that region. For example, if the preset EPRE value included in the broadcast information is 30 dBm and the EPRE offset corresponding to region 3 is -20, meaning the difference between the EPRE corresponding to region 3 and the preset EPRE is -20, the EPRE corresponding to region 3 can be calculated by adding the EPRE offset and the preset EPRE to obtain 10 dBm.

[0088] In practical applications, the EPRE scale factor or EPRE offset is positively correlated with the distance between the NTN node and the reference point. Specifically, the distance between the NTN node and the ground geographic reference point satisfies:

[0089] Where d is the distance between the terminal device and the NTN node, x s is the coordinate of the NTN node on the x-axis in the earth coordinate system, y s is the coordinate of the satellite on the y-axis in the Earth coordinate system, z s is the coordinate of the satellite on the z-axis in the Earth coordinate system. The coordinate of the NTN node in the Earth coordinate system can be calculated based on the ephemeris information.

[0090] When the location of the ground geographic location area is expressed in elevation and azimuth, the distance from the NTN node to the ground geographic location reference point satisfies:

[0091] Where d represents the distance from the NTN node to the ground geographic reference point, x represents the elevation angle, h represents the satellite's orbital altitude, and r represents the Earth's radius. The EPRE scaling factor for the ground geographic region is the ratio of the distance from the NTN node to the ground geographic reference point to the distance from the NTN node to the satellite's subsatellite point.

[0092] The Earth's coordinate system is a coordinate system with the center of the Earth as the origin, the line from the center of the Earth pointing to 0 degrees longitude on the equator as the x-axis, the line from the center of the Earth pointing to 90 degrees longitude east on the equator as the y-axis, and the line from the center of the Earth pointing to the North Pole as the z-axis.

[0093] It is understood that the EPRE scaling factor included in Table 4 can be represented by the distance from the NTN node to the ground geographic reference point, or by other representations, which are not specifically limited here. The EPRE offset included in Table 5 can be represented by the distance from the NTN node to the ground geographic reference point, or by other representations, which are not specifically limited here.

[0094] In one embodiment, the broadcast information also includes an emergency demand level. When an emergency event occurs in a certain geographical area on the ground, such as a fire, flood, or earthquake, more SSB power needs to be allocated to the area. Therefore, the broadcast information also includes different emergency demand levels, as shown in Table 6:

[0095] Table 6

[0096] As shown in Table 6, the broadcast information sent by the NTN node to the terminal device includes the mapping relationship between the ground geographical location area, the emergency demand level size of the area, and the SSB EPRE. The broadcast information includes the EPRE values ​​corresponding to the ground geographical location area at different emergency demand levels.

[0097] In practical applications, the broadcast message may further include a preset EPRE. The target parameter may be an EPRE scaling factor, an EPRE offset, or other EPRE-related parameters, which are not specifically limited herein. It is understood that the EPRP in Table 6 above may be replaced by an EPRE scaling factor, an EPRE offset, or other EPRE-related parameters.

[0098] 302. The NTN node sends ephemeris information to the terminal device;

[0099] NTN nodes also send ephemeris information to terminal devices, which are used to determine the NTN node's coordinates, speed, or orbit. Ephemeris information can accurately calculate, predict, depict, and track the satellite's operating status, including time, position, and speed, and can express the precise parameters of celestial bodies, satellites, or spacecraft.

[0100] It is understandable that, in this embodiment, when the ground geographical location area is represented by reference coordinates, the terminal device may not rely on ephemeris information to determine the ground geographical location area, and therefore step 302 may not be performed.

[0101] 303. The terminal device determines the target area;

[0102] When the ground geographic location area is expressed as reference coordinates, the terminal device determines its latitude and longitude coordinates using its own GNSS. The terminal device determines the target area based on its own coordinates and the ground geographic location area information shown in Table 2. For example, if the terminal device's coordinates are 120.1°E, 30°N, the distance from these coordinates to the center of Area 1 is approximately 9.6 kilometers, which is less than the radius of Area 1. Therefore, Area 1 is the target area.

[0103] In practical applications, the coordinates of a terminal device or a reference point in a terrestrial geographic location area can be expressed using coordinates in the Earth coordinate system. The following uses the geographical coordinate representation of a terminal device as an example. Similarly, the geographical coordinate representation of a reference point in a terrestrial geographic location area can be implemented by referring to the geographical coordinate representation of a terminal device.

[0104] The geographical coordinates of the terminal device can be expressed as in, The terminal device’s location information in the Earth coordinate system and its geographic coordinates satisfy the following equation: x u =r*sin(φ)*cos(θ) y u =r*sin(φ)*sin(θ) z u =r*cos(φ)

[0105] Among them, x u is the coordinate of the terminal device on the x-axis in the earth coordinate system, y u is the coordinate of the terminal device on the y-axis in the earth coordinate system, z u is the coordinate of the terminal device on the z axis in the earth coordinate system. The location information of the terminal device in the earth coordinate system can be expressed as (x u ,y u , z u ), r is the radius of the Earth.

[0106] When a terrestrial geographic location area is represented by the area's elevation and azimuth relative to an NTN node, the terminal device determines its elevation and azimuth relative to the NTN node based on GNSS and ephemeris information. The terminal device determines its target area based on its elevation and azimuth relative to the NTN node and the terrestrial geographic location area information shown in Table 3. For example, if the terminal device's azimuth relative to the NTN node is 86° and its elevation is 29°, the terminal device calculates the distance to the center of Area 2 based on these two angles. If this distance is less than the radius of Area 2, the terminal device determines Area 2 as the target area.

[0107] 304. The terminal device obtains corresponding target parameters;

[0108] After the terminal device determines the target area, it obtains the target parameter value corresponding to the target area from the broadcast information. For example, when the target parameter is EPRE, the terminal device obtains the EPRE corresponding to the target area from Table 1 based on the target area. If the target area is area 1, the EPRE value is 10dBm.

[0109] Optionally, 305 , the terminal device calculates a downlink path loss;

[0110] The terminal device calculates the obtained SSB power and RSRP to obtain the downlink path loss.

[0111] Optionally, 306 , the terminal device sends the downlink path loss to the NTN node;

[0112] The terminal device reports the calculated downlink path loss to the NTN node via RRC signaling. In actual applications, the terminal device may also report the calculation result to the NTN node via dedicated signaling or other signaling, which is not limited here.

[0113] In this embodiment, steps 305 to 306 may be executed or not executed, and are not specifically limited here.

[0114] In this embodiment, by mapping the broadcast SSB power to the ground geographic location in the NTN network, the terminal device calculates the path loss based on the SSB power level in the current geographic area. Therefore, the satellite SSB power can be dynamically adjusted based on the ground coverage geographic area, improving coverage performance.

[0115] The communication method in the embodiment of the present application is described above. The communication device in the embodiment of the present application is described below. Please refer to Figure 6. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication device can be a terminal device, or a component or device applied to the terminal device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device. It can implement the functions of the terminal device in the above method. An embodiment of the communication device includes:

[0116] A receiving unit 601 is configured to receive broadcast information, where the broadcast information includes values ​​of a target parameter corresponding to one or more terrestrial geographical locations;

[0117] Acquisition unit 602 is used to obtain a first value based on the target area and the broadcast information, where the target area is the ground geographical location area where the terminal device is located, and the first value is the value corresponding to the target parameter in the target area, and the first value is used to indicate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the target area.

[0118] Referring to FIG. 7 , in an embodiment of the present application, the communication device may be an NTN node, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system) applied to an NTN node, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of an NTN node. The communication device may implement the functions of the NTN node in the above method. An embodiment of the communication device includes:

[0119] The sending unit 701 is used to send broadcast information, where the broadcast information includes values ​​of the target parameter corresponding to one or more terrestrial geographic location areas, where the values ​​are used to indicate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the one or more terrestrial geographic location areas.

[0120] Next, we will introduce a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be the terminal device or network device in the above method embodiment, or it can be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the terminal device or network device to implement the above method. The communication device can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiment.

[0121] The communication device may include one or more processors 801, which are connected to a memory 802, an input / output unit 803, and a bus 804. The processor 801 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU may be used to control the communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal, a terminal chip, a DU or a CU), execute software programs, and process data in the software programs.

[0122] Optionally, the communication device may include one or more memories 802, which may store instructions. The instructions may be executed on the processor 801, causing the communication device to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 802 may also store data. The processor 801 and memory 802 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0123] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver and an antenna. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is configured to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and is configured to implement a receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is configured to implement a transmitting function.

[0124] In another possible design, processor 801 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0125] In another possible design, the processor 801 may optionally store instructions, which, when executed on the processor 801, may cause the communication device to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. The instructions may be fixed in the processor 801, in which case the processor 801 may be implemented by hardware.

[0126] In another possible design, the communication device may include a circuit, and the circuit may implement the function of transmitting or receiving or communicating the communication device or the first terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor and transceiver described in the present application embodiment may be implemented in an integrated circuit (iMtegrated circuit, IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit RFIC, a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (application specific iMtegrated circuit, ASIC), a printed circuit board (printed circuit board, PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver may also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), M-type metal oxide semiconductor (MKEMT), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive chaMMel CMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CKOS (BiCKOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0127] The communication device described in the above embodiments may be a terminal device or a network device, but the scope of the communication device described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited to FIG8. The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

[0128] (1) An independent integrated circuit (IC), or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0129] (2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally including a storage component for storing data and instructions;

[0130] (3) ASIC, such as modem (KSK);

[0131] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

[0132] (5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.;

[0133] (6)Others, etc.

[0134] In the case where the communication device can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the chip structure diagram shown in Figure 9. The chip 900 shown in Figure 9 includes a processor 901 and an interface 902. Optionally, it may also include a memory 903. The number of processors 901 can be one or more, and the number of interfaces 902 can be multiple.

[0135] For the case where the chip is used to implement the functions of the network device or terminal device in the embodiments of the present application:

[0136] The interface 902 is used to receive or output signals;

[0137] The processor 901 is configured to execute data processing operations of a network device or a terminal device.

[0138] It is understandable that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0139] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or an instruction in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component.

[0140] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROK), a programmable read-only memory (PROK), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROK), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROK), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAK), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAK are available, such as static random access memory (SRAK), dynamic random access memory (DRAK), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAK), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAK), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAK), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAK), and direct memory bus random access memory (DR RAK). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0141] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method in the aforementioned embodiment.

[0142] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the aforementioned embodiment.

[0143] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0144] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0145] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0146] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0147] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0148] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving broadcast information, the broadcast information including values ​​of a target parameter corresponding to one or more terrestrial geographic location areas; A first value is obtained according to the target area and the broadcast information, wherein the target area is the ground geographical location area where the terminal device is located, the first value is the value of the target parameter corresponding to the target area, and the first value is used to indicate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the target area.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Receive ephemeris information; Acquiring a first value according to the target area and the broadcast information includes: Determine the target area according to the ephemeris information, the ground position information of the terminal device and the ground geographical location area information; The first value is obtained from the broadcast information according to the target area.

3. The communication method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The ground geographical location area is represented by reference coordinates.

4. The communication method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The terrestrial geographic location area is represented by an elevation angle and an azimuth angle of the NTN node relative to the terrestrial geographic location area.

5. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The target parameter is energy per resource unit EPRE, a scaling factor or an offset.

6. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The broadcast information also includes a second value, where the second value is a preset value, and the first value is used by the terminal device to calculate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the target area according to the second value.

7. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The broadcast information also includes an emergency demand level; The broadcast information includes the corresponding values ​​of the target parameter in one or more terrestrial geographical locations, including The broadcast information includes values ​​of the target parameter corresponding to different emergency demand levels in the one or more ground geographical location areas.

8. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Calculating a downlink path loss according to the first value; The downlink path loss is sent to a non-terrestrial network NTN node.

9. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The method further comprises: A synchronization signal and a PBCH block are received from the NTN node.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Broadcast information is sent, where the broadcast information includes values ​​of a target parameter corresponding to one or more terrestrial geographic location areas, where the values ​​are used to indicate power of synchronization signals corresponding to the one or more terrestrial geographic location areas.

11. The communication method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Sending ephemeris information, wherein the ephemeris information is used by the terminal device to determine a target area, wherein the target area is the ground geographical location area where the terminal device is located.

12. The communication method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The ground geographical location area is represented by reference coordinates.

13. The communication method according to claim 11, characterized in that: The terrestrial geographic location area is represented by an elevation angle and an azimuth angle of the NTN node relative to the terrestrial geographic location area.

14. The communication method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that: The target parameter is energy per resource unit EPRE, a scaling factor or an offset.

15. The communication method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that: The broadcast information also includes a second value, where the second value is a preset value, and the first value is used by the terminal device to calculate the power of the synchronization signal corresponding to the target area according to the second value.

16. The communication method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that: The broadcast information also includes an emergency demand level; The broadcast information includes the corresponding values ​​of the target parameter in one or more terrestrial geographical locations, including The broadcast information includes values ​​of the target parameter corresponding to different emergency demand levels in the one or more ground geographical location areas.

17. The communication method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Receive downlink path loss.

18. The communication method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send a synchronization signal and a PBCH block to the terminal device.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises modules or units for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises modules or units for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 18.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, configured to execute a program so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, configured to execute a program so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

23. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A communication device for executing the method according to any one of steps 1 to 9, and a communication device for executing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

24. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or enable the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

25. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, or causes the computer to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 18.

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