Communication method, and apparatus and system

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication method, and an apparatus and a system. The method comprises: a network apparatus sending first information to M terminal apparatuses, wherein the first information is used for indicating a resource set allocated to the M terminal apparatuses, each resource in the resource set corresponding to at least one CQI value; and the network apparatus receiving at least one piece of second information on at least one resource in the resource set, wherein the at least one resource comprises a first resource, and second information received on the first resource is used for indicating that a CQI value of at least one terminal apparatus among the M terminal apparatuses is a CQI value corresponding to the first resource. In this way, the quantity of resources in a resource set is related to the range of values of a CQI, for example, one resource corresponds to one or more CQI values, and is independent of the quantity of terminal apparatuses, and the number of values of the CQI is generally limited. Therefore, even if the quantity of terminal apparatuses within a specific range increases, required resource overheads are not increased accordingly, thereby saving on resource overheads.

Description

Communication method, device and system

[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 January 12, 2024, with application number 202410054692.1 and application name "A Communication Method, Device and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] In wireless communication systems, terminal devices can measure downlink transmission channels and report channel quality information, such as a channel quality indicator (CQI) value, to the network device. Furthermore, the network device can determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) based on the CQI value reported by the terminal device, facilitating data transmission with the terminal device based on the MCS.

[0005] Multicast communication refers to a transmission technology in which one sender sends data and multiple receivers receive the data; for example, a network device sends data and multiple terminal devices receive the data. For multicast communication, multiple terminal devices in a multicast group need to send their own CQI values ​​to the network device respectively. The number of resources required for the terminal devices in the multicast group to report the CQI values ​​is related to the number of terminal devices in the multicast group, that is, the number of resources required for the terminal devices in the multicast group to report the CQI values ​​is the same as the number of terminal devices in the multicast group. Therefore, as the number of terminal devices in the multicast group continues to increase, the resource overhead required for the terminal devices in the multicast group to report the CQI values ​​increases accordingly, and the resource overhead required for the terminal devices in the multicast group to report the CQI values ​​is relatively large. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus, and system. When the number of terminal devices reporting CQI increases, since the reporting resources correspond to the CQI value rather than a one-to-one correspondence with the number of terminal devices, it is convenient to save resource overhead.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, wherein the execution subject of the method is a network device or a component (such as a chip) in the network device, and the method is described here by taking the network device as the execution subject as an example. In the method, the network device sends first information to M terminal devices, wherein the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated to the M terminal devices, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one channel quality indication CQI value; M is an integer greater than 1; and at least one second information is received on at least one resource in the resource set, wherein the at least one resource includes a first resource, and the second information received on the first resource is used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one terminal device among the M terminal devices is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

[0008] Using the above method, since the number of resources in the resource set is related to the CQI value range, for example, one resource corresponds to one or more CQI values, and is not related to the number of terminal devices, and the number of CQI values ​​is generally limited, even if the number of terminal devices within a certain range increases, the required resource overhead will not increase accordingly, which is convenient for saving resource overhead.

[0009] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending third information to N terminal devices among the M terminal devices, the third information being used to indicate a multicast transmission parameter, the transmission parameter corresponding to a first CQI value, the first CQI value being one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource; performing multicast communication with the N terminal devices according to the transmission parameter, the N terminal devices including the first terminal device; wherein N is an integer less than or equal to M.

[0010] In one possible design, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource.

[0011] In this way, since the multicast transmission parameter corresponds to the minimum CQI value, that is, the multicast transmission parameter corresponds to the worst channel quality, it is easy to ensure that N terminal devices can receive the multicast data.

[0012] In one possible design, the second information is 1-bit identification information.

[0013] In this way, since the second information is 1-bit identification information, that is, the terminal device does not need to report a 4-bit CQI value, but only needs to send 1-bit identification information, thereby further saving resource overhead.

[0014] In one possible design, the M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

[0015] In one possible design, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0016] In this way, by introducing the time-frequency dimension and the code domain dimension, it is convenient to improve resource utilization.

[0017] In one possible design, the first information is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is also used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

[0018] In this way, the network device indicates the CQI value or corresponding rule corresponding to the resource through the first information, thereby improving the flexibility of the network device configuration.

[0019] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fourth information from a second terminal device, the fourth information being used to indicate that a CQI value of the second terminal device is less than a CQI threshold value, and the second terminal device is a terminal device other than the N terminal devices among the M terminal devices; and performing unicast communication with the second terminal device according to the fourth information.

[0020] In this way, when the channel quality of the second terminal device is poor, the second terminal device can be removed from the multicast group to avoid affecting the communication efficiency of the entire multicast group due to the poor channel quality of the second terminal device.

[0021] In one possible design, the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value.

[0022] In this way, the number of resources in the resource set can be further reduced.

[0023] In one possible design, the method further includes sending the CQI threshold value to the M terminal devices.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, wherein the execution subject of the method is a first terminal device or a component (such as a chip) in the first terminal device. The method is described herein using the first terminal device as the execution subject as an example. In the method, the first terminal device receives first information from a network device, where the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated to M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponding to at least one CQI value; the M terminal devices include the first terminal device, and M is an integer greater than 1; when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource in the resource set, second information is sent to the network device on the first resource.

[0025] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving third information from the network device, the third information being used to indicate a multicast transmission parameter, the transmission parameter corresponding to a first CQI value, the first CQI value being one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource in the resource set, the at least one resource including the first resource; and performing multicast communication with the network device according to the transmission parameter.

[0026] In one possible design, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource.

[0027] In one possible design, the second information is 1-bit identification information.

[0028] In one possible design, the M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

[0029] In one possible design, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0030] In one possible design, the first information is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is also used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

[0031] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving a reference signal from the network device; and determining, based on a measurement result of the reference signal, that a CQI value of the first terminal device is a CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

[0032] In one possible design, the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to a CQI threshold value.

[0033] In one possible design, the method further includes receiving the CQI threshold value from the network device.

[0034] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, in which the execution subject of the method is a second terminal device or a module in the second terminal device. Here, the second terminal device is used as an example for description. In this method, the second terminal device receives first information from a network device, the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated to M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value, and the CQI value corresponding to the resource in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value; the M terminal devices include the second terminal device, and M is an integer greater than 1; fourth information is sent to the network device, the fourth information is used to indicate that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value; and communication with the network device is performed in a unicast manner.

[0035] In one possible design, the method further includes receiving the CQI threshold value from the network device.

[0036] It can be understood that the communication methods provided in the second and third aspects above correspond to the first aspect, and the beneficial effects of the relevant technical features can refer to the description of the first aspect.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, wherein the execution subject of the method is a third terminal device or a component (such as a chip) in the third terminal device, and the method is described here by taking the third terminal device as the execution subject as an example. In the method, first information is received from a network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated to M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one channel quality indication CQI value; M is an integer greater than 1; at least one second information is received on at least one resource in the resource set, wherein the at least one resource includes a first resource, and the second information received on the first resource is used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one terminal device among the M terminal devices is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

[0038] With the above method, since the number of resources in the resource set is related to the CQI value range but not to the number of terminal devices, even if the number of terminal devices in the multicast group increases, the required resource overhead will not increase accordingly, which is convenient for saving resource overhead.

[0039] In one possible design, the method further includes sending fifth information to the M terminal devices, where the fifth information is used to request a CQI value.

[0040] In one possible design, the method further includes: sending third information to N terminal devices among the M terminal devices, the third information being used to indicate a multicast transmission parameter, the transmission parameter corresponding to a first CQI value, the first CQI value being one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource; performing multicast communication with the N terminal devices according to the transmission parameter, the N terminal devices including the first terminal device; wherein N is an integer less than or equal to M.

[0041] In one possible design, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource.

[0042] In one possible design, the second information is 1-bit identification information.

[0043] In this way, since the second information is 1-bit identification information, that is, the terminal device does not need to report a 4-bit CQI value, but only needs to send 1-bit identification information, thereby further saving resource overhead.

[0044] In one possible design, the M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

[0045] In one possible design, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0046] In one possible design, the first information is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is also used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

[0047] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fourth information from a second terminal device, the fourth information being used to indicate that a CQI value of the second terminal device is less than a CQI threshold value, and the second terminal device is a terminal device other than the N terminal devices among the M terminal devices; and performing unicast communication with the second terminal device according to the fourth information.

[0048] In this way, when the channel quality of the second terminal device is poor, the second terminal device can be removed from the multicast group to avoid affecting the communication efficiency of the entire multicast group due to the poor channel quality of the second terminal device.

[0049] In one possible design, the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value.

[0050] In this way, the number of resources in the resource set can be further reduced.

[0051] In one possible design, the method further includes sending the CQI threshold value to the M terminal devices.

[0052] It can be understood that the method of the fourth aspect mentioned above can be replaced by: a third terminal device sends fifth information to M terminal devices, and the fifth information is used to request a CQI value; at least one second information is received on at least one resource in a resource set, and the at least one resource includes a first resource, and the second information received on the first resource is used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one terminal device among the M terminal devices is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource; the resources in the resource set are determined based on the second resource that carries the fifth information.

[0053] In one possible design, the time domain location of the resources in the resource set is determined based on the time domain location of the second resource.

[0054] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, wherein the execution subject of the method is a first terminal device or a component (such as a chip) in the first terminal device. The method is described here using the first terminal device as the execution subject as an example. In the method, the first terminal device receives first information from a network device, where the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated to M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponding to at least one CQI value; the M terminal devices include the first terminal device, and M is an integer greater than 1; when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource in the resource set, second information is sent to the third terminal device on the first resource.

[0055] In one possible design, the method also includes: receiving third information from the third terminal device, the third information being used to indicate multicast transmission parameters, the transmission parameters corresponding to a first CQI value, the first CQI value being one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource in the resource set, the at least one resource including the first resource; and performing multicast communication with the third terminal device according to the transmission parameters.

[0056] In one possible design, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource.

[0057] In one possible design, the second information is 1-bit identification information.

[0058] In one possible design, the M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

[0059] In one possible design, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0060] In one possible design, the first information is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is also used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

[0061] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving a reference signal from the third terminal device; and determining, based on a measurement result of the reference signal, that a CQI value of the first terminal device is a CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

[0062] In one possible design, the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to a CQI threshold value.

[0063] In one possible design, the method further includes receiving the CQI threshold value from the network device or the third terminal device.

[0064] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, in which the execution subject of the method is a second terminal device or a module in the second terminal device, and the method is described here by taking the second terminal device as the execution subject as an example. In the method, the second terminal device receives first information from a network device, the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated to M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value, and the CQI value corresponding to the resource in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value; the M terminal devices include the second terminal device, and M is an integer greater than 1; fourth information is sent to the third terminal device, the fourth information is used to indicate that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value; and communication with the third terminal device is performed in a unicast manner.

[0065] In one possible design, the method further includes receiving the CQI threshold value from the network device or the third terminal device.

[0066] It can be understood that the communication methods provided in the fifth and sixth aspects above correspond to the third aspect, and the beneficial effects of the relevant technical features can refer to the description of the third aspect (or the first aspect).

[0067] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which has the functions of implementing the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects. For example, the communication device includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations involved in the above-mentioned first to sixth aspects. The modules or units or means can be implemented through software, or through hardware, or the corresponding software implementation can be executed through hardware.

[0068] In one possible design, the communication device includes units or modules for performing the first to sixth aspects described above. For example, the communication device includes a processing unit and a communication unit. The communication unit can be used to send and receive signals to enable communication between the communication device and other devices; and the processing unit can be used to perform certain internal operations of the communication device. The functions performed by the processing unit and the communication unit can correspond to the operations described in the first to sixth aspects described above.

[0069] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor, which can be coupled to a memory. The memory can store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions of the first to sixth aspects described above. The processor can execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first to sixth aspects described above.

[0070] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the memory may store the necessary computer programs or instructions for implementing the functions of aspects 1 to 6 above. The processor may execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the communication device implements the method of any possible design or implementation of aspects 1 to 6 above.

[0071] In one possible design, the communication device includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the method in any possible design or implementation of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0072] It can be understood that in the seventh aspect above, the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. In addition, the above processors can be one or more, and the memories can be one or more. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory and the processor can be set separately. In the specific implementation process, the memory can be integrated with the processor on the same chip, or can be set on different chips respectively. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0073] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a network device and a first terminal device; wherein the network device is configured to execute the method provided in any possible design of the first aspect, and the first terminal device is configured to execute the method provided in any possible design of the second aspect. Optionally, the communication system further includes a second terminal device, which is configured to execute the method provided in any possible design of the third aspect.

[0074] Alternatively, the present application provides a communication system, which may include a third terminal device and a first terminal device; wherein the third terminal device is used to perform the method provided in any possible design of the fourth aspect, and the first terminal device is used to perform the method provided in any possible design of the fifth aspect. Optionally, the communication system also includes a second terminal device, which is used to perform the method provided in any possible design of the sixth aspect. Optionally, the communication system also includes a network device, which is used to send the first information to the third terminal device and the M terminal devices.

[0075] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer-readable instructions are stored. When a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the computer executes the method in any possible design of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0076] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which, when read and executed by a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any possible design of the first to sixth aspects above.

[0077] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a chip, which includes a processor, and the processor is coupled to a memory, and is used to read and execute a software program stored in the memory to implement the method in any possible design of the first to sixth aspects above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0078] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams of multicast groups provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG3 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the first embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of resources provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG5 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the second embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG6 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the third embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG7 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the fourth embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG8 is a possible exemplary block diagram of a device involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0088] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, such as long term evolution (LTE) system, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, such as new radio (NR) system, and future evolved communication systems, such as sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system.

[0089] In particular, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communication, Internet of Vehicles, autonomous driving, assisted driving and other fields. Among them, C-V2X is a V2X communication technology developed based on cellular systems. It utilizes and enhances the current cellular network functions and elements to achieve low-latency and high-reliability communication between various nodes in the vehicle network, including vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to pedestrian (V2P) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication, and vehicle to network (V2N) communication. With the evolution of cellular systems from 4G LTE to 5G NR, C-V2X has also evolved from LTE-V2X to NR-V2X.

[0090] This application will present various aspects, embodiments or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In addition, combinations of these schemes may also be used. In addition, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" and "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as an "example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of the word "example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete way. In the embodiments of this application, "of", "corresponding, relevant" and "corresponding" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that when the distinction is not emphasized, the meanings to be expressed are consistent.

[0091] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the communication system shown in Figure 1 is first used as an example to illustrate the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes at least one network device (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1), and may also include at least one terminal device (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1), and the terminal device can be connected to the network device in a wireless manner. Terminal devices and network devices can be connected to each other in a wired or wireless manner.

[0092] (1) Network devices

[0093] The network device may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) or a cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the network device may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the network device in V2X technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the network device in this application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The network device in this application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0094] In another possible scenario, multiple network devices collaborate to assist the terminal device in achieving wireless access, and different network devices respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the network device 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 a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0095] (2) Terminal device

[0096] A terminal device may be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving scheduling and instruction information from a network device. A terminal device may be user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), or a mobile terminal (MT). A terminal device may be a device that includes wireless communication capabilities (providing voice / data connectivity to the user). For example, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or an in-vehicle device or module may be used.

[0097] Currently, some examples of terminal devices include: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, 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, 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, or wireless terminals in smart homes, device-to-device (D2D) communication terminal devices, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication terminal devices, smart vehicles, telematics boxes (T-boxes), machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal devices, Internet of Things (IoT) The IoT (Internet of Things) terminal devices, etc. For example, the terminal device can be an on-board device, complete vehicle equipment, an on-board module, a vehicle, an on-board unit (OBU), a roadside unit (RSU), a T-box, a chip or a system on chip (SOC), etc. The above chip or SOC can be installed in the vehicle, OBU, RSU, T-box, UE or mobile phone. The wireless terminal in industrial control can be a camera, a robot, etc. The wireless terminal in the smart home can be a TV, air conditioner, vacuum cleaner, speaker, set-top box, etc.Terminal devices can also be V2X devices, such as smart cars (or intelligent cars), digital cars, unmanned cars (or driverless cars, or pilotless cars, or automobiles), self-driving cars (or autonomous cars), pure electric vehicles (or battery EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), new energy vehicles (new energy vehicles), and roadside units (RSUs). Terminal devices can also be devices used in device-to-device (D2D) communications, such as electricity meters and water meters.

[0098] The network device and the terminal device can be fixed or movable. The network device and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on the water surface; they can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons and artificial satellites. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the network device and the terminal device. In addition, the roles of the network device and the terminal device can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile network device. For those terminal devices 120j that access the wireless access network through 120i, 120i is a network device; but for the network device 110a, 120i is a terminal device, that is, the communication between 110a and 120i is through the wireless air interface protocol. Of course, 110a and 120i can also communicate through the interface protocol between network devices. In this case, relative to 110a, 120i is also a network device. Therefore, network devices and terminal devices can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in FIG. 1 can be referred to as communication devices with network device functions, and 120a-120j in FIG. 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal device functions.

[0099] The communication system and 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 in the embodiments of the present application. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0100] The following first explains the relevant terms involved in the embodiments of this application. When not specifically explained, these explanations are intended to support the meaning of the relevant terms and make the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as strict limitations on the relevant terms in the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0101] (1) Unicast and multicast

[0102] In the communication system illustrated in FIG1 , a network device may send downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal device via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). DCI is used to schedule the terminal device to perform data transmission (uplink data transmission or downlink data transmission) on a corresponding resource. For example, DCI includes information indicating the resource. Accordingly, after receiving the DCI, the terminal device may perform uplink data transmission on the resource via a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or perform downlink data transmission on the resource via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) according to the DCI.

[0103] Taking downlink data transmission as an example, the network device may send downlink data to the terminal device in a unicast manner; or the network device may send downlink data to multiple terminal devices in a multicast manner.

[0104] For unicast communication, one possible implementation is that the network device sends DCI to the terminal device through PDCCH, and the DCI is used to schedule the unicast PDSCH that carries a certain service (the service can be a unicast service or a multicast service). The DCI is RNTI-encrypted and scrambled according to the cell-radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI) of the terminal device. In addition, the network device sends downlink data to the terminal device through the unicast PDSCH. Accordingly, after the terminal device detects the DCI according to the C-RNTI, it receives the unicast PDSCH according to the resources indicated by the DCI.

[0105] For multicast communication, one possible implementation is that the network device can send DCI to multiple terminal devices in a multicast group, and the DCI is used to schedule the multicast PDSCH of the multicast service. The DCI performs RNTI scrambling and scrambling processing according to the group radio network temporary identity (G-RNTI) associated with the multicast service. In addition, the network device sends downlink data to the terminal device through the multicast PDSCH. Each multicast service can be associated with a G-RNTI, and the association relationship between the multicast service and the G-RNTI can be configured by the network device to the terminal device. Accordingly, after each terminal device among the multiple terminal devices detects the DCI according to the G-RNTI associated with the multicast service, it can receive the multicast PDSCH according to the resources indicated by the DCI.

[0106] Alternatively, a possible implementation is that the network device can send DCI to multiple terminal devices in a multicast group, where the DCI is used to schedule the multicast PDSCH of the multicast service. The DCI includes multiple scrambling sequences, which are obtained by scrambling part of the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) check code according to the C-RNTI of the multiple terminal devices in the multicast group. Accordingly, after each of the multiple terminal devices detects the DCI, it can decode it according to the C-RNTI of the terminal device, and then after successful decoding, it can receive the multicast PDSCH according to the resources indicated by the DCI.

[0107] Compared to unicast communication, multicast communication can significantly reduce transmission resource overhead. For example, for future connected vehicle services, such as vehicle connectivity and in-car entertainment, network devices can distribute environmental awareness information to vehicles, improving the reliability of individual vehicle perception. Given that vehicles in the same area typically request consistent environmental awareness information, the same environmental awareness information can be distributed to multiple vehicles via multicast, effectively serving multiple vehicles simultaneously and improving resource utilization.

[0108] It is understandable that the multicast communication in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the above implementation, and the network device can also perform multicast communication with the terminal devices in a multicast group in other ways.

[0109] (2) Multicast Group

[0110] A multicast group may include one or more terminal devices. For example, when a multicast group includes multiple terminal devices, these multiple terminal devices belong to the same cell and are interested in the same multicast service (ie, want to receive data of the same multicast service).

[0111] For example, multiple terminal devices in a cell that are interested in the same multicast service may belong to the same multicast group. As shown in FIG2A , the terminal devices in a cell that are interested in the same multicast service include terminal devices a through f. The network device may then assign terminal devices a through f to one multicast group. Alternatively, multiple terminal devices in a cell that are interested in the same multicast service may belong to multiple multicast groups. As shown in FIG2B , the terminal devices in a cell that are interested in the same multicast service include terminal devices a through f. The network device may assign terminal devices a through f to different multicast groups. For example, terminal devices a through c may belong to one multicast group, while terminal devices d through f may belong to another multicast group.

[0112] (3) CQI value

[0113] The "CQI value" in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a CQI index or a CQI index value. The CQI value is a quantitative indicator of channel quality. A larger CQI value indicates better channel quality, and vice versa.

[0114] The CQI value corresponds to a measurement result of a reference signal. For example, a terminal device receives a reference signal from a network device and measures the reference signal, and then determines a CQI value based on the measurement result of the reference signal and a predefined CQI table. Exemplarily, the reference signal may be a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the measurement result of the reference signal may include at least one of the following: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0115] Among them, four CQI tables are defined in the protocol. A CQI table may include at least one CQI value, and also include at least one of the following items corresponding to each CQI value: modulation order, coding rate and spectrum efficiency. The network device can indicate to the terminal device which CQI table to use to determine the CQI value. For example, the network device uses the high-layer parameter CQI table (cqi-Table) in the CSI report configuration (CSI-ReportConfig) to indicate which CQI table the terminal device uses to determine the CQI value. The cqi-Table may indicate table1, table2, table3 or table4. Among them, when the cqi-Table indicates 'table1', 'table2' or 'table4', the terminal device may determine the CQI value according to the criterion that the block error rate is less than or equal to 0.1; or, when the cqi-Table indicates 'table3', the terminal device may determine the CQI value according to the criterion that the block error rate is less than or equal to 0.00001.

[0116] It is understandable that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the terminal device determining the CQI value. In the embodiments of the present application below, "the CQI value of the terminal device" is used to indicate the channel quality of the terminal device, and "the CQI value of the terminal device" can also be replaced by "the channel quality of the terminal device" or other possible descriptions.

[0117] (4) Multicast transmission parameters

[0118] Multicast transmission parameters are used by network devices to conduct multicast communications with terminal devices within a multicast group. These parameters can include the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for multicast transmission. Each MCS has a corresponding index (i.e., MCS index) and corresponds to at least one of the following: modulation order, coding rate, and spectral efficiency. Different modulation orders represent different modulation methods.

[0119] Optionally, the multicast transmission parameters may also include other possible information, such as spectrum efficiency, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0120] Furthermore, for multicast communication, assuming a multicast group includes terminal device a, terminal device b, and terminal device c, terminal device a sends a CQI value of 1 to the network device, terminal device b sends a CQI value of 2 to the network device, and terminal device c sends a CQI value of 3 to the network device; accordingly, the network device receives CQI values ​​1, 2, and 3. Furthermore, to ensure that all terminal devices in the multicast group can receive multicast data, the network device can determine multicast transmission parameters (such as MCS) based on the minimum CQI value among CQI values ​​1, 2, and 3 (i.e., the worst channel quality reported by the terminal devices in the multicast group), and then conduct multicast communication with the terminal devices in the multicast group based on the transmission parameters.

[0121] (5) Code domain resources

[0122] Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology uses code domain resources to distinguish the signals used by different terminal devices from each other, rather than using time-frequency resources. This means that different terminal devices can use different code domain resources to transmit information on the same time-frequency resource. For example, terminal device a can use code domain resource a to transmit information a on time-frequency resource a, while terminal device b can use code domain resource b to transmit information b on time-frequency resource a.

[0123] Among them, one code domain resource corresponds to an orthogonal sequence, different code domain resources correspond to different orthogonal sequences, and different orthogonal sequences can be distinguished by different cyclic shifts (CS). For example, code domain resource a and code domain resource b correspond to different orthogonal sequences, so as to ensure the orthogonality between the information sent by terminal device a and terminal device b and reduce interference. Exemplarily, the orthogonal sequence can be generated according to a variety of possible methods. For example, the orthogonal sequence is generated based on a ZC sequence, or it can also be generated based on an m sequence, or it can also be generated based on a Gold sequence, without specific limitation.

[0124] According to the above introduction, in a scenario where a network device communicates with multiple terminal devices (such as multicast communication), the multiple terminal devices need to report CQI values ​​to the network device so that the network device can determine transmission parameters (such as MCS) based on the minimum CQI value reported by the multiple terminal devices. For example, the multiple terminal devices include terminal device a, terminal device b, and terminal device c. The network device allocates resource a to terminal device a, and terminal device a then sends a CQI value of 1 to the network device on resource a; the network device allocates resource b to terminal device b, and terminal device b then sends a CQI value of 2 to the network device on resource b; the network device allocates resource c to terminal device c, and terminal device c then sends a CQI value of 3 on resource c. Assuming that the CQI value range is 0 to 15, at least 4 bits are required to distinguish different CQI values; when 4 bits are used to distinguish different CQI values, the CQI value 1 sent by terminal device a includes 4 bits, the CQI value 2 sent by terminal device b includes 4 bits, and the CQI value 3 sent by terminal device c includes 4 bits.

[0125] That is, the number of resources required for multiple terminal devices to report CQI values ​​is related to the number of terminal devices. For example, if there are 3 terminal devices reporting CQI values, the number of resources required to report CQI values ​​is 3. Therefore, as the number of terminal devices continues to increase, the resource overhead required for reporting CQI values ​​also increases, and the resource overhead required for reporting CQI values ​​is relatively large.

[0126] Based on this, the embodiments of the present application will study the implementation of CQI value reporting by terminal devices in multicast communication scenarios.

[0127] Exemplarily, the communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application includes: a network device allocates a resource set to M terminal devices, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value; further, taking the first terminal device among the M terminal devices as an example, when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource in the resource set, the first terminal device can send a second information to the network device on the first resource; if the network device receives at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, at least one resource includes a first resource, and the second information received on the first resource is used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one terminal device among the M terminal devices is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource. With the above method, when the number of terminal devices that need to report CQI increases, since the reported resources correspond to the CQI values ​​rather than the one-to-one correspondence with the number of terminal devices, it is convenient to save resource overhead.

[0128] Optionally, taking the second terminal device among the M terminal devices as an example, when the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than a CQI threshold value, the second terminal device transmits fourth information to the network device, and the network device then conducts unicast communication with the second terminal device based on the fourth information. The CQI threshold value is an integer greater than 0. In other words, when the channel quality of the second terminal device is poor, the second terminal device can be removed from the multicast group to prevent the poor channel quality of the second terminal device from affecting the communication efficiency of the entire multicast group.

[0129] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application involves interaction between a network device and one or more terminal devices, or interaction between multiple terminal devices. Unless otherwise specified, "terminal device" can refer to a terminal device or a component in a terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system, and optionally also includes a memory; "network device" can refer to a network device or a component in a network device, such as a chip or a chip system, and optionally also includes a memory.

[0130] The first embodiment is described by taking a scenario where the CQI threshold is not set as an example, and the second embodiment is described by taking a scenario where the CQI threshold is set as an example.

[0131] Example 1

[0132] FIG3 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the first embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the method includes:

[0133] S301: A network device sends first information to M terminal devices; correspondingly, the M terminal devices receive the first information, wherein the M terminal devices include a first terminal device.

[0134] Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated by the network device to M terminal devices, where M is an integer greater than 1. The M terminal devices may belong to the same multicast group, for example, M terminal devices belong to multicast group 1. Optionally, multicast group 1 may also include terminal devices other than the M terminal devices. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application, and the following description will be based on the example of "multicast group 1 including M terminal devices."

[0135] (1) Introduce the resource collection.

[0136] Each resource in a resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value, and different resources in the resource set correspond to different CQI values. The number of CQI values ​​corresponding to different resources in a resource set can be the same or different. For example, if a resource set includes resource 1 and resource 2, resource 1 and resource 2 each correspond to one CQI value, or resource 1 corresponds to one CQI value and resource 2 corresponds to two CQI values.

[0137] The CQI values ​​corresponding to the resources in the resource set belong to a CQI table (referred to as a first CQI table for ease of description). The first CQI table can be determined by the network device and configured for the M terminal devices. For example, the network device selects the first CQI table from the four CQI tables defined in the protocol and sends identification information of the first CQI table to the M terminal devices. Alternatively, the first CQI table can also be preconfigured or predefined.

[0138] Exemplarily, the CQI values ​​corresponding to the resources in the resource set include all CQI values ​​in the first CQI table. For example, the first CQI table includes CQI 0 to CQI 15, the resource set includes resources 0 to 15, and resources 0 to 15 correspond one-to-one with CQI 0 to CQI 15. For another example, the first CQI table includes CQI 0 to CQI 15, the resource set includes resources 0 to 7, resource 0 corresponds to CQI 0 and CQI 1, resource 1 corresponds to CQI 2 and CQI 3, resource 3 corresponds to CQI 4 and CQI 5, and so on.

[0139] (2) Introduce the resources in the resource collection.

[0140] Different resources in a resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in a resource set correspond to different code domain resources. For example, the resources in a resource set may be time-frequency resources, or they may be time-frequency code resources. Below, taking "the CQI values ​​corresponding to the resources in the resource set include CQI 0 to CQI 15, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to a CQI value" as an example, several possible implementations of resource sets are described in combination with Examples 1 to 3.

[0141] Example 1: A resource in a resource set is a time-frequency resource, and different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources. The granularity of a time-frequency resource in the time domain can be a symbol or a time slot, and the granularity in the frequency domain can be a resource block (RB) or a resource element (RE). That is, a time-frequency resource can include at least one symbol or at least one time slot in the time domain, and at least one resource block (RB) or at least one resource element (RE) in the frequency domain.

[0142] Taking a time-frequency resource comprising one symbol in the time domain and one RB in the frequency domain as an example, as a possible implementation, referring to FIG4(a), a resource set comprises 16 time-frequency resources. These 16 time-frequency resources have the same position in the time domain but different positions in the frequency domain. These 16 time-frequency resources can correspond one-to-one with CQIs 0 to 15 in ascending order of frequency; or, these 16 time-frequency resources can correspond one-to-one with CQIs 0 to 15 in descending order of frequency. As another possible implementation, referring to FIG4(b), these 16 time-frequency resources have the same position in the frequency domain but different positions in the time domain. These 16 time-frequency resources can correspond one-to-one with CQIs 0 to 15 in descending order of time; or, these 16 time-frequency resources can correspond one-to-one with CQIs 0 to 15 in descending order of time.

[0143] Example 2: One resource in a resource set is a time-frequency code resource, and different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources. As shown in (c) of Figure 4 , the resource set includes 16 time-frequency code resources. These 16 time-frequency code resources have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but different positions in the code domain. For example, these 16 time-frequency code resources correspond to 16 orthogonal sequences, respectively.

[0144] Example 3: One resource in the resource set is a time-frequency code resource, and different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0145] For example, as shown in (d) of FIG4 , the resource set includes 16 time-frequency code resources, including time-frequency code resource 0 to time-frequency code resource 15. Time-frequency code resource 0 and time-frequency code resource 1 have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but are different in the code domain (for example, time-frequency code resource 0 and time-frequency code resource 1 correspond to orthogonal sequence 1 and orthogonal sequence 2, respectively). Time-frequency code resource 2 and time-frequency code resource 3 have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but are different in the code domain (for example, time-frequency code resource 2 and time-frequency code resource 3 correspond to orthogonal sequence 1 and orthogonal sequence 2, respectively). Similarly, time-frequency code resource 14 and time-frequency code resource 15 have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but are different in the code domain (for example, time-frequency code resource 14 and time-frequency code resource 15 correspond to orthogonal sequence 1 and orthogonal sequence 2, respectively).

[0146] For another example, referring to (e) and (f) of FIG4 , the resource set includes 16 time-frequency code resources, including time-frequency code resource 0 to time-frequency code resource 15. Time-frequency code resources 0 to 3 have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but are different in the code domain (for example, time-frequency code resources 0 to 3 correspond to orthogonal sequences 1 to 3, respectively). Time-frequency code resources 4 to 7 have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but are different in the code domain (for example, time-frequency code resources 4 to 7 correspond to orthogonal sequences 1 to 3, respectively). Similarly, time-frequency code resources 12 to 15 have the same position in the time domain and the same position in the frequency domain, but are different in the code domain (for example, time-frequency code resources 12 to 15 correspond to orthogonal sequences 1 to 3, respectively).

[0147] Among them, the difference between (e) and (f) in Figure 4 is that: in (e) in Figure 4, the time domain positions of time-frequency code resources 0 to time-frequency code resources 15 are the same, and the frequency domain positions of some time-frequency code resources are different (for example, the frequency domain positions of time-frequency code resource 0 and time-frequency code resource 4 are different); in (f) in Figure 4, the time domain positions of some time-frequency code resources are different, and the frequency domain positions are different (for example, the time domain positions of time-frequency code resource 0 and time-frequency code resource 4 are different, and the frequency domain positions are different).

[0148] (3) The implementation on the terminal device side is introduced.

[0149] Here, the first terminal device among the M terminal devices is taken as an example for introduction, and the other terminal devices among the M terminal devices can be processed similarly.

[0150] Optionally, after receiving the first information, the first terminal device may determine the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set according to the first information.

[0151] As a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate a resource set, and is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set (that is, the first information indicates the correspondence between the resources in the resource set and the CQI value). Then, the first terminal device can determine the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set based on the first information.

[0152] For example, as shown in Table 1, the resource set includes resources 0 to 15, and the first information includes: information used to indicate resource 0 and the CQI value corresponding to resource 0; information used to indicate resource 1 and the CQI value corresponding to resource 1; information used to indicate resource 2 and the CQI value corresponding to resource 2; and so on.

[0153] Table 1: Examples of the content included in the first information

[0154] For another example, as shown in Table 2, the resource set includes resources 0 to 7, and the first information includes: information for indicating resource 0 and the CQI value corresponding to resource 0; information for indicating resource 1 and the CQI value corresponding to resource 1; information for indicating resource 2 and the CQI value corresponding to resource 2; and so on.

[0155] Table 2: Examples of content included in the first information

[0156] Exemplarily, taking the above-mentioned "information used to indicate resource 0" as an example, the information used to indicate resource 0 includes the index of resource 0; or, the information used to indicate resource 0 includes the time-frequency position information corresponding to resource 0, and optionally, also includes the code domain resource information corresponding to resource 0.

[0157] As another possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate a resource set. For example, the first information includes: information for indicating resource 0, information for indicating resource 1... information for indicating resource 15. The first terminal device determines the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set based on the first information and the corresponding rule. The corresponding rule may be determined by the network device and configured to the M terminal devices (for example, the first information is also used to indicate the corresponding rule), or it may be preconfigured or predefined. For example, the corresponding rule is: the resources in the resource set correspond one-to-one to the CQI values ​​in the first CQI table in order from low to high frequency.

[0158] (4) The specific implementation of "the network device sends the first information to M terminal devices" is introduced.

[0159] In an embodiment of the present application, there are multiple specific implementations of the network device sending the first information to the M terminal devices. For example, the network device sends the first information to the M terminal devices separately by unicast, and the first information is carried in an RRC message, or a MAC layer message, such as a MAC control element (CE), or a physical layer message, such as downlink control information (DCI), which is not specifically limited. For another example, the network device sends the first information to the M terminal devices by multicast.

[0160] It is understandable that the specific implementation of the network device sending other information (such as identification information of the first CQI table, etc.) to the M terminal devices can refer to the specific implementation of "the network device sending the first information to the M terminal devices".

[0161] S302, when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource, the first terminal device sends second information on the first resource; accordingly, the network device receives at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, and the at least one resource includes the first resource.

[0162] Exemplarily, the second information may be 1-bit identification information. The second information may be carried on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a PUSCH.

[0163] Optionally, S302 may also be replaced by the first terminal device determining a first resource for reporting the CQI value in at least one resource according to the CQI value and the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the at least one resource, and sending the second information on the first resource.

[0164] The CQI value of the first terminal device may be understood as a CQI value determined by the first terminal device according to a measurement result of a reference signal.

[0165] Exemplarily, a network device transmits a first reference signal; in response, a first terminal device receives the first reference signal and determines a CQI value for the first terminal device based on a measurement result of the first reference signal. For example, if the CQI value for the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to a first resource, the first terminal device selects a first resource from a resource set and transmits second information on the first resource. The description of the first terminal device can be referenced by the other terminal devices in the M terminal devices.

[0166] For example, taking the situation shown in (a) in Figure 4 as an example, the resource set includes resources 0 to resource 15, and resources 0 to resource 15 correspond one-to-one to CQI 0 to CQI 15; M terminal devices include terminal device 1 to terminal device 5, and the CQI value of terminal device 1 is CQI 1 corresponding to resource 1, then terminal device 1 sends second information 1 on resource 1; the CQI value of terminal device 2 is CQI 1 corresponding to resource 1, then terminal device 2 sends second information 2 on resource 1; the CQI value of terminal device 3 is CQI 3 corresponding to resource 3, then terminal device 3 sends second information 3 on resource 3; the CQI value of terminal device 4 is CQI 4 corresponding to resource 4, then terminal device 4 sends second information 4 on resource 4; the CQI value of terminal device 5 is CQI 5 corresponding to resource 5, then terminal device 5 sends second information 5 on resource 5.

[0167] Correspondingly, the network device receives the second information on resource 1, resource 3, resource 4, and resource 5. Taking resource 1 as an example, since terminal device 1 sends second information 1 on resource 1 and terminal device 2 sends second information 2 on resource 1, the second information received by the network device on resource 1 is the same as second information 1 and second information 2. The second information received on resource 1 is used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one terminal device among the M terminal devices is CQI 1; that is, after receiving the second information on resource 1, the network device can learn that the CQI value of at least one terminal device is CQI 1, but cannot learn which terminal devices have a CQI value of CQI 1, or which terminal devices have sent the second information on resource 1.

[0168] Optionally, the above method further includes:

[0169] S303: The network device sends third information to the M terminal devices, where the third information is used to indicate multicast transmission parameters; accordingly, the M terminal devices receive the third information.

[0170] Here, the transmission parameter corresponds to the first CQI value, or the transmission parameter is related to the first CQI value, for example, the transmission parameter is determined based on the first CQI value. The first CQI value is one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource, for example, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource. For example, in S402, the network device receives the second information on resource 1, resource 3, resource 4 and resource 5, that is, at least one resource includes resource 1, resource 3, resource 4 and resource 5, then the network device can determine that the CQI values ​​of the M terminal devices include CQI 1, CQI 3, CQI 4 and CQI 5, and then determine the transmission parameters (such as MCS) of the multicast according to the minimum CQI value (i.e., CQI 1).

[0171] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the network device determining the MCS based on the first CQI value. For example, the network device may first determine an initial MCS based on the first CQI value, and then adjust the initial MCS based on other possible parameters (such as feedback information from the terminal device and rate matching) to obtain the MCS.

[0172] For example, taking the multicast transmission parameter as an MCS, the third information may include an MCS index. There are various specific implementations of the network device sending the third information to the M terminal devices; for example, the network device may send a DCI to the M terminal devices, the DCI being used to schedule a multicast PDSCH for a multicast service, the DCI including the third information.

[0173] S304: The network device and the M terminal devices perform multicast communication according to the multicast transmission parameters.

[0174] Exemplarily, the transmission parameters of the multicast include an MCS. The network device modulates and encodes the multicast data according to the MCS. Correspondingly, the M terminal devices demodulate and decode according to the MCS to obtain the multicast data.

[0175] Using the above method, the network device configures a resource set for M terminal devices, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value, and then the M terminal devices can send the second information on the corresponding resources according to their respective CQI values; accordingly, after the network device receives the second information on the resources in the resource set, it can obtain all CQI values ​​of the M terminal devices. Since the number of resources in the resource set is related to the value range of CQI, for example, one resource corresponds to one or more CQI values, and has nothing to do with the number of terminal devices, and the number of CQI values ​​is generally limited, even if the number of terminal devices within a certain range increases, the required resource overhead will not increase accordingly, which is convenient for saving resource overhead. Optionally, the second information can be 1-bit identification information, which is convenient for further saving resource overhead compared to "the terminal device sends a 4-bit CQI value".

[0176] In a scenario where a network device communicates with M terminal devices, when the network device wants to schedule data transmission for the M terminal devices, the network device can determine the channel conditions based on all CQI values ​​(or the minimum CQI value) of the M terminal devices, and then schedule data transmission for the M devices based on the channel conditions, without having to know the CQI value of a specific terminal device. Therefore, the network device can allocate a resource set to the M terminal devices, and the M terminal devices can send 1 bit of identification information on the corresponding resources based on their respective CQI values, thereby saving resource overhead.

[0177] Example 2

[0178] FIG5 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the second embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the method includes:

[0179] S501: A network device sends first information to M terminal devices; correspondingly, the M terminal devices receive the first information.

[0180] Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate a resource set, which is allocated by the network device to M terminal devices. The CQI value corresponding to the resource in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, and the CQI threshold value can be determined by the network device and configured for the M terminal devices (for example, the network device sends the CQI threshold value to the M terminal devices), or it can also be preconfigured or predefined. In this case, the CQI value corresponding to the resource in the resource set includes part of the CQI values ​​in the first CQI table, for example, the first CQI table includes CQI 0 to CQI 15, the resource set includes resource 0 to resource 11, and resource 0 to resource 11 correspond one-to-one to CQI 4 to CQI 15, that is, the CQI threshold value is CQI 4.

[0181] S502, when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource, the first terminal device sends second information on the first resource; accordingly, the network device receives at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, and the at least one resource includes the first resource.

[0182] Here, since the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, the CQI value of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value.

[0183] Exemplarily, the M terminal devices include N terminal devices, where N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N terminal devices include a first terminal device. The CQI values ​​of the N terminal devices are all greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, and the description of the first terminal device can be referred to for other terminal devices in the N terminal devices.

[0184] For example, M terminal devices include terminal device 1 to terminal device 5, N terminal devices include terminal device 1 to terminal device 4, terminal device 1 sends second information 1 on resource 1, terminal device 2 sends second information 2 on resource 1, terminal device 3 sends second information 3 on resource 3, and terminal device 4 sends second information 4 on resource 4, then the network device can receive the second information on resource 1, resource 3 and resource 4, that is, at least one resource includes resource 1, resource 3 and resource 4.

[0185] S503, when the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value, the second terminal device sends fourth information to the network device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value; accordingly, the network device receives the fourth information.

[0186] Here, the M terminal devices also include P terminal devices, where P is an integer less than M, and the P terminal devices include a second terminal device. The CQI values ​​of the P terminal devices are all less than the CQI threshold value, and the description of the second terminal device can be referred to for the other terminal devices in the P terminal devices.

[0187] For example, P terminal devices include terminal device 5. That is, among the M terminal devices, N terminal devices (such as terminal devices 1 to 4) have CQI values ​​greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, and P terminal devices (such as terminal device 5) have CQI values ​​less than the CQI threshold value; where M = N + P, and the values ​​of N and P may be the same or different, and are not specifically limited.

[0188] Exemplarily, the second terminal device may send fourth information to the network device on the resources allocated by the network device to the second terminal device. For example, when the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold, the second terminal device may send request information to the network device, and the network device may allocate resources to the second terminal device based on the request information.

[0189] Optionally, the fourth information may include a CQI value of the second terminal device.

[0190] S504 , the network device sends third information to N terminal devices among the M terminal devices, where the third information is used to indicate multicast transmission parameters; accordingly, the N terminal devices receive the third information.

[0191] For example, the network device can learn from the fourth information that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold, and can then remove the second terminal device from the multicast group and send the third information to N terminal devices instead of P terminal devices.

[0192] S505: The network device and N terminal devices perform multicast communication according to multicast transmission parameters.

[0193] S506: The network device performs unicast communication with each of the P terminal devices.

[0194] For example, the network device may determine an MCS based on the CQI value of the second terminal device, and perform unicast communication with the second terminal device based on the MCS.

[0195] Using the above method, the network device configures a resource set for M terminal devices, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value. Then, when the CQI value of a terminal device among the M terminal devices is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, the second information can be sent on the resource in the resource set. When the CQI value of a terminal device among the M terminal devices is less than the CQI threshold value, the fourth information can be sent to the network device; then, after receiving the fourth information, the network device can remove the terminal device from the multicast group, so as to facilitate the communication efficiency of the entire multicast group affected by the poor channel quality of one or some terminal devices.

[0196] The above description is based on the communication between the network device and the terminal device as an example. The solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to other possible communication scenarios, such as the sidelink (SL) communication scenario. The following describes possible implementation processes in conjunction with Embodiment 3 and Embodiment 4. In Embodiment 3, the scenario where the CQI threshold value is not set is described as an example, and in Embodiment 4, the scenario where the CQI threshold value is set is described as an example.

[0197] Example 3

[0198] FIG6 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the third embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the method includes:

[0199] S601: The network device sends first information to a third terminal device and M terminal devices; accordingly, the third terminal device and the M terminal devices receive the first information.

[0200] Here, the first information is used to indicate a resource set, which is allocated by the network device to M terminal devices. The M terminal devices may belong to the same multicast group, for example, the M terminal devices belong to multicast group 1. Optionally, multicast group 1 also includes other terminal devices in addition to the M terminal devices. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this. The following description will be based on the example of "multicast group 1 includes M terminal devices." Different from Example 1 and Example 2: The "multicast group" in Example 1 and Example 2 refers to a multicast group that performs multicast communication with the network device, while the "multicast group" in Example 3 refers to a multicast group that performs multicast communication with a third terminal device.

[0201] The resources in the resource set are side link resources, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value, and different resources in the resource set correspond to different CQI values. The number of CQI values ​​corresponding to different resources in the resource set may be the same or different. The CQI values ​​corresponding to the resources in the resource set belong to a CQI table (referred to as the first CQI table for ease of description), and the first CQI table may be determined by the network device and configured to the third terminal device and M terminal devices. For example, the network device selects the first CQI table from the four CQI tables defined in the protocol, and sends identification information of the first CQI table to the third terminal device and the M terminal devices. Alternatively, the first CQI table may also be preconfigured or predefined.

[0202] In addition, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources, specifically refer to the description in Example 1. The specific implementation of the third terminal device and the M terminal devices determining the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set can refer to the description in Example 1. The specific implementation of the network device sending the first information to the third terminal device and the M terminal devices can also refer to the description in Example 1.

[0203] S602: The third terminal apparatus sends fifth information to M terminal apparatuses; correspondingly, the M terminal apparatuses receive the fifth information.

[0204] Exemplarily, the fifth information is used to request channel state information or a CQI value, indicating that the M terminal apparatuses need to report CQI values ​​to the third terminal apparatus.

[0205] The fifth information is sidelink information, for example, the fifth information is carried in sidelink control information (SCI) and / or MAC CE; or, the fifth information is carried in a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0206] It is understandable that the above S602 is an optional step, that is, the third terminal device does not need to send the fifth information to the M terminal devices. For example, the resources in the resource set appear periodically, and the M terminal devices periodically send the second information on the resources in the resource set.

[0207] S603, when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource, the first terminal device sends the second information on the first resource; accordingly, the third terminal device receives at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, and the at least one resource includes the first resource.

[0208] The first terminal device is one of the M terminal devices.

[0209] Exemplarily, the second information may be 1-bit identification information. The second information is sidelink information, such as the second information is carried in the SCI or MAC CE; or the second information is carried in the PSCCH or the physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

[0210] Exemplarily, the third terminal device transmits a second reference signal; accordingly, the first terminal device receives the second reference signal and, based on a measurement result of the second reference signal, determines that the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource. The first resource is selected from the resource set and the second information is transmitted on the first resource. The description of the first terminal device can be referred to for the other terminal devices in the M terminal devices.

[0211] Optionally, the above method further includes:

[0212] S604 , the third terminal device sends third information to M terminal devices, where the third information is used to indicate multicast transmission parameters; accordingly, the M terminal devices receive the third information.

[0213] Here, the transmission parameter corresponds to the first CQI value, or the transmission parameter is related to the first CQI value, for example, the transmission parameter is determined based on the first CQI value. The first CQI value is one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource, for example, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource. For example, in S603, the third terminal device receives the second information on resource 1, resource 3, resource 4 and resource 5, that is, at least one resource includes resource 1, resource 3, resource 4 and resource 5, then the third terminal device can determine that the CQI values ​​of the M terminal devices include CQI 1, CQI 3, CQI 4 and CQI 5, and then determine the transmission parameters (such as MCS) of the multicast according to the minimum CQI value (i.e., CQI 1).

[0214] Among them, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation of the third terminal device determining the MCS according to the first CQI value. Please refer to the description of "the network device determines the MCS according to the first CQI value" in Example 1.

[0215] For example, using the multicast transmission parameter as an MCS, the third information may include an MCS index. There are various specific implementations of the third terminal device sending the third information to the M terminal devices; for example, the third terminal device may send an SCI to the M terminal devices, where the SCI is used to schedule multicast data and includes the third information.

[0216] S605: The third terminal device and the M terminal devices perform multicast communication according to the multicast transmission parameters.

[0217] Exemplarily, the transmission parameters of the multicast include an MCS, and the third terminal device modulates and encodes the multicast data according to the MCS. Correspondingly, the M terminal devices demodulate and decode according to the MCS to obtain the multicast data.

[0218] It can be understood that the above S601 and S602 can be replaced by S601'. S601': the third terminal device sends the fifth information to the M terminal devices; accordingly, the M terminal devices receive the fifth information. For example, if the fifth information is carried in time slot n1, the resources in the resource set are located in time slot n2, the number of time slots between time slot n1 and time slot n2 can be configured or preconfigured or predefined, the resource set on time slot n2 can be configured or preconfigured or predefined, and the correspondence between the resources in the resource set and the CQI can be configured or preconfigured or predefined.

[0219] In addition, in the third embodiment, the M terminal devices may be terminal devices that have established a connection with a third terminal device. The M terminal devices and the third terminal device may pre-negotiate a multicast identifier, and the multicast data sent by the third terminal device may carry the multicast identifier. Accordingly, the M terminal devices may learn that they need to receive the multicast data based on the multicast identifier carried in the multicast data, and thus receive the multicast data. For example, the M terminal devices may each request the third terminal device to join the multicast group, and the third terminal device may allocate a multicast identifier to the M terminal devices. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of establishing a multicast group.

[0220] It is understandable that the third embodiment focuses on the differences from the first embodiment, and other contents except the differences can refer to the first embodiment.

[0221] Example 4

[0222] FIG7 is a flow chart of the communication method according to the fourth embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the method includes:

[0223] S701: The network device sends first information to a third terminal device and M terminal devices; accordingly, the third terminal device and the M terminal devices receive the first information.

[0224] Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate a resource set that is allocated by the network device to the M terminal devices. The CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to a CQI threshold value, and the CQI threshold value can be determined by the network device and configured for the third terminal device and the M terminal devices (for example, the network device sends the CQI threshold value to the third terminal device and the M terminal devices), or can also be preconfigured or predefined.

[0225] S702: The third terminal device sends fifth information to M terminal devices; correspondingly, the M terminal devices receive the fifth information.

[0226] For example, S702 may refer to the description of S602.

[0227] S703, when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource, the first terminal device sends the second information on the first resource; accordingly, the third terminal device receives at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, and the at least one resource includes the first resource.

[0228] Here, since the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, the CQI value of the first terminal device is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value.

[0229] Exemplarily, the M terminal devices include N terminal devices, and the N terminal devices include a first terminal device. The CQI values ​​of the N terminal devices are all greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, and the other terminal devices in the N terminal devices can refer to the description of the first terminal device.

[0230] S704, when the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value, the second terminal device sends fourth information to the third terminal device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value; accordingly, the third terminal device receives the fourth information.

[0231] Here, the M terminal devices also include P terminal devices, where P is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the P terminal devices include a second terminal device. The CQI values ​​of the P terminal devices are all less than the CQI threshold value, and the other terminal devices in the P terminal devices can refer to the description of the second terminal device. That is, among the M terminal devices, N terminal devices (such as terminal devices 1 to terminal devices 4) have CQI values ​​greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value, and P terminal devices (such as terminal device 5) have CQI values ​​less than the CQI threshold value; wherein, M = N + P.

[0232] Optionally, the fourth information may include a CQI value of the second terminal device.

[0233] Exemplarily, the second terminal device may select a resource from a resource pool of the sidelink through a resource selection process, and send the fourth information to the third terminal device on the selected resource.

[0234] S705 , the third terminal apparatus sends third information to N terminal apparatuses among the M terminal apparatuses, where the third information is used to indicate multicast transmission parameters; accordingly, the N terminal apparatuses receive the third information.

[0235] For example, the third terminal device can learn from the fourth information that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than the CQI threshold value, and can then remove the second terminal device from the multicast group and send the third information to N terminal devices instead of P terminal devices.

[0236] S706: The third terminal device performs multicast communication with the N terminal devices according to the multicast transmission parameters.

[0237] S707: The third device performs unicast communication with the P terminal devices respectively.

[0238] For example, the third terminal device may determine an MCS based on the CQI value of the second terminal device, and perform unicast communication with the second terminal device based on the MCS.

[0239] It is understandable that the fourth embodiment focuses on the differences from the second and third embodiments, and other contents except the differences can refer to the second and third embodiments.

[0240] In the above embodiments, the multicast communication may also be understood as communication with multiple terminal devices, for example, multicast communication or other communication methods, and is not limited to multicast communication.

[0241] With respect to the above embodiments, it can be understood that:

[0242] (1) “Predefined” in this application generally refers to information that is defined by a standard and does not require other device configurations, and is recorded / written in advance in the hardware and / or software of the device itself, or can be understood as information that cannot be changed by other devices.

[0243] "Configuration" in this application refers to a network device or server sending configuration information or parameter values ​​of some parameters to a terminal device through messages or signaling, or other terminal devices sending configuration information or parameter values ​​of some parameters to a terminal device through messages or signaling, so that the terminal device determines the communication parameters or resources during transmission based on these values ​​or information.

[0244] "Pre-configuration" in this application is similar to "configuration." It can be a method by which another device sends parameter information or values ​​to a network device or terminal device. It can also be a method by which the corresponding parameters or parameter values ​​are defined, or by pre-writing the relevant parameters or values ​​to the network device or terminal device. This application does not limit this. Furthermore, these values ​​and parameters can be changed or updated.

[0245] (2) In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships. In addition, within the same embodiment, different implementations or different examples may also reference or refer to each other.

[0246] (3) The various numerical numbers involved in this application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of this application. The step numbers of the above-mentioned flowcharts are only an example of the execution process and do not constitute a restriction on the order of execution of the steps. That is, the size of the step numbers does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each step should be determined by its function and internal logic. In addition, not all the steps shown in the flowcharts are required to be executed. Some steps can be added or deleted based on actual needs.

[0247] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the interaction between the terminal device and the network device. It is understandable that in order to implement the above functions, the terminal device and the network device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should easily appreciate that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0248] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device and the network device can be divided into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, different functional units can be divided according to different functions, or two or more functions can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0249] In the case of adopting an integrated unit, Figure 8 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the device 800 may include: a processing unit 802 and a communication unit 803. The processing unit 802 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 800. The communication unit 803 is used to support the communication between the device 800 and other devices. Among them, the communication unit 803 is also called a transceiver unit, and may include a receiving unit and / or a sending unit, which are used to perform receiving and sending operations respectively. Optionally, the device 800 may also include a storage unit 801 for storing program code and / or data of the device 800.

[0250] (1) The device 800 may be the network device in the aforementioned embodiments. The processing unit 802 may support the device 800 in executing the network device actions in the aforementioned method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 802 may primarily execute the internal actions of the network device in the method examples, and the communication unit 803 may support communication between the device 800 and other devices.

[0251] In one embodiment, the communication unit 803 is used to: send first information to M terminal devices, the first information being used to indicate a resource set allocated to the M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponding to at least one CQI value; M is an integer greater than 1; receive at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, the at least one resource including a first resource, the second information received on the first resource being used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one terminal device among the M terminal devices is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

[0252] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: send third information to N terminal devices among the M terminal devices, the third information being used to indicate a multicast transmission parameter, the transmission parameter corresponding to a first CQI value, and the first CQI value being one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource; and perform multicast communication with the N terminal devices according to the transmission parameter, the N terminal devices including the first terminal device; wherein N is an integer less than or equal to M.

[0253] In one possible design, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource.

[0254] In one possible design, the second information is 1-bit identification information.

[0255] In one possible design, the M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

[0256] In one possible design, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0257] In one possible design, the first information is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is also used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

[0258] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further used to: receive fourth information from a second terminal device, the fourth information being used to indicate that a CQI value of the second terminal device is less than a CQI threshold value, and the second terminal device is a terminal device other than the N terminal devices among the M terminal devices; and perform unicast communication with the second terminal device according to the fourth information.

[0259] In one possible design, the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value.

[0260] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is further configured to: send the CQI threshold value to the M terminal devices.

[0261] (2) The device 800 may be a terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the above-described embodiments. The processing unit 802 may support the device 800 in executing the actions of the terminal device in the above-described method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 802 primarily executes the internal actions of the terminal device in the method examples, and the communication unit 803 may support communication between the device 800 and other devices.

[0262] In one embodiment, the communication unit 803 is used to: receive first information from a network device, the first information being used to indicate a resource set allocated to M terminal devices, each resource in the resource set corresponding to at least one CQI value; the M terminal devices include the first terminal device, and M is an integer greater than 1; when the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource in the resource set, sending second information to the network device on the first resource.

[0263] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is used to: receive third information from the network device, the third information is used to indicate a multicast transmission parameter, the transmission parameter corresponds to a first CQI value, the first CQI value is one of the CQI values ​​corresponding to at least one resource in the resource set, and the at least one resource includes the first resource; and perform multicast communication with the network device according to the transmission parameter.

[0264] In one possible design, the first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values ​​corresponding to the at least one resource.

[0265] In one possible design, the second information is 1-bit identification information.

[0266] In one possible design, the M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

[0267] In one possible design, different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code domain resources.

[0268] In one possible design, the first information is also used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is also used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

[0269] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is used to: receive a reference signal from the network device; and determine, based on a measurement result of the reference signal, that a CQI value of the first terminal device is a CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

[0270] In one possible design, the CQI value corresponding to the resources in the resource set is greater than or equal to a CQI threshold value.

[0271] In one possible design, the communication unit 803 is configured to receive the CQI threshold value from the network device.

[0272] It should be understood that the division of units in the above device is merely a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they can be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity, or they can be physically separated. Moreover, the units in the device can all be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements; or they can all be implemented in the form of hardware; or some units can be implemented in the form of software calling through processing elements, and some units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, each unit can be a separately established processing element, or it can be integrated into a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, called by a certain processing element of the device and execute the function of the unit. In addition, all or part of these units can be integrated together, or they can be implemented independently. The processing element described here can also be a processor, which can be an integrated circuit with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each operation of the above method or each unit above can be implemented by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor element or in the form of software calling through the processing element.

[0273] In one example, the unit in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the unit in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), or other processor that can call programs. For another example, these units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC). The above unit for receiving is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to receive signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving unit is the interface circuit of the chip used to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above unit for sending is an interface circuit of the device, which is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in a chip, the sending unit is an interface circuit of the chip used to send signals to other chips or devices.

[0274] As another possible product form, the terminal device or network device of the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a general bus architecture. For ease of explanation, refer to Figure 9, which is a structural diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 900 includes a processor 901 and a transceiver 902. The communication device 900 can be a network device, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device 900 can be a terminal device, or a chip or module therein. Figure 9 only shows the main components of the communication device 900. In addition to the processor 901 and the transceiver 902, the communication device 900 can further include a memory 903, and an input and output device (not shown in the figure).

[0275] Optionally, the processor 901 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, as well as control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. The memory 903 is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transceiver 902 may include a radio frequency circuit and an antenna. The radio frequency circuit is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0276] Optionally, the processor 901 , the transceiver 902 , and the memory 903 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0277] When the communication device is turned on, the processor 901 can read the software program in the memory 903, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 901 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 901. The processor 901 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0278] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna can be set independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna can be arranged remotely from the communication device.

[0279] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may conceive that the above-mentioned communication device 800 may take the form of the communication device 900 shown in FIG. 9 .

[0280] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing unit 802 in FIG8 can be implemented by the processor 901 in the communication device 900 shown in FIG9 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 903. The functions / implementation process of the communication unit 803 in FIG8 can be implemented by the transceiver 902 in the communication device 900 shown in FIG9.

[0281] As another possible product form, the terminal device or network device in the present application may adopt the structure shown in Figure 10, or include the components shown in Figure 10. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1000 provided in the present application.

[0282] As shown in FIG10 , a communication device 1000 includes at least one processor 1001. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface 1002.

[0283] When the program instructions are executed in the at least one processor 1001, the communication device 1000 can implement the method provided in any of the aforementioned embodiments and any possible designs therein. Alternatively, the processor 1001 implements the method provided in any of the aforementioned embodiments and any possible designs therein through logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

[0284] The communication interface 1002 can be used to receive program instructions and transmit them to the processor. Alternatively, the communication interface 1002 can be used for the communication device 1000 to communicate and interact with other communication devices, such as exchanging control signaling and / or service data. Exemplarily, the communication interface 1002 can be used to receive signals from devices other than the communication device 1000 and transmit them to the processor 1001, or to send signals from the processor 1001 to other communication devices other than the communication device 1000.

[0285] Optionally, the communication interface 1002 may be a code and / or data read / write interface circuit, or the communication interface 1002 may be a signal transmission interface circuit between a communication processor and a transceiver, or a pin of a chip.

[0286] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include at least one memory 1003, which may be used to store required program instructions and / or data. It should be noted that the memory 1003 may exist independently of the processor 1001 or may be integrated with the processor 1001. The memory 1003 may be located within the communication device 1000 or outside the communication device 1000, without limitation.

[0287] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a power supply circuit 1004, which may be used to supply power to the processor 1001. The power supply circuit 1004 may be located in the same chip as the processor 1001, or in another chip other than the chip where the processor 1001 is located.

[0288] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a bus, and various parts of the communication device 1000 may be interconnected via the bus.

[0289] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may conceive that the communication device 800 shown in FIG. 8 may take the form of the communication device 1000 shown in FIG. 10 .

[0290] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing unit 802 in FIG8 can be implemented by the processor 1001 in the communication device 1000 shown in FIG10 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1003. The functions / implementation process of the communication unit 803 in FIG8 can be implemented by the communication interface 1002 in the communication device 1000 shown in FIG10.

[0291] It should be noted that the structure shown in FIG10 does not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device or network device. For example, in other embodiments of the present application, the terminal device or network device may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine or split certain components, or arrange the components differently. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0292] When the communication device is a chip used in a terminal device, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the network device to the terminal device; or the terminal chip sends information to other modules in the terminal device (such as a radio frequency module or antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the network device.

[0293] When the above-mentioned communication device is a module applied to a network device (such as a base station), the base station module implements the functions of the base station in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The base station module receives information from other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the terminal device to the base station; or the base station module sends information to other modules in the base station (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna), and the information is sent by the base station to the terminal device. The base station module here can be the baseband chip of the base station, or it can be a DU or other module. The DU here can be a DU under the open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture.

[0294] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, or other general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0295] An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, comprising a network device and a first terminal device, wherein the network device is configured to perform operations related to the network device side of the aforementioned method embodiment, and the first terminal device is configured to perform operations related to the first terminal device side of the aforementioned method embodiment. Optionally, the communication system further comprises a second terminal device, configured to perform operations related to the second terminal device side of the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0296] The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" 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 associated objects before and after 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 C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects.

[0297] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist in a base station or a terminal as discrete components.

[0298] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or nonvolatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile types of storage media.

[0299] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0300] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0301] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0302] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending first information to M terminal devices, where the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated for the M terminal devices, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one channel quality indicator (CQI) value; M is an integer greater than 1; Receiving at least one second information on at least one resource in the resource set, where the at least one resource includes a first resource, and the second information received on the first resource is used to indicate that the CQI value of at least one of the M terminal devices is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further includes: Sending third information to N terminal devices among the M terminal devices, where the third information is used to indicate multicast transmission parameters, the transmission parameters corresponding to a first CQI value, and the first CQI value is one of the CQI values corresponding to the at least one resource; Performing multicast communication with the N terminal devices according to the transmission parameters, where the N terminal devices include the first terminal device; where N is an integer less than or equal to M.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values corresponding to the at least one resource.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The second information is 1-bit identification information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code-domain resources.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The first information is further used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is further used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources and the CQI values in the resource set.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving fourth information from a second terminal device, where the fourth information is used to indicate that the CQI value of the second terminal device is less than a CQI threshold value, and the second terminal device is a terminal device other than the N terminal devices among the M terminal devices; Performing unicast communication with the second terminal device according to the fourth information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The CQI value corresponding to the resource in the resource set is greater than or equal to the CQI threshold value.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending the CQI threshold value to the M terminal devices.

11. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving first information from a network device, where the first information is used to indicate a resource set allocated for M terminal devices, and each resource in the resource set corresponds to at least one CQI value; the M terminal devices include a first terminal device, and M is an integer greater than 1; When the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource in the resource set, sending second information to the network device on the first resource.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The method further includes: Receiving third information from the network device, where the third information is used to indicate multicast transmission parameters, the transmission parameters corresponding to a first CQI value, and the first CQI value is one of the CQI values corresponding to at least one resource in the resource set, and the at least one resource includes the first resource; Performing multicast communication with the network device according to the transmission parameters.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first CQI value is the minimum CQI value among the CQI values corresponding to the at least one resource.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that, The second information is identification information of 1 bit.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that The M terminal devices belong to the same multicast group.

16. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that, Different resources in the resource set correspond to different time-frequency resources, and / or different resources in the resource set correspond to different code-domain resources.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that The first information is further used to indicate the CQI value corresponding to each resource in the resource set; or, the first information is further used to indicate the correspondence rule between the resources in the resource set and the CQI values.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving a reference signal from the network device; Determining, according to a measurement result of the reference signal, that the CQI value of the first terminal device is the CQI value corresponding to the first resource.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that, The CQI value corresponding to the resource in the resource set is greater than or equal to a CQI threshold value.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receiving the CQI threshold value from the network device.

21. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, or a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is configured to call the computer program in the memory, so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is executed.

23. A communication system, characterized in that, The communication system includes a network device and a first terminal device, the network device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 above, and the first terminal device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 above.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is executed.

25. A computer program product, characterized in that, When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 11 to 20 is executed.

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