Communication method, and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communication. Provided are a communication method, and an apparatus, which are used for reducing the impact of the measurement time of measurement gaps on data transmission between terminal devices and network devices. The method comprises: a terminal device receives first configuration information from a first network device, the first configuration information being used for configuring a plurality of time windows; and the terminal device performs data transmission within part or the whole of the duration of an overlapping interval of each time window and a measurement time interval, the measurement time interval being a time interval that the first network device configures to perform RRM on a second network device. Since the terminal device can perform data transmission within part or the whole of the duration of each overlapping interval, the impact of the measurement time interval of RRM on data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device can be reduced, thereby improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

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 202311871804.4 and application name “A communication method and device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application; this application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on April 2, 2024, with application number 202410398113.5 and application 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 wireless communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] In a mobile communication network, when a terminal device moves from the coverage area (cell) of one network device to the coverage area of ​​another network device, a network handover is required. Before the handover, the terminal device needs to perform radio resource measurement (RRM) on the neighboring network devices and determine the handover timing based on the measurement results.

[0005] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) proposed a measurement gap (MG) approach for performing RRM measurements on terminal devices. This method reserves a certain amount of time (the MG time) during which the terminal device performs RRM measurements and does not send or receive any data. Therefore, during the MG measurement time, the terminal device cannot communicate with the currently connected network device, reducing the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the connected network device. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing the impact of MG measurement time on data transmission between a terminal device and a network device.

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device. Taking the terminal device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receives first configuration information from a first network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows; the terminal device transmits data within part or all of the duration of the overlapping interval between the time window and the measurement time interval, where the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device for performing RRM measurements on the second network device.

[0008] Through the above method, the first network device can configure multiple time windows for the terminal device. When the time window conflicts with the measurement time interval, the terminal device transmits data within part or all of the overlapping time interval between the time window and the measurement time interval; compared to the method in which RRM measurement cannot be performed during the measurement time interval, since the terminal device can transmit data within part or all of the overlapping time interval, it can reduce the impact of the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement on the data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device, thereby improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0009] In one possible design, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0010] Through the above design, since the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different, the terminal device needs to adjust the receiver to the communication frequency point of the second network device for inter-frequency measurement when performing RRM measurement, and data cannot be transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device during the RRM measurement; or, since the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, but the frequency band range of communication between the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal (such as the synchronization signal block (SSB)) sent by the second network device, the terminal device needs to adjust the receiver to the sending frequency position corresponding to the downlink measurement signal of the second network device when performing RRM measurement, and data cannot be transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device during the RRM measurement; in this regard, when the time window conflicts with the measurement time interval, the terminal device of the present application transmits data within part or all of the time length in the overlapping interval, thereby reducing the impact of the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement on the data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device, and improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0011] In one possible design, the terminal device receives a measurement gap MG configuration message from the first network device, where the MG configuration message includes first configuration information.

[0012] Through the above design, the terminal device can receive the first configuration information carried by the first network device through the MG configuration message. The first configuration information for configuring multiple time windows is sent together with the MG configuration information. No additional signaling is required to send the first configuration information, which can reduce signaling overhead.

[0013] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of the period of the time window, the duration of each time window, and the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0014] In one possible design, the period of the time window is associated with the transmission period of the target business data, where the target business data is the business data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or, the duration of each time window is associated with the data packet delay budget PDB of the target business data.

[0015] Through the above design, the periods and durations of the multiple time windows are related to the target business data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device, and the multiple time windows configured by the first network device for the terminal device can be time periods when data is transmitted; based on this, the overlapping interval between the time window and the measurement time interval represents the time period when data transmission and RRM measurement conflict occur. The terminal device performs data transmission during part or all of this time period, which can avoid the terminal device being unable to perform data transmission due to RRM measurement, and can reduce the impact of the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement on the data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device, thereby improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0016] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of configuration information of discontinuous reception DRX, configuration information of semi-static scheduling SPS, and configuration information of configuration authorization CG.

[0017] Through the above design, the information included in the first configuration information can reuse the content of the DRX configuration information or the SPS configuration information or the CG configuration information, and the first network device does not need to send additional signaling to the terminal device separately, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0018] In one possible design, the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of DRX, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of SPS, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of CG.

[0019] In one possible design, the duration of each time window is the reception duration in the DRX configuration information, or the duration of each time window is associated with the number of physical uplink shared channel PUSCH opportunities within a period in the CG configuration information.

[0020] In one possible design, the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the DRX configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information.

[0021] In one possible design, the partial duration includes a duration corresponding to a first time interval in the overlapping interval, and the duration corresponding to the first time interval is smaller than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0022] Through the above design, the terminal device performs data transmission in the first time interval in the overlapping interval, and performs RRM measurement in other time periods in the overlapping interval except the first time interval, thereby reducing the impact of RRM measurement on data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0023] In one possible design, the start time of the first time interval is the start time of the overlapping interval; or, the end time of the first time interval is the end time of the overlapping interval.

[0024] In one possible design, the terminal device receives second configuration information from the first network device, where the second configuration information is used to configure the duration corresponding to the first time interval, or to configure the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval.

[0025] Through the above design, the first network device can flexibly configure the duration corresponding to the first time interval for data transmission in the overlapping interval for the terminal device.

[0026] In one possible design, the duration corresponding to the first time interval or the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval is predefined.

[0027] In one possible design, the partial duration includes durations corresponding to multiple second time intervals in the overlapping interval, and the sum of the durations corresponding to the multiple second time intervals is less than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0028] Through the above design, the terminal device can perform data transmission in multiple second time intervals in the overlapping interval, and perform RRM measurement in other time periods in the overlapping interval except for the multiple second time intervals, thereby reducing the impact of RRM measurement on data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0029] In one possible design, the terminal device receives third configuration information from the first network device, where the third configuration information is used to configure the periods of multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval.

[0030] Through the above design, the first network device can flexibly configure the periods of multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval for the terminal device.

[0031] In one possible design, the periods of the multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval are predefined.

[0032] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a first network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the first network device. Taking the first network device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the first network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device; the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows, part or all of the duration in the overlapping interval between the time window and the measurement time interval is used for data transmission, and the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device to perform RRM measurement on the second network device.

[0033] In one possible design, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0034] In one possible design, the first network device sends a measurement gap MG configuration message to the terminal device, where the MG configuration message includes first configuration information.

[0035] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of the period of the time window, the duration of each time window, and the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0036] In one possible design, the period of the time window is associated with the transmission period of the target business data, where the target business data is the business data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or, the duration of each time window is associated with the data packet delay budget PDB of the target business data.

[0037] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of configuration information of discontinuous reception DRX, configuration information of semi-static scheduling SPS, and configuration information of configuration authorization CG.

[0038] In one possible design, the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of DRX, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of SPS, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of CG.

[0039] In one possible design, the duration of each time window is the reception duration in the DRX configuration information, or the duration of each time window is associated with the number of physical uplink shared channel PUSCH opportunities within a period in the CG configuration information.

[0040] In one possible design, the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the DRX configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information.

[0041] In one possible design, the partial duration includes a duration corresponding to a first time interval in the overlapping interval, and the duration corresponding to the first time interval is smaller than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0042] In one possible design, the start time of the first time interval is the start time of the overlapping interval; or, the end time of the first time interval is the end time of the overlapping interval.

[0043] In one possible design, the first network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used to configure the duration corresponding to the first time interval, or to configure the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval.

[0044] In one possible design, the duration corresponding to the first time interval or the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval is predefined.

[0045] In one possible design, the partial duration includes durations corresponding to multiple second time intervals in the overlapping interval, and the sum of the durations corresponding to the multiple second time intervals is less than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0046] In one possible design, the first network device sends third configuration information to the terminal device, where the third configuration information is used to configure the periods of multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval.

[0047] In one possible design, the periods of the multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval are predefined.

[0048] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the terminal device. Taking the terminal device executing the method as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receives first indication information from a first network device, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform RRM measurement in a measurement time interval after a target moment, where the target moment is a moment corresponding to a target duration delayed from the moment when the terminal device detects a triggering event; if the terminal device detects a triggering event, then RRM measurement is performed on the second network device in the measurement time interval after the target moment corresponding to the triggering event.

[0049] Through the above design, the terminal device performs RRM measurement according to the measurement time interval at a target time after detecting the trigger event; the terminal device does not perform RRM measurement within the target time after detecting the trigger time. During the target time, the terminal device can transmit data with the first network device. Therefore, when there is a time conflict between data transmission and RRM measurement, the terminal device can transmit data with the first network device, thereby ensuring the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0050] In one possible design, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0051] In one possible design, the triggering event includes at least one of the following: a time slot with PDSCH or PUSCH transmission, receipt of a first DCI for scheduling uplink data, and receipt of a second DCI for scheduling downlink data.

[0052] In one possible design, the terminal device receives second indication information from the first network device, and the second indication information is used to configure the length of the target duration.

[0053] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a first network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the first network device. Taking the first network device performing the method as an example, the method includes: the first network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform RRM measurement in a measurement time interval after a target time, where the target time is a time corresponding to a target duration delayed from the time when the terminal device detects a trigger event.

[0054] In one possible design, the triggering event includes at least one of the following: a time slot with PDSCH or PUSCH transmission, receipt of a first DCI for scheduling uplink data, and receipt of a second DCI for scheduling downlink data.

[0055] In one possible design, the first network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, and the second indication information is used to configure the length of the target duration.

[0056] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) applied to a terminal device. Taking the terminal device executing the method as an example, the method includes: the terminal device receives first configuration information from a first network device, and the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows; based on the multiple time windows, a target measurement time interval in multiple measurement time intervals is determined, and the target measurement time interval is deactivated; wherein, the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device to perform wireless resource measurement RRM on the second network device. Alternatively, the method includes: the terminal device receives first configuration information from a first network device, and the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows; based on the multiple time windows, a target measurement time interval in multiple measurement time intervals is determined, and the RRM measurement operation in the target measurement time interval is canceled or skipped; wherein, the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device to perform wireless resource measurement RRM on the second network device.

[0057] Through the above method, the first network device can configure multiple time windows for the terminal device. When the time window conflicts with the measurement time interval, the terminal device can determine the target measurement time interval in the multiple measurement time intervals and deactivate the target measurement time interval. The terminal device does not perform RRM measurement in the target measurement time interval of the deactivated state (or the terminal device cancels or skips the RRM measurement operation in the target measurement time interval). Accordingly, the terminal device can transmit data during part or all of the duration of the target measurement time interval; compared to the method in which data transmission cannot be performed during RRM measurement in the measurement time interval, the impact of the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement on the data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device can be reduced, thereby improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0058] In one possible design, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0059] Through the above design, since the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different, the terminal device needs to adjust the receiver to the communication frequency point of the second network device for heterofrequency measurement when performing RRM measurement, and data cannot be transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device during the RRM measurement; or, since the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, but the frequency band range of communication between the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal (such as SSB) sent by the second network device, the terminal device needs to adjust the receiver to the sending frequency position corresponding to the downlink measurement signal of the second network device when performing RRM measurement, and data cannot be transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device during the RRM measurement; in this regard, when the time window conflicts with the measurement time interval, the terminal device of the present application transmits data within part or all of the time length in the overlapping interval, thereby reducing the impact of the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement on the data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device, and improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0060] In one possible design, the terminal device receives a measurement gap MG configuration message from the first network device, where the MG configuration message includes first configuration information.

[0061] Through the above design, the terminal device can receive the first configuration information carried by the first network device through the MG configuration message. The first configuration information for configuring multiple time windows is sent together with the MG configuration information. No additional signaling is required to send the first configuration information, which can reduce signaling overhead.

[0062] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of the period of the time window, the duration of each time window, and the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0063] In one possible design, the period of the time window is associated with the transmission period of the target business data, where the target business data is the business data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or, the duration of each time window is associated with the data packet delay budget PDB of the target business data.

[0064] Through the above design, the periods and durations of the multiple time windows are related to the target business data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device, and the multiple time windows configured by the first network device for the terminal device can be time periods when data is transmitted; based on this, the overlapping interval between the time window and the measurement time interval represents the time period when data transmission and RRM measurement conflict occur. The terminal device performs data transmission during part or all of this time period, which can avoid the terminal device being unable to perform data transmission due to RRM measurement, and can reduce the impact of the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement on the data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device, thereby improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0065] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of configuration information of discontinuous reception DRX, configuration information of semi-static scheduling SPS, and configuration information of configuration authorization CG.

[0066] Through the above design, the information included in the first configuration information can reuse the content of the DRX configuration information or the SPS configuration information or the CG configuration information, and the first network device does not need to send additional signaling to the terminal device separately, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0067] In one possible design, the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of DRX, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of SPS, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of CG.

[0068] In one possible design, the duration of each time window is the reception duration in the DRX configuration information, or the duration of each time window is associated with the number of physical uplink shared channel PUSCH opportunities within a period in the CG configuration information.

[0069] In one possible design, the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the DRX configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information.

[0070] In one possible design, the terminal device determines the target measurement time interval based on the overlapping interval of multiple time windows and multiple measurement time intervals.

[0071] Optionally, the overlapping interval included in the target measurement time interval meets the data transmission condition.

[0072] With the above design, the terminal device can select, according to the overlapping interval between the time window and the measurement time interval, a measurement time interval belonging to the overlapping interval that meets the data transmission condition as the target measurement time interval.

[0073] Optionally, the data transmission condition includes at least one of the following: the duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold, the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding measurement time interval is greater than a second threshold, and the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding time window is greater than a third threshold.

[0074] Through the above design, when the duration of the overlapping interval is greater than the first threshold, or the overlapping interval accounts for a large proportion of the measurement time interval or time window, it means that the measurement time interval to which the overlapping interval belongs has a greater impact on data transmission. Therefore, the measurement time interval to which the overlapping interval belongs is determined as the target measurement time interval for data transmission, which can reduce the impact on data transmission.

[0075] In one possible design, the terminal device receives fourth configuration information from the first network device, where the fourth configuration information is used to configure at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold. Alternatively, at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold is predefined.

[0076] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first network device or a module (such as a chip) applied to the first network device. Taking the first network device executing the method as an example, the method includes: the first network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device; the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows, and the multiple time windows are used to determine a target measurement time interval among multiple measurement time intervals, the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device to perform RRM measurement on the second network device, and the target measurement time interval is in a deactivated state (or the RRM measurement operation of the target measurement time interval is canceled or skipped).

[0077] In one possible design, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0078] In one possible design, the first network device sends a measurement gap MG configuration message to the terminal device, where the MG configuration message includes first configuration information.

[0079] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of the period of the time window, the duration of each time window, and the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0080] In one possible design, the period of the time window is associated with the transmission period of the target business data, where the target business data is the business data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or, the duration of each time window is associated with the data packet delay budget PDB of the target business data.

[0081] In one possible design, the first configuration information includes at least one of configuration information of discontinuous reception DRX, configuration information of semi-static scheduling SPS, and configuration information of configuration authorization CG.

[0082] In one possible design, the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of DRX, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of SPS, or the period of the time window is the period in the configuration information of CG.

[0083] In one possible design, the duration of each time window is the reception duration in the DRX configuration information, or the duration of each time window is associated with the number of physical uplink shared channel PUSCH opportunities within a period in the CG configuration information.

[0084] In one possible design, the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the DRX configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information, or the offset corresponding to the time window is the same as the offset in the CG configuration information.

[0085] In one possible design, the target measurement time interval includes an overlapping interval with the time window, and the overlapping interval meets the data transmission condition.

[0086] Optionally, the data transmission condition includes at least one of the following: the duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold, the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding measurement time interval is greater than a second threshold, and the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding time window is greater than a third threshold.

[0087] In one possible design, the first network device sends fourth configuration information to the terminal device, where the fourth configuration information is used to configure at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold.

[0088] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device or the first network device. The communication device may include a communication module and a processing module to perform any of the aforementioned aspects 1 to 6, or any possible implementation of the aforementioned aspects 1 to 6. The communication module is configured to perform transceiver operations, such as functions related to sending and receiving; the communication module may be referred to as a transceiver unit; optionally, the communication module includes a receiving module and a sending module. The processing module is configured to perform processing operations.

[0089] In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, the processing module may be one or more processors or processor cores, and the communication module may be an input / output circuit, an input / output interface, or an antenna port of the communication chip.

[0090] In another design, the communication module may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the communication module may be a transmitter and a receiver.

[0091] Optionally, the communication device further includes modules that can be used to execute any one of the first to sixth aspects above, or execute any possible implementation of the first to sixth aspects.

[0092] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be the aforementioned terminal device or the first network device. The communication device may include a processor and a memory to perform any of the above-mentioned aspects from the first to the sixth aspect, or to perform any possible implementation of the above-mentioned aspects from the first to the sixth aspect. Optionally, it also includes a transceiver, the memory is used to store a computer program or instruction, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program or instruction from the memory. When the processor executes the computer program or instruction in the memory, the communication device performs any of the above-mentioned aspects from the first to the sixth aspect, or to perform any possible implementation of the above-mentioned aspects from the first to the sixth aspect.

[0093] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0094] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0095] Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0096] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the aforementioned terminal device or the first network device. The communication device may include a processor to perform any of the aforementioned aspects 1 to 6, or any possible implementation of the aforementioned aspects 1 to 6. The processor is coupled to a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0097] In one implementation, when the communication device is a terminal device or a first network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0098] In another implementation, when the communication device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin, or related circuits on the chip or chip system. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0099] In the tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, any aspect of the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects, or any possible implementation method thereof, is implemented.

[0100] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product storing instructions is provided, which, when executed by a processor, implements any one of the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects, or any possible implementation manner thereof.

[0101] In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, implement any of the first to sixth aspects described above, or any possible implementation thereof. The communication device may be a system-on-a-chip. The system-on-a-chip may consist of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0102] In the thirteenth aspect, a communication system is also provided, which includes the terminal device described in the first aspect, third aspect or fifth aspect, and the first network device described in the second aspect, fourth aspect or sixth aspect.

[0103] In the fourteenth aspect, the present application also provides a chip, including a processor, which is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory, so that the chip can implement any aspect of the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects, or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0104] For each of the above-mentioned aspects from the second to the fourteenth aspect and the technical effects that may be achieved by each of the aspects, please refer to the above-mentioned description of the technical effects that can be achieved by various possible solutions in the first aspect or each aspect, and no further details will be given here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0105] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a configuration method of a measurement gap provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a VR / AR communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a service data transmission provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0109] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between service data transmission and measurement gaps provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0110] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0111] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of multiple time windows provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0112] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the positions of multiple time windows and multiple measurement time intervals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0113] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of the position of a first time interval in an overlapping interval provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0114] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the position of a first time interval in an overlapping interval provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0115] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the positions of multiple second time intervals in an overlapping interval provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0116] FIG12 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0117] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device performing RRM measurement according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0118] FIG14 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0119] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the positions of multiple time windows and multiple measurement time intervals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0120] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0121] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0122] In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the communication method and device provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0123] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system (such as the 5G new radio (NR) system), or to the long term evolution (LTE) system, or can also be applied to the next generation mobile communication system, such as the 6G mobile communication system or other similar communication systems. Other similar communication systems include, for example, vehicle to everything (V2X), Internet of Things (IoT) system, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, etc. IoT can be understood as IoT or wearable WiFi network based on wireless fidelity (WiFi). Wearable WiFi network refers to a WiFi network composed of a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) as a virtual access point and associated wearable devices. The embodiments of the present application are described with the 5G mobile communication system as an example. When the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are applied to other communication systems, the devices, components, modules, etc. in the embodiments can be replaced with corresponding devices, components, modules in other communication systems without limitation.

[0124] Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application, wherein a 5G mobile communication system is taken as an example, which may include a network device and at least one terminal device. Exemplarily, the network device may include a device (such as a core network device) in a 5G core network (such as 5GC) and a device (such as an access network device) in a 5G access network (such as NG-RAN) as shown in Figure 1. Among them, the access and mobility management function (AMF), the user plane function (UPF) and the session management function (SMF) are three network elements in the 5GC; the gNB (i.e., a 5G base station) and the ng-eNB (i.e., a 4G base station connected to the 5GC) are two network elements in the NG-RAN. The serving base station gNB of the terminal device is responsible for providing the user plane and control plane protocol functions of 5G NR for the terminal device; the serving base station ng-eNB of the terminal device is responsible for providing the user plane and control plane protocol functions of LTE for the terminal.

[0125] The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving network device scheduling and instruction information. The terminal device may be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with wireless connection capabilities, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device may be a terminal device; may be a module or unit that can be applied to the terminal device; or may be a device that can support the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device.

[0126] Terminal devices, also known as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations (MS), mobile terminals (MT), etc., are devices that include wireless communication capabilities (providing voice / data connectivity to users). For example, handheld devices with wireless connection capabilities or vehicle-mounted devices. Currently, some examples of terminal devices include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, and wireless terminals in smart homes. For example, wireless terminals in the IoV can be vehicle-mounted devices, complete vehicle equipment, vehicle-mounted modules, vehicles, etc. Wireless terminals in industrial control can be cameras, robots, etc. Wireless terminals in smart homes can be TVs, air conditioners, sweepers, speakers, set-top boxes, etc.

[0127] The access network device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a device in a wireless network. For example, the access network device may be a device deployed in a wireless access network to provide wireless communication functions for a terminal. For example, the access network device may be a radio access network (RAN) node that connects a terminal to a wireless network. In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the access network device may be an access network device; may be a module or unit that can be applied to the access network device; or may be a device that can support the access network device to implement the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the access network device or used in conjunction with the access network device.

[0128] Access network equipment includes, but is not limited to, evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP), or transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It may also be network equipment in a 5G mobile communication system. For example, a next generation NodeB (gNB) in an NR system, a transmission reception point (TRP), or a TP; or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G mobile communication system; or the network equipment may also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point. For example, BBU, or distributed unit (DU), etc.

[0129] In some deployments, a gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The CU implements some gNB functions, while the DU implements some gNB functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC), MAC, and physical (PHY) layers. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is converted from PHY layer information. Therefore, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling (such as RRC layer signaling) can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by both the DU and the AAU. It is understood that a network device can be a device including one or more of a CU node, a DU node, and an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into a network device in the RAN, or may be divided into a network device in the core network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0130] In one possible scenario, multiple RAN devices (or RAN nodes) collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0131] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application takes CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0132] The core network (CN) device involved in the embodiment of the present application provides an interface to the data network (DN) as a bearer network, providing terminal devices with communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and data service carrying. The core network device may include the following network elements: SMF network element, AMF network element, unified data management function (UDM) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, network repository function (NRF) and application function (AF) network element, etc. It should be noted that the above-mentioned core network may include one or more CN devices. Among them, the CN device can be a network element for performing the above-mentioned single network function or a network element for performing the above-mentioned multiple network functions. When a CN device is used to perform the above-mentioned multiple network functions, the CN device may include one or more functional modules for performing the above-mentioned multiple network functions. The functional module may be a software module or a hardware and software module, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0133] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more" refers to 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 represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and (or) c can represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b and c, where each of a, b, c can be an element itself, or a set containing one or more elements.

[0134] Throughout this application, the terms "exemplary," "in some embodiments," and "in other embodiments" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0135] In this application, the terms "of," "corresponding," and "relevant" may be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, unless the distinction is emphasized, the meanings they convey are the same. In the embodiments of this application, the terms "communication" and "transmission" may be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, unless the distinction is emphasized, the meanings they convey are the same. For example, "transmission" may include "send" and "receive" and may be either a noun or a verb.

[0136] In this application, "indication" may include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A.

[0137] It should be pointed out that the words "first", "second", etc. involved in the embodiments of the present application are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0138] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the application scenarios of the present application are introduced below. The application scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0139] In the following description of the embodiments of the present application, the network device is taken as an access network device as an example.

[0140] In a mobile communication network, when a terminal device moves from the coverage area (cell) of one network device to the coverage area of ​​another network device, network device switching is required. Before switching, the terminal device needs to measure the signals of the neighboring network devices and determine the switching timing based on the measurement results. The measurement is divided into intra-frequency measurement and inter-frequency measurement. Intra-frequency measurement means that the network device currently connected by the terminal device and the network device to be measured are on the same communication frequency (center frequency). Inter-frequency measurement means that the network device currently connected by the terminal device and the network device to be measured are not on the same communication frequency. If the terminal device needs to perform inter-frequency measurement, a simple way is to install two RF receivers in the terminal device to measure the communication frequency of the currently connected network device and the communication frequency of the network device to be measured respectively, but this will increase costs and cause interference between different frequencies. During co-frequency measurement, if the transmission frequency position of the measurement signal of the co-frequency cell to be measured, including the SSB and the channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), is outside the current communication frequency band of the terminal device, the terminal device also needs to switch the communication frequency. If the transmission frequency position of the measurement signal of the co-frequency cell to be measured, including the SSB and the CSI-RS, is within the current communication frequency band of the terminal device, the terminal device can perform RRM measurement while sending and receiving data without affecting data transmission. Therefore, 3GPP proposed the measurement gap method, which reserves a portion of time (i.e., MG time). During this time, the terminal device will not transmit data, but will tune the receiver to the communication frequency corresponding to the RRM measurement to perform RRM measurement. At the end of the measurement gap, it will switch to the currently connected network device. The duration during which the terminal device suspends communication with the currently connected network device and performs RRM measurement on the network device to be measured is called a measurement gap.

[0141] For RRM measurement, the network device to which the terminal device accesses (hereinafter collectively referred to as the first network device) may send an MG configuration message to the terminal device, where the MG configuration message includes configuration information for the measurement gap.

[0142] The configuration information of the measurement gap includes at least one of the following information:

[0143] Measurement Gap Repetition Period (MGRP): Specifies the gap period. MGRP values ​​can include 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, and 160ms. For example, if the MGRP value is 40ms, the gap repeats every four frames within 40ms.

[0144] GapOffset: This is defined as the offset for the gap mode. The offset value indicates the starting subframe within a period and ranges from 0 to MGRP-1. For example, if the MGRP value is 20ms, the offset range for the measurement gap is 0 to 19.

[0145] Measurement gap length (MGL): The measurement duration (also known as the measurement time interval) refers to the duration of RRM measurements within a measurement interval repetition period. MGL values ​​can be expressed in milliseconds, such as 1.5ms, 3ms, 3.5ms, 4ms, 5.5ms, and 6ms. For positioning measurements, for example, MGL values ​​can be 10ms or 20ms.

[0146] As shown in FIG2 , the configuration of the measurement gap has a measurement gap repetition period MGRP of 40 ms, a measurement gap length MGL of 4 ms, and an offset gapOffset of 24 ms.

[0147] Some gap patterns are predefined in the 3GPP protocol. The terminal device can send capability reporting information to the first network device, and the capability reporting information can include one or more gap patterns supported by the terminal device. Optionally, the gap patterns predefined in the 3GPP protocol can be as shown in Table 1.

[0148] Table 1

[0149] If the terminal device tunes the receiver to the communication frequency of the network device to be measured (hereinafter referred to as the second network device) when performing RRM measurement, or tunes the receiver to the communication frequency corresponding to the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device, the terminal device will not be able to transmit data with the currently connected network device during the MG duration. However, with the continuous development of 5G communication systems, data transmission latency continues to decrease, and transmission capacity is increasing. 5G communication systems are gradually infiltrating some multimedia services with strong real-time requirements and large data capacity requirements, such as video transmission, cloud gaming (CG) and extended reality (XR), among which XR includes virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR and AR introduce the concepts and technologies of cloud computing and cloud rendering into VR / AR business applications. With the help of high-speed and stable networks, the display output and sound output of the cloud are encoded and compressed and transmitted to the terminal device, realizing the cloud-based VR / AR business content and rendering, and VR / AR terminal devices can also meet the requirements of lightweight and mobility. As shown in the architectural diagram of the VR / AR communication network in Figure 3, VR / AR terminal devices are connected to the cloud through base stations or other access points to obtain VR / AR services from the cloud.

[0150] For XR transmission services and video transmission services, their service data usually arrives periodically based on the frame rate. As shown in Figure 4, for a video with a frame rate of 60 frames per second (FPS), ideally, one frame arrives every 16.67 milliseconds. XR transmission services and video transmission services have high latency requirements. For example, for XR transmission services, the one-way latency of air interface downlink transmission must be within 10ms to 15ms. Otherwise, the user side will not be able to receive the XR video frame on time, resulting in screen freezes and affecting the user experience.

[0151] Taking the XR transmission service as an example, the XR service data arrival period is non-integer. For example, the frame arrival periods of XR video at 30 frames per second (FPS), 60 FPS, and 90 FPS are 1 / 30s, 1 / 60s, and 1 / 90s, respectively. The XR service arrival period does not match the MG period, so the XR service data transmission will conflict with the measurement gap. As shown in Figure 5, taking the XR video frame rate of 60 FPS as an example, an XR video frame arrives every 16.67 milliseconds, and the packet delay budget (PDB) can be 10ms. Taking the MGL value of 6ms and the MGRP value of 40ms in the measurement gap configuration information as an example, since the terminal device cannot transmit data during the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement, the transmission of 2 out of every 6 XR video frames will be affected.

[0152] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and apparatus, wherein a terminal device performs data transmission with the first network device according to multiple time windows configured by the currently connected first network device, within part or all of the duration of the overlap between the time window and the measurement time interval corresponding to the MG. The multiple time windows configured by the first network device can be time windows with data transmission, thereby avoiding the terminal device from being unable to perform data transmission in the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is further described in detail below with reference to FIG6.

[0153] As shown in FIG6 , an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may specifically include the following steps:

[0154] Step 600: The terminal device receives first configuration information from a first network device.

[0155] Correspondingly, the first network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

[0156] The first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows.

[0157] Optionally, the multiple time windows configured in the first configuration information may be time intervals for data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0158] Step 601: The terminal device transmits data during a portion or all of the duration of the overlapping interval between the time window and the measurement time interval.

[0159] Optionally, the terminal device receives an MG configuration message sent by the first network device, and the MG configuration message includes configuration information of the measurement gap; the terminal device determines, based on the configuration information of the measurement gap, multiple measurement time intervals configured by the first network device for the terminal device, wherein the measurement time interval is a time interval for the terminal device to perform RRM measurements on the second network device.

[0160] The terminal device determines overlapping intervals of the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals configured by the first network device; wherein the number of overlapping intervals can be one or more.

[0161] When there are multiple overlapping intervals, the terminal device can transmit data within part or all of the duration of some overlapping intervals in the multiple overlapping intervals (optionally, another part of the overlapping intervals in the multiple overlapping intervals can be used for RRM measurement), or the terminal device can transmit data within part or all of the duration of each overlapping interval.

[0162] Among them, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0163] The solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario of heterofrequency measurement. For example, the communication frequency of the first network device and the second network device is different. In the scenario of heterofrequency measurement, compared with the way in which the terminal device cannot perform data transmission when performing heterofrequency measurement on the second network device during the measurement time interval, the terminal device can perform data transmission in part or all of the overlapping intervals of the multiple time windows and the measurement time interval (the time interval in which data transmission conflicts with RRM measurement) according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device, thereby avoiding the inability to perform data transmission due to the conflict between the time interval of data transmission and the measurement time interval.

[0164] In addition, the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to the scenario of same-frequency measurement, but the frequency band range of communication between the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device. For example, the communication frequency of the first network device and the second network device is the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for RRM measurement of the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device. In this scenario, compared with the method in which the terminal device cannot perform data transmission when measuring the downlink measurement signal of the second network device during the measurement time interval, the terminal device can perform data transmission in part or all of the overlapping intervals of the multiple time windows and the measurement time interval (the time interval in which data transmission conflicts with RRM measurement) according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device, thereby avoiding the inability to perform data transmission due to the conflict between the time interval of data transmission and the measurement time interval.

[0165] In the following description, the method in which the first network device configures multiple time windows for the terminal device is first introduced.

[0166] The first network device sends first configuration information to the terminal device, and configures multiple time windows for the terminal device through the first configuration information.

[0167] Optionally, the multiple time windows configured by the first network device for the terminal device may be periodic time windows.

[0168] The first configuration information may include at least one of the following information:

[0169] The period of the time window, the duration of each time window, and the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0170] Among them, the period of the time window is the time interval between two adjacent time windows (for example, the time interval between the start moments of two adjacent time windows, or the time interval between the end moments of two adjacent time windows); the duration of the time window is the length of the time window; the offset corresponding to the time window is used to characterize the starting position of the time window within the period.

[0171] For example, as shown in FIG7 , the period of the time windows is 16.67 ms, the duration of each time window is 10 ms, and the offset corresponding to the time window is 0.

[0172] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device can configure the first configuration information for the terminal device in a variety of different ways.

[0173] Method 1: The first network device configures the first configuration information for the terminal device through target signaling.

[0174] Optionally, the target signaling may be an MG configuration message.

[0175] The first network device sends an MG configuration message to the terminal device, where the MG configuration message includes the first configuration information. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the MG configuration message from the first network device.

[0176] It should be understood that the MG configuration message may also include measurement gap configuration information; for example, the measurement gap configuration information may include at least one of a measurement gap repetition period, an offset corresponding to the measurement gap, and a measurement gap length.

[0177] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the first network device may also carry the first configuration information through other signaling, and the other signaling may be existing signaling, or may also carry the first configuration information through newly added signaling.

[0178] In a possible implementation, the first network device may determine the period of the time window and the duration of each time window according to the target service data transmitted between the first network device and the terminal device.

[0179] Exemplarily, the period of the time window is associated with the transmission period of the target business data; and / or, the duration of each time window is associated with the PDB of the target business data. For example, the target business data transmitted between the first network device and the terminal device is XR business data, and the frame rate of the XR business data is 60FPS; the first network device determines that the period of the time window can be 16.67ms, which is the arrival period of the video frame of the XR business data. The first network device determines that the duration of the time window is no greater than the PDB of the XR business data. When the PDB of the XR business data is 10ms, the first network device determines that the duration of the time window is no greater than 10ms.

[0180] Mode 2: The information in the first configuration information can reuse other air interface parameters.

[0181] In this manner, the first network device can agree with the terminal device that the information in the first configuration information reuses other air interface parameters.

[0182] For the period of the time window in the first configuration information:

[0183] Exemplarily, the period of the time window in the first configuration information may reuse the period in discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration information.

[0184] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network device sends DRX configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DRX configuration information sent by the first network device. The terminal device can use the period in the DRX configuration information as the period of the time window.

[0185] As another example, the period of the time window in the first configuration information may reuse the period in semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration information.

[0186] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device sends SPS configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the SPS configuration information sent by the first network device. The terminal device can use the period in the SPS configuration information as the period of the time window.

[0187] As another example, the period of the time window in the first configuration information may reuse the period in the configured grant (CG) configuration information.

[0188] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network device sends CG configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the CG configuration information sent by the first network device. The terminal device can use the period in the CG configuration information as the period of the time window.

[0189] For the duration of the time window in the first configuration information:

[0190] Exemplarily, the duration of the time window in the first configuration information may be the reception duration in the DRX configuration information. The terminal device may use the reception duration in the DRX configuration information as the duration of the time window.

[0191] As another example, the duration of the time window in the first configuration information may be related to the number of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) opportunities within a period in the CG configuration information; for example, the duration of the time window in the first configuration information may be the duration corresponding to the number of PUSCH opportunities within a period in the CG configuration information.

[0192] For the offset corresponding to the time window in the first configuration information:

[0193] Exemplarily, the offset corresponding to the time window in the first configuration information may be an offset parameter in the DRX configuration information. The terminal device may use the offset parameter in the DRX configuration information as the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0194] As another example, the offset corresponding to the time window in the first configuration information may be an offset parameter in the SPS configuration information. The terminal device may use the offset parameter in the SPS configuration information as the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0195] As another example, the offset corresponding to the time window in the first configuration information may be the offset parameter in the CG configuration information. The terminal device may use the offset parameter in the CG configuration information as the offset corresponding to the time window.

[0196] After receiving the first configuration information, the terminal device transmits data during part or all of the duration of the overlapping interval between each time window and the measurement time interval according to the multiple time windows configured in the first configuration information. The following description details the duration of data transmission determined by the terminal device within the overlapping interval.

[0197] The terminal device determines overlapping intervals between the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows configured by the first configuration information and the configuration information of the measurement gap. The number of overlapping intervals determined by the terminal device may be one or more.

[0198] As shown in FIG8 , the positions of the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals, and the overlapping intervals of the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals may be shown as time interval A and time interval B.

[0199] As an optional implementation manner, after determining that the overlapping interval meets the data transmission condition, the terminal device may perform data transmission within a portion or all of the duration of the overlapping interval that meets the data transmission condition.

[0200] The data transmission conditions include at least one of the following:

[0201] Data transmission condition 1: The duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold.

[0202] Data transmission condition 2: the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding measurement time interval is greater than the second threshold;

[0203] Data transmission condition 3: the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding time window is greater than a third threshold.

[0204] For example, the overlapping interval m is the overlapping interval of the time window a0 and the measurement time interval b0, and the measurement time interval to which the overlapping interval m belongs is the measurement time interval b0.

[0205] Based on this optional implementation, if the terminal device determines that the overlapping interval meets the above-mentioned data transmission conditions, it can perform data transmission during part or all of the duration of the overlapping interval. For overlapping intervals that do not meet the above-mentioned data transmission conditions, the terminal device can optionally not perform data transmission, but instead perform RRM measurements during the measurement time interval to which the overlapping interval belongs.

[0206] Exemplarily, the above-mentioned first threshold can be configured or predefined for the first network device; the above-mentioned second threshold can be configured or predefined for the first network device; the above-mentioned third threshold can be configured or predefined for the first network device; the above-mentioned second threshold can be configured or predefined for the first network device.

[0207] When the terminal device performs data transmission in a portion of the overlapping interval, the terminal device may determine the portion of the overlapping interval in the following manners. Different determination manners are described below.

[0208] Determination method 1: the partial duration includes the duration corresponding to a first time interval in the overlapping interval.

[0209] The duration corresponding to the first time interval is shorter than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0210] In this determination manner, the terminal device determines a continuous time interval from the overlapping intervals as the first time interval.

[0211] Optionally, the duration corresponding to the first time interval may be configured or predefined by the first network device; or the terminal device may determine the duration corresponding to the first time interval based on ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval, where the ratio information may be configured or predefined by the first network device. Each of these is explained below.

[0212] 1. The first network device sends second configuration information to the terminal device.

[0213] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second configuration information from the first network device.

[0214] The second configuration information is used to configure the duration corresponding to the first time interval, or to configure the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval.

[0215] In the case where the second configuration information is used to configure the duration corresponding to the first time interval, the terminal device can determine the duration corresponding to the first time interval based on the duration configured by the second configuration information.

[0216] When the second configuration information is used to configure the ratio information of the first time interval and the overlapping interval, after determining the overlapping interval, the terminal device can determine the duration corresponding to the first time interval based on the ratio information configured in the second configuration information and the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0217] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device configures the duration corresponding to the first time interval for the terminal device, or configures the ratio information of the first time interval to the overlapping interval. The first network device can reasonably configure the duration or ratio information corresponding to the first time interval based on the type of service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device. For example, when the service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device has high latency requirements, the duration corresponding to the first time interval configured by the first network device for the terminal device can be longer, or the first time interval configured by the first network device for the terminal device can account for a larger proportion of the overlapping interval.

[0218] 2. The duration corresponding to the first time interval or the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval is predefined.

[0219] In a case where the duration corresponding to the first time interval is predefined, the terminal device determines the duration corresponding to the predefined first time interval.

[0220] When the ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval is predefined, after determining the overlapping interval, the terminal device can determine the duration corresponding to the first time interval according to the predefined ratio information and the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0221] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may use a period of time at any position in the overlapping interval as the first time interval. For example, the terminal device may use a period of time at the beginning of the overlapping interval as the first time interval, or the terminal device may use a period of time at the end of the overlapping interval as the first time interval, or the terminal device may use a period of time in the middle of the overlapping interval as the first time interval.

[0222] Exemplarily, the starting time of the first time interval is the starting time of the overlapping interval, and the position of the first time interval in the overlapping interval is shown in Figure 9. The terminal device can transmit data in the first time interval, and the terminal device measures the downlink measurement signal of the second network device in the time interval after the first time interval in the overlapping interval.

[0223] As another example, the end time of the first time interval is the end time of the overlapping interval, and the position of the first time interval in the overlapping interval is shown in Figure 10. The terminal device can transmit data in the first time interval, and the terminal device measures the downlink measurement signal of the second network device in the time interval before the first time interval in the overlapping interval.

[0224] Determination method 2: the partial duration includes durations corresponding to multiple second time intervals in the overlapping interval.

[0225] The sum of the durations corresponding to the multiple second time intervals is smaller than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

[0226] In this determination manner, the terminal device may determine a plurality of discontinuous second time intervals from the overlapping interval as a portion of the duration for data transmission in the overlapping interval.

[0227] In the embodiment of the present application, the multiple second time intervals included in the overlapping interval may be multiple periodic time intervals, or the multiple second time intervals included in the overlapping interval may also be multiple non-periodic time intervals.

[0228] The following description is made by taking as an example a case where the plurality of second time intervals included in the overlapping interval are a plurality of periodic time intervals.

[0229] Optionally, the periods of the multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval may be configured or predefined by the first network device, which will be described below.

[0230] 1. The first network device sends third configuration information to the terminal device.

[0231] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third configuration information from the first network device.

[0232] The third configuration information is used to configure the periods of the multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval.

[0233] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device configures the period of multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval to the terminal device. The first network device can reasonably configure the period of multiple second time intervals and / or the duration corresponding to each second time interval based on the type of service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device. For example, when the service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device has high latency requirements, the period of the second time interval configured by the first network device for the terminal device can be shorter, and the duration corresponding to each second time interval can be longer.

[0234] 2. The periods of the plurality of second time intervals and / or each second time interval are predefined.

[0235] For example, as shown in FIG11 , the terminal device may use multiple periodic second time intervals in the overlapping interval as a portion of the duration for data transmission in the overlapping interval. The terminal device may perform data transmission in the multiple second time intervals in the overlapping interval, and the terminal device may measure the downlink measurement signal of the second network device in a time interval outside the multiple second time intervals in the overlapping interval.

[0236] Based on the above-mentioned scheme provided in the embodiment of the present application, when there is business data that needs to be transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device, and the terminal device needs to tune the receiver to the communication frequency corresponding to the RRM measurement for RRM measurement (for example, in the inter-frequency measurement scenario, the receiver is tuned to the communication frequency of the second network device; for example, the first network device and the second network device have the same frequency, but the frequency band of the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device, the receiver is tuned to the communication frequency of the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device), the terminal device transmits data according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device within part or all of the overlapping intervals of the multiple time windows and the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement (as shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11, a part of the overlapping interval is used for data transmission), thereby avoiding the problem that the terminal device cannot perform data transmission in the measurement time interval of the RRM measurement, and improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0237] The present application also provides a communication method and apparatus, wherein, after a terminal device detects a triggering event, it delays a certain period of time after detecting the triggering event and then performs RRM measurement according to a measurement time interval; and within the certain period of time after detecting the triggering event, the terminal device can transmit data with the first network device. The communication method provided in the present application embodiment is further described in detail below with reference to FIG12.

[0238] As shown in FIG12 , an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may specifically include the following steps:

[0239] Step 1200: The terminal device receives first indication information from the first network device.

[0240] Correspondingly, the first network device sends first indication information to the terminal device.

[0241] Among them, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform RRM measurement in a measurement time interval after the target time, and the target time is the time corresponding to the target duration delayed from the time when the terminal device detects the trigger event.

[0242] Exemplarily, the first indication information may indicate, by means of a displayed indication, that the terminal device performs RRM measurements in a measurement time interval after the target moment. Alternatively, the first indication information may indicate, by means of an implicit indication, that the terminal device performs RRM measurements in a measurement time interval after the target moment; for example, when the terminal device has the function of performing RRM measurements in a measurement time interval after the target moment, the first network device may indicate to the terminal device to enable the function through the first indication information.

[0243] Step 1201: If the terminal device detects a triggering event, RRM measurement is performed on the second network device during a measurement time interval after the target time corresponding to the triggering event.

[0244] Optionally, the trigger event of the embodiment of the present application can be used to indicate that there is data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0245] Among them, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0246] The solution provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario of heterofrequency measurement. For example, the communication frequency of the first network device is different from that of the second network device. In the scenario of heterofrequency measurement, compared with the method in which the terminal device cannot transmit data when performing heterofrequency measurement on the second network device during the measurement time interval, after detecting a trigger event indicating data transmission, the terminal device performs heterofrequency measurement according to the measurement time interval at a moment after the target time length after the trigger event is detected; the terminal device does not perform heterofrequency measurement within the target time length after the trigger time is detected, and the terminal device can transmit data with the first network device within the target time length, so that when data transmission and heterofrequency measurement conflict in time, the terminal device can transmit data between the first network device to ensure the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0247] In addition, the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to the scenario of same-frequency measurement, but the frequency band range of the communication between the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device. For example, the communication frequency of the first network device and the second network device is the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for RRM measurement of the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device. In this scenario, compared with the method in which the terminal device cannot perform data transmission when measuring the downlink measurement signal of the second network device during the measurement time interval, after detecting a trigger event indicating data transmission, the terminal device measures the downlink measurement signal of the second network device within the measurement time interval at a moment after the target time after the trigger event is detected; the terminal device does not measure the downlink measurement signal of the second network device within the target time after the trigger time is detected, and the terminal device can perform data transmission with the first network device within the target time, so that when data transmission and RRM measurement conflict in time, the terminal device can perform data transmission between the first network device and the terminal device to ensure the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0248] Optionally, the triggering event in the embodiment of the present application includes at least one of the following events:

[0249] There is a time slot for PDSCH or PUSCH transmission, first downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling uplink data is received, and second DCI for scheduling downlink data is received.

[0250] Among them, when the triggering event is a time slot with physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission, it indicates that there is downlink data sent by the first network device to the terminal device; then the terminal device performs RRM measurement according to the measurement time interval after the target duration after the time slot with PDSCH transmission. As shown in Figure 13, the terminal device performs RRM measurement according to the measurement time interval after the target duration T after the time slot with PDSCH transmission, and does not perform RRM measurement in the measurement time interval within the target duration T.

[0251] When the triggering event is a time slot with PUSCH transmission, it indicates that the terminal device sends uplink data to the first network device; then the terminal device performs RRM measurement according to the measurement time interval after the target length of time after the time slot with PUSCH transmission.

[0252] When the triggering event is the receipt of a first DCI for scheduling uplink data, indicating that the terminal device is sending uplink data to the first network device on the resources indicated by the first DCI; the terminal device then performs RRM measurement according to the measurement time interval after the target duration after the time slot in which the first DCI is received. Exemplarily, the format of the first DCI can be DCI 0_1 or DCI 0_0.

[0253] When the triggering event is receipt of a second DCI for scheduling uplink data, indicating that the first network device is sending downlink data to the terminal device on the resources indicated by the second DCI; the terminal device then performs RRM measurement according to the measurement time interval after the target duration after the timeslot in which the second DCI is received. Exemplarily, the format of the second DCI can be DCI 1_1 or DCI 1_0.

[0254] In the embodiment of the present application, the length of the target duration may be configured by the first network device, or the length of the target duration may be predefined.

[0255] Optionally, when the length of the target duration is configured for the first network device, the first network device sends second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to configure the length of the target duration.

[0256] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the second indication information from the first network device and determines the length of the target duration according to the second indication information.

[0257] In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device can reasonably configure the length of the target duration according to the data type of the service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device, thereby ensuring the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0258] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method and apparatus, in which a terminal device determines a target measurement time interval from multiple measurement time intervals corresponding to the MG based on multiple time windows configured for the first network device currently accessed, and deactivates the target measurement time interval. Since RRM measurement is not performed in the target measurement time interval, the terminal device can transmit data within part or all of the duration of the target measurement time interval.

[0259] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is further described in detail below with reference to FIG14 .

[0260] As shown in FIG14 , an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may specifically include the following steps:

[0261] Step 1400: The terminal device receives first configuration information from the first network device.

[0262] Correspondingly, the first network device sends the first configuration information to the terminal device.

[0263] The first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows.

[0264] Optionally, the multiple time windows configured in the first configuration information may be time intervals for data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0265] Step 1401: The terminal device determines a target measurement time interval among multiple measurement time intervals according to multiple time windows, and deactivates the target measurement time interval.

[0266] The measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device for performing RRM on the second network device.

[0267] Optionally, the terminal device receives an MG configuration message sent by the first network device, where the MG configuration message includes configuration information of the measurement gap; the terminal device determines multiple measurement time intervals configured by the first network device for the terminal device based on the configuration information of the measurement gap.

[0268] The terminal device may determine a target measurement time interval among multiple measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device.

[0269] Optionally, the terminal device determines a target measurement time interval among the multiple measurement time intervals based on overlapping intervals between the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals; wherein the overlapping intervals included in the target measurement time interval meet the data transmission condition.

[0270] The terminal device deactivates the target measurement time interval, which can also be called the terminal device canceling or skipping the RRM measurement operation in the target measurement time interval; it can be understood that the terminal device does not perform RRM measurement in the target measurement time interval.

[0271] In an embodiment of the present application, the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM measurement on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0272] The solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario of heterofrequency measurement. For example, the communication frequency of the first network device is different from that of the second network device. In the scenario of heterofrequency measurement, compared with the way in which the terminal device cannot perform data transmission when performing heterofrequency measurement on the second network device during the measurement time interval, the terminal device can determine the target measurement time interval in multiple measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device, and deactivate the target measurement time interval; since the terminal device does not perform RRM measurement in the target measurement time interval, the terminal device can perform data transmission within part or all of the duration of the target measurement time interval, which can avoid the inability to perform data transmission due to the conflict between the time interval for data transmission and the measurement time interval.

[0273] In addition, the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to the scenario of same-frequency measurement, but the frequency band range of communication between the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device. For example, the communication frequency of the first network device and the second network device is the same, and the sending frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for RRM measurement of the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device. In this scenario, compared with the method in which the terminal device cannot perform data transmission when measuring the downlink measurement signal of the second network device in the measurement time interval, the terminal device can determine the target measurement time interval in multiple measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device, and deactivate the target measurement time interval; since the terminal device does not perform RRM measurement in the target measurement time interval, the terminal device can perform data transmission within part or all of the target measurement time interval, which can avoid the inability to perform data transmission due to the conflict between the data transmission time interval and the measurement time interval.

[0274] In the communication method shown in FIG14 , the manner in which the first network device configures multiple time windows for the terminal device can be referred to the manner in which the first network device configures multiple time windows for the terminal device described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0275] The following describes in detail how the terminal device determines the target measurement time interval.

[0276] The terminal device determines overlapping intervals between the time windows and the measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals configured by the first configuration information. The number of overlapping intervals determined by the terminal device may be one or more.

[0277] After determining the overlapping interval, the terminal device may determine whether the overlapping interval meets the data transmission condition. After the overlapping interval meets the data transmission condition, the terminal device determines the measurement time interval to which the overlapping interval belongs as the target measurement time interval.

[0278] The data transmission conditions include at least one of the following:

[0279] Data transmission condition 1: The duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold.

[0280] Data transmission condition 2: the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding measurement time interval is greater than the second threshold;

[0281] Data transmission condition 3: the duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the corresponding time window is greater than a third threshold.

[0282] For example, the overlapping interval m is the overlapping interval of the time window a0 and the measurement time interval b0, and the measurement time interval to which the overlapping interval m belongs is the measurement time interval b0.

[0283] Optionally, at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold can be configured for the first network device. Exemplarily, the first network device sends fourth configuration information to the terminal device; in response, the terminal device receives the fourth configuration information sent from the first network device; wherein the fourth configuration information is used to configure at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold.

[0284] Alternatively, at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold may be predefined.

[0285] Exemplarily, if the data transmission condition is that the duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold, as shown in FIG15 , the overlapping intervals of the multiple time windows and the multiple measurement time intervals include overlapping interval A and overlapping interval B. If the duration of overlapping interval A is not greater than the first threshold, and the duration of overlapping interval B is greater than the first threshold, the terminal device determines that the measurement time interval C to which overlapping interval B belongs is the target measurement time interval.

[0286] After the terminal device determines the target measurement time interval, the terminal device can deactivate (or cancel or skip) the target measurement time interval, and the terminal device does not perform RRM measurements within the target measurement time interval; or it can be understood that the terminal device can transmit data during part or all of the time in the target measurement time interval.

[0287] Based on the above-mentioned scheme provided in the embodiment of the present application, when there is business data that needs to be transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device, and the terminal device needs to tune the receiver to the communication frequency corresponding to the RRM measurement for RRM measurement (for example, in an inter-frequency measurement scenario, the receiver is tuned to the communication frequency of the second network device; for another example, the first network device and the second network device have the same frequency, but the frequency band of communication between the terminal device and the first network device does not cover the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device, the receiver is tuned to the communication frequency of the downlink measurement signal sent by the second network device), the terminal device determines the target measurement time interval in multiple measurement time intervals according to the multiple time windows configured by the first network device, and deactivates the target measurement time interval; since the terminal device does not perform RRM measurement in the target measurement time interval, the terminal device can perform data transmission within part or all of the duration of the target measurement time interval (such as performing data transmission within part or all of the duration of the measurement time interval c to which the overlapping interval B in Figure 15 belongs), thereby avoiding the problem that the terminal device cannot perform data transmission in the measurement time interval of RRM measurement, and improving the reliability of data transmission between the terminal device and the first network device.

[0288] Based on the same concept, referring to FIG16 , an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 1600, which includes a processing module 1601 and a communication module 1602. The communication device 1600 can be a terminal device, or a communication device applied to or used in conjunction with a terminal device, capable of implementing a communication method executed on the terminal device side; alternatively, the communication device 1600 can be a first network device, or a communication device applied to or used in conjunction with a first network device, capable of implementing a communication method executed on the first network device side.

[0289] The communication module may also be referred to as a transceiver module, transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. The processing module may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing unit, or processing device. Optionally, the communication module is used to perform the sending and receiving operations of the terminal device or the first network device in the above method. The device used to implement the receiving function in the communication module can be considered a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function in the communication module can be considered a sending unit. That is, the communication module includes a receiving unit and a sending unit.

[0290] When the communication device 1600 is applied to a terminal device, the processing module 1601 can be used to implement the processing function of the terminal device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 12 or Figure 14, and the communication module 1602 can be used to implement the transceiver function of the terminal device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 12 or Figure 14.

[0291] When the communication device 1600 is applied to the first network device, the processing module 1601 can be used to implement the processing function of the first network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 12 or Figure 14, and the communication module 1602 can be used to implement the sending and receiving function of the first network device in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 12 or Figure 14.

[0292] In addition, it should be noted that the aforementioned communication module and / or processing module can be implemented through virtual modules, for example, the processing module can be implemented through a software functional unit or a virtual device, and the communication module can be implemented through a software function or a virtual device. Alternatively, the processing module or the communication module can also be implemented through a physical device. For example, if the communication device is implemented using a chip / chip circuit, the communication module can be an input / output circuit and / or a communication interface that performs input operations (corresponding to the aforementioned receiving operations) and output operations (corresponding to the aforementioned sending operations); the processing module is an integrated processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit.

[0293] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0294] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1700. For example, the communication device 1700 can be a chip or a chip system. Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0295] The communication device 1700 can be used to implement the functions of the terminal device or the first network device described in the aforementioned embodiments. The communication device 1700 may include at least one processor 1710, which is coupled to a memory. Optionally, the memory may be located within the communication device, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be located outside the communication device. For example, the communication device 1700 may also include at least one memory 1720. The memory 1720 stores the necessary computer programs, computer programs or instructions and / or data for implementing any of the aforementioned embodiments; the processor 1710 may execute the computer program stored in the memory 1720 to complete the method in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0296] The communication device 1700 may also include a communication interface 1730, through which the communication device 1700 can exchange information with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface 1730 may be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, a pin, or another type of communication interface. When the communication device 1700 is a chip-type device or circuit, the communication interface 1730 in the communication device 1700 may also be an input / output circuit that can input information (or receive information) and output information (or send information). The processor is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit or logic circuit, and the processor can determine output information based on the input information.

[0297] The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 1710 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1720 and the communication interface 1730. The specific connection medium between the processor 1710, memory 1720, and communication interface 1730 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0298] Optionally, referring to FIG17 , the processor 1710, the memory 1720, and the communication interface 1730 are interconnected via a bus 1740. The bus 1740 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, FIG17 shows only one thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0299] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0300] In an embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device that can implement a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0301] Wherein: the communication device 1700 can be applied to a terminal device, and the specific communication device 1700 can be a terminal device, or a device that can support the terminal device to implement the terminal device function in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. The memory 1720 stores computer programs (or instructions) and / or data that implement the terminal device function in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. The processor 1710 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 1720 to complete the method executed by the terminal device in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. Applied to the terminal device, the communication interface in the communication device 1700 can be used to interact with other communication devices (such as the first network device and the second network device), send information to other communication devices, or receive information from other communication devices.

[0302] Wherein: the communication device 1700 can be applied to the first network device. Specifically, the communication device 1700 can be the first network device, or it can be a device that can support the first network device to implement the function of the first network device in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. The memory 1720 stores the computer program (or instruction) and / or data that implements the function of the first network device in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. The processor 1710 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 1720 to complete the method performed by the first network device in any of the above-mentioned embodiments. Applied to the first network device, the communication interface in the communication device 1700 can be used to interact with other communication devices (such as terminal devices) to send information to other communication devices or receive information from other communication devices.

[0303] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a terminal device, an access network device, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium.

[0304] In the embodiments of the present application, under the premise that there is no logical contradiction, the embodiments may reference each other, for example, the methods and / or terms between method embodiments may reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments may reference each other, for example, the functions and / or terms between device embodiments and method embodiments may reference each other.

[0305] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the embodiments of the present application and their equivalents, the embodiments of the present application are intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: Receiving first configuration information from a first network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows; Performing data transmission within some or all of the duration of the overlapping interval between the time window and a measurement time interval, where the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device for performing radio resource measurement (RRM) on a second network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The receiving the first configuration information from the first network device includes: Receiving a measurement gap (MG) configuration message from the first network device, where the first configuration information is included in the MG configuration message.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first configuration information includes at least one of a period of the time window, a duration of each time window, and an offset corresponding to the time window.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The period of the time window is associated with a transmission period of target service data, where the target service data is service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or The duration of each time window is associated with a packet delay budget (PDB) of the target service data.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The partial duration includes a duration corresponding to a first time interval within the overlapping interval, where the duration corresponding to the first time interval is less than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein A start moment of the first time interval is a start moment of the overlapping interval; or an end moment of the first time interval is an end moment of the overlapping interval.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving second configuration information from the first network device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a duration corresponding to the first time interval or to configure ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The partial duration includes durations corresponding to multiple second time intervals within the overlapping interval, where the sum of the durations corresponding to the multiple second time intervals is less than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The method further includes: Receiving third configuration information from the first network device, where the third configuration information is used to configure a period of the multiple second time intervals and / or a duration corresponding to each second time interval.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and a transmission frequency position of a downlink measurement signal for performing RRM on the second network device is outside a communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

11. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first network device, the method includes: Sending first configuration information to a terminal device; the first configuration information is used to configure multiple time windows, and some or all of the duration of the overlapping interval between the time window and a measurement time interval is used for data transmission, where the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device for performing radio resource measurement (RRM) on a second network device.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The sending the first configuration information to the terminal device includes: Sending a measurement gap (MG) configuration message to the terminal device, where the first configuration information is included in the MG configuration message.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that, The first configuration information includes at least one of a period of a time window, a duration of each time window, and an offset corresponding to the time window.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The period of the time window is associated with a transmission period of target service data, where the target service data is service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or The duration of each time window is associated with a packet delay budget (PDB) of the target service data.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that The partial duration includes a duration corresponding to a first time interval in the overlapping interval, and the duration corresponding to the first time interval is less than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein A start moment of the first time interval is a start moment of the overlapping interval; or an end moment of the first time interval is an end moment of the overlapping interval.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The method further includes: Sending second configuration information to the terminal device, where the second configuration information is used to configure a duration corresponding to the first time interval or to configure ratio information between the first time interval and the overlapping interval.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that, The partial duration includes durations corresponding to a plurality of second time intervals in the overlapping interval, and a sum of the durations corresponding to the plurality of second time intervals is less than the duration corresponding to the overlapping interval.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The method further includes: Sending third configuration information to the terminal device, where the third configuration information is used to configure a period of the plurality of second time intervals and / or a duration corresponding to each second time interval.

20. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19, characterized in that The communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and a transmission frequency position of a downlink measurement signal for performing RRM on the second network device is outside a communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

21. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: Receiving first indication information from a first network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device performs radio resource measurement (RRM) in a measurement time interval after a target moment, and the target moment is a moment corresponding to a target duration after a moment when the terminal device detects a trigger event; If a trigger event is detected, performing an RRM measurement on a second network device in a measurement time interval after a target moment corresponding to the trigger event.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The trigger event includes at least one of the following: a time slot in which a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is transmitted, receiving first downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling uplink data, and receiving second DCI for scheduling downlink data.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that The method further includes: Receiving second indication information from the first network device, where the second indication information is used to configure a length of the target duration.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, characterized in that, The communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and a transmission frequency position of a downlink measurement signal for performing RRM on the second network device is outside a communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

25. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first network device, the method includes: Send a first indication message to the terminal device. The first indication message is used to instruct the terminal device to perform radio resource measurement (RRM) in a measurement time interval after a target moment. The target moment is the moment corresponding to a target duration delayed from the moment when the terminal device detects a triggering event.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein, The triggering event includes at least one of the following: a time slot with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, receiving a first downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling uplink data, receiving a second DCI for scheduling downlink data.

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, wherein The method further includes: Send a second indication message to the terminal device. The second indication message is used to configure the length of the target duration.

28. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, characterized in that, The communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the transmission frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

29. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: Receive first configuration information from a first network device. The first configuration information is used to configure a plurality of time windows. Determine a target measurement time interval among a plurality of measurement time intervals according to the plurality of time windows, and deactivate the target measurement time interval; wherein the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device for performing radio resource measurement (RRM) on a second network device.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein The receiving the first configuration information from the first network device includes: Receive a measurement gap (MG) configuration message from the first network device. The MG configuration message includes the first configuration information.

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein The first configuration information includes at least one of the period of the time window, the duration of each time window, and the offset corresponding to the time window.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein The period of the time window is associated with the transmission period of target service data. The target service data is service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or The duration of each time window is associated with the packet delay budget (PDB) of the target service data.

33. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 32, characterized in that, The determining the target measurement time interval among the plurality of measurement time intervals according to the plurality of time windows includes: Determine the target measurement time interval according to the overlapping intervals between the plurality of time windows and the plurality of measurement time intervals.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein The overlapping intervals included in the target measurement time interval satisfy the data transmission conditions.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein, The data transmission conditions include at least one of the following: The duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold; The ratio of the duration between the overlapping interval and the measurement time interval to which it belongs is greater than a second threshold; The ratio of the duration between the overlapping interval and the time window to which it belongs is greater than a third threshold.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein The method further includes: Receive fourth configuration information from the first network device. The fourth configuration information is used to configure at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold.

37. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 36, characterized in that, The communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the transmission frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

38. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a first network device, the method includes: Sending first configuration information to a terminal device; the first configuration information is used to configure a plurality of time windows, the plurality of time windows are used to determine a target measurement time interval among a plurality of measurement time intervals, the measurement time interval is a time interval configured by the first network device for performing radio resource measurement (RRM) on a second network device, and the target measurement time interval is in a deactivated state.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein, The sending the first configuration information to the terminal device includes: Sending a measurement gap (MG) configuration message to the terminal device, where the MG configuration message includes the first configuration information.

40. The method according to claim 38 or 39, characterized in that, The first configuration information includes at least one of a period of the time window, a duration of each time window, and an offset corresponding to the time window.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein The period of the time window is associated with a transmission period of target service data, and the target service data is service data transmitted between the terminal device and the first network device; and / or The duration of each time window is associated with a packet delay budget (PDB) of the target service data.

42. The method according to any one of claims 38 to 41, characterized in that, The target measurement time interval includes an overlapping interval with the time window, and the overlapping interval meets data transmission conditions.

43. The method according to claim 42, characterized in that, The data transmission conditions include at least one of the following: The duration of the overlapping interval is greater than a first threshold; The duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the measurement time interval to which it belongs is greater than a second threshold; The duration ratio between the overlapping interval and the time window to which it belongs is greater than a third threshold.

44. The method according to claim 43, wherein The method further includes: Sending fourth configuration information to the terminal device, where the fourth configuration information is used to configure at least one of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold.

45. The method according to any one of claims 38 to 44, characterized in that The communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are different; or the communication frequency points of the first network device and the second network device are the same, and the transmission frequency position of the downlink measurement signal for performing RRM on the second network device is outside the communication frequency band range between the terminal device and the first network device.

46. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 29 to 37, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 38 to 45.

47. A communication device, characterized in that, Including: A processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used for storing computer programs or instructions, the processor being used for executing the computer programs or instructions to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 29 to 37, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 38 to 45.

48. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising an interface circuit and a logic circuit; The interface circuit is used for communicating with modules outside the communication device; The logic circuit is used for executing a computer program to enable the communication device to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 29 to 37, or to execute the method according to any one of claims 38 to 45.

49. A communication system, characterized in that, Comprising a terminal device for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, 21 to 24, 29 to 37, and a first network device for executing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, 25 to 28, 38 to 45.

50. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program or instruction is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instruction runs on a computer, it implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or implements the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, or implements the method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, or implements the method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, or implements the method according to any one of claims 29 to 37, or implements the method according to any one of claims 38 to 45.

51. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprising a computer program, when the computer program is executed by a communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or when the computer program is executed by a communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, or when the computer program is executed by a communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, or when the computer program is executed by a communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, or when the computer program is executed by a communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 29 to 37, or when the computer program is executed by a communication device, it implements the method according to any one of claims 38 to 45.

52. A chip system, characterized in that, Comprising: A processor, the processor being configured to execute the method recited in any one of claims 1 to 10, or execute the method recited in any one of claims 11 to 20, or execute the method recited in any one of claims 21 to 24, or execute the method recited in any one of claims 25 to 28, or execute the method recited in any one of claims 29 to 37, or execute the method recited in any one of claims 38 to 45.

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