Transmission configuration indicator (TCI) processing method and apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications. Provided are a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) processing method and apparatus, and a storage medium. In the present disclosure, a medium access control control element (MAC CE) is sent to a terminal device UE, wherein the MAC CE is used for explicitly or implicitly activating or deactivating a TCI of a candidate cell; the explicit mode comprises: carrying, in the MAC CE, instruction information used for activating or deactivating a TCI of a target candidate cell; and the implicit mode comprises: on the basis of a set MAC CE, activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell, or, carrying cell identification information of at least one candidate cell in the MAC CE, so as to activate a TCI of the at least one candidate cell. The present disclosure can solve the technical problems of additional requirements for UE performance and additional power consumption of a network device caused by the deactivation of a TCI of a candidate cell being not supported.

Description

Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) processing method, device, and storage medium

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on January 16, 2024, with application number 202410065467.8 and application name “Transmission Configuration Indicator TCI Processing Method, Device and Storage Medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this disclosure. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a TCI processing method, device, and storage medium. Background Art

[0003] In Release 18's L1 / L2 Triggered Mobility (LTM), where L1 stands for Layer 1 and L2 for Layer 2, to further shorten LTM handover latency, consideration is given to dynamically activating / deactivating the transmission configuration indicators (TCIs) of several target candidate cells in advance based on L1 measurement results. This allows the user equipment (UE) to avoid having to re-track, measure, and power-control the reference signal (RS) associated with the TCI when the target candidate cell is selected by the network and carried in the LTM handover command, thereby reducing interruption latency. However, given the transient nature of L1 measurement results, the beam of a currently activated candidate cell may become unavailable later, requiring the network to deactivate some or all of the beams of that candidate cell. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present disclosure provides a TCI processing method, apparatus, and storage medium, which solve the technical problem of additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment due to the failure to support TCI deactivation in candidate cells.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a TCI processing method, which is applied to a network device. The TCI processing method includes: sending a medium access control element MAC CE to a terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the transmission configuration indicator TCI of a candidate cell; wherein the explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0006] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE; or, the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0007] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in the idle bit position in the MAC CE; if the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE, and the N value depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

[0008] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0009] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point.

[0010] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0011] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0012] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0013] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0014] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0015] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a TCI processing method, which is applied to a terminal device. The TCI processing method includes: receiving a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; activating or deactivating the TCI of the candidate cell according to the MAC CE; wherein the explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0016] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE, or the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the identification information of the TCI carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0017] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0018] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0019] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE; wherein the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or, the maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

[0020] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0021] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0022] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0023] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0024] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0025] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE only includes identification information of a logical channel, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel.

[0026] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0027] In some embodiments, the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is an activated state, and the first moment is the latest moment of receiving the MAC CE.

[0028] In some embodiments, if a MAC CE is received at a second moment and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is a deactivated state, wherein the second moment is before the first moment; and / or; if the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same cell identification information as that carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the same, then the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is an activated state.

[0029] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a TCI processing device, which is applied to a network device. The TCI processing device includes: a sending module, which is used to send a MAC CE to a terminal device, and the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; wherein, the explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a TCI processing device, which is applied to a terminal device. The TCI processing device includes: a receiving module, which is used to receive a MAC CE from a network device, and the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; a processing module, which is used to activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell according to the MAC CE; wherein, the explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0031] In the fifth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a TCI processing device, including: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: the memory is used to store computer programs; the transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: sending a MAC CE to the terminal device, and the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell; wherein, the explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: according to the set MAC CE, activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0032] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE; or, the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0033] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in the idle bit position in the MAC CE; if the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE, and the N value depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

[0034] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0035] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point.

[0036] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0037] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0038] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0039] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0040] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0041] In the sixth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a TCI processing device, including: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor: the memory is used to store computer programs; the transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of the processor; the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: receiving a MAC CE from a network device, the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell; according to the MAC CE, the TCI of the candidate cell is activated or deactivated; wherein, the explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: according to the set MAC CE, activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0042] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE, or the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the identification information of the TCI carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0043] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0044] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0045] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE; wherein the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or, the maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

[0046] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0047] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0048] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0049] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0050] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0051] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE only includes identification information of a logical channel, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel.

[0052] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0053] In some embodiments, the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is an activated state, and the first moment is the latest moment of receiving the MAC CE.

[0054] In some embodiments, if a MAC CE is received at a second moment and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is a deactivated state, wherein the second moment is before the first moment; and / or; if the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same cell identification information as that carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the same, then the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is an activated state.

[0055] In a seventh aspect, the present disclosure further provides a non-transitory readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the computer program is used to enable a processor to execute the above-mentioned TCI processing method.

[0056] The present disclosure provides a TCI processing method, apparatus, device, and storage medium. The TCI processing method includes: sending a MAC CE to a terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell. The explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell. In the present disclosure, the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE. In addition, the MAC CE may not carry the identification information of the candidate cell, but only the identification information of the logical channel, thereby dynamically activating the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel. Therefore, the additional requirements on UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device can be reduced.

[0057] It should be understood that the contents described in the above summary of the invention are not intended to limit the key or important features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easier to understand through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present disclosure or related technologies, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments or related technical descriptions. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0059] FIG1 is a schematic flow chart of a TCI treatment method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0060] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0061] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0062] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a sub-header of a MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0063] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a 2-byte MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0064] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a 1-byte MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0065] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0066] FIG8 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0067] FIG9 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0068] FIG10 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0069] FIG11 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0070] FIG12 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0071] FIG13 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0072] FIG14 is a schematic flow chart of another TCI processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0073] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a TCI processing device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0074] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a TCI processing device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0075] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a TCI processing device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0076] FIG18 is a schematic structural diagram of a TCI processing device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0077] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "and / or" describes the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0078] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "plurality" refers to two or more than two, and other quantifiers are similar thereto.

[0079] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0080] The inventors found in their research that R18 supports a cell change mechanism based on L1 / L2 commands. The cell change mechanism based on L1 / L2 commands aims to achieve a faster process than that based on L3 commands. At the same time, the cell change mechanism based on L1 / L2 commands is not limited to switching and primary and secondary cell (PSCell) changes, but can also be applied to SCells. In order to support mobility based on L1 / L2 commands, the serving cell pre-configures the configuration information of the candidate cell to the UE in advance through the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message. The UE performs L1 measurement on the neighboring cell based on the received configuration and reports it to the serving cell. The serving cell makes a switching decision based on the measurement report. Before this, the serving cell can also trigger the UE to perform the timing advance (TA) acquisition of the target cell, obtain the TA in advance, and carry the acquired valid TA value in the L1 / L2 cell change command to the UE to implement the RACH-less cell change process and shorten the interruption delay.

[0081] In R18 LTM, in order to further shorten the LTM switching delay, it is considered to dynamically activate / deactivate the TCI of several candidate cells in advance based on the L1 measurement results. As a result, when the candidate cell is selected by the network device as the target cell and carried in the LTM switching command, the UE does not need to track, measure, and power control the RS associated with the TCI again, thereby reducing the interruption delay. However, considering the transient characteristics of the L1 measurement results, the beam of a currently activated candidate cell may not be available later, and the network device needs to deactivate some or all beams of the candidate cell. However, the current mechanism supports activating the TCI of a candidate cell, but does not support deactivating all TCI states under the candidate cell. This will result in that even if the candidate cell is not suitable as a target cell, the UE still needs to measure at least a TCI reference signal of the candidate cell, which will result in additional requirements for UE performance and additional power consumption of the network equipment.

[0082] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a TCI processing method, apparatus, and storage medium, wherein a network device may send a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to a terminal device for explicitly or implicitly activating or deactivating the TCI of a candidate cell. The explicit method includes: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell; the implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell for activating the TCI of at least one candidate cell. Thus, after receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device may dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE. Furthermore, the MAC CE may not carry identification information of the candidate cell, but only identification information of the logical channel, thereby dynamically activating the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel. Therefore, the additional requirements on UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device may be reduced.

[0083] Among them, the method and the device are based on the same application concept. Since the principles of solving problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0084] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applicable to a variety of systems. For example, applicable systems may be Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability For Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, 5G New Radio (NR) systems and their evolved communication systems, etc. These various systems may include terminal devices and network devices. The system may also include a core network part, such as an Evolved Packet System (EPS), a 5G system (5GS), etc.

[0085] The terminal device involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connection function, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, etc. In different systems, the name of the terminal device may also be different. For example, in a 5G system, the terminal device may be called a UE. A wireless terminal device may be a USB storage device, other personal computer memory device, and a dongle. It may also communicate with one or more core networks (CN) via a radio access network (RAN). A wireless terminal device may be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal device. For example, it may be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in, or vehicle-mounted mobile device that exchanges language and / or data with a radio access network. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), personal computers, tablet computers, Machine-type Communication (MTC) terminal devices, etc. Wireless terminal devices may also be referred to as systems, subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, mobile stations, remote stations, access points, remote terminals, access terminals, user terminals, user agents, user devices, and wireless access points and routers / modems that meet the limitations of this definition, but are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0086] The network device involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be a base station, which may include multiple cells providing services to terminals. Depending on the specific application scenario, a base station may also be referred to as an access point, or may be a device in an access network that communicates with a wireless terminal device via one or more sectors on an air interface, or may be referred to by other names. The network device may be used to interchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device may also coordinate attribute management of the air interface. For example, the network device involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in an LTE system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a 5G next generation system, or a home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a femto base station, a pico base station, a network test device, etc., and is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. In some network structures, network devices may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes. The centralized unit and the distributed unit may also be arranged geographically separately.

[0087] Network devices and terminal devices can each use one or more antennas for multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. MIMO transmission can be single-user MIMO or multi-user MIMO. Depending on the configuration and number of antennas, MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO. It can also employ diversity transmission, precoding, or beamforming.

[0088] The terminal device in the embodiment of the present disclosure sends relevant information or similar descriptions to the network device, which only indicates that the terminal device sends the relevant information in the form of a wireless signal, and its intended recipient is the network device. The network device can obtain the relevant information by receiving the wireless signal.

[0089] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided for use in network devices. FIG1 is a flow chart of a TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG1 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0090] S101: Sending a MAC CE to a terminal device.

[0091] In this step, MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell.

[0092] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0093] In some embodiments, the explicit method includes: carrying indication information of the TCI for activating the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0094] Optionally, the MAC CE sent by the network device to the terminal device carries indication information for activating the TCI of the target candidate cell. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device can activate the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE according to the indication information.

[0095] In some embodiments, the explicit method includes: carrying indication information for deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0096] Optionally, the MAC CE sent by the network device to the terminal device carries indication information for deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device can deactivate the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE according to the indication information.

[0097] For example, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, when the indication information value is 0, the terminal device considers that all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE are in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE. When the indication information value is 1, the terminal device considers that all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE are in an activated state, and the terminal device activates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE.

[0098] For another example, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, when the indication information value is 0, the terminal device considers the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point to be in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point. When the indication information value is 1, the terminal device considers the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point to be in an activated state, and the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0099] In some embodiments, the implicit method includes: activating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE.

[0100] Optionally, the network device sends a MAC CE to the terminal device. When the terminal device determines that the MAC CE is a set MAC CE, the terminal device activates the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0101] For example, the protocol between the network device and the terminal device stipulates that a MAC CE of a set length is used to indicate the activation of the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE. After receiving the MAC CE, if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, and the MAC CE length corresponds to the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is activated; if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, but the MAC CE length is not the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is not activated.

[0102] In some embodiments, the implicit method includes: deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE.

[0103] Optionally, the network device sends a MAC CE to the terminal device. When the terminal device determines that the MAC CE is a set MAC CE, the terminal device deactivates the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0104] For example, the protocol between the network device and the terminal device stipulates that a MAC CE of a set length is used to indicate deactivation of the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE. After receiving the MAC CE, if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, and the MAC CE length corresponds to the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is deactivated; if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, but the MAC CE length is not the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is not deactivated.

[0105] For another example, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the terminal device deactivates all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE after receiving the MAC CE.

[0106] In some embodiments, the implicit method includes: carrying cell identification information of at least one candidate cell in a MAC CE, which is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0107] Optionally, the MAC CE sent by the network device to the terminal device carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell. When the terminal device receives the MAC CE, it can activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0108] For example, due to factors such as movement and obstruction, the terminal device needs to switch the target cell and beam in order to ensure the signal quality of the SSB with a stronger TCI. Therefore, the network device monitors in real time whether the TCI corresponding to one or more candidate cells in the MAC CE sent to the terminal device is appropriate. If not, the network device needs to send a new MAC CE to the terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device needs to activate the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the latest received MAC CE based on the latest received MAC CE.

[0109] If a terminal device receives two MAC CEs, each of which carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, the terminal device activates the TCI of the at least one candidate cell corresponding to the most recently received MAC CE based on the most recently received MAC CE. If the terminal device receives a MAC CE at a second moment, and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment (the most recently received MAC CE), the TCI corresponding to one or more candidate cells in the MAC CE received at the second moment is considered unsuitable. Therefore, the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the most recently received MAC CE based on the most recently received MAC CE, and deactivates the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment. If the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same as that carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCIs corresponding to the same cell identification information are the same, the terminal device considers that only some of the candidate cells in the MAC CE received at the second moment have suitable TCIs. Therefore, based on the latest received MAC CE, the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the latest received MAC CE is activated, and the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information in the MAC CE received at the second moment is ensured to be activated, so that the TCI corresponding to the different cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment can be deactivated.

[0110] Optionally, when the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell, or when the MAC CE is a set MAC CE, the MAC CE is an LTM early TCI activation / deactivation MAC CE, and the LTM early TCI activation / deactivation MAC CE refers to the current per candidate activation MAC CE.

[0111] In an optional implementation, the current per candidate activation MAC CE may carry the field Candidate Cell ID corresponding to the cell identification information of at most one candidate cell, the field Pi corresponding to the codepoint, the field D / U, the field TCI state ID corresponding to the TCI state identification information, and the field R corresponding to the idle bit. Among them:

[0112] Field Candidate Cell ID: used to indicate the cell identification information of the candidate cell in the MAC CE. The field length of the Candidate Cell ID field is 3 bits.

[0113] The Pi field indicates whether each TCI code point has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. If the Pi field is set to 1, the i-th TCI code point has both an uplink TCI state and a downlink TCI state. If the Pi field is set to 0, the i-th TCI code point includes only a downlink / joint TCI state or an uplink TCI state. The code point corresponding to the TCI state is determined by its order in all TCI state ID fields.

[0114] The D / U (Downlink / Uplink) field indicates whether the TCI State ID field in the same byte is used for the downlink / combined TCI state or the uplink TCI state. If the D / U field is set to 1, the TCI State ID field in the same byte is used for the downlink / combined TCI state. If the D / U field is set to 0, the TCI State ID field in the same byte is used for the uplink TCI state.

[0115] TCI State ID: This field indicates the TCI state, also known as TCI state identification information. If the D / U field is set to 1, a 7-bit TCI state ID is used. If the D / U field is set to 0, the most significant bit of the TCI state ID is considered an idle bit. The maximum number of active TCI states is 16.

[0116] Field R is set to: 0.

[0117] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate activation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0118] In this embodiment, the indication information may be indicated per candidate cell. A MAC CE carries only the cell identification information of one candidate cell. Therefore, the indication information carried in the MAC CE sent by the network device may correspond to the candidate cell corresponding to the MAC CE, that is, the target candidate cell. All TCIs appearing in the MAC CE are the TCIs of the target candidate cell. The indication information may be used to instruct activation of all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device may directly activate all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE in accordance with the indication information.

[0119] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to instruct to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0120] In this embodiment, the indication information may be indicated per candidate cell. A MAC CE carries only the cell identification information of one candidate cell. Therefore, the indication information carried in the MAC CE sent by the network device may correspond to the candidate cell corresponding to the MAC CE, that is, the target candidate cell. All TCIs appearing in the MAC CE are the TCIs of the target candidate cell. The indication information may be used to instruct the deactivation of all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device may directly deactivate all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE in accordance with the indication information.

[0121] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in an idle bit in the MAC CE.

[0122] In this embodiment, if the indication information corresponds to a target candidate cell, a spare bit in the MAC CE may be used to carry the indication information. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device determines whether to activate or deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE based on the indication information carried by the spare bit. The MAC CE may be shown in Figure 2.

[0123] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 2, the first byte of the MAC CE includes a field corresponding to an idle bit and a Candidate Cell ID field, wherein the idle bit corresponding to field A is used to carry indication information; the second byte includes a field Pi corresponding to a TCI code point (P1, P2, ..., P8 in Figure 2); each byte from the third byte to the last byte includes a field D / U and a field TCI state ID (TCI state ID 1, TCI state ID 2, ..., TCI state ID N in Figure 2). After receiving the MAC CE, if the indication information carried by field A is used to indicate activation of all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE, the terminal device activates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE; if the indication information carried by field A is used to indicate deactivation of all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE, the terminal device deactivates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE.

[0124] Optionally, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation. For example, if the value of the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to field A is 0, the terminal device considers that all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE are in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE. If the value of the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to field A is 1, the terminal device considers that all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE are in an activated state, and the terminal device activates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE.

[0125] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0126] In this embodiment, the indication information may also be indicated by each TCI code point (per TCI code point), so that the indication information corresponding to each TCI code point can indicate whether the state of the TCI code point is activated or deactivated, and thus it can be determined whether to activate or deactivate the corresponding TCI.

[0127] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0128] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE, where the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

[0129] In this embodiment, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, a new byte may be added to the MAC CE, and the indication information may be carried by N consecutive idle bits in the newly added byte. The value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE. For example, if the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE is 8, then N is 8. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device determines whether the TCI code point corresponding to each indication information is activated or deactivated based on the indication information carried by the N consecutive idle bits, and thus determines whether to activate or deactivate the corresponding TCI.

[0130] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0131] In some embodiments, the type of TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a combined TCI code point. The order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point.

[0132] In this embodiment, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, a new byte can be added to the MAC CE, and the indication information can be carried by N consecutive idle bits in the newly added byte. In this case, to facilitate determining the mapping relationship between the indication information carried by each idle bit and each TCI code point, and thereby accurately determining whether the TCI code point corresponding to each indication information is activated or deactivated based on the indication information, the order in which the indication information appears in the N consecutive idle bits can be consistent with the order in which the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point appears. This MAC CE can be shown in Figure 3.

[0133] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG3, the first byte of the MAC CE includes fields corresponding to idle bits and a Candidate Cell ID field; the second byte includes fields Pi corresponding to TCI code points (P1, P2, ..., P8 in FIG3); the third byte is a newly added byte, which includes fields Ai corresponding to N consecutive idle bits (N is 8 in FIG3) (A1, A2, ..., A8 in FIG3), with the order of the Ai fields being consistent with the order of the Pi fields (A1 corresponds to P1, A2 corresponds to P2, ..., A8 corresponds to P8 in FIG3); and each byte from the fourth byte to the last byte includes fields D / U and TCI state ID (TCI state ID 1, TCI state ID 2, ..., TCI state ID N in FIG3). After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device determines whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to each indication information is activated or deactivated based on the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to the field Ai, thereby determining whether to activate or deactivate the corresponding TCI.

[0134] Optionally, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation. For example, if the value of the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to field A1 is 0, the terminal device considers that the TCI code point corresponding to field P1 is in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point. If the value of the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to field A2 is 1, the terminal device considers that the TCI code point corresponding to field P2 is in an activated state, and the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0135] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0136] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0137] In this embodiment, the network device and the terminal device can reach an agreement to indicate that all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE are deactivated according to the set MAC CE. Thus, after the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device, in accordance with the provisions of the protocol, deactivates the TCI for the target candidate cells in the MAC CE if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, and the MAC CE length corresponds to the set length; if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, but the MAC CE length is not the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cells in the MAC CE is not deactivated. Therefore, dynamic activation or deactivation of the TCI for the target candidate cells in the MAC CE can also be achieved in an implicit manner, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0138] Optionally, the set MAC CE may have a length of a set length, that is, the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE also corresponds to the set length. The subheader of the MAC CE may be shown in FIG4 .

[0139] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a MAC CE subheader provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 4, the first byte of the MAC CE subheader includes the LCID field corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel, and the R and F fields corresponding to the idle bits. The second and third bytes include the eLCID field corresponding to the identification information of the enhanced logical channel. The fourth byte includes the L field, which indicates the length of the MAC CE, and the F field, which indicates the size of the L field.

[0140] Optionally, the set length may be 2 bytes, and the 2-byte MAC CE may be as shown in FIG5 .

[0141] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a two-byte MAC CE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 5, the first byte of the MAC CE includes the R field corresponding to the idle bits and the Candidate Cell ID field; the second byte includes the Pi field corresponding to the TCI code point (P1, P2, ..., P8 in Figure 5).

[0142] Optionally, the set length may also be 1 byte, and the 1-byte MAC CE may be as shown in FIG6 .

[0143] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a 1-byte MAC CE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 6, the first byte of the MAC CE includes a field R corresponding to idle bits and a Candidate Cell ID field.

[0144] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0145] In this embodiment, if the MAC CE does not include the state identification information (TCI state ID) of the TCI, but the MAC CE includes the cell identification information of the target candidate cell, it can be considered that there is no activated TCI for the target candidate cell, so all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE can be deactivated, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network equipment.

[0146] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0147] In this embodiment, the MAC CE sent by the network device may also carry the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell to activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell, or simultaneously activate or deactivate the TCI of multiple candidate cells, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of the network device. In this case, the MAC CE may also carry at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, and state identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field. This state identification information may be used to indicate the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or to indicate the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, which includes an uplink and downlink combined mode or an uplink and downlink separate mode. If, in separate mode, the state of the uplink TCI and the state of the downlink TCI are separately indicated, the MAC CE may also include state identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication field. The separate indication field may indicate whether the state identification information of the TCI carried therein is the state identification information of the uplink TCI or the state identification information of the downlink TCI. The MAC CE may be shown in FIG7 .

[0148] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another MAC CE provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 7, two MAC CEs are included, namely MAC CE A and MAC CE B.

[0149] In MAC CE A, the first byte includes the field R, field P, field Ntc i and field Candidate Cell ID i corresponding to the idle bits, where field P is used to indicate whether there is the next candidate cell and its corresponding TCI, and field Ntc i is used to indicate the number of TCI code points corresponding to Candidate Cell ID i; the second byte includes the field Pi corresponding to the TCI code point (P1, P2, ..., P8 in Figure 7); each byte from the third byte to the last byte includes the field D / U and the field TCI state ID (TCI state ID 1, TCI state ID 2, ..., TCI state ID N in Figure 7).

[0150] In MAC CE B, the first byte includes the field R, field P, field Ntc i, and field Candidate Cell ID x corresponding to the idle bits, where field P is used to indicate whether there is the next candidate cell and its corresponding TCI, and field Ntc i is used to indicate the number of TCI code points corresponding to Candidate Cell ID i; the N+4th byte includes the field Pi corresponding to the TCI code point (P1, P2, ..., P8 in Figure 7); each byte from the third byte to the last byte includes the field D / U and the field TCI state ID (TCI state ID 1, TCI state ID 2, ..., TCI state ID N in Figure 7).

[0151] For example, taking joint TCI as an example, that is, each TCI code point corresponds to a TCI state ID. The MAC CE received by the terminal device carries Candidate cell ID 1 and the TCI state IDs 1 and 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1, as well as Candidate cell ID 2 and TCI state ID 3 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2. The terminal device then considers TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1 to be active, and activates the TCI corresponding to TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2.

[0152] Later, due to factors such as UE movement and obstruction, the network device finds that all TCIs corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2 are inappropriate, and, except for the TCIs corresponding to TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 of Candidate cell ID 1, the signal quality of the synchronization signal block (SS Block, abbreviated as: SSB) of the TCIs corresponding to TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3 is strong, and can be used as the target cell and beam to be switched. Therefore, the network device sends a new MAC CE, which carries Candidate cell ID 1 and TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1, as well as TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3.

[0153] After receiving the new MAC CE, the terminal device considers, based on the latest received MAC CE, that TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1 are in the activated state, and TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3 are in the activated state, while TCI state ID 3 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2 is in the deactivated state. Therefore, the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to TCI state 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1, as well as the TCI corresponding to TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3. It also deactivates the TCI corresponding to TCI state ID 3 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2.

[0154] Optionally, if the value of the field Ntc i in the MAC CE is 0, all TCIs corresponding to the Candidate cell ID i are deactivated. Therefore, the byte where the Pi field is located may not appear in the MAC CE.

[0155] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG8 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG8 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0156] S801: Receive a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell.

[0157] In this step, the method used is explicitly stated, including: the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell.

[0158] The implicit method includes: activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or, the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of at least one candidate cell.

[0159] S802: Activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell according to the MAC CE.

[0160] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0161] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG9 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG9 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0162] S901: Receive a MAC CE from a network device. The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell. The indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell.

[0163] S902: Activate or deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE according to the indication information.

[0164] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to explicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0165] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is carried in an idle bit in the MAC CE.

[0166] In this embodiment, if the indication information corresponds to a target candidate cell, a spare bit in the MAC CE may be used to carry the indication information. After receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device determines whether to activate or deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE based on the indication information carried by the spare bit. The MAC CE may be shown in Figure 2.

[0167] Optionally, the indication information may be indicated by each candidate cell (per candidate cell), and a MAC CE carries only the cell identification information of one candidate cell. Therefore, the indication information carried in the MAC CE sent by the network device may correspond to the candidate cell corresponding to the MAC CE, that is, the target candidate cell. Then all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE are the TCIs of the target candidate cell.

[0168] Optionally, if the indication information is used to indicate the activation of all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE, the terminal device activates all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE; if the indication information is used to indicate the deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE, the terminal device deactivates all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE.

[0169] For example, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, when the indication information value is 0, the terminal device considers that all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE are in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE. If the indication information value is 1, the terminal device considers that all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE are in an activated state, and the terminal device activates all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE.

[0170] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0171] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the state identification information of the TCI carried in the MAC CE of the target candidate cell.

[0172] In this embodiment, the indication information may be indicated by each candidate cell (per candidate cell), and a MAC CE carries only the cell identification information of one candidate cell. Therefore, the indication information carried in the MAC CE sent by the network device may correspond to the candidate cell corresponding to the MAC CE, that is, the target candidate cell. Then, all TCIs appearing in the MAC CE are the TCIs of the target candidate cell.

[0173] Optionally, when the indication information is used to indicate that the TCI corresponding to the TCI state ID carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is activated, the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the TCI state ID carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE; when the indication information is used to indicate that the TCI corresponding to the TCI state ID carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is deactivated, the terminal device deactivates the TCI corresponding to the TCI state ID carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0174] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0175] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG10 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG10 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0176] S1001: Receive a MAC CE from a network device. The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell. The indication information corresponds to a TCI code point.

[0177] S1002: Activate or deactivate the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point according to the indication information.

[0178] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to explicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0179] In some embodiments, the indication information may also be indicated per TCI codepoint. If the indication information corresponding to each TCI codepoint indicates that the state of the TCI codepoint is activated, it can be determined whether the corresponding TCI is activated or deactivated. If the indication information corresponding to each TCI codepoint indicates that the state of the TCI codepoint is deactivated, it can be determined whether the corresponding TCI is deactivated.

[0180] For example, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, when the indication information value is 0, the terminal device considers the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point to be in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point. When the indication information value is 1, the terminal device considers the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point to be in an activated state, and the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0181] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0182] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE; wherein the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or, the maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

[0183] In this embodiment, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, a new byte can be added to the MAC CE, and the indication information can be carried by N consecutive idle bits in the newly added byte. The value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE. For example, if the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE is 8, then N is 8. The value of N can also be set to a maximum of 8 or 16.

[0184] Optionally, after receiving the MAC CE, the terminal device determines whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to each indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state based on the indication information carried by the N consecutive idle bits, and thus determines whether to activate or deactivate the corresponding TCI.

[0185] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0186] In some embodiments, the type of TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a combined TCI code point. The order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point. The indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is activated or deactivated.

[0187] In this embodiment, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, a new byte can be added to the MAC CE, and the indication information can be carried by N consecutive idle bits in the newly added byte. In this case, to facilitate determining the mapping relationship between the indication information carried by each idle bit and each TCI code point, and thereby accurately determining whether the TCI code point corresponding to each indication information is activated or deactivated based on the indication information, the order in which the indication information appears in the N consecutive idle bits can be consistent with the order in which the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point appears. This MAC CE can be shown in Figure 3.

[0188] Optionally, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation. For example, if the value of the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to field A1 is 0, the terminal device considers that the TCI code point corresponding to field P1 is in a deactivated state, and the terminal device deactivates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point. If the value of the indication information carried by the idle bit corresponding to field A2 is 1, the terminal device considers that the TCI code point corresponding to field P2 is in an activated state, and the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0189] Optionally, by carrying indication information in the MAC CE, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0190] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG11 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG11 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0191] S1101: Receive a set MAC CE from a network device, where the set MAC CE is used to activate or deactivate the TCI of a target candidate cell.

[0192] S1102: Activate or deactivate the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE according to the set MAC CE.

[0193] In this step, the network device and the terminal device can reach an agreement, and the set MAC CE is used to indicate the deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE. Therefore, after the network device sends the set MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device determines whether to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE according to the received MAC CE in accordance with the provisions of the protocol.

[0194] Optionally, the network device and the terminal device can agree that the set MAC CE is used to indicate the activation of all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE. Thus, after the network device sends the set MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device determines whether to activate all TCIs for the target candidate cells appearing in the MAC CE according to the received MAC CE in accordance with the provisions of the protocol.

[0195] Therefore, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated in an implicit manner, thereby reducing the additional requirements on the UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network equipment.

[0196] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0197] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0198] In this embodiment, the protocol between the network device and the terminal device stipulates that a MAC CE of a set length is used to indicate deactivation of the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE. After receiving the MAC CE, if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, and the MAC CE length corresponds to the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is deactivated; if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, but the MAC CE length is not the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is not deactivated.

[0199] Optionally, the protocol between the network device and the terminal device may also stipulate that a MAC CE of a set length is used to indicate activation of the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE. After receiving the MAC CE, if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, and the MAC CE length corresponds to the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is activated; if the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is the set length, but the MAC CE length is not the set length, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE is not activated.

[0200] Optionally, the set MAC CE may have a length of a set length, that is, the subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE also corresponds to the set length. The subheader of the MAC CE may be shown in FIG4 .

[0201] Optionally, the set length may be 2 bytes, and the 2-byte MAC CE may be as shown in FIG5 .

[0202] Optionally, the set length may also be 1 byte, and the 1-byte MAC CE may be as shown in FIG6 .

[0203] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG12 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG12 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0204] S1201: Receive a MAC CE from a network device. The MAC CE does not include TCI status identification information.

[0205] S1202: According to the MAC CE, deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0206] In this step, if the MAC CE does not contain the state identification information of the TCI (field TCI state ID), but the MAC CE contains the cell identification information of the target candidate cell, it can be considered that there is no activated TCI for the target candidate cell, so all TCIs for the target candidate cell appearing in the MAC CE can be deactivated, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of network equipment.

[0207] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0208] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG13 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG13 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0209] S1301: Receive a MAC CE from a network device. The MAC CE only includes identification information of a logical channel.

[0210] S1302: According to the MAC CE, the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel is deactivated.

[0211] In this step, the MAC CE may not include the cell identification information of the candidate cell, but only include the identification information of the logical channel. In this case, it can be considered that there is no activated TCI in the candidate cell. Therefore, the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel can be deactivated through the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network equipment.

[0212] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0213] In some embodiments, a TCI processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. FIG14 is a flow chart of another TCI processing method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG14 , the method mainly includes the following steps:

[0214] S1401: Receive a MAC CE from a network device. The MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell and is used to activate TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0215] S1402: Activate TCI of at least one candidate cell according to MAC CE.

[0216] In the TCI processing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC CE is used to implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell. After the network device sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, the terminal device can dynamically activate or deactivate the TCI appearing in the MAC CE according to the MAC CE, thereby reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device.

[0217] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0218] In this embodiment, the MAC CE sent by the network device may also carry the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell to activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell, or simultaneously activate or deactivate the TCI of multiple candidate cells, thereby reducing additional requirements on UE performance and additional power consumption of the network device. In this case, the MAC CE may also carry at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, and state identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field. This state identification information may be used to indicate the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or to indicate the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, which may include an uplink and downlink combined mode or an uplink and downlink separate mode. If, in separate mode, the state of the uplink TCI and the state of the downlink TCI are separately indicated, the MAC CE may also include state identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication field. The separate indication field may indicate whether the state identification information of the TCI carried therein is the state identification information of the uplink TCI or the state identification information of the downlink TCI. The MAC CE may be shown in Figure 7.

[0219] In some embodiments, the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is an activated state, and the first moment is the latest moment of receiving the MAC CE.

[0220] In this embodiment, due to factors such as movement and obstruction, the terminal device needs to switch the target cell and beam in order to ensure the signal quality of the SSB with a stronger TCI. Therefore, the network device monitors in real time whether the TCI corresponding to one or more candidate cells in the MAC CE sent to the terminal device is appropriate. If not, the network device needs to send a new MAC CE to the terminal device. Therefore, the terminal device needs to activate the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the latest received MAC CE based on the latest received MAC CE.

[0221] In some embodiments, if a MAC CE is received at a second moment and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is a deactivated state, where the second moment is before the first moment.

[0222] In this embodiment, the network device can send MAC CE to the terminal device multiple times. If the network device sends a MAC CE to the terminal device at the second moment, if it detects that the TCI corresponding to one or more candidate cells in the MAC CE sent at the second moment is inappropriate, a new MAC CE (that is, the MAC CE sent at the first moment) can be sent to the terminal device, and the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the latest received MAC CE based on the cell identification information and its corresponding TCI carried in the latest received MAC CE. In this way, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device, while also ensuring the signal quality of the SSB of the stronger TCI of the target cell to be switched.

[0223] Optionally, if the terminal device receives a MAC CE at a second moment, and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, it is considered that the TCI corresponding to one or more candidate cells in the MAC CE received at the second moment is not suitable. Therefore, based on the latest received MAC CE, the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the latest received MAC CE is activated, and the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is deactivated.

[0224] In some embodiments, if the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same as the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the same, then the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is an activated state.

[0225] In this embodiment, the network device can send MAC CE to the terminal device multiple times. If the network device sends a MAC CE to the terminal device at the second moment, if it detects that the TCI corresponding to one or more candidate cells in the MAC CE sent at the second moment is inappropriate, a new MAC CE (that is, the MAC CE sent at the first moment) can be sent to the terminal device, and the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the latest received MAC CE based on the cell identification information and its corresponding TCI carried in the latest received MAC CE. In this way, the TCI for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE can be dynamically activated or deactivated, reducing the additional requirements for UE performance and the additional power consumption of the network device, while also ensuring the signal quality of the SSB of the stronger TCI of the target cell to be switched.

[0226] Optionally, if the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same as the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the same, then it is considered that only the TCIs corresponding to some candidate cells in the MAC CE received at the second moment are suitable. Therefore, based on the most recently received MAC CE, the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the most recently received MAC CE is activated, and the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information in the MAC CE received at the second moment is ensured to be activated, so that the TCIs corresponding to different cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment can be deactivated.

[0227] For example, taking joint TCI as an example, that is, each TCI code point corresponds to a TCI state ID. The MAC CE received by the terminal device carries Candidate cell ID 1 and the TCI state IDs 1 and 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1, as well as Candidate cell ID 2 and TCI state ID 3 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2. The terminal device then considers TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1 to be active, and activates the TCI corresponding to TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2.

[0228] Later, due to factors such as UE movement and obstruction, the network device discovers that all TCIs corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2 are inappropriate. In addition, in addition to the TCIs corresponding to TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 of Candidate cell ID 1, the SSBs of the TCIs corresponding to TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3 have strong signal quality and can be used as the target cell and beam to be switched. Therefore, the network device sends a new MAC CE that carries Candidate cell ID 1 and TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1, as well as TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3.

[0229] After receiving the new MAC CE, the terminal device considers, based on the latest received MAC CE, that TCI state ID 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1 are in the activated state, and TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3 are in the activated state, while TCI state ID 3 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2 is in the deactivated state. Therefore, the terminal device activates the TCI corresponding to TCI state 1 and TCI state ID 2 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 1, as well as the TCI corresponding to TCI state ID 4, TCI state ID 5, and TCI state ID 6 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 3. It also deactivates the TCI corresponding to TCI state ID 3 corresponding to Candidate cell ID 2.

[0230] Optionally, the MAC CE may be as shown in FIG7 . If the value of the field Ntc i in the MAC CE is 0, all TCIs corresponding to the Candidate cell ID i are deactivated. Therefore, the byte where the Pi field is located may not appear in the MAC CE.

[0231] In some embodiments, the MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell, or, when the MAC CE is a set MAC CE, the MAC CE is an LTM early TCI activation / deactivation MAC CE, and the LTM early TCI activation / deactivation MAC CE refers to the current per candidate activation MAC CE.

[0232] In an optional implementation, the current per candidate activation MAC CE may carry the Candidate Cell ID field corresponding to the cell identification information of at most one candidate cell, the Pi field corresponding to the codepoint, the D / U field, the TCI state ID field corresponding to the TCI state identification information, and the R field corresponding to the idle bit. Among them:

[0233] Field Candidate Cell ID: used to indicate the cell identification information of the candidate cell in the MAC CE. The field length of the Candidate Cell ID field is 3 bits.

[0234] Field Pi: Used to indicate whether each TCI codepoint has multiple TCI states or a single TCI state. If the Pi field is set to 1, the i-th TCI codepoint has both an uplink TCI state and a downlink TCI state. If the Pi field is set to 0, the i-th TCI codepoint includes only the downlink / joint TCI state or the uplink TCI state. The codepoint corresponding to the TCI state is determined by its order in all TCI state ID fields.

[0235] Field D / U: Used to indicate whether the TCI State ID field in the same byte is for the downlink / combined TCI state or the uplink TCI state. If the D / U field is set to 1, the TCI State ID field in the same byte is for the downlink / combined TCI state. If the D / U field is set to 0, the TCI State ID field in the same byte is for the uplink TCI state.

[0236] Field TCI state ID: If the D / U field is set to 1, a 7-bit TCI state ID is used. If the D / U field is set to 0, the most significant bit of the TCI state ID is treated as a free bit. The maximum number of active TCI states is 16.

[0237] Field R is set to: 0.

[0238] In some embodiments, a TCI processing device is provided for use in network equipment.

[0239] FIG15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a TCI processing device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG15 , the TCI processing device 1500 includes:

[0240] The sending module 1501 is configured to send a MAC CE to a terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell;

[0241] The explicit methods include:

[0242] The MAC CE carries the indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell;

[0243] The implicit methods include:

[0244] Activate or deactivate the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or,

[0245] The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell and is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0246] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE; or, the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0247] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in the idle bit position in the MAC CE; if the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE, and the N value depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

[0248] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0249] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point.

[0250] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0251] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0252] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0253] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0254] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0255] In some embodiments, a TCI processing device is provided for use in a terminal device.

[0256] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a TCI processing device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG16 , the TCI processing device 1600 includes:

[0257] The receiving module 1601 is configured to receive a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell;

[0258] The processing module 1602 is configured to activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell according to the MAC CE;

[0259] The explicit methods include:

[0260] The MAC CE carries the indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell;

[0261] The implicit methods include:

[0262] Activate or deactivate the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or,

[0263] The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell and is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0264] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE, or the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the identification information of the TCI carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0265] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0266] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0267] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE; wherein the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or, the maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

[0268] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0269] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0270] In some embodiments, the set MAC CE includes: a subheader of the MAC CE indicating that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0271] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0272] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0273] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE only includes identification information of a logical channel, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel.

[0274] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following: at least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a joint TCI; the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink joint mode, or an uplink and downlink separate mode; for the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0275] In some embodiments, the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is an activated state, and the first moment is the latest moment of receiving the MAC CE.

[0276] In some embodiments, if a MAC CE is received at a second moment and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is a deactivated state, wherein the second moment is before the first moment; and / or; if the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same cell identification information as that carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the same, then the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is an activated state.

[0277] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present disclosure is schematic and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present disclosure may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0278] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present disclosure, or the part that contributes to the relevant technology, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0279] It should be noted here that the above-mentioned device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented in the above-mentioned method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. The parts and beneficial effects of this embodiment that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0280] In some embodiments, a TCI processing device is also provided.

[0281] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a TCI processing device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG17 , the TCI processing device includes: a memory 1711 , a transceiver 1712 , and a processor 1713 .

[0282] The memory 1711 is used to store computer programs;

[0283] The transceiver 1712 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 1713 .

[0284] In FIG17 , the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking together various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 1713 and memory represented by memory 1711. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and are therefore not further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1712 may be a plurality of components, i.e., a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium, such as a wireless channel, a wired channel, an optical cable, or the like. The processor 1713 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1711 may store data used by the processor 1713 when performing operations.

[0285] The processor 1713 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD). The processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0286] The processor 1713 reads the computer program in the memory 1711 and performs the following operations:

[0287] Sending a MAC CE to the terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell;

[0288] The explicit methods include:

[0289] The MAC CE carries the indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell;

[0290] The implicit methods include:

[0291] Activate or deactivate the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or,

[0292] The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell and is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0293] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE; or,

[0294] The indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0295] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in an idle bit in the MAC CE;

[0296] If the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE, where the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

[0297] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0298] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point.

[0299] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0300] In some embodiments, the configured MAC CE includes:

[0301] The subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0302] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0303] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0304] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following:

[0305] At least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, where one TCI code point corresponds to uplink TCI status identification information, downlink TCI status identification information, or combined TCI status identification information;

[0306] Status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field. The status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point. The TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink combined mode or an uplink and downlink separate mode.

[0307] In the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in the separate indication field is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0308] In some embodiments, a TCI processing device is also provided.

[0309] Figure 18 is a structural diagram of a TCI processing device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 18, the TCI processing device includes: a memory 1811, a transceiver 1812, and a processor 1813.

[0310] The memory 1811 is used to store computer programs;

[0311] The transceiver 1812 is used to receive and send data under the control of the processor 1813 .

[0312] In FIG18 , the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking together various circuits of one or more processors represented by a processor and a memory represented by a memory. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and are therefore not further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver may be a plurality of components, i.e., a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium, such as a wireless channel, a wired channel, an optical cable, and the like. For different user devices, the user interface 1814 may also be an interface capable of connecting external or internal devices as required, including but not limited to a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, and the like.

[0313] The processor 1813 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1811 can store data used by the processor 1813 when performing operations.

[0314] Optionally, the processor may be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA, or CPLD, and the processor may also adopt a multi-core architecture. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

[0315] The processor 1813 reads the computer program in the memory 1811 and performs the following operations:

[0316] Receive a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell;

[0317] Activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell based on the MAC CE;

[0318] The explicit methods include:

[0319] The MAC CE carries the indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell;

[0320] The implicit methods include:

[0321] Activate or deactivate the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or,

[0322] The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell and is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

[0323] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE, or the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the identification information of the TCI carried by the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0324] In some embodiments, the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate activation or deactivation of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

[0325] In some embodiments, the type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a joint TCI code point.

[0326] In some embodiments, if the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE;

[0327] The value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or

[0328] The maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

[0329] In some embodiments, the order of appearance of the indication information in the N consecutive idle bits in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or joint TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the state of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an activated state or a deactivated state.

[0330] In some embodiments, the value of the indication information used for activation is different from the value of the indication information used for deactivation.

[0331] In some embodiments, the configured MAC CE includes:

[0332] The subheader of the MAC CE indicates that the MAC CE length is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

[0333] In some embodiments, the length is set to 2 bytes or 1 byte.

[0334] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE does not include the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs for the target candidate cell in the MAC CE.

[0335] In some embodiments, if the MAC CE only includes identification information of a logical channel, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel.

[0336] In some embodiments, when the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it also includes at least one of the following:

[0337] At least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, where one TCI code point corresponds to uplink TCI status identification information, downlink TCI status identification information, or combined TCI status identification information;

[0338] Status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field. The status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point. The TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink combined mode or an uplink and downlink separate mode.

[0339] In the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in the separate indication field is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

[0340] In some embodiments, the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is an activated state, and the first moment is the latest moment of receiving the MAC CE.

[0341] In some embodiments, if a MAC CE is received at a second moment, and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the state of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is a deactivated state, wherein the second moment is before the first moment;

[0342] and / or;

[0343] If the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same as the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the same, then the state of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the activated state.

[0344] It should be noted here that the above-mentioned device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can implement all the method steps implemented in the above-mentioned method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. The parts and beneficial effects of this embodiment that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0345] In some embodiments, a non-transitory readable storage medium is further provided. The non-transitory readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is used to enable a processor to execute any one of the methods in the method embodiments.

[0346] The non-transitory readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by the processor, including but not limited to magnetic storage (such as floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magneto-optical disks (MO)), optical storage (such as CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor storage (such as ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memories (NAND FLASH), solid-state drives (SSDs)), etc.

[0347] In some embodiments, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program for causing a processor to execute the method of any one of the method embodiments.

[0348] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present disclosure may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage and optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0349] The present disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable 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 processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0350] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-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 processor-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.

[0351] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present disclosure fall within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and their equivalents, the present disclosure is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A transmission configuration indicator (TCI) processing method, wherein, Applied to a network device, the TCI processing method includes: Sending a Media Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) to a terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; Among them, the way adopted for explicit activation or deactivation includes: The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell; The way adopted for implicit activation or deactivation includes: Activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or The MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, which is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

2. The TCI processing method according to claim 1, wherein, If the MAC CE does not contain the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all the TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell.

3. The TCI processing method according to claim 1, wherein, The indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all the TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell; or The indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the status of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an active state or a deactivated state.

4. The TCI processing method according to claim 3, wherein, If the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in the idle bit positions in the MAC CE. If the indication information corresponds to a TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE, and the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

5. The TCI processing method according to claim 4, wherein, The types of the TCI code points include an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a combined TCI code point.

6. The TCI processing method according to claim 5, wherein, The order of appearance of the indication information in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE is the same as the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point.

7. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, The value of the indication information for activation is different from the value of the indication information for deactivation.

8. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The set MAC CE includes: The sub-header of the MAC CE indicates that the length of the MAC CE is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

9. The TCI processing method according to claim 8, wherein, The set length is 2 bytes or 1 byte.

10. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, When the MAC CE carries cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it further includes at least one of the following: At least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, and one TCI code point corresponds to a status identification information of an uplink TCI, a status identification information of a downlink TCI, or a status identification information of a combined TCI; The status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field, where the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, and the TCI mode includes an uplink and downlink combined mode or an uplink and downlink separate mode. For the case of separately indicating the status of uplink TCI and the status of downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication field, where the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

11. A TCI processing method, wherein, Applied to a terminal device, the TCI processing method includes: Receiving a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; Activating or deactivating the TCI of the candidate cell according to the MAC CE; Among them, the explicit method adopted includes: The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell; The implicit method adopted includes: Activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or, The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell for activating the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

12. The TCI processing method according to claim 11, wherein, If the MAC CE does not contain the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all the TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell.

13. The TCI processing method according to claim 11, wherein, The indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate activating or deactivating all the TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell, or the indication information is used to indicate activating or deactivating the TCI corresponding to the identification information of the TCI carried in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell.

14. The TCI processing method according to claim 11 or 13, wherein, The indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate activating or deactivating the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

15. The TCI processing method according to claim 14, wherein, The type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point, or a combined TCI code point.

16. The TCI processing method according to claim 15, wherein, If the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE; Among them, the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or, The maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

17. The TCI processing method according to claim 16, wherein, The appearance order of the indication information in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE is the same as the appearance order of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate that the status of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an active state or a deactivated state.

18. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein, The value of the indication information for activation is different from the value of the indication information for deactivation.

19. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein, The set MAC CE includes: The sub-header of the MAC CE indicates that the length of the MAC CE is a set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

20. The TCI processing method according to claim 19, wherein, The set length is 2 bytes or 1 byte.

21. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 20, wherein If the MAC CE only contains the identification information of the logical channel, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel.

22. The TCI processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 21, wherein, When the MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, it further includes at least one of the following: At least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, where one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a combined TCI; The status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field, where the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, and the TCI mode includes an uplink-downlink combined mode or an uplink-downlink separate mode; For the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication field, where the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

23. The TCI processing method according to claim 22, wherein, The status of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is the active state, and the first moment is the latest moment when the MAC CE is received.

24. The TCI processing method according to claim 23, wherein, If the MAC CE is received at the second moment, and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the status of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the deactivated state, where the second moment is before the first moment; And / or; If the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same as the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCIs corresponding to the same cell identification information are the same, then the status of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the active state.

25. A TCI processing device, wherein, Applied to a network device, the TCI processing device includes: A sending module, configured to send a MAC CE to a terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; Among them, the manner adopted for explicit activation or deactivation includes: The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell; The manner adopted for implicit activation or deactivation includes: Activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or, The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell, for activating the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

26. A TCI processing device, wherein, Applied to a terminal device, the TCI processing device includes: A receiving module, configured to receive a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; A processing module, configured to activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell according to the MAC CE; Among them, the manner adopted for explicit activation or deactivation includes: The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell; The manner adopted for implicit activation or deactivation includes: Activating or deactivating the TCI of a target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or, The cell identification information of at least one candidate cell is carried in the MAC CE, which is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

27. A TCI processing device, wherein, It includes: A memory, a transceiver, and a processor: The memory is used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to transmit and receive data under the control of the processor; The processor is used to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Send a MAC CE to the terminal device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell; Among them, the explicit method includes: The indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell is carried in the MAC CE; The implicit method includes: Activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell according to the set MAC CE; or, The cell identification information of at least one candidate cell is carried in the MAC CE, which is used to activate the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

28. The TCI processing device according to claim 27, wherein, If the MAC CE does not contain the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell.

29. The TCI processing device according to claim 28, wherein, The indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate the activation or deactivation of all TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell; or, The indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate whether the status of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is the active state or the deactivated state.

30. The TCI processing device according to claim 29, wherein, If the indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, the indication information is carried in the idle bit positions in the MAC CE; If the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE, and the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE.

31. The TCI processing device according to claim 30, wherein, The types of the TCI code points include uplink TCI code points, downlink TCI code points, or combined TCI code points.

32. The TCI processing device according to claim 31, wherein, The order of appearance of the indication information in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE is consistent with the order of appearance of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point, or combined TCI code point.

33. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 27 to 32, wherein The value of the indication information for activation is different from the value of the indication information for deactivation.

34. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 27 to 33, wherein, The set MAC CE includes: The sub-header of the MAC CE indicates that the length of the MAC CE is the set length, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

35. The TCI processing device according to claim 34, wherein, The set length is 2 bytes or 1 byte.

36. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 27 to 35, wherein When the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell is carried in the MAC CE, it further includes at least one of the following: At least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, and one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a combined TCI; The status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control domain, where the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, and the TCI mode includes an uplink-downlink combined mode or an uplink-downlink separate mode; For the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication domain, where the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

37. A TCI processing device, wherein, Comprising: A memory, a transceiver, a processor: The memory is used to store computer programs; The transceiver is used to transmit and receive data under the control of the processor; The processor is used to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: Receive a MAC CE from a network device, where the MAC CE is used to explicitly or implicitly activate or deactivate the TCI of a candidate cell; Activate or deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell according to the MAC CE; Wherein, the explicit manner adopted includes: The MAC CE carries indication information for activating or deactivating the TCI of the target candidate cell; The implicit manner adopted includes: Activate or deactivate the TCI of the target candidate cell according to a set MAC CE; or, The MAC CE carries the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell for activating the TCI of the at least one candidate cell.

38. The TCI processing device according to claim 37, wherein, If the MAC CE does not contain the status identification information of the TCI, the MAC CE is used to deactivate all the TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell.

39. The TCI processing device according to claim 38, wherein, The indication information corresponds to the target candidate cell, and the indication information is used to indicate to activate or deactivate all the TCIs in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell, or the indication information is used to indicate to activate or deactivate the TCI corresponding to the identification information of the TCI carried in the MAC CE for the target candidate cell.

40. The TCI processing device according to claim 37 or 39, wherein The indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate to activate or deactivate the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point.

41. The TCI processing device according to claim 40, wherein, The type of the TCI code point includes an uplink TCI code point, a downlink TCI code point or a combined TCI code point.

42. The TCI processing device according to claim 41, wherein, If the indication information corresponds to the TCI code point, the indication information is carried in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE; Wherein, the value of N depends on the number of TCI code points indicated in the MAC CE; or, The maximum value of N is 8 or 16.

43. The TCI processing device according to claim 42, wherein, The appearance order of the indication information in N consecutive idle bit positions in the MAC CE is consistent with the appearance order of the corresponding uplink TCI code point, downlink TCI code point or combined TCI code point, and the indication information is used to indicate that the status of the TCI code point corresponding to the indication information is an active state or a deactivated state.

44. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 37 to 43, wherein, The value of the indication information for activation is different from the value of the indication information for deactivation.

45. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 37 to 44, wherein, The set MAC CE includes: The length of the MAC CE is indicated as a set length in the sub-header of the MAC CE, and the length of the MAC CE corresponds to the set length.

46. The TCI processing device according to claim 45, wherein, The set length is 2 bytes or 1 byte.

47. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 37 to 46, wherein If the MAC CE only contains the identification information of the logical channel, the MAC CE is used to deactivate the TCI of the candidate cell corresponding to the identification information of the logical channel.

48. The TCI processing device according to any one of claims 37 to 47, wherein, When the cell identification information of at least one candidate cell is carried in the MAC CE, it further includes at least one of the following: At least one TCI code point corresponding to the cell identification information of each candidate cell, and one TCI code point corresponds to the status identification information of an uplink TCI, the status identification information of a downlink TCI, or the status identification information of a combined TCI; The status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate control field, where the status identification information indicates the number of TCIs corresponding to the TCI code point, or indicates the TCI mode corresponding to the TCI code point, and the TCI mode includes an uplink-downlink combined mode or an uplink-downlink separate mode; For the case of separately indicating the status of the uplink TCI and the status of the downlink TCI, the status identification information of the TCI corresponding to the TCI code point carried in a separate indication field, and the status identification information is the status identification information of the uplink TCI or the status identification information of the downlink TCI.

49. The TCI processing device according to claim 48, wherein, The status of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment is the active state, and the first moment is the latest moment when the MAC CE is received.

50. The TCI processing device according to claim 49, wherein, If the MAC CE is received at the second moment, and the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE is not included in the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, then the status of the TCI corresponding to the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the deactivated state, where the second moment is before the first moment; and / or; If the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the second moment is the same as the cell identification information carried in the MAC CE received at the first moment, and the TCIs corresponding to the same cell identification information are the same, then the status of the same TCI corresponding to the same cell identification information is the active state.

51. A non-transitory readable storage medium, wherein, The non-transitory readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is used to cause the processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24.

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