Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the field of communications. The method comprises: receiving a first common signal; and determining a starting frequency domain position of a first common resource block on the basis of the frequency domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration, wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of a second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the first common resource block is a common resource block at the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal. By using the method, the coverage performance of common signals can be ensured, and specific content borne in different common signals can be the same, which does not affect combining and receiving of the specific content borne in the detected common signals by terminals.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on December 29, 2023, with application number 202311869938.2 and invention name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] With the evolution of wireless networks, the bandwidth required by communication systems is getting larger and larger. For example, the next generation of wireless networks and products may use frequency bands higher than the current 5G as the main commercial frequency bands, such as 6G or higher than 6G (U6G) frequency bands as the main commercial frequency bands. Compared with the existing 5G network frequency bands, 6G or U6G frequency bands have richer spectrum resources and can use larger bandwidth. From the perspective of wireless transmission characteristics, higher transmission frequencies also mean greater channel fading at the same transmission distance. Therefore, the coverage performance of various signals in 6G or U6G scenarios is somewhat lost compared to networks using existing frequency bands.

[0005] In 6G or U6G scenarios, the transmission of synchronization signal blocks (PBCH blocks, SSB) and other public signals also has the problem of reduced coverage performance. For example, taking SSB as an example, the terminal needs to detect SSB before accessing the base station. Since the base station cannot know the specific location of the terminal, it cannot perform fine beam alignment when sending SSB (or, the base station can only send with a relatively wide beam), and thus cannot obtain the beamforming gain it brings. At the same time, as the service frequency increases, the impact of large-scale fading (path loss) increases further, which will also significantly affect the reception performance and coverage performance of SSB.

[0006] Therefore, how to improve the reception and coverage performance of public signals such as SSB is an issue worthy of attention. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for improving the success rate of receiving a public signal.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method that can be performed by a terminal or a module (such as a chip) in the terminal. The method includes: receiving a first common signal; determining a starting frequency domain position of a first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration; wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0009] By adopting the above method, the terminal can determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal indicated by the first configuration. That is to say, when the terminal device receives any common signal, it can obtain the correct starting frequency domain position of the common resource block based on the first configuration and the frequency domain position of the detected common signal. In other words, when different common signals carry the same specific content, the terminal can also obtain the correct starting frequency domain position of the common resource block, and then the terminal can combine the specific content carried in the common signals detected in multiple periods for reception, which can improve the coverage performance / reception performance of the common signal.

[0010] In one possible design, the first configuration indicates frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, where the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal. The multiple common signals are common signals of the same type.

[0011] In one possible design, determining the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration can be done in the following manner, but not limited to: determining the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration, and the first offset, wherein the first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located. With the above design, different terminals can determine the common resource block corresponding to the received common signal based on the same first offset. Therefore, the specific content carried by multiple common signals can be the same, without affecting the terminal's combined reception of the content carried in the common signals detected in multiple periods, which can improve the coverage performance / reception performance of the common signal. For example, in a scenario where multiple SSBs are transmitted by frequency division, different terminals can determine the CRB corresponding to the received SSB based on the same first offset. Therefore, multiple SSBs can carry the same MIB content, so that the terminal device can combine and receive MIBs with different frequency domain positions in multiple transmission periods, thereby improving the coverage performance / reception performance of the MIB (SSB).

[0012] In one possible design, the first common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined.

[0013] In one possible design, the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block can be determined based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration and the first offset in the following manner, but not limited to: determining a third offset based on the first offset and the second offset, the second offset indicating the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset being the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block.

[0014] In one possible design, the third offset = (the first offset value + the second offset value) mod (C*X); wherein X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

[0015] In one possible design, the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block may be determined according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration in the following manner, but not limited to: determining the third offset according to the second offset, the second offset indicating the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset being the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block. With the above design, the specific content carried by multiple common signals may be the same, and the terminal may combine and receive the content carried in the common signals detected in multiple periods, thereby improving the coverage performance / reception performance of the common signal. For example, in a scenario where multiple SSBs are transmitted by frequency division, the terminal may determine the CRB corresponding to the received SSB, and multiple SSBs may carry MIBs with the same content, so that the terminal device may combine and receive MIBs with different frequency domain positions in multiple periods, thereby improving the coverage performance / reception performance of the MIB (SSB).

[0016] In one possible design, the third offset value = the second offset value mod(C*X); wherein X = max(1, 2 μ ),

[0017] 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

[0018] In one possible design, the third offset is M, where M represents M subcarriers in the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and M is a non-negative integer.

[0019] In one possible design, the third offset is determined based on one or more of the first offset, the second offset, the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, or the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal.

[0020] In one possible design, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same synchronization grid. In other words, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same frequency position as a synchronization grid.

[0021] In one possible design, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the transmission pattern composed of the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the second common signal, the frequency domain starting position of the second common signal, or the frequency domain ending position of the second common signal.

[0022] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0023] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method that can be performed by a base station or a module (such as a chip) in the base station. The method includes: sending a first common signal, where the starting frequency domain position of a first common resource block is determined based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration; wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of a second common signal, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal; and the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0024] In one possible design, the first configuration indicates the frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, and the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal; when sending the first common signal, the first common signal is sent according to the first configuration.

[0025] In one possible design, the second common signal is sent.

[0026] In one possible design, a third common signal is sent, the frequency domain position of the third common signal is the same as the frequency domain position of the first common signal, and the time domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the time domain position of the second common signal; the third common resource block is the same as the first common resource block, and the third common resource block is the common resource block at the starting frequency domain position of the third common signal.

[0027] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0028] Some possible designs and beneficial effects of the second aspect can be referred to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0029] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method that can be executed by a base station or a module (such as a chip) in the base station. The method includes: sending a first common signal, where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is separated from the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal by Z frequency domain units, where Z is an integer multiple of X, and X=max(1,2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the first SCS to the second SCS, wherein the first SCS is the SCS of the common resource block, the second SCS is the SCS of the first common signal, the SCS of the first common signal is the same as the SCS of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and Z is a positive integer. Using the above method, the frequency domain interval between each common signal is determined according to the SCS of the common resource block and the SCS of the common signal, so that the offset value between the starting frequency domain position of each common signal and the starting frequency domain position of the corresponding common resource block is consistent, and then the terminal can determine the frequency domain position of the common resource block corresponding to the received common signal based on the same first offset.

[0030] In one possible design, the second common signal is sent.

[0031] In one possible design, the Z frequency domain units are Z frequency domain units under the second SCS.

[0032] In one possible design, the first common signal carries a first offset, the second common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined;

[0033] The first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block. The first offset is also the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block. The first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located.

[0034] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0035] Some possible designs and beneficial effects of the third aspect can be referred to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0036] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit: the transceiver unit is used to receive a first common signal; the processing unit is used to determine the starting frequency domain position of a first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration; wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0037] In one possible design, the first configuration indicates frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, where the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal.

[0038] In one possible design, the processing unit is used to determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration, wherein the first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located.

[0039] In one possible design, the first common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined.

[0040] In one possible design, the processing unit is used to determine a third offset based on the first offset and the second offset when determining the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration and the first offset, the second offset indicating the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset being the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block.

[0041] In one possible design, the third offset = (the first offset value + the second offset value) mod (C*X); wherein X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

[0042] In one possible design, the processing unit is used to determine a third offset based on a second offset when determining the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration, wherein the second offset indicates the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block.

[0043] In one possible design, the third offset value = the second offset value mod(C*X); wherein X = max(1, 2 μ ),

[0044] 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

[0045] In one possible design, the third offset is M, where M represents M subcarriers in the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and M is a non-negative integer.

[0046] In one possible design, the third offset is determined based on one or more of the first offset, the second offset, the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, or the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal.

[0047] In one possible design, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same synchronization grid. In other words, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same frequency position as a synchronization grid.

[0048] In one possible design, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the transmission pattern composed of the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the second common signal, the frequency domain starting position of the second common signal, or the frequency domain ending position of the second common signal.

[0049] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0050] Some possible designs and beneficial effects of the fourth aspect can be referred to the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0051] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit: the transceiver unit is used to send and receive information; the processing unit is used to send a first common signal through the transceiver unit, and the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block is determined according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration; wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal; the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0052] In one possible design, the first configuration indicates the frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, and the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal; the transceiver unit is used to send the first common signal according to the first configuration when sending the first common signal.

[0053] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is used to send the second common signal.

[0054] In one possible design, the transceiver unit is used to send a third common signal, the frequency domain position of the third common signal is the same as the frequency domain position of the first common signal, and the time domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the time domain position of the second common signal; the third common resource block is the same as the first common resource block, and the third common resource block is the common resource block at the starting frequency domain position of the third common signal.

[0055] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a transceiver unit and a processing unit: the transceiver unit is used to send and receive information; the processing unit is used to send a first common signal through the transceiver unit, and the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is separated from the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal by Z frequency domain units, where Z is an integer multiple of X, and X=max(1,2 μ ), 2 μ It is the ratio of the first SCS to the second SCS, the first SCS is the SCS of the common resource block, the second SCS is the SCS of the first common signal, the SCS of the first common signal is the same as the SCS of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and Z is a positive integer.

[0057] In one possible design, the processing unit is used to send the second common signal through the transceiver unit.

[0058] In one possible design, the Z frequency domain units are Z frequency domain units under the second SCS.

[0059] In one possible design, the first common signal carries a first offset, the second common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined; the first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, and the first offset is also the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block. The first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located.

[0060] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0061] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which can be a first device, or a module or unit (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) in the first device that corresponds one-to-one to the method / operation / step / action described in any one of the first to third aspects, or can be used in combination with the first device.

[0062] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processing element, wherein at least one storage element is used to store programs and data, and the at least one processing element is used to read and execute the programs and data stored in the storage element so that any method described in any one of the above aspects of the present application is implemented.

[0063] In one possible design, the communication device further includes the at least one storage element.

[0064] In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the methods described in any of the above aspects.

[0065] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes: an interface circuit and at least one processor; the interface circuit is used to provide input and / or output of programs or instructions to the at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute the program or instructions so that the communication device can implement any method described in any of the above aspects.

[0066] In a possible manner, the communication device includes the at least one memory, and the at least one memory is used to store the program or instruction.

[0067] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer storage medium storing a software program. When the software program is read and executed by one or more processors, the software program can implement any of the methods described in any of the above aspects.

[0068] In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the methods described in any of the above aspects.

[0069] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one chip and a memory, and the at least one chip is used to read and execute a program stored in the memory to implement any of the methods described in any of the above aspects.

[0070] In the fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes at least one terminal and a base station, the terminal is used to execute any method described in the first aspect, and the base station is used to execute any method described in the second aspect.

[0071] Based on the implementations provided in the above aspects, this application can also be further combined to provide more implementations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0072] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system;

[0073] FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of a time-frequency resource structure of SSB;

[0074] FIG3 shows a schematic diagram of Kssb;

[0075] FIG4 shows a schematic diagram comparing a U6G scenario and a Sub6G scenario;

[0076] FIG5 shows a schematic diagram of frequency division transmission of multiple SSBs;

[0077] FIG6 is a schematic diagram showing a scenario in which multiple SSBs are transmitted in frequency division and the CRBs corresponding to different SSBs are inconsistent;

[0078] FIG7 shows a possible flow diagram of a communication method;

[0079] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing possible locations of the second common signal;

[0080] FIG9 is a schematic diagram showing possible positions of the frequency points of the synchronization grid;

[0081] FIG10 is a schematic diagram showing the frequency domain position relationship between the first common signal and the second common signal;

[0082] FIG11A and FIG11B show one of the corresponding relationship diagrams of common resource blocks and common signals;

[0083] 12A and 12B show a second schematic diagram of the corresponding relationship between common resource blocks and common signals;

[0084] FIG13A shows one of the schematic diagrams of indexes of a plurality of common signals;

[0085] FIG13B shows a second schematic diagram of indexes of multiple common signals;

[0086] FIG13C shows a third schematic diagram of indexes of multiple common signals;

[0087] FIG13D shows a fourth schematic diagram of indexes of multiple common signals;

[0088] FIG13E shows a fifth schematic diagram of indexes of multiple common signals;

[0089] FIG13F shows a sixth schematic diagram of indexes of multiple common signals;

[0090] FIG13G shows a seventh schematic diagram of indexes of multiple common signals;

[0091] FIG14 shows a third schematic diagram of the correspondence between a common resource block and a common signal;

[0092] FIG15 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device;

[0093] FIG16 shows a schematic structural diagram of another communication device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0094] The specific implementation of the present application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. However, the implementation of the present application may also include combining these embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application, such as adopting other embodiments and making structural changes. Therefore, the detailed description of the following embodiments should not be understood in a restrictive sense. The terms used in the examples section of the present application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0095] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) communication system, 5G system or new radio (NR), or applied to future communication systems or other similar communication systems.

[0096] 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 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 1000 may also include the Internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one radio access network device (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1 ) and at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1 ). The terminal is wirelessly connected to the radio access network device, and the radio access network device is wirelessly or wiredly connected to the core network. The core network device and the radio access network device may be independent, distinct physical devices, or the core network device's functions and the radio access network device's logical functions may be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device may integrate some of the core network device's functions and some of the radio access network device's functions. Terminals and radio access network devices may be interconnected via wired or wireless connections. Figure 1 is merely a schematic diagram. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in Figure 1 .

[0097] Radio access network equipment, referred to as network equipment, can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a 6th-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. It can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). The CU performs the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), as well as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). The DU performs the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, as well as some or all of the physical layer. For detailed descriptions of each of these protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The wireless access network device can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and device form used by the wireless access network device. For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of a wireless access network device.

[0098] Terminal devices may also be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminals, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms used by terminal devices. For ease of description, the following description uses a terminal as an example of a terminal device.

[0099] 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.

[0100] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. To terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, drone 120i is a base station. However, to base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0101] 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.

[0102] 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.

[0103] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) are only used as examples of downlink data channels, downlink control channels, uplink control channels and uplink data channels, respectively. In different systems and different scenarios, data channels and control channels may have different names, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0104] Below, some terms used in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0105] 1. Subcarrier (SC): In an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, frequency domain resources are divided into several sub-resources. Each sub-resource in the frequency domain is called a subcarrier. Subcarrier can also be understood as the minimum granularity of frequency domain resources in current communication systems.

[0106] 2. Subcarrier spacing (SCS): In an OFDM system, the spacing between the center or peak positions of two adjacent subcarriers in the frequency domain. For example, the subcarrier spacing in an LTE system is 15kHz, while the subcarrier spacing in a 5G NR system can be 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, or 120kHz. The subcarrier spacing is inversely proportional to the OFDM symbol length; a larger subcarrier spacing corresponds to a smaller OFDM symbol length.

[0107] 3. Resource Block (RB): An RB can include multiple subcarriers in the frequency domain. For example, an RB in the LTE system includes 12 subcarriers, and a resource block in the 5G NR system also includes 12 subcarriers. As communication systems evolve, the number of subcarriers included in an RB can also be different, and the subcarriers included in an RB can be continuous or non-contiguous.

[0108] 4. Resource element (RE): The smallest resource unit in NR, which occupies one OFDM symbol in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain.

[0109] 5. Common Resource Block (CRB)

[0110] Since 5G will adopt a larger channel bandwidth than LTE and introduce the concept of bandwidth part (BWP), in order to realize the configuration and management of BWP, CRB is numbered from a reference point within the system bandwidth, which is called reference point (Point) A. Point A points to the center position of subcarrier 0 of CRB0. CRB can be understood as the frequency domain resource unit corresponding to the control information of scheduling system information, or the frequency domain resource unit corresponding to the system information. For example, the subsequent system information block 1 (SIB1) and the control resource set zero (CORESET0) / common search space 0 (CSS0) corresponding to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scheduling SIB1 can be configured based on CRB.

[0111] Different resources may use different subcarrier spacings. For example, SSB, PUSCH, etc. may have various SCSs, and CRB can be equivalent to a ruler. CRB can be used to locate the position of these resources. For example, PUSCH occupies 10M~50M bandwidth, and CRB can be used to represent this bandwidth, that is, PUSCH occupies CRB10~CRB20.

[0112] 6. Public Signal

[0113] It can be called public information or non-dedicated information, or it can be understood as information sent by one communication device to multiple communication devices. Taking downlink communication as an example, public information can be understood as information sent by the base station to multiple terminals or a terminal group in the cell, or it can be understood as information that the base station does not specifically send to a terminal or a terminal group in the cell, or it can be understood as information that can be used by multiple terminals or a terminal group in the cell. Public signals can be used for processes such as terminal identification of the cell, initial terminal access to the cell, neighboring cell measurement, or cell handover. For example, public information can be one or more of SSB, PSS, SSS, and PBCH.

[0114] 7. Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0115] Frequency division multiplexing can be referred to as frequency division or frequency division. The frequency division multiplexing in this application specifically means that the time domain positions overlap, but the frequency domain positions do not overlap. For example, frequency division SSB can specifically mean that different SSB time domain positions are the same and the frequency domain positions do not overlap, or different SSB time domain positions partially overlap and the frequency domain positions do not overlap, or different SSB time domain positions have a containing and being contained relationship and the frequency domain positions do not overlap.

[0116] 8. SSB:

[0117] In the current communication network, the terminal mainly searches for cells based on searching the SSB. The SSB consists of two parts, namely the synchronization signal (SS) and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The SS includes the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS). Therefore, the SSB can also be considered to consist of three parts. Among them, the combination of the SS and the PBCH can be used to obtain the cell ID, downlink timing (for example, finding the reference point of the downlink transmission, such as the frame boundary), and the acquisition of necessary system messages (for example, obtaining the time-frequency resource location of the PDCCH corresponding to SIB1, etc.).

[0118] Before detecting an SSB, the terminal does not know the specific time-frequency resource location of the SSB. In other words, the terminal needs to blindly detect the location of the SSB. However, due to the very wide cell bandwidth in NR, if the terminal attempts to detect the SSB on every frequency point, the terminal's access speed will be very slow. Therefore, the NR protocol specifically defines a synchronization raster, which has different sizes in different frequency bands: 1200kHz, 1.44MHz, and 17.28MHz. In other words, the terminal can attempt to detect the SSB one by one at intervals of the synchronization raster, thereby improving the terminal's SSB detection speed. For example, the center frequency of the SSB can be the same as the frequency of the synchronization raster. During initial access, the terminal assumes that the base station sends the SSB periodically with a 20ms period. In other words, if on a synchronization raster, if the terminal does not detect the SSB within 20ms at the frequency point of the synchronization raster, the terminal may continue detection on another synchronization raster.

[0119] The time-frequency resource structure of SSB is shown in Figure 2. SSB contains four consecutive symbols in the time domain and occupies 20 RBs in the frequency domain, that is, 240 subcarriers (SCs).

[0120] Frequency domain position of SSB: The position of SSB in the frequency domain is defined by the synchronization grid, as described above.

[0121] SSB time-domain position: The time-domain position of an SSB is defined by the SSB pattern. An SSB pattern specifies the time-domain position of a group of consecutive SSBs within a half-frame. Currently, 3GPP defines five SSB patterns for unshared spectrum. However, each frequency band typically has only one or two available SSB patterns, and different SSB patterns have a one-to-one mapping with SCSs and bands.

[0122] The SSB includes the master information block (MIB), which is determined by high-level signaling. Due to the long update cycle of high-level signaling, the content of the MIB bits is determined and remains unchanged within a preset duration. Correspondingly, the terminal can receive multiple MIBs within a preset duration and combine them for reception to improve the reception success rate. For example, if the SSB transmission period is 20ms and the preset duration is 80ms, there are four SSBs in each 80ms, and four MIBs can be combined for reception.

[0123] In addition, NR provides flexibility in SSB configuration. The SCS corresponding to the SSB in NR can be configured independently, and the SCS corresponding to the SSB can be different from the SCS corresponding to the CRB. To this end, NR introduced the Kssb indicator information in the MIB.

[0124] Specifically, the specific content indicated by Kssb is the subcarrier-level offset from subcarrier 0 of CRB corresponding to subcarrier 0 in SSB to subcarrier 0 in SSB. Kssb is indicated with the SCS of SSB as the granularity. Specifically, subcarrier 0 in SSB is the first subcarrier corresponding to SSB, or in other words, it is the subcarrier with the lowest frequency domain position in SSB. CRB is the CRB corresponding to subcarrier 0 in SSB, or it can be understood as the CRB into which the absolute frequency domain position of subcarrier 0 (that is, the first subcarrier) in SSB falls.

[0125] As shown in Figure 3, a possible example is shown. The SCS of the CRB is 30kHz and the SCS of the SSB is 15kHz. The starting frequency domain position of the SSB (subcarrier 0 in the SSB) is S subcarriers away from the starting frequency domain position of the CRB (subcarrier 0 in the CRB corresponding to the SSB), and the S subcarriers are granular with the SCS of the SSB. Therefore, the Kssb indicator value in the MIB is S, where S is an integer. That is, Kssb indicates the subcarrier offset from subcarrier 0 in the CRB corresponding to the SSB to subcarrier 0 in the SSB with the SCS of the SSB as the granularity.

[0126] Currently, the NR protocol includes multiple combinations of CRB SCS and SSB SCS configurations. Taking FR1 as an example, possible CRB SCS and SSB SCS combinations include: {30, 30} kHz, {30, 15} kHz, {15, 30} kHz, and {15, 15} kHz. Regardless of the combination used in the actual system configuration, Kssb is indicated at the SSB SCS granularity.

[0127] U6G can be understood as frequency bands above 6 GHz, such as 6.425 to 7.125 GHz. Sub-6G can be 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz, or 4.9 GHz. As shown in Figure 4, the typical bandwidth of current wireless networks is 100 MHz, with a subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz, corresponding to a maximum of 273 resource blocks (RBs) that can be scheduled per unit time. In a U6G scenario, a typical bandwidth is 400 MHz, with a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz, corresponding to a maximum of 550 resource blocks (RBs) that can be scheduled per unit time. Therefore, future networks using the U6G frequency band will have stronger transmission performance and more flexible scheduling and access capabilities. At the same time, while using the U6G frequency band can bring the aforementioned benefits, given the characteristics of wireless transmission, a higher transmission frequency also means greater channel fading at the same transmission distance. Therefore, the coverage performance of various signals in U6G scenarios will be somewhat reduced compared to existing networks using the Sub-6G frequency band.

[0128] To address the issue of reduced coverage performance associated with SSB transmission, one possible design is to send multiple SSBs in the same time unit and at different frequency domain locations. Figure 5 shows a possible example. By transmitting multiple SSBs using frequency division, the beam direction of each SSB can be different, enabling the use of beams with finer beam widths and greater beamforming gain to transmit each SSB. This improves the terminal's SSB reception success rate and further enhances coverage performance. In this manner, a terminal can detect and access a cell based on any one of the multiple SSBs transmitted using frequency division.

[0129] As shown in Figure 6, when multiple SSBs are transmitted using frequency division, the CRBs corresponding to different SSBs are inconsistent. For example, SSB0 corresponds to CRB0, and SSB1 corresponds to CRB1. Therefore, the Kssb value corresponding to SSB0 is different from the Kssb value corresponding to SSB. Therefore, SSB0 and SSB1 need to carry different MIBs, which may cause the terminal side to be unable to combine and receive the received MIBs, reducing transmission performance.

[0130] Based on the above network system architecture and the contents of the above related technical introduction, several possible communication methods are provided in the embodiments of the present application to improve the coverage performance and reception performance of public signals. The execution subjects of each communication method are introduced by taking base stations and terminals as examples. For example, the base station can be the access network device 110a or the access network device 110b in Figure 1 above. The terminal can be any terminal 120 shown in Figure 1 above. In addition, it should be understood that the base station can also be replaced by a communication device with base station functions or a chip, unit or module inside a communication device with base station functions. The terminal can also be replaced by a communication device with terminal functions or a chip, unit or module inside a communication device with terminal functions.

[0131] FIG7 exemplarily shows a possible flow diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the method includes:

[0132] Step 700: The base station sends a first common signal, and correspondingly, the terminal receives the first common signal.

[0133] Specifically, the base station may send a first common signal, or the base station may send multiple common signals including the first common signal. The terminal device may detect (or receive) one or more common signals among the multiple common signals. When the terminal detects a common signal, the first common signal is also a common signal actually detected by the terminal. When the terminal detects multiple common signals, the first common signal may be a common signal with the best corresponding beam quality among the multiple common signals.

[0134] Step 720: The terminal determines a starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration.

[0135] Among them, the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0136] It should be noted that the base station may or may not send a second public signal. This application focuses on the first public signal. This application does not limit whether the terminal receives other public signals or whether the base station sends other public signals.

[0137] Exemplarily, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, that is, the frequency domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the frequency domain position of the second common signal. It can also be understood that the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the first common signal are different from the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the second common signal, or the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the first common signal and the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the second common signal do not have the same frequency domain units. For example, the frequency domain unit can be a subcarrier or RB, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0138] Exemplarily, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap. It can also be understood that the time domain resources of the first common signal and the time domain resources of the second common signal at least partially share the same time domain units. For example, the time domain unit can be a symbol, which is not limited in this application.

[0139] In combination with the fact that the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal do not overlap, this example can also be understood as that the first common signal and the second common signal are frequency division multiplexed. In other words, the base station sends a common signal by frequency division. It should be noted that the base station in this application sends a common signal by frequency division, which refers to the relationship between the resources configured for multiple common signals, and does not limit whether the base station actually sends one common signal or multiple common signals.

[0140] Exemplarily, the base station sends a common signal in a frequency division manner. Wherein, if the base station sends multiple common signals, the time domain positions corresponding to the multiple common signals are at least partially overlapped, and the frequency domain positions corresponding to the multiple common signals do not overlap. Taking the case where multiple common signals include a first common signal and a second common signal, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal are the same, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal do not overlap. Alternatively, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal partially overlap, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal do not overlap. Alternatively, the time domain position of the first common signal includes the time domain position of the second common signal (or the time domain position of the second common signal includes the time domain position of the first common signal), and the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal do not overlap.

[0141] For example, as shown in Figure 6, the time domain position of the first common signal is the same as the time domain position of the second common signal, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the frequency domain position of the second common signal. In other words, the base station sends the first common signal and the second common signal respectively at different frequency domain positions at the same time, or in other words, the base station sends the first common signal and the second common signal using frequency division.

[0142] In one possible implementation, the first configuration indicates the frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, and the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal. The frequency domain positions of multiple common signals can be understood as the frequency domain positions of different common signals, for example, the frequency domain positions of SSBs with different indexes. Among them, the first configuration can also be called a pattern of common signals. The first configuration can be predefined by the protocol or notified to the terminal through signaling.

[0143] When the first configuration is predefined, since the frequency domain positions of multiple common signals meet the relationship indicated by the first configuration, the base station sends the first common signal in this application, which can also be understood as the base station sending the first common signal according to the first configuration.

[0144] When the first configuration is indicated by the base station through signaling, the base station sends the first public signal in this application, which can also be understood as the base station sending the first public signal according to the first configuration. The base station also sends information that can indicate the frequency domain positions of multiple public signals, that is, the base station also sends signaling including the first configuration.

[0145] When the first configuration is carried in the first common signal, that is, the terminal device learns the first configuration by receiving the first common signal. The base station sends the first common signal, and the first common signal indicates the first configuration.

[0146] Exemplarily, the plurality of common signals may be common signals of the same type. For example, the first common signal and the second common signal are common signals of the same type, for example, the first common signal and the second common signal are two different SSBs.

[0147] Exemplarily, the SCSs corresponding to the plurality of common signals are the same. For example, the SCSs of the first common signal and the second common signal are the same.

[0148] Since the terminal needs to determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource according to the first configuration, the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal. Therefore, the second common signal can also be called a reference common signal or a calibration common signal. Exemplarily, the second common signal can be the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among multiple common signals, or the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among multiple common signals, or the common signal at an intermediate frequency domain position among multiple common signals, or any one of the multiple common signals, etc., and this application does not limit this. For example, the pattern of multiple common signals can be shown as a, b, and c in Figure 8. In a of Figure 8, the number of multiple common signals is 3, and the second common signal is the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the three common signals. In b of Figure 8, the number of multiple common signals is 3, and the second common signal is the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the three common signals. In c of Figure 8, the number of multiple common signals is 5, and the second common signal is the common signal at an intermediate frequency domain position among the five common signals.

[0149] In one possible implementation, the terminal can detect common signals at intervals of a synchronization grid. The center frequency points of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same synchronization grid. In other words, the center frequency points of some or all of the multiple common signals are the same as the frequency points of a synchronization grid. It can also be understood that multiple common signals correspond to the same synchronization grid, or multiple common signals are associated with the same synchronization grid. It can also be understood that the terminal can search for one or more common signals in a synchronization grid. Therefore, unlike in NR, the terminal can only search for one common signal in a synchronization grid, and the center frequency point of the common signal is the same as the frequency point of the synchronization grid. In the present application, the terminal can search for one or more common signals in a synchronization grid, and the frequency point of the synchronization grid in the present application can adopt but is not limited to the following design methods:

[0150] Exemplarily, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the pattern of the multiple common signals. The frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the pattern of the multiple common signals. It can also be understood that the distribution of the multiple common signals is centered around the frequency point of the synchronization grid. For example, in FIG9 a, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the pattern of the multiple common signals.

[0151] Alternatively, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals. For example, in FIG9 b, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals.

[0152] Alternatively, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals. For example, in FIG9 c, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals.

[0153] Alternatively, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the second common signal, the frequency domain starting position of the second common signal, or the frequency domain ending position of the second common signal. For example, in d of Figure 9, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the second common signal.

[0154] Alternatively, the frequency band of the synchronization grid is the center frequency of the common signal in the middle frequency domain among the multiple common signals. For example, in FIG9e, the number of common signals is 5, and the frequency of the synchronization grid is the center frequency of the third common signal.

[0155] In combination with the above-mentioned step 700, the base station can send part or all of the common signals among multiple common signals according to the first configuration, and these common signals correspond to the same synchronization grid. Then, the terminal can detect the common signals in the synchronization grid according to the frequency of the synchronization grid. The following only uses the example of the terminal detecting the first common signal among these common signals to illustrate.

[0156] The following describes an example of a specific manner in which the terminal determines the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration.

[0157] Method 1: The terminal may determine the third offset based on the second offset, where the second offset indicates the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block. Furthermore, the terminal may determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the third offset and the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal.

[0158] As a possible implementation, the terminal may determine the second offset based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration. The terminal may determine the second offset based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal indicated by the first configuration. In addition, the second offset may also be referred to as the frequency domain position interval between the first common signal and the second common signal. For details on how the terminal determines the second offset, please refer to the relevant descriptions of Figures 13A to 13G below.

[0159] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the frequency domain positions of the first common signal and the second common signal. In Figure 10 a, since the frequency domain position of the first common signal is higher than the frequency domain position of the second common signal, the second offset is greater than 0, and in Figure 10 b, since the frequency domain position of the second common signal is higher than the frequency domain position of the first common signal, the second offset is less than 0. In other words, the second offset can be greater than 0, or less than 0, or equal to 0. In addition, the role of the second offset is to indicate the offset between the first common signal and the second common signal in the frequency domain. The second offset can also be expressed in other ways. For example, the second offset indicates the offset of the end frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the end frequency domain position of the second common signal.

[0160] In one possible implementation, the second offset and the third offset satisfy Formula 1, which is: third offset = second offset value mod (C*X). In this case, it can also be understood that the frequency domain starting position of the second common signal is the same as, or aligned with, the frequency domain starting position of the second common resource block.

[0161] Where X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant. For example, when the SCS of the first common resource block is 60kHz and the SCS of the first common signal is 15kHz, 2 μ =60 / 15=4; when the SCS of the first common resource block is 60kHz and the SCS of the first common signal is 30kHz, 2 μ =60 / 30=2.

[0162] Wherein, if the third offset is M, M represents M subcarriers under the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and M is a non-negative integer. Alternatively, it can be understood that the third offset is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal.

[0163] In another possible implementation, the second offset and the third offset satisfy Formula 2, which is: third offset = second offset value mod(C*Y). In this case, it can also be understood that the frequency domain starting position of the second common signal is the same as the frequency domain starting position of the second common resource block, or is aligned. Wherein, Y = max(1, 2 k ), 2 k is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal to the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, and C is a constant. For example, when the SCS of the first common resource block is 60kHz and the SCS of the first common signal is 15kHz, 2 k=15 / 60=1 / 4; when the SCS of the first common resource block is 60kHz and the SCS of the first common signal is 30kHz, 2 k =30 / 60=1 / 2. Wherein, if the third offset is N, N represents N subcarriers in the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, and N is a non-negative integer. Alternatively, it can be understood that the third offset is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block.

[0164] Exemplarily, for the above formula 1 and formula 2, C can represent the number of subcarriers included in an RE. For example, the value of C can be 12. The first common signal can indicate the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block. For example, if the first common signal is SSB and the first common resource block is CRB, the first common signal can carry MIB, and MIB can include a field for indicating the subcarrier spacing of CRB. The terminal detects the first common signal and can further determine the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal. For the above formula 1, X=max(1,2 μ ) can also be expressed in other forms, for example, X = max(1, R1), where R1 is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal. k ) can also be expressed in other forms, for example, Y=max(1, R2), where R2 is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal to the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block.

[0165] For the above-mentioned method 1, the terminal can determine the third offset based on one or more of the second offset, the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, and the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal. Therefore, the terminal determines the first common resource block corresponding to the received first common signal, and the specific content carried by the common signal sent by the base station can be the same. For example, in a scenario where multiple SSBs are transmitted by frequency division, the terminal can determine the CRB corresponding to the received SSB, and multiple SSBs can carry MIBs with the same content, so that the terminal device can combine and receive MIBs with different frequency domain positions in multiple transmission cycles, thereby improving the coverage performance / reception performance of MIB (SSB).

[0166] Method 2: The terminal can determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration and the first offset, wherein the first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located.

[0167] Exemplarily, the first common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined. Alternatively, the first offset may be included in the first configuration, which is not limited in this application. For example, the first common signal is SSB, the SSB carries MIB, and the MIB includes Kssb, where Kssb is the first offset.

[0168] As a possible implementation method, the terminal can determine the third offset based on the first offset and the second offset, the second offset indicates the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block. Furthermore, the terminal can determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the third offset and the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal. Among them, the terminal can determine the second offset based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration. Exemplarily, the terminal can determine the second offset based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal. Among them, how the terminal determines the second offset can refer to the relevant description of Figures 13A to 13G below.

[0169] In a possible implementation, the first offset to the third offset satisfy Formula 3, which is: third offset = (first offset value + second offset value) mod (C*X). Where X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant. If the third offset is M, M represents M subcarriers at the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and M is a non-negative integer. Alternatively, it can be understood that the third offset is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal.

[0170] In another possible implementation, the first offset to the third offset satisfy Formula 3, which is: third offset = (first offset value + second offset value) mod (C*Y). Wherein, Y = max(1, 2 k ), 2 k is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal to the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, and C is a constant. Wherein, if the third offset is N, N represents N subcarriers at the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, and N is a non-negative integer. Alternatively, it can be understood that the third offset is determined at the granularity of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block.

[0171] For example, for explanations of the various parameters in Formula 3 and Formula 4, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in Formula 1 and Formula 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0172] For the above-mentioned method 2, the terminal can determine the third offset based on one or more of the first offset, the second offset, the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block or the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal. Therefore, in the scenario where multiple common signals are transmitted by frequency division, different terminals can determine the common resource block corresponding to the received common signal based on the same first offset, so the specific content carried by multiple common signals can be the same. For example, in the scenario where multiple SSBs are transmitted by frequency division, different terminals can determine the CRB corresponding to the received SSB based on the same first offset, so multiple SSBs can carry MIBs with the same content, so that the terminal device can combine and receive MIBs with different frequency domain positions in multiple transmission cycles, thereby improving the coverage performance / reception performance of MIB (SSB).

[0173] It is understood that the above formulas 1 to 4 can also be expressed in other ways, such as tables, etc., and this application does not limit this. It should be noted that the method 1 can also be understood as the case where the first offset in the method 2 is 0.

[0174] Unless otherwise specified in this application, the subcarrier spacing of multiple common signals is the same, that is, the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal is the same as the subcarrier spacing of the second common signal, and the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal or the subcarrier spacing of the second common signal can be simply referred to as the subcarrier spacing of the common signal. The subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block is also the same as the subcarrier spacing of the second common resource block. The subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block or the subcarrier spacing of the second common resource block can be simply referred to as the subcarrier spacing of the common resource block.

[0175] The following two specific examples further illustrate the above:

[0176] Example 1: In FIG11A and FIG12A, the SCS of the common resource block is 60KHz, the SCS of the common signal is 15KHz, and X=2 μ = 4. The second offset is 22 RBs, which refers to 22 RBs when the SCS of the common signal is 15 kHz, that is, 22*12=264 subcarriers.

[0177] As shown in FIG11A , if there is no first offset, that is, corresponding to method 1, substituting the above parameters into formula 1, we get:

[0178] The third offset value=264mod(12*4)=24.

[0179] As shown in FIG12A , if there is a first offset, the first offset = S, which corresponds to method 2. Substituting the above parameters into formula 3 yields:

[0180] The third offset value=(S+264)mod(12*4)=(S+24)mod 48=S-24.

[0181] Example 2: In FIG11B and FIG12B, the SCS of the common resource block is 30 KHz, the SCS of the common signal is 15 KHz, and X=2 μ = 2. The second offset is 21 RBs, which refers to 22 RBs when the SCS of the common signal is 15 kHz, that is, 21*12=252 subcarriers.

[0182] As shown in FIG11B , if the first offset does not exist, that is, corresponding to method 1, the above parameters are substituted into formula 1 to obtain:

[0183] The third offset value=252mod(12*2)=12.

[0184] As shown in FIG12B , if there is a first offset, the first offset = S, which corresponds to method 2. Substituting the above parameters into formula 3 yields:

[0185] The third offset value=(S+252)mod(12*2)=(S+12)mod 24=S-12.

[0186] In one possible implementation, the multiple common signals indicated by the first configuration have independent indexes, where the common signal index can also be referred to as the frequency domain index, number, or identifier of the common signal. Taking the index as an example, several methods for determining the common signal index are given below through methods a to d. The terminal can determine the second offset based on the index of the first common signal and the index of the second common signal. The following specifically describes how the terminal determines the second offset in conjunction with possible methods a to d for the indexes of multiple common signals.

[0187] Method a: The frequency domain resources of any two public signals among the multiple public signals do not have the same frequency domain unit, that is, the frequency domain positions of any two public signals among the multiple public signals do not overlap. The indexes corresponding to the multiple public signals are determined according to the order of the frequency domain positions corresponding to the multiple public signals from low to high.

[0188] In one possible implementation, any two common signals with adjacent indexes are separated by M frequency domain units, where M is a positive integer. That is, any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions among the multiple common signals are separated by the same number of frequency domain units. The second offset is the product of the difference between the index of the first common signal and the index of the second common signal and M.

[0189] The indexes corresponding to the five common signals shown in Figure 13A are determined in order from low to high according to the frequency domain positions corresponding to the five common signals, wherein i is an integer, and any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions are separated by M frequency domain units. The frequency domain position of the second common signal is only an example and is not limited to this application. Assuming that the index of the second common signal is i, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+2, the second offset is (i+2-i)*M=2M, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+1, the second offset is (i+1-i)*M=M, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-1, the second offset is (i-1-i)*M=-M, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-2, the second offset is (i-2-i)*M=-2M.

[0190] In one possible implementation, the second common signal is spaced apart from common signals with adjacent indexes by K1 frequency domain units, and any two common signals with adjacent indexes other than the second common signal are spaced apart by K2 frequency domain units, where K1 and K2 are positive integers, that is, the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions in multiple common signals is not exactly the same.

[0191] Exemplarily, the number of frequency domain units included in the second common signal may be greater than the number of frequency domain units included in other common signals. For example, the second common signal may include PBCH, PSS and SSS, while other common signals may include PBCH.

[0192] If the index of the first common signal is greater than the index of the second common signal, the second offset = K1 + (index of the first common signal - index of the second common signal - 1) * K2; if the index of the first common signal is less than the index of the second common signal, the second offset = (index of the first common signal - index of the second common signal) * K2.

[0193] The indexes corresponding to the five common signals shown in Figure 13B are determined in order from low to high according to the frequency domain positions corresponding to the five common signals, where i is an integer, the second common signal and the common signals with adjacent indexes are separated by K1 frequency domain units, and any two common signals with adjacent indexes other than the second common signal are separated by K2 frequency domain units. The frequency domain position of the second common signal is for example only and is not a limitation of this application. In which, assuming that the index of the second common signal is i, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+2, the second offset is K1+(i+2-i-1)*K2=K1+K2, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+1, the second offset is K1+(i+1-i-1)*K2=K1, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-1, the second offset is (i-1-i)*K2=-K2, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-2, the second offset is (i-2-i)*K2=-2K2.

[0194] Method b: The frequency domain resources of any two of the multiple common signals do not share the same frequency domain unit, that is, the frequency domain positions of any two of the multiple common signals do not overlap. The indexes corresponding to the multiple common signals are determined in descending order based on the frequency domain positions corresponding to the multiple common signals.

[0195] In one possible implementation, any two common signals with adjacent indexes are separated by M frequency domain units, where M is a positive integer. That is, any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions have the same number of frequency domain units. The second offset is the product of the difference between the index of the second common signal and the index of the first common signal and M.

[0196] The indexes corresponding to the five common signals shown in FIG13C are determined in descending order according to the frequency domain positions corresponding to the five common signals, wherein i is an integer, and any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions are separated by M frequency domain units. The frequency domain position of the second common signal is only an example and is not limited to this application. Assuming that the index of the second common signal is i, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-2, the second offset is [i-(i-2)]*M=2M, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-1, the second offset is [i-(i-1)]*M=M, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+1, the second offset is [i-(i+1)]*M=-M, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+2, the second offset is [i-(i+2)]*M=-2M.

[0197] In another possible implementation, the second common signal is spaced apart from common signals with adjacent indexes by K1 frequency domain units, and any two common signals with adjacent indexes other than the second common signal are spaced apart by K2 frequency domain units, where K1 and K2 are positive integers, that is, the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions in multiple common signals is not exactly the same.

[0198] If the index of the first common signal is greater than the index of the second common signal, the second offset = K1 + (index of the second common signal - index of the first common signal - 1) * K2; if the index of the first common signal is less than the index of the second common signal, the second offset = (index of the second common signal - index of the first common signal) * K2.

[0199] The indexes corresponding to the five common signals shown in Figure 13D are determined in descending order according to the frequency domain positions corresponding to the five common signals, where i is an integer, the second common signal and the common signals with adjacent indexes are separated by K1 frequency domain units, and any two common signals with adjacent indexes other than the second common signal are separated by K2 frequency domain units. The frequency domain position of the second common signal is for example only and is not a limitation of this application. In which, assuming that the index of the second common signal is i, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-2, the second offset is K1+[i-(i-2)-1]*K2=K1+K2, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i-1, the second offset is K1+[i-(i-1)-1]*K2=K1, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+1, the second offset is [i-(i+1)]*K2=-K2, if the index of the common signal received by the terminal is i+2, the second offset is [i-(i+2)]*K2=-2K2.

[0200] Method c: If there are common signals with the same frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, the multiple common signals are indexed in the order of time domain position from front to back and then frequency domain position from low to high.

[0201] The indexes of the multiple common signals shown in FIG13E are determined in the order of time domain positions from front to back and then frequency domain positions from low to high.

[0202] For the above method c, in a possible implementation method, the terminal can determine the first frequency domain indication value according to the index of the first common signal, determine the second frequency domain indication value according to the index of the second common signal, and further determine the second offset according to the difference between the two frequency domain indication values.

[0203] For example, Indicates rounding down.

[0204] Exemplarily, in at least one common signal transmitted at the same time, any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions have the same number of frequency domain units spaced therebetween, and the number of frequency domain units spaced therebetween is M. The second offset is the product of M and a difference between the first frequency domain indication value and the second frequency domain indication value.

[0205] As shown in a of FIG13E , assuming that the index of the second common signal is 0, The index of the first common signal is 2, Among the three common signals sent at the same time, if the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions is the same and the number of frequency domain units between them is M, then the second offset is (1-0)*M=M. Assuming that the index of the second common signal is 0, The index of the first common signal is 3, Among the three common signals at the same sending time, if the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions is the same and the number of frequency domain units between them is M, then the second offset is (1-0)*M=M.

[0206] Assume that the index of the second common signal is 4, The index of the first common signal is 2, Among the three common signals at the same sending time, if the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions is the same and the number of frequency domain units between them is M, then the second offset is (1-2)*M=-M.

[0207] As shown in b of FIG. 13E , assuming that the index of the second common signal is 0, The index of the first common signal is 2, Among the three common signals sent at the same time, if the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions is the same and the number of frequency domain units between them is M, then the second offset is (0-0)*M=0. Assuming that the index of the second common signal is 0, The index of the first common signal is 8, Among the three common signals at the same sending time, any two common signals with adjacent frequency domain positions have the same number of frequency domain units between them, and the number of frequency domain units between them is M. Then the second offset is (2-0)*M=2M.

[0208] Mode d: If there are common signals with the same frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, the multiple common signals are indexed in the order of frequency domain position from low to high and then time domain position from front to back.

[0209] The indexes of the multiple common signals shown in FIG13F are determined in the order of time domain positions from front to back and then frequency domain positions from low to high.

[0210] For the above method d, in a possible implementation method, the terminal can determine the first frequency domain indication value according to the index of the first common signal, determine the second frequency domain indication value according to the index of the second common signal, and further determine the second offset according to the difference between the two frequency domain indication values.

[0211] Exemplarily, the frequency domain indication value=(index of the common signal) mod (the number of common signals sent at the same sending time).

[0212] Exemplarily, in at least one common signal transmitted at the same time, any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions have the same number of frequency domain units spaced therebetween, and the number of frequency domain units spaced therebetween is M. The second offset is the product of M and a difference between the first frequency domain indication value and the second frequency domain indication value.

[0213] As shown in a of Figure 13F, assuming that the index of the second common signal is 3, the second frequency domain indication value is =3mod3=0, the index of the first common signal is 2, the first frequency domain indication value is =2mod3=2, and the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions in the three common signals at the same transmission time is the same, and the number of frequency domain units between them is M, then the second offset is (2-0)*M=2M. Assuming that the index of the second common signal is 1, the second frequency domain indication value is =1mod3=1, the index of the first common signal is 3, the first frequency domain indication value is =3mod3=0, and the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions in the three common signals at the same transmission time is the same, and the number of frequency domain units between them is M, then the second offset is (0-1)*M=-M.

[0214] As shown in b in Figure 13F, assuming that the index of the second common signal is 0, the second frequency domain indication value is =3mod2=1, the index of the first common signal is 2, the first frequency domain indication value is =2mod2=0, and the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions in the three common signals at the same sending time is the same, and the number of frequency domain units between the intervals is M, then the second offset is (0-1)*M=-M.

[0215] It is understandable that the above-mentioned methods a to d are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0216] For example, Figure 13G is similar to Figure 13F, and each common signal in the multiple common signals has two indexes, that is, it is composed of a time domain index and a frequency domain index. Exemplarily, in at least one common signal at the same sending moment, the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions is the same, and the number of frequency domain units between the intervals is M. The second offset is the product of the difference between the frequency domain index of the first common signal and the frequency domain index of the second common signal and M. For example, in Figure 13G, assuming that the index of the second common signal is (0,0), wherein the frequency domain index of the second common signal is 0 and the time domain index is also 0, the index of the first common signal is (2,1), the frequency domain index of the first common signal is 2 and the time domain index is also 1, and in the three common signals at the same sending moment, the number of frequency domain units between any two common signals at adjacent frequency domain positions is the same, and the number of frequency domain units between the intervals is M, then the second offset is (2-0)*M=2M.

[0217] In one possible implementation, the frequency domain position of the third common signal is the same as the frequency domain position of the first common signal, and the time domain position of the third common signal does not overlap with the time domain position of the second common signal. Then, the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the third common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is the same as the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal. Therefore, the third common resource block is the same as the first common resource block, and the third common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the third common signal is located. As shown in a in Figure 13E, the common resource block corresponding to common signal index 2 is the same as the common resource block corresponding to common signal index 3. As shown in a in Figure 13F, the common resource block corresponding to common signal index 2 is the same as the common resource block corresponding to common signal index 5. As shown in Figure 13G, the common resource block corresponding to common signal index (0,0) is the same as the common resource block corresponding to common signal index (0,1).

[0218] The embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, the method comprising: a base station sends a first common signal and a second common signal, the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal and the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal are separated by Z frequency domain units, Z is an integer multiple of X, and the value of X satisfies max(1, 2 μ ), for example, X=max(1,2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the first SCS to the second SCS, where the first SCS is the SCS of the common resource block, the second SCS is the SCS of the first common signal, the SCS of the first common signal is the same as the SCS of the second common signal, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the frequency domain position of the second common signal. The Z frequency domain units are the Z frequency domain units under the second SCS, where Z is a positive integer.

[0219] Exemplarily, the base station may send one or more common signals, the terminal may detect the common signals at intervals of the synchronization grid, and the terminal device may detect (or receive) any one or more of the multiple common signals. Using the above method, the frequency domain interval between each common signal is determined based on the SCS of the common resource block and the SCS of the common signal, so that the offset value between the starting frequency domain position of each common signal and the starting frequency domain position of the corresponding common resource block is consistent, and then the terminal can determine the frequency domain position of the common resource block corresponding to the received common signal based on the same first offset.

[0220] The first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, where the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located. The first offset is also the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block.

[0221] Exemplarily, the first common signal carries the first offset, the second common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined. For example, the first common signal is SSB1, SSB1 carries MIB, MIB includes Kssb, Kssb is the first offset, the second common signal is SSB2, SSB2 carries MIB, the MIB carried by SSB2 is the same as the MIB carried by SSB1, that is, Kssb carried by SSB1 is the same as Kssb carried by SSB2.

[0222] Exemplarily, the frequency domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the frequency domain position of the second common signal. This can also be understood as the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the first common signal are different from the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the second common signal, or the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the first common signal and the frequency domain units included in the frequency domain resources of the second common signal do not have the same frequency domain units. For example, the frequency domain unit can be a subcarrier or RB, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0223] Exemplarily, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap. It can also be understood that the time domain resources of the first common signal and the time domain resources of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0224] For example, as shown in a in Figure 14, the SCS of the common resource block is 60KHz, the SCS of the common signal is 15KHz, and X=4. Therefore, the number of subcarriers separated by the frequency domain positions between the common signals transmitted by frequency division needs to be an integer multiple of 4. In a of Figure 14, the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal and the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal are separated by 20 RBs, that is, the common signals transmitted by frequency division are continuous in the frequency domain. At this time, the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block is consistent with the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block.

[0225] For another example, as shown in b in Figure 14, the SCS of the common resource block is 120KHz, the SCS of the common signal is 15KHz, and X=8. Therefore, the number of subcarriers spaced apart in the frequency domain between the common signals transmitted by frequency division needs to be an integer multiple of 8. In b in Figure 14, the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal and the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal are spaced by 24 RBs. At this time, the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block is consistent with the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block.

[0226] In one possible implementation, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same synchronization grid. In other words, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located at the same frequency position as a synchronization grid. It can also be understood that a terminal can search for multiple common signals in a synchronization grid. For details, please refer to the above-mentioned relevant content regarding Figure 9.

[0227] It is understandable that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the terminal device and the base station include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or in a manner driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0228] Figures 15 and 16 are schematic diagrams of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or base station in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments.

[0229] As shown in Figure 15, a communication device 1500 includes a processing unit 1510 and a transceiver unit 1520. The communication device 1500 is used to implement the terminal device or base station in the above method embodiment.

[0230] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the terminal in the method embodiment shown in FIG7 :

[0231] The transceiver unit 1520 is used to receive a first common signal; the processing unit 1510 is used to determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration; wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0232] In one possible design, the first configuration indicates frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, where the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal.

[0233] In one possible design, the processing unit 1510 is used to determine the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration, wherein the first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located.

[0234] In one possible design, the first common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined.

[0235] In one possible design, the processing unit 1510 is used to determine a third offset based on the first offset and the second offset when determining the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration and the first offset, the second offset indicating the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset being the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block.

[0236] In one possible design, the third offset = (the first offset value + the second offset value) mod (C*X); wherein X = max(1, 2 μ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

[0237] In one possible design, the processing unit 1510 is used to determine a third offset based on a second offset when determining the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block based on the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration, wherein the second offset indicates the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block.

[0238] In one possible design, the third offset value = the second offset value mod(C*X); wherein X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

[0239] In one possible design, the third offset is M, where M represents M subcarriers in the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and M is a non-negative integer.

[0240] In one possible design, the third offset is determined based on one or more of the first offset, the second offset, the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block, or the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal.

[0241] In one possible design, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same synchronization grid. In other words, the center frequencies of some or all of the multiple common signals are located in the same frequency position as a synchronization grid.

[0242] In one possible design, the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the transmission pattern composed of the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the multiple common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the center frequency point of the second common signal, the frequency domain starting position of the second common signal, or the frequency domain ending position of the second common signal.

[0243] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0244] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the base station in the method embodiment shown in FIG7 :

[0245] The transceiver unit 1520 is used to send and receive information; the processing unit 1510 is used to send a first common signal through the transceiver unit 1520, and the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block is determined according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the first configuration; wherein the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal; the first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

[0246] In one possible design, the first configuration indicates frequency domain positions of multiple common signals, where the frequency domain positions of the multiple common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal. The transceiver unit 1520 is configured to send the first common signal according to the first configuration when sending the first common signal.

[0247] In one possible design, the transceiver unit 1520 is used to send the second common signal.

[0248] In one possible design, the transceiver unit 1520 is used to send a third common signal, the frequency domain position of the third common signal is the same as the frequency domain position of the first common signal, and the time domain position of the first common signal does not overlap with the time domain position of the second common signal; the third common resource block is the same as the first common resource block, and the third common resource block is the common resource block at the starting frequency domain position of the third common signal.

[0249] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0250] When the communication device 1500 is used to implement the functions of the base station in the method embodiment shown in FIG7 :

[0251] The transceiver unit 1520 is used to send and receive information; the processing unit 1510 is used to send a first common signal through the transceiver unit 1520, and the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal and the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal are separated by Z frequency domain units, where Z is an integer multiple of X, and X=max(1,2 μ ), 2 μIt is the ratio of the first SCS to the second SCS, the first SCS is the SCS of the common resource block, the second SCS is the SCS of the first common signal, the SCS of the first common signal is the same as the SCS of the second common signal, the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal, and Z is a positive integer.

[0252] In one possible design, the processing unit 1510 is used to send the second common signal through the transceiver unit 1520.

[0253] In one possible design, the Z frequency domain units are Z frequency domain units under the second SCS.

[0254] In one possible design, the first common signal carries a first offset, the second common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined; the first offset is the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the second common resource block, and the first offset is also the offset of the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal relative to the starting frequency domain position of the first common resource block. The first common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the first common signal is located, and the second common resource block is the common resource block where the starting frequency domain position of the second common signal is located.

[0255] In one possible design, the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal at least partially overlap.

[0256] A more detailed description of the processing unit 1510 and the transceiver unit 1520 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant description in the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0257] As shown in Figure 16, communication device 1600 includes a processor 1610 and an interface circuit 1620. Processor 1610 and interface circuit 1620 are coupled to each other. It will be appreciated that interface circuit 1620 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, communication device 1600 may further include a memory 1630 for storing instructions executed by processor 1610, input data required by processor 1610 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 1610 after executing instructions.

[0258] When the communication device 1600 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 7 , the processor 1610 is used to implement the functions of the processing unit 1510 , and the interface circuit 1620 is used to implement the functions of the transceiver unit 1520 .

[0259] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0260] In this application, another example of a device is provided, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being coupled, the at least one memory being used to store instructions. When the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the communication device executes the method in the above embodiment. Taking the communication device including a processor and a memory as an example, as shown in Figure 16, the communication device 1600 includes a processor 1610 and a memory 1630. The processor 1610 and the memory 1630 are coupled, and the memory 1630 stores instructions. When the instructions stored in the memory 1630 are executed by the processor 1610, the communication device 1600 executes the method executed by the terminal device or base station in the above embodiment.

[0261] 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 disk, mobile hard disk, 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 storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in the above-mentioned terminal device or base station. The processor and storage medium can also exist in the terminal device or base station as discrete components.

[0262] 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 program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present 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.

[0263] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0264] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0265] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving a first common signal; Determining a starting frequency-domain position of a first common resource block according to a frequency-domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration; wherein, the first configuration indicates a frequency-domain position of a second common signal, the frequency-domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency-domain position of the second common signal, and the first common resource block is a common resource block where the starting frequency-domain position of the first common signal is located.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first configuration indicates frequency-domain positions of a plurality of common signals, and the frequency-domain positions of the plurality of common signals include the frequency-domain position of the first common signal and the frequency-domain position of the second common signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Determining a starting frequency-domain position of a first common resource block according to a frequency-domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration includes: Determining the starting frequency-domain position of the first common resource block according to the frequency-domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration, and a first offset; wherein, the first offset is an offset of a starting frequency-domain position of the second common signal relative to a starting frequency-domain position of a second common resource block, and the second common resource block is a common resource block where the starting frequency-domain position of the second common signal is located.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first common signal carries the first offset, or the first offset is predefined.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, Determining a starting frequency-domain position of a first common resource block according to the frequency-domain position of the first common signal, the first configuration, and a first offset includes: Determining a third offset according to the first offset and a second offset, where the second offset indicates an offset of a starting frequency-domain position of the first common signal relative to a starting frequency-domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset is an offset of a starting frequency-domain position of the first common signal relative to a starting frequency-domain position of the first common resource block.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The third offset = (the first offset value + the second offset value) mod (C * X); where X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Determining a starting frequency-domain position of a first common resource block according to a frequency-domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration includes: Determining a third offset according to a second offset, where the second offset indicates an offset of a starting frequency-domain position of the first common signal relative to a starting frequency-domain position of the second common signal, and the third offset is an offset of a starting frequency-domain position of the first common signal relative to a starting frequency-domain position of the first common resource block.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The third offset = the second offset value mod (C * X); where X = max(1, 2 μ ), 2 μ is the ratio of the subcarrier spacing of the first common resource block to the subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and C is a constant.

9. The method according to claim 6 or 8, characterized in that The third offset is M, and M represents M subcarriers at a subcarrier spacing of the first common signal, and M is a non-negative integer.

10. The method according to any one of claims 2-9, characterized in that, Center frequencies of some or all of the plurality of common signals are located in the same synchronization grid.

11. The method according to any one of claims 2-10, characterized in that, The frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the transmission pattern composed of the plurality of common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the plurality of common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the plurality of common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the second common signal, the start frequency domain position of the second common signal, or the end frequency domain position of the second common signal.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that, There is at least an overlap between the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal.

13. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Transmitting a first common signal, wherein the start frequency domain position of the first common resource block is determined according to the frequency domain position of the first common signal and a first configuration; wherein, the first configuration indicates the frequency domain position of a second common signal, and the frequency domain position of the first common signal is different from the frequency domain position of the second common signal; the first common resource block is the common resource block where the start frequency domain position of the first common signal is located.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The first configuration indicates the frequency domain positions of a plurality of common signals, and the frequency domain positions of the plurality of common signals include the frequency domain position of the first common signal and the frequency domain position of the second common signal; Transmitting the first common signal includes: Transmitting the first common signal according to the first configuration.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, It further includes: Transmitting a third common signal, wherein the frequency domain position of the third common signal is the same as the frequency domain position of the first common signal, and there is no overlap between the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal; the third common resource block is the same as the first common resource block, and the third common resource block is the common resource block where the start frequency domain position of the third common signal is located.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13-15, characterized in that, There is at least a partial overlap between the time domain position of the first common signal and the time domain position of the second common signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14-16, characterized in that, The central frequency points of some or all of the plurality of common signals are located in the same synchronization grid.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14-17, characterized in that The frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the transmission pattern composed of the plurality of common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the common signal with the lowest frequency domain position among the plurality of common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the common signal with the highest frequency domain position among the plurality of common signals, or the frequency point of the synchronization grid is the central frequency point of the second common signal, the start frequency domain position of the second common signal, or the end frequency domain position of the second common signal.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a program, and when the program runs on the device, the device is enabled to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a program or an instruction, and when the program or the instruction is executed by the device, the device is enabled to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

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