Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and a communication device. In a multi-connection scenario, a terminal may use a plurality of communication connections for communication, the plurality of communication connections may be established with different cells, and TAs corresponding to the different cells may be different. In a terrestrial network, the TAs are determined by a base station, and therefore, the base station can determine the TAs of the different cells in the multi-connection scenario. However, in an NTN, the TAs are determined by a terminal, and after receiving the TAs, the base station cannot determine the cells corresponding to the TAs in the multi-connection scenario. In the embodiments of the present application, when sending a first TA of a first communication unit, the terminal sends a first identifier together; upon receiving first information, a base station parses the first TA and the first identifier from the first information, and determines, on the basis of the first identifier, the first communication unit corresponding to the first TA, so that the correspondence between TAs and communication units in a multi-connection scenario in an NTN can be distinguished.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on December 19, 2023, with application number 202311762582.2 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] To ensure time synchronization at the receiving end, wireless communication systems introduce a timing advance (TA) mechanism. The base station can adjust the TA of each terminal so that the time when the uplink signal of each terminal arrives at the base station is basically aligned.

[0004] In a multi-connection scenario, a terminal can use multiple communication connections for communication. These multiple communication connections may belong to different cells, and the TAs corresponding to different cells may be different. In a terrestrial network, the TA is determined by the base station. Therefore, the base station can determine the TAs of different cells in a multi-connection scenario. However, in a non-terrestrial network (NTN), the TA is determined by the terminal. In a multi-connection scenario, the terminal communicates with multiple cells, and the TAs corresponding to different cells may be different. In a multi-connection scenario, how the terminal reports the TA is an issue to be resolved.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, a communication device, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product, which enable a base station to determine the correspondence between each TA and a cell in a multi-connection scenario in an NTN.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which may be performed by a terminal or a chip used in a terminal. The method is described below using the terminal as an example. The method includes: determining first information, the first information including a first tag and a first identifier, the first identifier being used to indicate an association between a first communication unit and the first tag; and sending the first information.

[0008] The first communication unit is, for example, the first cell. The first identifier can be any information used to indicate the association relationship between the first cell and the first TA. When sending the first TA, the terminal sends the first TA and the first identifier together. After receiving the first information, the base station parses the first TA and the first identifier from the first information. According to the first identifier, the first cell corresponding to the first TA can be determined, thereby distinguishing the correspondence between each TA and the cell in the multi-connection scenario in the NTN.

[0009] Optionally, sending the first information includes: sending the first information if a first condition is met, the first condition including: receiving second information, the second information being used to indicate activation of the first communication unit, or the second information being used to indicate switching to the first communication unit.

[0010] In this embodiment, the second information serves as a condition for triggering TA reporting, which enables the terminal to report TA as soon as possible during cell activation or cell switching. Compared with instructing the terminal to report TA through other information, this embodiment can reduce the delay of TA reporting.

[0011] Optionally, the second information is used to instruct activation of the first communication unit, and the second information includes: secondary cell activation information, or enhanced secondary cell activation information, or secondary cell status information.

[0012] Optionally, the method further includes: receiving third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and a first identifier.

[0013] The base station can adjust the TA reported by the terminal through the TA offset value. Since the terminal may use multiple TAs in a multi-connection scenario, the third information includes the first identifier, which enables the terminal to determine that the TA adjusted by the TA offset value is the first TA, thereby avoiding TA adjustment errors.

[0014] Optionally, the method also includes: if the second condition is met, determining not to send the first information, the second condition includes one or more of the following conditions: receiving fourth information, the fourth information is used to indicate deactivation of the first communication unit, or the fourth information is used to indicate switching to the second communication unit; the deactivation timer of the first communication unit expires.

[0015] If one or more of the second conditions occur, reporting the first TA becomes meaningless. The terminal may cancel reporting the first TA when the second condition is met, thereby saving resources.

[0016] Optionally, before determining the first information, the method further includes: receiving a second identifier, the second identifier is associated with the first communication unit, and the second identifier is longer than the first identifier.

[0017] The second identifier pre-configured by the base station is typically unique. For example, a cell can be uniquely identified by the second identifier. However, this identifier has the disadvantage of being relatively long, i.e., occupying a large number of bits. In this embodiment, the first identifier is a shorter identifier. The terminal indicates the association between the first cell and the first TA using a shorter identifier, which can save resources required for TA reporting.

[0018] Optionally, the first identifier is an identifier of a first TA group, wherein the communication unit corresponding to the first TA group includes the first communication unit.

[0019] Optionally, the first identifier is an index of the first communication unit, and the second identifier is an identifier of the first communication unit.

[0020] Optionally, the first identifier is an index of the first aircraft, the second identifier is an identifier of the first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

[0021] Optionally, the first identifier is an index of the first logical channel, and the second identifier is an identifier of the first logical channel, wherein the first logical channel is associated with the first communication unit, and / or the first logical channel is associated with the first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

[0022] In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, which may be performed by a base station or a chip used in a base station. The method is described below using a base station as an example. The method includes: receiving first information, the first information including a first TA and a first identifier, the first identifier being used to indicate an association between a first communication unit and the first TA; and determining the association between the first communication unit and the first TA based on the first identifier.

[0023] The first communication unit is, for example, the first cell. The first identifier can be any information used to indicate the association relationship between the first cell and the first TA. When sending the first TA, the terminal sends the first TA and the first identifier together. After receiving the first information, the base station parses the first TA and the first identifier from the first information. According to the first identifier, the first cell corresponding to the first TA can be determined, thereby distinguishing the correspondence between each TA and the cell in the multi-connection scenario in the NTN.

[0024] Optionally, before receiving the first information, the method further includes: sending second information, where the second information is used to instruct activation of the first communication unit, or the second information is used to instruct switching to the first communication unit.

[0025] Optionally, the second information is used to instruct activation of the first communication unit, and the second information includes: secondary cell activation information, or enhanced secondary cell activation information, or secondary cell status information.

[0026] In this embodiment, the second information serves as a condition for triggering TA reporting, which enables the terminal to report TA as soon as possible during cell activation or cell switching. Compared with instructing the terminal to report TA through other information, this embodiment can reduce the delay of TA reporting.

[0027] Optionally, the method further includes: sending third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and a first identifier.

[0028] The base station can adjust the TA reported by the terminal through the TA offset value. Since the terminal may use multiple TAs in a multi-connection scenario, the third information includes the first identifier, which enables the terminal to determine that the TA adjusted by the TA offset value is the first TA, thereby avoiding TA adjustment errors.

[0029] Optionally, before receiving the first information, the method further includes: sending a second identifier, the second identifier is associated with the first communication unit, and the second identifier is longer than the first identifier.

[0030] The second identifier pre-configured by the base station is typically unique. For example, a cell can be uniquely identified by the second identifier. However, this identifier has the disadvantage of being relatively long, i.e., occupying a large number of bits. In this embodiment, the first identifier is a shorter identifier. The terminal indicates the association between the first cell and the first TA using a shorter identifier, which can save resources required for TA reporting.

[0031] Optionally, the first identifier is an identifier of a first TA group, wherein the communication unit corresponding to the first TA group includes the first communication unit.

[0032] Optionally, the first identifier is an index of the first communication unit, and the second identifier is an identifier of the first communication unit.

[0033] Optionally, the first identifier is an index of the first aircraft, the second identifier is an identifier of the first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

[0034] Optionally, the first identifier is an index of the first logical channel, and the second identifier is an identifier of the first logical channel, wherein the first logical channel is associated with the first communication unit, and / or the first logical channel is associated with the first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

[0035] In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device may include a processing unit and a transceiver unit, configured to perform any of the methods described in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, wherein the transceiver unit is a sending unit when performing the sending step and a receiving unit when performing the receiving step.

[0036] In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device. The communication device may include a processing unit and a transceiver unit, configured to perform any of the methods described in the second aspect and its optional embodiments, wherein the transceiver unit is a sending unit when performing the sending step and a receiving unit when performing the receiving step.

[0037] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal or a chip applied to a terminal. The communication device may include a processor configured to execute any of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments.

[0038] Optionally, when the communication device is a terminal, the processor is, for example, a system on chip (SoC) or a central processor unit (CPU); when the communication device is a chip, the processor is, for example, a core, which may include at least one execution unit, such as an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU).

[0039] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver. When the communication device is a terminal, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an antenna, etc.; when the communication device is a chip, the transceiver may be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, etc.

[0040] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing a computer program or instructions, and the processor executes the computer program or instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments. When the communication device is a terminal, the memory may be a read-only memory, a random access memory, or the like; when the communication device is a chip, the memory may be a register, a cache, or the like.

[0041] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be a base station or a chip applied to a base station. The communication device may include a processor configured to execute any of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments.

[0042] Optionally, when the communication device is a base station, the processor is, for example, a CPU, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA); when the communication device is a chip, the processor is, for example, a core, which may include at least one execution unit, which is, for example, an ALU.

[0043] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver. When the communication device is a base station, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an antenna, etc.; when the communication device is a chip, the transceiver may be an input / output interface, a pin, a circuit, etc.

[0044] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory for storing a computer program or instructions, and the processor executes the computer program or instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform any of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments. When the communication device is a base station, the memory may be a read-only memory, a random access memory, or the like; when the communication device is a chip, the memory may be a register, a cache, or the like.

[0045] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes: the communication device described in the third aspect and the communication device described in the fourth aspect, or the communication device described in the fifth aspect and the communication device described in the sixth aspect.

[0046] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the communication device to execute: any one of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or any one of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments.

[0047] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code or computer program instructions, which, when the computer program code or computer program instructions are executed by a communication device, enable the communication device to execute: any one of the methods in the first aspect and its optional embodiments, or any one of the methods in the second aspect and its optional embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless access network node provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an NTN architecture including a transparent transmission mode satellite provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an NTN architecture including regenerative mode satellites provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of another NTN architecture including regenerative mode satellites provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a TA mechanism of NTN provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of orbit information represented in a Kepler orbit format according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of track information represented by a state vector according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of an NTN cell provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG10 is a schematic flowchart of a cell handover provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of an NTN cell after handover is completed according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of PUSCH transmission in a terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of PUSCH transmission in an NTN according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG18 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG19 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0069] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system 1000 used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system includes a radio access network (RAN) 100. RAN 100 includes at least one RAN node (e.g., 110a-110e in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 110) and may also include at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120d in Figure 1 , collectively referred to as 120). RAN 100 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in Figure 1 ). Terminal 120 is wirelessly connected to RAN node 110. Terminals and RAN nodes may be connected to each other via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 1000 may also include a core network 200. RAN node 110 is wirelessly or wiredly connected to core network 200. Core network devices in core network 200 and RAN node 110 in RAN 100 may be separate physical devices, or they may be a single physical device that integrates the logical functions of core network devices and RAN nodes. The communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300 .

[0070] RAN100 may be an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) system, a new radio (NR) system, or a future radio access system defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). RAN100 may also include two or more of the aforementioned different radio access systems. RAN100 may also be an open RAN (O-RAN).

[0071] A RAN node, also known as a network device, a radio access network device, a RAN entity or an access node, is used to help terminals access the communication system wirelessly.

[0072] In one application scenario, a RAN node may 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, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access point (AP) in a WiFi system, an AP in a long-range radio (LoRa) system, or an AP in a connected vehicle system. A RAN node may be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG. 1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110e in FIG. 1 ), or a relay node (such as 110b and 110c in FIG. 1 ).

[0073] 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 (RRC) protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU implements the base station's radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer functions, and can also implement some or all of the physical (PHY) layer functions. For detailed descriptions of each of these protocol layers, refer to the relevant 3GPP technical specifications. The RU can be used to implement the transmission and reception of RF signals. The CU and DU can be two independent RAN nodes, or they can be integrated into the same RAN node, such as the baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device, for example, a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0074] The CU can be further divided into two types of RAN nodes: the central unit control plane (CU-CP) and the central unit user plane (CU-UP). As shown in Figure 2, the CU-CP is responsible for control plane functions, primarily including RRC and the control plane PDCP (PDCP-C). PDCP-C is responsible for control plane data encryption, integrity protection, and data transmission. The CU-UP is responsible for user plane functions, primarily including SDAP and user plane PDCP (PDCP-U). SDAP is responsible for processing core network data and mapping flows to bearers. PDCP-U is responsible for data plane encryption, integrity protection, header compression, sequence number maintenance, and data transmission. The CU-CP and CU-UP are connected via the E1 interface. The CU-CP, representing the base station, connects to the core network via the next-generation (NG) interface. The CU-CP connects to the DU via the control plane F1 interface (F1-C). The CU-UP connects to the DU via the user plane F1 interface (F1-U). Alternatively, the PDCP-C may also reside in the CU-UP.

[0075] 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.

[0076] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to 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 (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone (such as 120a and 120b in Figure 1), a tablet computer (such as 120c in Figure 1), a printer with wireless transceiver capabilities (such as 120d in Figure 1), a wearable device, a vehicle, a charging station, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the terminal.

[0077] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, wearable devices may also be referred to as wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include electronic devices that are full-featured, large in size, and can achieve full or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, or electronic devices that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for measuring vital signs.

[0078] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the vehicle may be a smart car (or intelligent car), a digital car (or digital car), an unmanned car (or driverless car, or pilotless car, or automobile), a self-driving car (or autonomous car), or an electric vehicle (or EV), wherein the EV may be a pure electric vehicle (or battery EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (or HEV), a range-extended EV (or REEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (or PHEV), or a new energy vehicle (or new energy vehicle). The various terminals described above, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in or installed in a vehicle), may be considered as on-board terminals, which may also be referred to as on-board modules, on-board chips, or on-board units (or OBUs).

[0079] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0080] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, 110d in Figure 1 (which can be a helicopter or drone) can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals accessing the wireless access network 100 via 110d, 110d is a base station; however, for 110a, 110d is a terminal. That is, communication between 110a and 110d occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 110d can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 110d is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a-110e in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, and 120a-120d in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0081] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0083] In the embodiments of the present application, a base station sends downlink information to a terminal. This downlink information is carried on a downlink channel and is also referred to as a downlink signal. A terminal sends uplink information to a base station. This uplink information is carried on an uplink channel and is also referred to as an uplink signal. To communicate with a base station, the terminal establishes a wireless connection to a cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal establishes a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal.

[0084] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the technologies involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0085] 1. NTN.

[0086] A network that enables communication using non-terrestrial network equipment is called an NTN. NTNs can include aerial network equipment such as satellites and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS). They offer advantages such as wide coverage, long communication distances, high reliability, flexibility, and high throughput. They are also unaffected by geographical conditions, climate conditions, and natural disasters, and have been widely used in various fields. For example, NTNs can provide communication services to areas difficult to reach with terrestrial networks (such as oceans, forests, deserts, or remote areas). Furthermore, NTNs can enhance the reliability of mobile communications, providing more stable communication services for users in high-speed scenarios such as trains and airplanes. Furthermore, NTNs can provide more data transmission resources and support the connection of a larger number of terminal devices. The following uses an NTN involving satellites as an example.

[0087] Generally speaking, the higher the satellite's orbit, the larger its coverage area, but the longer the communication latency. Based on their orbital altitude, satellites can be categorized as geostationary earth orbit (GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), and low earth orbit (LEO).

[0088] GEO satellites orbit at an altitude of approximately 35,000 km. They are stationary relative to the Earth and can provide wide coverage. However, the distance between GEO satellites and the Earth requires large antennas for communication. This distance also results in high transmission latency, making it incapable of meeting the needs of real-time services. Furthermore, limited geostationary orbit resources, high launch costs, and a lack of coverage of polar regions are all factors hindering the development of GEO satellites.

[0089] MEO satellites orbit at altitudes of approximately 2,000 to 35,000 km. This altitude is lower than that of GEO satellites but higher than that of LEO satellites. A small number of MEO satellites can achieve global coverage. Currently, MEO satellites are primarily used for positioning and navigation.

[0090] LEO satellites orbit at altitudes of approximately 300 to 2000 km. Their relatively low orbital altitudes offer lower transmission latency and launch costs than GEO and MEO satellites. Consequently, LEO satellite-based communication systems have made significant progress in recent years.

[0091] According to the working mode, the working mode of satellites can generally be divided into two categories, namely transparent mode and regenerative mode. The two modes are introduced below.

[0092] 1.1. Transparent transmission mode

[0093] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an NTN architecture including a satellite in transparent transmission mode. In transparent transmission mode, the satellite primarily functions as a Layer 1 relay, performing, for example, radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification of physical layer signals. It does not perform higher-level protocol layer functions. Terminals connect to ground-based network equipment via the satellite, including the gateway and base station shown in Figure 3. In transparent transmission mode, the satellite and gateway can be considered RRUs, with the satellite, gateway, and base station jointly implementing RAN functions. Optionally, the gateway can be integrated with the base station.

[0094] For example, for the uplink, a terminal sends an uplink signal (carrying the terminal's uplink data) via the Uu interface. After receiving this uplink signal, the satellite forwards it to the gateway (the satellite may perform frequency conversion on this signal), which then forwards it to the base station. After receiving the uplink signal, the base station processes it and obtains the data that the terminal needs to send to the core network. It then sends this data to the core network via the base station-core network interface (e.g., the NG interface). The core network then sends this data to the internet via the N6 interface. For the downlink, the internet sends downlink data to the core network via the N6 interface. The core network then sends this downlink data to the base station via the base station-core network interface. After receiving the downlink data, the base station processes it and generates a downlink signal (carrying the downlink data). It then sends this downlink signal to the gateway via the Uu interface. The gateway sends this downlink signal to the satellite, which then forwards it to the terminal (the satellite may perform frequency conversion on this signal).

[0095] It should be noted that in the descriptions throughout this application, the names of the interfaces are examples rather than limitations. With the development of technology, other interfaces with the same or similar functions may appear. These new interfaces are also applicable to this application. This application does not limit the interfaces for transmitting data between devices.

[0096] 1.2. Regeneration mode.

[0097] In regenerative mode, the satellite performs some or all of the functions of a base station. For example, it can process the physical layer, MAC layer, and RLC layer of signals received from the ground. The gateway can forward signaling and data between the satellite and the core network.

[0098] Figure 4 illustrates an NTN architecture that includes a regenerative-mode satellite. In this architecture, the satellite has full base station functionality and can be considered a base station. The satellite and gateway jointly implement RAN functions. Terminals communicate with the satellite via the Uu interface, while the satellite and core network communicate via the NG interface. The NG interface between the satellite and gateway is carried over the satellite radio interface (SRI). The core network communicates with the internet via the N6 interface.

[0099] For the regeneration mode, since the satellites have base station functions, satellites can also communicate with each other.

[0100] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of another NTN architecture that includes regenerative mode satellites. In this architecture, Satellite 1 and Satellite 2 have complete base station functionality and can be considered base stations. Terminals communicate with satellites via the Uu interface. Optionally, terminals can communicate with multiple satellites (e.g., Satellite 1 and Satellite 2) simultaneously. Satellites communicate with the core network via the NG interface, where the NG interface between the satellite and the gateway is carried over the SRI. Satellites 1 and 2 communicate via the Xn interface carried over the inter-satellite link (ISL). The core network communicates with the Internet via the N6 interface.

[0101] The above divisions of the NTN architecture are examples and not limitations, and the NTN architecture applicable to this application is not limited thereto. For example, each satellite can provide services to multiple terminals, each satellite can communicate with multiple gateways, and each gateway can communicate with multiple satellites. Furthermore, DU functions can be deployed on satellites, and CU functions can be deployed on ground network equipment.

[0102] 2.TA.

[0103] One requirement for uplink transmission is that uplink transmissions from different UEs in the same cell do not interfere with each other. To ensure orthogonality in uplink transmissions and avoid intra-cell interference, the base station requires that uplink signals from multiple UEs (in the same subframe but with different frequency resources) arrive at the base station within the cyclic prefix (CP) range. To address this, wireless communication systems introduce the TA mechanism.

[0104] From the perspective of a terminal, the TA is essentially a negative offset between the start time of the received downlink subframe and the time of the transmitted uplink subframe. By appropriately controlling the offset for each terminal, the base station can control the time when uplink signals from different terminals arrive at the base station. For terminals farther from the base station, due to the greater transmission delay, they need to send uplink signals earlier than terminals closer to the base station. In other words, the TA for terminals farther from the base station is larger than that for terminals closer to the base station.

[0105] For NTN, due to the addition of satellites, its TA mechanism is more complicated than that of the terrestrial network.

[0106] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a TA mechanism for an NTN, according to an embodiment of the present application. In an NTN, the link between a terminal and a satellite is called a service link, and the link between a satellite and a gateway is called a feeder link. Both links are wireless. Therefore, the TA of an NTN consists of two parts: the transmission delay on the service link and the transmission delay on the feedback link.

[0107] 2.1. Calculation of transmission delay on service link.

[0108] The transmission delay on the service link may be determined by the terminal. For example, the terminal may calculate the transmission delay on the service link based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information and ephemeris information.

[0109] The ephemeris information of a cell, also known as orbital information, refers to the operating path information of non-terrestrial network devices associated with the cell. The ephemeris information of non-terrestrial network devices associated with the cell can also be referred to as the ephemeris information of the cell. The method for determining or describing ephemeris information can be shown in Figures 7 or 8. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of orbital information represented in a Kepler orbit format according to an embodiment of the present application, and Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of orbital information represented in a state vector according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0110] The parameters shown in Figure 7 include orbit-level parameters, such as i0, the inclination angle, Ω0, the longitude of the ascending node in the orbital plane, and ω, the perigee angular distance. These orbit-level parameters are used to determine the orbit. The parameters shown in Figure 7 also include satellite-level parameters for determining the satellite's position, such as M0, the mean anomaly angle, used as a reference time.

[0111] When the state vector is used to represent the orbital information, the velocity vector in the state vector, such as (v x ,v y ,v z ), etc., for non-synchronous satellites, rate and reference point information must be provided. The position coordinate system based on the state vector can be a latitude and longitude coordinate system (λ, ψ, h) as shown in Figure 8 or an Earth-centered Earth-fixed coordinate system (X, Y, Z), etc., and the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. In this description, the above parameters refer to the parameters corresponding to the reference time.

[0112] 2.2. Calculation of transmission delay on the feedback link.

[0113] The transmission delay on the feedback link can be determined by the network side (e.g., base station). As shown in Figure 6, the transmission delay of the feeder link consists of two parts: one is the common time advanced (Common TA), which represents the transmission delay between the satellite and the uplink synchronization reference point (RP); the other is the transmission delay between the RP and the base station or NTN gateway, expressed as K. mac Indicates that the base station can notify the terminal of the K of the corresponding serving cell macFor example, the base station indicates K in the system information block (SIB) 19. mac value.

[0114] In addition, during the communication process, since the propagation process is not ideal diameter transmission, the network side (such as the base station) will adjust the uplink transmission time of the terminal according to the uplink signal sent by the terminal, that is, send the TA adjustment value (also called TA offset value) to the terminal.

[0115] The terminal determines a total TA value (such as TA shown in FIG6 ) according to the Common TA on the feedback link, the transmission delay on the service link, and the TA adjustment value sent by the network side, and reports the TA value to the network side.

[0116] After the terminal reports the TA, due to the mobility of the terminal and the satellite, the distance between the terminal and the satellite, the distance between the satellite and the gateway, and the signal transmission channel may change over time. Therefore, the terminal needs to continuously calculate the new TA to maintain uplink synchronization.

[0117] The network side can control the terminal to report TA based on the following rules:

[0118] Rule 1: The network side instructs the terminal via a broadcast message whether to report the TA when initially accessing a cell. If the terminal is instructed to report the TA, the terminal will trigger TA reporting when it initially accesses the cell.

[0119] Rule 2: When the network configures a TA change reporting threshold for the terminal, if the terminal has not reported the TA before in the current serving cell, the terminal triggers TA reporting when receiving the TA change threshold.

[0120] Rule 3: When the difference between the terminal's latest TA and the previously reported TA exceeds the TA change reporting threshold, the terminal will also trigger TA reporting.

[0121] The above description of calculating TA and updating TA is an example rather than a limitation. This application does not limit the specific method of calculating TA and updating TA.

[0122] 3. Community.

[0123] A cell can be regarded as providing a wireless signal coverage area identified by a physical cell identifier (PCI) or a cell global identifier (CGI). Different cells can also be distinguished by a serving cell index. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the method of identifying the cell.

[0124] The coverage area of ​​each base station can be divided into one or more cells. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a cell provided in an embodiment of the present application. The four hexagons near the terminal represent four cells, which are located within the signal coverage area of ​​satellite 1 and satellite 2. In the embodiment of the present application, different cells can correspond to different base stations or the same base station.

[0125] For example, the base station corresponding to cell 1 and the base station corresponding to cell 2 can be different base stations, that is, satellite 1 corresponding to cell 1 and satellite 2 corresponding to cell 2 belong to different base stations. The base station corresponding to cell 1 and the base station corresponding to cell 2 can also be the same base station, that is, satellite 1 corresponding to cell 1 and satellite 2 corresponding to cell 2 belong to the same base station, or both cell 1 and cell 2 are cells for satellite 1, or both cell 1 and cell 2 are cells for satellite 2. The latter case is referred to as co-sited cells 1 and 2.

[0126] The cells that provide services to the terminal can be divided into primary cells (PCell) and secondary cells (SCell). Therefore, both PCell and SCell can be called serving cells of the terminal. After the RRC connection is established, the base station can configure an SCell for the terminal to provide additional wireless resources. In the carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, the base station can configure a PCell and one or more SCells for the terminal, where the PCell is the cell in which the terminal maintains an RRC connection with the base station, and the remaining serving cells of the terminal can be called SCells. SCells can be flexibly activated / deactivated through downlink control information (DCI) or MAC control elements (CE).

[0127] The above description of the cell is an example rather than a limitation. With the development of technology, concepts with the same or similar functions as the cell may emerge, and these concepts are also applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0128] Due to changes in the terminal's mobility or channel status, the cell to which the terminal is connected may change, that is, the terminal may switch from one cell to another. The cell before the switch may be called a source cell or an anchor cell, and the cell after the switch may be called a target cell.

[0129] For example, in Figure 9, the component carriers (CCs) corresponding to cells 1 to 4 are CC1 to CC4, respectively. The terminal currently uses CC1 and CC2 for communication. Cell 1 corresponding to CC1 is the PCell, and cell 2 corresponding to CC2 is the SCell. The terminal also supports communication using CC3 and CC4, but the network has not yet configured CC3 and CC4 for the terminal device. That is, CC3 and CC4 are not activated. Cell 3 corresponding to CC3 and cell 4 corresponding to CC4 are non-serving cells. As the terminal or satellite moves, the channel state of CC1 and CC2 deteriorates. The terminal can use CC3 and CC4 for communication instead of CC1 and CC2. That is, the network will reconfigure the PCell and SCell.

[0130] The cell handover process is shown in Figure 10. The terminal can handover from cell 1 to cell 3, and from cell 2 to cell 4. Cells 1 and 2 are the cells before the handover and can be called source cells. Cells 3 and 4 are the cells after the handover and can be called target cells. After the cell handover is completed, the cell corresponding to CC3 becomes the PCell, the cell corresponding to CC4 becomes the SCell, and the cells corresponding to CC1 and CC2 become non-serving cells. The process from CC1 to CC3 is called PCell handover, and the process from CC2 to CC4 is called SCell handover (or activation). After the cell handover is completed, the status of the cell used by the terminal is shown in Figure 11.

[0131] It should be understood that cell switching may be switching from a cell of one base station to a cell of another base station, or switching between different cells of the same base station. In addition, cell switching may be triggered by the base station, the terminal, or a third-party device other than the base station or the terminal.

[0132] 5. Multiple connections.

[0133] Multi-connectivity includes CA, dual connectivity (DC), and multi-TRP. These three technologies are described below.

[0134] 5.1, CA.

[0135] Carrier aggregation (CA) is a technology that allows a single terminal to use multiple CCs for data transmission. This enables wide-bandwidth transmission and effectively improves uplink and downlink transmission rates. A terminal can determine the maximum number of CCs it can utilize simultaneously based on its capabilities. For example, in a three-carrier aggregation scenario, a terminal can use all three CCs simultaneously. In CA, multiple CCs can be managed by the same base station.

[0136] The CA scenario can refer to Figure 9 or Figure 11. Taking Figure 11 as an example, the terminal's serving cells include cell 3 and cell 4. The terminal establishes an RRC connection with cell 3, then cell 3 is the PCell, and the CC corresponding to the PCell is the primary component carrier (PCC). When the network side sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal, it configures cell 4 as the SCell and establishes a communication connection with cell 4. This communication connection is not an RRC connection, and the CC corresponding to the SCell is the secondary component carrier (SCC). CA allows the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to be carried on different CCs, that is, cross-carrier scheduling is allowed.

[0137] Based on whether the aggregated CCs belong to the same frequency band and are contiguous in the frequency domain, CA can be categorized into intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation, intra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation, and inter-band carrier aggregation. In the case of intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation, the aggregated CCs belong to the same frequency band and are contiguous in the frequency domain. In the case of intra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation, the CCs belong to the same frequency band but are not contiguous in the frequency domain. In the case of inter-band carrier aggregation, the CCs belong to different frequency bands.

[0138] The number of CCs supported by a base station is usually greater than the number of CCs supported by a terminal. For example, a base station can support carrier aggregation of 16 downlink CCs, while a terminal usually supports carrier aggregation of 2 to 3 downlink CCs. However, the terminal can select 2 to 3 downlink CCs from these 16 downlink CCs for carrier aggregation. If the currently used CC is busy or the channel conditions are poor, the terminal can switch CCs, that is, switch cells. This can not only match terminal capabilities but also achieve base station load balancing, thereby improving user experience.

[0139] In the various embodiments of the present application, CC and cell are both concepts used to describe frequency domain resources, and the two can be equivalently replaced. With the development of technology, other concepts for describing frequency domain resources may emerge. Without violating logic, CC or cell can also be replaced by other concepts for describing frequency domain resources.

[0140] 5.2, DC.

[0141] Similar to Carrier Attachment (CA), dual connectivity also uses a second, third, or more cells to serve the same terminal, thereby utilizing more bandwidth resources for data transmission. Therefore, DC does not limit the number of serving cells a terminal can connect to. In DC, these cells or carriers can belong to different base stations. For example, the base station with which the terminal has an RRC connection is called the primary base station, and the other base stations are called secondary base stations.

[0142] As an optional example, in DC, the network side can configure a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) for the terminal. For example, for a terminal in a connected state, if the network side configures an MCG and an SCG for the terminal, the MCG is the cell group corresponding to the primary base station, and the SCG is the cell group corresponding to the secondary base station.

[0143] As an optional example, CA and DC can be differentiated based on the different layers at which data is offloaded. For example, DC typically offloads data at the PDCP layer, while CA typically offloads data at the MAC layer. In other words, DC can be implemented at a higher protocol layer.

[0144] Furthermore, DC can be implemented between networks of different standards, whereas CA is generally only possible within networks of the same standard. DC between different standards is also known as multi-radio access technology dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as in non-standalone (NSA) networks.

[0145] 5.3. Multi-TRP (multi TRP, mTRP).

[0146] The aforementioned CA and DC require different serving cells to correspond to different carriers. However, in mTRP technology, multiple TRPs can be deployed on the same carrier. In high-frequency communication scenarios (such as the FR2 band), transmission links are more easily blocked by obstacles such as cars or people, leading to wireless link failures. Using multiple TRPs for collaboration can overcome the adverse conditions of high-frequency communication and help maintain reliable connections. Furthermore, multiple TRPs jointly serving terminals can increase transmission capacity and improve the user experience at the cell edge. In mTRP, these mTRPs can belong to the same cell or different cells. mTRPs can be further divided into single-DCI scheduled mTRPs and multi-DCI scheduled mTRPs.

[0147] (1) mTRP for single DCI scheduling.

[0148] In a single DCI scheduling scenario, ideal backhaul is required between multiple TRPs. A single DCI schedules the uplink and downlink data transmission of multiple TRPs. The uplink and downlink data from different TRPs can be scheduled using time division, frequency division, and space division.

[0149] (2) mTRP for multi-DCI scheduling.

[0150] In the scenario of multiple DCI scheduling, there is no need for ideal backhaul between multiple TRPs. Each TRP can send a DCI scheduling terminal independently for uplink and downlink data transmission.

[0151] In NTN, the TA is determined by the terminal. When the terminal is in a multi-connection state, the terminal communicates with the base station through multiple cells at the same time. After the base station receives the TA, it cannot determine the cell or TRP corresponding to the TA. The following describes the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0152] As shown in FIG. 12 , method 1200 includes the following contents.

[0153] S1210: Determine first information, where the first information includes a first TA and a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to indicate an association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA.

[0154] In the method 1200, the first communication unit may be a first cell, a first satellite, a first base station, a first carrier, or a first TRP, etc. In the following, the first communication unit is described as the first cell.

[0155] Optionally, the terminal may execute S1210 in the following situations.

[0156] Case 1: The terminal receives a TA reporting instruction sent by the base station.

[0157] For example, the TA reporting indication is a ta-report information element (IE). The ta-report IE can be carried in SIB19. If SIB19 carries the ta-report IE, the terminal reports the TA during the random access process during RRC connection establishment, RRC connection reestablishment, and RRC connection recovery. The ta-report IE can also be carried in dedicated signaling, for example, in a cell handover command. If the cell handover command carries the ta-report IE, the terminal reports the TA during the random access process during the cell handover process or reports the TA during the process of accessing the target cell.

[0158] Case 2: The terminal receives the TA change reporting threshold offsetThresholdTA configured by the base station, and the terminal has not reported the TA of the current serving cell.

[0159] Case 3: The base station configures offsetThresholdTA for the terminal, and the difference between the terminal's current TA estimate and the last reported TA value exceeds the threshold offsetThresholdTA.

[0160] Case 4: The terminal determines whether the first condition is met, where the first condition includes: receiving second information, the second information is used to instruct activation of the first communication unit, or the second information is used to instruct switching to the first communication unit.

[0161] For example, the first communication unit is the first cell, the first cell is an SCell in a deactivated state, and the terminal triggers TA reporting of the first cell when receiving the second information, where the second information may be SCell activation signaling, such as SCell Activation MAC CE.

[0162] Optionally, as shown in FIG13 , the SCell Activation MAC CE includes at least one octet (Oct), where Oct1 includes 7 bits for indicating secondary cell activation and 1 reserved bit (R), bit C i Any one of the 7 bits is used to indicate whether the secondary cell i is activated. For example, if C7 is 1, it indicates that the secondary cell 7 (an example of the first cell) is activated; if C7 is 0, it indicates that the secondary cell 7 is not activated.

[0163] Optionally, the second information may also be enhanced secondary cell activation information (eg, Enhanced SCell Activation MAC CE) or secondary cell state information (eg, sCellState).

[0164] In case 4, the second information serves as a condition for triggering TA reporting, which enables the terminal to report TA as soon as possible when the first communication unit is activated or switched. Compared with instructing the terminal to report TA through other information, this embodiment can reduce the delay in TA reporting.

[0165] Optionally, the first condition may further include other content. For example, the first condition may further include: at least one TA report is triggered and the triggered TA report is not canceled; the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) is available, and the UL-SCH is sufficient to carry the TA report. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the other content included in the first condition.

[0166] Case 1 is an example of triggering TA reporting in a random access scenario, and cases 2, 3, and 4 are examples of triggering TA reporting in a connected state scenario. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific method of triggering the terminal to report TA.

[0167] The first information may be MAC layer information or physical layer information. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific type of the first information. Taking the first information as MAC layer information as an example, the first information may be a TA report carried in a MAC CE.

[0168] The first TA is the TA of the first cell. The terminal can determine the first TA according to the content shown in Figure 6. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific method of determining the first TA.

[0169] The first identifier may be any information that can indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA. The first identifier may be the identifier of the first communication unit or the identifier of a feature related to the first communication unit.

[0170] Optionally, when the first communication unit is the first cell, “the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA” can also be expressed as: the first identifier is used to indicate the first cell, or the first identifier is used to indicate the satellite corresponding to the first cell.

[0171] Optionally, when the first communication unit is the first carrier, “the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA” can also be expressed as: the first identifier is used to indicate the first carrier, or the first identifier is used to indicate the satellite corresponding to the first carrier.

[0172] Optionally, when the first communication unit is the first TRP, "the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA" can also be expressed as: the first identifier is used to indicate the first TRP, or the first identifier is used to indicate the satellite corresponding to the first TRP.

[0173] Optionally, when the first communication unit is the first satellite, “the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA” can also be expressed as: the first identifier is used to indicate the first satellite, or the first identifier is used to indicate the base station corresponding to the first satellite.

[0174] Optionally, when the first communication unit is the first base station, “the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA” can also be expressed as: the first identifier is used to indicate the first base station, or the first identifier is used to indicate the satellite corresponding to the first base station.

[0175] Several examples of first identification are given below.

[0176] Example 1: The first identifier is the identifier of a TA group (timing advance group, TAG).

[0177] For NTN, signals between a terminal and multiple cells use the same transmission path, for example, passing through the same gateway (e.g., a signal gateway station) and the same satellite. Therefore, the differences in the TAs of these cells are negligible. The base station can configure a single TAG for multiple cells, and the cells corresponding to this TAG use the same TA. For multiple cells corresponding to a TAG, the terminal can report a single TA, thus saving the resource overhead of TA reporting.

[0178] As mentioned above, the TAG and the first TA can be carried in a MAC CE. Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present application. The MAC CE includes multiple Octs, each Oct including 8 bits. The first two bits RR of Oct1 are two reserved bits that can be used to carry the TAG identifier. The remaining 6 bits of Oct1 and the 8 bits of Oct2 can be used to carry the first TA.

[0179] For example, the base station configures three tags for the terminal, namely TAG1, TAG2, and TAG3. The terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 (an example of the first cell) and cell 2, both of which belong to TAG1 (the correspondence between cells and TAGs can be configured by the base station). When the RR bit is "01", it indicates TAG1; when the RR bit is "10", it indicates TAG2; and when the RR bit is "11", it indicates TAG3. If the RR bit in the MAC CE received by the base station is 01, the base station can determine that the first TA is the TA corresponding to cell 1 and cell 2.

[0180] Optionally, an Oct, such as Oct3, may be added to the MAC CE to indicate more TAGs.

[0181] Optionally, a new MAC CE may be defined, where the MAC CE carries a TAG and a TA corresponding to the TAG.

[0182] Example 2: The first identifier is the identifier or index of the first communication unit.

[0183] For example, the first communication unit is the first cell. The identifier of the first cell can be a long identifier, such as a PCI, CGI, or serving cell index. The index of the first cell can be a short identifier, such as partial information in the PCI, CGI, or serving cell index. The terminal can report the long identifier or the short identifier. The identifier or index of the first cell can be carried in the MAC CE shown in Figure 14.

[0184] Optionally, when the first identifier is a long identifier, the long identifier may be carried in Oct3; when the first identifier is a short identifier, the short identifier may be carried in RR or in Oct3.

[0185] Optionally, a new MAC CE may be defined, where the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first cell and the TA corresponding to the identifier or index of the first cell.

[0186] For example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the TAs of these two cells are different. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry PCI1 in Oct3 to indicate cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry PCI2 in Oct3 to indicate cell 2.

[0187] For another example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the TAs of these two cells are different. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry partial information of PCI1 in the RR, such as a bit value of "1" to indicate cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry partial information of PCI2 in the RR, such as a bit value of "0" to indicate cell 2.

[0188] For another example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the TAs of these two cells are different. The base station configures the terminal with short identifier 1 corresponding to cell 1 and short identifier 2 corresponding to cell 2. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry short identifier 1 in the MAC CE (e.g., RR), such as a bit value of "1", indicating cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry short identifier 2 in the MAC CE (e.g., RR), such as a bit value of "0", indicating cell 2.

[0189] When the first communication unit is the first carrier, the first identifier is the identifier or index of the first carrier, wherein the identifier of the first carrier may be a long identifier and the index of the first carrier may be a short identifier. The identifier or index of the first carrier may be carried in the MAC CE shown in FIG14 or in a new MAC CE. The manner in which the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first carrier may refer to the manner in which the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first cell.

[0190] When the first communication unit is the first TRP, the first identifier is the identifier or index of the first TRP, wherein the identifier of the first TRP may be a long identifier and the index of the first TRP may be a short identifier. The identifier or index of the first TRP may be carried in the MAC CE shown in FIG14 or in a new MAC CE. The manner in which the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first TRP may refer to the manner in which the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first cell.

[0191] When the first communication unit is the first base station, the first identifier is the identifier or index of the first base station, wherein the identifier of the first base station may be a long identifier, and the index of the first base station may be a short identifier. The identifier or index of the first base station may be carried in the MAC CE shown in Figure 14, or may be carried in a new MAC CE. The manner in which the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first base station may refer to the manner in which the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first cell.

[0192] When the first communication unit is a communication unit of other types, the characteristics of the first identifier can refer to the characteristics of the identifier or index of the above-mentioned first cell, and no further details are given.

[0193] Example 3: The first identifier is an identifier or index of a first aircraft, wherein the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

[0194] The identifier of the first aircraft can be a long identifier, such as the MAC address of the first aircraft. The index of the first aircraft can be a short identifier, such as partial information of the MAC address of the first aircraft. The terminal can report either a long identifier or a short identifier. The first aircraft can be a satellite, a drone, or other aircraft. The identifier or index of the first aircraft can be carried in the MAC CE shown in Figure 14.

[0195] Optionally, when the first identifier is a long identifier, the long identifier may be carried in Oct3; when the first identifier is a short identifier, the short identifier may be carried in RR or in Oct3.

[0196] Optionally, a new MAC CE may be defined, where the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first aircraft and the TA corresponding to the identifier or index of the first aircraft.

[0197] For example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2. The two cells have different TAs and different MAC addresses. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry MAC address 1 in Oct3 to indicate cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry MAC address 2 in Oct3 to indicate cell 2.

[0198] For another example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the two cells have different TAs and different MAC addresses. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry partial information of MAC address 1 in the RR, such as a bit value of "1" to indicate cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry partial information of MAC address 2 in the RR, such as a bit value of "0" to indicate cell 2.

[0199] For another example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the TAs of these two cells are different. The base station configures the terminal with short identifier 1 corresponding to cell 1 and short identifier 2 corresponding to cell 2. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry short identifier 1 in the MAC CE (e.g., RR), such as a bit value of "1", indicating cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry short identifier 2 in the MAC CE (e.g., RR), such as a bit value of "0", indicating cell 2.

[0200] Example 4: The first identifier is an identifier or index of a first logical channel, wherein the first logical channel is associated with a first communication unit, and / or the first logical channel is associated with a first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

[0201] The identifier of the first logical channel can be a long identifier, such as a logical channel identifier (LCID), and the index of the first logical channel can be a short identifier, such as partial information of the LCID. The terminal can report a long identifier or a short identifier. The first aircraft can be a satellite, a drone, or other aircraft.

[0202] "The first logical channel is associated with the first communication unit" can also be expressed as: the first logical channel is the logical channel of the first communication unit or the logical channel corresponding to the first communication unit. "The first logical channel is associated with the first aircraft" can also be expressed as: the first logical channel is the logical channel of the first aircraft or the logical channel corresponding to the first aircraft.

[0203] The identifier or index of the first logical channel can be carried in the MAC CE shown in Figure 14.

[0204] Optionally, when the first identifier is a long identifier, the long identifier may be carried in Oct3; when the first identifier is a short identifier, the short identifier may be carried in RR or in Oct3.

[0205] Optionally, a new MAC CE may be defined, where the MAC CE carries the identifier or index of the first logical channel and the TA corresponding to the identifier or index of the first logical channel.

[0206] For example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2. The TAs of these two cells are different, and the logical channels of these two cells are different. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry LCID 1 in Oct3 to indicate cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry LCID 2 in Oct3 to indicate cell 2.

[0207] For another example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the TAs of the two cells are different, and the logical channels of the two cells are different. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry partial information of LCID 1 in the RR, such as a bit value of "1" to indicate cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry partial information of LCID 2 in the RR, such as a bit value of "0" to indicate cell 2.

[0208] For another example, the terminal's current serving cells include cell 1 and cell 2, and the TAs of these two cells are different. The base station configures the terminal with short identifier 1 corresponding to cell 1 and short identifier 2 corresponding to cell 2. If the first TA is the TA of cell 1, the terminal can carry short identifier 1 in the MAC CE (e.g., RR), such as a bit value of "1", indicating cell 1; if the first TA is the TA of cell 2, the terminal can carry short identifier 2 in the MAC CE (e.g., RR), such as a bit value of "0", indicating cell 2.

[0209] In the above examples 2 to 4, the short identifier is part of the information in the long identifier. Optionally, the short identifier can also be information determined by the terminal based on the long identifier. The correspondence between the short identifier and the long identifier can be specified by the protocol or configured by the base station; or, the short identifier is an identifier configured by the base station for the terminal, and the base station also configures the correspondence between the short identifier and the long identifier for the terminal.

[0210] For example, the base station can configure a long identifier for the terminal through an RRC message, and the terminal can determine the short identifier based on the corresponding relationship, where the corresponding relationship can be specified by the protocol or configured by the base station; after the base station receives the short identifier, it can determine the long identifier corresponding to the short identifier based on the corresponding relationship.

[0211] In Examples 2 to 4 above, the long or short identifier reported by the terminal can be called the first identifier, and the long identifier configured by the base station for the terminal can be called the second identifier. The second identifier is usually unique. For example, the second identifier can uniquely identify a cell, a satellite, or a logical channel. However, the disadvantage of this identifier is that it is long, that is, it occupies more bits. The terminal indicates the association between the first cell and the first TA through a short identifier, which can save the resource overhead reported by the TA.

[0212] Optionally, the terminal may trigger multiple TA reports before determining the first information. The terminal can use the latest TA to package and generate the first information. For example, after the situation 2 described above is triggered, the terminal generates the second TA. When the second TA has not been packaged, situation 3 is triggered, and the terminal generates the first TA again. The terminal can determine to use the first TA to package and generate the first information. Since the first TA is the latest TA, using the first TA to package and generate the first information can more accurately reflect the transmission delay between the terminal and the base station.

[0213] After generating the first information, the terminal may execute S1220.

[0214] S1220, sending first information.

[0215] Accordingly, the base station receives the first information and executes S1230.

[0216] S1230: Determine an association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA according to the first identifier.

[0217] “Determining the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA based on the first identifier” can also be expressed as: determining that the first TA corresponds to the first communication unit based on the first identifier, or determining that the communication unit corresponding to the first TA is the first communication unit based on the first identifier.

[0218] For example, the first communication unit is the first cell, and the first identifier can be any information used to indicate the association relationship between the first cell and the first TA. When the terminal sends the first TA, the first TA and the first identifier are sent together. After the base station receives the first information, it parses the first TA and the first identifier from the first information. According to the first identifier, the first cell corresponding to the first TA can be determined, so that the correspondence between each TA and the cell in the multi-connection scenario in the NTN can be distinguished.

[0219] Optionally, the method 1200 further includes: the terminal receiving third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and a first identifier.

[0220] Correspondingly, the base station sends the third information. Optionally, the TA offset value is determined by the base station according to the first TA.

[0221] In order to cope with the longer transmission delay in NTN, K is introduced in NTN compared with terrestrial networks. offset Parameter as the scheduling offset of NTN, the K offset Generally, it needs to be greater than or equal to the sum of T1 and T2. The meanings of T1 and T2 can refer to the relevant description in the aforementioned Figure 6.

[0222] In Figure 6, the link between the terminal and the satellite is called the service link, the round trip time (RTT) between the satellite and the terminal is represented by T1, and the link between the satellite and the ground gateway is called the feeder link. The feeder link is divided into two parts by the uplink time synchronization reference point: the two-way transmission delay Common TA between the satellite and the uplink time synchronization reference point (represented by T2), and the two-way transmission delay K between the uplink time synchronization reference point and the ground gateway. mac (Indicated by T3). The two-way transmission delay between the uplink time synchronization reference point and the ground gateway is typically controlled or compensated by the base station. In a satellite transparent forwarding architecture, the satellite does not have base station functions, and the terminal needs to calculate T2. In a satellite regeneration architecture, the satellite carries some or all base station functions. T2 and T3 are zero, so the terminal does not need to calculate T2.

[0223] In one implementation method, the terminal calculates TA according to the following formula:

[0224] TA=T1+T2+N TA +N TAoffset ;

[0225] Among them, N TA It is determined based on the absolute value parameter (also called TA absolute value or TA absolute value parameter) or the adjustment value parameter (also called TA adjustment value or TA adjustment value parameter). TA The absolute value parameter or adjustment value parameter comes from the base station or is the default value. TAoffset Indicates a fixed value related to the operating frequency band, N TAoffset It can be obtained according to a system message from the base station, for example, configured by a timing advance offset information element (also called n-timing advance offset) in the system message, or a default value can be used.

[0226] K offsetIt can be used to adjust the following times: the transmission time of the physical random access channel (PRACH) triggered by PDCCH, the transmission time of the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) scheduled by random access response (RAR) or fallback random access response (fallbackRAR), the transmission time of the hybrid automatic repeat request ack (HARQ-ACK) on PUSCH, the transmission time of PUSCH triggered by PDCCH, etc.

[0227] For the sake of convenience, the following is offset The adjustment of the transmission time of the PUSCH triggered by the PDCCH is used as an example for explanation.

[0228] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of PUSCH transmission in a terrestrial network according to an embodiment of the present application. The base station sends a PDCCH in time slot n. The DCI in the PDCCH schedules the transmission time of the PUSCH. For example, the DCI indicates a time slot offset K2, indicating that the base station hopes to receive the PUSCH from the terminal at time n+K2. After the terminal obtains K2, it calculates the time to send the PUSCH based on TA and K2, and then sends the PUSCH to the base station. Where K2>TA+T proc,2 , T proc,2 It is the PUSCH preparation time, which indicates the delay for the terminal to process the received PDCCH and generate the PUSCH.

[0229] In NTN, considering the long transmission delay between the terminal and the base station, the time the base station indicates to the terminal that it wants to receive PUSCH is n+K2+K offset Figure 16 is an example diagram of PUSCH transmission in NTN provided by an embodiment of the present application. The base station sends PDCCH in time slot n, and the DCI in the PDCCH schedules the transmission time of PUSCH. For example, the DCI indicates the time slot offset K2, indicating that the base station hopes to send PUSCH in time slot n+K2+K offset The terminal receives the PUSCH from the terminal at the time point of . After the terminal obtains K2, based on TA, K offset And K2, calculate the time to send PUSCH, and then send PUSCH to the base station. offset >TA+T proc,2 , T proc,2It is the PUSCH preparation time, which specifically indicates the delay for the terminal to process the received PDCCH and generate the PUSCH.

[0230] K introduced in the above NTN scenario offset Can be divided into cell-level K offset (Use K celloffset denoted) and the terminal-level K offset (Use K ueoffset Optionally, K celloffset It is sent to the terminal device in the system message. Before the initial access, the terminal only has K celloffset In this case, K in Figure 16 offset =K celloffset After initial access, the terminal reports the TA estimated value of the terminal device to the base station through the TA reporting (Timing Advance Reporting, TAR) process, and the base station performs terminal-level differentiated K offset K is calculated ueoffset and by Differential K offset MAC CE will K ueoffset (An example of the TA offset value described above) is sent to the terminal. The terminal determines Koffset based on Kueoffset, for example, K offset =K celloffset -K ueoffset , in this case, the terminal is based on K celloffset -K ueoffset The calculated K offset This is K in Figure 16 offset .

[0231] The above describes an embodiment in which the terminal sends the first TA. In some cases, the terminal may also choose not to send the first TA.

[0232] Optionally, the method 1200 further includes:

[0233] If the second condition is met, the terminal determines not to send the first information, and the second condition includes one or more of the following conditions: receiving the fourth information, the fourth information is used to indicate deactivation of the first communication unit, or the fourth information is used to indicate switching to the second communication unit; the deactivation timer of the first communication unit expires.

[0234] If one or more of the second conditions occur, reporting the first TA becomes meaningless. The terminal may cancel reporting the first TA when the second condition is met, thereby saving resources.

[0235] For example, the first communication unit is the first cell, the first cell is an activated SCell, and the fourth information is SCell deactivation signaling, such as SCell DeActivation MAC CE. When the terminal receives the fourth information, it cancels the TA report of the first cell or cancels the triggered TA report of the first cell, that is, it determines not to send the first information.

[0236] For another example, the first communication unit is the first cell, the first cell is an activated SCell, and the secondary cell deactivation timer sCellDeactivationTimer is started when the first cell is activated. If the sCellDeactivationTimer times out, the terminal cancels the TA report of the first cell or cancels the triggered TA report of the first cell, that is, it is determined not to send the first information.

[0237] The above describes in detail the method examples provided by the embodiments of the present application. It is understandable that the corresponding device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function in order to realize the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily appreciate that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0238] Figures 17 and 18 are schematic diagrams of the structures of two communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal or base station in the above method embodiments, and therefore also have the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, these devices can be the terminal shown in Figure 1, the base station described in Figure 1, or a module (e.g., a chip) applied to a terminal or base station.

[0239] As shown in Figure 17, apparatus 1700 includes a processing unit 1710 and a transceiver unit 1720. Transceiver unit 1720 performs the receiving step and / or the sending step under the control of processing unit 1710. Transceiver unit 1720 functions as a sending unit when performing the sending step and as a receiving unit when performing the receiving step. Apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the functions of a terminal or base station in the method embodiment described in Figure 12 above.

[0240] When the device 1700 is used to implement the function of the terminal in the method embodiment described in Figure 12, the processing unit 1710 is used to: determine the first information, the first information includes a first TA and a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA; the transceiver unit 1720 is used to: send the first information.

[0241] Optionally, the processing unit 1710 is also used to: if the first condition is met, send the first information through the transceiver unit 1720, the first condition includes: the processing unit 1710 receives the second information, the second information is used to indicate the activation of the first communication unit, or the second information is used to indicate the switch to the first communication unit.

[0242] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1720 is further used to: receive third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and a first identifier.

[0243] Optionally, the processing unit 1710 is also used to: determine not to send the first information if the second condition is met, and the second condition includes one or more of the following conditions: the processing unit 1710 receives fourth information, and the fourth information is used to indicate deactivation of the first communication unit, or the fourth information is used to indicate switching to the second communication unit; the deactivation timer of the first communication unit expires.

[0244] Optionally, before determining the first information, the transceiver unit 1720 is further configured to: receive a second identifier, where the second identifier is associated with the first communication unit, and the second identifier is longer than the first identifier.

[0245] When the device 1700 is used to implement the function of the base station in the method embodiment described in Figure 12, the transceiver unit 1720 is used to: receive first information, the first information includes a first TA and a first identifier, and the first identifier is used to indicate the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA; the processing unit 1710 is used to: determine the association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA based on the first identifier.

[0246] Optionally, before receiving the first information, the transceiver unit 1720 is further used to: send second information, where the second information is used to instruct activation of the first communication unit, or the second information is used to instruct switching to the first communication unit.

[0247] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1720 is further used to: send third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and a first identifier.

[0248] Optionally, before receiving the first information, the transceiver unit 1720 is further configured to: send a second identifier, where the second identifier is associated with the first communication unit, and the second identifier is longer than the first identifier.

[0249] Device 1700 may be a terminal or a base station. Processing unit 1710 may be implemented via hardware or software. When implemented via hardware, processing unit 1710 may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like. When implemented via software, processing unit 1710 may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a storage unit. The storage unit may be integrated into processing unit 1710 or located independently of processing unit 1710.

[0250] As shown in Figure 18, device 1800 includes a processor 1810 and an interface circuit 1820. Processor 1810 and interface circuit 1820 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 1820 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, device 1800 may also include a memory 1830 for storing instructions executed by processor 1810, input data required by processor 1810 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1810 after executing instructions.

[0251] When the device 1800 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 12 , the processor 1810 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 1810 , and the interface circuit 1820 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 1820 .

[0252] When device 1800 is a terminal chip (i.e., a chip used in a terminal), the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above-described method embodiments. When the terminal chip receives information from a 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 a 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.

[0253] When the apparatus 1800 is a base station chip (i.e., a chip used in a base station), the base station chip implements the functions of the base station in the above-described method embodiments. The base station chip receives information from the terminal, which can be understood as the information being 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. The base station chip sends information to the terminal, which can be understood as the information being 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.

[0254] 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.

[0255] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of explanation, Figure 19 only shows the main components of terminal 1900. Terminal 1900 can be used in the system shown in Figure 1 to implement the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiment. As shown in the device diagram, terminal 1900 includes a processor, memory, control circuit, antenna, and input / output devices. The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as to control the entire terminal, execute software programs, and process software program data, for example, to support the terminal in executing the actions described in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used to convert digital signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The control circuit and antenna together can also be called a transceiver, which is mainly used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input / output devices are, for example, a touch screen, a display screen, a keyboard, etc., and are mainly used to receive data input by the user and output data to the user.

[0256] When the terminal is powered on, the processor reads the software program in memory, interprets and executes its instructions, and processes the data. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor processes the data and outputs a digital signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit then processes the digital signal and transmits it as electromagnetic waves via the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, converts it into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the processor, which converts the digital signal into data and processes it.

[0257] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for ease of explanation, FIG19 illustrates only one memory and one processor. In an actual terminal, there may be multiple processors and multiple memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0258] As an optional implementation, the processor may include a baseband processor and / or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor is primarily responsible for processing communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU is primarily responsible for controlling the entire terminal, executing software programs, and processing data from software programs. The processor in Figure 19 may integrate the functions of both a baseband processor and a CPU. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the CPU may also be independent processors interconnected via a bus or other technology. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a terminal may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network standards, multiple CPUs to enhance its processing capabilities, and that the various components of the terminal may be connected via various buses. The baseband processor may also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The CPU may also be referred to as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The functionality for processing communication protocols and communication data may be built into the processor or stored in memory as a software program, with the processor executing the software program to implement the baseband processing functionality.

[0259] In the embodiments of the present application, the antenna and control circuitry with transceiver functions may be considered as the transceiver unit 1901 of the terminal 1900, for example, for supporting the receiving and transmitting functions described in the terminal implementation method embodiments. The processor with processing functions may be considered as the processor 1902 of the terminal 1900. The terminal 1900 includes the transceiver unit 1901 and the processor 1902. The transceiver unit 1901 may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. For example, the device in the transceiver unit 1901 that implements the receiving function may be considered as a receiving unit, and the device in the transceiver unit 1901 that implements the transmitting function may be considered as a transmitting unit. That is, the transceiver unit 1901 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc. For example, the transceiver unit 1901 may not include an antenna, but may only include the circuit portion, so that the antenna is external to the transceiver unit.

[0260] Processor 1902 can be used to execute instructions stored in the memory to control transceiver unit 1901 to receive and / or transmit signals, thereby completing the functions of the terminal in the above-mentioned method embodiment. As an implementation method, the functions of transceiver unit 1901 can be implemented by a transceiver circuit or a dedicated transceiver chip. When performing the transmission and reception of various types of signals, processor 1902 controls transceiver unit 1901 to implement the reception. Therefore, processor 1902 is the signal transmission and reception decision maker and initiates data transmission and reception operations, while transceiver unit 1901 is the executor of signal transmission and reception.

[0261] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. For ease of explanation, Figure 20 only shows the main components of the base station 2000. The base station 2000 can be applied to the system shown in Figure 1 to implement the functions of the base station in the above method embodiment. As shown in Figure 20, the base station 2000 may include one or more DUs 2010 and one or more CUs 2020. The DU 2010 may include at least one antenna 2011, at least one radio frequency unit 2012, at least one processor 2013, and at least one memory 2014. The CU 2020 may communicate with the core network, and the CU 2020 may include at least one processor 2022 and at least one memory 2021.

[0262] The DU 2010 is primarily responsible for transmitting and receiving RF signals, converting RF signals into baseband signals, and performing some baseband processing functions. The CU 2020 includes at least one processor 2022 and at least one memory 2021. The CU 2020 and DU 2010 can communicate via interfaces. The control plane (CP) interface can be an Fs-C interface, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface can be an Fs-U interface, such as F1-U.

[0263] CU2020 is the control center of base station 2000, also known as a processing unit, and is primarily responsible for performing baseband processing functions such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, and spread spectrum. For example, CU2020 can be used to control base station 2000 to execute the base station operation procedures described in the above method embodiments. DU2010 and CU2020 can be physically located together or physically separated, i.e., a distributed base station.

[0264] The baseband processing functions on the DU2010 and CU2020 can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above are set in the CU2020, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP are set in the DU2010.

[0265] In an optional embodiment, DU2010 can be composed of one or more single boards. Multiple single boards can jointly support a radio access network with a single access indication (such as an NR network), or can separately support radio access networks with different access standards. The memory 2014 is used to store necessary instructions and data, and the processor 2013 is used to control the base station 2000 to perform necessary actions. The memory 2014 and the processor 2013 can serve one or more single boards. In other words, a separate memory and processor can be set on each single board. It is also possible to set a shared memory and processor for multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be set on each single board.

[0266] In an optional embodiment, CU2020 may be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards may jointly support a radio access network (such as an NR network) with a single access indication, or may respectively support radio access networks with different access standards. The memory 2021 is used to store necessary instructions and data, and the processor 2022 is used to control the base station 2000 to perform necessary actions, such as controlling the base station 2000 to execute the operation process of the base station in the above method embodiment. The memory 2021 and the processor 2022 can serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. It is also possible to set a shared memory and processor for multiple single boards. In addition, necessary circuits can also be set on each single board.

[0267] It should be understood that base station 2000 shown in Figure 20 is capable of implementing various base station-related processes in the method embodiments. The operations and / or functions of the various modules in base station 2000 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0268] It should be understood that the base station 2000 shown in Figure 20 is only one possible architecture of the base station and does not constitute any limitation to this application. The method provided in this application is applicable to base stations with other architectures. For example, a base station including a CU, DU, and AAU, or a base station including a BBU and RRU. This application does not limit the specific architecture of the base station.

[0269] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, or other general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0270] 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.

[0271] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0272] Finally, regarding the embodiments of this application, there are the following points to explain:

[0273] First, in the embodiments of the present application, the first, second, and various numerical numbers are merely for the convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first primary cell and the second primary cell represent two primary cells, which may be two different cells or the same cell.

[0274] Second, in the embodiments of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by a certain information is called information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein there is an association relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of the information to be indicated can be achieved by means of a pre-agreed (such as a protocol provision) on whether a certain information element exists, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent.

[0275] Third, the “protocol” involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include the long term evolution (LTE) protocol, the NR protocol, and related protocols in future communication systems, which is not limited in this application.

[0276] Fourth, "predefinition" or "preconfiguration" can be achieved by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can indicate relevant information in a device (for example, a terminal or base station). This application does not limit the specific implementation method. Among them, "saving" can mean saving in one or more memories, and the one or more memories can be separate settings or integrated in a processor or communication device; the one or more memories can also be partially set separately and partially integrated in a processor or communication device. The type of memory can be any form of storage medium, and this application is not limited to this.

[0277] Fifth, "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, B exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be single objects or multiple objects. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can mean: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Where a, b and c can be single objects or multiple objects respectively.

[0278] Sixth, in the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if" and "if" all mean that the device (for example, a terminal or base station) will perform corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances. It does not limit the time, nor does it require the device to perform a judgment action when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0279] Seventh, in the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided by logic, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Determine first information, where the first information includes a first timing advance TA and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA; The first information is sent.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sending the first information includes: If a first condition is met, the first information is sent, and the first condition includes: receiving second information, the second information is used to indicate activation of the first communication unit, or the second information is used to indicate switching to the first communication unit.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The second information is used to indicate activation of the first communication unit, and the second information includes: Secondary cell activation information, or enhanced secondary cell activation information, or secondary cell status information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and the first identifier.

5. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: If the second condition is met, it is determined not to send the first information, and the second condition includes one or more of the following conditions: receiving fourth information, where the fourth information is used to instruct deactivation of the first communication unit, or the fourth information is used to instruct switching to a second communication unit; The deactivation timer of the first communication unit times out.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Before determining the first information, the method further includes: A second identifier is received, where the second identifier is associated with the first communication unit.

7. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving first information, where the first information includes a first timing advance TA and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an association relationship between a first communication unit and the first TA; An association relationship between the first communication unit and the first TA is determined according to the first identifier.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that Before receiving the first information, the method further includes: Sending second information, where the second information is used to indicate activation of the first communication unit, or the second information is used to indicate switching to the first communication unit.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The second information is used to indicate activation of the first communication unit, and the second information includes: Secondary cell activation information, or enhanced secondary cell activation information, or secondary cell status information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send third information, where the third information includes a TA offset value and the first identifier.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that Before receiving the first information, the method further includes: A second identifier is sent, where the second identifier is associated with the first communication unit.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The first identifier includes an identifier of a first TA group, and the communication unit corresponding to the first TA group includes the first communication unit.

13. The method according to claim 6 or 11, characterized in that: The first identifier is an index of the first communication unit, and the second identifier is an identifier of the first communication unit.

14. The method according to claim 6 or 11, characterized in that: The first identifier is an index of a first aircraft, the second identifier is an identifier of the first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

15. The method according to claim 6 or 11, characterized in that: The first identifier is an index of a first logical channel, and the second identifier is an identifier of the first logical channel, wherein: The first logical channel is associated with the first communication unit, and / or, The first logical channel is associated with a first aircraft, and the first communication unit is a communication unit of the first aircraft.

16. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Module for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: include: 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 15 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable 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 15 is implemented.

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